I have a lot of friends who are photographers. And oddly, I lose one friend a year...This is because I have them try to take our family pictures. And then they don't want to hang out ever again....I wonder why?
A few weeks back (before the kiss of death commonly known as 3rd term), we had a family outing. Like, really. We just spent time together. AND I took pictures. I know, the planets did align, it's true.
Our good buddies were ALSO having a family day, so we got to play with them too.
Big Kid Henry played a GREAT goalie. And, safety first with the helmet. Big Kid Henry is in Andrew's preschool, and I love him. He is so fun.
Suddenly, I'm wondering if these jeans are maybe not so flattering? But, I was there. Let it be written.
Baby Henry just kind of played with Mack and watched. He was just pleased to have some downtime for once in his life.
Do you kind of feel like Andrew should be wearing shin-guards? I can just see this pose being a big part of our future. Andrew loves soccer, and we're hoping that continues once he learns to actually play the game.:)
Andrew thinks that Henry is his child. Whenever Henry does something Andrew finds displeasing, he says, "Oh, Henryyyy." He also tells Henry to stop crying, no climbing, and don't dump water out of the bathtub. Mind you, none of these rules seem to apply to Andrew. This brother relationship is complex.
Andrew likes to "play toys" with Henry. Mostly, Andrew just gets everything out for him (including all spare mattresses, apparently) and then Henry comes to find me while Andrew plays with Henry's toys.
As many know, Henry has been a bit of a challenge baby for us. Like, the kind of challenge that makes us think, "We might be good with 2." But, then, I get pictures like this:
And I think, "If a kid is that cute, doesn't it just seem right to try for another someday (in the very, VERY distant future)?"
As you can see, Henry ALSO enjoyed the pudding paint idea. I only gave him one color, and he was fine with that.
Henry just recently started walking. He is super unsteady, but he just reels around, laughing like a drunkard. A cute, 1-year old drunkard.
Henry loves trains. I didn't think it was possible for a fella this young to really care, but he does. Please note the train in his hand while looking at his train book.
Justin thinks Henry shares my food preferences...meaning, he loves FLAVOR. He loves spicy food, and doesn't really like baby food. Of course, having no teeth at 15 months does present a bit of a challenge, but he eats table food pretty exclusively. It's not rare for him to still be gumming something to death about 30 minutes after we've all left the table.
It was a good one. And we actually STARTED a tradition! Since Christmas traditions have been a bust for us, we figured we'd try with a smaller holiday and work our way up. Yom Kippur was a big success last year, so we feel we've made some good progress.
After reading on some blog (you know the ones that make you feel like a moron because you don't craft?), we made the pauper's version of Valentine's boxes and swapped love notes for a few days. It was fun to see Andrew try to grasp that concept.
And thanks to these folks, the desire of Andrew's heart was realized...
Cheetos in a package JUST FOR HIM! He was SO happy.
Henry got a cute card, since the toothlessness doesn't go well with conversation hearts. As you can see, he was trying to play it off like he wasn't excited, but we know he was.
We decided that each year, the kids will be receiving a book from "Cupid's library" rather than getting...well, getting something else. Excitement was felt.
I realize my updates have been less than stellar lately. My general predicament of not being able to find the camera is partly to blame, but most of the pictures I take are on my phone anyway. I'm just getting around to moving the hundreds of attempts to capture funny moments to the compy, so prepare yourself for a possible increase in posts. Possible, not probable.
Today, it's all Andrew.
So, Andrew turned 3 in December. Now he thinks he's "almost 6." He tells everyone that when they ask how old he is. 
He LOVES doing art projects. I do not love them. But, so as not to stifle the creativity, he is allowed to do some kind of project once a day. 
Paint is his medium of choice, but he'll take anything. (this is pudding with food coloring)
He picks plants from my garden and eats them. Broccoli leaves, Brussels sprouts leaves and kale. Our lettuce is all gone, but he pretty much eats anything green as long as it is straight from the garden. I can't wait for him to get some real edibles this summer.
A few weeks ago, Andrew had to miss his preschool class, so Justin called Andrew and said he could come to "Daddy's school." Justin TOTALLY won Dad of the Year. He had set up a study room for Andrew's school, planned some very preschoolish activities and printed out pictures for him to color. 
Andrew let Henry come too, which was very nice.
He even got to choose a "snack" from the vending machine. He literally could not wrap his mind around the concept that there were bags and bags of chips just WAITING to be had. (We do NOT, under any circumstances, go down the chip aisle at the store...my resolve for healthy eating cannot stand up against a bag of Doritos.)
Andrew isn't much of an adventurer (he likes to know he's going to be "safe" no matter what he's doing), but putting his piggy bank where Henry can't reach it has been a test for him. He's figured out how to visit his "Evil Dr. Porkchop" and see if any interest has accrued. And he LOVES being a naked noonie as long as he can wear his hat.
Andrew has determined that "When I grow up, I'm gonna be a doctor and a chef." He loves to help me cook and is very diligent about watching our food "grow" in the oven. The doctor part? I'm not sure how that's going to work out, considering he despises visits to the doctor's office.
Some of y'all may know that in the last year I've tried to improve my sewing. I read lots of books and blogs about easy beginner projects (which by the way are almost exclusively for little girls...I have boys, thus I don't need to learn how to sew?) and have tried (read:failed) some of them. Well, I have a bin of clothing to be "re-purposed" or made into something else. So, I thought, I'll take this sweater and make a little sweater vest for Andrew. And I'll take pictures along the way so I can use the other sweater to make one for Henry. This was such a moronic idea for three reasons.
1) I am terrible at taking good pictures, particularly of small things (children, stitches, chihuahuas, and the like).
2) I kind of stink at sewing, so when I look at the end project, I think, "Yeah, I won't be repeating that project. It's ugly."
3) Sewing with my boys is just completely ridiculous. A "quick, 30-minute project" turns into two weeks, because I have constant interruptions and kids sitting on my stuff.
That said, I facetiously present to you...the sweater vest. (I have no intention of this actually helping someone sew something. Mostly it is just to document the process so I'm reminded to just spend the money and buy the clothes my kids need from the store. It's WAY worth it.)
1. Cut what you need while leaving as much of the sweater in tact as possible, thus cutting out any extraneous sewing.
2. Use the "short and fat" sweater vest as a pattern of approximately how long and not wide it should be. Realize that this vest may be a little too skinny. Continue anyway.
3. Get out Toy Story toys to distract children who are getting all up in my grill.
4. Let Henry hold some straight pins. That shouldn't hurt him.
5. Cut edges off the sleeves to be used for the armholes. And try to use finished edges, because otherwise one armhole will be fraying...Shoot. I didn't even follow my own instructions.
6. Eat some of these when you realize you are 28 and still can't cut in a straight line.
7. Make a V-neck out of a circle neck. Oh, and make sure it is centered or else...well, or else it will look like mine.
8. Realize that one armhole is not only smaller but also totally crooked. Continue anyway.
9. Tell Andrew to be cool. He is.
10. Realize that Andrew's clothes are NOT the first thing people notice about him. And relax, because he'll grow out of this in two shakes of a lamb's tail anyway.
