Smore Night

The nights were so much more enjoyable a few weeks ago when the temperature lows were in the 40's. We won't be making smores anytime soon by the looks of the current weather report. Smores taste so much better when they are not frozen.

Attempted Photo Shoot

I decided to attempt photos of the kids together. I always have high hopes when we are getting dressed for photos, but then my amateur photo skills end up frustrating me in the end! I really need to take time to get to know my camera and editing software. How do you moms out there find the time to do this?? The days are too short in my house! Anyway, here are some of the pictures I managed to get. I would love some editing tips from anyone out there who wants to share!

The first shot of the day

I like this one...minus the poor editing technique :P
The majority of my shots ended like this

This little girl was the biggest trouble maker

The boys were great models

Maybe the best shot...?? Look at the camera, REX!!

Everyone's looking in the same direction, but all I can see are Rex's nostrils. This is his, "I am so done with pictures" smile.

I'm hanging this one on my wall

Felix has always been so photogenic

I love the dirty fingernails

I know someone with fierce editing skills can make this photo great...Help??

She's my toughest model

The end of the photo shoot ended in the fountain

Felix

A toothless grin from Felix Pelix. He found the container I keep his lost teeth in and asked what was in it. He believes there is a tooth fairy, so I didn't want to spoil it for him. He said, "I know they are teeth." I lied, like a good mother should, and said, "No they're pieces of something that broke." I'm not good on the spot. I quickly changed the subject. Sometimes it's a good thing that Felix is easily distracted.

Oh, the joys of peer pressure. Felix does not like things touching him. He is constantly itching himself, complaining about an itchy tag, or squirmming to get away from a hand hold. At school, he has seen his peers wearing these silly bands. He acquired one at church and made himself wear it until he said, "It doesn't bother me much any more!" He loved this silly band so much it broke, but we had to tie it to fix it because he wanted to wear it to school. He did wear it to school where it was confiscated by his teacher because he couldn't stop fidgeting with it.
Felix has started piano lessons. I thought he would enjoy them because he has often said he wants to be a jazz pianist. However, he has realized that a lot of work goes into getting to that skill level, and he isn't thrilled about lessons anymore. See picture below...

Felix is finding joy in art these days. He created this rock dinosaur after returning home from the dinosaur museum. Art is his favorite class in school. He recently won an art contest at school for the best Anti-Drug picture in Kindergarten. I'll post a picture of it when he brings it home.

Sunday Best

Sunday mornings are chaotic at best. With Scott at church early attending to his Bishoply duties, and me being a "not at all morning person", I find it hard to get out of bed early enough to get the children and myself fed and dressed, the church bag packed and literally wrangle the children into the car with enough time left over to breath. This morning was no exception, except that Scott was home to deal with Rex's major temper tantrum that lasted at least 30 minutes...probably longer. So, in order to get it all done, it is necessary to pass some responsibilities on to the children. One thing in their jurisdiction is dressing themselves. This morning, this is what they proudly donned.

Felix is wearing a V-neck sweater with a neck tie. He didn't think it necessary to wear a collared shirt. For Felix, a necktie is a matter of function, not formality. It gives him something to play with during church...i.e. roll it up around his finger and pretend it's a gun. He is wearing his Chuck Taylors because his church shoes "mysteriously" disappeared. (The photo at the top is another '"fashion forward" Sunday look of his.)

Rex is wearing his favorite (so he calls it today) sweater with a plunging neck line. He refused to zip it up. He is also wearing his Batman socks.

Daphne looks cute now, but it didn't take long before her white sweater was covered in purple puke, so that had to be removed at church. She did have ruffled socks on, but those didn't last long either.

And I don't know why I bother to wear black...I was covered in muck before we even left the house.

I guess what's important is that we made it to church. Regardless of how hard it is to get there or even with the circus act that ensues while we're there, at least we go. It would be so easy to stay home in our jammies and watch TV all day, but who said life was supposed to be easy? Plus, if we did that, we'd never get a picture like the one above.

Kids in Action

It's constant motion in our house. Here are the kiddos doing what they do best...

Felix loves playing in our First Aid Kit. In this photo, he clipped the CPR mask bag onto his undies and couldn't get it off. He asked me take it off for him, but I had to take a picture first.

Rex is having a blast at the dinosaur park on the twirly squirly thing.

The boys were playing a game with this frame where they were pretending to be pictures.

Scott snuck away in the afternoon to enjoy the beautiful fall weather at the park with us.

Doing what Daphne does best...eating and looking cute

Wheelin' Through the City

Rex, Daphne and I went on a wonderful bike ride. I wanted to take the trailer for the kiddies to ride in, but Rex insisted on riding his own bike. On our 4 hour adventure, he ended up riding 4 miles round trip. A man we passed a few times on our ride said Rex made Lance Armstrong look like Pinocchio. Strange comparison...but fully complimentary...I think. Our mission on this trek was to feed some ducks. We did this in addition to:

- stop for snacks along the way
- learn where many homeless people sleep at night
- check out some local artwork
- watch a big fish being caught out of the Allegheny River
- play in the city water steps
- walk downtown wearing nothing but underwear (Rex only) to look for a porta-potty
- enjoy nature through ladybugs and giant leaves

It was a super day.

Little Lance Armstrong

Cute chick coming along for the ride

Feeding ducks under one of the big yellow bridges as seen in the background

At the water steps before the clothing started coming off

Still mostly dressed...

I knew it wouldn't be long before he was in his underwear despite the 65 degree temp

Daphne was just interested in the dirt

Maybe I should teach my kids to keep their clothes on...especially in public, but if you had seen the smiles on passerby-er's faces, maybe we'd all be running around in our undies.

Our city

Rex under a big orange sculpture thingy

This pile was just off the trail

Local art and shopping cart parking spot

Under the bridges you often find a colorful array of local artisan's work

Our friend the ladybugSomeone's kitchen

Almost at the end of the ride

It's just like our city to have beautiful cathedrals on any given hillside...even right in the backyard of an ugly industrial area

Plotzed

Giant leaf

A view over the Allegheny

The home stretch