Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a fun little holiday.

Cale wanted "big suckers" to give his friends for their valentines, so that was easy.  

Sissy wanted "pink heart cookies with icing and sprinkles" which was a bit harder but totally okay.

I have no problem with making these...the babies love them so much!!

I had a little fun with some cute valentine's themed shirts for Sis, which she was super proud to wear.

They had a little party Monday at school, and really loved looking at their Valentines.  They were really sweet, too...and shared a bunch of candy with Livi....

who didn't always ask if she could have a piece judging from the candy wrappers I found in random locations the last two days.  

Tonight we skipped the traditional adult Valentine's date and had a family Valentine's dinner.  

Hayden LOVES the cake at Chili's, so that is where we went...yep, super fancy.

Afterwards, the girls picked out a little something at Charming Charlie's, and Cale got a little lego set.  

It was really their lucky day....Mimi and Pope also let them pick out a surprise at Target today, which took forever and a year because getting to pick out whatever you want is too much pressure for a four year old.  

Let's just say there was a lot of mind changing going on.

Anyway, it was a great day....

Hubby was so sweet and got us all flowers, and threw in a spa gift certificate for momma for good measure.  

Really, though....I didn't need anything.....

These three little toots are more than enough!  

Hope your Valentine's Day was as blessed as mine!!!

Snips and Snails....

I'm so excited to have a little boy.  (Of course, I love the two girls too....but I'm glad God decided to give me some of each!!)

This kid is hilarious, smart, and infuriating all in one.  He's such a boy.

He loves on me all day, but tackles Daddy when he gets home.  

He wants so badly to have someone to be rough with, and we make him "play nice" all day.  

How boring.  

What he really wants to do is knock people down, have someone to throw/kick/catch with, build stuff, and make airplane and explosion noises.  

It's funny how he wants to be so rough and tough, but still wants to love on his mommy.

This morning, I told him, "I'm so proud that you get yourself dressed now.  You aren't going to even need me anymore!!"

He answered so sweetly, "Mommy, I still need you for LOTS of stuff."  

(Which is totally true, because when I came to get him, he was fully dressed with his jeans on inside out.)

He still wants to sleep with his light on every night.  If we let him, he's have his overhead light, lamp, and closet light on.  

He doesn't want me to hold his hand across the street.

He loves making "collections" of junk in our backyard.  I found a pile of sticks, rocks, random plastic stuff, and a piece of old hose.  He won't let me throw it out, and insists it's important.

He just started eating like a high school linebacker.  Twice in the last two weeks, I had to order him TWO kids meals at lunch.  Sheesh.  

I love this kid.

P.S.  He calls Elizabeth in his class "Haydie Beth" because that's what we call Sissy sometimes.  It cracks me up.  

My mini me

Livi might look more like me, but this one is just like her mama.  Case in point:  she probably cried ten times today without any reason whatsoever.  She's all about getting the laugh from whoever her audience is at the moment.  She overanalyzes, and picks up on things the other two might not notice.....all those things make her so much like me.  

But one example really, REALLY proves her to be my mini me...after spinning around and around at the playground, she dramatically doubles in half, bending over the dirt and hollering, "I'm about to barf!  I'm going to barf!  I'm going to die!  I'm going to dieeeeeeeeeee!" whereupon I bent over next to her and said, "It's okay, if you need to throw up, just throw up."...with which my sweet child responded:

"Nope.  I'm okay."  and was off and on to the next source of entertainment.  

I think those who know me well will concur, this kid is just like her momma.  

Around here lately....

I've got a girl big enough to work on the computer alone.  (and a boy too, while I'm at it)  These two are so smart, it kinda makes me think twice about waiting another year for kinder.  (But not really, because I KNOW how great that extra year is going to be for them!!)  

Sis acts so big sometimes it's scary.  I really understand the phrase "Four going on forty" now.  She's just really, really wise for her age....and it makes me proud, and really cracks me up.  The things that come out of her mouth are hysterical.  Case in point, car conversation the other day....

Me:  "Let's pick up Wendy's for lunch."

Cale:  "Can we play on the playground?"

Me:  "No, Wendy's doesn't have a playground."

Cale:  "Why not?"

Hayden:  "They just don't.  We should talk to the manager."

Cale:  "Managers don't build playgrounds!!  Workers do!!"

Hayden:  "Where are the workers?"

Cale:  "They live in their worker apartments!  They do work, and then go to their apartments and come out again when they feel like it."

Hayden:  "Mommy?  Do workers live in apartments?"

Me:  "I guess.  Apartments, houses, wherever."

Hayden:  "Hotels, too?"

Me:  "Yeah, probably hotels too."

Hayden:  "I'm never taking another bath again."

Um, okay.  That might go down in the books as the most random discussion I've ever had with my children.  THAT is hands down the funniest part about having kids.....the stuff they come up with!  

Disregard general disarray of laundry/computer room...it looks much better now.  Instead, look at adorable, loyal family dog.  Cute, huh?

I called Cale to dinner the other night and found this little parade of animals on the floor where he'd been playing.  I don't know why I thought this was so adorable it needed to be photographed, but I did.  He is at the funniest stage.....very absorbed in the things he loves.  He will get going doing something like this, and work at it for hours.  His imagination is ridiculous.  

And then there's this one.  (Notice that she's messing up the adorable animal parade arranged by her older brother....sigh.)  This baby is just a sweet blob of human perfection.  I can't hardly stand it, she's so cute.  She says crazy things all day, but refuses to use the potty. (still)

Today's discussion went like this:

Me:  "Hey, if you'll start peeing and pooping on the potty, Mommy will buy you your own ride on."

(This has been in the works awhile because our John Deere thing is a two seater and that means someone is always standing alone in the yard screaming while two people cruise around laughing.)

Livi:  "A pink one?"

Me:  "Sure!!  You can have what ever color you want if you poop on the pot...is it a deal?"

Livi:  "Mommy, what does a goggie say?"  (Total diversionary tactic!)

I guess she's just not ready to do it.  Oh well.  I made an attempt again this week. 

And that's what's going on around here this week....

Watch out Dorothy Hamill!

Last year my sweet uncle gave the twins gift certificates to go ice skating.  I knew then that they were WAY too young to go, and there would just be a lot of falling down and crying, so we held off on skating and waited a while.  A few weeks ago we decided to see how it went...

While Daddy and Uncle Clint skated with the twins, I sat in the lobby with the tiny one....

....who ate her weight in nachos.  Hey, something had to be done to entertain this one for two hours!

When Daddy first got out on the ice with Bubby, I have to admit I laughed so hard I wet my pants a little.  This was hysterical in a way that you would never understand had you not seen it firsthand. 

He looked like a sack of potatoes being drug around an ice rink.  What was even funnier was watching my husband try to ice skate while folding himself in half and drag the kid around by the armpits.  Plus, you could see Cale hollering directions at Daddy while he flopped all over the place.  Hilarity!

Finally, success!  After a few trips around the rink, he caught on and had a great time!  I think he'll do awesome next time we go...

Sis, on the other hand, gives Brian Boitano a run for his money.  This kid was jumping on the ice, turning circles, and generally acting like she'd done it four hundred times.  I'm getting some pressure from the family to sign her up for ice skating lessons, but the rink is at 1604 and 281 and I'll be honest....I hate that area and the traffic and that is what's holding me back.  For now, she'll have to use her mad athletic skills at gymnastics class.

Christmas, 2011

Man, I am really slacking on the blog front.  The last few months are always the craziest ones of the year for photography, so I guess photographing/documenting my OWN kids gets pushed to the back burner.
I am really going to try to do this more often, since it serves as my only scrapbook-esque item for my kiddos!
This Christmas was really fun!!  We started out the festivities this year with a little party and program at the twins' school.

My little angel got up to the risers and already started fiddling with her halo.  I could tell by looking at her it was going to fixate her for the whole performance.  She has hated anything itchy, loud or annoying since she was tiny.  I love that she's always on the top riser because she's so tall....

Cale was the cutest little shepherd in the program.  (He's the one in blue)  He was so funny when he saw me sitting next to a pew trying to get pictures...he smiled and waved so big!

Hayden's sweet friend Abi from school.  This is the second year they've been together, and they really enjoy each other...

Cale had lots to tell me while dressed as a shepherd....and showed me all around his classroom.  My favorite part of their program was how he danced and sung so happily....he's still little enough not to be embarrassed to do stuff like that.

I attempted to take ONE, just ONE cute picture on Christmas Eve of all of my babies.  This is the best I got.  Fancy, huh?  Nothing says "Classy Christmas" like a bag of hiney wipes on the floor, crazy faces, and a tiny belligerent cat curled up on the loveseat in the background.   (Side note:  I thought the twins were pretty much the same height now, but DANG.  She is an amazon!!!  Let's hope she likes volleyball...)

Bubby with his loot on Christmas morning.  He is really into pirates, so his favorite gift was a giant pirate ship with teeny, tiny parts.  It's really cool.  I love that he's wearing feety jammies in this picture.....definitely the last year for those.

The baby was so sweet and excited on Christmas morning.....she would open one thing and just love on it and play with it forever.  We kept having to tell her she had more presents, but REALLY, the way she was enjoying them was so much better.  Not ripping through them at all, but spending time inspecting and enjoying each one.  I love this picture, and the sweet look on her face.

Sissy loved all of her gifts, too.  She loves tiny dolls and tiny parts, so she was gifted accordingly.  Let's just say momma had to make a trip to Wal Mart on the 26th to get six new tubs to organize all this stuff!

Mixed in to the craziness was the Zunker's annual Christmas Party, Shawn's work Christmas party (where Livi stood on the stage with the guitarist, holding her dress up, hollering "I POOPING!" at me across the room) and lots more Christmas fun.  Looking at lights, shopping, making Christmas cookies for our neighbors, having  "Christmas Toddies" with some of our besties, Christmas dinner and gift exchange with the OTHER set of besties, and lots more.  I stopped working earlier this year, which was so great!!!  I really enjoyed slowing down and giving myself two weeks to enjoy the holiday with my family.  

Now to "undecorate" this house....

Tougher than a two dollar steak....

This kid really cracks me up.  That's a good thing, because lately he's also been making me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork.  He's just at a "stage" (dramatic sigh) and we're just muddling through it the best we know how.  It's funny because the things he does that are stressing me out are SO HIS DAD.  I shouldn't get bothered by these things, because clearly they're genetic and he has no control over them.  For example, after being asked to put on his shoes forty six times, I find him standing in front of the television, HOLDING HIS SHOES.  Dear Lord, is this a boy thing, or a boy-in-my-family thing??  Apply that same scenario to buckling his seat belt, coming when he's called, being told to eat his dinner, and hollering at the baby to "stop making noise".  (Like that's even possible.)

Other than the stuff he's doing that is driving me nuts lately, he's pretty much the awesomest kid on the planet.  (besides my other two of course)

He says hilarious things that make his daddy and I cry.  Here are some recent ones:

"Mommy, I'm tougher than a two dollar steak." --spoken randomly from the backseat.

"JESUS!  Don't jump!!"--hollered at the Jesus decoration on top of a roof when we were looking at lights.

Me:  "CALE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  How many times have I told you to stop???" followed immediately by him responding, 

Cale:  "Mommy, why do you think God gave me such good parents?" 

And this little conversation with his daddy...

Daddy:  "Buddy, you know Daddy used to be in the air force."

Cale:  "What plane did you fly?"  

Daddy:  "I didn't fly a plane."

Cale:  "Why not??"  

Daddy:  "I didn't want to.  Instead, I was in finance."

Cale:  "Where did you find ants?"

Yep, it's a good thing he says junk like this to offer some moments of hysterical laugher in the midst of difficult parenting.  If ever I get bogged down about this "phase"....I just need to remember how great he is.... How he delivers these one liners that keep us rolling.  How he wants me to lay with him at night and sing him Christmas songs.  How he sung and danced with abandon at his school Christmas pageant.  

How he creates amazing, detailed drawings that blow all of us away.  How he immerses himself in airplanes, Legos, playing pretend, pirates....and becomes the resident expert on all of these topics.  How his tiny little teeth all show when he's laughing really hard at something.  How kind and thoughtful he is.  How he tells me he's never going to grow a beard, never ride a motorcycle, and never move out of my house, all because he wants to make me happy.  I really, really love this kid.