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| Alright, he's ready now. |
And the Correct Answer Is...
This year's Dysfunctional Family Photo seems pretty darn functional. What gives?
D: Mom's Learning Photoshop
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| This deceptively functional photo is actually a composite of the following two slightly less functional takes: |
The composite isn't perfect, but at least we're all looking at the camera.
And, on a related note, good thing I only downloaded the trial because the Photoshop learning curve is steep. Adobe ought to offer an honorary design degree to anyone manages to make it through the trial and come out with an altered photo that is still somewhat usable.
You should have seen what I did to some of those pictures.
Where was this photo taken?
A. Our Front Yard
We designed this year's photo to highlight one of our favorite Washa House arbor locations.
We're standing in front of our beautiful white birch with the white Christmas lights on it
and in the background you can see the sweet little pine tree that grows the tiny baby pinecones
that I used last year when I shot pregnancy announcement photos at the end of May :)
In 2013, Junior Athlete Logan participated in the following sports:
D. All of the Above
He's one busy little guy, and such a sweetheart.
Here are a couple of his other rookie photos.
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| Working the back bend in gymnastics class. |
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| This is last year's hockey photo. He decided to take this winter off, but he's already planning to start up again next November. |
Ace Scholar Logan's favorite class in school is:
B. Computers
I have to admit that I kind of thought he might answer Recess, but I was wrong. He sure does love that flashy technology.
Julianne's dressed like this...
C. For the Highland Spring Concert
She performed with the 3-year-old group: The sweetest little flock of robins around.
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| Julianne's the one on the far left. |
Logan & Julianne get along well roughly what percentage of the time?
If you can believe it, it's actually...
A. 90%
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| Hat Day 2013 |
I can hardly deny that they share the love of bickering... a lot,
but more importantly they have in common the love of learning and family.
They really show a genuine interest in one another's lives and hobbies,
both at school and at home and no one in our family ever feels (or is literally) left behind.
On the first day of school, Julianne forgot her book bag on the bus.
Logan waited for her at the corner and when he saw that she was missing something,
he turned right around and took her back up the steps to find it.
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| Book bag retrieval success! |
True/False: Logan & Julianne's favorite activity to do together is playing with dinosaurs.
Oh, So TRUE
All-Time Favorite Dino Poses
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| "On their way to Aunt Rose Mary's house." |
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| 65 Short Million Years Later, Dinos Finally Get to Observe Ice Age From Comfort of Heated Foyer |
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| Take Your Prehistoric Roommate to Work Day? |
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| "Hugs" next to a "snowman" Best Dino Conversation of 2013 |
I love it when the kids play dinosaurs. Right now they're in the midst of a "face-off." Meat-eaters (played by Julianne) vs. Plant-eaters and Babies (played by Logan.)
Plant-Eaters: Remember Allosaurus, this is our safe area and you PROMISED that you would NOT try to eat the babies when they're here.
Meat-Eaters: Oh don't worry, we won't eat ANY little children. We have our own food in the refrigerator.
Plant Eaters: Oh good! We're hungry for some lunch right now. Would you like to share some of our garlic knots?
Meat-Eaters: No thank you. We'd rather have pepperoni. Will you have some pepperoni with us?
Plant-Eaters: No, that's okay. We can't eat meat AND plants.
Meat-Eaters: Oh. You're right. We can't eat meat and plant either.
Who knew dinosaurs were so high-tech? And civil...
About 3 minutes later:
Also, in breaking historical news, extinction may not have been the one-time event that we had all supposed...
Meat-Eaters: Well, we're off to the dining room now.
Plant-Eaters: Oh no you're NOT!
Meat-Eaters: Of course we are. Here we go...
Plant-Eaters: THAT'S it. If you don't all come back here RIGHT now, you are officially exTINCT!
Meat-Eaters (beginning to sob): NO! We CAN'T be extinct.
Plant-Eaters: Of course you can! You guys get extinct all the time.
Match the child with his/her most preferred activity.
Julianne - Designing
Before Grandpa's arrival last month it was a bear den by the roll-top desk, then Grandpa joined the undersea crew in the "ocean" by the dining room heater. Next it was a nursery behind the couch, then a stuffed animal sanctuary behind the pack 'n play, and most recently the home of a small family consisting at least in part of Corinne as the Mom and Julianne
as the baby, with occasional appearances by Logan as the somewhat unwelcome Dad.
Before Grandpa's arrival last month it was a bear den by the roll-top desk, then Grandpa joined the undersea crew in the "ocean" by the dining room heater. Next it was a nursery behind the couch, then a stuffed animal sanctuary behind the pack 'n play, and most recently the home of a small family consisting at least in part of Corinne as the Mom and Julianne
as the baby, with occasional appearances by Logan as the somewhat unwelcome Dad.
Mason - Climbing
I think his best-ever climb was onto a Christmas tub in an attempt to reach the light switch. He shimmied his full weight all the way over to the far end of the tub where it is entirely unstable, plunked unceremoniously into the pink plastic milk crate that was sitting next to it, started screeching inconsolably upon finding himself unable to climb out of the milk crate, accepted Rescue Hugs, and less than 5 minutes later, was found stuck Guess Where all over again.
I think his best-ever climb was onto a Christmas tub in an attempt to reach the light switch. He shimmied his full weight all the way over to the far end of the tub where it is entirely unstable, plunked unceremoniously into the pink plastic milk crate that was sitting next to it, started screeching inconsolably upon finding himself unable to climb out of the milk crate, accepted Rescue Hugs, and less than 5 minutes later, was found stuck Guess Where all over again.
Corinne - Snitching
Oh my gosh! She just got caught tonight eating Hershey's kisses from the candy dish moments after Zach brushed her teeth. The worst (and simultaneously most amusing) part of her snitching habit is that she is positively remorseless about it. Literally caught with a hand in the cookie jar (which happens pretty often around here,) when one's logical initial reaction would be to yank back the hand while trying to explain away the indiscretion through a mouthful of crumbs, Snitcher Corinne will look you dead in the eye, mentally guesstimating the amount of time it will take you to get across the room, then, in impressive Cookie Monster style, start pounding down as many cookies as her little hands can shovel before you get there.
A couple of hours ago, at the height of the tooth-brushing/candy snitching incident, when I asked Corinne what was in her mouth, without hesitation she offered me her best wide-mouthed, dental-examination smile, gleefully revealing her pyramidal peppermint prize. She'll make a fine Hello Cat-burglar one day for sure.
Oh my gosh! She just got caught tonight eating Hershey's kisses from the candy dish moments after Zach brushed her teeth. The worst (and simultaneously most amusing) part of her snitching habit is that she is positively remorseless about it. Literally caught with a hand in the cookie jar (which happens pretty often around here,) when one's logical initial reaction would be to yank back the hand while trying to explain away the indiscretion through a mouthful of crumbs, Snitcher Corinne will look you dead in the eye, mentally guesstimating the amount of time it will take you to get across the room, then, in impressive Cookie Monster style, start pounding down as many cookies as her little hands can shovel before you get there.
A couple of hours ago, at the height of the tooth-brushing/candy snitching incident, when I asked Corinne what was in her mouth, without hesitation she offered me her best wide-mouthed, dental-examination smile, gleefully revealing her pyramidal peppermint prize. She'll make a fine Hello Cat-burglar one day for sure.
Logan - Watching TV
I was referring to Wild Kratts on PBS specifically. It's his new favorite. It's entertaining, but very informative and I'm amazed by the amount of information about wild animals he's managed to amass from watching one or less episodes a day.
Match the child with his/her second most preferred activity.
Mason - What everyone else is doing
Kind of goes for all of them. They do tend to play in packs...
Still, being the baby, he's just at that age where a little communal knowledge goes a very long way.
Logan - Cool Math Games
He's really been pushing me lately for more online time at home as he seems to get a fair amount at school, and I am constantly torn between conflicting desires to nurture his computational aptitude and to keep computers from taking over his life for as long as possible.
At least the games he's attracted to are all age-appropriate and educational, despite his irritating insistence that said cool "math" games, the brainchild of several ivy league educators, do not actually involve any math.
Corinne - Spreading Stuff Around
Utilizing the same keen sense that she employs in hidden snack detection, with a bloodhound sense she will find any and all groups of items that I have somehow managed to corral into some semblance of order, and immediately set to work dismantling the organization. I take this with a grain (or more often several pounds) of salt, being well aware that age-related curiosity is to blame. And besides, being the eco-friendly family that we are, the leftovers of Corinne's easily visible trail of destruction tend to be rapidly scooped up by Responsible Recycler Julianne and transformed into such useful items as ocean floor foliage, nursery adoptees, or young forest friends, to name a few.
Julianne - Artwork
While Logan may have inherited his artistic skills from his mother, Julianne shows signs of developing into a good, solid Washa :)
Circle all that apply: What do all four of our kids have in common?
E. Love of Literature
They have all kind of grown into the same hair color though (with the exception of Logan who has been blond from day one) brown to reddish-brown to reddish-blond to all blond. Logan and his baby blues are the exception to the eye color pattern as well.
They also enjoy chores (ask them about the chore jar sometime,) but picking up and organizing outside of a game-like structure is not exactly their strong point, so I went with our old standby: books. Can't really say that I blame them. After all, why wander around the house picking up toys when instead you could plop down on the couch and explore the world?
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| Princess Julianne checkin' out books at the Cobb Public Library. |
Mason's newest tricks include...
F. All of the Above
And all within the last month! We're so proud of our little guy and his big accomplishments!
Circle all that apply: In early 2013, Mason's favorite hobbies were unquestionably napping and eating. What are his current favorites?
D, E, & F
While we have finally arrived at a pretty suitable sleep arrangement, judging from the nightly protest, I would say that bedtime is definitely not his favorite. He's also not an especially big eater and, surprisingly, his toy corner is generally one of the tidiest areas in the house. He does love to rock though, alternating between the traditional rocking horse and the slightly preferred hand-me-down rocking lion, Simba. His level of efficiency in emptying the lower cupboards in record time often causes Mom to wonder why we really need to leave the doors on those things at all, and of course, one of the main reasons the baby toys get little play is because the big kids and their toys are just that much more enticing - and appetizing.
The tallest thing in the house that Stretch Mason has pulled something off of is...
With both feet on the floor, it's E. The TV Speaker. However, we will also graciously accept B. The Kitchen Table. He can reach about a quarter of the way in by standing on the ve--ry edge of the roughly inch-wide arm of one of the wooden kitchen kids chairs.
Just in time for Christmas, who gave Logan this fancy new haircut?
Sadly, I'm afraid it was D. Mom
I meant well. Just before the family Christmas photo shoot in front of the birch, I decided it was a little too shaggy around the edges. I gave it a little trim and it looked really good! But you know what the road to Heck is paved with. When he got up for school the next morning, I decided it could use a little touch up, and then another, and then a third. The inevitable emergency professional. hair appointment resulted in our very big guy's very first buzz cut. Amazingly, it was fixable (for the most part at least):
Gingerbread Center Day at School; a couple of weeks after the incident.
Mason & Corinne love...
Of course, it's E. All of the Above.
My sweet babies love doing just about anything together, including getting into tons of baby mischief :)
Dad's #1 favorite holiday tradition is...
My sweet babies love doing just about anything together, including getting into tons of baby mischief :)
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| Taking a Not-So-Crazy-Looking Picture Together Mission: Impossible |
Dad's #1 favorite holiday tradition is...
Although he enjoys all of these holiday traditions, the correct answer is definitely A. Rigging Up The Lights.
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| The Washa House all dressed up. |
Mom's is...
You know it has to be A. CHRISTMAS TUNES!
They're not just for Christmas anymore, but it sure is nicer when other people are listening to them, too.
Corinne's really getting into the Christmas Carol Mania this year as well. A few of her 2013 Greatest Hits:
Speaks Polynesian like an old pro.
Dad held how man positions of employment this year?
They're not just for Christmas anymore, but it sure is nicer when other people are listening to them, too.
Corinne's really getting into the Christmas Carol Mania this year as well. A few of her 2013 Greatest Hits:
Jack Frost "crunching up" your windows.
She keeps asking me what part of the Frosty the Snowman song is the part where Frosty "gets his head cut off." I keep telling her that he just loses his hat and that part of the story isn't even in the song, but she's is not buying it.
"Mele Kalikimaka"
Can't pronounce Big Brother's name without a W.
And of course, the timeless classic...
"Jingle bells, jingle bells away!
All the pharmacists arrive. HEY!"
Dad held how man positions of employment this year?
D. 3
Charter Technician, Radio DJ, Highland Village Board
Well we have to see him every once in a while...
True/False: The majority of Mom's Christmas preparations were completed before Thanksgiving.
And At Last...
Corinne is getting really excited for next fall when she can finally...
Tough one, right? I won't keep you in suspense.
C. Start Preschool!
Our little ones are growing up so fast.
Charter Technician, Radio DJ, Highland Village Board
Well we have to see him every once in a while...
True/False: The majority of Mom's Christmas preparations were completed before Thanksgiving.
Winner: 2013 Best Joke of the Year.
Totally and Completely FALSE.
Mom is never reeaaallly ready for Christmas, and, in accordance with tradition, can again this year be expected to send out late-ish Christmas cards in combination with mismatched childrens concert clothing and midnight-or-so Christmas Eve gift-wrapping. She's pretty sure she can recall a time when she actually had it all together for the holidays, but that was at least 6 years ago.
And At Last...
Corinne is getting really excited for next fall when she can finally...
Tough one, right? I won't keep you in suspense.
C. Start Preschool!
Our little ones are growing up so fast.
So that's it! How'd you do?
Feel free to leave your score in the Comments section,
but be warned:
If it's too low, next year's Christmas card
will be a picture of a piece of coal.
will be a picture of a piece of coal.
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| Not-too-badly mismatched concert clothing. |
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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