Saturday Shenanigans

On any given Saturday, Dylan will wake up a six a.m. and eat a bowl of cereal and then another an hour later.  Sometimes even another after that. Simon might not wear any pants for much of the day.  Amelia won't change out of her pajamas until it's actually time to go somewhere.

These are Saturday pictures:

A smiling toddler with pacifier teeth.  Yes, it's time for the binky fairy.

That same toddler who won't open his eyes for a picture.  And I have eyelash envy.

And, again, the same toddler who thinks coloring on paper is overrated.

Three kids on a slide. All wearing pants and none wearing pajamas. (An unusual occurrence.) 

One is yelling. (Not so unusual.)

Two kids on a slide.  One still yelling, but half-heartedly.

Dogs and Do's

We are bound and determined that our little Simon will not be afraid of dogs.  And we are going to accomplish this task by borrowing other people's dogs rather than have our own.  

We know that dogs make wonderful additions to the family, etc.  But we are not ready for another child, especially one that poops in the yard and tears up shoes.  Our own human children can do those things well enough, thank you. 

You may (or may not) be wondering why we are so bent on avoiding canine phobia in our youngest pup.  Well, this can be attributed to the irrational (and too often ridiculous) fear of dogs that his older sister experienced for many years.  At the sight of a dog somewhere in her proximity, Amelia would scream right out loud and attempt to climb the nearest piece of furniture or person to escape what was often someone's mild little terrier.  Dylan was so disturbed by her outbursts that he figured dogs must be something dreadful and started to scream and run away when one came near just as soon as he learned to walk, and then scream and run away.

They've both gotten over it.

And Simon never got under it.  At least, not on my watch.

This was later that day.  

I think Simon was inspired by the dog's curly locks and attempted to duplicate them.

Not bad.

Egg Hunters

So I don't think I have ever posted Easter pictures in the same year that the Easter egg hunt actually occurred.  This is new territory for me.  

We had a little hunt at our house with family, friends and neighbors.  The kids lined up from youngest to oldest--sort of--and the line was so long it took three shots to get all the kids pictured.

They were all hopping and jumping with anticipation as a few dads went outside to hide about 130 eggs.  

It took a while. 

In the meantime, a few kids whacked each other with their baskets and cried, Hannah got her bucket stuck on her head, and colored Easter grass managed to find its way into every crevice of the couch.

Once outside, Simon found a blue egg and set his basket down, content to enjoy the treats the egg concealed.

The kids had a 12 egg quota, so Dylan paused periodically to count how many eggs he had gathered.

Amelia easily found her dozen and then helped the other little ones readjust their numbers because Amelia is the boss of  fairness.

We were supposed to have brunch after the hunt, but somehow the kids didn't seem to have any appetite for muffins and egg dishes.

The next day, we had a hunt with the Stewart cousins who couldn't make it to our party the day before.  Grandma Brenda put dollar bills in many of the eggs, which was a serious motivation for the grand kids.

And Simon seemed to understand the rules of the hunt this second time.

We didn't have an egg quota this round, so the kids loaded their baskets with promises to even out the booty once all the eggs were discovered.

The trampoline was the gathering spot to open the eggs away from the invasive ants that make their presence known as soon as the first jelly bean accidentally hits the grass. 

Simon is apparently confused about prepositions as he kept trying to go under the trampoline instead of on top of it.  And this upset him.  But the tears were short lived as were the sugar highs that preceded the crashes. 

Ahh, Easter.

Early 2012

This year...I am actually now in 2012.  Wow.  I wasn't sure that I'd get here, but this marathon blogging thing might be the ticket.

So we spend our Saturdays during the lovely winter months hiking a great deal at either South Mountain or other places.  This was a jaunt to the Superstition Mountains, which was totally worth the drive.  

Our kids loved it.

Evan, who is part mountain man, loves to expose his children to the beauty of the outdoors.

Then of course, there's the Itty Bitty Open that Dylan has played in twice.  He'll be too old next year, but Simon will be coming around the corner shortly to get his flimsy clubs--often repaired with duct tape on site--and chase plastic golf balls on dead grass. (Hey, it's free.  I am NOT complaining.)

Amelia volunteered to be Dylan's caddy.  A job about which she was moderately ecstatic as the morning wore on.

Even if his game could use a little work, his fashion sense does not.  This little guy won the best dressed trophy for the second time.  This included not only the trophy, which he thought was pretty cool, but also tickets to the Phoenix Open, which his dad thought was pretty cool.  

And then there's ice cream.  We eat ice cream all year long.  Even when it's pretending to be cold outside.

Dylan devoured his in the car, so he was already on to the business of coloring.

And Simon got as much on his shirt and the chair as he did in his mouth.  But he loved it anyway.

Here he is clean.  This was likely the second (or even third) outfit that day.  

We have certainly mastered the art of getting sticky and dirty in our house. 

Simon and family pictures

So, in December (yes, December 2011) my brother Lee and his wife Katherine and their three darling children came to visit all together for the first time in a few years.  It was a week or so full of Christmas festivities and lots of sleepovers and rollerskating and park trips and tired kids.  But we had so much fun I forgot to take any pictures.  Not one.  Yes, I am that lame.

But we did gather for a family photo, which turned out rather well in spite of the fact that we were freezing our tails off.  So...we're a bunch of wimps.  Well, Lee and Katherine were fine as they live in Indianapolis.  The spent the hour smiling sympathetically at the rest of us as we shivered between photos.

The picture was great, except for Simon crying.  He would just not cooperate.

Our little boy can be so darling as he pilfers the carbs cabinet and carries boxes of cereal or crackers all over the house.

But family photo time comes and we get this... 

It finally took a great toss from Dad to get a smile out of him.

 Always...it's always on his own terms

Some day, this will maybe be a good thing. Maybe.

Catching up, as usual

Seriously, this is from November.  It's an updated family picture for the Rogers and so far, no one is announcing any more babies.  I think we've hit a lull or maybe an end.  

So as it stands, everyone is represented for the most part as they currently appear, save the babies, who seem to change daily.

Also from November, a Child Study Lab party for Dylan.  I have to say that it was really an awesome school year for him.  Fabulous curriculum and close to home...exactly what we needed!

Simon protested pretty much every time we dropped off Dylan because he wanted to stay and play.

Soon, enough little man... 

 Dylan was rockin' out.

So was Simon...timidly.

Oh my goodness...Dare I say it? 

I actually took some pictures on Christmas morning and they are making an appearance on our blog?  

Okay, so it's admittedly June, but this is quite an achievement for me.  

I won't provide commentary...just savor the puffy eyes and footie jammies.