The Carmody Kids

A couple of kid pics

2011-12-30T16:23:00.000-06:00

The most awesome Christmas present ever

2011-12-30T16:19:00.001-06:00

Greg's mad scientist look

The whole crew and Mrs. Gruss

Coolest Christmas Present Ever!

2011-12-30T16:09:00.002-06:00

So, Aunt Ellen gave all the kids a science class for Christmas. The got to go to a science class taught by a very talented Lee Gruss and do all sorts of experiments. I didn't go (an equally awesome present for me--a day sans kids), but I was told that they had a ton of fun! The pictures are proof!

Ira's mad scientist look

Stair Sliding

2011-12-15T08:10:00.003-06:00

A link to a video of the kids playing Joe's newly invented "stair sliding" game.
http://youtu.be/YJlEQoGnvdU

And a link to Joe's Christmas concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfGaSWaKUas

Winter is here

2011-12-06T15:39:00.003-06:00

Choreographed wrestling

2011-11-23T22:23:00.002-06:00

The boys were wrestling (a favorite past time) and I put some music on. The wrestling turned in to something kind of choreographed. I was totally amused that I had some kind of variation of West Side Story playing out in my living room. Unfortunately, the moment was lost when I had to go get the camera. You might still be able to see a little of the dancing/wrestling session though. Too cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKletBveReU

Fall

2011-10-31T16:10:00.002-05:00

Ben, Lydia, and Mary in a really old tree

At the arboretum

The kids in their halloween costumes: two iron men, one spiderman, and a superman.

Dad and Lydia with the same hairstyle

Playing outside

2011-10-31T16:03:00.001-05:00

Collecting little frogs at the "train park".

What a gorgeous day!

Joe trying out his new birthday skateboard

Random

2011-10-31T15:58:00.002-05:00

Lydia finally has enough hair to put it in a "pebbles" top pony tail. Woo Hoo! Unfortunately, she won't let me do it anymore, but I will work on that.

Grandpa brought over some umbrellas for the kids and we had been waiting so long to use them. Finally, it rained and the kids had to go play out in the back yard.

Roman soldiers

Backyard bed trampolines

2011-10-31T15:54:00.000-05:00

Awesome pics

2011-10-31T15:48:00.003-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa were getting new mattresses, so what better way to send off the old ones than as trampolines in the back yard!

Kids are different

2011-09-06T15:49:00.003-05:00

Just a thought--my kids are all so different. It is even more pronounced sometimes when it is the beginning of the school year.

Ira is my quite academic. He is so smart and school is so easy for him.
Greg is my joiner. He loves to be a part of something. He wants to please.
Joe is excited about life. If he thinks it is "cool", he goes for it full force.
Lydia--well, I am not sure just yet how school will be for her. Right now, I think she likes having a little more quite time with mom.

Joe's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-06T15:47:00.001-05:00

Joe was thrilled to go to school today. He had a wonderful day.

Plasma car racing

2011-09-01T08:03:00.001-05:00

You can copy and paste the link to see the kids racing their plasma cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk858kkPcPU

End of summer fun

2011-08-09T16:07:00.002-05:00

Playing in the fountains at Crown Center

More Vacation pics

2011-08-04T19:32:00.000-05:00

Trip to the lake

2011-08-04T18:59:00.004-05:00

Summer

2011-05-22T19:02:00.001-05:00

Ben has been doing a little landscaping in the front. We are making progress.

This is Lydia's room that we decorated for her birthday.

More St. Pats

2011-03-26T13:55:00.003-05:00

St. Patty's Fun

2011-03-26T13:52:00.000-05:00

Keepin' the nerd dream alive

2011-03-26T13:36:00.001-05:00

We took the kids to the Planet Comicon convention today. There were so many cool costumed star wars guys there. I think the kids had a good time...I know I did.

Science City

2011-03-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

One of our favorite places.

Baby chicks

2011-03-26T13:16:00.002-05:00

We volunteered to watch three baby chicks that Greg's class had just hatched. Two of them, unfortunately, didn't make it (they had problems when they hatched). The one that was left was a little lonely, and Ben thought we should put a mirror in his box which he loved.

I learned, however, that I am definitely not an animal person and will not be volunteering for pet care duty in the near (or distant) future. Although they are very cute, they are messy and loud and I was worried about them the whole time they were here.

It was a learning experience for us all.

Blizzard of 2011

2011-02-02T10:50:00.000-06:00

Kids

2011-01-29T14:01:00.002-06:00

We told Greg he looked like Grandpa Mike in his turtle neck and jeans. (He was very happy to hear that and had a little strut in his step after we told him).

Fun in the snow.

Lydia in her earrings from Uncle Gene and Aunt Angie

crown center

2011-01-29T13:58:00.000-06:00

January pics

2011-01-29T13:53:00.002-06:00

This was completely crazy. The police bomb squad was called to investigate a suspicious briefcase at the park across from our house. The kids, Ben, and I watched as the rolled out the bomb robot to poke and prod the potential bomb. It turned out to be someone's camera case. It made for an interesting saturday.
We got a burning permit to burn all the yard waste that Ben cleaned out of the easement in the backyard.

Christmas

2011-01-01T20:28:00.001-06:00

The kids got something called plasma cars for christmas and we got to try them out at the gym.

2010-12-05T15:22:00.001-06:00

Grandma took the kids to her work and they got to run in the halls of the school. Scandalous!--and really fun!

2010-12-05T15:21:00.000-06:00

2010-12-05T15:18:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to the cemetery. I love to walk through cemeteries, especially ones that are old. There is so much history there.

She's adorable

2010-07-22T22:02:00.002-05:00

I am having problems uploading videos on the blog so this is the link to a cute video of Lydia singing along with the wonderpets song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHh0B7u1I2A

At the park

2010-07-19T22:05:00.002-05:00

AAAwwww

2010-07-03T08:04:00.002-05:00

Ben and Ellen took Lydia and Mary to Topeka. They found a spot where the girls could dress up in historical garb. How cute.

Vacation church school

2010-06-30T19:12:00.001-05:00

The boys went to Grandma's church for vacation church school. They loved it so much. The best part was hearing Greg get to talk about his "class". He has been listening to Ira tell stories about school for a whole year and now it was his turn! He was very proud.

At the art gallery

2010-06-30T19:07:00.001-05:00

Task complete

2010-06-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

We finished the bunk beds! (By "we" I mean Ben) They seem to have turned out very well. The boys have given their seal of approval. Woo hoo!

UFO sighting

2010-06-06T18:41:00.002-05:00

Ira has been reading alien and UFO books a lot lately. He is very interested in all things outer space and extraterrestrial. Ben and the boys decided to make a UFO sighting video of their own. Cool huh?

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

Yeah. Don't think Uncle Jon is going anywhere. Good try though.

The boys proudly showing their earnings!

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-31T22:00:00.002-05:00

Ben wasn't the only one doing yard work. Grandma and Grandpa did lots of yard work over the weekend. The enlisted the help of the boys and told them they would get paid for picking up rocks in the yard. KaChing! By the end of the night, Ira and Greg each made $20 and Joe (who has the attention span of a gnat sometimes--God love him) had made $5. They all worked really hard and did a wonderful job!

I guess Lydia thought she would try and move the car.

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-31T21:54:00.002-05:00

Ben's goal over the weekend was to get some yard work done starting with the redbud tree in the front yard. Some of the tree was rotten (the most offensive branch was right over our parking spot) and that coupled with the constant bird poop on my car meant it was time to cut it down.

Ira suggested helmets would be appropriate for such "construction" (destruction?)

Rotten branch.

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-31T21:48:00.002-05:00

I had to go grab a pool at Walmart. It was just getting too hot. The kids had fun, of course.

Grandma got the kids some bubble blowers.

more backyard fun

2010-05-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

These are just cute

Backyard fun

2010-05-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

What a great way to finish an evening! Take a bath and then help dad mow the lawn. Woo hoo!

Lydia Fairy

2010-05-16T21:46:00.001-05:00

Lydia's Birthday Party

2010-05-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

Garden work

2010-04-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

We took the kids over to Ellen's house and helped till the garden.

We have one tree in the back yard that the kids can climb in, and no big surprise here, Joe is in it all the time.

Ira's concert

2010-04-18T21:39:00.002-05:00

Ira's Kindergarten concert

2010-04-18T21:33:00.002-05:00

Ira and the rest of the kindergarteners gave a wonderful concert in which they sang in both Spanish and English. We were thrilled the whole time as we watched our little boy perform to a crowded room full of parents, grandparents, other family members and friends.

Joe enjoyed the performance as well.

Minnesota pictures

2010-04-18T21:27:00.002-05:00

Driving the boat

The kids did a great job in the car on the way.

The boys were thrilled to stay in the hotel on our trip. The pool, the beds, and there was even a Star Wars episode on the t.v. Totally thrilling!

Fun in Spring

2010-04-18T21:18:00.002-05:00

Snack time at the park.

We finally got the kids all set up with bikes and helmets this year. Ira is pretty close to riding on his own and Joe is a speed demon. Hopefully by the end of the summer we can have one or two riding on their own.

Irish dancing chickens

2010-03-19T12:09:00.003-05:00

Dancing at Grandma's on St. Patty's Day

2010-03-19T12:01:00.002-05:00

St. Patty's day fun

2010-03-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

2010-02-28T14:47:00.003-06:00

Sorry about the lack of posts in February. It was a very boring, very full month. It began with lots of birthdays and after the excitement wore off, we grew very bored of cold weather, snow, and being stuck indoors for long periods of time. Throw in a few sick kids, a sister-in-law in the hospital, and some interesting weather and February flew by in a heartbeat.

Hopefully, I will be better about posting in March.

Chess Champions

2010-02-28T14:42:00.002-06:00

I taught Ira how to play chess last month and he really loves it. We usually play one or two games a day with him and he plays more with his brother. Greg, by the way, mostly learned through observation. It is fun to watch them.

Random

2010-02-28T14:38:00.000-06:00

Random pictures. Nothing too exciting.

After a trip to wonderscope kid's museum

Finally!

2010-02-28T14:31:00.002-06:00

We have been cooped up inside for so long that a forty degree day was just what we needed to keep our sanity. We went to the park and brought cousin Will along for some fun. Unfortunately it ended too soon when the boys ran onto the baseball diamond only to discover a mud trap where the dirt should have been. Ooops.

Coloring

2010-02-04T19:30:00.000-06:00

What to do on a bad weather day?

2010-01-21T22:11:00.002-06:00

Paint our fingernails and wear plastic bag outfits...of course!

Auntie Ellen fabulously styled some clone trooper outfits for the boys

and a princess shabooboo outfit for Lydia.
Eat your heart out Project Runway!

Great Grandpa pics

2010-01-11T10:03:00.000-06:00

Great Nana pics

2010-01-11T09:57:00.001-06:00

Dress up fun

2010-01-11T09:54:00.001-06:00

One has to ask, "why?".

Frankengreggie

Ira's class Christmas party

2009-12-26T20:35:00.001-06:00

Greg came with to help me with Ira's class party. He had fun sitting with his brother. Ira went full day instead of his usual half day and enjoyed himself. He did say that the lunch room was loud and he finally found out that a "power pause" was a nap time.

Star Wars

2009-12-26T20:30:00.001-06:00

We got the boys star wars blasters for Christmas. BIG HIT! Not quite sure what look Ira was going for with this pose.Darth Lydia

Darth Greggie

Crazy weather

2009-12-26T20:20:00.005-06:00

A few days before Christmas we took the kids to the "train park" because the weather was so beautiful. The high got to around 45 I think. We had a great time going off road and exploring a trail I had never been on before. Then the weather changed...

I heard today that we had a record snowfall for Christmas day, beating the previous record set 1n 1880 something. What a change. The kids enjoyed both kinds of weather. Ben and I got our exercise by shoveling driveways for the past two days. Great times.

church school

2009-12-13T14:30:00.003-06:00

Ira and Greg's church school class practicing their song to present for the nativity social.

Church School

2009-12-13T14:26:00.002-06:00

The boys did a small presentation for their church school class this sunday. I think they did a great job. Especially considering last year Ira was almost in tears because he had to get up in front of an audience.

Snow. Finally!

2009-12-12T14:37:00.002-06:00

The boys love playing outside in the snow even if it isn't much. When it first snowed earlier in the week, I was too sick to go outside, so we had to wait a bit which just about killed them. But once we got out there, it was great.

Oooohhh how I despise the winter dryness. Apparently, Lydia and I have the same hair. Hers sticks up like a rooster tail and mine is plastered to my face with static cement all winter. Yuck.

Cute

2009-12-11T12:49:00.000-06:00

Christmas decorations

2009-12-08T14:46:00.002-06:00

The boys are posing with our big Nutcracker.

It was tough, but we were able to just barely squeeze our stockings in. It is my fault Lydia's is pointing the wrong direction. When Deb called to ask, I told her the wrong way. Oops. Oh well, it gives it some character.

Our Nativity fits perfectly on the hutch.

We have inherited Ben's Nutcracker collection. It was fun putting them up.

Our sad little Christmas tree. The first time I put it up this year, it made it about two hours before the plastic base broke. So I took all the lights and decorations off and Ben duct taped the base and we tried again. I said "no" to ornaments though. If this tree is going down again, there is no way I am taking all the ornaments off a second time.

You might be able to tell it leans a little to the left. My bet is it gets knocked down before Christmas.

Star Wars fans

2009-12-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

We are big fans of Star Wars in this house. Can you tell?

Darth Vader

Twister

2009-11-26T09:17:00.002-06:00

Ellen brought Twister over for the kids to play and they loved it. The three year olds didn't quite get it, but we all had fun anyway.

Single Ladies

2009-11-26T09:07:00.003-06:00

The kids agree, "Single Ladies" is the catchiest tune ever. It is definitely great to dance to.

Everyday pics

2009-11-20T09:59:00.001-06:00

Nothing too exciting. Just some everyday kid pics.

Fell asleep with her baby.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T20:50:00.002-05:00

Wait...what holiday is this?

We had a busy neighborhood on Saturday night. I suppose the nice weather coupled with the day of the week increased the numbers this year. The kids had great fun. Greg was the best at it which is not surprising considering he loves candy more than life itself.

First, the kids got to stop at Great Mary's house.

Loved Will as Yoda. How cute is that?!

What a cutie.

Pumpkin Stew

2009-10-26T18:53:00.004-05:00

Fabulous Auntie Ellen and the kids singing pumpkin stew at Ben's birthday party.

Ira's class Halloween party

2009-10-26T18:36:00.000-05:00

Fall Fun

2009-10-03T11:56:00.001-05:00

We made a scarecrow with the kids. The part they thought was the funniest was when Dad gave the scarecrow a really big butt.

Ira lost his other front tooth last night. Cute.

Take me out to the ballgame

2009-10-03T11:51:00.001-05:00

This was the boys first baseball game. They enjoyed it very much. They sat way, way, way up high with Grandpa and Dad.

Toothless

2009-09-24T21:43:00.002-05:00

The boys were playing catch with the football outside and Greg threw Ira a pass which Ira caught with his face, and this is the result. (Don't worry, it was pretty loose anyway).

Cute kids and backyard fire

2009-09-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

Fun

2009-09-20T18:03:00.000-05:00

Pickin Peaches

2009-09-20T18:02:00.000-05:00

kids

2009-09-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

First Day of school

2009-08-19T10:10:00.001-05:00

Ira's first day of Kindergarten started today, Wednesday. He did very well. I think he was ready.

School

2009-08-19T10:04:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday , Ben and I took Ira to school to meet his teacher and fill out some more paper work (is there ever an end to paper work).

We got to see his classroom and I think that Ira did well. He was a little nervous, but who wouldn't be?

John Deere

2009-08-19T09:52:00.002-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa got a new John Deere riding lawnmower. So, of course, we were all gathered to witness the blessed event.

2009-08-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

More MN

2009-08-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

MN Vacation

2009-08-11T14:34:00.000-05:00

Cool Stuff

2009-07-25T18:04:00.002-05:00

The boys' aunt saved us these lockers that her school was getting rid of. We painted them up and put them in our arts and crafts room. I just love them. How cool is it to have our very own lockers?!

Greg finds a rock at the park. He explains how big and cool it is.

The gang.

Literate?

2009-07-10T22:30:00.002-05:00

Now that Ira is reading, apparently anywhere is good enough to enjoy a book. Notice that the book is appropriately titled.

Patriotic Pictures

2009-07-10T22:26:00.001-05:00

Fun

2009-07-05T21:04:00.002-05:00

Lydia making beautiful art

and the kids making very dirty art...mud pies to be exact.

All clean

I think this picture is funny. We went to the park and the kids went down to the baseball field to play in the rocks. There are two "extra" kids we picked up along the way that thought it would be fun as well. It makes me think of a brood of hens picking through the dirt.

More Party

2009-07-05T21:02:00.003-05:00

This wasn't from the birthday party, but I thought it was a cool picture of how we do dinner "banquet style" now.
All the folks at the party on the fourth.

Greg's Birthday

2009-07-05T20:58:00.002-05:00

Greg turned 4 today. We celebrated on the Fourth of July with a combo Greg birthday/America birthday/house blessing party. It was great fun.

Greg really takes the pinata bashing seriously.

I thought Greg's cake should be a combo of his favorite things--junk food and sweets.

Garage Sale

2009-06-13T22:16:00.002-05:00

My poor little baby did a face plant on the concrete yesterday. The result was not so pretty. She is feeling fine but I think we will have to put off the one year old picture session for a few weeks.

We had a very successful garage sale this past weekend. It felt good to get rid of a bunch of stuff and make some cash.

Wonderscope

2009-06-13T22:11:00.002-05:00

I took the kids to the Wonderscope Children's Museum last week. Here's what we did:

Lydia lunched on some germy, fake celery...

Greggie made sure we would have lots of food in the cupboard...

Lydia played legos...

Greggie suited up for a deep sea dive...

Ira and Greg commanding the submarine.

We have a new backyard

2009-06-03T21:06:00.002-05:00

The boys love their new backyard. The have been outside all day every day since we moved. We have a lot to do to make improvements but we are having a great time making it happen.