second base

smoooooooth operatooor.

day 6 & 7

day 6

Monday I worked.

The dudes got candy again

and then got to watch Polar Express.

They now have something new to worship.

Even Charlie sat transfixed for most of it.

day 7

today we were supposed to go

pick out kids to give to on the giving tree.

failed again.

but we did talk about if forEVER.

We'll be going on Thursday

because tomorrow Fred and I are

(hopefully) finishing this

the mantel that we ripped out in February.

I so wanted to say we took it out in June

so we wouldn't look quite so lazy and pathetic

but blogs don't lie.

dang.

we've got work to do so Santa

has a spot to hang our stockings.

day 5

day 5

we drove up to the mountain

singing Christmas carols all the way

ventured deep into the woods

the kids happily walked for hours

found the perfect tree

will and chris excitedly cut it down

we loaded it onto the top of our car.

and peacefully drove home.

yeah right.

we actually drove 5 minutes to Home Depot

were inside maybe 5 more minutes

paid $32.97

chucked the tree

on top of the minivan

and raced home.

our family tradition is fast, cheap

and over before anyone can complain.

hmmm.

i do love the tree.

we decorated when we got home

i like our house so much better decorated.

Will loved the snacks

and Char loved chucking the glass balls on the floor

and shattering them.

he was saying ba (ball)

(see the word forming on his lips?)

as he did it so how could we deny him?

the dude has to learn to talk.

anyway...my favorite little houses

from last year

and my favorite new decorations.

and our extremely top heavy finished tree.

last but not least

our example of why preschool teachers

go to heaven.

they take time out of their life

to put together stuff like this.

thank you Mrs. S and Mrs. W???

days 3 & 4

day 3

new Christmas books were the treat today

well, last Friday on the real 3rd day.

we talked about baby Jesus

and that Christmas is actually his birthday

and that is why we celebrate.

Will demanded a cake for the occasion.

Charlie ripped out half the pop-ups in the new book.

day 4

we were supposed to go get our tree on day 4

but that didn't happen.

(i've found that making all these plans

really just sets you up for failure every morning)

so the dudes got plain old candy in their boxes.

they were thrilled.

day 2

Today I worked.

The kids got candy in the advent calendar.

Cop out.
When I got home from work

I started on these little ditties

and can't wait to finish them.

Goodies for some of my favorite peeps.

Christmas geek out

I'm childishly excited for Christmas

and as usual, have a million things I want to do.

I'm pretty sure only 1/3rd of those will get done.

I stayed up crazy person late one night

to make the dudes an advent calendar

to maximize my chances of following through

with all my ridiculous ideas.

I would love to blog everyday

but seeing that I'm already almost 2 days behind

and haven't blogged in weeks

I'm pretty sure that won't happen either.

here's to giving it a try...

December day 1

This mess...

turned into this.

(yes, there are 2 number 22's

and no I didn't fix it.) this big day is our goal.

Will was pretty stoked about his loot

and they got right to work
obviously a snowman and

Happy Holidays sign, right?

seriously.

ridiculous.

token snow shots.

checkin out the scene

and the wimps who wouldn't brave the weather.

yes i know his enormous dragon hat is a bit much

but it's the only one I could get him to say he'd wear.

thank you "How to Train a Dragon."

i'm just going to be happy there is something on his head.

this dude loved the snow.

and did not love coming inside.

Will's best day.

Of course it involved Henny.

Hen came over to play for the afternoon

and Will was in paradise.

I was kinda there too.

A whole afternoon of crazy playing

and complete happiness

at my house.

normally an afternoon stuck inside

would drive me bonkers

but they had so. much. fun.

we made foam reindeers,

colored, cut, drew pictures, wrestled,

ran, shot hoops, woke char up and laughed.

and when liz came back I hoped she would

let him stay.

or at least come back next week.

we love you henny mcd.

bring your sister next time.

a Mariner and a golfer

These are the best and only pics I got (dead battery).

Halloween was great this year.

We stayed home which we've never done.

It must be his age but Will either has no idea that

more houses visited = more candy

or he just doesn't care.

He was excited to go and collect candy

but when we said we were done he could have cared less.

He has also been sleeping with his candy next to his head

and has not asked for or eaten even one piece since Sunday.

The kid is weird.

He even took a bag to school to share with his friends.

I never would have willingly shared my candy with anyone.

And Chris and I both would have stayed up all night

devouring that basket when we were kids.

Come to think of it,

we have devoured a bucket of candy since Sunday.

he didn't get it from my family...

Will is lucky to have a Noni (chris' mom) who is an amazing artist.

She must be rubbing off on him.

He is all about cutting, coloring, painting, etc. right now.

Today he showed me these and told me what each one was.

Don't worry, there were plenty of brown blobs

that were also labeled with horse, cat, etc.

but these were pretty right on, eh?

And yes, I did provide him with ten pretty colors

but his first move is always to mash them all up together.

filthy

a 2 bath kind of day.
he had so much yogurt up his nose

big blobs would flop in and out with every breathe.

carve that pumpkin

Pumpkin carving was serious business this year.

Lucy won for best scooper.

Henry for picking the most complicated design for megan to carve.

and Will for being most OCD.

See that gash above our gnarly dude's left eye?

Will sawed that thing the ENTIRE hour we carved.

Holidays get more fun every year!

what a difference a year makes...

sassy, opinionated, snuggly, sweet char.

can't get enough.

repeat

w: "mom, let's play hide and seek."

m: "ok, I'll hide first."

w: 1-2-free-4-5-6-8910.

w: "mom, where are you?"

he looks around but not too hard because really

he's scared to find me.

"mom, where are you?"

m: "wiiiiillll."

w: "mom, where are you?"

m: "wiiiiillll."

w: "mom, where are you?"

etc.

then he finds me behind the laundry hamper.

w: "ok, now it's my turn to hide!"

m: "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. ready or not, here I come!"

I walk around yelling "where is he, Char?"

opening and closing doors.

looking under tables.

etc.

until I "find" him...

behind the laundry hamper.

repeat.

he finds me behind his bedroom door.

I find him behind his bedroom door.

repeat.

he finds me under the crib.

I find him under the crib.

repeat.

he finds me behind the couch.

I find him behind the couch.

repeat.

repeat.

repeat.

This game will be replayed exactly

one million times in the next five years.

I think I am way to lazy to be a parent.

harvest fest

Will's school had the most perfect little fall party on Friday night.

It was like we went back in time to Geiger Elementary, 1987.

And it was carnival night.

the. best. night. of. the. year.

I'm sure every school did the same thing

but I can't remember anything MORE fun when I was a kid.

We did the cake walk, bounced in the bouncy house,

ate hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy,

fished over the water wall, shot hoops, tossed bean bags,

rode ponies, played with balloons, followed Char around,

knocked over milk bottles, pet rabbits and goats,

collected candy and laughed a lot.

Oh, and Will won the cake decorating contest

with his "HUGE spider cake!"

It was such a sweet, innocent, perfect little night.

Wright Park

Wright Park is kind of our new hang out.

It's close to the kid's schools

and is full of fun.

It was really creepy and trashy when I was growing up

so I am thrilled to see it in all it's glory.

This little dude thinks he is so rad.

The second I put those boots on him

he started strutting and hasn't stopped.

The Arboretum was the perfect "haunted" house

for our little chickens.

Char was obsessed with the giant rats.

We posed.

We fed the Koi.

Henny acted really scared.

Will was pretty scared.

And Char picked his nose.

Then we fed the ducks,

played on the playground,

collected chestnuts and acorns

and called it a day.

I am so thankful for our friends

and these amazing fall days.