The Crafts

Kate and CJ have been begging for weeks to visit to the Youth Pavilion and today I finally said yes. I kind of expected them to flood me with kisses and praises of love but they were rather stoic when I made the announcement. Sigh.    In past visits these two could care less about playing dress up and singing on stage but today they were all about it. I kind of loved it! Especially when Kate got up there and started wailing "Paradise  by the dashboard lights" by Meat Loaf. I personally dislike the singer Meat Loaf, probably because he named himself Meat Loaf, but Matt loves that song and plays it on repeat. A couple of women in the place actually asked me, "Is she seriously signing 'Paradise by the dashboard lights?' Yep, that's my five year old. I have a hard time keeping track of these two when we visit the Youth Pavilion. And I'm not alone. The museum rules are that children are supposed to pick up after themselves before they mov...

Like a lonely man after a night of drinking, the girls and I are still coming down from our two day sugar buzz. Endless cookies, candies and little wienies wrapped in bacon and brown sugar have caused me to stock up on vegetables and I'm completing hamstring curls as I type. I'm kidding, there isn't room in here to exercise. `Our living room floor looks like Toys-R-Us exploded. Toys strewn e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e! This morning I thought to myself, "I best not hear anyone claim boredom." And so far no one has. It is not physically possible to feel bored the day after Christmas, right? We had a wonderful Christmas. When we weren't diving head first into cookie trays, we visited with lots of family. My heart was full with the good fortune of having so much family in close proximity to us. I just hope they feel the same way about us. We often resemble an out-of-control circus, but in a good way...is that possible? Surprisingly I don't feel the need...

Not unlike any other kid in Iowa, my girls anxiously awaited the arrival of the blizzard this week. When the first flakes fell these two future weather girls let us all know. Despite school being cancelled and the promise of sleeping in, Kate woke earlier than she ever has and headed straight for her snow pants. The girls logged several hours in the snow yesterday.  Blizzard conditions can't slow these two down.

This is Kate's Kindergarten Sunday School class just before taking the stage at their annual Christmas program. The class obviously dressed as sheep and cows this year. Kate was thrilled to be a sheep and took great pride in practicing her 'baa' noises. Before the program Kate told me she was "going to sing like her mouth was on fire." And she most definitely did!

The picture may be blurry but it's still one of my favorites! This is CJ during her Sunday School Christmas program. She was dressed as a cow. She refused to wear the cow ears but insisted on plugging her own. She also took her shoes off at the front of the church and went shoe-less for the rest of the program. CJ is sweet, sassy and stubborn. I love every inch of her.

Three little girls all ready for Christmas!

Last night Kate and CJ were fighting. CJ was threatening to tell Santa that Kate was being a bad girl. Kate was so upset. And then a Christmas miracle was witnessed on Walnut Street. CJ carried over a notebook and asked me to help her write a letter to Santa. I assumed it was going to be something about Kate being naughty but instead she said this... Notice I didn't even bother to clean-up the mess around the notebook. That's how we roll. Here is a close-up in case you can't read the first photo... It's definitely not the typical Dear Santa letter but CJ isn't a typical kid. I had no idea she wants to be a superhero and of all the super powers she could choose she wants to have the power to stop rain? Whatever you want girl! Oh, and by the way, CJ does NOT have her own T.V.  No idea where that came from but it gave me a chuckle. One more thing.  When I asked how she wanted to sign the letter I offered up, "love" or ...

I found these two hiding behind a chair in the living room.  Kate was reading a book from her LeapPad and CJ was quietly, sweetly listening.  Sometimes these two can be the greatest of friends.

Like any other parent out there I sometimes feel overwhelmed. Thankfully I've had a few moments over the last week where I could step away from daily life and go for a run. Running is a must for me. I like life and people in general a whole lot more after I get outside and sweat. While you'd think my mind would wander to things other than my children (since I'm with them nearly 24/7) I cannot help but dwell on them. And it is these small moments away that I realize how much I love this life.

Kate pulled me out of the kitchen the other day and showed me her 'creation'. She took number cards and placed them on the floor. Notice the top row, 1 + 1 = 2. Well some of her 'creation' got a little messed up but the number that follows her math problems is a number that represents how many shape cards follow it. Again her work got messed up but if you look down at her 6 + 7 = 13 section you'll see a 17 card and 17 shape cards proceeding it. I was quite proud of her work, especially since she thought this up by herself. *The 17th card was unintentionally left out of the picture. But I promise you, it is there.*

This past Friday Natalie celebrated her two month birthday. We took her to a Union girls' high school basketball game and she partied it up with countless bottles...of milk. For fun here is a picture of CJ at 2 months. She looks a little bored. I looked for a Kate 2 month photo but I must not have it loaded to this computer.

Ho-ho-ho...

I decided to have a little fun with today's picture. I'm sure CJ will thank me when she's older...like about 15 years old or so.

He's taking out tacos and Christmas trees every chance he gets. He's the Yankees-loving-taco-chomping-wanna-be-lumber-jack-attorney.

Oh, I had to laugh at myself this morning. Of course I do that a lot anymore when all three girls are fighting or crying as we pile into our mini van. I usually either laugh or start singing that circus song where an endless string of clowns exit the little car. Anyway the past couple of years I have posted a picture a day on my blog counting down the days until Christmas. But this morning I realized it is already December and I hadn't done a single countdown photo much less remembered that I still own a blog.  After my realization I decided it was time to get things under control. So without further ado we begin our annual countdown to Christmas...a few days late.