How much trouble could ONE picture be?

 

Ok, so that's a decent picture.  Not the worst ever.  Not the greatest by any means, but it was somewhat what I was looking for.
I would have initially labeled that one "bad" and deleted it without second glance.
It gets the label "decent" only after you consider the work that went into that picture.
But, how much work was involved in that ONE picture?
Oh, you don't even know! 
It was a ridiculous amount of begging, pleading, positioning, fussing, whining, aggravating, crying, flopping, and complaining that took place before I finally got that shot. 
And the sad part?  -- it's still not exactly what I was aiming for!!!!    It was just too much trouble ... I gave up.
Take a look at just a FEW of the snaps I went through in order to get that ONE "quick" snapshot picture above.  Geez!!

Take ONE:

 Take TWO:

 Take THREE:

 Take FOUR:      (Jax was actually in the middle of snapping his fingers, I'm pretty sure, but, still - what's up with that bird? !!!  So, tell me how you really feel about taking pictures, son!!!)

 Take FIVE:

 Take SIX:

Take SEVEN:

 

Take EIGHT:

 Take NINE:

 Take TEN:

 Take ELEVEN:

 Take TWELVE:

 Take THIRTEEN:

{yawn}  Ok, I'm getting tired and outdone just posting these.  This is only half of the trouble that was involved in that one frazzlin picture.  Yes, seriously.  There are more.  Lots more.
Why?  WHY, children?  Why can't you ALL just look at me and look pleasant and freeze that way for just ONE second.  Why do you work me like this, all while snickering silently inside as you connive with each other via mental telepathy to create more group un-cooperation and mom-stress?  Why? 
All I wanted was ONE picture.  I guess I got it.
But I got you back!  Cause your charades are now posted for all the world to see!  
Everybody say, "Yaaaay!"

CHEEEEEESE!!!!!!

Goody Goody TWO shoes!!

One, Two, buckle my shoe!  And, One, Two, buckle these shoes, too!  And, these!  and those too!

Our resident princess had a very appropriate SHOE themed 2nd birthday party in December.  Hence our invitation and party theme:  Goody Goody TWO Shoes!
This child LOVES her some shoes, so nothing would "fit" her better than a Goody Goody TWO Shoes party.  Since finding "shoe" themed paper goods for a little girl is next to impossible (why is it that all of the party stuff that I did find with shoes on it, also had martini glasses -- ??? ), we developed our own theme and color schemes to match her personality.  Although her birthday is in December, we opted for fun, bright colors and patterns that were as far away from "Christmas time" as possible.  I thought it turned out to be a very cute party. And, FUN too!

Mrs. Lisa made our cake and cupcakes, and they were so goooooood!  And, ADORABLE too!

We opted for 3 tiers of cupcakes, with a small cake for Joy to enjoy, rather than the traditional one large birthday cake   Goody, Goody!

we LOVED these shoe sugar cookies, and they were sooooo good too!  Mrs. Heather created these, each with a unique design, coordinated with our color scheme.  Don't you love them?!!  Goody, Goody!

here's our table setting!  Mrs. Stacy let us borrow these table clothes - they were just what we needed to tie it all together!  Goody, Goody!

snacks, in easy-to-handle "cones" that I made myself.  EASY, EASY

close up of the fondant "zebra" print cupcakes  CA-YUTE!

THE Princess

a crown for the prissy little Shoe Queen.  Goody Goody!

a little modeling...

modeling... shoes, of course

she listened intently as everyone sang Happy Birthday.  Goody Goody!

and, she was successful with blowing out TWO candles.  Goody Goody!

we set up a little "shoe shop" for the girls to try on, and try on, and try on... until their little shoe-loving hearts were content!  GOODY, GOODY fun!

these were her pick for the moment.always subject to change, of course!

Don't blink!  She'll change those shoes on ya in a heartbeat!  and, in 2 seconds flat!

Opening gifts -- also a great opportunity to prop your feet up  :-D

she loves her babies

ah!  her first pair of Tom's!!  And, look at that!-- they're sparkly- perfect princess attire

There wasn't anything huge or spectacular at the Goody Goody TWO shoes party, but I think it was perfect for this group of prissy little two-year-olds!  Kids and adults alike enjoyed the food, and I think the adults enjoyed the constant shoe fashion show entertainment just as much as the adorable little two-year-old shoe models did.  Gosh, I think they could even teach some of us a thing or two about walking (and running) in heels!!
Happy Birthday Joy!  Goody Goody TWO Shoes!

Wordless Wednesday: Rotten!

GAPS update

My kids have LOVED participating in the Great American Postcard Swap.  It started back in May (2010), and it has been tons of fun.  Not to mention, educational!  (You can read my original post on the GAPS here.)  At first Joy was oblivious, but after observing multiple instances of great enthusiasm from Jax when a postcard was found in the mailbox, she began to come around a little more.  We have been placing the postcards on the wall in their toy room, along with a blank U.S. map.  We've been coloring in the states as we receive the postcard from each state.  (Side note:  we started out with the postcards in the kitchen entryway, where I usually display our beloved Christmas cards.  I thought the GAPS would be over by Christmas to make way for the Christmas cards, but alas, it was only mid-way through at Christmas time so the postcards had to be uprooted and relocated to the toy room wall).  Joy enjoys looking at the pictures and pointing out mountains, deserts, fields, and other geographic significances that she has learned to recognize in the pictures featured on many of the cards. Jax can recognize some of the state shapes and he knows the general vicinity of their location on the map.  He can recall geographic land types for many states, but not all.  Heck, I don't know if I could, either, ha!  Most of the cards have state history information on them, so we have reviewed those facts occasionally.
I originally joined the GAPS to help Jax understand maps a little better - they are still naturally an arbitrary idea for him.  We don't travel a lot, but I recognized last summer that he didn't understand anything about "states" other than traveling to any other than Mississippi meant "far away" and "long ride" for him.  This has been a fun endeavor, and I hope we'll get a chance to participate in another one perhaps when Jax is studying the United States in school.  Or Joy.  Or both!

To bring it all full circle, Jax got a U.S. puzzle for Christmas, and he was so excited about that.  But I can still tell that he doesn't fully understand, and that maps are still a tiny bit arbitrary for him.  I hope this exposure and practice will help him to develop an appreciation not only for maps, etc., but to also introduce him to basic directional skills (he knows how to read a compass!) and state identification, as well as foster a love for his own state of Mississippi and all the blessings we have here.
Did you know that maps are on their way out of style?  I heard a radio broadcast recently that said that our children will be unaware of such things as telephone books, letters, maps, cd's, and chapter books and libraries!  These essentials from my childhood years are being quickly replaced by the internet, email/social networking, g.p.s systems, mp3's, and electronic readers. WOW!  That is so true; I never stopped to think about it before hearing the broadcast. 

The GAPS is not over yet - we are missing a few states still - but we hope to have a complete set of postcards very soon, that we can look at over and over again.  Thank you to all of the GAPS participants - we have really enjoyed this project!!

Halloween

yes, it's January.  2011.
and, yes, I'm blogging about Halloween.  2010.
but, they were too CUTE not to share, okay?!  I'm just anal like that.  I can not get over it.  So, yes, I'm still in "catch up" mode.

But I will make a deal with you, my lovely readers.  Since you have long forgotten about Halloween, I'll spare you the details and just let the pictures speak for themselves - how about that?
Ha, I'll let you decide the CUTENESS factor, [wink, wink]

So, without further ado, I present to you... Halloween 2010!  [drumroll, please!]

First up, LUIGI!!!!

Jax is obsessed with the Mario Brothers, and idolizes Luigi for some reason.  What better Halloween costume?  Very fitting for him, right now.

I love the mustache the most!  hilarious!

Jax, 4, cannot say "Luigi" no matter how hard he tries, but, bless his heart, he's working REALLY hard on it!  When he says it, it comes out as "Lu-wedgie"    LOL

And, next up, we have a very lovely....   STRAWBERRY!!!!

isn't this just the most precious thing?

She's BERRY sweet!!!

Love her BERRY much!

Our church had the annual trunk-or-treat, and we had soooo many kids -- it was a BLAST!!!  Look at all of 'em!

you could find any creature you've ever dreamed up at Calvary's annual Trunk-or-Treat.  Can you say FUN!!

here's a closer snapshot, just before the kiddos hit up all of the "trunks" in the parking lot.  That's my niece and nephew (Popeye and Olive Oil) sitting between Luigi and Little Miss Strawberry

The kids got to select a pumpkin from the patch, and decorate it - this was a fun activity for all ages.

Daddy helped Joy - she picked the cutest tiny pumpkin for the project - it was about the size of an apple.  It turned out soooo cute!  I loved having the kids' decorated pumpkins sitting out on our porch for Halloween.  So cute.

Here's the two cutie-patooties as we were getting ready to wrap up the night.  GREAT TIMES for the Leggett's

a lesson on pets

Back in the Fall, Joy's class was doing a study on animals, and pets.  One afternoon, I reached into her cubby to gather her belongings, and pulled this out:

 

YIKES!  "What is this?" I asked, and Joy just looked up at me sheepishly.  Her teacher answered for her, "it's a gerbil - we're talking about animals this week."  Joy just nodded in agreement.   OH!, I thought, how silly of me to think it was just a toilet paper roll with some lint on it.  "Ok, great," I said, and we went to the car, while I tried worked very hard to stifle in my laughs.

On the same afternoon, when I picked up Jax, I reached into his cubby to gather his belongings, and pulled out a letter, informing parents of the PET SHOW his class would be hosting the next day.  It wasn't a live pet show - it was a pet show for stuffed animals or other favorites of the non-living type.  What a neat idea, I thought as I ushered him to the car, but, what in the world will we bring for the pet show??!!.  

On the drive home, we talked about the usual things:  what they ate for lunch, who they played with, what they learned, what they made.... and it was THEN that I had the most wonderful idea!!! --- JAX could take JOY's hand-crafted GERBIL to the pet show!!!!!!!!!!!

He did NOT approve of that idea.
Squashed.
Immediately.

He had apparently already contemplated the issue and had already made a selection mentally -- he wanted to take his "pet" squirrel... the one that was our guest at our recent front yard picnic. 
So, that is exactly what he did.  And, all of the kids loved it, including Joy, who got to be a pet show audience member.
I still think my idea was better.  I mean, how much more unique can you get?