I thought he was sleeping...

I know, I know the Mommy rule! When they're too quiet, it means something is up. But when Noah is quiet around 3-4pm in the afternoon, it usually just means he's fallen asleep on the playroom couch. I didn't think I had anything to be concerned about.

Thank GOODNESS he didn't color on anything but himself. And thank goodness he's wearing long-sleeved and long-leg pajamas. And YES, Noah is still wearing pajamas in the afternoon. We have a major snow storm outside and I'm pretty sure we're not going anywhere.

And where the heck he found those pens, I have NO idea. I don't keep stuff like that in the playroom for a REASON! *sigh* But when there's a Noah, there's a way.


Noah couldn't be happier with himself. And now Connor is screaming that he doesn't get to do it to himself, too.

Noah is now screaming because I took all the pens away.

And Mark just called to tell me he's working late. Crap. Ola.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update 2 hours later: Yes, I gave in to the screaming. I *think* the pens are water-soluble. And yes, today was boys haircut today (evidenced by Noah's greasy strands and Connor's mop) but the snow saved the boys from that torture. And yes, Connor has purple fingernail polish on (in addition to the purple pen tattoo art, but at least they match - and that is SOOOOO Connor). At least Connor wasn't in pajamas! (Although those clothes ARE yesterday's clothes that he left on the floor instead of putting in his laundry basket, but oh well, it's been one of those WHATEVER days.)


And Mark's bringing home Taco Bell nachos for me, and our nice neighbor snowplowed our driveway (we have 20 inches!!!). And since Mark does kid bathtime, the kid cleanup will be his job. I'll be enjoying my nachos and watching last night's Hells Kitchen. And I've come to realize that the second photo of Noah (full body) is going to make me laugh out loud every time I see it for the rest of my life. Life isn't so bad, I guess!

Valentine Faces Only a Grandma Could Love

Once again I am going to astound you with my amazing child portrait photography skills! Prepare yourselves!


The cherubs are holding their new stuffed animals from Grandma's Valentine's package. Noah named his monkey "Monketey" (although yesterday it was Dokey, so who really knows), Connor's new whale is named "Maui" (despite the fact that we already have a bird named Maui), and Shelby's pink hippo is "ddaaaaa".


This is the only photo where you can see the boys' matching Valentine shirts. Hey, *I* think they're cute when they dress alike and I'm going to keep doing that for as long as I'm able to hold them down and force clothes on them (and/or bribe them with video game time or whatever).


I realize that the stripes of the outfits (and Noah's mismatched socks!) contrast nicely with our plaid couch...yeah, that was planned, all for maximum professional artistic impact. Yes, I am THAT good.


No, Shelby is still not crawling, and yes, she still hates tummy time (most likely the two conundrums are linked, eh?). But this was the only way to show off her cute Valentine's outfit. She complained loudly and longly.

On a high note, Mark surprised us and created our Valentine's celebration this year with a Hawaiian theme, so here's our tropical food spread. Yummo.


We then spent the rest of the day shopping (toilet paper, dog food - fun Valentine stuff like that). That wasn't really in Mark's tropical Valentine plans, but hey, it was Saturday and things needed to get done. And honestly, we weren't going to even try to top the oh-so-successful photographic session or the fantastic raspberry cake breakfast! HOWEVER, unbeknownst to the kids, after they went to bed Mommy & Daddy had their own special Valentine date with fondue in the living room while watching one of our favorite romantic movies, Notting Hill. *sigh*

Typical Saturday morning

Connor joined Mark in doing his usual Jillian Michaels workout, but talked Mark into doing Level 3 (the hardest kick-bum workout!).


Connor is such a little stud-muffin!


Mark's not bad either, given that after simply watching this workout from the couch, I felt nauseous (sympathy pains, you know!), and Mark made it all the way through!


To his credit, Connor made it about halfway through the workout! When Noah asked Connor why he stopped, Connor replied, "Because I'm tired!" To which Noah (laying on the couch with his blanket, eating a pancake and wearing a pirate eye patch) said, "Well, I'm tired, too!" *everyone roll their eyes now*

This is a typical slice of life of the Ritchies: Mark & Connor up early and dressed and working hard, Shelby in the middle of it all and curious, and Mommy & Noah observing (And documenting. And providing commentary.) from the couch, still in our pajamas (where we'll still be 6 hours from now - hey, it's Saturday, okay!!?).

Ahhhh, life is good.