Reason 8,201,210…

Why Mason absolutely MUST find a rich girl to marry him:
As we were getting in the car after school yesterday, I found a stray hair clip left behind by a cousin. So I did what I had to do: I clipped it in Mason’s hair on top of his head as he was climbing aboard. And a solid 3 minutes later, this is what Mason says:

Hey, look at my head. Averie must have left this in my hair the last time she was over.
A logical explanation if it hadn’t been several days and a bath since the two were last spotted together…
Is common sense and logical thinking something they teach in Kindergarten?

*I hope rich girls like boys who fill their faces with stick-on sequins…

Holy crap, that’s a coyote!

Just hanging out in our rose bushes. What you don’t see is the one it’s talking to just across the creek. Hoping they stick to eating the bunnies and not my dog. Or kids. Unless the kids are whining or fighting…

Not napping.

Just throwing a fit. Right on schedule for turning two.

This pretty little princess doesn’t like it when she doesn’t get EXACTLY what she wants. It makes her sad. And by sad, I mean she spirals in to a fit of rage. Sigh.

Case in point:
Camryn: Suckee? (her way of saying sucker)
Me: No. You are not having a sucker, it’s 6:15 in the morning. How did you get out of bed anyways? Are you possessed?
Camryn: [Dramatically] Wwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy? [Followed up with throwing her head in to her hands and peaking through very spread fingers to see if I care that she is dramatically asking “Why?”]
And when she sees that I don’t care, she takes off running and face plants herself into what is always the dirtiest piece of floor she can find. Today it was the mudroom entry rug. Ick!

Her fits spin her in literal circles across the floor—sometimes across the room—and end about 30 seconds later when she forgets that she was mad and something shiny distracts her. Teenage years are shaping up to be a blast…

Lego Land

We headed out to Lego Land a couple of weekends ago and the boys, who have become Lego freaks in the past several months, have not stopped talking about it. In fact, they have constructed all of their Legos into a “Lego Land City,” and are reenacting all of the fun they had. I thought the experience was, eh, ok. But they have told me that it “was more fun than Disney World.” And now that I know that we will stop aiming for the stars when it comes to entertaining our children!

[Jacob and Cousin Evy on one of the “rides” at Lego Land. Still trying to figure out how this trumps Disney!]

Speaking of basketball…

The Hawkeyes played at Northwestern a couple weeks back, so we went to the game with our neighborhood Hawkeye friends. The boys had an amazing time… for about the first 15 minutes. But by then the popcorn had been eaten, the drinks were dry, and the promised ice cream treats were still two quarters away from happening. (Wait, is it halves or quarters? Clearly not my sport.) Glad the kiddos were able to attend their first collegiate game, but thinking next time we will save ourselves the price of their tickets and spend it on a babysitter so that we can do more than just shuffle kids to and from the bathroom for two hours!

[Jacob was there. Just not there for the picture. See above for possible explanations…]

Basketball Busy

Mason wrapped up his basketball season last Saturday, and I was able to catch ALL of his famous moves on film.

[This is how Mason typically ran from one end of the court to the other: It started in a slow-paced walk that followed the lines on the court, turned into a frantic sideways gallop, and always ended with a couple swings around the basket pole.]

[To intimidate the competition, Mason would dance. The three elements always included: some sort of robotic routine (Figure A), a wind milling of the arms (excuse me, of the propellers) (Figure B), and a very fast 3/4 rotation spin move (Figure C). Exposing belly skin, optional (Figure D).]
 
[He did some serious blocking and guarding out on the court. It typically looked more like moose antlers on top of his head than the traditional arms-up that our culture is accustomed to.]

[His dribbling may have been his best talent. It always started out strong—as in bounce the ball over the head strong—but would quickly fizzle out to rolling on the ground (the ball, although maybe Mason, too). At some point during dribbling, Mason would look like a hunched over old man that was looking for a cane. I think he may have even placed his free hand on his back as if to emphasize the old-manness of his dribbling.]
If it weren’t for the million calories we burnt laughing at our infamous Dusty Mason out on the court, I would say this was a total bust. Maybe this kid would be better suited for cross-country. Or the circus…

Miss Piggie

Camryn’s hair is long enough for pigtails, and pigtails it is!

This little lady has worn her hair up just one other time, but after Caleb’s urging that “she has to get used to having her hair up,” it was game on. We conned her into the idea by asking her if she wanted “Peppa Piggies” in her hair. And then followed-up with You Tubing Peppa Pig cartoons on Caleb’s phone while I clumped her hair up into pigtails. Many tears later (by Camryn, not us), I had her hair pulled back in to very lopsided pigtails. They lasted for roughly 30 minutes before the bands slid out of her extremely fine hair only to never be seen again (the bands, not her hair!). The next day while Caleb was at work, I asked Camryn if she wanted me to put "Peppa Piggies” in her hair. Camryn’s response, “No. Daddy do.” A smart response by a girl who clearly knew that request was impossible!

Piggies went back in the hair today with only a quick tear during and several “ooohhhhh, piggies” afterward. I think we are breaking her in (or down!).