Bubbles + Jets = More Bubbles

Christmas simplicity

 

With all of the over-the-top madness that surrounds the holiday (which I am all for, by the way), keeping the actual day simple was just what we needed. It was just us. And just a few presents. Even Santa got the shaft, with store-bought Oreos. But he better get used to it, cause I kinda liked the simplicity of the day.

Kate was sure the reindeer wanted celery this year.

Required top of the stairs photo.

Our only major bogey was not taking out the trash the day before Christmas. We started the day with 1 of 2 trash cans full. Good thing the trash man here comes twice a week!

Can you tell where we did our shopping this year?

We did join some friends for Christmas dinner. It was really nice and a perfect ending to a great day.

At least he admits it

An excerpt from Ethan's prayer tonight:

"Please bless we won't fight. Please bless we won't hit. Please bless we won't do anything we like."

That should about cover it.

Random Act of Adorableness

I have this foursome of Christmas embroidery on a wall in my kitchen. Obviously, they were either really expensive or made by someone really talented. But more likely, the frames were from the dollar store and then spray-painted and the embroidery was done by yours truly, free hand. Not something I planned on cherishing and passing down to future generations. So, when one fell off the wall this morning and shattered to pieces, I wasn't exactly heartbroken. I put it aside and thought that gorilla and I would come back for a quick fix. Turns out, my services will not be needed.
Never fear when Ethan and tape are near. 

No one will ever notice.

Final Attempt

Okay, I've tried blogging about this, but I wasn't making any sense. I know you're all thinking I've got way too much time on my hands, and well, you're probably right. BUT, 99% of the people who read my blog are smarter than I am, so I know there is someone out there who can help. I've been using MacJournal to blog for the past 2 years. Besides a few hiccups, I've loved it. Never had a problem with upload quality, at least. Then, about 2 weeks ago, everything changed and every post I've ever done using MacJournal all of a sudden decreased in resolution, making all of the pictures pixelated. You (I) can't tell in all of them, but most of them. Here's an example. I posted this picture about a month ago with no problems. Then, when everything started to go awry, this happened. Check it out. 

I've posted the same picture in this post using Blogger to compare. 

Like I said before, I can use Blogger from here on out, but I really want all of my old posts to be clear again so that one day, when I get ambitious, I can make a book and all of my posts will be in one place. 

Now do I make sense? I know most people use Blogger to blog, but there's got to be someone who doesn't. Who uses some program on the iPad? Phone? Anything? Anyone?

Fail

This morning when I woke up, I broke out the camera. It’s Drew’s 9-month birthday and I wanted a picture or two. As the day progressed, I snapped some pics at the park..

at home, during our annual turn-the-amazon-box-into-a-toy event...

(too bad the focus was on the box and not the moment...)

chore time...

Then I realized it was 7pm and not a picture of Drew was taken. So, I snapped a few. Turns out, all he wanted to do was watch the twins, too. They are pretty entertaining after all.

Anyway, as the pride was welling up inside for a job well done, I realized that December 19th is not Drew’s 9 month mark. It’s the twins’. His was yesterday. Not that having a picture of the day is a big deal or anything. It’s just kinda sad that I’ve already forgotten his birthday. This whole one day apart thing is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, isn’t it? Good thing life goes on.

For memory’s sake, at 9 months:

He FINALLY sleeps through the night! 12 hours last night. I hardly know what to do with myself.

The kid can eat! I fill his high chair tray with food and within minutes, it’s all gone. And he’s a pretty neat eater, too. I rarely use a bib.

Sometimes, I know he’s done eating when there’s a bite in his mouth and he starts crying. It’s like he didn’t realize he was finished till he put it in there, and now he doesn’t know what to do. I usually have to fish it out. Funny kid.

Still doesn’t crawl. He loves to sit and he’ll just rotate around. If all of his toys have gone missing, he’ll just watch the twins or play with the carpet. He’s pretty easy to please. The pediatrician said I should count my blessings.

This is his favorite toy. He’ll fill it up with those balls and then dump them out. Repeat for hours.

Speaking of the pediatrician, she also said that he appears to be very “social.” I thought that was funny, he’s 9 months old, how social can he be? But that’s what she said when she saw him interact with the twins. I didn’t let on to the fact that I had no idea what she was talking about.

His only trick is that he plays peek-a-boo with his blanket. Best part is that when he covers himself, his hands barely pass the top of his head. Ah, gets me every time.

When he wakes up from naps or in the morning, he’s pretty mellow. He gets progressively giddy until he goes down again. By the time I put him in his bed, he’s practically laughing.

And speaking of laughing, he fake-laughs when he sees us laughing. Kills me.*

*Okay, totally random note. You know how at the very very very VERY end of Toy Story 2, like after the credits, after the gag reel, Barbie comes on and does her “good bye now” thing and then says, “Are they gone? Good! Oh my gosh! My cheeks are killing me!” in that Minnesota accent? Yes, this is the twins’ favorite part. They won’t let me turn off the movie until they’ve seen it. (Okay, so it is pretty funny. I like it, too). Kate has been saying, “Oh my gosh! My cheeks are killing me!” all evening. She even does the accent. Believe it or not, my girl is getting a sense of humor. And I love it.

I'm a good person, kinda

We had family pictures taken about a month ago from a girl in our ward. I think she did a pretty great job considering what she had to work with.

The part about me being a good person is in reference to the fact that I used this picture as our Christmas card photo:

when I really wanted to use this one:

I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out why.

The “kinda” part is in reference to the part about me sending out fewer cards this year than I should have. Next year, no one gets cut. But then I’ll probably choose the one where I look the best. Just warning you.

I should have just sent these photos. These are the folks that people care about anyway.

Proper Etiquette: Eating a Banana

Step 1. Have an adult break the banana into bite-sized pieces. (This is only mildly important. If the pieces are too big, just leave a little on your face. No one will notice.)

Step 2. Reach for it, using only your forefinger and thumb.

Step 3: Shove it into your mouth. This part can get tricky, so I’ve listed a few techniques that seem to work most of the time.

I call this the the flat-hand.

If you think you might have lost it, put each finger in your mouth. You’re bound to find it.

If you do start to lose it, just poke it back in.

This technique works particularly well with bananas and other foods of the slimy variety. Put it in your fist and squeeze. It will pop right out.

Step 4: If one drops, claim innocent.

Step 5: Be sure to chew with your mouth closed.

Step 6: No need to be serious. Have a little fun with it.

Step 7: Look at your mom and say, “what now?”

I don't want Christmas to come!

All right. So I want it to come. I just don’t want ChristmasTIME to END. Three-year-olds are officially the best at Christmas. And come December 26th, there’s going to be some sadness.

Ward Christmas party

For the kids’ Christmas present this year, Greg’s mom wrapped up 25 Christmas books. Each night, one of them opens one,

we light the candle,

and read a story. Who would want this to end?

Each piece of confetti was individually placed. She’s nothing, if not meticulous.

And just to be sure we don’t go a day without sugar, a butterscotch candy must be eaten each morning. (I got this set up before the books came. Don’t think we’ll need to repeat this tradition next year.)