April 12, 2013

The Way I See You: Part Duex

Do you want to know one thing I will NEVER understand about my boys?

Their love of video games.

Seriously, it would be a form of torture to me to be stuck in a room playing video games all day. (Though as a kid I WAS able to save the princess on super mario bros playing upside down with one hand...that is actually a true story.)

And in our house, I'm the first to admit we have a bit of a problem at times. This is the reality of how I see my boys, more often than I'd like. It's scary how quickly they get addicted.


It goes something like this. I'm exhausted from the day and my eye is twitching and I just want to rest on my bed for one minute. Or check my email.

Boy: "Mom! Can I shoot your sewing needles out of my nerf gun?"

Me: "NO!"

Boy: "Well, then can I play my dsi?"

Me: "Um...well...I guess so...", with an uneasy feeling that once again I was beaten.



On a side note, Finn is wearing a vintage polyester shirt that I bought off ebay a while ago. I love polyester shirts on certain boys--Ya know. Like the emo or hippie types.  I would not attempt to put one on a buff football player.

Finally John put his foot down on our wee addicts and came up with some rules: They can play their dsi for 1.5 hours on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The other days of the week are completely off limits. It just makes it simpler for John and I to remember and enforce.


And on those days when they can play(Tues, Fri, Sat), they are allowed to earn half an hour extra if they read for one hour. But that's it. Just half an hour extra.


Finn is trying to negotiate. He asked me today, "If I read for 15 minutes, can I play my dsi for 7 minutes and 30 seconds?".

Overall our little system is working out ok...though there are days when we all whine and cry about the rules and they have gone over on their times...and truth be told, there are days when I am on my computer too much...eeek.

Even Ollie and Twain have little gameboys that they play with every once in a while. But mainly, the way I see them these days is with their tiny stuffed animals. It warms my heart.


Meet Jay, the elephant. He was Twain's Easter present. We heart him.

Twain's poncho is from Target, by Genuine Kids. I just had to buy some for my hippie B* models. 

*Finn and Ollie are alike and are the "A" models. Calvin and Twain look alike and are the "B" models. 

My sister's girls love these tiny pets too. They also have Jay, and he's pretty popular in their household. I think he rules the roost and can be quite the unreasonable tyrant at times.


Jay + Tabby.


If I had a nickel for every time these animals were lost. It's worse than loosing binkies when they were babies.








Watching sheep. For reasons I don't understand, it's my dream one day for my boys to play in a field with some sheep.

But this is as close as we could get for now. A warning sign read something like "Beware of electric wires". I interpreted it as "Back off people, lest you be shocked and die".

I'll have to make friends with a shepherd.






Hop on over to Kate&Kuby's blog to see the 2nd installment of "The Way I see You". It's a short 4 week mini series, inspired by You are My Wild.

Happy Friday!

15 comments:

  1. I cannot believe how your boys stand and pose for pics! You have some seriously compliant dudes on your hands, whether you realize it or not!! Love these pics. Adorable. And cracked up over your paci reference.
    PS. I am also a total sucker for that genuine kids line. Crazy cute.

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    1. i try to only take the pics of them together every once in a while or they are HORRID. i try to just catch them at what they are doing so they don't get super annoyed with me. whenever it's time for Chritmas pics they are sooooo hard. it's only by luck if we get a good family pic.

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  2. As soon as I saw the photo with the DS (which I always keep calling a Gameboy) pop into my feed, I had to click this! My parents got one for the boys (without asking me) for Christmas. I don't like video games. I didn't grow up with any, so they knew that and got them without asking. Yeah, we have the same issue: they constantly ask when can they play, throw fits when we take them away, etc. Ugh! It's hard. We made it that they only get them after dinner, before bed. If they are good all day. It motivates them to be good and clean up. The nagging is still there though. I'm really glad you blogged about this! I'm not alone in this battle with electronics and boys.

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  3. You take such beautiful photos, and I just love seeing these boys! They are certainly super cute. I also love how you have the A and B models ;)

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  4. Your kids are ridiculously cute. And your photos are amaze.
    Wish I lived closer so I could hang out with you guys, haha.

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  5. How how HOW do you always manage to find the dreamiest of light??! I want to live where you live! Your boys are the handsomest... and that polyester shirt is rad.
    xo

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  6. These photos are so so awesome. I hear ya on the technology......tough stuff. Sometimes I'm thankful for it, sometimes I worry about their brains turning to mush... :)

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  7. Beautiful photos. Love Twain's poncho, very hip. And I think your rules for 'un-plugging' are great. It's definitely good to have time limits for those sorts of things- for kids and parents alike! sometimes I need to just stuff my phone in a drawer and steer clear of the office. I dread the day my boy is old enough for video games.

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  8. These pictures are incredible. I love how the sun is shinning on your darling boys! What special boys you have. The hippy look on the boys is working perfectly:)I see why they are in love with those lil' stuffys, they are so darling!
    Your pictures are so inspiring!

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  9. I think you have me officially hooked. Your blog is cute and honest and packed to the brim with beautiful pictures. As a mother of two little boys myself, many of your pictures speak to my heart.

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  10. sometimes the iPad or Kindle is my sanity. without it i don't think i would ever take a shower or go to the bathroom without interruption.

    also, your boys are darling. and your are pictures beautiful.

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  11. I love how you enforce the dsi rules lol. I have a 15 month old, I cant even imagine having 4 precious boys like yours. I guess we as moms need a little break too :)
    love all your pictures. they are beautiful!

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  12. I wish your boys the best of luck playing in a field of sheep. I still cant convince them to come say hi. (There known for being skittish and kind of...well...not smart.) Maybe if you find some alpaca?

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  13. love this. i turn off all "electronics..." and my kids act like the world has ended...lol.the funny thing is they forget after about a minute :)

    Do you have a kinect? We live in the mid-west where the weather ...stinks 70% of the time so we got a kinect...they can "play games" while being active.it is great!! My kiddos come up sweaty and they can all play together.

    how adorable is your youngest with his animals...oh my cuteness!!!

    and i love that you saved the princess with one hand...upside down :)

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  14. i can hardly take these pics...
    boys, boys, glorious cute BOYS!!!!!
    i love those guys... they're so adorbs!
    can you save a few for my girlies?

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