Beauty Queen

Isn't she ridiculous?! She is loving goggles, or "gaa" as she calls them, as well as her tiara.

A Cute Boy in Unders and Flip Flops

A really good look. Michael actually thought he could go out like this. And the tooth is healing up a little...but still loose, unfortunately.

Slacking

I have really let myself go as a mother. Michael would never have had the chance to pose for this picture. I don't even know when I started giving him sweets. Maybe when Megan started chewing.

You Won't Believe This...

but Thursday (one week after the Day of No Teeth) at school, Michael and Michael crashed into the tile corner of the bathroom as they ran in like wild men. Here are his battle wounds. Adds to the whole look.

A Portrait

by Michael. Not bad for a three year old.

A Masterpiece

This was the day after the accident and Micahel seemed to have had some creativity knocked into him. He wanted to do art project after art project today. I was of course relieved, as he seemed relatively safe sitting at the dining room table. And look at those colors!

The Jazz Concert

So the long-awaited jazz concert was tonight. Michael has been looking forward to this concert for weeks, since I bought the tickets. It was a big deal, as the concert started at BEDTIME. So we arrived at about 7:28 pm. Michael was a little leery as we entered the concert hall, which was small...but tempered his nervousness by looking at the few instruments that were already on stage. A TROMBONE! A SOPRANO SAX! I am certain that the people sitting around us were not looking forward to his proclamations throughout the show. They needn't have worried. The musicians came out and Michael was very exctied to see all of the instruments...many many saxophones, a few that we did not even recognize. The music began at approximately 7:41 pm. Michael watched in awe for a few minutes...especially in awe of the girl who played not one, but TWO saxophones, the aforementioned soprano and an alto that she had on a stand in front of her. At 7:49, he announced that he was ready to go home. After some prodding and questioning and assuring him that if we left we were not coming back, he was adamant. We were out the door at 7:50. Exactly 9 minutes of a fabulous jazz ensemble. He said that he only wants to go to QUIET concerts from now on. When I told him that maybe some day he could be on the stage PLAYING the saxophone, he gleefully shouted "THANK YOU!!!!"

Socks + Hardwood Floor + Whistle in Mouth = No Front Teeth

So everyone knows the tragedy that occured at my house yesterday. It is still shocking to me, how quickly your perfect little child can change into a hockey-playing brute-looking child. I almost can't look at these pictures. Do you think he can tell that I am avoiding looking at his mouth? "What? Is there something in my teeth?"

Future Olympian

Maybe at swimming. Maybe at bag-emptying.

A Big Day for Michael

These pics were taken at a birthday party for one of Michaels' friends, Bobby. It was at a place with these huge moonwalk-like toys. Very physical and demanding bravery: aka Michaels' worst nightmare. He was very brave and tried each of the pieces of equipment, but refused to go on most of them again. He had to slide down very steep slides (trust me, I went on them...got the rubber burns to prove it) and scale literal verticals. He did great, but did not like it. The only thing that was acceptable in his book was the giant jumping arena, which he liked if I got in with him. Actually, he also really enjoyed the air hockey, and here he is practicing with his friend, Michael. The cupcakes were a hit with both of them, of course.

Yeah

This is just cute.

An Easter Egg Hunt

Nothing cuter than a kid who realizes that there are eggs with CANDY in them strewn about the yard...unless it's one who doesn't really get it.

INSTRUMENTS!!!

For those of you that are not involved in the day to day of our lives, you might not know of Michael's absolute obsession with orchestral instruments, especially "top brass". He is destined to become a famous saxophonist (his instrument of choice) or maybe stalk someone who plays the saxophone. We don't know when or how he discovered this passion, but it has nearly taken over all discussion and play at our house. This was from a field trip to the local music/instrument store here in town...SO exciting. The guy who worked there almost fell over when Michael immediately (and correctly) identified a soprano sax. We went home with a recorder, which is not at all annoying.

Chocolate and Bananas

What a great snack! Nothing like Hershey's syrup to get a kid in a good mood. And yes, he is about to drink it.

What? Is this Wierd?

We knew that sooner or later someone would catch Megan with Michaels' underpants on her head and would question our parenting. So we are just going to deflect the shock of rumour and come clean with our daughter's issue. She is not willing to submit to therapy yet, but in time, we think she'll come around.

Yarn

As I have been working on a few baby blankets lately, both kids have a new affinity for yarn. Michael pulls strings of it along the ground pretending it's a "snakesie" or "centipede" and Megan simply tangles herself up in it or drapes it casually around her neck as a tiny scarf. Love the garbage bag in the background. I obviously don't have time to set the stage.

The Train Show

Sadly, my camera was in some wierd flash mode that made the photos from this outing blurry. It was a model train show...Michael was highly disappointed that he couldn't touch the trains. And those 60+ year old men who had the displays were watching like hawks, man. But all in all, it was very cool and we saw all the different gauges of trains...even the elusive Z-gauge, which is tiny tiny tiny.

My Kids

spend a lot of time in front of the bookshelf in the kitchen. Megan can sit there for a half an hour, pulling every single book off and "reading" them all upside down. Michael mostly shows up if he thinks Megan is touching a book he happens to like.

The First Tantrum

This was the first ever of Megans knock-down drag-out tantrums. It was really only half-hearted, compared to the one she had the following day in her high chair. It lasted about twenty minutes, twenty minutes rife with screaming, hair pulling, leg kicking and head banging. Needless to say, we left her strapped into the chair until her pupils went back to normal. When she started to slow down, Michael said, "Mommy, is nice Megan coming back now?"

Prepping for St. Pats

Megan was devastated to learn that she was too young for green beer. These sunglasses were purchased to try to make her feel better.