A Series of Pictures

I have a habit of taking too many pictures.

I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing, but it's a thing.

Well...I guess you realize it's a thing.  That extra "but it's a thing" wasn't really required.....

Any who

I don't normally pay attention to any particular series of pictures.  Cause, let's face it, I'm normally trying to capture photos of my two wild animals children, and they don't really hold still long enough for any more than maybe three shots in a row to be considered a series.

But I believe in taking lots of pictures, mostly cause I'm not a professional, so the thought is, if I take a hundred photos...maybe....just maybe....I'll get one good one.

Hopefully.

Anyway, my point is that series of pictures don't generally catch my eye, but while browsing through our Family Weekend photos I found this amazing series of photos.

All of these shots are straight out of the camera, and are posted exactly as I took them.

These poor souls are my parents, and they were posing for me in front of a beautiful waterfall at the Zoo.

And Dad decided that Mom wasn't smiling enough.....so he goosed her.

I think she was a little surprised, but she recovered well.

And then they created the perfect shot.  Beautiful, genuine, I'm enjoying life smiles.  I LOVE it!  They've been married over 38 years, have 3 children, and 8 grandchildren, and they still enjoy each other's company.  Amazing.

Of course, then we tried to get Eli in the shot.

I was a little nervous my Dad might drop him in the water.....let's face it, The Boy is no feather weight, and he hardly ever holds still.

Dangerous combination in the best of circumstances.

But Grandpa has a strong grip.  And he kinda likes The Boy.

So now we all need to face the camera!

There's Eli facing the camera.

And there's Grandpa and Grandma looking, but not The Boy.

Oh well, 11 Shots, one okay and one pretty good.  And a series of photos that is entertaining, and priceless.

Makes me realize that it's not all about that one great shot, it's about capturing the great moments.

A Few Pictures from the Park

Saturday morning we headed to the park.  The weather was perfect.....warm, a little overcast, with a very nice breeze.

The light was perfect for pictures, but for some reason I wasn't really in the mood, but here are a few of the shots I did take.

Super Girl posing for the camera.

I love the next few shots.....here is Eli playing in the sand so nicely.

 And here is Hannah....minding her own business.

 And here is Hannah getting sand thrown on her by Eli.

I know it isn't funny, but how often do you just happen to have your camera pointed in the right direction at the exact right moment!!!???!!!

Hopefully next time I'll be in a more picture getting mood!

Funnies from Hannah

On Friday I purchased a new dress for Hannah's birthday (her birthday isn't until mid April, but the dress was just too cute).  (Our kids don't actually own a lot of new clothes, most everything is hand me downs so I never feel guilty about buying them clothes.)  I had planned to give Hannah the dress that evening, but she had a bad day at school, a bad day at Tae Kwon Do, and a bad day at home.

I debated and debated, and finally right before bedtime I gave in (mostly so I could hang it up.....I hate leaving things not in their proper place) and gave her the dress.  She hugged the dress to her chest and said, "Isn't that the sweetest thing!"  Then she gave me a big hug with the dress squeezed between us and said, "You're the best Mommy a child could ever have!!!!"

Think she was laying it on a little thick after her bad day of misbehavior??


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Last night Hannah and I were chatting with Ben on Yahoo Instant Messenger using video chat.  The messenger has a doodle game where you can draw pictures back and forth or play games like tic tac toe.  Hannah and Ben were playing a game where you have to create squares....anyway......I told Hannah, "Daddy's pretty smart....he's hard to beat."  To which Hannah replied, "I'm smarter than he his.  I go to school and he doesn't!!"

Potty Training Update

For the past few days I've debated whether or not I should post this story.  It's nothing terrible, but rather something that could be embarrassing later on in life.......but it's so funny I just have to share it!


Eli has done extraordinarily well with potty training.  To my amazement, he caught on to peeing in the toilet very quickly.....within about 5 days.  He is wearing underwear now and has had one accident.  I am just so proud!!

Now the poop thing hasn't been going so well.  He refuses to poop in the potty.  He simply poops in his underwear and goes on about his business.  Luckily Eli is one of those kids that likes to hide when doing his business so normally I know what's going on and can change him rather quickly before there is any mess.

OH, and he is very smart.  The little booger waits until he gets off the school bus to handle his business.  I am sure this is because he knows he can get away with it with me more so than his teachers at school.

Any who......The other night I was in the kitchen cooking dinner ("cooking" being a poor verb here, I made grilled cheese sandwiches), and talking to my Dad on the phone.  Once everything was ready and on the table, I went to the back of the house to get Eli.  I walked up to his doorway and found his underwear laying on the ground.  I looked up and he was sitting on his bedroom floor in his birthday suit.

Me:  "Eli, why are you naked?"

Eli:  Without turning his head form the television.  "I pooped."

Me:  I checked the underwear and there were just a few streaks, no actual poop.  "Eli?  Where's the poop?"

Eli:  "I put it in the toilet."

So.....Eli pooped in his underwear, took his underwear off, dumped the poop in the toilet, and went on about his business.

I wasn't sure what to make of this, but everyone I ask says it's a new step.  They say he finally realizes where the poop goes.....he's just confused as to how it's supposed to get there.

Eli's creativity is always entertaining and I'm sure in about 10 years he's going to be very upset with me for sharing this story.

He's Up to No Good

The Boy is up to no good......as usual.

Thank goodness I caught him before any harm came to Ben's truck.  I'm not sure Ben would have appreciated the "spikeasaurous" leaving his foot prints behind.

The Boy really likes to walk the line.

A Beautiful Girl

This is my new favorite photo of Hannah.

I love it because it's the real her.

This isn't a faked smile for the camera.  It's not her being silly.

This was a genuine smile given because she loved the way our back garden looked....and I just happen to snap a photo at the right moment.

I love that face.

Magical Powers

After leaving the gym last night, the kids and I were sitting at a red light that seemed to be lasting forever!  I asked Hannah, jokingly, if she would please use her magical powers to turn the light from red to green, to which she replied, "The only magical powers I have are to make the wind blow.  I can't change the lights for you."

And she was serious.

Family Weekend, Adventure #6

Our last adventure was a trip to the Zoo.

Everyone attended this outing, which required three vehicles, four car seats, and lots and lots of snacks.

The Memphis Zoo is a wonderful Zoo and the day was perfect for a family outing.  The weather was good, and since it was a Monday, there was barely a sole present.

I'm not going to go into too many details about our outing.  To be honest, the trip was two weeks ago now, and I can't recall all the details, but I wanted to post a few of the pictures.

Yes, the Giraffe was that close.  I think it was only about three or four feet away from Eli.  It was lunch time, the Zoo keeper was late, and I think the Giraffe was eager for whatever it could get its hands on.

My sisters and my dad.

The kids trying to scope out a Polar Bear.

Baby Joy was kept nice and warm.

This post leaves much to be desired I know, and I apologize for all it lacks, but I'm over the Family Weekend trip and ready to move on to more current events.

So I hope you liked the few photos of our Zoo trip, but I will now move onto other things.

Hanging Out in Grandma and Grandpa's House

As much as we tried to keep the kids busy, and out of the house, there were times that we ended up just hanging out at the house.  The boys of course made the most of it building forts, houses, and, as pictured below, condos with Grandma's brand new couch's cushions.

Of course Grandma said she didn't care.....that was why she chose a couch with loose cushions....cause how else would the grand kids build forts, have pillow fights, and keep from touching the hot lava carpet (that's an inside family story that I'll have to tell sometime).

The boys also spent a lot of time playing hide and go seek.  Eli LOVED this game, and was thrilled to have someone who was willing to play with him over, and over, and over.

 And just a few shots from around the house.....My younger sister husband's showed me that men really do change diapers even if their wife is there.   Hmmm......seems my husband has been fooling me.

 These are a few family shots, that to me didn't turn out well, because we ended up taking them in the house and at night.  So the light is poor, but I had to take what I could get.

 All of Grandma's Girls from this side of the family.

 Grandma Cuba wanted a picture with Mom and Dad's dogs.

 Here's my younger sister helping the boys build condos on the couch.

 And Hannah and her Uncle.

 Grandma and Kristin's side of the family.

 Grandma with my older sister and her husband.  He looks tortured...I mean thrilled to be taking pictures.

 Hannah and her Aunt Nikki.

I have one more post from our family weekend, hopefully I'll get it up today or tomorrow!

Family Weekend, Adventure #5

The Children's Museum of Memphis

This place was a gem hiding in the mist.

It was wonderful in all senses of the word.

There was a FedEx Airplane with a cockpit.

And of course a tunnel slide to slide from the airplane back to the ground.

Hannah enjoyed this the most.

There were police motor cylces......that you could sit on!!!

And fire trucks you could climb on and pretend to drive.

And there was a special presentation for the movie The Wizard of Oz.  They had an entire section devoted to experiencing the movie.

They had dress up clothes.

Hannah chose the cowardly lion.

And then decided that Dorothy would be cooler, since she carried around Toto.

There were many creative ways to see how tornadoes work.

They had the neatest earthquake table (not part of the Wizard of Oz of course) where the kids could build buildings with blocks, then you pushed a button and the entire table shook....causing the buildings to crumble.

The boys enjoyed this the most.

Of course Hannah manned the button, and Gabriel didn't really appreciate it!

There was an entire section that explained the Mississippi River....and there was actually a river!

The kids were able to see how the river flowed, how you could make it flow differently by putting in damns, etc.  And they were able to fish.

It was an amazing exhibit.

There were many other exhibits that I wasn't able to capture good photos of.  The Children's Museum of Memphis is an amazing place and definitely a place we will be visiting again.