From Where I Sit

This is the view I have many afternoons after our ride home from Preschool. On this day I didn't have Lukie with me so I just sat in the car with them, listening to music and soaking in the truth of how blessed I am. (If those of you who know my house are thinking I was also stalling on having to carry both sleepy kids, our coats, and all of our bags, up our abundace of stairs... you would be right about that too.)

Gettin' Snippy With It

While we are passing out 'Thanks'. I think another round of applause needs to go out to our Omi who generously donates her cosmotology skills to give all the kiddos free hair cuts every so often. (Probably more often than Omi's blood pressure would like.) We know it is a very challenging endeavor and we appreciate her so much!

And what better way to celebrate a successful, no-blood-shed(heck, no TEARS shed either!) haircut than by helping yourself to a box of hard, dried up, organic raisins.

Super Hubby To the Rescue

I really must share with you one of the things my sweet husband took it upon himself to do for us this weekend. Surely you remember the messes left behind when we escaped to Build-A-Bear in my last post. (Hopefully it didn't cause too many nightmares for you.)

Well, that shoe pile continued growing right out of that closet, until it was no longer possible to even shove the door closed. So my dear Hubby took matters into his own hands and tackled that beast of a closet. My friends, I present to you....

BEFORE...

...and AFTER! (Look!! You can see the floor!)

(The shelves were a bonus.)

Now, let's all give Chris the round of applause he deserves for stepping up to a challenge (and keep our fingers crossed that we can keep it this way, for at least another week.) Thank you my dear!

Just Grin and Bear It

By the end of last week we all had a little cabin fever. Between the 'Snow Day' (ahem) and Lukie being sick, I had been in the house for too long and was ready to get out and spend some fun time with my two eldest. It was decided that Build-A-Bear would be our destination of choice.

So even though Maya had been having fun with water colors...

...and Jonah had been busying himself making upside-down "J"s out of his cereal...

...we decided to leave this fussy baby, with his finger-sucking...

...and blankie-clutching grumpiness, with our Omi. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Thank Heaven for Grandparents!"

A few other things that were gladly left behind;

this mess,this mess,and this mess. (It looks like the shoes are almost growing out of that closet. Scary!)

After carfefully making our selections, we did a little stuffing...

(here is Maya giving her baby a heart)

... some bathing and some brushing...

... and of course, some dressing. (You know I had to give Maya a limit on the number of accessories.)

So, without further ado, I present to you:

Princess Sweet Tart!

and Puffy Wuffy! (a.k.a. Spida-may-un, da Supa Hee-woe)

We took our new friends for a spin on the carousel.

And what mall trip would be complete without a NASCAR victory?

"Just a few more quarters? Pleeeease??"

Yup, a super fun time was had by all!

Snow Teaser

I LOVE living in Nashville. It's a beautiful, wonderful place. There are so many reasons I am thankful to be raising my family here. One of those reasons, however, is NOT because of the abundance of fluffy, fresh snow to play in all winter. It's been plenty cold, off and on, but there really hasn't been any decent snowman-making snow. Still, we did recently have a "snow day" that cancelled pre-school. There was less than an inch at our house, all of which was melted by Noon, of course. With minimal time to get geared up for snow play, we scooted out in pajamas to enjoy it while it lasted.

Looking for more of that wonderous white stuff.
Showing Woody the snow. "Look closely Woody, veeeeery clooooosely."

Maya never wastes an opportunity to accessorize...

Murphy was also left unimpressed by this, so called, "Snow Day".

And our little super snacker? He was just busy doin' his thang!

A Delightful Dose of Daddy's Day

We recently got to enjoy the excitement of a day with Daddy at preschool. This is the day of the school year the kids probably look forward to the most. There is just something so sweet, so intriguing, exciting about having your Daddy visit you at school. Of course, I am there with them for pick up and drop off everyday that they are there (3 times a week) and also for every party, function or meeting available (I LOVE volunteering at their school) but, alas, "Your Mommy's here!" just doesn't quite seem to hold the same excitement for them. The other day when I picked half-asleep Jonah up he suddenly whined, loudly, "But I wanted somebody ELSE to pick me up!" Nice. Thanks buddy. I love you too. I know my kids love me. I really do . But I would just like to remind them that Mommy IS keeping notes. Here we are at the corn bin. My fellow Mommy helper, Kim, and I gloated a little at how it appeared we had been given the easiest volunteer gig.
They say appearances can be deceiving. They are right.
We left about an hour after all the other volunteers. After every toy was dug out of the corn, each stray kernel was swept and everything else bagged and stored. There was no further gloating.

But there was shaving! Only a few pints of blood were lost. Just kidding. Those are bladeless razors. Although Chris said it was mentally challenging to sit still and allow a 3 and 5 year old to "shave" your face.

Daddy Love.

The End.

Everyday Matters

This is the current, family favorite, daily activity. Everyone gets in on it. Lukie climbs into Jonah's dump truck (something Jonah did when he was the same age) and Maya and Jonah take him on a joy ride all around the house while Chris and I join in with corresponding sound effects. Luke especially loves the CRASH sound when they run into something and beep-beep-beep sound I make when we're backing him up. Cracks him up every time.

January brings one of the kids' favorite celebrations: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our GIGI!!!

Sweet Jonah practicing his tackles. He is SO active and spends most of his days either running somewhere or rolling around on the floor.

Maya and Sissy sculpting some playdough pastries.

My little Super Snacker. He has made himself very familiar with the pantry lately and helps himself to his favorties; raisins and granola bars.

Isn't he such a cutie patootie?!? Don't you just want to scoop him up and smooch all over those sweet cheeks? Don't worry, I did.

Another birthday we celebrated was Jonah's sweet teacher. I am the Room Mom for his class and have the most wonderfully helpful group of fellow mommies there. They all jumped in to help me throw her a great party.

Lukie loved being at the party too. He was thrilled to explore the fun filled classroom, as long as Mommy didn't venture too far away.

On some most days we have moments when a we all need a little break, from activities and each other. This was their idea when I told them to "just stay away from each other".

And while we are on the subject of everyday things, I just have to tell you that, while I do not wish away even one minute of my children's childhoods, I am looking forward to the day when all of my toilet paper rolls (and bathroom walls) no longer look like this.