341/365

12/7/13

John has been sick for the past few days and very fussy.   He wants to be held all the time.  Scott snuggled him for a while today and John was very happy about the whole thing.  Scott even got to take a little nap while holding him.  Thanks Scott!  Such a great daddy!

340/365

12/6/13

Snow Day!!  This was the best snow day ever.  It got me out of lots of things I didn't want to do.  They will probably all be rescheduled, but next time I can make sure they don't all fall on the same day.  And Scott got to go into work a few hours later than usual, so he could have breakfast with us.  And Anna and I even made a snow man together.  See more pics HERE.

339/365

12/5/13

I'm running out of novel breakfast ideas.  In fact my breakfast experimentation has deteriorated into different kinds of pancakes.  Here is the latest iteration: buttermilk corn cakes with blackberries.  The boys loved them.  Anna wouldn't touch them.  Three out of four.

338/365

12/4/13

This picture was never presented to me.  I just happened to see it in Anna's room and snuck a picture.  I need to see things like this so I can feel more charitable toward her during the less than wonderful parenting moments.  I like how she made us look so much alike.

337/365

12/3/13

John fell asleep looking so relaxed

336/365

12/2/13

Anna was really excited to get this little candle holder out and going.  The heat from the candles makes some angels spin up above it and ring some chimes as they go around.  Ours was a little mushed from the latest move, but still worked.  The kids love watching it.

335/365

12/1/13

Decorating the Christmas tree  Scott thought we had way too many ornaments on there, but they all kept disappearing into the tree anyway.  I love having the tree up and decorated.  Hooray December!

334/365

11/30/13

John has decided that the treadmill is his place.  He likes to crawl over and sit on it.  Scott thinks he looks a little like Kermit the frog when he gets up there.  His legs just sort of dangle and he can't always get down.  The Kermit effect is more pronounced if he's wearing green. Also he needs a banjo.  When I run/walk on the treadmill,  John is very concerned and wants to come over and climb on it.  I have to put him in the exersaucer now while I'm on the treadmill.  Maybe it reminds him of his treadmill at physical therapy. 

333/365

 11/29/13

Black Friday should be for pie, not shopping.

I say that, but we did go to Target around 3pm.  Still a mistake.

And we did quite a bit of Black Friday shopping online.  While eating pie.

332/365

11/28/13

Thanksgiving dinner!  We had some friends over and we had a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

331/365

11/27/13

John learned to pull up to standing on his own this week!

Hooray!

330/365

11/26/13

Anna earned a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for everyone by not throwing any tantrums after school for a whole week.  It was actually quite an accomplishment for her.  And we all had fun at Chuck E. Cheese.

329/365

325/365

Matthew earned his second stripe in karate tonight

Way to go Matthew!

328/365

11/24/13

Caramel corn!!  It makes everything better.

327/365

11/23/13

John reading some of his board books

326/365

11/22/13

Part of Anna's latest letter/invitation to her teacher, Ms. Taylor

Read more about her letter HERE.

325/365

11/21/13

Hanging out with my two little boys

324/365

11/20/13

Anna drew this picture for me

Anna got in trouble for taking her nail polish off with nail polish remover after we specifically told her she needed adult help to do that.  Then she went ahead and wiped my face lotion all over herself too.  I didn't even really yell at her or anything, but she got in trouble and was hurt and went to bed sad.  I felt bad, so I went in and talked to her about it...and told her some stories about things I did when I was little and that made her feel better.  After talking to her for a while I tucked her in and left.  

Fifteen minutes later she brought me this picture.  She didn't say anything, just gave it to me and went back to bed.  I think that is supposed to be Anna on the left, crying in her bed.  And me on the right.  Maybe it was a peace offering.  Maybe it was nothing.  But I think it was an Anna way of saying I love you.  I'm keeping the picture.

323/365

11/19/13

Like father, like son

They wore matching shirts today

322/365

11/18/13

Crockpot BBQ chicken was a big hit at dinner tonight

321/365

11/17/13

The space where the brisket used to be

This is good brisket!  The kids really like it.

320/365

11/16/13

Playing Twister

319/365

11/15/13

We made a baking soda and vinegar volcano today

318/365

11/14/13

 Matthew's wall track set up.  Matthew and I finally got it set up this week.  This was our second try.  The first time I put it too close to the other wall and one of the pieces wouldn't go on.  Second time we got it right.

317/365

11/13/13

This was Anna's "hide a turkey" project for school.

Her teacher sent home a picture of a turkey which you can color, cut out and decorate to disguise it from being eaten on Thanksgiving.  Matthew dressed his up as a hula dancer last year.  Anna wanted to make hers a tree.  She really wanted to cover up his legs too, making him not so much turkey as tree.  Scott and I lobbied hard for her to keep the legs, so you could at least tell it was a turkey.

316/365

11/12/13

I like to make breakfast for the kids and the three little boys will eat/try just about anything I make.  But Anna is very picky about the things I make for breakfast.  She wouldn't eat any of these chocolate chip pancakes I made, so I made her some teeny tiny ones.  She ate them on her tiny tea party plates.  She only took one bite, but at least it was something.

315/365

11/11/13

A fun trip to the zoo

See more pics HERE.

314/365

11/10/13

Matthew was reading John a story and Grant sidled up.  He wanted to hear the story too.

313/365

11/9/13

Playing at the bounce house place.

312/365

11/8/13

Waiting at the eye doctor

Matthew found a medical pamphlet to look at.  Thrilling.

311/365

 11/7/13

Pajama Story Time at the library

310/365

11/6/13

John was being extra fussy today.  I tried to take a picture of him fussing, which made him stop for a minute and look at the camera.

309/365

11/5/13

We played dangling donuts for a family activity tonight

308/365

11/4/13

This is Anna's Christmas list

It wasn't as informative as I had hoped

307/365

11/3/13

Anna was letting me practice doing things with her hair today.  She doesn't do that often.  I need the practice.

306/365

 11/2/13

We made make your own pita pizzas for dinner.  Matthew made an alien face on his.  And then he made an alien face with his own face.

305/365

11/1/13

I watched one of my friend's kid's this afternoon.  She is the same age as John.  John and Grant had so much fun playing with her.  She'll have to come back for another play date.

304/365

10/31/13

Happy Halloween!

Anna was Sofia the First, Matthew was Iron Man, I was Mary Poppins, John was Woody and Grant was Buzz Lightyear.  See more pics HERE.

303/365

10/30/13

Making Halloween sugar cookies!

302/365

10/29/13

We carved pumpkins today!  Here is Anna with her creation.

See more pics HERE.

301/365

10/28/13

John at physical therapy

Read more HERE.

300/365

10/27/13

Trying a new pancake recipe. It was good. Try to contain your excitement!

299/365

 10/26/13

Our church Halloween party at the park.  Luckily the weather was decent.  Read more HERE.

298/365

10/25/13

Matthew has been eager to play Beatles Rock Band on the Wii so today we finally got it out.

John really liked the music (he has good taste) and wanted to dance during all the songs.

297/365

10/24/13

It's red ribbon week at school and today was crazy hat day.  Matthew wore a paper Cardinals hat he made at school, Anna wore her cool sock monkey hat (made by Scott's cousin, Lisa!) and Grant wanted to wear a crazy monster hat too, even though he doesn't go to school.  Matthew's hat nearly blew away on the way to the bus, but it survived.  Anna's on the other hand, kept her very warm on a chilly day.  Hooray for crazy hats!

296/365

10/23/13

We had Jack-o-peppers for dinner.  Last year we made them with a ratatouille filling and baked in the oven.  They were good but the kids didn't really like the filling.  So this year I just filled them with spaghetti (the kids added some parmesan cheese) and didn't even bake the peppers.  The spaghetti was a big hit and the kids had fun with the pepper heads.  And I had a marinara sauce for the adults.  I sort of liked the ratatouille filled ones better.  Maybe when they are older.

295/365

10/22/13

Happy anniversary, Scott!  We've been married 8 years today.

294/365

10/21/13

Matthew doing his sit ups at karate.  He's been practicing at home with Scott so he can get better.

293/365

 10/20/13

Matthew made this sign to keep Grant out of his room at night.  Of course, the sign was ineffective, but I thought I would take a picture of his sign, for posterity.  It says "No Grants allod (allowed)" and has a crossed out picture of someone climbing onto a bunk bed, to indicate the undesirable behavior.  Maybe Matthew and Grant can be better brother friends when Grant is a little older.  Here's hoping.

292/365

10/19/13

I made chocolate chocolate chip muffins and they were a big hit.  John liked them, but boy, do they make a big mess.