Not Quite Oscar Nominated

The boys and I were playing with the idea of a stop motion video. It didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped, but it's a first attempt. And there's a raging elephant.

Happy Mama's Day!

My mom and I have had an up and down relationship over the years. (How could it not be when teenage years were involved?) But as our relationship has deepened in adulthood, it's definitely become a blessing in my life.

My mom gets my sarcasm and the way I see the world. She's always willing to help with my horde of kids and is even willing to let us invade her home while we try to find our next home. PLUS, she's clearing a space for my drill press. Enough said.

Thanks for all you do, Mom.

P.S. And thanks to my boys for letting me realize how much I truly love being a mom. You guys are my world--smelly armpits, snotty noses, and all.

Genius? Perhaps.

Dramatic Re-EnDRAWment of Next Project:
Because we have such a big table (due to an unseemly number of boys), we can't easily reach the napkin holder in the middle of the table. So I have a plan to fix all that! Stay tuned.

Mini Bot

The aforementioned robot creature caused some issues between the youngest of my brood, so I made a Mini Bot from a baby sock for my two-year-old.

Yes, the robot does have a mohawk.

Day 323 - Stinky Bot

Trying to give my boys a visual for the positive effects of deodorant usage. 



Stinky Bot hasn't bothered to open his deodorant.  



Awesome Bot has opened his AND applied it.  My, what a difference!

Day 317 - Time Out

Today, The RustMaker earned himself a time out.  Oddly enough, he went and hasn't moved since. 

Boys, why can't you be more like The RustMaker?

(Oh, and I also experimented with my first metallic Sharpie!)

Day 275 - Pen Thieves

I have a hard time holding onto my pens around here.  My boys are always swiping, losing, or destroying them.  But never fear!  I have found a SOLUTION!  And it involves my weird robo-creature. 

Now--now I know exactly where my favorite pen is, and the boys will have to think twice about stealing it since it's not innocently laying on the desk, defenseless. 

At least that's the plan. 

Day 225 - Scrabble Bot

My boys and I had been playing this game intermittently for three days . . . I decided it needed a robot instead.

Day 211 - Once Upon a Time . . . 2.0

Once upon a time there were two robots that were deeply in love.  Then a hippo made them break up. 

Then a Samurai came down and said, "Hippo the Hippopotamus, let's take them to two far away mountains so they can't see each other again!" 

The robots quickly turned on their invisibility shields and rolled away into the forest. 

"I will go and get my date," said the hippo. 

The Samurai put on his invisibility goggles and flew down and grabbed a robot and locking him in a cage guarded by an invincible dragon. 

The other robot teamed up with the hippo and his date to start the long journey to the guarded cage.  "How is George Washington going to help?" asked the hippo. 

Then the Samurai teleported to the group and kidnapped the other robot and locked her in another mountain guarded by an invincible troll. 

"Nothing can stop me," said George Washington as he dialed Jack Bauer's cell phone.  Then the hippo ran and knocked the troll off the cliff.  Meanwhile, the Samurai roasted Jack Bauer over a faraway volcano which was guarded by an invincible cage.

But Jack Bauer threw his head back in laughter as he said, "No one can stop Jack Bauer!" and destroyed the cage and froze the volcano. 

So the hippo blew up the whole world, sending Jack Bauer to Mars, the boy robot to the moon, the girl, troll, and dragon to Pluto, and the hippo to the sun.  Then the Samurai took apart the robots and flung them into millions of pieces and threw Jack Bauer into the middle of the sun where he was trapped forever.

To Be Continued . . .

*This second story brought to you by the "Write a Sentence, Pass It On" formula for literary greatness.  I prefaced it by reminding them not to eat, maim, or kill each other's characters, but my words fell on deaf ears . . . at least when it came to my oldest son.  Little does he know that Jack Bauer can never, ever, ever be defeated.

For the first story attempt, visit Day 147.

Day 147 - A Story with a Robot In It

One day, not any day, a Robot, a Ninja, and an Ostrich walked to a beautiful meadow.  Then the Ninja took out his i-phone and said, "I got a new app called Fruit Ninja!"  The Ostrich ran away and came back with a baby T-Rex.  

"Run," yelled the Robot, but the Ninja turned to the dinosaur with a "Hi-yah!"  Than a Samurai came down from the sky and said, "I will fight you, but first, hit the music!"

The Ostrich ran away again and came back with no feathers, but he did have a sword in his mouth.  "I can't fly," yelled the Ostrich.  

The Robot ignored them all because he was too busy dancing to "Mr. Roboto."  The baby T-Rex ate the Samurai and then said, "I have a big appetite."  

The Ostrich ran away again and came back an hour later with the Robot's grammar test.  "Since when do I know grammar?  I'm a dancer, not a learner," said the Robot.  Then the baby T-Rex ate the Ostrich and said, "I have to get some meat on my bones."  T-Rex quickly became extinct when the Ostrich climbed out of his body and danced with the Robot.

*This story brought to you by the "Write a Sentence, Pass It On" formula for literary greatness.  It ended with near tears because my oldest boy had the T-Rex eat the Ostrich (which was my middle boy's character) and then erupted into an "animated" argument about whether or not you can just make the T-Rex go extinct, as well as whether or not an ostrich can survive being eaten.  

The story had to be taken away, and rules have been set in place to not eat, maim, or kill each other's characters the next time around.

Boys.

Day 73 - If I Had a Robot . . .

Hypothesis: I will ask the boys to do a journal entry entitled, "If I Had a Robot," and it will be a fun, creative assignment.

Translation:  It would give me anything I'd want and could transform into a talking computer.  It could also get anything I don't want out.  I would name it Max.  It has a special mode that will make unwanted guests be put into a torture room.  It also has a robot-defusing tool.  It has a bomb that will destroy any robot because it's a robot-defusing bomb.

Translation:  I would name the robot Buddy.  I would want him to fetch, play games, puppy games, and be nice and only bark, not talk.  I would want him to be soft.  Well, I would want it to be potty trained and do whatever a puppy does and be as soft as a puppy.  Also it can destroy anything that tackles it, except for me.

Conclusion:  I am surrounded by too much testosterone. 

Day 49 - Hangin' With His Peeps

The last night of vacation:  Luggage Cart Races.

Day 27 - Give me an R-O-B-O-T!

With some coaxing/threatening, I convinced the boys to help me with today's project while I sat on the top bunk, saying, "Curve your body. No, curve it, like a C.  Curve!"