A few random thoughts from yesterday…my first attempt to watch Tanner, Ty AND Noah and Graham by myself!
1. Ty and Graham are easier than Noah and Tanner. They only pull hair.
2. One should not attempt such a feat when they struggle with only half the equation. Jim dutifully pointed this out.
3. One requires 4 arms to watch 4 small children.
4. Noah and Ty both think the word “No” is subjective and usually doesn’t apply to them.
5. Noah spent quite a bit of time comforting me. Each time he got a “talking to”, he would pat me, say “I am sorry”, and slowly lift his hand to cover my mouth. My 2 year old nephew is smarter than I. He was letting me know – got the message 10 minutes ago – you can stop your monologue now I have that memorized. Unfortunatly, memorization and application don’t go hand in hand (apparently).
6. Tanner looked hilarious jumping all over the yard because Noah poured a shovel full of sand down him.
7. Graham wants to know why his mommy subjected him to Ty. Ty is envious of the curls and just cannot stop touching them.
8. Tanner was being very “fair” and “kind” all day. This was odd to me as Noah was proclaiming this quite loudly in an unhappy voice. Do you think he may have meant “NOT” fair and “NOT” kind? LOL.
9. Noah gets the highlights because Tanner is just more subtle – not necessarily more innocent 🙂 .
10. At one point, I looked to heaven and pleaded for mercy. I had Ty by the ankle while he was trying to crawl across the trampoline all the while screaming at me for holding him back, Graham got knocked off the little 3 wheeler and he was holding the handle bars trying to reclaim possession while screaming at the top of his lungs (my other hand was reaching for Graham), Tanner and Noah (who removed Graham from his toy) had each other in a strangle hold trying to determine who had the right to full ownership of the 3 wheeler. I visualized the Incredibles and wished I was elasta-mom.
Brooke called at an interval when I was battling full on anarchy with Ty and Graham. I had removed them from the backyard because they weren’t adequately dressed. I was trying to negotiate with two one year old’s and they would have none of it. When the phone rang, I thought the caller id was Daniel’s cell phone and I answered the phone “SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” LOL. Freaked Brooke out as she was on her way up north. I told her I would be just fine if she would quit talking to me and let me put tennis shoes on the kids and return them to the quiet zone outside. That was a very short conversation.
Speaking of negotiations – she warned me about that. Before she left she told me “Do NOT negotiate with Noah”. Apparently Noah is gifted in this area and she feared he may one up me. I share in that concern and mentally stored that tip away.
We all survived with barely a scrape although when Jim came home and immediately went to the computer instead of to my rescue outside, I was pretty much ready to level him. The nerve!!!! He figured I got myself into this:). Thankfully he was available for bath time which was fortunate because this required team effort.
While watching four boys (4, almost 3, and two one year olds) is a great challenge, it also gave opportunity to really experience them all in their “finest hour” and they really are the most adorable little monkey’s ever. I am also anxious for Brooke to have this “experience”. LOL.
8 responses to “Picture the Scene”
THAT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FUNNNY!!!!! (of course this is only because i was not there!!!) oh dear… you give a great visual to the reader. i wish i could have been a fly on the wall.
love you.
Laughing hysterically at you! I must tell you it isn’t any easier when they are all yours! One of these days I’ll have to tell the story of me taking 5 boys under 10 to sears for pictures. Needless to say, I haven’t been back in that store! Oh, the mental pictures your stories give….still laughing hysterically!
Love, Jennifer
No no no Jennifer – don’t leave us all hanging! We WANT to hear that story! Get writing.
oh geeze…if I can remember it all.
At the time my oldest brother had two boys. One was 5 months so the other was 19 months. I offered to keep them while they went away for the weekend. I guess I felt sorry for them….wished someone would do it for me…I’m not exactly sure WHY I chose to tackle that task. Let’s see, if Bryden was 19 months then my Ben was 13 months older than that, so basically 2 1/2. That would mean that Graham was 4 1/2 and Ryan was 9 1/2. Are you with me so far? 5 BOYS…ages 9 1/2, 4 1/2, 2 1/2, 19 months, AND 5 months. WHEW. As if having them under my care in my home wasn’t enough….I decided I would SURPRISE my brother & parents w/ a family portrait of all 5 boys/grandsons. I promise you that I adequately WARNED the unsuspecting photographer at Sears when I made the appointment. I made it PERFECTLY clear that I was bringing 5 boys under 10 ALONE for a PICTURE and it WOULD be the hardest thing she would do that day or maybe even in her lifetime. IT was HORRIBLE. It took over an hour to get 5 half decent shots. I bribed and even gave a two year old lipstick to get him to be still. As if the tourture of trying to get the picture wasn’t bad enough…when I went to pick the pictures up, the photographer had written a sweet little note on the back of the card that OBVIOUSLY I wasn’t suppossed to see. She said, and I QUOTE…”The children were HORRIBLE and the mother COULD NOT CONTROL THEM. This is the reason there are only 5 proofs.” I went THROUGH THE ROOF! I haven’t taken my children or anyone else’s to have pictures made since. I think I am on a permanent “do not answer call” list at Sears customer service AND it’s a good thing that sweet girl quit Sears before I picked those pictures up…(I wonder why?) We have had a photographer out to my parents to take a family picture after we added 4 more children to the group. It was just as bad….I now take the pictures and we really don’t care if they are all looking the same way or not….just as long as no one gets hurt.
Happy dear? Next installment….photo shoot of all 9 last week on a propane gas truck for my Dad’s office. I hope the driver of that truck doesn’t give notice this week. It’s entirely possible!
Oh girlfriend – I would NOT have been that brave! I am not sure what is funnier – the event itself or that you even attempted it LOL! Wow!
Here is my suggestion. Take pictures on a solid background of each kid indiviually and than digitally edit them into the same picture! LOL. That is what I did for the last Christmas picture for our family – had absolutely NO choice:)
I’m not that talented! cropping is about as far as I can go w/ it. I am trying to learn photoshop…we’ll see.
Doni,
My offer to swap kids for the day will always be in standing. If you made it through this I have faith that you could handle four boys, and two girls. Ages: 8, 6, 5, 3, 19 months and 9 months. LOL!!!!!!!!! If you have taught me one thing it would that I should think about things before acting. Don’t be so quick to answer.
GOOD ADVICE DONI! and what a hysterical story! i can’t believe you didn’t at least enlist a friend for help… oh my goodness. i bet that girls photography career has ended… or, perhaps she turned to “still life” for future photos. ha ha!!! nice try though!
learn photoshop – it’s not THAT hard after you spend a little time learning initially.