Dress Ups

Peter is such a character these days. He just makes life fun with his ideas and expressions. I have so many pictures of him lately, so here are some of the best. 

Benjamin had to share something that he did to "Choose the Right" in Primary last Sunday, so on Sunday morning, he helped Peter get dressed. :) I think it made Peter's day.

Here's Peter being a contemplative Darth Vader. He informed me that he was a good Darth Vader, and was going to go kill all the bad guys.

He wanted to ride his bike in his costume, but finding the mask to be a bit cumbersome, he wanted to find something else to keep the sun out of his eyes.

 Yes, that's a snow hat, and yes, it's covering 3/4 of his face. He insisted on wearing it this way.

Peter loves to help. He does a great job folding towels, and Nora is learning from his example.

Peter wanted to look pretty like Nora, so I helped him fix his hair. He did those rings all on his own. When he saw himself in the mirror, he laughed and told me he was a good clown on the good guy's team.

A few weeks ago while getting Nora some new Sunday shoes, Peter and I spotted this suit for a pretty good price. We finally went back today to get it, and he LOVES it. He really wanted to wear it all day, because it's "so soft," but I made him take it off. I love that he struck a pose. Can you tell he feels super cool wearing it?

Go Rockets!

Benjamin just had his first baseball game tonight, and he looked so grown up, yet so little in his uniform. He would not let me take a decent shot of him all dressed up.

 So I had to do what I could on the field. Here he is in warm-ups.

Paul couldn't make it, so Peter and Nora came along with me to the game. After fidgeting on the blindingly bright bleachers for a while, we moved behind the dugout where they could play and run around.

 Benjamin's first position was by the pitcher's mound. I thought this pitching machine was a smart idea!

At bat...I watched him the first time (when he struck out), but of course I missed the next time when he got a hit. I had gone off to the bathrooms and concessions with Peter and Nora, thinking he'd be in out field for a bit. Sad!

 At least I got to watch him round the bases and make it home.

We were all doing much better once there was food.

 I have no idea what the score was. The game had some interesting rules, like each player gets five hits, and players can only run to one base per hit. Benjamin was ecstatic though, because he was sure they had won.

 Lucky number seven!

 Alright, fine. You can take my picture, now that we're home, and it's dark. I'm not smiling though. :)

What's The Trick?

I tried fixing Nora's hair this morning...

 but she didn't seem too happy about it.

 Even though I coaxed and praised, she would have none of it.

 So much for the pigtails!

Instead she wanted to go party in the back with a giant ugly flower in front. I wish I knew how to fix little girl's hair without it turning into a torture session!

Pictures!

Well I'm going to have to play around with it more, but our new camera is here! We went with the Panasonic Lumix (I think it's a FH25), and I'm already liking it a LOT more than our last camera. For example, when I push the button, it instantly takes a picture, thus capturing Nora's elusive smile before she reaches out to "see!"

And the flash is pretty decent, even in this super close-up, low-light spot in the basement. Peter was showing me this page in "A Tolkien Bestiary." He told me he wished this is what our front yard looked like "with all those weapons!"  Funny kid.

I'm going to have to mine some pictures off of Paul's phone so I can have a record of this year's Easter. Then I should be caught up on here. :)

Luck

For the past month or so, Benjamin has been combing the lawn in search of a lucky four leaf clover, and yesterday was his lucky day! He was so excited when he ran into the house to show me that tiny little clover with FOUR leaves on it! 

The first thing he asked was, "Where's the luck?" 

I said, "Well, It might come when you least expect it." 

"But I always expect it." 

He went and put it in his room, to keep it safe until Paul got back from work.  As soon as he pulled up, Benjamin ran to get his clover to show him. He excitedly ran outside with it, and then somehow, he dropped it along the sidewalk and it went missing...He was so upset, but I couldn't help noticing the irony of the situation, how the object that was supposed to bring luck instead turned into a hopeless search for a needle in a haystack. I rather objectively told him it was gone, but my determined little boy came back in within an hour or so, beaming, with ANOTHER four leaf clover! I was shocked and relieved! 

This time, we put it in a book to press it, and took a picture on our Mac's camera. I guess the luck from that first clover got used up, so we'll just have to see what comes of this second one!

Camera-less

I guess it's probably good to be without a camera for a little while, so that real meaningful posts occasionally happen. Not having a camera sure makes me appreciate having one! Paul's been out of town since Tuesday, and while it hasn't been easy, things around here have been a LOT better than they were a few weeks ago, discipline wise. It's been a while since I first picked up "Love and Logic" at the library, but I feel like I've forgotten a lot of it. A certain oldest child of mine has been keeping me on my toes, to the point where I've had absolutely no idea how to handle him. Anyways, Paul ordered "Love and Logic" last week, and now I've decided it needs to be on my permanent night stand, right along with "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Especially since Elder Wilson of the Seventy basically quoted it through his entire talk this last General Conference!  I love how inspired all the words our prophets and leaders teach are for each of us, no matter what we're going through!

We went to the zoo earlier this week, and had a marvelous time riding the carousel, and running around. The moment that will be seared forever in Nora's memory though was eating lunch on the park bench. The geese behind us may or may not have gotten a few crackers before a zoo keeper came over to remind us not to feed them. Then just as we were about to leave, one of them bit Nora's little outstretched finger. The whole way home,  I heard "Goo! Finger! Hurt! Ow! [what] Happened?" She still repeats this, when she's looking for a little extra  sympathy and love. She seems to be learning cause and effect, and has also hopefully learned this week that eating about a half a cup of un-popped corn kernels produces undesired results. I used the opportunity to introduce the potty more, since she was telling me when she needed to go, and now she at least talks about how we don't eat the popcorn (I made sure she identified them). We'll see if that sticks. She's a funny little eater. I admit that I am the enabler here, but she has had nights where she wakes up and cries for over an hour, demanding pretzels. And I want sleep, so I usually cave. Nora is a funny little imitator, and will sometimes walk around with a box on her head, repeating, "I. AM. A. RO. BOT."

Peter is at a great age right now. Isn't it so interesting how quickly stages change? I was trying to remember the last time I wrote a little about him, and I think it was in the middle of a very volatile stage. He is very interested in gaining approval and acceptance, and that usually means imitating whatever Benjamin says he likes to eat or do or wear. During Benjamin's baseball practice last night, Peter and Nora and I were on the playground. At one point, Peter came to me, lips pouting, chest heaving, eyes watering, telling me that some older boy wouldn't let him go down the slide. I reminded him that other kids aren't in charge of him- he is. The situation quickly resolved itself, which made me glad. When I tell him I can't play with him right now, or that we can't do something he wants to do, there are no fireworks or tantrums of any kind. Just an "ok." It's nice, but at the same time, it kind of makes me sad that he's so accepting. When we're together, he'll often say, "Tickle me FOREVER!!!" And he generally means it. He's a sweet, cuddly boy.

So I've been debating about different cameras, and I'd love any and all input. We had a Canon Powershot, and it was ok. It was one of those bulky DSLR-looking ones, and I guess it had a pretty decent optical zoom. But as you know, the pictures it took were just OK. Someday, I'd really like to save up for a real DSLR, but I'm not sure now's the time, considering our last camera's fate. Does anyone have a point and shoot that they absolutely love? Or ones that I should avoid? The ones I'm leaning toward on Amazon are the Panasonic Lumix

and the Fujifilm Finepix.

I guess if I'm going for a point and shoot, smaller is probably going to be better....but maybe not? I don't need a zillion megapixels, just a camera that takes a picture the moment I push the button and does  a decent job, indoors or out. Buying a camera seems like such a gamble to me, especially since I feel like I always lose. Virtual penny for your thoughts?

Grandma Time

I'm back, and with a few pictures to share. Our camera has not been replaced yet, but we did manage to take a few with Grandma's camera while she was in town. It was so fun having her here! 

The boys made her a sign, complete with rockets.

On opening day of The Hunger Games, Grandma joined Paul and me to go see it in IMAX. I loved it! And that's saying something, since I had been anticipating this movie more than any I can remember. 

 Abby and Patrick were kind enough to stay behind with the kids during the movie. We also got out to the park together, and did some summer kids clothes shopping.

 Grandma also got to go to one of Benjamin's baseball practices. He's on the Rockets!

 Grandma did a fair share of house hopping from our house to Abby's and back again. The kids were always glad when they could come down the stairs in the morning and see her.

 Per the boys' request, we made another trip to the Art Museum to check out the knights and mummies.

 They also spotted this cool twig fort.

 Most of the time together was spent reading stories,

 playing games,

 and eating snacks outside, enjoying the beautiful weather.

 We were all sad to see her go! 

Thanks for coming and seeing us, Grandma! We love you!