Holiday Happenings

My beautiful, sweet cousin Sarah came for Thanksgiving.  It is a tradition that we look forward to every year now!  The kids get lots of snuggle/reading/special time with her, and each year we get to strengthen our bond/friendship that we have been building as adults.  We were never around each other when we were growing up, so I feel very lucky to have someone who knows me (besides my hubby) and accepts all of my baggage.  Love you Cousin Sarah!

We decorated the tree....and had a visitor

Auntie Kalin, cousin Leila and Grandma Wagener came to visit us last weekend.  My kids just love their baby cousin, poor Leila didn't stand a chance to have breathing room.  They surrounded her at all times.

We went to a Toys for Tots charity event at the Gymnastics center.  ALL the kids loved it!  Leila felt like such a cool, big kid.  She ran and ran as long as she could, then Grandma and Auntie got tired and she had to go home.

                                                                           

 Apparently it's impossible to get a normal pic of all three children at once.  THEIR gingerbread house.  They had a blast, I was completely hands off, it was too painful to help/watch.  They LOVE it!

 Sad to say, but happy to see a screaming child in Santa's lap.  I Have to say I was a wee disappointed when we had a normal Santa pic this year.  So glad Leila could visit and liven things up a bit at our special Santa breakfast.

Dance recital.  Pajama party. 10 three and four year olds.  Major good time had by all!  I videoed the entire show, now I just have to figure out how to get it on my computer.....

 "Come on Ring Those Bells"  I was quite proud of my girls at their school performance.  They sang loud and proud.  I didn't know what would happen this year.  Last year Dani stood silently and GLARED at everyone.  She is my child who enjoys music the most and may have the most talent in this area.  It was nice to see her participating and enjoying the songs that they have been singing/yelling for the last few weeks!

My beautiful girls after their school performance.

We are officially on Christmas vacation. For the first time I am taking the same two weeks off from work.  I am looking forward to catching up with friends, lazy days, movies, reading, cookies and lots of snuggle time with my babies that won't stop growing.  Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Frank

Frank has been back in our lives for almost three weeks.  He has been wreaking havoc like crazy!  We have been loving it!  Frank is our elf that came into our lives 2 or 3 years ago.  We had him before The Elf on the Shelf got so crazy popular.   Back in the day (who am I kidding, I still am)  I was too cheap to spend the $30 for the book and elf.  I went to Target and bought an elf ornament, and he became Frank.  He is glass, so he is a little limited on what antics he can perform, but he has been pretty busy so far this year.  Last night he did this:

 He was found one morning drinking our syrup.

 Taking a bath in marshmallows

 Playing a game of checkers with Mickey

 And reading a book.

He also dyed Kent's eggnog green, which he wasn't too happy about.  :)  Naughty Frank.  He made a snow, sugar angel on the counter and was in my coffee cup.  The kids are at the perfect age for this and every morning they run in to tell me what Frank is up to......

I would love any new ideas for Frank, we still have 10 more days....!

Sneaky sneak

As I was reading with Ellie today she asked, "What movie did you watch last night?"  We watched "Friends With Benefits"  (which I thought was pleasantly hilarious), but didn't think it was appropriate to tell her the title of the  movie, so I said, "Friends." 

She proceeds to say, "I like that Friends movie.  It's funny when you see their naked bums.  Are you going to watch it again?"  

What the .....!!!!! 

Apparently my four year old snuck out of her room and watched some/part/all of the rated R movie last night.  Feeling like mom of the year.  And yes you can imagine what the movie was about, the title says it all......

Back in Business!

I finally  just bit the bullet and paid the $5.00 for 20GB a year....not sure exactly what that means, but it sounded good to me and I can upload my pics again!  Does anyone have recommendations for sites that can help me make my blog into a book?  After 3 years it is getting out of control, I would like to have it in a hard copy!  Please let me know if you have heard of anything and can steer me in the right direction!

 It seems like lots has been going on since I left the blogging world for a few weeks.....

 Aren't my little angels adorable?  Yes, my girls are now in dance lessons.  This is my parent's Christmas gift to them.  Isn't it a grand idea!?!  I was thrilled, I don't want anymore toys around the house so mom suggested this.  Unfortunately, we had to start a tad early (before Xmas).  The dance "school" starts lessons in September.  We were 8 weeks behind by the time soccer ended....don't worry, they have massive skills and are pretty much caught up already.  I think their lesson is one of the best parts of my week.  All of you who know me, know that I am not a dancer (tho pretended to be throughout college at the bar scene), but holy moly, these girls (3-4 year olds, my girls are the oldest in the class) are freakin' HILARIOUS!  I think it's even more funny than trying to coach soccer.  The first time I took my book to the lesson thinking that I would read, but NO WAY, there was way too much entertainment taking place.  Picture this:

TEN  3-4 year old girls
20 tap shoes rocking the place (most off beat)
10 tutus fluttering every which way
20 slippery ballet shoes being turned all about
at least one girl at any given moment just sitting down and scooting around on her bum (I'm assuming to rest)
THEN tumbling! 

I am so paranoid that someone is going to break their neck.  The teachers have 35+ years of experience, but they just tell the girls, "Do  a somersault."  The girls just stand straight on their heads and try to flip.  What the.....????  I am still holding out hope that they will get better directions for this.  However, Ellie can tumble like nobodies business.  She has been flipping around the living room forever.  She taught herself how to do a cart wheel, and I caught her doing a front flip off the couch the other day.....gymnastics may be more up her alley, this concentrating and graceful business is a little rough (my mini me).  Dani, however, really pays attention and can follow the positions and moves (I don't what they're called...moves??)

                                             Ellie, Cousin Ally and Dani

Dani

                                      Wheel barrow race for part of tumbling.  Ellie is carrying Dani.
Thank you Mom and Dad!  We love it!  There is a recital in May, come and watch if you can!  :)

Brayden will be starting Basketball in January, he is super excited and is thrilled to be taking swimming lessons in the meantime!
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, I will post about ours soon!  It's so nice to be back in the blogging world!

Out of room?

People in the blogging world, I need help!  I just noticed that I am on my 302nd post!  I went to upload the kids' new pics. and I got a message saying that I have run out of room for uploading pics.!  What do I do now?  I am so not a techie, I read the instructions, but they didn't mean much to me.  Can anyone help me please?  Thanks!!

And another one, and another one, and another bites the dust!

My boy lost another tooth at school!  This post is for Dad.  He asked me to put this pic. on my blog so Dad could see the huge hole in his mouth!  I guess I am on tooth fairy duty yet again.  We are running low on the gold dollar coins. Hopefully he will slow down here soon on losing all these teeth!

We just got back from school skate night!  Thank you to our dear Auntie Helen for coming with us!  I wouldn't have been able to help my boy without you there with the girls!  Tonight was an eye opening experience for me.  Last year Kent took B to his skate night and I stayed home with the girls.  I heard how difficult skating was for B, but I didn't realize how hard it really was.

Brayden was determined and gung-ho to go tonight and do it all again.  He didn't care that he was out there by himself clinging to the wall for dear life.  He didn't care that  almost EVERYONE was circling him over and over and over as he clung, walked, stumbled, and fell around the rink.  He DID NOT give up.  He didn't want me to hold him or help him, or touch him.  I am proud to say that he steadily got better and better and smoother and quicker.  He even did the race.  As a mom, I cringed behind my hands covering my face so I didn't have to watch him crash.  I just wanted to run out there and save him, protect him, or carry him to safety.  I was so worried that he would A) hurt himself or B) be made fun of.  He struggled and wobbled through and finished last, but he didn't even care.  I was very proud of him, and even more proud that he was brave enough and confidant enough to go do what he wanted without a second thought.  My boy amazes me and I am a VERY proud Mama!  I love you Brayden Goo!

Happy Halloween!

Let the festivities begin:

 Brayden's relay race at his school party.

 Look at this lovely expression, yep my son does not like to get gooey and slimey.  This was his face the WHOLE time, he wanted Kent and me to do it, didn't work out that way.  :)

 First time ever, carving pumpkins with Dad.  I have only done it one other time with Brayden when he was 3.  Might be a tradition we need to pick up again.  The kids liked it, all except for the gooey, messy part.  :)

 Dani's loot from her school party!

 Ms. Jenny's class party!

 My Batman, butterfly and ladybug!

 The Phillips cousin gang, loaded and ready to roll!

 Uncle Kelly's sweet ride for the kids (and tired grown ups).

 Busting onto the next house!

The final Jack-O-Lantern products!  Hope you have a Happy Halloween!  We sure did!
OMG!  This is what they brought home, who is going to be a fatty bo-blatty?  I gotta get rid of this.  I heard a local dentist is buying candy $1 per pound then shipping it to our troops.  Pretty sure we'll be doing that!