The man behind the mask......

A few months ago, when Lewie first got his braces, the dentist said that Lewie has a WICKED underbite. Her solution is for him to wear this freaky contraption for SIXTEEN HOURS A DAY!! 16! That just squeaks out enough time for him to go to school and not get mocked out for wearing a wire mask, complete with chin and forehead rests.
I told Lewie that we had to come up with a great name for the mask or a name for him when he wears the mask. Something super-hero-y.
He decided on THE BULLET. Hmmmmm............ok.........


The dentist told him to put it on when he comes home from school and to eat his snacks with it on. Ewwwwwwwwwww.

Do I put it in over the top? Nope, doesn't work!


Ahhhh success!


This is going to take a *little* getting used to!

Double Digits

Can you believe it? My baby hit the double digits last week! I told Ana that there is no way that she is 10 - she's only 4.
She begs to differ.........

Dirty Jobs

A couple of weeks ago, The Lawyer and I were doing some spring cleanup sort of work outside. We had a garbage can on the side of the house and it had filled with water. The Lawyer noticed a dead.......really dead squirrel in the water. I made a quick exit and The Lawyer yelled fpr me to get my camera for what she deemed good blog fodder.

Over it goes!


N*A*S*T*Y!!


Analise is an incredibly brave sort of person. She was the first (and only) to volunteer to help Mommy.........


Until she decided it was even too disgusting for her.........


After I took the pictures, I decided it was just too gross to blog about. Then The Lawyer came home last night and said The Other Lawyer was hankering for the whole story, complete with photos. I guess this is what The Lawyers talk about over lunch. I think I'm going to prepare a list of more appropriate topics - Rachel Maddox? Hollywood breakups? Lost? Achy Joints?

Boy with Braces

When I sat down at the computer this afternoon, I saw that Lewie had done a self-portrait with his BRAND NEW BRACES!

Spring Fling

Here it is, the last day of April Break. What time is it? Recaptime.

The highlight of our week was a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and the maiden voyage for Ana, Lewie & Elly's brand new passports!
We brought along Big Al who went on EVERY slide with Lewie. They had a blast. Ana and Elly went on lots of the BIG slides too. Frances floated in the lazy river for hours on end. No slides for our always-in-control girl!



When everyone was waterlogged, we headed home and stopped at Niagara Falls. We hadn't been there in a long time (Elly and Al had never been there). It was a beautiful day and everyone decided we need to come back this summer and ride on the Maid of the Mist boat.


Hey! I can't see anything!
Wow! Me neither!


Lewie was in his usual strange mode.



It's nice that they cater to the Drunk & Stupid Visitors!


Next up - Cousin Mary comes to town!

Swamp Critters

For some odd reason, I LOVE swamps. Not muck-through-in-your-wellies swamps but civilized swamps with nice boardwalks or dry walking paths. I ply (lie to) my children by saying "Hey, who wants to go to the park/playground/McDonalds/whatever?" Then we make a slight detour. Lewis and Elly are studying frogs and toads in school. It was my motherly duty to go frog spotting. All the planets must have been aligned because Frances "Nature gives me the creeps," had a birthday party to go to..... I grabbed the opportunity.
"WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE PLAYGROUND?????!!"

It was a warm, beautiful day. Spirits were high.


They played hard.


HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOO? ANYONE THERE????????


"Sooooooo, kids, anyone want to go frog hunting?"
"NOOOOOOO, we just want to play!!!!!"
"COME ON, the swamp has a little playground! P*L*E*A*S*E???????"
"OOOOOOOOOOOK"
Once we saw LOTS of frogs, the enthusiasm grew. They were BIG!


And 6 turtles sunning themselves on a log.


We got a little glimpse of a few deer but Elizabeth went charging toward them and scared them off!
Mama was happy!

Movin' on up

One of the kids' Senseis asked me a couple of weeks ago if I thought the twins were ready to move up from Little Dragons to Juniors in karate. I winced. "Uuuuuuummmmmm, I guess so??????" And so it was set in stone..... time for graduation.
Lewis HATES to close his eyes for the meditation time. He squeezes them shut and looks like he's having a bad poop......


They did some kickin' and choppin' to show off their prowess.........


Lewie was called up 1st to shed the old belt and get a "transition" red belt............


Elly observes the somber moment with her usual enthusiasm .............


Ana also moved up a stripe on her belt. It's amazing how a girl with memory problems can remember all the moves to the katas she does...............


That's the news Peeps. My apologies to a certain lawyer (not The Lawyer) for taking SO LONG to post the karate review. Anybody ever accuse you of being bossy???? ;)