I love having boys

They sometimes give me sweaty hugs and sometimes break things accidentally because of the strength they dont even know they have. Even so I love the hugs and I love to watch them mess around. I am truly blessed to have them.

Best Piano teacher in the world

....and she happens to be Grandma too!
So far Z. and T. are the only ones taking lessons but S. once in a while gets a turn at playing in the studio. She thinks that she has piano skills because she can play Mary had a little lamb. If that counts as piano skills then I must have skills too!
They are getting really good and I dont even mind listening to them practice every like I thought I would. I have always loved hearing the piano but I worried that beginner pieces played on our untuned piano would drive me crazy. So far so good.
The kids love how much candy and other incentives they earn by doing musical things and of course practicing.
Thanks Grandma for creating music lovers and little musicians!

Post by "Z"

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I like to design, so do you?"

"I love to design things on S. cuz it's fun and she cooperates."

"My grandmas send me fabric scraps so I made beautiful dresses."

 "S. acted just like a model. She talked like she was popular, but she was super cute."

100 year old T.

   T.'s school class celebrated 100 days of school last week.
It just so happens that he needed a haircut also.
Well, because he is such an awesome kid he decided to let mom shave off the top of his blond little head and leave the sides.
 Just like he will look when he is an old man.
What a Hoot!(I feel like my mom describing me and my brothers when we were little, hoots.)

Isn't he adorable? Not wrinkled enough though to be 100. I just Love him!

Its a little hard to see his awesome hair but he does looks a lot older with old man makeup.

School Day. He used a stick as a cane( not a weapon buddy!) and opted for a golf hat from the dress up box to cover the embarrassment that was growing inside him by the minute.

He was confident enough as a 100 year old grandpa at school to take off his hat to show a few classmates and teachers but recess is just too cool of a place for the hilarious haircut and he left it covered up.
 That would have worked out for him except big sister shares his recess and she just couldn't help telling all her friends what was underneath.
 He was tormented about it and regrets ever letting me cut it.
He told me later at home that he wishes hair could grow however long we want it at any time.
 Yeah, me too buddy!
And I am still laughing about how cute he was when I see these pictures!

Daddy Rocks @ making Robots!

Donny found out in college that he was good at making Robots. 

I like that we can put to use some of the junk that starts to pile up on the workbench. 

He likes that I let him keep junk in the name of"Art", or Art -that -could -someday- be. 

Late November I commissioned 4 small Robots. 

There was enough junk for a lot more than that, believe me!

I was hoping for one little personalized Robot for each of the kids. 

He rocks and whipped out 4 awesome looking little bots.

For me the kids reactions and love for their bots was worth the nights missing him while he slaved away in the cold garage. 

For him the reaction and love was almost worth the near debilitating neck injury and leg/feet stiffness from the work in the garage. 

What a sport he is, to create Robots on the whim of his wife. 

 Because I would rather just get these posted and done with rather than spend an afternoon photo shooting the Bots these picts are not the best and make it a little hard to get a real idea of how cool they are. They really are cool!
This little guy is for Z. His front is mirrored(disc drive of some kind?) and he has arms with clamps for holding stuff. Right now he is holding flowers, how very Z. like.

 This is T.'s little guy. With his antenna he is a lot bigger but that got chopped off in the picture somehow. He has some sweet knobs and buttons as well as funky wire hands. He may have started out as a CB radio?

 N. got this heavy Robot. Snowblowers that dont remove snow can still be used for something!He has movable legs and an articulating key(but no, he doesnt Do anything). His facial expression is my favorite of the lot.

S. was so funny when she unwrapped hers. She thought for sure it was a helmet because the "skirt" is hollow and could easily go on a head her size. Hers is female and the antenna wings make me think she is an angel, like S. Her arms are poseable and one hand is holding a little mirror. Cute.

Because I wanted them made I like to take some credit for their creation but it isnt true.
 Donny is good at turning anything, even junk, into art.
 He was a little sad when he didnt have time to make these as ornate and as big as he originally planned.
 He was on a timeline(Christmas presents are less exciting to receive after Christmas than they are on the actual holiday)and has a wife that prefers simplicity over, well, anything.
I think he may have tired of hearing me say things like "just make them simple, hurry and slap some stuff together".
 Art just isn't done that way apparently.
Thats why daddy is so good at making Robots and mommy just pushes him along.
For Donnys sake next time I think I will start asking about more Robots well in advance. Who knows what I will end up with?!
Something Awesome!

Cabin fever

Too many indoor recess days are making the kids stir crazy.
Too many days without sun and temps below freezing are making me crazy. It felt like January would never end!
For MLK day I decided I had heard enough complaining and arguing from pent up kids.
We went sledding.
It was frozen enough sleds weren't even necessary for sliding down the hill.
Notice the brown mountains. Just another red air day, to kill us with lung cancer.
It was worth it.

5 on 1 is hardly fair

And super noisy!
I may not love wrestling but the rest of the household sure does. Within a few minutes the sounds of a scrimmage attracted all 4 kids and the dog.
The dog ended up winning. And ended up sent outside!