I'm Cheating on a Love

Lately I've been seriously thinking about cheating on one of my Loves.

The inanimate object of my affection - for the past two years anyway - has been my beloved Nikon D200.

Isn't she pretty?

Well, she has served me very well in capturing hundreds of gigabites of digital memories, as well as helped me earn a buck or two. Though she is wonderful, she is not perfect (but don't tell her that!). 

As much as I love taking her with me on our regular excursions - do you see how BIG she is?! Unfortunately, she doesn't fit in my suitcase of a purse and for all the times I've slung her on my sholder, I've knocked her into things. I want something I can keep on my body without the risk of injuring myself or others!

On that note, let's say Hello to my new little friend... Little Miss CoolPix S3000... oooooh yeaaaaah!

 

Cute, isn't she? Tiny too.

I took her out for a spin today on our trip south to visit my family and see their new house (which is BEAUTIFUL!). We got busy cleaning and unpacking so Little Miss didn't see a lot of action, but what she did see she excelled at! Take a look...

Yes, I am the mom that let's her children stand up on other people's patio furniture. Sorry.

Ollie found this leather-covered helmet and couldn't help himself. Why does my brother have this thing anyway?

Oh course Samuel had to get in on the action. He sort of looks (and acts) like a minature Evel Knievel doesn't he?

And a belly shot of course - she won't have this belly too much longer!

All in all, I'm fairly content to play with my new little friend, and look forward to all the wonderful future memories to shoot using her that I wasn't able to capture with my ginormous Beloved...

...like the self-portrait!

Beware of future postings! Muhahahahaa!!

Mission Accomplished

Yikes, I need to catch you all up on a pretty significant event from last weekend! It was beautiful outside and we did spend some quality time practicing our bike riding skills, but we also had a mission. The mission was to stop people from confusing Samuel with being a girl! Since the sweet, curly hair was to blame - you guessed it - off to get haircuts, Samuel's first!

Jace needed one too and went first to show Samuel how much FUN it is to get your haircut...

... but when it was his turn, Samuel wasn't buying into the fun thing.

He didn't like the water, the head massage, the comb, the scissors, and especially not the buzz of the razor! Notice there are no pictures of the buzz-part? That's because I had to put the camera down to help comfort the little guy - poor thing!

"NOT MY CURLS!"

He was okay by the end.

"Man, I am one good-looking kid!"

All three good-looking kids!

And yes, Samuel wouldn't sit in the chair by himself so the most wonderful Daddy ever stepped in to offer that lap Samuel needed :) For being such a good sport, Samuel even got a little First Haircut certificate - and yes, we saved some curls!

A View

This morning was pretty normal - woke up late, got to school just in time, came home, watched some cartoons, and went to put Samuel down for his nap.

Then Logan and I head outside to take care of some, umm, business, and as we walk out the front door I hear a tap, tap, tap.

I look up...

... and back to the house...

and here is what I see.

Oh yeah, right after I ran back inside to get my camera, and let Logan finish up, I marched upstairs and moved the dresser. Little monkey...

An Unforgettable Day

Yesterday was the first really nice day we've had in a month or so and it was GEORGEOUS! Brian was home which made it even better and after collecting Jace from school the entire Hannum clan headed over to our nearby park.

Since Samuel got his trike in December, and we've been working with Jace to learn how to ride his bike, we though it would be fun for them to ride.

Jace thought so...

...but Samuel had other desires.

Guess who got to ride his bike after that?!

Haha, just kidding - I pushed it!

Then we passed this big hill and a moment of inspiration hit and the boys obliged in letting me take their photo.

But only after we promised to let them go to the playground for a little bit. They had a blast.

Samuel flew high.

And Jace soared.

All while Logan kept a lookout for intruders!

It was an unforgettable day :)

A Gem in a Mountain of Stuff

One of the most wonderful places that I like to visit when in Alabama is Longleaf, a little antique/consignment mall that is chock FULL of wonderful and amazing buys, and even if I don't leave with one, it is still a good day to just visit! Since we've been down here I've been on the hunt for a place like that, and the other day we might have found it... well, it'll do between Alabama trips!

Way back in one of the halls behind a mountain of junk, I found this little beauty for a whooping $6!

I had to have it.

Unfortunatly, I took the "before" picture after I had put the paper in place to keep the glass clean - but under the blue covering is a sweet little painting of two butterflies. I have visions of this hanging next to our desk or in a craft room... or maybe a little girl's room someday?!?! But, I really didn't like the brassy/gold color of the frame, so out came some leftover white spray paint and to town I went.

Ta da! 

Sure, it's a little rough, but I kind of like it.

Here's the masterpiece underneath.

And the final product - isn't it a gem!

Two for the price of One

The boys have been at it again – thickly laying on the cuteness. A couple episodes happened and both are worthy of blogworld so please bare with the lengthyness…

Our trips to and from school are usually filled with some sort of fun little conversations – Jace can be so smart and silly about things. Lately, with tax season in high gear, we‘ve been entertained at a busy intersection with some energetic sign spinners for a local tax service. These kids are great; they’re dressed up like Lady Liberty and are dancing around and beebopping to their itunes.

Yesterday on our way home from school Jace spots them again and asks why they are out there doing that. I explain that they are trying to get people to go to their business and have their taxes done.

Jace: What are taxes?

Me: Well, whenever we make money for our jobs, we have to give some of it to the government – that’s taxes.

Jace: (in an angry voice with his hand flapping) You mean, you have to just hand over money to the government even though they didn’t do anything to earn it?! Boy, I don’t ever want to be government!

Me (laughing): Yes, they get the money, but they use it for programs and to pay for things that we all use – like the playgrounds, they used our tax money to build it and take care of it.

Jace: Oh. Do they give money to the poor?

Me: Yep. They have programs that help out people who are poor.

Jace: Well then, I want to be government when I grow up so that I can help the poor. (insert proud mommy moment here!)

Me: You have to be elected. You have to tell people what you believe in and what you would do if you got the job, then get as many people as possible to vote for you.

Jace thinks about this for a moment and then asks.

“Mom, what does the President do?”

Maybe we have a future politician on our hands?

Okay, now on to Samuel’s moment…

This morning I was super sleepy and thought I’d take a little rest on the couch once we got home from dropping Jace off. With Handy Manny blaring, I stretch out on the couch and Samuel is hopping around from snuggling with me, to pushing cars around on the floor, to snacking on his leftover breakfast.

It wasn’t too long that I’d actually dozed off, which I realized, of course, when I woke up. I lay there listening for Samuel… total quietness. Hmmm, what is that little man getting in to?

“Saaamuel.”

No answer. No sound. No Samuel.

My heart rate picks up a bit as I start looking through the house.

“Saaaamuel.”

Nothing.

I run downstairs and check the door. It’s still bolted. Hmmm. Where is he?!

I turn off all the noises and stand quietly in the living room and listen…

…and then I hear it, a giggle! I get on my hands and knees and look under the chair…

…and there he is…

… smiling…

…and blue.

BLUE!

I guess he thought it was art time!

Good thing the marker was the easy-clean variety. Guess no more naps for me. :)

It doesn't suck!

We had a bit of a, um, cheerios catastrophe, and since Brian was coming home today I figured I'd better get in gear and clean it up, so out comes the vacuum, and Samuel dashes to the couch (that's the "safe" zone during cleaning!)

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After the first couple passes, something seems strange. Even though the Cheerios are disappearing, nothing is filling up in the canister - which I had emptied before starting because I like to SEE how much stuff I'm cleaning up!

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Brian JUST changed the belt but I check it anyway.

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Nope, it works.

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The filter?

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No, it's fine.

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Maybe the carpet is just really clean? Unlikely, but I decide to check the clean theory against an area of carpet I KNOW is dirty. Samuel is watching me with a sweet little grin on his face. I pull out the hose, and wait, what's this?

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What. Is. That? I take a closer look.

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Hmmm... that looks suspiciously like.....

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... a truck!

Out came the truck and up came the dirt! Here's the kicker though, there is NO WAY this thing got sucked up from the floor, which leaves only one explanation... Samuel!
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I think he was secretly laughing at me from the couch.