A February Mash-Up

 So, where are we?  February, that Wednesday of months:  sort of like hump-day;  getting through it brings us one month closer to the end of the winter and the beginning of spring.  It's actually an extremely hopeful month.  Which leaves November as the sole month in the calendar in need of redemption.
Anyway.
Our children love to read.
This is where I cough and add, "Except for Benjamin."  Ben loves to read ... NHL statistics and game schedules.  Thus, we are forcing him into a little USSR.  Please tell me that you children of the '80s remember that acronym?  (The educators who came up with Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading must have felt so clever and somewhat subversive.  Sort of like they were contributing to the fall of the Berlin Wall by forcing classrooms of students into 15 minutes of literacy.)
However, there is one problem.  Ben is easily distractible when a book is placed in his hands.  Thus, he has decided to wear his father's industrial-grade ear protection.  Dave uses these when he logs with his father on the farm.   Now, a moment of silence:  Dave with yellow earmuffs, lumberjack jacket and a chainsaw in his hands.  Where did I find this man?

 He cleans up well, though; even if he looks incredibly short.  I blame the towering group of men who attended the baptism of our twin nieces.  And I'm forever grateful to Benjamin who advised me to wear the above dress instead of a tunic and leggings about which he so wisely remarked, "Just looks like a really short dress and tights, Mom."  You had kids for a reason, Elena.

 Here are Isaac and Sarah on their best baptismal behaviour, fully aware that their father is well-occupied and out of disciplinary distance.  Sarah is currently expecting our first grandchild.

 Why oh why would one need parental discipline when life already doles out its fair share of corporal punishment in the form of wing chairs mysteriously interrupting one's Olympic circuit around the living room?

 Hannah has discovered the Notability app on the iPad and regularly produces reconfigurations of her brothers.

 Dave was not so happy with this gender modification.   Ahem, Josephina.  Hannah is negotiating a lucrative graphic-design contract with our provincial premier.

 With an eye to the final product, Hannah has begun to pose her brothers.  I think I overheard her say, "Cough like you're going to die."

 Because you are a vampire with an anaphylactic allergy to your main source of food.  Or, perhaps, you are a student reacting to the new Ontario sex-education curriculum.  If we could all do this simultaneously, we might produce a graphic and effective political sit-in.

 You might think that she posed him as a zombie?   No, no, no.  Jacob, in fact, is demonstrating the proper reaction to our basement decor.

 Canary Yellow.

 With an accent of burgundy and diamonds.  Because who doesn't immediately think of diamonds when designing a basement.

 And who fails to measure so that the last row of diamonds forever plays tricks with one's mind?  If you answered with an enthusiastic, "Former homeowners!!", then you are correct.

But, relax!  I've taken the situation in hand and all those white spots are Poly-Filla.  The basement is now primed and awaiting a coat of paint in a soothing neutral.  That's 400 square feet of wall space that I painted solo this morning.  You should count yourself lucky that I was still able to pound out this post.  Very lucky.