everything is possible... the impossible just takes a little longer

slow and steady wins the race

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Let them eat cake...


Andrew had to bake a cake for the Father-Son cake auction for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet.  Of course Andrew didn't just want to make any cake... NO... he wanted to make a dinosaur cake.  A meat-eater standing on 2 legs or a Spinosauras to be exact.   

So I searched the internet to get ideas and 2 boxes of confetti cake mix, 3 cans of frosting, 2 cans of spray frosting (aerosol food coloring), several skewers, fruit roll ups, candy corns, a few lady finger cookies, gummy rings and a few smashed up gram crackers later... this is what we came up with.  There is even a "rock" made from a left over piece of cake a  few gummy frogs were thrown in for food. 

Now if we can get it to the banquet in one piece that will be a miracle















Friday, February 26, 2010

OMG... BTGO is back!

March 1st (begins at Noon MT) to April 5th



Celery... enter stage right!

Last night was Andrew's second grade musical.  The Fruit of a Loom guys can eat their hearts out... they don't have anything on the fruits and veggies (dairy, protein, grains and junk food too) that stole the show.  Andrew was celery and who knew that celery could talk or should I stay stalk... at night when the grocery store is closed... well that is exactly what 4 kids found out when they were accidentally locked in a grocery store one night.  The kids did a great job and the songs were so cute and all kids did such a great job with their singing and speaking parts. 

Of course my camera battery died just as Andrew was taking the stage for his speaking part... and of course the back up batteries that I scrambled to replace were also old too {note to self... remove old batteries from camera case right now and put new ones in the camera}  But he did an excellent job and we were so very proud of him.  


CELERY:  YEAH!  When you are brimming with vitamins and minerals, then you can talk.... until then pardon me if I just stalk on by!






Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I will love him and pet him and squeeze him and call him Garth

Sean has been a bit under the weather the past few days but he is beginning to feel better and the cat knows that better than anyone.  Sean is constantly chasing Garth, loving and squeezing him and feeding him way too many treats.  I don't feel sorry for the cat one bit... he could easily get away if he wanted to and yet he subjects himself to Sean's smothering.  

This is an amazingly tolerant cat.  He has all of his claws and I rarely see him lash out at any of the boys...and when he does he rarely even brings his claws out.  I am sure that he knows on some primal level that he has a pretty good life here and therefore he keeps his attitude and manners in check most of the time.... even when a bit of schooling is in order.  

So Sean is once again on the prowl and Garth is on full alert.  Sean will pick him up and carry him around every chance he gets.  He will pull him out from under the table, off the bed and he will push him in the laundry basket (yes the cat will sit in the laundry basket, much to Sean's delight for a ride).  Now Garth is not a docile animal but his willingness to bow to Sean's will is commendable.  Sometimes I wonder if Garth tolerates Sean to the extent that he does because he knows he will be rewarded handsomely.  Sean routinely climbs up onto the counter to retrieve a generous handful of treats for Garth who is well aware that Sean pays no attention to the 3 treat a day limit that the rest of the household abides by.  

Heeeeeeeersssssss Johnny Sean!


I love my boy

Good kitty Garth


partners in crime




Saturday, February 13, 2010

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY


XOXO
(thank you boys... i love you too, mom)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

homework break


Over the past few days we got something like 10+ inches of snow... no snow days from school but lots and lots of snow, even more shoveling and more snow.  Andrew has been thrilled... in part because of the fluffy frozen wonderland that is now our yard  and because I let him play a little longer in the snow before having to come in a finish his homework.  With a reported less than 6 weeks left of winter... enjoy it my little man... it won't be around much longer.






let the races begin...

At this year's Cub Scout Derby race Andrew wanted a Wright Brother's inspired car.  He worked hard and Papa Moore helped him realize his design.  Andrew took a 3rd, 2nd and 1st place ribbons on the day of the race and he won a trophy for the "Most Original" design.  With the wings, his car would have been too wide to race... so for display purposes the wings fit nicely on the frame but are removed for the actual race.  Andrew painted the car but purposely wanted to leave the wings unpainted so they looked like the original plane built by the Wright brothers.


   




Andrew's car is on the right.



Andrew receiving his award for Most Original car.

boys are doin' it for themselves...




So last night I set out 2 over-ripe bananas in mixing bowl on the counter.  Now when I say over-ripe I really mean brown and mushy and very sad looking compared to the newly purchased happy yellow bananas currently hanging from the banana tree.  That being said... these over rip bananas were a thing of beauty... perfect for the bread I intended to bake today.

Sean is my good eater and he loves his fruits and veggies and he is not shy about helping himself.  He has been known to open the refrigerator/freezer door, climb the shelves like a little monkey and purge himself on frozen peas, grapes, baby carrots or other staples that may be in there.  Although I don't like him climbing on the table, or pushing chairs into the kitchen to reach something on the counter or literally climbing into the fridge... I try to keep it all in perspective...  my child is stealing veggies!  Not cookies or cakes... VEGGIES!  Clearly, I must have done something right.

So back to the over-ripe bananas.

Exercising my half-assed parenting skills... I sat at my computer this morning, phone to my ear, working with a client and left my very content child mildly supervised, sitting in the laundry basket with his matchbox cars... and the cat... watching Sid The Science Kid on PBS.  I could see him over my shoulder (don't tell him but also could see his reflection in my computer screen... eyes in the back of my head... HA!) but when I glanced back a few minutes later his concentrated silence and the plastic knife he was playing with should have tipped me off.  

OK before I get a bunch of  " you let your 2 year old play with knives" comments, I should preface that he often uses dull plastic knives (purchased in the kid section of IKEA... yea you know the ones) as one would a screw driver to "fix" his toys and pretends to change out the batteries like Daddy does.  So NO, the knife is not the best solution but Half-Assed Parenting Tip #64 tells me that a small, dull, plastic object does less harm in the hands of a 2 year old than does a sharp, 10 inch, metal one.  Pick your battles wisely young grasshopper.

So out of the corner of my computer screen I a reflection of Sean appearing to fix something... no harm no foul.  Moments later see Sean retreat to the kitchen and return with the broom and dust pan.  

OK now I am curious.

I soon discover that he has helped himself to the two over-ripe bananas and was using the knife to cut them up... and was now using the broom and dust pan to clean up his mess.  What a good boy!  To my horror I can see that one banana was partly consumed on the couch, the other on the carpet... both half eaten and half smashed.  Sean is doing his best to sweep up the banana peal and the remaining banana smush into the dust pan.  No... this is not a guilty cover up... NO... this is a boy who has just helped himself to a snack and is dutifully cleaning up after himself. 

OMG... does this mean that after all this time I am actually doing something right! LOL.  

I help him finish cleaning up and he helps me locate all the remaining bits of banana.  Why he picked the yucky bananas over the fresh ones... I don't know.  What I do know is that Andrew will be one sad little boy when he gets home from school and I have to tell him he will have to wait a few more days for banana bread.  








Saturday, February 6, 2010

guess who's baaaaack?

Yes... "THAT" family was back in church today... same song...second verse...a little bit louder and a little bit worse!  Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for our family portrait to be taken for the church directory.  Oh yea... it was the promise of a free sitting with no pressure.   

We don't have a very good history as far as family portraits go.  Usually by the end of the session we all have that "OMG just hurry up and take the bleep-bleep photo" smiles stuck on on our faces, someone is crying,  at least one person has their eyes closed in every proof, someone has "bunny ears" and at least one someone has decided that right now would be the perfect time to poop (complete with red face and "the pooping look"... oh the memories).  Oh and here is a favorite classic of mine...  The "I refuse to look at the photographer and if you make me I will give you an Oscar winning performance of a  possessed child" act followed by the biggest "I am really gonna make you pay for this later" grin you have ever seen.  Yes these are just a few of the cherished moments that we have been so blessed to have captured on film.  

So we decided on a "casual" look and set our expectations very low.  We arrived in the Gathering Space early and signed in.  We had a few minutes to wait and I don't know what it is about that room but it is like they pump 100% oxygen directly into Pat's face and immediately he is zoned out.  As I look over my shoulder from the registration table, I can see that my children are no longer sitting on the couch where I left them.  They are running about and Pat is just sitting there twirling his hair... Good God Man, Look Alive!  

I am beginning to feel a bit fearful that we have set ourselves up for disaster.  The boys have ants in their pants and they are multiplying exponentially.  It would appear that my husband has just popped a handful of Valium and will be of no use when it comes to wrangling the boys.  At this moment I am certain that there is about zero chance that the boys will sit still on command for any given amount of time, smiling is out of the question and tears are inevitable.  As each minute passes the likelihood of our even making it into the directory catalog is dwindling.  

I can see our legacy now... "Collins Family: Not pictured due to irreconcilable differences... please pray for them"

Well as it turned out, a wicked case of the giggles was our downfall... not to be outdone by the procreating ants in the pants... but we managed to get a few decent pictures.  Yea us!  So of course we had to buy them.  We hadn't planned on buying any pictures, but like manna from heaven, you take it when you can get it.  

Although the photographer was trying to convince me to choose a different pose of the boys, I choose one  with Andrew sporting his "I am posing for a picture fake smile" complete with raised eyebrows, Sam has his "Mr. Naughty" smile and Sean has his "I am so cute I could charm my way out of just about anything" grin.  It is perfectly them.   And we actually got a decent family picture too.  Amazingly, no one has "bunny ears" or a "I am pooping" look on their face, Pat is smiling (really) and I don't look drunk or half asleep. 

OMG we did it!

Best of all... nothing got broke (that wasn't already broke) and "THAT" family left with their dignity intact!  That right there makes any family outing a success on all accounts... a decent picture is just an added bonus.