I spy

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And with my camera-phobic kids, sometimes that means hiding with the camera if I want to catch them doing something cute. It's how I got video of them running on the couch when they were about 18 months old and then having a dance party a month later, it's how I managed to record a peekaboo giggle-fest between the girls close to their second birthday ... and it's how I was able to capture them playing "Ring Around the Rosie" today:



The best part? How Lucy asks Isaac to marry her at the end. The worst part? That I stopped filming just before Jude told Dahlia he would marry her. The funniest part? Gotta be Jude's choice of footwear!

Peek-a-blanket

Life at our house has been getting louder and louder, and sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the happy screams and the terrible-two screams. Today I heard a commotion in the living room, so I poked my head around the corner to see if I needed to intervene. I'm glad I looked:



Who knew that a few blankets draped over the back of a couch could provide so much entertainment—for both me and the girls?

Let's dance!

Today Ted and I marked our 10th wedding anniversary. It was a quiet day (well, as quiet as a houseful of toddlers could make it), just like any other day.

The Fab Four, however, were not content to let the occasion go unnoticed. After dinner, I caught them celebrating by holding an impromptu dance party (listen for Lucy calling roll toward the end—"Ju, Zach, Da-ya-ya-ya!"):



This weekend Ted and I will hold our own celebration by dressing up and going to a fancy restaurant while our dear friends Rebecca and Steve hold down the fort. I think we'll leave the dancing to the kids, though!

Candid camera

Almost every time I try to tape the kids doing something cute, they stop as soon as they see me and/or the camera. This morning was no exception, so I decided to try something new: I improvised a "hidden" camera by perching my camera on the half-wall that separates the living room from the kitchen, hitting the record button, and then ducking behind the wall. As I'd hoped, business-as-usual resumed as soon as I disappeared!



I know the kids aren't supposed to be running on the couch, but how can I be upset with them when they're having so much fun together? Hopefully this new indoor toy (which made its debut this afternoon) will help to redirect some of those climbing compulsions:

The Fab Four check out their new schoolbus
(l to r: Dahlia, Lucy, Isaac, and Jude)