Monday, May 11, 2009

Mr. Crabbypants

Is this the face of a boy who doesn't want to go to school or what? Unfortunately this isn't just Jack practicing different expressions, but how he actually looks most mornings before school.

I can't remember exactly why I was in trouble here, but I was in trouble...

Ansel Adams He Is Not

Jack has proven that he can be gentle with the camera so we've started letting him take some pictures. For the most part, he's mastered the art of holding the camera steady while pressing the shutter button and most of his photos don't turn out as one big blur. He does, however, have some trouble framing his shots.

Here you see a gallery quality photo of Sean's arm.


Just in case you can't tell, this is the camera strap across Jack's knee. Very artistic...

A day in the life of Mommy?

This morning as I was looking through the photos Jack took, when we got to this one he said, "Oh, I was taking a picture of the Veggie Tales movie." Interesting subject...

Here is a series of pictures of Elise. He did a great job photographing her legs and tummy...



When I told him he should try to get her head in the picture, this is what I got...

It's a little difficult to get good shots of your subjects while sitting on their lap...

After tiring of the same shot of the dining room (I'll spare you the monotony), I encouraged Jack to set up a scene with his toys and photograph that. Below you see the Playmobil guy in the "water" being rescued by the helicopter, police boat and conveyor.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones Baby

Monday consisted of a doctor visit, a picnic dinner and an appearance by Skippyjon Jones (if you don’t know this naughty kitty boy, visit him here).

Elise turned 4 months old on Sunday and was in for her 4-month check bright and early Monday morning. She weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds even – that’s the 99th percentile. In other words, she weighs more than 99% of all other 4-month old baby girls. If you recall, she was in the 99th percentile for both weight and height at her 2-month check. At 26 ¼ inches, she’s dropped to the 98th percentile for height now. Many times when people see her for the first time they remark, “She’s healthy isn’t she?” After this doctor visit, I can conclusively answer, “Yes.”

After naps the kids and I headed to the Galleria to meet Sean for dinner and to listen to Judy Schachner, the author of the Skippyjon Jones books, read her most recent publication, Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones. A visit from a larger-than-life Skippyjon himself was an extra surprise.

Both boys were a little hesitant to go close to Skippyjon without Sean, but not nearly as scared as one little boy near us who started crying hysterically as soon as he spotted the big kitty 30 feet away. He made our boys seem brave.

Since we were there early we got a good number for the book signing (4) and were able to get all of our books signed. We also picked up a couple classroom activity packets that contained, among other things, a fun reversible mask. Jack is modeling the Skippito Friskito mask below. The other side is Skippyjon Jones. Maybe I can get Wesley to model that one.