En Guard

Gma and Gdad came for a Christmas celebration. We all had fun but we were all impressed with Gma's tips on how to use the Plasma Car they bought the kids. See for yourself.

We were also proud to present Jack with his first Light Sabre (proudly introduced to us from Major & Dash, our neighbors). The boys had a one track mind the entire time we spent together. Sword fighting up and down the stairs, outside, in the playroom. If one of them dropped it, the other would pick it up and give it back so they could continue.

Check out Jack's Form. Nicely done...

En Guard!

Don't even talk to me about environment. This is God's work.

Christmas Action

Merry Christmas!

We had a fun one this year. Even though poor Anderson has been throwing up and not feeling well. :( He seemed to ralley on Christmas morning. Our day was full of activity as you will see.

This was the only quiet moment, right before they ran downstairs....

Here is one happy girl who reeeally wanted Julie's Bed.

Santa is amazing. She was so so happy.

Between that and her new DS, she was occupied allll day long.

Let me introduce to you, by far, the busiest person in the house!

He cleaned and then cleaned and then he cooked and then he cleaned some more.

Fixed some plumbing, put all the batteries in, ran all the errands... Fun, fun...

Here is the wild man - DUCK (seriously)!

He got himself a real "dub dope" (telescope) finally. He loves it! Way better than all the paper ones he makes constantly....

He may be the first in the family to ride a bike, too! Cutie patooty.

Here is our sweetie pie, loving on "the doll she has always wanted."

Daddy helped Ainsley learn her new PetShop DS game and now she is hooked.
Now we're to the most entertaining moment of all!! Mom and Kenneth bought us Wii Dance Dance Revolution! Wooo, hoo!

Play Boogie Nights in your head.....

Here are the hard workers, taking a temporary break. Okay, now get up! Today Ken and Stan are going to install a toilet and under cabinet lighting. Mom, myself and the girls are going to watch the Texas Ballet perform Nutcracker. I think everyone is okay with that arrangement.

Big Day

Today the girls had two recitals - violin and piano. They both did fantastic, of COURSE. ;) I am always moved when I watch them do their pieces. I am personally impressed with how well they are doing considering how young they are. It may be lucky for them that I have low standards, they could do almost anything and I get giddy with excitement watching them. But, I have watched them both progress over the last years. We are really proud of them. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to expose them to music. Cute stuff. Anderson was such a GOOD BOY, too. I'm so unworthy of these cute children, I can't stand it.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Santa Trip

I kept the kids home from school and we had a relaxed Christmastime Day, with no lines, etc. This is the first year no one cried on Santa's Lap! Seriously, 7 years later... It was a fun time.

Incidentally, none of them told Santa what they want. This year Ainsley wants everything to be a surprise. Lexi made a list of about 10 things, some pretty expensive. Fortunately, Santa doesn't worry about money as much as Mom and Dad does [grimace]. She decided NOT to give Santa the list, though and she drew him a picture instead.

So, who knows what Santa will bring....?? I've got $10 that says Lincoln gets a lump of coal..... Anyway, here are my cuties.

Chinese Pilgrims

Our lovely friend Nadine sent the girls and boy adorable Chinese dresses and a boy Chinese outfit from Hong Kong. The girls swooned when we opened the box from her. They did NOT want to wear them until we had something fancy to do. So, they deemed Thanksgiving fancy and they waited for the big day. They also wore my Thanksgiving tokens I bought them for fun. Here is a picture my next door neighbor took! :)

He's Famous!

So, our super fantabulous Dog Trainer came over for an intervention. She helped us find him, get ready for him and was waiting for the right time to kick off the training. I put out an S.O.S. to her and she was there straight away. It was pretty amazing to see what ONE session did for little Lincoln. She has a blog about the dogs she trains and Lincoln made the headlines! :) http://completedog.blogspot.com/

Monsieur Uncle Michael

Uncle Michael came by for a visit! He played with the kids all morning, got them ready for school and rode in the back with them to school. They were being very silly with him as he is extremely silly and fun with them. They were giddy that he was here. The girls decided to make him a "hat" out of napkins. They were cracking up.

Uncle Michael said, "A Hat? What is this, French? All I know about France is Oh la poo poo and I surrender!"

But, you're just so cute when you are mad.

I started the kids on a gum habit. When the kids are hungry and want a snack, the world must stop b/c of their starvation. So, considering their less than perfect teeth brushing skills and the need to buy time, I've started purchasing gum in large quantities. So, today on the way home, Lexi lost a pack of gum in the car. She would not look around for it when I was asking her to, so I told her "you may not come in the house until you find the gum. I do NOT want a lost package of gum in the car!"

After a minute, she came inside... "Where was it?" I asked. "It was under my seat!" Then she stomped upstairs.

When Lexi is mad, she often write notes to tell me how she feels. So, one by one, she brought me 8 pieces of paper describing her state.

1. 'This is the worst day of my life and I mean it!' lots of sad faces
2. 'Would you describe today? Super Bad'
3. "Riddles. What do you call a bad day? A worst day. What do you call today? History.'
4. 'How does a crane feel when someone steals his talent? Super super super super mad'
5. 'Not giving me orbit gum STINKS'
6. 'Today is called: turn that smile upside down'
7. 'Today stinks.' big sad face.
8. 'Is what today feels like.' Connected cursive L's spiraling down the page from one corner to the other.

By the time I was done reading them, we were both laughing. Then she apologized to me and Ainsley for accusing us of losing the gum. Lil' buggle, she is such a sweetheart. Who gets MAD.

Chase

I wish I had the sound for this video... Lincoln chases the kids and never seems to tire. The kids love on him constantly. It is wonderful having a dog again. I was dreading all the work that comes with it before he arrived. But, now I wish we had done it earlier. We're still working on potty training. He is stinky (can't groom, yet). He "hugs" every leg and toy he gets and whines a bunch. But he is CUTE, makes you smile, fun to congratulate and a general joy to have around. Dogs rule, it's worth all the effort and all the smells.

Sometimes you feel like a nut

Everyone hear of his plans? First day in office, he will sign an Executive Order that reverses a ban on funding abortions world wide. If only you could have kept that $50 to buy some groceries... Grocery's or Abortions in South America... Decisions, decisions.

In addition, he plans to sign another order to fire up some embryo killing by allowing embryonic stem cell research. Stem cell research is fine, but embryonic is messed up. Let's see what else smooth talker will do. Love watching people's eyes glaze over when he speaks. When will people wake up?

Welcome Home

Lincoln, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Lincoln!

The kids are in love.

Sweet nothings

Anderson and I were huggling before bed. I sang him the song, "I love you, a bushel and a peck. A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck." He laughed and smiled and said, "I lov too Mommy." Then, just playing with him, I said, "why don't you sing me a song." He smiled big and then got serious and thought, then he broke out with this:

"Yaaa, Mooo, Lu garble garble, Baseballllll." He smiled and was very proud of his song.

He is really into pirates right now. And every kind of ball.

"Mom, can we cut my hair to my ears?"

[Mom] Okay.

[Ainsley] But, pleeease, take a picture of my hair first! About 14 reminders...

She was so excited. We fixed it cute today - just put barrettes to keep the front out of her face at school. She was a cutie pie. She couldn't wait to show the kids at school.

"I can't wait to go to schooooool. The kids are going to think I'm a New Kid!"

Birthday Wishes

I wish I could stop time. Happy Birthday, Alexandra... My little baby girl is 7. So, here are her birthday wishes.

"Now that I'm 7, you can't pick out my clothes. Or tell me if they match." HELLO, I haven't picked out her clothes since she was 2!!! But, fine, now I have to keep my plentiful opinions to myself. She has no idea what she is asking of me.

"I want poached eggs, bacon and orange juice for breakfast. Peanut Butter Crackers for lunch. And.... Lentil Soup for dinner! NO MEAT!" This meat thing is soo hard. She told me "the only thing meat is good in is tacos!"

I want my hair only parted in the middle.

At school today she is baking bread. The birthday person gets to serve the rest of the class. She was really looking forward to it. She is having a spa birthday party tomorrow and she is going nuts with anticipation.

We finally got her a bicycle that fits her. She outgrew hers a while back... She was happy.

Happy birthday little Lexi-loo. We love you so much.

Joke & a good idea

At dinner the other night,
[Lexi] If you saw a pig that was a pirate, what would it be wearing?
[Mom] What?
[Lexi] A Pig Leg. Get it???

Last night before bed.
[Ainsley] Mom, I've decided to start taking a nap... That way, I can start staying up late.

[Mom] Anderson, how old are you?
[Anderson] Tooooo and a haaf.

Daredevils

We went to the Texas State Fair last Friday. Successfully clogged our arteries and stayed almost 6 hours! A record for sure... This year we watched a Dare Devil show. The kids got a kick out of it. So did Stan. I think it may have inspired the kids to become daredevils!

Good Tips. This warning was for the Mirror Maze...?? Who knew?!

Stan's Favorite Attraction.

Anderson LOVED the rides! He was so happy to finally get to ride stuff. He smiled and laughed the entire time until he fell asleep on our shoulder.

Ainsley decided the Teacup was waay too scary. Not so much into being a daredevil.

Anderson feeling good after the wild and woolly teacup ride!

The Daredevil show that gave everyone such inspiration!


Lexi's daredevil stunt was to be first to volunteer to be a "tight rope walker" in the backyard Circus show. She was very confident and cute.

Ainsley and Lexi decided to go wild and do some rock climbing!

Pinkie Power

The Pinkies had their first game and they lost 10 to 0. Lexi, did you have fun playing? "Mom, I had sooo much fun. But my legs got so tired." She really loves playing.

Her second game, she ended up playing against one of her best friends, Catherine. The girls kept talking, smiling and playing. Lexi fell and hurt her knee and cried. Catherine ran over to our side and kept asking if she is okay. Sooo sweet.

For those of you who have seen me watch a Cowboys game... Or Sooners game... That's pretty much how I am watching my little ones play soccer. I should really just let Stan take them, but it's so much fun.