Because You Never Know When You May Need a Good Hammer. . . .

A few weeks ago, at the YMCA birthday party for the babies, Henry got a toolbench. This toolbench came with a screwdriver and a hammer. Well, Henry loves the toolbench and likes the screwdriver okay. But, he has never really gotten a chance to try out the hammer (which is a little sad, considering Henry's nickname is "The Hammer").

Anyway, Henry has never bonded much with the hammer because Piper doesn't allow anyone else to play with the hammer. Piper LOVES the hammer. She is terrified that someone else will get the hammer, and screams if anyone goes into the playroom before she does. As soon as she is in the playroom, she starts searching for the hammer, and goes and grabs it. Occasionally she'll start screeching and I'll go in there to find that Rosemary has the hammer and Piper wants it back.

And Piper can do anything while holding onto the hammer. She can walk, crawl, sit, play with other toys, just anything while never letting go of it. We do leave the hammer in the playroom and she seems to understand that and has no problem letting it go, but if we didn't leave it in the playroom, I don't think she'd ever put it down.

Sunday, I took pictures of Piper holding the hammer. Notice that these pictures are from throughout the day, and not just in one session. The hammer is never far from Piper. Because you never know when you may need a good hammer. . . .

Weekend Morning Stroll at Aldridge Gardens. . . .

This morning we took the babies to Aldridge Gardens. This is fast becoming a regular weekend event. After the babies have breakfast, we load them up and head out. We stop by Starbucks since it's on the way. Aldridge Gardens is pretty close to our house, so it's a quick drive. Gary and I get a nice walk out of it while we enjoy our coffee, and the babies seem to enjoy everything. We can usually make it back home in no time for the morning nap. Here are some pictures I took this morning while we were there:

Photography Class Homework #4

My photography class is now officially over. I'm really glad I took it and I feel like I've learned a lot. I know I have a lot more to learn and I think that I'll probably take another class in a few months, but for now I think I've stretched my brain to the limit and I just need to work on what I've learned so far.

This week my homework was to focus on taking photos of things that I don't normally photograph. Which is pretty much anything except my kids. . . . When we went to see Nana and Papa this past weekend, I took some pictures of the horses (and of course I had to take a few of Papa, Sydney, and Henry since they just happened to be outside when I was taking my pictures). Then on the day the homework was due, I walked around the office taking pictures of people's hands (everyone just loved that). I had this great idea of turning in all these photos of hands in an office doing office-like hand things, but it really didn't turn out like I had expected, so I just turned in a couple of them.

When I got to class I announced that my pictures for the week weren't any good, but the instructor said that they weren't bad, and that maybe I've just gotten more critical. . . . I really am not at the stage yet where I need to be any more critical of my photos!

I think the pictures with people turned out better. I don't know why, but I feel much more comfortable taking pictures of people, especially kids, and I really think that those photos turn out much better than others. I suppose that's good because the whole point of the photography class is for me to take better pictures of my kids. So, here's my last set of photography homework, with a little less focus on my kids than in the past:















Gary and I really like the pictures I took at Aldridge Gardens last week. We've decided that at least once a month we are going to make a point of taking the kids somewhere to take some good pictures of them. They change so very quickly, and we want to be sure that we capture everything. Coming up on August 20 we are getting more professional photos of the kids. I can't wait to see how that is going to work out. Last time the girls were somewhat proficient at rolling but that's it. Now, I have one walker and two cruisers. And those kids can fly when they crawl. I don't even know how this is going to work out. . . .

Spending the Night with Nana and Papa!

Gary and I decided that it was time for the babies to spend the night at Nana and Papa's house and for Gary to spend his first night away from the babies to get some work done. I think it was harder on Gary than the babies, but all is well now and the babies had a great time and didn't seem to mind spending the night in a new place.

I called Nana and Papa on Friday morning to let them know that I was going to drive the babies up the next day and that we were going to spend the night. I made sure to let them know that if it was too much trouble that we wouldn't stay the night, but Nana and Papa insisted that it was no trouble at all. Mom called me a few hours later to let me know that they had gone shopping at Babies R Us. When we got to Nana and Papa's house, they had up three cribs (they already had 2 and only had to buy one), a playpen and foam mats, three booster seats with trays, bibs, and the babies' favorite sippy cups. Wow. I got out of hauling a lot of stuff up there!



Sydney, my niece, and Uncle Seth were visiting when we got there. Sydney ran outside as soon as I pulled up. I thought she may be excited to see me and wanting to hug me, but no, she just wanted to know where the babies were. She loved spending time with the babies, but didn't so much enjoy sharing her raisins with the babies. . . .



The babies ate a LOT while they were at Nana and Papa's. Nana made the babies all their favorite foods, and some new favorites. The babies ate pretty much the whole time we were there, and acted like they were starving at every meal. Dad accused me of not feeding them, and the way they acted when they saw food I can see why. Here they are eating breakfast Sunday morning:





And this is how Piper looked when I asked her if she was feeding her breakfast to Gracie:



Francesca (our cat) is not a nice cat. Ask anyone who knows me. Everyone always thinks that cats like them -- but I can assure everyone that our cat will not like you. Our cat may even attack you. At least Francesca is good to the babies (and stays very, very far away from them -- I think that she is scared of them, actually). But Nana's cat, Tarzan, is much nicer and let Henry and Rosemary play with her, pretty roughly. . . .





Uncle Zac, Aunt Kimberly, and new baby cousin Laramy came over to visit a lot while we were at Nana and Papa's house. Aunt Kimberly and Laramy were awake most of the time they were visiting, but I had to include the sweet picture of Kimberly and Laramy taking a nap together:




The babies had a great time playing with things that are not toys. For instance, Henry was playing in the window when he turned around and saw one of the greatest non-toys ever -- cookbooks!





Then Nana pulled out some bowls and measuring cups for the babies, and they played with those and the cookbooks. It never ceases to amaze Gary and I how the greatest toys are not intended to be toys at all. . . .









Then Piper found something else to play with that was not intended to be a toy, and should not be a toy. . . .





Nana quickly took the dogbone away from Piper and returned it to the poor dog!

Overall, the night away from home at Nana and Papa's house was a success. I'm sure we'll be going back up there soon.

I had my last photography class last night (at least until I take another one some day). Our homework was to take pictures of things that we don't normally take pictures of -- so I tried to take pictures of things other than the babies! I did a lot of my homework while I was at Nana and Papa's house, and will post my homework in a couple of days when I can get the photos uploaded.