GIRLS VS. BOYS

I don't want to wear this.
 I don't like it.
I know I picked it out myself.
But now I don't want to wear it.
Yes, I want to go to ballet class, but can I wear my swimsuit instead?
Why not, momma?
But I LOVE my swimsuit?!

Thirty seconds later:
I LOVE this outfit!
Don't I look pretty?
I'm a ballerina!
Did you know that I am a ballerina?
I know all my ballet positions!
Watch me!

You laid out a different outfit, but I will not wear it.
I want to wear this instead.
I don't care that I can't really run or jump or play in these boots.
I WILL WEAR THESE BOOTS.
And I WILL wear them on the wrong feet.
That's the way I like it.
If you try to convince me to put on running shoes, I WILL resort to violence.

I will pose sweetly for the camera, but if you ask me to actually
wear this nightgown to bed, then I will throw a tantrum
so dramatic that it could potentially qualify me for the insane asylum.
I need pants, momma.
I want to wear pants.
PANTS, momma!
I need pants NOW, momma!

Do you see how sweet I can be when I wear the pants that I want to wear, momma?

My butt itches.
I think I'll scratch it.
Ahhh, boys.

GROWING GRASS

What do you do when you get tired of your dirt yard?

And then when you are really tired of spending endless amounts of money on grass seed that never, ever sprouts a single blade of grass?

"Life's a garden, dig it." - Joe Dirt

When you get tired of your dirt yard, all you gotta do is leave work early
on a Friday afternoon to receive a shipment of sod that
won't even fit through the back gate because the delivery forklift was too wide.

You then scrape and scrape and scrape the dirt, then fertilize it, then throw the sod down as neatly as possible, then you water everything like crazy...  then water yourself like crazy because you are both dehydrated and happen to be covered head-to-toe in red Georgia clay - and you would frighten the kids when you go pick them up from school while looking like the scary orange mud monster.

Halfway through!
And I was really looking like a mud monster at this point.

It's starting to get there...

  

Walkway Before

Walkway After

Sha-zam! We've got grass now!
And even though we don't have to buy seed anymore,
who wants to help chip in on paying the water bill to keep this stuff alive?

Because ninjas will always tell you they prefer grass over dirt.

THE STREAK

We are still alive, I promise. 

I don't know what happened to the month of February - we blinked, and it was long gone.  It was quite the month for our little family, too - we flew up to Rhode Island for a surprise weekend visit to see Nana on her birthday, then came home to celebrate all things Valentine-sy at the kiddos school, then took Abbott in for his first under-the-anesthesia-style medical procedure:  a new shiny white set of ear tubes! (He's a brand new man now!)

The MOTH (Man of the House) has quite the busy travel schedule this month, which means this momma will have her running shoes laced up tight to chase around the munchkins all by herself for a while. I do hope to end our sad streak of sparse and sporadic postings, but I can't promise anything.

At the very least, I can show you a new streak we have going lately:

DON'T LOOK, ETHEL!
Here he comes! Boogity, Boogity!
There he goes!  Boogity, Boogity!
And he ain't wearin' no clothes!(Name that tune?)

Remind me sometime to tell you a funny story about his 15 month check-up, where he boldly flashed the nurse and performed quite the sassy dance after proudly displaying his new anatomical "discovery" to her.

Re-telling the story isn't complete without some physical re-enacting and lots of hand (and hip) motions included.