That's A Machine, Alright!

Long before "That's a tse-tse, alright!" appeared on the scene, the phrase "That's a machine, alright!" came into being. I'm guessing it's something I must have said once in response to a query about whether something in particular was, in fact, a machine.

Truth be told, it's hard sometimes when you're outnumbered and I needed a way to indicate to my boys that things like a VCR or the washing machine are not toys, despite all the fun buttons. Pointing out that these items are a "machine" has actually worked for the most part.

Of course, I've never claimed this strategy is foolproof.

Every time I hear "that's a machine, alright" it always cracks me up a little – partly because it's a funny thing to hear a toddler saying, but mostly because my toddlers actually enunciate it as: 

"'Dat's a MAH-sheen, awright!".

It's typically a one-time comment so I never imagined I'd get them saying it on video. In fact, the day I did manage to capture one of my favorite phrases for posterity I nearly missed the boat since I had to do a mad dash for the camera and by the time I got back Nate was mostly interested in pushing the buttons on the dishwasher (a popular MAH-sheen around here) and not much into talking anymore, which was really a shame since "that's an XYZ alright" is very much a Nate-ism. Fortunately Seth picked up the slack that particular day. I didn't dare turn the focus of the camera around though lest Michigan J. Frog appear.

- L.

PS. Even without one of my favorite catch-phrases, I'd still be laughing. Watching Nate press the dishwasher buttons with as much effort as he's putting into it is so very Nate and his expression whenever he's concentrating that much on a task always makes me giggle at least a little.

"Greasy!"

There are times when I really wish I had a camera pointed at myself to capture my own dumbfoundedness/shock/horror at the spectacles I sometimes walk in on. This morning was especially one of those times and probably would have involved a series of shots to convey it entirely. I bet the look I had on my face when I realized just what it was I was seeing would have been the best part though.

What I was seeing was this: 

Except that it was in someone's hand, of course – lid off and missing about half the contents it had held the night before.

And you know, it's really pretty amazing how far a little Vaseline will go.  

It's even more impressive how far a LOT of Vaseline will take you, and despite what the bucket says, it is most definitely not OK. Seth's old friend has been put aside for now, along with miscellaneous toys and puzzle pieces to be dealt with... later. 

I had more pressing matters to deal with this morning after all since a great deal of the missing Vaseline had taken up residence in my boys' hair. 

"Greasy!" is the refrain du jour today, in case you were wondering. 

And it's hilarious. Apparently. 

Not so hilarious? What everyone's hair still looked like after a very thorough washing this morning. 

No, it's not still wet... 

... but it sure is "greasy", everyone! 

I have no idea how I'm going to get their hair clean at this point since Johnson's baby shampoo barely put a dent in it.

*sigh*

- L.

PS. I haven't gotten around to posting about the Great Tse-Tse Capers as of yet, but when I do you can add this morning's efforts to the pile. It was, without a doubt, their most impressive "tse-tse" to date – or as Nate would say, "that's a tse-tse, alright!".*

*For quick reference, Nate's infamous line can be found at the 1:37 mark or thereabouts.

Fingerpaints: The OP Gets Artsy Again

Artsy VS. brave – it's all about perspective, everyone!

On a whim – and by "whim" I mean I have no idea what possessed me to attempt this particular activity today – I decided fingerpaints would be both a fun and necessary activity. And by necessary I mean it just sounded like such a good idea (to me) I didn't want to wait until we had proper materials in the house. Also, the boys were taking their sweet time with breakfast and I was a little bored, which is often a recipe for times like these. 

And speaking of recipes... it turns out it's fairly easy to make passable fingerpaints out of common kitchen ingredients if you're like me and decide that fingerpainting sounds super-fun when you don't own any fingerpainting supplies (and also your boys are taking an especially long time with breakfast and you've already done everything you can think of to do in the kitchen). I went with the cornstarch version.

Suitable paper for fingerpaints was also not an item I had on hand – 8.5 x 11 bond is not up to the challenge in case you were wondering – but I did have some extra sheets of coated cardstock laying about from Easter since I was undecided about whether to go with blue and red or a more Easter themed blue and green when I printed up the bunny feet and such. Given it's smooth surface and heavy weight, it seemed suitable enough.

Of course, I didn't take into account how derailed things might get if anyone thought to look at the underside of their paper before we even got started.

– Is like art already make itself, everyone! Also look strangely familiar for some reason...

After we recovered, the artists got down to work: 

Both boys instinctively went with their usual paint-flinging technique, and while that works very well with a thinner paint, it's not so good with a thick paint. Seth eventually adapted his Jackson Pollock spatters into Jackson Pollock type dabs, but Nate remained firmly in the paint flinging camp until the very last sheet of paper (and even then it was pretty clumpy). No one really got into the messy paint-smearing aspect this time around – not even from the boy who prides himself on being messy. 

• • • • • • •

Overall rating: Fun to make and is the appropriate consistency for fingerpaint, although heavy paint areas will crack when dried. Since I haven't personally used proper fingerpaints in over 35 years, perhaps the same is true with the real deal as well. The recipe yields roughly 2 cups of paint which is more than plenty for two artsy boys and left-over paint can be stored for later use. Bonus points: thick paint means you can easily spoon off any color cross-contamination. I ended up putting our leftover paints in a mini-muffin pan which fit nicely into a large freezer bag (which is the picture at top minus the freezer bag).

And just in case you're perpetually unprepared like me and don't have actual fingerpaints handy when inspiration strikes, the recipe is below.

Click to embiggen (although you'll also now need to right-click/CMD click image and select "open in new window" if you'd like to read it proper). As always, I've formatted the end result for printing should you manage to navigate your way there.

- L.

2 Years + 2 Months + 2 Weeks + 2 Days Old Today

The last time I made a post like this one was, well... 2 years ago and since the next occasion following won't occur for another 20 years I couldn't let it slip by unacknowledged. 

No silly face pictures from today, but it seemed like the right time to finally post the video where Nate discovered a baby in the camera – which unfortunately led to weeks of not being able to take much in the way of videos (or photos for that matter) since everyone wanted to get behind the camera to see the "baby". Mercifully, everyone has moved on since then and things are (mostly) back to normal (just in case you were wondering why all the posts with pics lately have been mainly centered around the kitchen table).

- L.

*In a previous post, I made reference to Nate's discovery of a "boy" in the camera, but after viewing the video I was surprised to discover he actually said "baby". Of course, I shouldn't have been since they will always be my babies after all.

PS. In case you're wondering what the "chewnits" are all about, these would be it:

Specifically, these would be "chewnit number 6" and "chewnit number 7". When the boys are counting using the numbers from this particular puzzle, they will actually sequence them as, "one, two, three, four, five, chewnit number six, chewnit number seven, eight", etc. In the video, they are clearly working on some new chewnits however.

Also chewnits:

Nate is the main perpetrator, but Seth has been known to enjoy a "chew" here and there. Mercifully, neither of my boys has ever been one to try to ingest non-food items. That said, if it can be chewed on, odds are good it's been "chewnits'd" around here.

Potty Learning: The Try, Try Again Edition (Part I)

We abandoned potty time six odd weeks ago or so when out of the blue Nate flatly refused to use the potty and truth be told, we weren't exactly going gangbusters even at the best of times. The boys liked sitting on the potty well enough until one day one of them didn't, but either way no one ever did much on it – the break seemed like a good time to regroup and maybe re-approach potty learning with a strategy in place.

Six weeks later, Part I of having a strategy involved trying out pull-ups. If there's anything Nate and Seth like – aside from cars – it's anything "new" and pull-ups fit the bill. In fact, the pull-ups I bought back in December even have (Disney) Cars™ on them, the merchandising of which is moot to my boys, but still... cars!

As it turned out, they were neither here nor there about cartoon cars, but they sure have enjoyed both the new diaper/underpants hybrid and running about yelling "Pull-Ups! Pull-Ups!".

And whether Part I of the "Potty Learning: The Try, Try Again Edition" ends up taking shape or not, the pics I took this morning of my boys having a blast in their new not-quite-a-diaper-not-quite-underpants made it all worthwhile.

Enjoy! 

• • • • • • •

Things started off over here: 

But quickly moved to over here: 

Where hijinks ensued: 

Including some amateur wrestling moves: 

Until everyone was tuckered out: 

But not so tuckered out Nate couldn't giggle himself silly about it after the fact:

 

- L.

Also For Gamma Rita

– I gets a haircut today and pose over here with new look.

– Then I picks you a fine stick.

• • • • • • •

– I not get haircut today, so I just pose like cool dude as usual.

– And then I picks you a flower. 'Dis mean I win, right?

- L.

For Gamma Rita

A few weeks ago the boys were sick during a spell of unexpected summertime weather. Even though it was very nice outside, I decided to keep them indoors one particular day which necessitated finding some fun, new indoor activities – because even though the boys were poorly they are still two, which means lots of energy even when you're not feeling your best.

I was at a bit of a loss for something new and exciting that would justify not going outside to play until I remembered we had some transferrable tattoos laying about. 

I'm not sure Gamma Rita would have endorsed this particular activity – although she well might well have if it had looked more like this: 

- L.