Inconsistent Blogging!

Pin It Wow, am I ever rocking the inconsistency lately!  I feel like I am behind on everything except school, which is taking up most of my time.  I am going to do a weekly wrap-up post today.  (I am.  I am.  I really really am.)  I think we had a couple of birthdays I neglected to post about, and some other fun things we have done lately.  I am planning to do these in separate posts, so I may end up posting a bunch today.  Or not.  Because I seem to be all about inconsistency regarding the blog lately. 

In the meantime, a couple of really sweet pics of my oldest and my niece.  These two girls are a year and three days apart.  From the time I heard about my niece being on the way, I pictured giggling and sleepovers.  Since we don't live in the same city, that hasn't happened as much as I pictured.  Well, at least the sleepovers haven't happened as much as I thought.  The giggling has. 

You can totally see the family resemblance, right?  haha ;)

And one more:

This one was from the camp they went to this summer.

Okay, working on a weekly wrap-up post now.  Or maybe I should call it a monthly wrap-up at this point.

Wordless Wednesday

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The little one had his first t-ball game!

Woot!  A hit from a coach pitch!

Enough with the pics, Mom!

He had so much fun, but probably less fun than I had watching him.  Their second practice was rained out, so they only had one practice before their first game.  This was hilarious.  He picked some grass, he didn't have the first clue where to go when he hit the ball, he tried to hold the bat with his glove on, he moved the base, he said his favorite part was the snack afterwards.  LOL  I. LOVED. IT. (And so did he.)

Double Digits Tomorrow

Pin It Wow.  Today is the middle one's last day of nine.  That absolutely does not seem possible.  Was I really *enormous* pregnant with her this day ten years ago?  (And make no mistake - she was 9 lb 11 oz, and I'm 5'4".  Enormous is the right word.)

Oh, my sweet middle one.  My unhappy baby, whose early days divided everyone into two categories - the mama, and not the mama.  If you were with the mama, you were somewhat happy.  If you were with not the mama, you were not happy and not afraid to let everyone know it.

You entered this world at nearly 10 pounds and at a year were a tiny 15 lbs, still quite high maintenance spirited.

I have referred to your sister as the music in our home.  Yes, she is the music, but you, sweet girl, are the color.  You are sunshine and happiness, and JOY!

As much as you were mama's girl as a baby, you are very much your father's child now.  And I guess I'll allow that, although I secretly miss the days when you only smiled for me.

You rarely leave us with any doubt as to how you feel about what's going on in your life and very much wear your heart on your sleeve.

You can go from hot to cold, happy to sad, angry to happy in about a minute flat, and I wish you would pass that quality along to me!

You are still the sassiest little thing I think I have every known, and I don't think I would have it any other way.

I love that you are not in a huge rush to grow up, and I love your shiny, gorgeous hair and sparkly eyes.

Happy last day of nine, sweet girl!  I love you and I miss you!  I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

My Kids Are So Weird.

Pin It They have had me laughing lately.

The oldest - her sister walked off, leaving the refrigerator door open.  Oldest says "Leaving the door open is the worst mistake anybody can make becaaaaaaaauuuuuse .....???"  Silence.  Then she says "HEY, someone is supposed to finish the quote!"  More silence.  Then she hollers out "It could let in a GIRAFFE!!"

Um, hon?  That would be DRAFT.  Not giraffe.  So now I've been teasing her about letting giraffes in the house when she leaves the door open.

(And yes, I told her that was blog fodder and she's reasonably okay with that.)

The middle one - she and I are going on a mother-daughter date in a couple of weeks.  I did this with the oldest and I'm looking forward to it with the middle one.  I told her that it was a two hour drive from here to where we're going and she said she would bring her DSi in the car.  Then she said "oh wait.  I'll bet you want to talk to me about puberty in the car, so maybe I shouldn't bring it."

I nearly fell over from laughing.

(And yep, she knows I'm posting this too.  She may be less delighted with me posting this story when we're actually on our trip and she finds out what puberty actually means!  haha!)

And then there's the little one.  All five year olds are a riot by nature of being five.  Jim has this plaque thingie he's making to hold his coins that he has from military things.  The little one thinks these are very cool.  Sunday night he was looking at them wistfully and said to Jim, "Someday when you're dead, can I have one of those?"  Completely innocent.  I laughed so hard I cried.

It also cracks me up when he asks which foot his shoe goes on.  I'll tell him, he'll put that shoe on, then will ask me which foot his other shoe goes on.  Ummm ... thinking maybe you could figure that one out on your own, kiddo!  :-P

* hey - don't forget to scroll down one post and enter my giveaway for Ann Voskamp's book!  One Thousand Gifts!  *

11 for 2010

Pin It Our top ten eleven moments of 2010:

Three little boys came home.  You'll note my youngest two children.  Giggle.  One dancing the other holding a gun.  There's at least one in every family, right? 

Daddy came home on leave.

Grammy came to visit.

Daddy came home for good.

Disney World!

The middle one had one of her dreams come true.

The children learned to love each other.

We went to Spokane.

The little one loved preschool.

The oldest one grew up.

And we got a good family picture at the Renaissance Festival.

Wordless Wednesday - the Christmas post

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Finally getting the Christmas pictures from my house ready to share.  :)

One of my Christmas presents:

We made cookies the night before:

We got up early and opened presents:

 

We played Jenga:

And we had a fabulous meal (whose leftovers we are still eating.  LOL)  I didn't take any pictures of that though. 

It was a very nice Christmas!  The kids enjoyed their presents and a good time was had by all. 

The Christmas Card

Pin It Okay, y'all. It probably will not surprise those of you who know me well to learn that I become an absolute psychopath when it comes to the family Christmas card. I get a vision in my mind of what it should look like and really want the final product to match that vision.

This was not my vision.

Nor was this.

Almost right.

Not quite right.

Getting closer.

This was a possibility.

WRONG.

 And then I gave up.  I did actually use the "all tied up" picture and the caption said "Wishing you lots of peace, joy, and family bonding this Christmas season!"  BUT, when I picked the pictures up, it was AWFUL.  I ended up getting the entire order refunded because apparently the printer was having issues.  In the meantime, I found a great deal online and just whipped up a card using individual pictures of the kids.

I didn't actually love these pictures either, but in a pinch they would do just fine.

Irony?  Sunday after church, I realized they were all wearing matching clothes so I snapped a pic in the sanctuary.

That was pretty darn close to my vision.  Taken the day after the Christmas cards went out. 



Merry Christmas everyone!!  :)

(And note to self:  next year, start the quest for the perfect Christmas picture in AUGUST!)

Party #2 - Let's Get MESSY!!

Pin It With Micah and I having inseparable boys born five days apart, it seems only right to combine for birthday parties, so that's what we did. It was tough deciding between taking out a second mortgage for a Chuck E Cheese party or a less expensive and probably more fun backyard messy party, so we compromised a little this year. We had a combined messy party on Brendan's birthday and then our families went to Chuck E Cheese together on Landon's birthday. Best of both worlds!

He found that cupcake holder and Buzz candle a month or so ago. I can't believe it survived until his actual party!

He saw the big box for his present wrapped it Toy Story paper and was trying to convince me to tell him what it was. I told him it was "Lotso." When he opened it, he told me I had just been playing with him and he was so glad because he doesn't like Lotso!

MOST FUN EVER!!

And then let's take the most fun ever and cover it with shaving cream!

Shaving cream is apparently a big hit with the 8-10 crowd as well.

Please could you give me your fakest smile for this picture?
- Done.

My pictures from Chuck E Cheese were not fabulous. I thought I'd share a couple anyway.

Could we revisit the fake smile times two, please?
- Done.

I do love this pic. The silliness on Bren's face, the concentration on Landon's.

Happy birthday guys!! Seems unbelievable that you could be five already. Let's hope the next five years don't go quite as quickly!