Cute boy in the bath!

Cute boy showing me his clean neck in the bath!  (Pardon me - I'm going in for soapy kisses.)

How do you get a two year old to model the shirt you made him for your blog?  You give him sour candy, of course.

Added bonus - you get these great pucker-smiles for the entire photo shoot.  Mmmm.  Soury.

V, of course, does not need to be bribed.

She looooves standing in front of the camera.

Also twirling in front of it.

Another twirly success, by Mommy.

If this looks familiar, it's because I originally made the monster for a size 12 - 18 month shirt, and you've seen pics of baby Jonas in it before.  (He's looking alarmingly unbabyish these days.  Hmph.)

Quick wardrobe change..

And now V is modeling a different skirt,

while acting like an enormous ham.

Bowling shirt, check!

Another sour candy, check!

Bowling pin, CHECK!

Cheeeeeeeese!

How was that?  Did you get it?

What do you MEAN we're done?  WE'RE NOT DONE!

I WANT TO DO MORE PICTURES AND HAVE MORE CANDY!

After he calms down, Jonas decides to entertain us with the most obnoxious music known to man.

The birthday party favor horn!  Awesome!

Violet makes lemons out of lemonade, and practices a little ballet to the music.

Yeah.  I can't explain this.

Neither can Jonas, though it didn't stop him from diving in.

Vrooom!  I'm driving on the AIR!

Jonas?  You're crazy.

Who's sitting INSIDE the handle of my bike, sister?  I'M crazy?

Awwwwww.

Madam's first day of school.  Here she is, looking all bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6am.  Heh.

Eating breakfast at Daddy's office (we were worried she'd be a problem - then his boss started bringing her little presents.  They all loved her there, and as an added bonus, now she knows all kinds of top secret information!)

Standing outside the school with her little bag and pencil box (no, she didn't have a proper backpack and lunchbox for the first day of school.  Yes, I'm the worst mother on the planet.  No, you can't make things come in the mail faster by willing them to.)

Showing off her outfit by the cubbies (after buying her a "first day of school" outfit, then MAKING her a skirt when she changed her mind about what to wear, imagine my shock when she decided to wear this 2 year old sundress and too-small-sandals instead.  Awesome.)

Those smart teachers know how to break the ice - a big table full of play doh!

And here are the smart teachers now!  (All the details of her first day blogged here.)

Jonas's first Halloween costume choice.

He wanted to be Grandpa Vic.  Surprisingly easy costume to put together.

Madam saw a "I knit this myself!" kit at the NEX, and reminded me that I had promised to teach her...

when she turned four.

Not sure what I was thinking, or even if I ever actually promised that.  But we had a little lesson.  She got it.  She loved it.  She did two rows.. and never asked to do it again.

Here we have Jonas in his "motorcycle hat."

And what would be the point in putting your two year old in a bandana, if you then didn't try to get him to flash a gang sign at the camera?

Ah.  The things you learn at school.

And then teach to your impressionable little brother.

Wonderful.

Hey, V?  That doesn't look super-duper-crazy-unsafe yet.  You got anything else?

THERE we go!  No hands, 15 feet up in the air, feet on the handrails.  THAT'S the photo I was looking for!  Thanks!

Anytime, Mom.

My three little monkeys.

Love that chubby wrist.

If anyone can make that hat work, it's Jonas.

Dirty, dirty feet.

Dirty, dirty face. (Oreos are messy.)

This kid refuses to let me take a photo of her.

What?  You want a picture?  YOU HAVE TO CATCH ME FIRST, SUCKERS!

Ha.  Joe caught her and held her down for me.

So here are some pictures of Violet, for her adoring fans.  Totally worth the chase.

After that indignity, she wrestled the camera away from me and took this,

this, (which I looove.  Check out the look of concentration!)

and this. (Oreo face.  You'd think I would clean the kid up instead of having 39847398 photos taken of him looking like this.)

Dude - can I please get a picture of you standing up?

Thanks, hon. I wanted to show everyone how much you do NOT fit in those 2T jammies anymore.

What?  They look great!  And they're very comfy to lay around in - see?

It's September again, and that means it's Boys and Girls Club Kid Day!

We love it!  Bounce house, games, food, other kids... what's not to love?

Jonas tries to figure out the sack race.

He's got it!  (Holy hell - he looks completely evil in this picture.)

And he's off!

He ran out of steam when it was time to head back to the start.

Luckily, he had this lovely assistant to help him out.

Speaking of helping him out...

Have you ever tried to lift a 35lb toddler up high enough to slam dunk a basketball?  Not. Easy.

Don't look directly at that strip of belly - the blinding whiteness of it will burn your corneas.

What? Bouncing and jumping and dunking not enough for you?

Well, we also have kicking!  Wahoo!  (Jonas got them all in the goal.  Very impressive.)

I looove these pictures of the Twink throwing bean bags.

I love them because you can see A) the bottom lip of concentration and B) how her left hand does this funny flippy thing when she's throwing with her right.

Ooh!  What's this?  Tongue out, and the left hand is completely nuts... this must have been the one she actually threw into the hole. :)

Awwww.

Now THIS looks like an actual kindergartener.

Backpack, check.  Lunchbox, check.  Adorable kid - CHECK!