A little white lie

Let's take a vote.

Is it technically lying if I tell all the salespeople who call that Mrs. Bowen isn't home right now?

I mean, I don't know why I wouldn't want to talk to them. Afterall, they are all so very generous. 3 night stays, $20 gas cards, shopping sprees...all without any money required from me. How nice.

But really, don't you think 5 or 6 of these calls a day is a little excessive? Shouldn't they spread the"wealth?"

Brooklyn the photographer

Lately Brooklyn has been secretly finding my camera and sneaking off to take pictures. Sometimes I see her in action (like when she takes pictures of me) and sometimes I don't know it until I am going through pictures later seeing endless photos of her toes.

If she isn't taking pictures of her cute little piggies (which is rare - I seriously just deleted about 20 pictures of her feet) then she wanders around taking pictures of random items like the phone, my keys, or her dolls.

I was starting to get a little agitated about this behavior until I found a use for it. Not only is she a skilled foot photographer, she is also very good at capturing mischief.

BUSTED! These boys were totally raiding the left over birthday cake while I was changing the baby.

Now if she could only photograph me putting things in that "special place" of which I never remember the location later.

Here are a few of her other masterpieces:

Exhibit A: Her darling baby brother

Exhibit B: An action shot of her partially insane mother attempting to recapture possession of the camera.

Exhibit C: Her jolly baby brother playing with his windmill which was immediately snatched from him by her "other" brother (see exhibit D).

Exhibit D: Jack on the throne...special.

Exhibit E: A self portrait.

(Actually, the more I analyze this picture the more frightening it becomes. Doesn't it look like that head doesn't belong on that weird small neck? It looks like some horrible photoshop job of a large child's face on and old woman's body. Weird.)

It's a shame that she doesn't have any awesome blackmail pictures of anyone...like her father.

P.S. Happy Birthday Oscar Allan Bennett - and Congratulations Chalee' and Zack!

LOOK who's walking now

It's official - little Bradley man is a walker. He starting standing alone in the middle of the room at about 10 months old, but would not walk until shortly after 13 months (although, truth be told, I wasn't exactly pushing him...crawling babies are a whole lot easier to keep track of)
Here he is, officially walking at 13 months, 1 week.

And yes, that's a Barbie car he's playing with.

The switch

I just had one of those moments. You know, those moments when you realize that you are becoming your parents. Growing up my dad was obsessive about us turning off the light when we left the room. It was terribly irritating to him when we would leave lights on. But yet, I repeatedly did it - not really to annoy him, but because it felt so unnecessary - I mean really, I am just running downstairs - I'll be back in there in just a few minutes.

I really wondered why it bothered him so much.

Well...through some genetic power beyond my control, I have inherited the "I can't stand lights being left on" disease - if that's what you call it? I mean, it must be something like that because throughout the day I find myself repeatedly walking through the house turning off lights while shaking my head and wondering to myself, "What is so hard about turning off the switch?"

We were leaving for a picnic and I ran back in to grab the camera and what did I find? Yes, it seems that we must use EVERY light in the house at the same time - and then leave them all on. How disturbing - the thought of my precious $'s being sucked away by unnecessary lights.

It could be that this obsession is really just harbored guilt for all of the lights I left on in my childhood...I probably owe my parents hundreds of dollars. I could send them a check, but I am thinking they would enjoy something else more.

Ok Dad...I admit it...you were right. There, I said it.

Charmer

I was grocery shopping the other day with Dave and the kids. When we all go we require 2 carts. Yes, we are quite the show. I was pushing a cart with Jack sitting in the seat. As I was comparing brands of BBQ sauce I look over at Jack to see and hear this:


"Mom, I like your style!"

This boy absolutely cracks me up. Where did he get that?

Labor Day at Dinkey Creek

There are a few of the "finer things" in life that we have withheld from our children. One of those has been camping. It's sad, but our children have never been. What kind of parents are we? Well, we no longer have to worry about child neglect because we took the long weekend and travelled to the mountains for some camping at Dinky Creek.

Here are the kids at their first campfire...right after they broke the tent pole...which made us super happy

And what would camping be without SMORES??

Here we are taking a hike to the creek.

The kids playing in the creek.

Brooklyn, Jack, and Grammy demonstrating a highly effective sock drying method.

And what did Bradley do the whole time?

Need a closer look?



*Note to self* Do NOT take a crawling baby camping...Do you think he will ever come clean?

I think everyone had a great time! Thanks to Grammy and Gramps for coming to join us!

I'll spare the pictures of the barf all over Jack's church clothes...that was super exciting...I'm sure glad that I blessed the boy with the joy of motion sickness...

I'll also spare the picture of Dave and I on/in our deflating air mattress. Just picture us as a hot dog in a bun...super comfy. Did I mention that I am NOT a snuggly sleeper?

I do wish I had the picture of Jack during a beautiful teaching moment. He kept kicking up dust which was really enjoyable for the rest of us. After millions of requests to stop kicking the dirt around he, while sitting in his little camping chair, kicked a large amount of dirt right into his own face. I must say that it was pretty funny. I think the dirt was caked on there about 4 inches thick. He didn't have as much trouble with the dirt after that...

Does anyone want to see the pile of laundry I have after this activity? I don't think that campfire smell will ever leave.

I think we'll do this again...next year. :)

A story...

that requires no words







Don't mess.

Happy Wednesday. :)