No photo Wednesday...

Work and sewing has got my free time monopolized currently.  However, here are few fails and wins from this past week.


FAIL

• Tamlin's got a cold and insisted on sleeping with me.  This meant he slept and I got kicked all night by a restless 3.5 year old.
• Saw a mouse in the kitchen.   Mouse traps have been engaged.
• Jude's fourth tooth has just popped out of his gum.  There has been much chewing, wailing, and baby pain-killer medicine involved.
• Thought I had lost my USB stick somewhere between lecture hall and my office.  Contained my upcoming exam.  Eventually found it under my office desk
• Problems with family miles away arise, and I have little power to help except to provide an ear to listen and encouraging words.
• Tamlin's latest retort to the question "What are you doing" is "Nothing." Thought this started in the teen years, not at 4 years old.

WIN

• Jude discovered how to slide down slides on his own.  You should see the huge grin on his face at this accomplishment.
• Have not seen spiders in the house this season yet.  My personal experiment on controlling spider evolution is working...only the hidden ones survive my wrath.
• Scared the bejeebus out of the kids with motion-activated Halloween decoration.  Hilarious to see them run away.  Awesome to see them come back (slowly) to investigate.
• Tamlin watched Harry Potter with us and enjoyed it, especially flying broomsticks.  I'm so glad we can watch movies together now that aren't just animated trains or cars.
• Jude has (2x now) found matching cars in the bucket o' cars without anyone's help.  Brilliant kiddo.
• Three dinosaur tails, two sets of wings, one head-piece all done.  One more dinosaur costume to go.
• Even after several fails, Tamlin curls up with me and says, "Mom, I really love you" and my heart melts.

I guess the score is even for now :-)

Humor for the weekend...

Science Humor:

  Cysteine Chapel

 I love this man's videos of nature!

 

 Chemistry and Sci-Fi humor = Mega Score

 

 Musical Humor

Unicorn Humor

Boat ride and Hymn sing

 Brian was asked to help lead singing for a hymn sing on a paddle-wheel boat.  The church was selling tickets to ride, sing, and help support their community ministries.  It seemed like a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon together as a family...
though I worried about the kiddos falling through the railings (they didn't) and that we would be too chilly (it was heated).

 The boat was relatively small and enclosed, so I was relieved to see that I couldn't lose the wee ones on it.  There were two decks; the below deck was a walled dining area and the above deck was a railing porch area, though it was encased in plastic and had heaters.  There were 3 stairwells to explore to get from top to bottom.  Plus there were two open railed areas for letting the breeze blow in your hair.

Brian and the keyboardist sang from the top deck, belting out favorite hymns in harmony.  

Tam and Jude loved running around exploring the ship...They liked helping daddy sing too, but mostly liked walking around the boat...especially the stairs.  Both Jude and Tam loved going up and down the stairs and peering out into the water.

The boys also liked standing at the bow with their heads pressed up against the rails.  That is, I let them do this until Jude proved to me that his head is still small enough to fit through adjacent rails...as well as the rest of his body.  (Don't freak, I had a firm hold on him and we weren't going too fast).

Tam's wearing a new coat I sewed up for him.  I like it ok, but I think it is a little big.  Tam loves it because of the big pockets in the front.

We had fun watching the paddles turn too.

Red noses, rosey cheeks, fresh air, happy squeals, great songs, and lots of love...

A great afternoon together!

(and 2 tired boys who slept well that night).

Wordless Wednesday - Cars

Snow must wait...

My boys need to ride!

Yipee

I swear my kiddos are such nutty sweethearts!

Tamlin
In Star Wars I, little Anakin is so excited he exclaims "Yipee!"  The first time I heard this, I laughed out loud, since NOBODY actually says this even though you see it written all the time.  Now, I stand corrected.   It isn't nobody, it is nobody except Tamlin actually says "Yipee!" when he's excited.  It makes me laugh every time too.

Other Tamisms:
"I have an idea"  which is followed by some activity he wants to do, usually instead of going to bed.
"I love you" to everyone.
"Good deal"...I think he picked this phrase up from his daddy :-)


Jude
While playing outside with trucks, cars, and chalk, I sketched out a hopscotch board for the kiddos to jump on.  Tam has played this game before and right away starts tossing a pebble and leaping around (vaguely in the squares).  Jude toddles around and mostly plays with (or tries to eat) the chalk.  Ten minutes later, Tamlin is back on the car.  Jude walks over the hopscotch squares and...attempts to jump!  Just like the big kids!  With his lack of coordination, the best he can do is a squat and back up with no air time, but he thinks that he is awesome and giggles like a maniac.

Judisms
Signing please, roaring with his toy alligator and monster, saying go, go, go while walking quickly after his brother on the car.

Momma's helpers

The boys are such good helpers when it comes to washing the dishes in the sink.

Jude delighted in using the sponge on his bowls.  Tamlin chose to play with a cup...and trying to toss the water out of it.  Bubbles were also key to making this task fun.

Tam decided to "drink" the soapy water...yuck.

Jude followed big brother's lead and drank the soapy water out of his bowl.  

Well, he attempted to drink the water but mostly it dumped down his front.

Whoops!  Sorry, mom, for all the spilled water...

you were going to mop the floor anyways, right?

Well, Jude didn't really need a bath after this water play :-)

A toothy grin showing that he really enjoyed playing with his brother in all this water :-)