On the 3rd day of Blogity: Family Portrait

There's more to blogging than meets the eye. You have to choose your flavor. Some focus on a specific topic of interest...you may not even know if the writer is male or female. Some chronicle day-to-day activities. That's tricky, you have to write pretty well to entice browsers to keep reading. I really never meant Blogity to be either of those. It falls somewhere between a J. Peterman catalog and an Erma Bombeck book, mostly having to do with my many interests. Truly, one of the reasons why I only get around to a couple posts a month is that most of my time is spent taking care of my family. Inevitably, if I'm going to make a commitment to writing every day for 12 days then I've acknowledged it's time to let my guard down....because pithiness is only effective in moderation. That said, I consider the fact that my kids might read Blogity someday. Maybe sooner than later since they are both getting iMacs for Christmas! Save for this little glimpse, I will likely continue to not to bring them up here often.

So, I'm admittedly unsentimental. I think school photos are the most horrible representation of a child. Same thing with department store family portraits, and I buy neither. I'm totally content with taking a few snapshots every now and then, and stashing them away on the hard drive or in a box somewhere. I may be crafty, but can say with confidence that I will never EVER scrapbook. We couldn't, however, pass up the opportunity to have Michelle of Green Wall Studio take some candid family portraits. She was such a trooper to hike all over the woods at Rock Springs Park with us! Above was decidedly the most accurate depiction: Doug is tickling me, Jack is intensely observing something, and Max is feigning to change his clothes.

It's true, everyday when Max gets home from school he makes a b-line for the lounge wear in his closet. Color coordination is very important with what he chooses...as in the colors should not coordinate whatsoever. 6 hours and 3 costume changes later he's ready to go to sleep in style. He writes numbers often, and will make pictures out of them or just counts all the way up to 100. He pretends marker caps are people, while actual Little People tend to fall to the bottom of the toy box. On most cell phones, he can figure out how to get the camera working and listen to ring tones. He also has fun building obstacle courses with Jack , and bike helmets are worn to make it really authentic. So far they have invented atleast 2 Olympic worthy sports: Rubbermaid Tote Lid Faux Snowboarding( a la pool kickboards), and Put This Clear Plastic Shoebox Over Your Face Then Watch Me Throw a Nerf Ball at It. Max is exactly 10 1/2 months younger than his brother.



If Jack isn't wiring up some sort of electronic contraption, he's drawing one. Their bedroom, at times, looks a bit like Radio Shack, but with everything out of the packages. I buy him every issue of MAKE. Between the 2 of us, we ate an entire crate of clementines in 3 days last week. When Jack is done eating, he announces that he's full of bologna. Recently we took a trip to the toy store to pick out Christmas presents, and all he really wanted was an Xbox, but I'm uber suspicious that it would be for the purpose of dismantling. Jack is 4ft tall and 6 years old.

I don't like to spew mommy advice at people, even when they ask for it. I don't follow other people's examples, and I don't expect them to follow mine. I don't "Save Box Tops!", or fall for any other indirect fund raising retail bullshit that I'm bombarded with daily from their backpacks. You can rest assured the General Mills CEO would be buying his wife a Louis Vuitton bag with all the money I might have dutifully spent to feed my kids crap all year round. Then the school maybe get $100 out of the deal? Sorry children, mommy cares too much about your eating habits. You're going to have to forgo 3 reams of neon colored construction paper in your classrooms.
They don't even like construction paper, it's too rough to draw any details. I let them watch Family Guy, and feel proud when they laugh at the good jokes. I'm also proud that they know not to repeat what they hear on TV, or jump on other peoples couches (except gramma's). I will not over schedule them, but they will be given the opportunity to over schedule themselves. They have bunk beds, but always share the bottom mattress. Many mornings I wake up to an additional 2 pillows, 1 sleeping bag, 3 snuggly bed hogs and a 60 lb labrador at my feet . It's my favorite part of the day, despite the kink in my neck.