Take me to another time

My beloved Gramma had all sorts of fun ways to talk about love, making a little circle with her fingers and talking about how it never ended, a big circle and how it never ended, etc. I don't remember whether she started it or I did, but I would stretch my arms back as far as they would reach and say "I love you way back til it hurts"

Thank you, Ms. Heidi, for the conversation with Jack that led to this picture!

I must be in a real reminiscing mood today because this moment...
reminded me of this one, almost 5 years to the day - they were 24 weeks and we laughed about how it looked like Jack was practicing his left hook
(if you're not versed in twin ultrasounds, the letter A represents Jack and is right beside his head, you can make out his left arm stretching to just above his head, and Harry's profile just above Jack's hand) I flipped the picture around to get J&H in the same positions ;-)

Jim Croce's Photographs and Memories

Roustabouts are roustabout'n

Any excuse to use Elvis, here you see one of my favorite roustabouts helping to get the party started - Harry taking gifts into Griffin's bouncing party

Sam's big brother Zachary and his posse during the party
Somehow I didn't get many pix that weren't complete blurs, a sure sign that
It was a lot of fun!
Thanx for the great goodies :-)
Happy Birthday, Griffin! Welcome to the 4's!

And it was another two-a-day for our guys, not a bad problem to have, eh? Their girl, Caroline (of the naming HarryJack fame!), celebrated her 6th birthday with a Carnival-themed party. Her mom knocked herself out coming up with fun games and deco - here are some highlights:
Jack pins-the-nose-on-the-clown
Harry and Jack walking the 'tight rope'

There were three stages: simply walking, walking while balancing a beanbag on their head, and then doing it after 'the spin'

Caroline and her cheering squad playing the penny toss game

(basically an excuse for lots and lots of candy!)

Jack, Tim, and Harry waiting their turns

Dean and Harry cheering on the festivities

Harry loves him some popcorn, and watching this old-fashioned machine work its magic was a great science-y time!

Fireman Jack taking a break with his 'firebird' after a big rescue

And if you remember the cookie cutter gender post, here's an 'official' shield...you were all right!

And the roustabout'n continues as Jack helps round up all the bags and paper and bows after the big unwrapping fest - great job, helpful boy!

It was such a joy for me to watch them picking special gifts for Caroline -

they spent quite a while picking out just the perfect bear, puzzle, heart globe, game and craft for her, and it was fun to see how excited they were (tho Harry got shy at the actual giving). Thanx so much for letting us celebrate with you, Caroline!

Welcome to the 6's!

Elvis Presley's It's Carnival Time

just dribble up - game nite 4

The boys are still playing basketball on Friday nites, and tonite was about figuring out how to get the ball high enough to get it into the net (from the right side) and dribbling the length of the court and just working together as a team. It's a good foundation, and they're seeming to like it!

Jack practicing his dribble
and Harry taking it down the court

Jimmy Fallon's (I Can't Play) Basketball

Nothing's quite the same as the Pajama Game

Today was the 100-day celebration at school, a great excuse to count lots of 100's, wear cozy pajamas, watch fun movies, and basically have a good time! Here are my two modeling their once-a-year school outfits, including backpacks...

...which also have to be seen from the back
and totally decked out for the weather and the fun!

Happy weekend -

may you stay in your most comfy gear as long as you want!

The Pajama Game

Drain Bamage

Yesterday, a big fun group of friends got together for bowling! It was fun, and mostly they were cute and behaved, but when I looked through the pix, I got a little Pink Floyd tune in my head that hasn't gone away - maybe it was the tiedye shirts, maybe it was Harry's insistence on bashing his head into things...who knows?!

He was really trying to play with the blower, maybe better, maybe not?

Then he and Jack were playing a game, rolling the ball back and forth, then here he goes again....silly boy! There don't seem to be any after-effects, so no dains were bramaged in the making of this post ;-)

Here's the regular cute stuff - they teamed up a bit, and Jack even picked up three spares on his own!

This stance? His dad :-)

Pink Floyd's Brain Damage

I'm A Man

Harry decided to organize his cars atop the cups for their counting bears game

you may notice his little engineering feat - it's all about the balance and the stack these days ;-)And here's proof that men and women *are* different

Jack was helping me cut the cheese (yeah, yeah, like I said!) with these cookie cutters...all springish, right?

Guess what Jack says this one is?

.....ideas?

....a police shield!

Tulip? I don't see no stinkin' tulip!

The testosterone level continues to climb at our house ;-)

Bo Didley

Three Friends

The boys are really into having friends over for playdates lately, and since we've finally organized the house so we can sell it....there's room to play!

Their buddy Asher came over yesterday, and mostly we were all having too much fun to take pix, but I did get this picture of them joyfully playing in the last remnants of our snow...

And this is what I found after everyone had finished cleaning up

they had assumed the universal male positions...

I have to find a remote for that little tv ;-)

Gentle Giant

Johnny Can't Read (but Jack can!)

Don Henley

Take another little piece of my heART, now babies

Today was 'red gym' day, and the wonder art teachers started a project for VDay that involved mixing colors and painting little heart boxes. Jack offered his up for me, so I can put my rings in it to keep them safe :wub: I was reminded by a friend's stressful experience how lucky I have it, so my heart's thanx to my two little heartbreakers, and my main squeeze - you all make this a pretty charmed life <3

This seems to be Harry's pose of the day -

he's listening to instructions before mixing and painting

Sam and Jack also waiting patiently ...

Sam's got a great face, but this is one of my favorite expressions LOL

Harry's thrilled with the chance to 'stir it up!'

Three artistes

Jack took great care to get all his sides coordinated

Harry swishing for 3-points...maybe he's gonna be ambidextrous?

And that follow-thru is for Daddy ;-)

The kids set up a bowling alley in prep for Thursday's outing

And took great glee in knocking the pins down!

Jack's mathcream cone!

And Harry's at the pose again while playing in the gym!

Janis Joplin

What A Difference (part of) A Day Makes

We played a little in the little bit of snow we had this morning.

Can you believe those are their footprints on the top steps and my boots at the bottom??

Where did my little guys go?!

And here's their first attempt at a snowman, pitiful but sorta cute, in the AM
And a few short hours later, Harry

and Jack can hardly believe it!

Willie Nelson

Freak Magnet

We've done a major toy purge with the house sell, but some old trusted ones remain and have found a new thrill....including these maget-os that Aunt Jackie got them for their 3rd birthday - thanx for all the creative fun!

Jack practicing a little dexterity while he creates some barbells - he then proceeded to exercise, have me check his heart rate, etc. Silly boy!
Jack tries his hand at mc'ing
(and I have finally given up the clothes control -
they insist on wearing pajama pants, just like Daddy,
whether they match or not....just like Daddy!)

and Harry got into the fun of it, creating all sorts of shapes and arrows

Have a fun, creative day!

Violent Femmes

The Weather Is Here

The boys gave Dean a bunch of cool science gifts for Father's Nite,

including these very adorable penguin thermometer magnets

(and for a :wub: you may notice they're holding hands -

one or the other of them make sure every time they pass the fridge)

And for you Floridians' viewing pleasure, this is our backyard view
A little frozen pond
and Dean was just grilling in short sleeves the other nite - we're expecting high 60s in a few days....crazy weather!

Our school system finally wised up and is not calling schools today ;-)

Jimmy Buffett