Mr. Artsy Photographer

Lately, RT has been disappearing for various lengths of time.  He will tell me that he is going to the UPS store to pick up packages (or check the UPS box) and he will be gone for hours.  The UPS store is located in our town.  Probably takes 5 minutes to get there, and there isn't a real long wait.  He then returns home like nothing happened.

His "UPS trips" are a combination trip to the UPS store and a trip to the arboretum.   At the arboretum, he drives around, sometimes stopping to take pictures.  On one visit, he jumped out of his car to get a shot and left his car in the middle of the road.  Some people were walking by, and stopped, watching him take his pictures, trying to be real quiet.  In the meantime, another car pulled up behind him.  RT was going to move his car, but, the guy said to go ahead and take his pictures.  The other driver then proceeds to look at the spot where RT was photographing.   (he was taking a picture of a stick)

We went as a family to the arboretum the other day, and he started chatting with the lady at the entrance.  I thought, great, they all know my crazy husband who drives around taking pictures of blades of grass in the breeze.  They probably have little signs out, "watch out for"  with a picture of RT.  He might even be their mascot.

So, I had to get some pictures of him on location.  I thought I would try and capture the moments on film to preserve forever, and, of course, for a good laugh.  Who knows, the arboretum might need extra pictures of their mascot.

At first I think he was taking a picture of the sign

photographing some moss

Probably pointing to the stick that he was photographing

I thought I would post a couple of his pictures, so you can see his work.  These are from this trip. 

The stick.  Cool picture.

And, the moss picture

not bad, huh?

RT was in his own little world, enjoying nature up close and personal. 

*My next post will be what was REALLY going on while we were taking our hike.

I Can't Cry Anymore

No one prepared me for all of the crying that I would experience with kids.  I don't mean me crying, I mean the child(ren) crying.  Alex was a HUGE cryer.  He didn't stop crying until he was 2.  Nick wasn't much of a cryer.  Wait, there was that stint of crying he did around 2 weeks old where he would cry from 7pm until 9pm.  That didn't last too long.    And now, it's Bella who cries.  And Cries.  And cries.  I didn't know a child could cry that much.  If you ask her why she's crying she will say that she "doesn't know why" and then continue to cry more.  That's when you know that she's tired.

Today was a REALLY BAD cry day.   The day that you just don't say anything because you know it will set the crying off.  Of course, this is something that you don't figure out until late afternoon, when she has been crying the majority of the day.  I do try to console her, I hug her and try to figure out why she is crying.  I love her to pieces!  This is just about the times where nothing I say or do will make her stop crying.  No amount of hugs or words of love will make it go away.  And, like I said, it's probably because she is tired.  A good night sleep and she is all happy again.  And, so am I.

No School

Apparently the school district feels the need to give the kids the day off.  This week they had two days off (Thursday and Friday).   This month they go to school 13 days.  That's ALOT of time off!

RT and I work out of the house.  When the phone rings, we need quiet.  Today all three were in the kitchen making a good amount of noise.  They have mastered how to annoy each other.  I quietly say to them, from the bottom of the stairs, "If you're going to irritate each other, please do it quietly!"  (That goes along with one of my other lines, "If you're going to kill each other please do it quietly.")

I went upstairs a few minutes later and realize that, even thought they were arguing/irritating, Nick was making lunch for all of them.  A happy moment for me.  They can fight, argue and irritate, but, they will still care for each other.   I have to enjoy those moments when I can, they don't come about too often.

Yes, it's only day two of a four day weekend.  We'll see how I am doing on Sunday.

Ambulance

Everytime I see a firetruck and ambulance on our block, I get a little scared.  We are surrounded by older people.  Yes, I know that I am old, but, I mean OLDER than me (yes, there are people out there who are older than I am).  As neighbors, we gather outside to see what's going on.  Talking about how we just saw them the other day, they looked fine.

Today I was standing at the bus stop with Bella and noticed the firetruck by a house (about 4 houses down).  I don't usually see these people outside at all.  I don't think they EVER leave their house.  As I was waiting with Bella for the bus (that never came, by the way) I saw my neighbor stroll down there and talk to the firemen.  He then walked over to say "hi."  I asked if everything there was ok, he replied, "They smelled something funny so they called the fire department to check it out."  The firemen couldn't figure out the odor (they did various tests) so, they left.  All that worrying for an odor problem.

Makes you wonder what the weird smell is and why is it in their house?  Then again, maybe I don't want to know the answer.    

Firefly, Firefly

Alex has been taking piano lessons.  He has been practicing and practicing.  Of course, it is the same song over and over again.  (guess what song we all have going through our heads!?)   Yes, the song has words.

He is very proud to play this song for you.
*  Please note:  he is in his pajamas

Incase you want to sing along:

Firefly, Firefly
Lighting up the evening sky,
As you fly your tiny light
will shine through the night.

Firefly, Firefly,
you make lightning in the sky.
First you're here, then you're there,
twinkling everywhere.

*have any of these songs stuck in your head?  If not, I'm working on it.  I know one of these days one of the songs I refer to will get you to sing along!

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Isn't he the cutest?

He still lets me sing Happy Birthday to him first thing in the morning!  I have a couple of pictures, but, I don't think you want to see those.

He wanted red velvet cupcakes (yum!).  Good thing I had some icing leftover from the other day!  I made the cupcakes and decided to take a walk with Bella and Newton (it was beautiful yesterday!).  So, I left a little note to answer any questions while I was gone.

That's to the question, "Can I have one?"  Yes, I know exactly what question will be asked.  Alex said that he thought it was funny.

Here's the updated version of the original picture.

Unfortunately, Alex is in this stage of keeping his eyes closed when taking a picture

I took several and he intentionally closed his eyes, so, I picked one

Happy Birthday, Alex!

My Birthday

Yes, I had a birthday last week.  SHOCKING, I know. 

I decided to make my own birthday cupcakes (red velvet cupcakes)  RT did offer to make a cake for me, but, I had my heart set on the cupcakes, and, seeing that it was home made and not out of a box, it might have been a bit much for him because he wasn't feeling well. 

my home made frosting

tastes good, too!

I got some lovely flowers

I took a walk with my 3 kids

and this is the only picture I got

And, I got to take a couple of pictures with them

and of course, Newton!

It was a fun day!