continued...

In our last episode, I was complaining about the hose being buried. It's unburied now. It took me about 2 hours to dig up. It was about 2 feet underground; after the hole Connor had begun. Here are some pictures (please ignore the redneck child in the pictures).

Quiet children, never a good thing.

Today, after suffering through an afternoon of bickering and complaining, I banished my older children outside. (I know, terrible). They were playing with the sprinkler and seemed to be having a blast. After a while I looked outside to see that they had taken the hose out of the sprinkler and were chasing each other with it. They then started making a water slide on the swing set. I decided, against my better judgment, that it was probably fine. After all, they were happily playing and I was watching Oprah while folding laundry. (I KNOW, Oprah! When do I ever get to do that?!) Shortly after Al got home, Aisling came in and said Connor had gotten the hose stuck in a hole. I went out prepared to take the hose from a hole in the fence or something similar. Oh no. My lovely son had some how managed to get the hose stuck in at least three inches of mud. As they made a water slide it created a giant mud puddle. They then started digging in this, and the hose got stuck. Neither Al nor I could get it out. It remains stuck. I've never heard of such a thing!

The hole goes up to his elbow.
Hose stuck in the ground.
The carnage of our swingset.

The worst part of this whole thing, besides the fact that the hose is stuck, is that while hunched over and trying to pull it out, I got bitten by a few bugs (three!) I don't know what they were, but they were not nice! However, I did get to watch Oprah. It MAY have been worth it...

Techno baby...

Siobhan loves Al's Blackberry. She knows what it is and knows how to use it. Here's a video of her:


Incidentally, while she was watching this video, she was waving to herself!

Aye, you scurvy lad!

We sent Connor to pirate themed cub scout day camp this past week During this camp he did things like shoot BB guns, bows and arrows, and cross bow. He is now asking for a BB gun for Christmas. I am not so sure how I feel about this! He also helped create a skit, and did lots of crafts. He also learned phrases like "...then he screamed like a girl" in regards to a friend that saw a snake. *sigh* this is what you get with a group of seven year old boys I suppose! He had a fantastic time. I think cub scouts has been a wonderful thing for him. Here are a few pictures and videos from his last day.

His den did a skit. He was the only one in a homemade costume. He was also the loudest and clearest of the den! Good work Matey! (I guess drama camp paid off...)His camp also made a big pirate ship out of refrigerator boxes. here is is peeking out of the window. Shortly after this picture, everyone got in trouble for being in the boat when they weren't supposed to be. Oops...

Here's a picture of the whole camp. He's the only one in his red shirt; but he also got a blue camping shirt.

Here's a video of him getting his camp patch; his pirate name was Captain Green Beard. I also have other videos I can upload later.

I love you; I just don't want to kiss you.

Connor and Aisling talk about getting married sometimes. It's very cute. They play house a lot, and pretend to be husband and wife. After they play, Connor always reminds us that he knows they can't get married in real life, but they're just pretending. (Phew, cause we were worried about them trying to get married for real...)

Today in the van I head the following conversation:
Aisling (5) "Connor we have to kiss on the lips when we get married".
Connor (7): just looks at her.
Aisling: "Yeah, I think we have to kiss on the lips when we get married. But we can wipe it off when we're married".
Connor: "Mom, can we wipe off the kiss after we get married?"
Me: "um, yes"
Connor: "Okay"

I guess kissing is icky.

I guess it happens to everyone...

I have discussed hair cutting with my children, mainly Aisling, a number of times. Basically I've threatened them with bodily harm explained how bad their hair will look if the cut it themselves.I thought they understood, and I was safe from the horrible "emergency" hair cut. (You obviously know where this is going....)

Connor's hair has gotten quite long. And, while he often gets mistaken for a girl, we all loved it. I thought it was fitting for him and looked very unique. It was almost long enough for him to tuck behind his ears, but not quite. A few times I convinced him to have it tied back in the center of his head...

but he hated that. So, instead he had it hanging down in front of his eyes, like so:
Apparently he got sick of that because he gave himself a haircut. I guess I thought he was too old for that at age 7. Not to worry, we didn't escape that developmental milestone unscathed. He was extremely upset about it afterward, and I think embarrassed. He asked me not to show the pictures to anyone. So, I will honor that request secretly post them on this blog for you anyway; he'll never know.

Here's the self-haircut: (You can tell he'd been crying...) He didn't want his picture taken, but what's a blog-writing, scrapbook-making mama to do? Let him get away with this monumental event not photographed? *snort* I think not! A little personal trauma makes the best scrapbook pages! You can see where he chopped his bangs. While he was doing it, I remember wondering where he was, since he'd been gone (and quiet) for a while. I never learn...

Here's during the haircut:And here's the professional cut:I think it looks really great. I'll need to get some gel for him. He asked for another mowhawk, and that's not exactly what he got. I am glad though, I like this a lot better. I do have to say, I was impressed with how long he kept his hair long. That's not the "typical" style, and I love, love, love that he was confident enough to go with what he wanted, over what the typical expectation is. That takes courage!