Butterfly:  "Mommy, do cows give chocolate milk too?"

(Mommy pauses while chuckling; Butterfly senses she's said something funny)

Mommy:  "Only the brown ones dear."

(Note: I did give her a real answer afterward).

Butterfly got this really girly stuffed dog for her birthday; it came with a carrier, a fancy outfit, a leash, & a brush:

Our "Jertain in the Curtain"...

Say goodbye to single digits forever... Storyman is the big 1 - 0!

Seems like it was just yesterday...

...that he was just a little "Storybaby" all of 1 week old!

The picture is about a boy who has a monkey as a pet & the monkey wrecked his room. I told him if I was the mom the monkey would be in a zoo where he belongs!

Today he's opened his presents & is happy:



See a theme here? Piratey type stuff... he also got some books & a new "Illustory" make a book kit.

Happy, happy, happy 10th birthday to my Storyman. I love you!

... & keep those stories coming!

We had a little gathering for Storyman's big 10 ... he really enjoyed himself.

There was cake & singing...

Little Guy has been interested in the Ladybugs using his old toys such as the Exersaucer & Jumperoo. He made himself comfy underneath while Ladybug II was playing in the Jumperoo.

Storyman has a few new entries on his blog, taken right from history (sort of). He really enjoys history & uses what he learns to make up his own unique stories. You can check them out here.

Butterfly had a new project this week that was cute. I had mentioned her being "scissor challenged" so I give her some very simple projects to practice on from an Abeka K4 art book I had around from years ago. It has been ideal; just what she needed for practice & she feels good about the things she's making because she does it all herself.

Her latest is this cute lion face (hanging up on the fridge behind her):

We had a few portraits done recently. I wanted to take Butterfly for her yearly birthday photo. I figure we don't do "school portraits" so this is our yearly tradition of sorts. The Ladybugs had never had their portrait done formally, so I had wanted to do that as well. Then Big Guy never had a picture taken for his 13th birthday back in Sept, being the babies were small & I just never got out for that. I had taken Little Guy's at home for his last summer, since he has an aversion to studio cameras these days.

Anyway, the photo shoot went very well. We went back to Sears. I had a bad experience with them in December when I went to get the Ladybugs picture taken, but this time I asked questions before scheduling & got a great person for the job. She was even great with Big Guy. You have to be lightening quick to capture his great smile!

His birthday picture, well, 13 & 1/2 years old now!

The Ladybugs gave me some great choices!



Our little Ladybug II stayed serious the entire time, so we couldn't capture her sweet smile, but she looks cute anyway!


But Ladybug I was really into mommy's silly noises - they worked for her!


They do some nice special effects like this sepia with the pink edging:


I chose this pose for the wall, but for the finished product they brought it up closer, put pink edging around it & their names & age:


There were so many nice ones I had a collage done to include others. I wish I could have taken everything right home. You do have the choice of taking some home but it's an extra $3 per sheet, so I decided to wait the 2 weeks for everything. Thank you Lord, for great pictures of our sweeties! 

Not to leave them out, but Storyman will be having his birthday photo taken soon. However, I got this really nice one of both Storyman & Little Guy here at home together:

After a long blogging hiatus, Storyman has posted a new entry on his blog. He hopes to be a more consistent blogger. So hop on over to Storyman's blog to see why he got that nickname!

The babies with a new toy (& one big one they already had!):

My little Butterfly turns 6 years old today! Time flies by too fast ...

Her birth picture

Ladybug I is getting ready to crawl. Here is she is up on her knees, tiny little baby that she is!

Last night at dinner Butterfly shared her plans for her life with us, &, um, her plans for me....

Apparently she is going to have twin babies, a boy & a girl, & name them Benjamin & Sara. She said her "room" when she "grows up" will be pink & purple (wonder how her future hubby will feel about that one...).

I told her when she has her babies I will come & help her, & that I promised to be a help & not a hindrance.  I said I will make her a cup of tea so she can put her feet up & rest. I will do her laundry, cook their meals, & clean their home if they would like that.

Apparently, she would really like that; all of that! She had other plans as well...

When I then told her the Ladybugs could come with me & help her out, she said they could help me with the housework. According to Butterfly, Ladybug II is to mop the floor, & Ladybug I should dust.

She said Storyman could help out too, by painting the babies room. Big Guy should throw out the garbage (yeah, as soon as I get him to do that here!). Then Little Guy (who won't be so little by then I'm sure), should mow the lawn (I sure hope he'll be able).

Her daddy has a job as well. He should come over & cook their breakfast. (He makes nice egg breakfasts). Butterfly doesn't even eat eggs... she did say he could also barbeque for them.

She said I could clean her house, cook their meals, do their laundry, & get the babies ready to go out when they need to go somewhere. She said I could also change their diapers.

My husband then asked "What are you doing to do Butterfly?"

She didn't answer.

Today she says she will be nursing her babies. Sounds good to me; I do hope I can help make things easier for her someday!

Storyman set up a "trading post" with these toys. Looks great!

Today my Ladybugs are 6 months old...