high low

it is a good thing i don't try to write posts while my children are awake, but most especially, between the hours of 3 and 6 pm. those are by far our most trying of hours and if i wrote during those hours, i would say very, very not nice things about my life. but then i tuck them into bed, then i tuck them in again, then i tuck them in AGAIN, then i say more not very nice things to myself, then i decompress for about two hours. then they slowly, slowly become cute and lovable again and i can speak of them as the true gifts and treasures that they are.

ben was actually really good today, so i can't rant about him. he had some really awesome quality time with tim building lego pirate ships and then played with them for a long time. unfortunately, all the energy that was preserved from his peaceful morning was consumed, plus several years-worth more, by a very stressful situation this afternoon.

tim took these shots. on my phone, no less. i love his perspective when he actually tries. he has a great eye for details/cool angles.

when i say tim and ben built together, i mean tim built while ben watched. ben has started building a little, but mostly he just puts in his order and dictates the building. he'll he a great manager/foreman someday. (often, when cleaning up toys, ben will kindly tell me, "you can clean up, mom. i'll keep you company." gosh, really. thanks darlin.)

fortunately max slept through the "i didn't need those extra years of my life anyways" event of the afternoon. and not that he was especially terrifying today. (or that he is most days, really.) he has, though, discovered his inner banshee and uses his delightful shrill often. ben steals a toy- "SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!", followed by a bite if ben's not looking. i put him down because my arm is burning from holding my very capably-legged son-"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!!!". it's either the scream or he hyperventilates and then finds something to headbutt. i really wish i could catch this weird behavior on video.

but despite the fact that max is carried around just as much as he walks and screams far more than any boy should, and ben seems more 13 than 3 of late, they always seem to redeem themselves. it never ceases to amaze me how they can negate a day of crabby rottenness by one brief moment of sweet. like when ben called me into his room for the third time after putting him to bed, after needing a drink and lotion on his arms, because he forgot to bless me and told me i was his "bestest mommy". or in the kitchen, after a fight his max, while sitting on the floor, he informed me out of the blue that he likes his name. "plain ol ben. that's what i like. " and how max, after getting up for the third time last night, patted my back as i held him. or how, while i was making lunch and he was on my back in the backpack, he kept laying down his head and making the cooing sound he makes when we do hugs and kisses.

yep, just another average day as mom. complete craziness.

i tried to find a picture to highlight their more angelic behavior, but apparently, they don't exist. instead, one more picture to illustrate max's hard-headedness-both literally and figuratively. he likes to climb up on to the table. when i remember to push the chairs in, he still climbs up on them and repeatedly bangs his head under the table, of course, screeching the whole time. who would have thought tim and i could have such stubborn kids. (sheepish grin.)