Happiness Is…{laundry baskets}

December 22, 2011 By 16 Comments

What is it about laundry baskets?  Is it just my kids, or are they the universal gateway to imagination?

Since I feel like laundry baskets are constantly in a state of flux, being dumped out and filled again with mountains of folded clothes, there is a good chance that you could stumble upon more than one in our downstairs play area at any given time.  And they really do come in handy when you need a change of pace or venue.  The same old books just have a certain extra flair when being read from the comforts of a laundry basket.

Naps beckon with all the more intensity from within the confines of a laundry basket.

And actual pirate ships?  They have nothing on a laundry baskets flying a skull and crossbones while wearing a good pirate scarf.

He’s a fierce one, that pirate Jax.  He’ll make you walk the plank faster than you can say, “Aargh!”

That’s just one of the things that are making us happy as the holidays approach.  The simplest things are what I’m treasuring this Christmas.  What about you?  Are your days merry and bright?  I’d love to hear!

Come join us for the Happiness Is blog hop, where you share all the good things in your life, which will be extended an extra day this week in celebration of the holidays!  Somehow I think what will be making you happy this week may come Saturday or Sunday and you may need a little extra time!

The Happiness Is… blog hop is simply a place to come, link up a post (not your homepage!) that made you happy recently (anything but a giveaway or review) and share it with the rest of us!  Photos, recipes, crafts, stories, moments, and anecdotes are all welcome!  Come peruse other amazing posts and meet fantastic new people in the blogosphere!  The only rule is to please grab my button (right sidebar) and link back to me in some way, otherwise you won’t be able to link up.  That way more people will come and learn about this uplifting way to promote your blog!

Also, I will link back to my favorite post of the week on Twitter and Facebook every Monday after the link closes.  It could be you!  And don’t forget to peruse past favorite links in my Happiness Is Blog Hop tab above.  If you’re featured, your link will be up there forever!  Last week my favorite was What A Special Time by Lovely Light, a super wonderful post about one woman’s experience stepping in for her brother (who is fighting in Afghanistan) while her sister-in-law gave birth to her new niece, complete with newborn photos that will make any parent smile.  I hope several of you made the time to hop around and enjoy posts such as this last week–it’s no fun if you link and run.



Filed Under: blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Duck Hunting, Take Two

September 9, 2011 By 12 Comments

Is it too much to ask for my kids to have the pleasure of feeding our leftover bread to some local ducks?  We tried last year and failed miserably, but I thought we’d have more luck this summer.  Why, when we are barely beginning to regain some normalcy with flooding and tropical storms, can I not find one single hungry duck to feed when I have a bag full of old hot dog rolls with duck written all over it?

And what’s worse, do you know how hard it is to restrain your children from eating the day-old bread, when there is no live animal in sight to feed it to?  Their little logical brains say, I don’t see any birds.  This is false advertisement.  I can’t let this bread go to waste.  Snack time!

Yuck, kids!  There is a reason this bread was intended for wildlife, not our bellies.  Gross!

But the more I insisted that the bread was not for eating, the funnier apparently it became.

Me: Jax, come on!  I told you not the eat that bread!  That’s gross!

~insert children, happily ignoring me~

Me: Seriously, guys, stop eating the bread.  You’re going to get sick.

Em: (her voice muffled from chewing and smirking) Bread?  What bread?

~insert her brother’s inappropriate and unstoppable laughter at their utter disregard for authority~

Diabolical Laughter Montage

When the thrill of disobedience wore off, and there were still no birds in sight, we settled for feeding the two sun fish that swam our way.  It was definitely a lot of bread for just two fish, but the kids didn’t know that.

And when the bread was all gone, it was time to stretch our legs, have some fun, and soak up the afternoon sunshine.

The kids had a case of the sillies, or maybe it was just a side effect of moldy bread.

A pleasant, fun way to spend the afternoon and it required nothing more than a bag of bread I would have thrown away.  Oh, and some ducks would have been nice.  But I’m 0 for 2 on that count, so I guess I’m gonna have to start thinking about feeding cows.

Killing time, Vermont-style.

 

Linking up these photos at:

Filed Under: pastimes Tagged With: , ,

Just What I Deserved

May 28, 2011 By 6 Comments

I can see how I am going to have to keep my wits about me when my kids are older.  Without question, I will fall for the old sibling You cause a diversion and I’ll wreak havoc routine.  It’s so easy to get sucked in to one kid’s cuteness and forget that there’s another one skulking around, stealthily abusing my momentary lapse in diligence.  I can only imagine if there were three or four of them!  I’d be putty in their hands, if they were smart enough to gang up against me.  Even with the two I have, I can be manipulated pretty easily.
Exhibit A.
Em knew that insisting on going out of the house with her cute shoes, strands of beads and rainhat on would cause me to run inside to grab my camera.  She began playing the Will-I-Or-Won’t-I-Eat-This-Rock? game…
 …so I was sufficiently distracted to let her brother get into a touch of mischief. 
Please note how her foot is looped through her necklaces,
so when she tried to stand up, she couldn’t straighten.  Caused quite a fuss. 
Enough for me to be oblivious to the slealthy silence which is never good when you have a two-year-old running loose.
Sigh of acknowledgement.  I have been bested.
I am of the parenting school of thought that if they’re already dirty/messy/need to be changed, might as well grab your camera and have a good laugh.  No way to go back.  And really?  Do I want to?
Also, why should I yell at him?  I’m the one who wasn’t paying attention.  I got what I deserved.
Chaos.
As they say, kids will be kids!
So I loaded Em into her carset so I wouldn’t be double-crossed (Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me!), took off Jax’s shirt, and let him have a few minutes of fun.
I know, he looks like an extra for The Village People.  Gardener Spice. 
 Whatever.  It’s hilarious.  Shirt could come off, but the red beads had to stay.  Maybe Em has been giving him some fashion advice.  Accessories at all times!
My favorite photo:
Hilarious.  Can you imagine if he had squeezed it?  Right up his nose.
And then, someone had to be the bad cop and take the hose away.  We had to take our dog to the vet.  I had no choice but to be the voice of reason.
Again.  Hilarious.  I stung him to the core.
Look at the betrayal in his eyes.  How could you?!  Trying one last time to wrangle the hose himself and regain power over the situation.  I’m so cruel.  I find his attempts at vengeance completely amusing.
Sorry, buddy.  You got me once, but I’m on to your little game.  Send the cute, chubby, little one out to be photographed and then conquer and destroy behind my back.  I’m not falling for it again.
Let’s be real.  Who am I kidding?  I’m an easy mark.  I got just what I deserved, and undoubtedly it will happen again and again.
Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,