Last Minute

Due to some technical difficulties Joy and her room mates lost their original Christmas pictures and asked me at the last minute to take one for them.  The first attempt was at night inside their house.  I'm not well versed in how to get the best pictures without natural light and the pictures showed it.  We decided to go for round two the next day but I had to bring the boys with me.  And how did Ford decide to keep himself busy?  

By rolling in the dirty, of course!  

And while Ford was doing that Kane spent his time either begging me to take his picture or instructing the girls on their poses.   

Hopefully these lovely ladies get their cards out in time!  

Music

Jed and I noticed at quite a young age that Seth seemed to, at best, tolerate and, at worst, dislike, all music.  While his older brother would get down to just about anything from Wiggles, to the Cops theme song, Seth sat stoic.  There was that one time that he let loose at a wedding, our jaws dropped as he made his way across the dance floor shaking his booty.  I assume it was the presence of an audience that inspired him as he returned to his Baptist ways the following day.  

Our commute to and from school the last two years gave me the opportunity to test out different songs on him. While nothing struck a cord for him, I discovered that Evan would listen to just about anything but really liked rock music and Kane, well unfortunately, he has an affinity for Britney Spears.  It's unclear how he even came across her music, let alone developed a taste for it, as I am prone to change the station with in a millisecond of one of her songs coming on, in general though he's a fan of  any kind of pop. Ford isn't picky, he dances to anything with a beat.  

So I went about my business assuming I had all my kids music preferences figured out.  Then Jed made a shocking confession, he had been listening to country music when I wasn't around!  I loved that we had always been on the same page, country was "the devil's music"!  I was pretty upset with him at first, what a betrayal, but I moved on to pity when I began to suspect he might be going deaf or insane.  Jed, though, quickly pushed me passed pity and into annoyed as he's been trying to convert me by listening to it when I'm around, not to mention exposing our children to the junk.  Sigh, and wouldn't you know it as I'm protesting, out of the corner of my eye I catch Seth jamming out. 

Of course, Seth, of course.  

Friends

I took pictures for some friends a couple weeks ago.  This was my first time taking pictures of people I'm not related to.. I was a little nervous.  I had a lot of fun though and I learned a lot!  

And as a bonus I had photogenic subjects!  

  

Our Ducks

The pond out back is home to quite a few birds.  The other day I lured the ducks over to our porch with a piece of bread, which may or may not have been illegal... but whatever.  They're a breed I had never seen before called, the Muscovy Duck.  Apparently they're considered pests here in Florida but so far we're enjoying them!   I really hope we have ducklings at some point but I haven't noticed any of the females nesting. Maybe in the spring?!

 

This is my favorite hen.   

 The one on the right in this picture is the male of the group.  

 He's kind of grumpy.  

Preschooler and Public Restroom Etiquette

Kane and I had to use the bathroom while at Lowes.  I put him on the potty and walked out of the stall to wait for him as a woman walked in.

Kane: (Afraid I was going to leave him, said in his most concerned voice.) "Mom, you can just wait for me right there at the sinks." 

Woman: "Bahaha!" (Laughing at Kane bossing me around, as she searches all the stalls for one with toilet paper.)

Me: "Ok Kane, go potty now."

Woman: "Ugh, finally one with paper!" (Walking into the stall next to Kane)

Kane: "Mom I can see those feet next to me."

Woman: (chuckling)

Me: "Hurry up and go potty sweetie."  

Kane: "Hi over there!  Whatcha doing?!" 

Woman: "Going potty, like you." (laughing)

Kane: "OH, ok!  Mom, I'm done!"

Me: "Thank goodness."  

I Wish We Had Elves

Unpacking is going SLOW!  This weekend we finally unpacked enough to make our house functional!  Quite the feat!  We still own our old house and need to get it ready to rent which takes the focus away from getting things set up here. Poor Jed has a laundry list a mile long of handyman projects to do both here and there!  I'm so thankful for such a capable and hard working husband, he's awesome!  

So forget Christmas elves I need some moving/unpacking/project doing/organizational, elves!  Instead I have these guys,

 "Mom, let me help you unpack!"

"I know the perfect place for this spice packet!"

"See!" 

Maybe Ford will be more helpful? 

"Who me? I was actually looking for something to make a mess with but, I guess, I could help."

"I know the perfect place for this package of shredded coconut."

 "Oh yeah, on my head!" 

 And its all fun and game until you get a chip clip stuck in your fro.  

Not exactly elves but entertaining none the less. 

Pregnancy and Moving

They don't go together!

After spending all afternoon Thursday cleaning I woke up yesterday sore and feeling almost as tired as when I went to bed the night before.  This is pathetic!  

I had hoped to get everything done but the kitchen was dirtier than I realized (Grease is disgusting!) and Ford was determined to traverse the stairs (my baby gate is currently buried behind a mountain of boxes in the garage).  

Most of the first floor has been cleaned and santized, I did end up throwing in the towel on the kitchen though.  I need something more powerful to cut through the grease. 

Evan vacuumed the upstairs while I took a breather.  I'm still waiting for my second trimester burst of energy to kick in...  so much for my dreams of painting before we moved our stuff in.

Even so we have a lot of work do this weekend if we want to be moved in by Monday morning and I really want to be moved in by Monday!  Goodbye 40 minute drive to and from school every morning and afternoon!

The kitchen.

The view of the backyard from our master bedroom.  We have a pond!  We're going to have a fence put up for safety reasons as soon as we can get someone out to do it.

The "mommy tub" as the boys call it.  This may or may not be what sold me on the house. 

My helpers!