Let's Go Fly a Kite

And now that song is going to be stuck in my head. Thanks Mary Poppins!

A few weeks ago we had a pretty nice day. My parents and my husband were moving topsoil to the garden, and I took the boys out to fly a kite. They took turns holding the kite all by themselves, and did a great job. They had a blast, and now I think I'll get a few more kites so we can all fly them (though in a big enough space so as not to get all tangled in each other's kite strings - I can just see that one happening). Here they are loving their new-found skill and the independence of "doing it myself":

Movie Buffs

We recently took the big boys to see their very first movie at the theater. It was a free matinee, and we met my friend Melanie and her nieces there (luckily she was there early as we were running late and she saved us seats - it was sold out by the time we got there, oops). We saw the new(ish) Veggie Tales movie "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." The parts of the movie that I did see were good. Very clever and funny, in true VT style.

We had a card for a free combo snack pack that Chris got from a friend, so we had our family-sized bucket of popcorn and lots of other fun snacks, plus the sodas. We figured that would be the ticket to keeping the boys entertained, in case the movie did not. The first half of the movie went very well. There were a few blurt-outs from Joshua as he would hear a baby cry or see something in the movie and feel compelled to point it out (that's a boat!), but it really didn't matter as there were lots of families with little kids there.

Then there was an intermission. I guess they figure that potty-training parents need a break to take the kiddos to the bathroom or something. It seemed like a long wait to me though, and the boys said they wanted to leave. But then the made friends with the little boy in front of us who gave them some animal crackers. And we stayed to watch the rest. And there were previews before the second half. What?! That was just ridiculous. But anyway, the second half was filled with kids running in the aisles, meltdowns, crying, and the like. Our boys did well still, but Josh was having a bit of a tough time sitting still. He really couldn't go anywhere, so I let him get up and down from his seat. We were in the very back, so it wasn't a big deal. And the snacks came in very handy.

Now I know why the theater provides free kids movie matinees. They take pity on the parents who are trying to take little ones to the movies, and they know how things go. It would be cruel to charge them money. But it was still fun and I'm glad we went. We won't be going again any time soon, and when we do it will be a free matinee.

Our Little Slaves - I Mean Helpers

One nice thing about having all boys, especially since they have the potential to be very big and strong, is that we will exploit their physical strength (and enhance it!) with manual labor. We have thus started the process of grooming them for such physical chores as shoveling dirt. Observe how quickly they caught on. And this from two-year-olds! Oh, the plans I will make for them to accomplish (insert evil laugh).

Wait a minute - Josh seems to be shirking his duties! Okay, so maybe for now I let them decide when they want to help and when they want to stop. Once they figure out it's not really fun to work with Mommy & Daddy, it will be too late (more evil laughing). But aren't they just so darn cute? My little helpers. Just makes me so proud!