Call It What You Want...

Guys, can you both sit still and smile?


Okay. How about looking at the camera?


No. At me.


Mark? Put your shirt down.


That's so nice. Now can you look at me?


Um. Please note that the peanut gallery in the background is laughing at my efforts.


Wow.


No, I didn't want a picture of a dog.


Or another dog.


Seriously, guys!

Hmm, maybe there's strength in numbers?


Let's get more involved here.


Perhaps if we get the awful faces out of the way...
(Please note Grandpa, standing in the back, sneaking out to make a video of me trying to photograph the precious children.)


Um, okay, as long as it leads to a cute picture in a minute...


Not yet. Except for Andrew. Boy, he's cute. And cooperative.


Getting better. Maybe this is why the parents usually have to be in the picture.


I think I'll take what I've got and call it good.

Maybe we should have tried this before dessert.

In the Family Circus comics from my childhood, it was always an invisible gremlin named "Not Me" who did stuff around the house.

"Who scribbled on the wall?" "Not me!"

At my brother's house, it's Mister Nobody. Actually, in Jonathan's eyes, Mister Nobody is good for a lot of things, including a silly name to call people when he feels ornery.

At our house, it's someone else.

Tim didn't get up on time yesterday because his alarm, when it went off, was turned down so low it didn't make any sound. I recalled that the boys had been playing in our room the day before.

"Adam did it!" Mark told me.

"Adam, did you play with Daddy's clock?" I asked.

"JONAH did it!"

That's right. That same guy who didn't want to go to Ninevah and headed for Tarshish, the same guy who got swallowed by a big big fish and didn't want to tell the people to obey God.

Yep. Jonah played with Daddy's clock. Jonah did it.

Sigh.

How can I put Jonah in time out?

"When Adam is a Dad, he can drink coffee," Mark said as Adam was reaching for Tim's coffee mug the other day at Bob Evans.
"What will you drink?" I asked.
"When I'm a dad, I'll drink Sprite!" Mark answered. "AND Dr. Pepper!"

"Head and Shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
My Fair La-dy!"

This morning, I heard Adam go into the kitchen, open the door to the trash can, and throw something away. He then closed it and went back to the living room, brushing off his hands in satisfaction. Later, I was putting something in the trash and wondered what he'd thrown away. I discovered that it was the flier with other Thomas the Tank Engine "stuff" that can be purchased, which they always put in the packaging for said toys. This is a cherished item Mark calls his "magazine" and takes to bed to read.
Somebody apparently decided that Mark had had it long enough.

We always laughed at some of the pictures the Noblesvillain's mom took of him as a small child -- standing on the piano keyboard pounding on the top of the old upright piano, standing on the toilet lid pounding on the tank, standing on the ladder... you get the idea.

Well. The Noblesvillain has been taking a few pictures, too. Good thing Mommy wasn't around...

Hmmm, if I climb up here, I might be able to get onto the table...

This is what the boys do in the kitchen when mommy's not around (as opposed to the dishwashing found here). Yes, that is a drawer that is open right beside Adam's head. A drawer that he and his brother systematically emptied, as I understand it.

Ah-ha!!! Adam says as he reaches in again. "But they were playing so nicely!" their father protested. "They weren't fighting!"

Well. There's that.

And then there's this:

 and

Yeah. Such an angel. Dad, put down the camera and make him get down! (Actually, Tim was supervising closely, and the last was the only way to get him to smile for a picture. And no small children were harmed in the taking of these photos.)

Here's a fun Meme, stolen egregiously from Dr. Chuck Pearson.

First, the instructions:

• 1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

• 2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
  The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

• 3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days” http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
  Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

• Put it all together, that's your first album.

SO.... here are my article (how do  you like that, Big Mama?), my quotation page, and my image.

 

 

So. It's your turn. What is your band?

Mark was feeling complimentary this afternoon at lunchtime.

"Thank you very much, Daddy, for making lunch."
and then...

"I'm very proud of you."

(It's better than some of the other attitude that he's been showing off lately.)

In other news...

Jonathan and Mark shared a book -- Jonathan "reading" -- before Jonathan had to leave from their little-bit-late Christmas visit.

And Mark and Adam wore the shirts Grandma AJ got them last summer.

It's not easy getting two boys to sit together nicely without a parent or two holding them down and without things getting a little rough, even if kissing is involved.

Happy 2008, everyone!

what to get me for my birthday or Christmas, Mark has an idea.

"I made a poopy just for YOU, Mommy!"

Gee. I don't know where to put it. (oh. maybe I do.)

The big boy and his dad came in from shoveling snow and building a topply snowman, and the big boy got to have his first "hot" chocolate (lukewarm, eeeew, but he doesn't even like his food hot). He sat at the table utterly savoring its deliciousness, when he spounted this piece of wisdom, which also, incidentally, shows the hierarchy of his life:

"When I drink slowly, it makes Mommy and Daddy happy.
And Doggy happy.
And Jesus happy."

Yup. Everyone's happy.

Said upon leaving the carwash (where he didn't cry, though his brother did):

"Toys don't get scared. Because they don't have faces."

(Thanks, Tim, for what you're teaching our kid...)

Why did the chicken cross the road?

He wanted a PIZZA!

Later...

Why did the chicken cross the road?

He wanted some chicken nuggets with his PIZZA.