Friday, May 30, 2008

earlier in May...

IMG_3200-2

We are so blessed with our Wonder Woman Mother Janice. Four kids and energy to spare is still beyond my comprehension. If the responsibilities were switched it would be four kids sitting on top of a catatonic dad watching little Nemo for the 14th time. Thank you Janice the mom - you are an amazing woman.

Mother's Day was very relaxing and accompanied by some beautiful Spring weather. We took our traditional Mother's day picture (click here for a collection of previous years) and yes it has been altered in PhotoShop. The goal is 5 smiles not 3 smiles, a nose picker and an impromptu display of underwear - smiles and smiles only. I have been known to touch up snotty smiles, bruised smiles or scratched smiles. In the coming years I will deal with wrinkled smiles and "I really should exercise more" smiles.

Janice snapped quite a few pictures that day with no edits needed. Here is a link to all those pictures. The kids were having so much fun on the newly reconstructed swing set in the backyard (thanks for the help Edward). Life is good, busy, but good.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Birthday heroes

IMG_2277

So far most of the boy’s birthdays have been superhero themes. Ben just turned 4 with Spiderman at his side and Nathaniel has done Superman for 3 years running. The celebration on the day of Ben’s birthday was a small affair with a donut and 4 candles for his morning breakfast. Nathaniel’s contribution was a 101.7 degree temperature with accompanying throw up. Our house was plagued and it seems that even our Superhero boy’s are susceptible. Fortunately we have lot’s of movies to keep them in a “restful” albeit mindless state. We did have a big Spiderman birthday a few days later – it was a lot of fun. (a link to pictures at the bottom of the page).

Ben now has 4 different types of Spiderman and Nathaniel 6 different Superman action figures (NO they are not dolls – Joelle has dolls! ACTION Figures!) We also have 2 Batmen, 1 Robin and a Wonder Woman action figures. We live epic lives at the Stewart house. Every moment of our day at the Stewart house is plagued by chaos minded, thick armed super villains and it is up to our boys to set them straight. If you watch closely enough you can see Nathaniel or Ben’s progression from mere mortal to superhero. Ben will be telling you about how he likes his breakfast when gradually his mood becomes distant; he senses evil and breaks in to superhero mode arms flailing and eyes darting around the room searching out the menace. Such a sudden transformation generally results in a milk tsunami or a cereal bowl explosion. This is the life of boys and subsequently the life of their Janitorial / EMT parents.

Nathaniel took it a step further and has given everyone in the family a superhero designation. Nathaniel is Superman. Ben is Spiderman. Joelle is Supergirl but for a short while was Lois Lane (then he found out Lois Lane did not have any super powers but was always in need of someone who did). Evelyn is Batgirl. His knowledge of superheroes is limited to what he sees in the stores and old 1940’s animated Superman movies. Mommy was Supergirl but later became Wonder Woman. I was Superman but have recently become the Hulk.

On some level my alter ego is a little alarming and slightly demeaning if you consider the Hulk’s rage induced power or his awe inspiring IQ. My wife a young, beautiful Amazon princess while I get to be the Jolly Green giant’s lesser brother. Not that I am bitter about it….Hulk SMASH keyboard…

Being the Hulk has some advantages. I can pick up and throw the children at any given moment without provocation. I can eat large amounts of food with reckless abandon and not be hindered by apologies at the release of gaseous emissions. Hmmm… Wait a minute! Maybe my dad was the first incredible Hulk?

With such a super family (you saw that coming) I have provided links to a super huge set of birthday pictures. It was a lot fun going through all the kid’s birthdays starting with Nathaniel in 2002. All together we have celebrated 15 super fun kid birthdays in 5 years (including their day of birth - did I mention it was super?). Here they are:

We are pretty slim on pictures of Craig and Janice birthdays:

Have a super day!