Turkey, Snow Boots, Ears, and Farts

November 26th

We made our own Thanksgiving dinner. All the kids helped. Well, G wasn't so much helping as he was being a big fat pain in the rear. But that's okay. We all enjoyed ourselves. We had Aspen and her girls over. After a good dinner, cleaning up about 76 drink spills, and pie, we ended the night with some Rock Band.
I thought it was hilarious that he fell asleep with a snow boot on his hand. Of course he has his dark-dark blue blanket, and he is sucking on his tongue. I was glad cooking bored him enough to take a nap.

November 27th


I am not a Black Friday shopper, but in the afternoon we decided we wanted to go out for a bit. First we went to Old Navy and got some sweaters. Then we decided to go to the mall. Right when we walked in I saw this ear piercing booth. It wasn't even on my radar, but we decided to go for it. All three of the girls wanted to do it. They did. And they all three cried. Rhon was the bravest, so she went first. Dare tried really hard not to cry on the first ear. She just said, "Owwwch!" But she couldn't hold back the tears on ear number 2. B.A. is by far my biggest weenie, so she went last. I really thought she was going to back out after seeing her sisters do it. But she did it. She was crying before it even happened, but she recovered fast. They are so excited. The rest of the mall trip was filled with talk about all the earrings they can wear. Oh, I almost forgot. We went to In-N-Out for dinner. Nice.

November 28th

Family pictures! We had a good time, and I can't wait to see them. Mads was hilarious. Every time we were in a group he would fart. Then he would announce that he farted, and everyone would laugh. Man, that kid farts a lot!

Was Here

Today...

1. Dare had a Thanksgiving program at school. The pictures were terrible, of course, but that is her cuteness poking out behind that darling pilgrim hat.

Things I want to remember:

this program was awesome

Dare doesn't like to dance

she is thankful for "Mom and Dad"

2. Rhon had a play that parents were invited to.

Things I want to remember:

Rhon likes to perform, but she gets shy

this was a fun play

second grade rules

3. In between these two performances, I saw Rhon at recess. I thought it was interesting how she was spending her time. She was taking a very slow stroll along the perimeter of the playground with 3 other girls. It seems like the kind of thing I did when I was in sixth grade. Hmm...

4. I didn't want to go all the way home after Rhon's thing because the girls had a half-day... blah blah blah. Anyways, we decided to go to a kindergarten friend's house. I noticed some snow on the driveway, and it was on an incline, so I told the kids when they got out of the car to go through the grass to their front door. I thought everything was cool until I got around to the other side of the car. I noticed something you only see in the movies or cartoons. There was about 10 little footprints about 4 inches deep in Kazie's sidewalk. It was in the shape of a perfect semi-circle. I was confused at first. I didn't believe this had anything to do with me. Then I looked down at Mads' (who was now standing, dumbfounded, in the grass) feet. He had concrete completely covering his shoes and a little on his pants. Oh no! I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure I was going to have to pay someone hundreds of dollars to come fix the sidewalk. Luckily the guys who were doing it were still around. They fixed it. He said it was easy to fix when it was still so wet. They must have just done it considering how far he sunk in. The guys even washed his shoes off for me. I wish I would have taken a picture.

5. Wesley got neutered. Poor dude. He has to wear The Cone of Shame. I'm pretty sure I heard him say, "I do not like The Cone of Shame."

6. We had some Arizona friends over. Good times.

Rhon and Sophie singing 'Hungry Like the Wolf'.

Busy day.

da Prince

1. Favorite things: candy and garbage trucks

2. Dislikes: eating dinner and going to bed

snow-gear

3. He has to sleep with a toy car. Every night. And it can't just be any car, it has to be either a garbage truck or a red pick-up truck. You should see me hunting all over at bedtime, just so he won't cry too much.

4. He LOVES garbage trucks. In fact, he thinks all trucks are garbage trucks. During each of our trips to school, he says "barburr cuck" like 493 times. And he keeps saying it over and over until I respond. I try to tell him that some are semi-trucks and some are dump trucks. But he doesn't believe me. (See #6.)

with Wesley

5. He loves to be naked. This is no surprise. But he is almost completely potty trained because of it.

6. He is just as stubborn and obstinate as all the other kids. Already.

another snow-gear fashion statement

7. He gives the best hugs. He learned to say "anaconda squeeze" very early. (Nacho Libre.)

8. He gives the best kisses. Often times, he will kiss me on each cheek, nose, and chin before he plants a juicy one right on the lips.

no shirt, no shoes, no service- Part 2

9. He loves to color. Unfortunately, his standards are low. He doesn't care with what he colors, or on what he colors.

10. He is very charming and he loves to make people smile.

Enjoy a G montage...

The Smallest Prime

G woke up on his birthday 100% settled in the "terrible twos" phase. Only, what does that mean really? Can he be worse than his "ones" or "nones"? Yah, he can. He proved it on his birthday. Not only was he a trouble maker, but he was whiny, clingy, and cranky. But I love him. I couldn't ask for a more loving, fun, happy, two-year-old.

The Party.

Texas Sheet Cake is wonderful with ice cream. It is my new go-to birthday cake.

Fun for the whole family.

I think I may have picked the most perfect present of my mother career. G is obsessed with garbage trucks. So much so that it will have a post of it's own sometime. Plus, Mads loves it, and it even occupies the girls here and there.

Ion Displacement Won't Work in the Basement

One day Nate was asking me if I think we should add me and the kids to his vision insurance. I said no, of course. It wouldn't be worth the 12 bucks a month just for my prescription when I don't even wear my glasses. Then about a week later, we got a note from B.A.'s teacher saying she needed to get her eyes checked. Are you even surprised? Me neither.

So I took her to the eye doctor, and dude! That girl can't see anything! One eye (right) is just perfect, the the other one (left) couldn't even read the second row of letters. Poor girl. The good eye makes up for the other one most of the time, but we are hoping glasses will help her with headaches.

She was thrilled! When I told her, she simply said, "Well, I've always wanted glasses."

I was worried you wouldn't be able to see her beautiful eyes as much, but now I think she looks amazing. They really suit her.

P.S. This is the last day I will ever have a one-year-old again. Ever again. Ever. Again. I love one-year-olds. : (

Bubbles

Does anyone know a cuter six year old? No way! Just kidding. But you have to admit, she's freaking cute.

They were all good sports. Especially Dare. She didn't complain, cry, whine, or anything. They were all happy just to be hanging out with one another.

We were supposed to go to the trampoline place today. It snowed all day. And when we were supposed to go, visibility was poor and there were accidents all over the place. So we decided just to stay at home.

So we played freeze dance instead. And did some crafts.

We'll go to the trampoline place another day.

This is how G felt about having a bunch of girls over.

Dear Dare

I'm six.

I told my mom that I would stay 5 forever, but I changed my mind.

Here is what my siblings said they liked most about me...

Mads: Playing with her. Playing Jacob, and teacher. That makes me happy.

Rhon: She's happy a lot. And she helps me find stuff. If I lose my wallet or something, she will help me look for it without having to repay her.

B.A.: She is really fun to play with when she is nice. When she is mean, she is not fun to play with. And she is really willing to play.

G: Car. (He said car like 20 times. He would have said it even more if I waited to respond.)

I love to go to school, play at Jack's house, and make trouble at home.

I don't like to eat much. My plate usually sits full all night. But I love snacks!

I make my mom happy most of the time, but she says she gets annoyed because I ask for things over and over and over. Oh, and sometimes I don't listen.

I love to take baths. I have lots of friends. I love playing outside.

Happy Birthday to me!

Still Life with Plums and Peaches

This kid cracks me up...

How does he get his face to look like this? I have tried water colors myself and I can't get it to look this good. What is on there? A combination of marker, food, lipstick, and anything else he can get a hold of.

I can't think of a good caption for this one without being too graphic. It's just a plum, but it still cracks me up.

I saved the best for last. I guess he didn't want to be naked just then. That is probably the only time in his life that he decided on his own to put undies on. And these are the ones he chose. And he put them on backwards, which is the best part.

G, you are awesome.

P.S. If I told him that in real life, he would immediately say, "No I not." That is his new favorite phrase. "No I not." About everything.

me- you're cute

g- no I not

me- you're going to spill that

g-no I not

me- it's time for bed

g- no I not

me- I love you

g- no I not

Halloween is Where the Heart Is

Look how much fun they are having! Little do you know, the pumpkin-seed nazi (me) was making them save every single seed. And I was the one with the knife, so they listened.

The Witch.

The Vampire.

The Vampire.

Ben 10 Alien Force.

Mads was a big hit with the older kids, especially girls in the 11-14 age range. They loved his costume, and thought he was so cute.

The Cow.

G loved trick-or-treating. He was cute and charming. He talked to everyone, said "trick-or-treat" (it sounded more like ticker teet), and said "thank you". He wanted to walk, and he wanted to hold his own bucket even though it was super heavy. If he had his head turned when someone put candy in it, he insisted it didn't happen and waited for more. I think he got lots of extras.

top: Dare

left to right: B.A., G, Mads, Rhon