What's Going On Here? is MOVING

What's Going On Here? has a new permanent home!

http://www.whats-going-on-here.com
click here to go to our new home

Guess Where We Are?

Somewhere they don’t want to be.
Kiki could be looking at Greyson because he's doing something weird.
Greyson could be doing something weird.
Tristan could be bowing his head in disbelief.
OR
Greyson could be stretching.
Kiki could be looking at him because she wants to avoid the camera.
Tristan could be scratching his head because it itches.
A myriad, a MYRIAD of possibilities.

But, where are we?

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I’ll give you a hint. Can you see fear in the eyes?

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How about now?

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This expression spells it out:

D-e-n-t-i-s-t.
They'd already been in for their exam and cleanings, this was the down and dirty trip. The you're-going-to-feel-a-little-pressure, trip. And if a dentist tells you you're going to feel a little pressure? Buckle up.
credit to Brian Regan

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There was a lot of waiting involved.

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A lot of time to anticipate your turn while you listened to the drilling and suctioning in the adjacent room.
Hey, look!  A mustache?  Is that coming through on your monitor?

 

Hey, look!

James Dean.

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But I guess James Dean would never have done this.

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Are we bored to tears yet?

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How about now?

Nope, James Dean would definitely never have let anyone see up his nose.


 

I take that back.

 

Don’t worry, Tristan, not too much longer until the dentist can

yank out your tooth by it's roots,  I promise.

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Audience, I jest not…

 That sucker was dug in tighter than a cuttlefish in a mud bucket.

You can make anything sound like a colloquialism if you just throw in a southern accent.

Can I Go Out in the Hail, Mom?

 

The morning started dark and gloomy outside. and then–SHAPOW!–a sudden hail storm.

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Hail on the trampoline.

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Hail swimming in the patio umbrella.

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Kerplunking off the patio furniture.

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Finding refuge against the house.

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Huddling in a corner.

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But the picture he wanted captured most of all was:

“Mom! Look how shiny the basketball is! Take a picture, can you take a picture?”

Yes I can.

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And then, as quickly as it started, it was over.  In the words of Greyson:

“Today, was a weird weather day.”

This post was brought to you courtesy of Wordpress, where I composed and uploaded it, copied it and pasted it all over here. If Blogger has room for that, I don't get why they don't have room for just doing it the old way.  Because they want to make Life as hard as possible?

Ode to a Spider

We didn't have time to figure out what to do about running out of room on Blogger and not being able to upload anymore pictures. Todd thinks I should move to Wordpress (and that it's long overdue).  So until we do figure out the fate of What's Going On Here, I went into the "drafts" folder and found this post that's almost exactly a year old.  I didn't post it then because I thought it would be mean.  But I think it's okay to post it now.  I think. I hope. But I've made REALLY bad decisions before, like my Homecoming dress in 11th grade. So if it's not okay, please let me know.

Every once in awhile we find an overdone fruit hiding in the fruit bowl.
This is the first time we've found a guest....

Thomisus spectabilis

Haj is coming to visit. With Georgie!
They hate spiders. Because this is what they do--

Spiders, spiders, everywhere
Spiders hiding in a pear
When you think you're safe in bed
Rappelling spiders overhead
Spiders don't respect your space
Spiders skip across your face

I bet they can't wait to come now!
Don't worry Haj, we've got 8 spider hunters on full-time duty.

Strangest Things My Kids Have Said

"Mom, who was the first person ever to think of chewing with your mouth closed?"

"I don't know, Tristan, that's a good question."

"I think I know.  I think it was me."

Now pretend there is a darling picture of Tristan here, chewing with apple in his mouth, his lips pressed tightly together.  Pretend I did not get this message instead: Unable to upload file (DSC_0213.JPG) because the site has exceeded its file upload quota.
And if anyone knows what that means, please inform.  Is this the end of "What's Going On Here?"
No more pictures?
No more creative outlet?
No more purpose?
The rug has been ripped out from under me.
Remember that picture of the tulip I posted just the other day?

It had opened it's delicate petals in promise of the sun's warmth and care...

...and had gotten a face full of slush.

I feel like I'm in 7th grade all over again. It was a tough year.


The truth is, the truth is, His hand is behind, before, and upon me, and just like I survived being told in 7th grade that "if you stood sideways and stuck out your tongue, you'd look like a zipper",  I will survive not being able to post pictures anymore. And God knows, maybe something will happen to fix it all.

I'll keep you posted.

Camera Mess-ups

These are camera mess-ups. But like anything else in life, give it the right title, and suddenly it's art.

I'll call this-- Waiting in Tanzania.

 

And this is-- Mona Kiki

as in..

There's something similar about the expressions.

Mona Sawyer?

No. There's something about the eyes that just isn't right. 

Caught in the Headlights.

Move Over, Monopoly

Move over, Monopoly...

There's a new game in town.

It catches the interest of young and old.

With pretty much the same components.

And confusion. (Note the fudgesicle  smear on the left cheek).

The same reading of cards.

And waiting your turn.

Oh, and look!

Clean fingernails.

This has nothing to do with Horseopoly.

He just proposed trading-back with Tristan. Trade-backs are illegal in our house, thus the unsure stance.

What does he want to trade back?...

This. Which used to be his, but he traded it with Tristan for something, or maybe it started out as Tristan's and Tristan traded it to Sawyer and then Sawyer wanted it back--this is why it's illegal in our house. It's exhausting to keep track of.

Anyway, it's his now.

You'd think wearing fudgesicle all over your face would dampen your spirits a bit, but not when you're holding the object of your heart's desire: a gadget! Nevermind that you'll never pry it open, you've got a gadget!!!

Teaching the Younger Generation How Not to Excel

The kids love to play computer games on a website called Webkinz. Kiki recently got very good at playing one of the games and received the following message:

Award Fail

Notice how the "Final Score" has "NaN" as the tally.  We think this stands for (sing-song voice) "nan,nan,nan,nan-nan!"
This note qualifies as passive-aggressive if you quote it with the emphasis on the word "not"--"Your score will NOT be submitted and your KInzCash will NOT be awarded. So there."

Mr. Grumpypant's Lullaby

 

"Mom, come, come quick!  Kiki's holding Shiloh like a baby and there's pretty music!"

A Perpetual List

Please check the following lists and see if I forgot anything.

Biggest annoyances of childhood:

Trying to open a pocket knife with a flimsy thumbnail

Catching the back of your heel on the screen door

Sticky popsicle juice and no place to wash your hands

Dud firecrackers

Balloons too hard to blow up

Gum that lost its flavor after 45 seconds

Hitting your teeth on a pop bottle

Bazooka comic strips that you couldn’t understand

Plain slush left in the bottom after sucking a slushy dry

Being last

Getting your hair caught in a closing window

Waxy crayons
That panicky feeling of not having a hiding place in hide-n-go-seek

Getting hit with an iceball in a snowball fight

Cats that slid out from under your petting hand

Dogs that knocked you down

The kid holding the hose and spraying everybody

Tasting baking cocoa and feeling betrayed

Grasshoppers that flew drunkenly into your face
Finding out your brother ate all the chips
Breathing in powdered sugar
Falling on your tailbone

Dodgeball

Biggest Annoyances of Adulthood
Customer service people that can't think outside the box
Waiting in line

Paperwork
Paper cuts
Dull potato peelers
Static cling
Losing the whole email you just composed
Stuck staples in a stapler
Low batteries
Weak flush toilets
Losing the cordless phone
Losing the tv remote
Waxy chap-stick
People who merge out of turn
How the smell of vanilla extract and its taste are polar opposites.
Clerks who act annoyed when helping you
Pens that won't write
Wearing socks and stepping in something wet
Recorded phone options when you need a live person
The copyright warning on dvds that you can't skip
A hair in the shower
Cats that slink out from under your petting hand
Finding out someone ate all the chips
Dodgeball

Guess What's Growing in the Backyard?

He had an inclination to plant seeds.  We were fresh out.  But then it hit me--we have wheat kernels. So we planted them and...wallah!

He's growing wheat grass.

Tristan got a haircut.
I wonder what's going on in that little noggin of his? Do we truly ever think of nothing? What did I think of when I was his age?
candy
candy
my turn
I get cherry
I get grape
not it
you're it
I'm telling
me first
no fair
just go
beat'cha

can I have one
wanna trade
look out
watch this
dibs
wait up
can I come
you're mean
can I play?
candy

It's got to be one of those.  Except that Tristan asks really deep questions out of the blue, so he could be thinking of something like he said last night, "Mom, how did God think of sounds? Like when you drop a glass and it goes chink, how did He think of that?"
Let's take another look......

 Neh, he's thinking of candy.

The downward bounce on the trampoline makes Greyson's face go down,

And Kiki's hair go up.

I'm playing with my camera. I like this lighting, but I think it's technically incorrect because there is not enough light on the face.  Is it a technique or a mistake?  Maybe this is why photographers carry a silver umbrella, to throw light on the face.  Dare I walk around with a silver umbrella?

Camera jockeys please inform.