SJ's Got a Brand-New Bag!

As has been previously documented, SJ loves to carry a purse ... a murse ... a man-bag.  

He thinks that he needs a bag to leave the house, and lately I've been agreeing with him.  He likes to take a drink, snack, extra pacis, and several toys with him everywhere he goes, and it's getting to be a lot to carry for me.  Katie Anne likes to carry a drink, snack, Peach, and a few books or toys, too - and she usually puts them in a little bag.  I always carry my purse or diaper bag, so I understand why SJ thinks he needs one, too.  His bag of choice for the last few weeks has been a hot pink Dora bag (that belongs to Sissy - and she doesn't like him using it).  He actually doesn't have any little tote bags of his own, and somehow KA has about 6 that are hers.  So, today at Target, we hit the dollar section to find SJ some kind of boyish little cheap tote bag to call his own!

We were limited on choices - all Target had was those Mr. Men characters in the tote bags selection. But, we were able to find a "Mr. Happy" bag that we think suits SJ's personality and needs!  

 Of course, Sissy needed another tote bag, too.  She got Little Miss Chatterbox - very fitting.  :) 

Drive-In TV

When I downloaded the pictures from the camera recently, I found these few pictures hidden in between sets of pictures that I'd taken!  When I asked Katie Anne about them, she said, "Oh, yeah.  We did that one day when we were here with just Daddy.  It was drive thru tv, I think.  It was fun!"  I think she meant drive-in tv... laundry baskets for cars with snacks and tv shows... what a silly daddy!  Sounds like fun!

April Fools!

Hey Mommy and Daddy - did you think you were going to sleep in this morning?

APRIL FOOLS!

I don't think the kids had any idea that today was April Fools when they decided to surprise us with an early morning wake up call, but it was a funny coincidence that they choose today to hop in our bed with books and snacks early this morning!

If you've got to wake up early, at least it is to see these sweet little faces!

The Cool Kid Just Showed Up

Rock Star!

Mustache Friday

SJ4 as The Sheriff!

Watch out boys - there's a new sheriff in town!

Katie Anne the Sheriff!

Mustache Thursday

SJ4 as The Weasel!

Can't you just hear the maniacal laughter!?!? 

Muahh-ahh!

(That's really a yawn.)

Katie Anne the Weasel!

Mustache Wednesday

SJ4 as The Bruiser!

With the fauxhawk, the big fist, and that amazing mustache, watch out - he will screw a kid up with that right hook.

Katie Anne the Bruiser!

Don't mess with those two crazy kids!

Mustache Tuesday

SJ4 as The Square!

Katie Anne the Square!

Katie Anne thought this mustache looked more like a villain and less like a square, so she added a receiving blanket cape and a mean face to complete the look.

Mustache Monday

Okay, on vacation in July, I found something that I found hilarious at Gigi's toy store.  It was this kit of self-adhesive mustaches with these funny names.  For some reason, as soon as I saw them, I knew I had to buy them for SJ4.  I just thought a baby wearing fake mustaches would be the funniest thing.  So, this little package of fake mustaches has been waiting for SJ4's arrival!  I thought this week was the perfect time to bust them out.  So, there will be one fabulous, funny mustache featured each day this week!

The boy seems a little nervous about this idea:

But once he got the mustache on, he felt awesome!  

Here he is... 

SJ4 as The Hero!

Of course, you cannot have something as cool and funny as dress-up mustaches and not expect big sister to try them on, too.  So, here's 

Katie Anne the Hero!

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner.

Nobody.

Wordless Wednesday

Saunders is Hospital Ready!

Yesterday, when Doc and VJ came to watch Katie Anne's gymnastics class at the gym, they had a special surprise for Saunders - a shirt to wear to the hospital when SJ4 is born!

Yes, they had that specially made for their boy - partially as a tongue-in-cheek joke at his weak constitution when it comes to all things medical, and partly as an actual warning to the doctors and nurses!  For anyone who knows Katie Anne's birth story, you know that Saunders just isn't into seeing or hearing about all the medical work it takes to get a baby safely and soundly into the world.  It will be so funny when Saunders shows up to the hospital wearing that shirt - I know that's going to crack my OB up! 

Another Good Use for a Pampered Chef Spoon

*And no, we've never spanked Katie Anne with a wooden spoon.  Daddy made the grave mistake of telling Katie Anne that VJ used to spank him with a wooden spoon ... and KA thought that was a great idea.*

Wiggy Woman

Today, I had to stop by WalMart on my way to pick up Katie Anne to grab a few supplies for my class party tomorrow.  I waited until the last minute to buy Halloween goodies, hoping I could score some good clearance deals and not spend too much.  It worked!  Most of the Halloween supplies at WalMart were 30% off, and I got several packages of goodies for my party there.

I also saw that their wig selections were on sale!  There were three little kid-sized wigs on sale - only $3.00 each!  I bought one of each for Katie Anne to try.  I thought these would be a fun addition to her dress up basket.

At first, she wasn't exactly sure about wearing wigs (or "dress up hair", as she called it).  She said they were itchy and "pokey".  But, once she saw herself in the blonde wig, she was hooked!  She loved it so much that I had to work hard to convince her not to wear the blonde wig to Kindermusik.  Here are some pictures of her in the "dress up hair".

I may be beautiful, but I don't like itchy dress up hair.

This is a totally fake smile for my mom's benefit, so she'll take this pokey wig off me!

Ugh, Mom is making me try on another one!  Weirdo!

How many times do I have to say I don't like this?

Hey, wait a minute... who is that Dolly Parton wannabe in the mirror?

Oh my gosh, it's me!

I look amazing!

Mom told me that, if I tried it, I would like dress up hair, and I do!

Now, I'll never take off this dress up hair!  I love it!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Ding Dong ... Don't

Funny Story from Katie Anne's School...

For the past few weeks, Saunders has been trying to figure out the name of the lady who sits at the front desk at Katie Anne's school in the mornings.  Have you ever had one of those situations where you've already been introduced to someone, and they obviously know your name, but you've totally forgotten theirs... and you're too embarrassed to ask?  Well, that's what's been happening to Saunders.  Worse, when we trying to figure out who that person is and what their name might be this weekend, he thought he might have called her by the wrong name several times already.

So, this morning, he just decided to go to the source ... the knower of all things worth knowing ... our own fount from which all wisdom flows ... also known as Katie Anne Jones.

As they walked past the front desk...
Saunders: (whispering)  Hey, Katie Anne - who was that lady at the front desk?
Katie Anne: Who - that girl?
Saunders: Yes, that girl at the desk.
Katie Anne: Oh, that's Brinn.
Saunders:  Brinn?  Are you sure?
Katie Anne: Yes, Daddy, I'm sure.
After walking on for a few seconds more...
Katie Anne:  And Daddy, you don't call Brinn "Ding Dong".
Saunders: What are you talking about?
Katie Anne: Don't call Brinn "Ding Dong", Daddy.  That's rude.
Saunders: Who calls her "Ding Dong"?
Katie Anne: Fisher and Talon do that.

When Saunders was leaving a few minutes later, he wanted to say something to Brinn and test the correctness of the name (Katie Anne was right, by the way... it is Brinn).  So, he told Brinn that he'd heard about her nickname "Ding Dong" from KA.  She laughed and told him that some of the kids started calling her "Ding Dong" because of the sound the door alarm makes when you walk into the school.  Brinn guesses that, because they see her face greeting them every morning at the same time the door chime goes ding-dong, they just started associating that with her.

Well, someone has decided to break that habit, because Katie Anne is putting a stop to the "Ding Dong" nickname, one Daddy at a time.  I guess since she knows he's had trouble remembering Brinn's real name, she didn't want him falling into the "Ding Dong" word association trap like Fisher and Talon obviously have.  Since it is true that Saunders now knows he has called Brinn by the wrong name a few times, I guess Katie Anne's just taking wise precautions.  :)  Thank goodness we have her to keep us in the know!

How to Get Cute Pictures of a Toddler

Take pictures at a 10:1 ratio. That's my main tip.

Are you wondering how to get cute pictures of a toddler?
(Assuming you think I take cute ones of Katie Anne ... and I do, so there's no arguing that.)

As Katie Anne showed with Hoppy, you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, and you've got to take a lot of silly and strange pictures to catch a good one. I take about 10 pictures of Katie Anne for every one I actually use on the blog or in her scrapbook. When she was a baby, people used to ask how I got all these great pictures of her looking at the camera and smiling. I would say, "You should see the 400 that I took that week of the back or side of her head!"

Or, the ones like this...

I have noticed that professional photographers just snap-snap-snap away, while most amateur photographers try to pose for the perfect one or two shots. So, I take a page from the pros' book and just shoot. I love to use the continuous setting on my camera. I also set up the camera to take a shot every ten seconds while we're crafting or whatever, and then I just leave it alone on the table while we work. Deleting is free!

There is quite a bit of charm in the silly ones, though. So, I got the idea this afternoon for a little photo illustration of the process I go through to get a few smiling-into-the-camera pictures!

Mom, seriously ... we're done here.
"Go, go -yes, I think go. The joyfulness is over."
(Who can place that quote?)