Josh apparently didn't learn his lesson the first time, and yesterday he climbed back into the baby swing while I sitting on the ground about three feet away taking pictures. I warned him about what happened last weekend, but he went ahead with his plans. Here's how he gets in the swing:
This set off all-out wailing from Molly, who was very upset that Josh was getting into her swing.
And once again, Josh wasn't too happy about being photographed before I helped him out of the swing. It certainly makes for a funny picture, though!
Things got much calmer when everyone went their separate ways and didn't infringe on each other's backyard territories. Josh has taken an interest in our local insects. He likes to measure roly-polies with Chris' tape measure, and he hunts mosquitoes with big sticks. Here he is doing his part to keep the backyard pest-free.
Molly continues to love anything that has to do with plants and animals, and she really likes playing in the red clay we've dug up during various projects in the yard this spring.
Here she is in her swing, happy now that all is right with the world.
And just for fun, here's a little bunny that we found on our front doorstep this morning. I'm sure it had the life nearly scared out of it when Josh tried to pick it up and Molly started shrieking in delight, but it's still hanging around this afternoon. A vet advised us that the bunny probably just wandered from the nest and the mother will come back for it this evening. Let's hope so, because it's been hard keeping the cat inside all day and Josh and Molly away from it.
Today got a little extra exciting when we grilled out and our children ran free. Chris and I were in the kitchen when Josh began shrieking like a girl from the backyard. We started making jokes about how he was never going to get a date if he didn't come up with a more manly shriek, but when we went outside we were glad to see there was a reason (sort of) for the high-pitched panic. I'm not quite sure how he managed this, but he couldn't get out. He got really mad when Chris paused to take a picture before helping him. Welcome to parenting in the age of blogging--no act goes unrecorded!
I stayed in the kitchen while Chris was dealing with the Josh situation. I knew Molly was roaming, but I got lulled into that "quiet is good" trap. When I looked up I saw this:
Yes, that is a large chocolate chip stuck on Molly's forehead. As many of you know, we don't hold back on dessert around here, and a few nights ago Molly thoroughly enjoyed her post-dinner chocolate chips. We're not sure how or why this one became adhered to her forehead, although the amount of other food smeared all over her face, hair and clothes may have something to do with it.
My week of walking craziness paid off this morning when I was named the winner of Jenny's pedometer challenge! I walked 72,002 steps in seven days. Jenny's husband, Raymond, is now going to make me a winestopper that looks something like the one pictured above (the best part of the prize was I got to choose the design and that I'm sure Raymond plans to have it finished by Memorial Day). Raymond's woodturning work is amazing, and if you'd like to see more, visit his Web site.
And on a side note, I need to provide an explanation for Josh's seemingly weird naming of the seats in our double jogging stroller. We realized that under the seats is printed the stroller brand name, "Baby Jogger." It makes sense now--Molly sits in the seat closest to "Baby," and Josh must have figured that since "Jogger" starts with "Jo," like Josh, the other seat is meant for him.
So there was method to his madness--this time.
Here are some more pictures from Memorial Day taken by Steph, who captured some great moments.
Emily tried to ride the swing with Josh (it's made for two people), but he wasn't interested. He either wanted Emily to push him or he was going to push her on the swing.
We have worn ourselves out this weekend attending barbecues, but with good reason--two were in honor of the visit of our dear friends the Humms from England. We haven't seen them since our visit to the UK two years ago, and we have not met each others' youngest child. Pictured above is the first meeting of Daniel Humm and Molly, who are about six months apart in age. Their visit lasted about 30 seconds, and when Daniel wouldn't hand over the toy Molly wandered off.
This set off all-out wailing from Molly, who was very upset that Josh was getting into her swing.
And once again, Josh wasn't too happy about being photographed before I helped him out of the swing. It certainly makes for a funny picture, though!
Things got much calmer when everyone went their separate ways and didn't infringe on each other's backyard territories. Josh has taken an interest in our local insects. He likes to measure roly-polies with Chris' tape measure, and he hunts mosquitoes with big sticks. Here he is doing his part to keep the backyard pest-free.
Molly continues to love anything that has to do with plants and animals, and she really likes playing in the red clay we've dug up during various projects in the yard this spring.
Here she is in her swing, happy now that all is right with the world.
And just for fun, here's a little bunny that we found on our front doorstep this morning. I'm sure it had the life nearly scared out of it when Josh tried to pick it up and Molly started shrieking in delight, but it's still hanging around this afternoon. A vet advised us that the bunny probably just wandered from the nest and the mother will come back for it this evening. Let's hope so, because it's been hard keeping the cat inside all day and Josh and Molly away from it.
I stayed in the kitchen while Chris was dealing with the Josh situation. I knew Molly was roaming, but I got lulled into that "quiet is good" trap. When I looked up I saw this:
Tiona Fuller, the lady who photographed the less-than-cooperative Josh and Molly on Saturday, posted a few of her photos of them on her blog today, and we couldn't be more pleased. Tiona spent an hour with us at the park, and somehow she got some great pictures despite the craziness. We resorted to one of my least favorite parenting tactics, bribery, to get Josh to sit still and look at the camera, but toward the end even offers of chocolate for one more picture fell on deaf ears.
We're hopefully going to start a new phase in professional picture taking tomorrow, as we've booked an outdoor photo session with a pricey photographer. I've warned her about our past disasters (a reminder is to the right), but she seems confident that she can capture Josh and Molly at their best. I'm not so sure, so today we worked on smiling at the camera in the backyard as practice. Josh did really well, but Molly was not interested. Hopefully everyone will get their act together tomorrow. The bar is low. Surely Josh and Molly will rise above.
Yes, that is a large chocolate chip stuck on Molly's forehead. As many of you know, we don't hold back on dessert around here, and a few nights ago Molly thoroughly enjoyed her post-dinner chocolate chips. We're not sure how or why this one became adhered to her forehead, although the amount of other food smeared all over her face, hair and clothes may have something to do with it.
Today a family at our church hosted a party to welcome a candidate for the pastor's job at our church and his family. We wanted to make a good impression, so we made sure Josh and Molly looked presentable for the occasion. We took a few pictures on the way out the door because I was pretty sure they wouldn't look the same when we got back.
The old double jogging stroller has been drug out of the garage this week after my friend Jenny issued a challenge to see who could walk the most steps in seven days. I am determined to win because her husband, a woodturner, has offered one of his beautiful wood winestoppers as the prize.
And just for the record, I do not endorse Josh's "Crocs 'n Socks" look. That's all Chris' doing.
