Quietly Plotting

We let the rabbits our of their cages every day, so they can stretch their legs and explore in the rabbit room.
This is how Snickers and Coconut choose to spend their cage-free time:

Huddled on top of a bag of shavings.

Eyeing me and my camera lens suspiciously.

It must be an interesting life, sitting on top of a bag of shavings, on top of a plank, on top of an aquarium.

Kiki came down to see how they were doing and thought they were gone. Actually, now that I think about it, that might have been their intention in the first place.  It's a great way to make a break for it later. Yes, yes, let's take another look at that earlier picture...

"She's found us! I told you this wasn't going to work!"
"Shush! It's not over yet, just hold still. I heard they can't see you if you don't move."

Vicariously

Welcome to the "Indoor Lesson Skateboard Park", as so christened by Sawyer.  You can see the cool lego guy there, at the counter, center, and the stack of gigantic money to the right of it.  I'd hate to have to handle those bills. I have enough trouble with the regular sized ones in my own wallet.

Supplies.

And this is where all the action takes place.

Breathtaking, isn't it?

I mean, really.  Think about being lego size and having to tackle that ramp.  And attempting a grind on that, that, box.

Good job, Sawyer.

He's been asking every hour of every day when we get to go. Poor kid finally had to make his own.
Here are some more things he's been doing lately:

Only Human

We were discussing our new bunny and had this conversation--

Kiki:  He's not afraid of humans

Sawyer:  Is he afraid of me?

Mom:  No, he's not afraid of kids.

Sawyer:  Am I a human, Mom?

Who's Calling?

Sawyer heard me answer the phone and then hang up.

Sawyer:  Who was it?

Me:  Wrong Number.

Sawyer: (in incredulous tone) His name was Wrong Number?!

Empty Noggin?

We were talking about how tall we all measured and Tristan claimed he was 5 feet tall so we had to compare him to Daddy.  Sawyer must have gotten age and height mixed up because he proclaimed: "Guys, Dad is 44, and Mom is 45."  Kiki replied, "Sawyer!  We are talking about how TALL Dad is, not how OLD he is!

What is going on inside of your little brain?!"

"NOTHING."  he retorted.

Age Wins

Sawyer was trying to finagle a trip to the Skateboard Park and had already talked to Daddy about it.  Next, he came to me and asked if we could go.  I said I didn't think so because Daddy had already said no.

"How old are you Mom?"  he asked.

"Forty-Five"

"How old is Dad?"

"Forty-Four"

"Well, aren't you older?" he reasoned.  

In a kid's economy the oldest one wins.

Saving Shiloh

Don't let the cute face fool you.

Or the adorable washing of the paws.

Or the huge-ness of the hind feet.

This bunny has issues.  His former owners were alarmed at how aggressive he was and took him to the vet to be put down.  A Rabbit Rescue contacted us and asked if we might rehabilitate him.

McKenna was all for it.

We brought him home, and so far, he has lunged, grunted, charged, and boxed the air whenever anyone comes into his territory (cage).

But outside of his cage, he does cute things, like you see above.

McKenna has a lot of experience with bunnies, so she is not afraid of him. She thinks we should keep him.

She thinks we should name him Shiloh.

I think we should name him Mr. Grumpypants.
Stay tuned...

MOM, Come Look, On the Side of the House!

The kids found an icicle bush.

So they did what any self-respecting kid would do,

and harvested some.

The coolest looking one also doubled as...

A gun.  sigh.  Just about everything around here doubles as a gun.

What are you guys doing? 

This is a perfect example of caught-in-the-act face.
Guns this, ladders that, I tell ya, it's a dangerous world. They ought to make a board game for kids like mine:
"Guns and Ladders"

This was a necessity to reach a really cool icicle they saw way up high.

Incidentally, this is also what little brothers were created for--holding the ladder-- because they'll do it without question. "Come hold the ladder so I can reach that bucket of nails perched on top of that voltage tower overlooking that broken glass that looks like a gun."

"Okay."

Little brothers are good that way.

I hope this is worth it.

Yep.  It was worth it.

And they learned some valuable skills ta' boot--  problem solving, team-work, harvesting, and an eye for icicle art.

Charlie Claims His Next Box

Charlie and Jupey have established a strange struggle for power in :

King of the Box

Someone's in the Basement

Introducing, the basement man:

Not only is he in the basement, but he's in a closet in the basement no less.  Is it possible for a scarier scenario in a kid's life?  I wonder if they can ever grow up normal now?

He even scares me when I forget about him and whip on the light to store some clothes or something.
Poor little closet man.  He didn't ask to be a horror, it just can't be helped.  He started out as a life-size model for Todd's paintings.  Colonial era, can you tell?  But now he's relegated to haunting childrens' dreams.

It's especially fun when someone comes over to spend the night.  The kids have all kinds of entertaining ways to introduce their friends to....the basement man--bwah-ha-ha-ha!

Box-ing Match

Our bunny Charlie has made himself right at home.  I don't think he had cats in his old house. He decided Jupiter was worth investigating...





It's kind of hard to feel sorry for him like I did at first. In fact, I'd say it's an even match.

Training Interrupted

There are times during the day that I pull my kids aside and talk to them seriously about some matter that they need a little help in, such as-- don't hit your sister.  They look at me during these serious talks with a face like this:

But today, they included a face like this:

And it was very hard to keep a straight face and continue with my little lecture because I knew what they were looking at. 

Tristan needed at little talk today too.

And he also included this face.  I can't say I blame him.

Fashion Fail.

It ain't pretty. It's convenient.

Could Have Been a Restaurant

Everyone had something different for lunch today.  They all made their own.

Tristan opted for the ol' standby.

(incidentally, isn't it amazing how clay can mimic dirty fingernails?)

Greyson had a vanilla shake because he was sick and that was all that sounded good.

Kiki made chicken noodle soup.

And Sawyer had a Lunchable because...

He made this face when he asked for one and I lost my resolve.

Tristan made the hoping-for-face and he got to pick out his own juice.

And they both went to the store and helped me pick out their choices. Which can be good and bad. You have two extra pairs of hands loading up the conveyor belt, but then you have two extra voices asking, "Can I have my juice? Where's my lunchable?" as they paw through the bags being loaded into the van. We all know, it might be lost forever in grocery bag land if you can't see it sitting there, accessible and available, right on top.

In a Sawyer World

Today I was going over days of the week with Sawyer-- "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!  Can you say them, Sawyer?"
He could. But that wasn't good enough for him.
"Mom, I wish there was another day."
"Like what?"
"Oh, like, like...um...like Nunday"
"What would you do on Nunday?"
"That would be the day I go at the Indoor Skateboard Park and learn a lesson. Everytime. Can we do that, can we?"
YES, we'll go next Nunday.  And every Nunday after that. (because the Skateboard place he is talking about is several miles away and expensive)

I would like a Nunday too. But on my Nunday, none of the regular stuff in life would happen and all the stuff you were behind in would magically get caught up.

What would your Nunday be?

Mr. Tiger's Fate

I was rescued from a block of ice by steaming hot water for this?

An Ear For It...

After blogging about the kids' exploits for two years, you think I would have developed an ear for good material. Case in point:  Tristan comes in the backdoor with a determined face, strips off his gloves and announces, "Mom, we need hot water.  We need HOT water."
"Okay.." I answer distractedly as I type away on another post at the computer.  "Just turn it all the way to hot and wait a little bit..."  I can see a few moments later that he is carrying a mug outside.
Why am I not wondering what he is doing?
I don't even notice when he walks back in and rummages around under the sink, until he raises an old bottle and asks, "Mom, do you use this?"
I turn around to evaluate the item in question.
"Wait. Yes. You don't want to put hot water in that.  Put hot water in this," I say as I walk over to the sink and hand him an old pitcher.
As I make my way back to the computer he explains, "We're saving the tiger, he's trapped in the ice. It's so cool."
Finally, my this-is-post-worthy brain kicks into gear and I race to put my boots and coat on. Where's the camera, where's the camera?  I reach the back door just as everyone is tromping in-- The triumphant return with tiger in tow.
Too late.
Sigh.
Blogging has kept me from blogging.
I have no play-by-play pictures of the event and so I give you:

 Tiger. Post ice.  
Buddy, I'd feel the same way if I were you.

Somebody Turned Nine....

Early Morning Loot.

Surveying the Field.

Scarey Cat.

just had to throw this one in here

Birthday Cake with Arm.

If you haven't guessed it by now, we had a birthday.  Tristan's birthday.  He ordered an Ice Cream Birthday Cake and I tried my best to oblige.  I smushed two different flavors of ice cream into a pyrex with a layer of caramel sauce in between.  And topped it with crushed Oreos and whipped cream.

It tasted really good.

He wanted M&M's on his, but they were too much for me.  Doesn't cold, hard, chocolate bother you?  So those got scraped off.

The caramel sauce I found at the store was perfect for an ice cream cake.  And confusing at the same time.  Have you ever seen this?

I think they use it here as some kind of breakfast condiment.  

Quebecois please enlighten.

You can't beat the simple ingredients though, so I took a chance and bought it.  It turned out to have the consistancy of peanut butter and it was not glisteny or stringy like you'd think a caramel spread would be.

I'm not sure what it's supposed to be used for.

But it was perfect for ice cream.

If you don't take away anything else from the post today, just remember this...

He's watching you.

Miracle?

You know how people from time to time claim to have found a miraculous image of someone like Mary on a wall?

Or even claim to have seen the face of Jesus in a tortilla?

Well, we have had a visitation of our own.

In the spaghetti bowl....

Stick Man.

It's clear he is trying to escape.

"You'll never get out alive!" bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Face your fears.  Embrace the Ragu...

How to Put on a Basketball Jersey...

Donning a basketball jersey is a simple matter.  Most slip easily over your head.

First, 

Find the neck hole.

And line it up.

Like...

Like...

So.  

Once your jersey is on you can practice what the sport is all about...

"Did you know I know how to do this?  It's easy. Watch."

Without a jersey, this would hardly be possible.