Budding Barbers

So yesterday I was being a fun mommy. (Not that that's unusual, just I let my "you-can't-do-that-because-it'll-create-a-mess-that-I-have-to-clean-up" mommy take the back burner for the day. Remind me not to do that again.) I was cleaning up the house, and because the boys wanted to build a fort, I decided to help. So I brought the chairs from the dining room table into the living room, and with blankets I helped them build a fort. I remember doing that as a kid and how cool it was. So I felt like a cool mommy for doing it. Then while the boys played in the fort, I did dishes and laundry.

Next thing I hear hushing and "Don't let Mommy see". "Uh-oh." is my first thought, so I walk into the living room to stop whatever behavior is going on.

Too Late.

Hiding in the fort were two boys, scissors, and chunks of hair on the carpet. Ugh.

So I decided I would cry. I'm not really a cry-er, but I figured it would help them not want to cut their hair again, if they saw it made me cry, and well, it wasn't that hard to push the emotions to the surface.

So here are the pictures. I think you can tell which little boy was the barber.
They got their clothes too.

I was able to not kill them, here is the proof they survived a little longer anyway. I probably scarred them for life, because I kept telling them that now they had ugly hair. (Scare tactics, I'm not above using them.) So Alex didn't want to smile for the pictures because he said he didn't like his new ugly hair.

Well then, you shouldn't have played with Mommy's scissors.
Of course, now he likes how fuzzy his head feels. So maybe I didn't scar him for life, but hopefully I scared him enough not to do it again.

All I have to say is, I am ever so thankful that Autumn was napping in her crib. Her hair is just now starting to grow in, and surprisingly, she now has more hair than her brothers.

Laner Boo!!

This week Tony gets to come home for a full 2.5 days to visit for Alex's 5th birthday! Also, we get to have Lane visit us for a few days as well, and came today! Nikki (Tony's sister, and Lane's mom) drove straight up from Texas overnight, took a nap and drove back. She had to be back to work. But we are glad to have Lane here for a visit.Already the day has been filled with fun boyness! Earlier today, I watched two kids for a friend of mine, while she took her oldest to the doctor. The kids decided it would be fun to build houses out of books on the living room floor.We had a whole neighborhood of book houses! Alex even asked if Anthony wanted to live next to him. Lane made sure each house had an occupant, although I probably wouldn't have chosen to have a race car living in MY living room, it sure made sense to him!
Then after the kids left and Aunt Nikki was on her way home, Alex pulled out his super hero costumes. He was Captain America, (mostly Captain Alex because A stands for Alex) and Lane was batman. After costumes were donned, Lane exclaims, "I can be your psychic!" I think he meant sidekick! Tehehehe!

This is gonna be fun :)

On the Road Again...

So I've been rather absent from the bloggity world for a bit, because my oh-so-awesome husband came home Father's Day weekend for good....or so we thought.
Anyway, we have been enjoying being together as a family again! He's been playing with the kids, working in his garage, fixing things around the house, and enjoying some much needed cuddling, but I let the kids get their turns too! (hehe)
Autumn, I think was waiting til he was home to make her walking debut. Although she has taken a timid step here and there, it wasn't until this weekend that she started taking several at a time, getting so excited that the flapping of her arms causes her to lose balance and plop down on her diaper padded bum. She is such a sweet baby!
The first full weekend he was home, we got to go on a date and played in a dodgeball tournament (that benefited the Bishop Sullivan Center in Kansas City), and went to the races at I-35 Speedway. Then the next day he got to watch me in all my pure awesome glory as I roller derby-d my butt off! I was the second highest point scorer for the entire game, and the highest scorer for my team. We lost by 6 points, but it was such a great game, that it didn't feel like we lost. Tony's aunt and cousins came to watch and it was super cool to see them, and that they were willing to drive almost 3 hours to watch me knock other women down!
Independence Day weekend was fun as well! Tony and I went on a date to the races at Lakeside Speedway Friday, and got to see a firework show afterward. Saturday we went to a pancake breakfast get together that was so pleasant, and I'm glad I actually got up and went. Later that day was a bbq at Nana's and then a firework show at Lake Viking. Sunday, despite all the rain, we managed to get all the sparklers, roman candles, bottle rockets and parachute-men fireworks lit, while the boys acted like little pyro addicts wanting more, more, more!
We have thoroughly been enjoying having him home. This next week he flies back out though. Monday he goes back to the east coast to fix something that his company decided wasn't how they wanted it done. Boo. He has been home for a nice long break, and this time around he'll be gone, probably no more than a total of two months. Again, it is a blessing. Even though we paid off massive amounts of debt, there are other things that this will enable us to get taken care of. We are thankful for this opportunity and for the strength Heavenly Father gives me to survive it! We are also grateful that it won't last forever! :)

Runny Babbit!

My little love bunny has finally braved her fear of walking without holding onto things.
She took a step Sunday afternoon, and then again while I was chatting with Tony on the phone, she took 3!!
She has been standing by herself for a little while now. It was odd sometimes, I'd walk around a corner and there she would be standing in the middle of the room. If you tried to get her to stand after letting go of your finger, she wouldn't have it. Had to be on her terms and she would slowly squat back down when she'd have enough. But the idea of walking, no no no! It took me forever to get her to even take a step holding onto my fingers. Lately she has been happy to walk around holding onto my legs as I walk, (more like clinging for dear life!) or holding my fingers, but it had to be both hands, none of that one handed stuff!
NOW....it won't be long before she's keeping up with the boys!
Pray for me!

I"m No Longer Your Prisoner!!!!

As of today, Tony and I are credit card debt FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Yup, no longer a slave or prisoner to that ball and chain of credit card debt.
I did have to rob our savings account to make it happen today, but I figured it wasn't worth earning small interest on that money when I was paying bigger interest on the last and final credit card. So it's done, and I feel like throwing a party!
Now I have to start saving money back into the savings account (it's our escrow account and what we use to pay taxes at the end of the year, and auto insurance throughout the year) and also save money to buy a mini-van. Yes, I'm finally giving in and am willing to be a mini-van mom. UGH!

Bath Time Babies

The kids were playing in the bathtub and I just couldn't resist, so I took pictures! Such posers.

Cuties in the Strawberry Patch

Friday I had the opportunity to take the kids to pick some strawberries. A friend of my momma had picked all they could stand and offered to her to come get some. She called me and asked if I'd like to go pick strawberries and she'd teach me how to turn them into her yummy oh-so-delicious jam! "Done deal," I said!
So I gathered up the kiddos and went to pick away! Autumn tried picking them herself, but was not very thrilled when she ended up eating a green one or two. So she decided to eat from the bucket! She was so so messy, but she got really mad when I put the bucket out of her reach!
The boys were happy to help, til they got the green light to jump on the trampoline! Then they were offered popsicles, which Alex said made it the best day of "his life!"
So mostly it was me picking and Autumn devouring, but it was fun. I came away with a 4 gallon bucket full, but I was told that I left too many ripe ones and that I hadn't picked enough! Guess I'll have to go pick more.
By the way Mom, remember you promised!

No this is not Anthony in pink, but boy do they look alike!

Gotta love little kid conversations!!!

Reader Beware. Following Story contains anatomically correct terminology for sexual organs.

So I've decided roller derby practice once a week is not cutting it for getting into the shape I'd like to be in...which is, not round. I sought out a good deal on some good running shoes, a willing person to watch the kids while I went running and finally picked a day to start.

I figured it would be a good energy burning time for Alex to ride his bike along with me, while I ran. I knew I was out of shape enough it would be I trying to keep up with him, not the other way around.

So we set out.

We got a block before my butt started hurting from all the jiggling it was doing as it bounced around trying to keep up with my legs. *sigh* So I slowed down to a walk and Alex turned around and said. "Mommy why you stopping?" My reply, was honest, "My butt hurts Alex." He stopped his bike and looked very sympathetic at me, "Oh. It's ok Mommy, my penis hurts."

(I decided, way back when Alex was intent on holding onto his penis for dear life during diaper changes, that I would teach my children correct terms for their body parts. Only within the last year has he learned what girls' have, mostly because he kept saying that mommy didn't have a penis, just a big butt!)

Well I chuckled slightly at his way of being sympathetic with me. Then he asked me, "Mommy does your penis hurt?" I had to correct him, "No Alex, I don't have a penis, remember?" A look of understanding and sudden recollection rolled across his face as he stated, "Oh, that's right, you have a retainer!!"

Priceless.

Took everything I had not to bust out in donkey peels of laughter. With a herculean effort, I managed to compose my face and voice with a simple reply, "No Alex, I have a vagina. My retainer is for my teeth."

"Oh, that's right," he said.
Gotta love kids.

Let Me Show You My MUSCLES!!!

Last night Alex told me that he wanted to show Daddy his muscles. Since Daddy is in New York, he told me I had to send a video. Me being me, thought, "Why not just a picture, but ok, I'll humor you and take a video." Well, I took the video and laughter ensued. It's too funny not to share. Here ya go!




Since Anthony decided that showing your "muscles" was cool, he had to do it too!! I love my boys!

Slack-a-Lackin

So for anyone who actually stalks my blog, I apologize. I've had time, really I have.....but I have had my mind on other things.
This weekend Tony was home for a whopping 5 days!!! It was stupendous! We went to a movie, a car show, a wedding, a roller derby game, the farm, and spent lots of time enjoying having him home.
When he left, everyone was sad. The great news is, this will probably be the last time he leaves. Next time he comes home it will probably be because he is done doing this on the road thingy. Big smiles all around. Not to mention the $20,000 in unsecured debt we have been able to pay off, WHILE I was being a stay-at-home-mom!
So let me sum up our weekend. :D
We had to run some motor parts up to Savannah to Tony's machinist guy for his race car motor. Tony will most likely not be racing this year, (since he won't get much racing in by the time he's back) but he is making sure everything is in order for next season. Then we stopped in St Joseph to take the kids to see that new dragon movie. Cute movie, although I thought for sure they would have it in 3D there, and how cool would that have been?! Alas, no 3D. It was still enjoyed by us and the boys and Autumn was happy to chow down on the bottomless bucket of popcorn.
The next day we spent most the morning hanging out inside, thanks to the lovely rain. That evening though, Tony and I went to a car show in Kansas City called Gear Grinders. Mostly we went because I needed to get in some event attendance for my roller derby league, and thought it would be a cool date thingy for Tony and I. So he walked around and looked at cars while I skated around in my derby gear and annoyed people with fliers trying to convince them to come to our game! It was a nice evening, just us, as us.
Sat we went and bought Tony a new weed-eater/whacker/whatever-ya-call-it and came home to do some yard work. First time the yard has been weed-whacked since last spring-ish! Then went to one of our friends wedding and reception. It was a nice wedding and it's always interesting to see how different people do things. She looked lovely, and guys in tuxes are always a nice sight...well except the one who really needed a hair cut, but anyway. Afterwords was the reception and we didn't stay long, because we had the kiddos, and besides them getting restless and people breaking out the adult beverages, it was bed time!
The next day we went out to the farm and pulled soaked straw bales out of our burn ravine and loaded them into the back of the truck. We then hauled them up by our pond and, using the four-wheeler we took them to the outlet/overflow area to create a damn. See our pond is super shallow, but has quite a shelf to allow for more depth, just the overflow area is too low So we blocked it and hopefully it will work! Let me tell you, the lifting of those soaked suckers, was not fun! They were sooooo heavy and we had to load them into the truck, out of the truck, and off the four-wheeler, and walk them several feet to their final destination. Whew! Then we came home and cleaned up from the yucky-ness of the bales and bathed everyone to avoid tick-chigger-poison ivy fun-ness. Seems like it worked anyway! Then I got all glammed up and Tony and I went to my roller derby game. I had a BLAST! We were short jammers (ie point scorers) for my team due to injuries, so I had to skate my butt off! Boy was I sore the next day! I skated a lot and had a lot of people telling my how awesome I did. Personally I was just having fun and don't know how awesome or not awesome I was. But we won!!! So that was fun! Tony and I even went to the after party for a little bit so he got a chance to mingle with some of my fellow derby girls! I'm glad he got a chance to get to know some of the women I talk about frequently.
Monday was D-day. So we hung out as a family and Tony marveled at how much the kids are changing. Alex is becoming a Daddy's boy, (shocker I know!), Anthony is an oh-so-adorable little stink-butt, and Autumn is the sweetest little charmer who is on the go-go-go! I tell you what, she didn't have to flash that smile but once, and Tony was wrapped around her finger!
I love my family! I have days when the kids make messes, or are too whiny for me to handle, with any shred of sanity. I also have days when I can't hug, squeeze, smooch, and tell them that I love them enough! Tony is a wonderful husband, father and provider! I know I whine that he's gone a lot, but I know he has it hard too. Being away from his kids, for almost 6 months with only a few visits in between, can't be easy. I love him, and boy do I miss him! The financial blessings have been awesome, but I'm sure glad it's almost over! One more month honey! I love you.

Ape-Walker

Autumn is getting much better at crawling. Before I would walk out of a room and do something, and come back and she might be at the edge of the room I just left her in, depending on how long I took. Now I walk back and she is halfway or most of the way through the next room.

Progress.

Of course most children get faster at crawling as they get more practice. The amusing thing about Autumn is that the second room is hardwood flooring (well Pergo fun stuff really) and she
hates crawling on it because it hurts her knees.
So she ape-walks. Literally. Hands and feet, not hands and knees. Mind you, the progress is interesting to me, because before, she would whine and holler at me the whole time she ape-crawled/walked.

I always knew she was coming and had gotten to the harder flooring cuz she was so dang vocal about it. I'm not sure if it was, "This-takes-me-forever,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry or a "This-really-hurts,-how-dare-you-make-me-suffer,-come-pick-me-up-Mommy!"-cry. Either way, I rarely did. I know, bad mommy that I am. But mostly I was walking away to deal with my mischievous boys, or mundane household duties, both meaning I couldn't pick her up right away.

Well now, I'm frequently caught off-guard when I walk back through a room, because suddenly she is there at the doorway to the third room, or halfway through the second, and she didn't fuss, cry, whine, or holler at me to come get her. It's like she had bells on her toes before, and somehow she figured out how to silence them now. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of upset noises, just different.

This it gonna take some getting used to. I will especially need to take care walking through the house with a full basket of laundry. Stepping on her will make her holler at me again for sure!

At the Park

When I was working on my last post, something was not working right. Either the internet, or the blog site, or my computer, or me....but I wasn't able to post all I wanted to post. So here is the park escapade from our Easter weekend!

First off, I started taking pictures of Anthony going down the slide, because he is just so dang stinking cute!!
Then of course I had to include Alex on the photo fun!
Which then led me to capturing a smile from the most handsome of my three Manley Men!
And I can't leave out the Princess of All Our Hearts!! Since she is such a charmer, getting a picture of only her is a tough chore...so why fight fate? Here is Autumn with some of her adoring fans! (:

This last on, you might wonder where Anthony was. He was too busy going down the slide to be bothered with a sister. (: But shortly after this picture was taken, Alex had to use the park restrooms, and Tony took him. Anthony of course, being the entrepreneurial boy he is, decided the moment was ripe to sneak some of Daddy's pop.


And of course after having sneaked a drink once, he did it again and again, and even then after he had drank the rest while Daddy was busy loving on Autumn, he started in on the ice!
All in all, not only was it a lovely day for the park, but it was a lovely family day, pop stealing and all!

A Great Weekend!

It's been a while, I know, mostly I've been wallowing in my own self pity that my husband was gone and wouldn't be home for six whole stinking weeks. Ugh. But this weekend the pity party came to and end and Tony came home for 3 days! 3 glorious days!
So I picked Tony up at midnight Thurs night and took him back at 5 am Mon morning. Blah. This is what we did in between!!!
Friday, while that storm blew through, (it was crazy!!) Tony was out in the garage working on a motor that we then drove to the Smithville area to swap with his friend. His friend didn't have his motor out of his race car yet, so Tony, Craig, and Ryan (said friends, twin friends that Alex mixes up all the time, hehe) pulled it out while the kiddies and I entertained ourselves. Autumn was quite excited with their dogs, especially one named Jersey. All she wanted to do was sit with the dog. All the boys wanted to do was watch cartoons on their massive TV and/or wander outside and stare longingly at the pond and four wheelers. Then we headed to St Joseph. While we waited to meet Amber and Mark to get Alex's bike (which I forgot there while I was there tending their children while they were in D.C. for a week) we got some play time in at the McD's Play Place, which wore the kids out, as was the plan! We headed home, and enjoyed dinner as a family for the first time in what seemed like forever!

Saturday we enjoyed the beautiful weather, picked up the yard, gathered all the straw bales along the house, (we used them to help insulate the north side of our house for the winter) took them to our farm, went for a walk around our pond (which we realized is super shallow) and then headed to Cameron to buy a used trampoline. We took it home and set it up! Alex and Anthony were so excited! It was perfect timing too, because our neighbor had a trampoline that Alex got to jump on now and then, but the super windy storm the day before had snapped the frame on it. Plus Anthony can jump on ours, whereas before he didn't get to at the neighbors. Then we went out to dinner with friends to celebrate Craig and Ryans' birthday, and headed to a country western club. I tried to do some line dancing (which would be a blast if I didn't feel like such an idiot being the only one who didn't know the dances!) and Tony played pool. We both had a lot of fun!

Our final day of together time, we spent almost completely outside. Anthony, Autumn, and I have the sunburns to prove it. Thankfully Autumn and I only got slight pinkness and no discomfort, but Anthony got some pretty red cheeks going! We played in the yard and puttered around til it was time to go to the Shatto Dairy for an Easter Egg Hunt.There we got to see calfs, (one was just 24 hours old!) and although the hunt was pretty brief (lots of kids there and Alex and Anthony each got only 3 eggs) is was just so nice to be outside and to have Tony there! Then we made a trip to St Joseph to get something for Tony from a friend and decided to go to the park. It was such a great day for it too! While there, I shamelessly shot pics, including Anthony sneaking drinks of Tony's pop (Anthony just loves pop), and the kids playing on the park equipment. Of course it was a beautiful day for grilling, so we went home and grilled out! Alex wanted to have a picnic, so we laid out a blanket in the backyard and enjoyed the good eats!
All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable weekend. It was so nice to be together as a family, to enjoy the beautiful weather, and to be able to get some things done as well as some fun too!!

Autumn the Mighty

Ok so, Autumn has gotten frustrated with having her belly on the floor all the time. But she hadn't quite figured out how to get up on her hands and knees. So she got inventive. . . .

Autumn does push-ups!!! A few time she has done a push-up and then lunged forward, but mostly she does this when she is mad that she's still on the floor. This was taken last week, (I know, I'm slow to post) and now she can get up on her hands and knees. Mostly she does a push-up, then pulls one knee in, then the other. No forward motion yet. She turns herself around in circles, and backs herself into furniture and corners, which really offends her! She is really eager to catch up to her brothers! I'm not allowed to put her on her back without a piercing scream of disapproval, she hates to lay on her back, because then she isn't up like everyone else!
I took this picture on my phone and was showing some of my derby girls, and got some interesting comments. One girl told me I better run if she starts doing one-arm push-ups! The other told me it would make for some awesome commercials to promote breastfeeding..."Look what breastmilk can do for your baby!!!" Of course they all felt it meant she was gonna be one awesome derby girl when she grows up!
I love this little girl SO much! She has such a sweetness to her! Her smile is very contagious and rewarding! On the other hand she is very ambitious and I'm sure will be the ruler of her brothers! Alex is smitten and always wants to cuddle, hold, or show her off. Anthony is SUPER protective! Non-family members are not allowed to look at or touch her without his approval, otherwise he'll tell you, "My sister!"
As protective as her brothers are, any future boys will not only have to get past them AND her father, but will have to be able to keep up with her as well! I have a feeling she will be a force to be reckoned with all on her own!

Monsters...

No I'm not referring to my children as monsters...well not today anyway. (: I'm referring to their funny way they deal with the "monsters".
The other night, Anthony came downstairs crying because he had a nightmare about monsters. As I put him back to bed after some cuddling and convincing that bad monsters are not allowed in our house, Alex woke up briefly asking what was wrong with Anthony. I told him he'd had a bad dream about monsters.
The next day the boys wanted to dress up in their costumes. After I got them all decked out, they told me they had to get the bad monsters that had scared Anthony. I know this must have been Alex's idea, and it was a pretty cool big brother thing to do. They spent probably about 45 min taking turns getting the bad monsters. Anthony slept soundly that night. (:
Yesterday Alex and Anthony were chasing after each other and crawling on the floor while growling. I asked him if he was being a tiger or a scary monster. Alex said, "No, today I'm just a sea monster." Anthony said, "Yeah, monster." So funny.
So one day they are killing the monsters, the next day they ARE the monsters, and yes, some days I agree.

The Day After...

So Tony has come and gone. I was glad to have him home, it was a nice birthday present. I made sure the house was tidy, and thanks to my mother helping me thoroughly cleaning back in January, it was pretty easy to make the house look decent. I made sure to have some meals planned that Tony likes, and the groceries in the house for those meals. I made sure all the laundry was caught up, and the dishes, etc. Then I sat back and enjoyed his company while he was here for a few days.
He left Wednesday afternoon and the house has become a place of crazy children! I swear these kids go insane for a day or two right after he leaves. Like they are mad at me for making him go, so they make all the messes they can manage! Besides the dishes that covers my counters and the laundry that needs caught up (cuz I didn't do any while Tony was here) I'll give you the list...so far anyway, because we are only halfway through day two.Last night Alex clogged and flooded the toilet after using it. (Only this morning did he confess that he put too much toilet paper in the toilet.) So last night I got to clean up yucky post-use toilet water. Which meant I had to wash the bathroom mats, mop the floor, and wipe down the toilet. Alex and Anthony both cleared out both toy baskets and have them scattered EVERYWHERE! I mean literally I can't walk more than three steps without having to step over toys. Anthony pulled ALL the books off the bookshelf while I was on the phone. They took the sheet of Anthony's bed and pulled the mattress off and were slid down the stairs with it. Alex tossed a handfull of papers down the stairs while I was putting Autumn to sleep (who I now have to feed in a quite room, just me and her, or she wears her milk). To top it off, I need to go grocery shopping, which is oh so fun with three little ones in tow.So now, not only am I wanting to hole up in my bedroom out of self-pity because I'm without my husband for another month, but I have to face the music and clean this crazy house and be the enemy to my kids while I punish them for doing things I told them not to do in the first place. I know I'm no fun, they tell me all the time.All in all, I survive though, cuz these little rascals really are funny and crack me up. They keep me going, without them I would be.....on vacation with Tony! Just kidding (:

Roller Derby at It's Finest

So Sunday was my birthday. I turned a big 28. Sunday was also the day Tony got to fly home for a few days to visit before going back east to work, work, work. The most awesome thing about Sunday was it was my very first time in a roller derby game!
Yes I know, not a very sabbath activity for the Sabbath Day, but I rationalized away and participated. I just couldn't resign my team to being short a jammer for their first game ever! Plus, it was on my birthday! What better way to celebrate my own birthday than to do something I'm obsessed with?!
So we started out behind by quite a bit in the first quarter, but by the second quarter we pulled ahead. Finally by the end of the game my team seized a win of 117 to 95! Totally awesome I might add. I did some jamming, some blocking, was even a pivot a couple times, and there of course were several times of getting knocked down and into walls. Tony was on the side-lines watching (hopefully cheering me on) with Alex in tow. Thankfully he didn't ask me to quite after he saw all my spills and slams!
Honestly, the whole game now is a bit of a blur. I scored some points on some jams, dominated points on other jams, and totally didn't even make points a few times too! Boy do I remember how exciting it was, even though I started out really nervous, I loved every minute of it!
For all of you who didn't dare brave the roads due to the nasty weather (which I don't blame any of you, they were pretty nasty!) here are some pictures of me with my new love!

This is me trying to block the other teams jammer.

Coming around trying to score,
but you see that girl in green at the front,
yeah, she took me out!

Taking a cool down minute before getting back out there.

Yes that is me just one second from sandwiching a girl into the wall,
my fellow teammate (the one on the floor) helped take her out,
and yes the girl I sandwiched was the one who took me out earlier.
Revenge is lovely!

Half-time break.

A Worthy Oppenant / Subject

Once again, Alex used his camera sonar and found the camera. This time it was in my jewelry box on top of my dresser. How he got it I really don't know. So I found the camera on the living room floor as I was picking up the lifetime supply of hot wheels cars, and knew instantly how it got there. So I turned it on, and low and behold... Alex photography! Imagine that! Enough sarcasm, sorry.
Now let me explain why all of these pictures happen to be of Anthony. Just like most siblings, Alex and Anthony have a love-hate relationship.
Alex hates him when Anthony whoops up on him, which happens more than you'd think. Anthony is a tough little brute, and he hits hard! Not only that but he's a bit of a klutz and frequently hurts people out of pure clumsiness, and wholly on accident. He also is so used to bumping into things and falling so when Alex tries to inflict punishment or revenge for some hideous injustice on Anthony's part, it doesn't phase him enough, at least not enough to keep him from retaliating. Which sends Alex crying to me. I'm never really sure who starts it, but Anthony frequently finishes it. Alex loves Anthony because he makes such a great Alex follower. Alex is definitely your typical Alpha-male. He is very used to being the boss with other kids, and I frequently have to remind him that he's not the boss of me. Think, "Mommy do I need to spank your butt for making me sad?" Seriously. Anthony of course is more than happy to do as Alex says, because most moments he thinks Alex is pretty fun. Whatever Alex wants to play, Anthony is more than willing to go along with it. If Alex wants to do something mischievous, Anthony is right there too! If Alex knows he'll get in trouble for it, he has Anthony do it. Frequently I'll ask Alex to do something, he'll then walk out of the room and have Anthony do it for him. Most common thing is sending Anthony to ask me or tell me something. Hence the love of his little constant companion/buddy/follower/minion.This morning Alex was unhappy because Anthony wasn't doing what Alex told him to. This happened to be Anthony giving up his toy to Alex. Anthony wouldn't have it. So Alex came to me and told me he didn't want to play with Anthony anymore and to tell Anthony to leave him alone. Funny how Alex doesn't like it when Anthony stands up for himself. It's a good thing they forgive and forget so easily. It's a good thing Anthony is such a good sport about it all.Anthony also quite enjoys posing for the camera and getting his picture taken, so as you can see he was quite happy to perform for Alex as Alex clicked away. Most of these pictures are of Anthony racing a truck through the house, which, besides doing what Alex wants, is his favorite thing to do.

Accomplices

Last weekend the Amber and Mark Galbraith clan stayed the night at the Manley house, so that I could be at Domino's at 1:30am and not be leaving my kiddos at home alone.

Well Alex and Yvy are crony buddies. As it was getting closer to bed time Saturday night, Yvette was looking for her bag with her pajamas in it. She found it, but decided it was near to a Herculean feat to try and get the pj's from the bottom of it. So Alex volunteered to share his.

Next thing we know, Alex and Yvy are running around in Alex pj's and look very matching and cute. Of course, I made them pose for the camera, and of course Amber was coaxing me on.

Alex and Yvette were more than willing to give my their cheesiest of grins, and show how goofy they could be. It took a couple of tries, since as soon as they heard the camera beep, they wanted to see their pictures. Definitely kids of the technology age. Definitely cute little cronies.