Our Christmas in Pictures

These are mostly snapshots, but snapshots are important too! We had a wonderful Christmas season full of many happy memories and traditions!

One quick funny:
Before Christmas, Barrett said to me, "Oh man! I forgot to tell Santa something I wanted!" I asked what it was he forgot. He said (and I'm not kidding), "I forgot to tell Santa I want an Air Guitar!"
Bwah ha ha ha!












Ice skating




Annabelle bundled up next to Gigi while we skated







Twas The Night Before Christmas

The (not so very) surprised picture. The boys were up at 4 am "peeking"...oh well, it's tradition I guess.

Christmas lists

The boys wrote letters to Santa. Well, they dictated and I wrote. (Attention Family members, do not use this list for last minute shopping! If you need ideas, call me!)

Barrett's Letter:

Dear Santa,
I have been good all year. I have cleaned up my toys. I also helped my brother clean up his stuff. Please put my name on the nice list because I have been good. Here is my Christmas list:
Harry Potter Lego Night Bus
Lego Forbidden Forest
Animal Bionicles
The Cars 2 Movie
A new wheel for my bike
The dolphin Pillow Pet
A Rock in Roll guitar
The Harry Potter Lego Xbox game
A skateboard
A Harry Potter Lego keychain

That's it! I hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Love,
Barrett


Kyle's Letter:

Dear Santa,
How are you? Are you busy making toys? Have the reindeer been flying good? I think I should be on the nice list because I cleaned up my toys last time we went to Grandma's...well, most of them. I played nicely I think...like remember that one time Barrett and I used teamwork to build a Lego city? Oh yeah, I practice reading almost every night. And I helped Mommy and Daddy in the yard one day. This is what I would like for Christmas:
Lego Deathstar
Lego Millinneum Falcon
Lego Darth Maul keychain
Lego Ninjago Sensei Wu Set
A new bike
Lego Tie fighter
Lego ATST
Lego X-wing
Light up bookmark
Knight books

Happy Christmas to you!

Love,
Kyle


Gigi took the boys shopping to buy us (mommy and daddy) a gift. Before they went, they brainstormed some ideas and made a list. Gigi shared the list with me (even though I do not know what they bought...I put my comments (like this)

Ideas for Daddy:

Spatula
Coffee mug
ID card - to open pool (He has his, I am the one who lost mine)
New car
More money (aww.)
Light for on keys
Drain cleaner
Shiny new saw
Tool book -- so he can know how to make stuff
Red jet
T shirts - Red, white, blue
Remote control helicopter (they say men get you what they want themselves...these boys are starting young.)
Rake
Jacket
Socks

Ideas for Mom:

Christmas bowls (isn't that what they got me last year?)
New computer
Pink ornament
Coupon for something
New car (YES!! boys, Do you have enough in your piggy banks for one of those??)
Umbrella - red, or blue, or pink
Purse ( I do need a new purse!)
New sunglasses
New security light
Pink bowl
Shoes
Stirring spoon
A tooth Fairy pillow-for when her teeth come out (oh no! I hope my teeth don't come out anytime soon!)
Jacket
Suitcase
Golf cart
Candle
M&M's
Pretzels that look like F and E (aww. I was making reindeer cookies and I needed alphabet pretzels for the antlers, but I couldn't find any. I can't believe he even remembered which specific letters I needed!)

Uh-oh!

At Annabelle's 18 month check-up yesterday, the doctor asked if she is able to feed herself with a fork or spoon. I thought about it and realized I have never really given her the chance because I don't want to clean the mess that will certainly ensue from such a ludicrous idea...I mean really? We're actually supposed to teach these kids to become self-sufficient people? Okay, I guess that sounds reasonable, which is why I let her give it a try this morning. Note to self and other crazy people thinking about attempting such lunacy: start with a less liquid-ish food, go ahead and remove all clothing from the child, and keep the high chair far, far away from walls, tables and innocent by-standers...On second thought, just put the naked baby and high chair outside. And for goodness sake, do not do this first thing in the morning with an already clean child!

I had to leave the area momentarily so I would not freak out about the mess happening before my eyes. From the next room I heard Annabelle say, "uh-oh......uh-oh.......uh-oh!......UH-OH!" That's when I couldn't stand it anymore and went to check out the damage.




"uh-oh!"

In other news related to her 18 month check-up, Annabelle grew 3 inches taller in 6 months! She is now on the charts! yea! Probably because when Mommy feeds her, the food actually gets IN her mouth.

Advent Season is here!

(I'm just coming up for a quick breath of air after a very busy Photo season! Just a little more and I'll catch up on my blogging) It's December 1st! My kids are already asking what the advent activity for the day is. We have a tradition of doing an activity each day during Advent. Some are quick like having hot cocoa together, some are more involved, like making cookies or gifts. Most of them are things we would be doing anyway, but the advent calendar organizes it and make sure we do all the things we want throughout the month, rather than cramming it in at the last minute. I thought I's share our plans in case you want to get some ideas for your Advent calendar. (There are some much better moms out there who have a serious craft everyday...this about all I can handle without turning a 'fun' family activity into me getting really frustrated that there's paint/icing/googly eyes everywhere but on the craft)
1-hot cocoa
2- read Christmas story/ set up Nativity set
Sa 3- Holiday in the Plaza/tree lighting ceremony (CH) 4-7pm
Su 4- make cookies (cookie exchange)
5- read spirit of Christmas book
6- make teacher/grandparent gifts (votives with fingerprint snowmen)
7- Make rosemary wreath
8-paper snowflakes
9- Watch Elf Story with Gigi on CBS
Sa 10- take Christmas PJ pictures
Su 11- read You can do it, Sam and make cookies for neighbors
12- Go shopping for Angel Tree kids
13- Hot Apple Cider
14- donate toys/gifts
15- Santa Pictures
16- Winter Wonders science show (CH) 6pm
Sa 17- Sleepover @ Gigi’s Su 18- find the pickle
19- drive/look at Christmas Lights 20- make star shaped crayons
21- s’mores in the fireplace
22- Make gingerbread house
23- Outdoor Ice Skating
24- read Twas night before Christmas/ Make Jesus a birthday cake
25 Christmas—sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Also, if you have an Elf on the Shelf (ours is named Buddy :)), check out these fun ideas for him/her! Elf Ideas

E-I-E-I-O!

(Okay this is gonna be a really hard story for me to type because it took about five minutes for me just to type the title! And I know I'm gonna have to write e-i-e-i-o several more times! It only took 2 minutes when I didn't capitalize.)

Annabelle has learned to say e-i-e-i-o from the Old MacDonald song...Well kind of. She says, "Eeee-I-uh-oh" but we all know what she means. One night we were in the car and trying to get her to say it and after she did we all laughed because it was so cute! So she said it again and then immediately started laughing at herself afterward, so we all laughed some more. For a while she would laugh everytime she said it. Now she says e-i-uh-oh everytime she hears music. every. time. I don't know if she thinks every song could use a little e-i-e-i-o or if she's making a song request. Tonight, as I was rocking her at bedtime, I was singing the song I love to sing to my kids, "Where You Lead" by Carol King, a.k.a. the Gilmore Girls theme song. It sounded like this. "Where you lead (eee-i-uh-oh!), I will follow (eee-i-uh-oh!), Anywhere (eee-i-uh-oh!), that you tell me to (eee-i-uh-oh!). If you need (eee-i-uh-oh!), need me to be with you (eee-i-uh-oh!), I will follow where you lead (eee-i-uh-oh!)..." I kinda felt like my heartfelt message wasn't getting through with all the interruptions.
Oh well. It did come in handy when I was trying to get her to look up for these pictures I took in our backyard. I sat her down for her pictures and started singing her new favorite song. I kept getting louder and louder. I am not quite used to having neighbors this close after having lived in the country, so I'm sure they were all peeping out their windows at the singing lunatic with the camera. It'll give 'em something to talk about at the block party.

Halloween Party for Mummies and Little Monsters

We had a fun party to celebrate Halloween with my mommy friends and our kids. I made all kinds of fun treats. The kids painted pumpkins. As usual, I forgot to put something out. This time it was the cute party favors I made. ugh. If you are ever at a party at my house, I give you permission to search my fridge inside and out to make sure I am not forgetting anything.

Here's some party snaps!

mini pumpkin (looking, not flavored, although that's a good idea...next time!)cupcakes


mummy dogs


frozen banana pops--so easy!










Barrett and his friend swapped heads.




I tucked one of these cute Owl S'mores into a clear plastic bag and tied with a note that said, "Thanks. It's been a HOOT!" Then I put all 20 something of them on top of the fridge so my kids wouldn't get into them before the party. And that's right where these cute party favors stayed until after almost everyone had already left the party!!

Trick or Treat and Trunk or Treak

You know what? It is really fun to Trick or Treat! The kids had fun too. This was our first year to do it in our neighborhood. Last year was the boys first time to Trick or Treat ever...but that was not our neighborhood. I really enjoyed being out with the neighbors and watching the kids RUN from house to house. We found "The Good House" which happens to be just two houses down from ours! The lady there gave each kid a bag full of stuff which included a full size candy bar, 2 rings, a kazoo, and 5 mini candy bars! Made my bucket o' unwanted tootsie rolls from a previous halloween event look pretty sad. We had hoards of Trick or Treaters! I kept putting more candy in the bucket only to be scraping botttom 2 minutes later. I had to turn the porch light out after only about 10 minutes from the time we started handing out candy.

Barrett was a fighter pilot, Kyle was Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribbean, and Annabelle was a tutu cute strawberry.




He refused to wear the helmet for some reason.


This kid stayed in character the whole time he had on the costume. He made an excellent Jack Sparrow.

World Series

Cody is a big Rangers fan. So when they went to the World Series this year, I really wanted him to be able to go. My mom helped me out and we scrounged up enough money for a pair of tickets. Annabelle and I surprised him at work with a Rangers balloon and the tickets. He was very excited. We went to Game 5 that night and the Rangers won the game! It was a great game and I am so glad we went.

By the way, Kyle called it the World Serious. :)

My Sweet Boys melt my heart

Sometimes the boys just knock me down with their sweetness. Like tonight. Cody had taken all the kids to his parents house this weekend so I could get lots of work done. It's Sunday night and everyone is back home except Annabelle. She is staying 2 extra nights at Grandma's so I can get even more work done during the day on Monday and Tuesday while the boys are at school. Tonight, when the boys were getting ready for bed, Barrett said, "I wish Annabelle was here." I said, "Me too!" Then I looked up and and was surprised to see that he had big ol' crocodile tears streaming down his face. I looked at Kyle, and his lip was sticking way out and he was getting little dimples on his chin which tell me he's about to cry! Oh man, now I was crying! We all had a big long hug and then called the very sleepy, much loved Annabelle.
*love*

The pumpkin patch

Some fellow mamas and I took our kids to the pumpkin patch on Monday. Barrett and Kyle didn't have school because it was Columbus Day/Fair Day/Teacher work day. It was a little muddy. Everyone needed a bath when we got home, but that's how you know it's a good day, right? The best pictures I got were the ones I took of my friends' kids (not shown). Typical. My favorite lens stopped working just before this (perfect timing) so I had to use another one which tends to give a grainy quality to the pictures. The good news is that after these were taken, I got a new *improved* version of my favorite lens just in time for holiday mini sessions!

Kyle's Birthday Party

On Saturday, the County Fair came to our backyard in celebration of Kyle's Fifth Birthday! We had a ball tossing game, a bean bag game, a cake (actually cookie) walk, and blue ribbons for all the kids. There was popcorn, and corndogs, and Walkin' Tacos like at the State Fair of Texas. Of course we also had birthday cake, and a strawberry shortcake trifle.


the invitation


See that "popcorn?" It's actually cupcakes! I spent a lot of time working on that and then I forgot to put it out during the party! ugh. At least it will live forever in this picture.





This picture cracks me up!
Side note: Kyle told me the other day that Avery (the girl in purple) is his girlfriend. He said that means they are going to be friends forever and never change their minds.


Barrett got the blue ribbon for Best Scary Face












Annabelle got the Blue Ribbon for Best Pigtails. No suprise that she's swinging...again!


These two brothers sat down together with their fair food and they were even wearing the party colors!


the party favors--in all the excitement, I didn't get a picture of this until almost all the guests were gone. There were also horses and ducks in the "petting zoo."

Walking Tacos:
Cut a Fritos bag on one side and hold like a taco shell. Add taco meat, cheese, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, sour cream , guacamole...whatever you like on tacos...and eat with a fork while you walk.


And lastly, (maybe I'm hoping no one will actually scroll down this far) I have a family picture. I was noticing in our albums that we have very few pictures of the 5 of us as a family. Probably because it's so difficult to get all the kids wrangled, and partly because I take all the pictures in this family. So to remedy the situation, I decided that from now on, we will take a family picture at every birthday. That way I'll have at least 5 family pictures a year and maybe one of those will actually be good. Here's hopin' we all feel a little more photogenic at Cody's Birthday!