Random Snippets

We had a busy but fabulous Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  I feel like I've been running around with my head cut off for months.  I assigned myself a huge project that made me a little insane as Christmas grew ever closer.  I have been a huge slacker when it comes to transferring family videos off of whatever medium they were originally recorded on, to a medium that is easily viewable.  So I decided to reform my ways, get up to date, and present my dearest hubby with a stack of freshly minted Family DVD's for Christmas.  I was five and a half years behind.  Fourteen hours of video and 8 DVD's later, I accomplished my mammoth task.  It took a LOT of time.  I even included slideshows of many many pictures - 2,947 to be exact.  And even better?  AFTER Christmas I burned another two hours on the 9th DVD so I am STILL up to date.  Which is awesome.  But it also means I've been slacking on almost every other area in my life, including blogging.  

What did I learn from burning sixteen hours of family fun?  

Our lives can be summed up as:

Jace's Birthday

Easter

Hubby's Birthday

Summer Fun (usually camping or some kind of water something or other)

Dane's Birthday

Diva's Birthday

Halloween

My Birthday (surprisingly recorded twice during the 5 1/2 year span)

Thanksgiving (only if we had company or went somewhere)

Peanut's Birthday

Erik's Birthday

Christmas

... and repeat.

Throw in some occasional random dancing and recently a soccer game or two (or more ...) and you can guess how our lives have been and will be for many years to come.

So, things I missed telling you while I was sorting through family festivities:

1) We survived four kids in soccer!  Hurrah!  Hurray!  But now we're thinking four kids in soccer was easier than one kid in wrestling ... we'll see if we survive this newest adventure!  A few soccer highlights:

 

 
(You do not need to watch all 1:09 minutes.  Just watch from second :21 (Erik is the second "header") to about second :42, after Erik's throw-in and missed kick. Unless you want to enjoy a Father's Commentary on a Soccer Son, using the wrong name of course ;-)  You can also hear Peanut yelling for his brother.

2) My baby is THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ack!  My cute little Peanut is growing up.  I need to snuggle a baby so I don't decide I need my own.  Maybe it's time for a kitten ...

3) I have a teenager now.  Erik is officially 13.  Yikes.

4) Dane's Christmas List:

hamster
snake
Chinese Water Dragon baby
turtle
crab
chameleon
baby gorilla
two headed lizard
dog
cat
lizard with no legs but not a snake
crocodile biting turtle

basilisk
rabbit
toy horns
grabber
pointer
bubblegum
money

(The first six pets have been a constant plea.  When he realized I was writing them down he started getting a little creative.  I love how he ends his exotic list with bubblegum and money.  Unfortunately, no live animals greeted him on Christmas morning.  But he did get some bubblegum!)

 

5) I FINISHED THE STOCKINGS!!  Many eons ago, when I was pregnant with Jace, I made lovely matching stockings for my family.  They were cute.  I even sewed an extra one for the not-yet-on-the-horizon baby #3.  When Diva arrived I simply decorated her stocking in the same manner as the other stockings.  Then Dane arrived.  Poor, poor stockingless Dane.  I finally managed to sew a matching stocking for him, but it remained blank for many years.  Then Peanut was born.  Poor, poor stockingless Peanut.  He didn't even GET a stocking sewn for him, but used whatever we had on hand.  But finally!  Finally!  This year Dane got his stocking decorated, Peanut got a stocking sewn, and then, miracle of miracles, Peanut got his newly sewn stocking decorated.  Yes, I have had more than three children for 5 1/2 years.  And yes, my stockings finally show it.  In other words, it has taken me over five years to accomplish a fraction of what my much-younger-less-child-encumbered self did in a few weeks.  I would show you a picture, but horror of horrors, you would see our REAL NAMES.  Perhaps I'll facebook it.

6) We made gingerbread ... er ... I mean graham cracker houses.  Well, we can't really call them "houses".  Shall we say "Creations With Graham Crackers and Royal Icing and Lots of Candy"?

7) My husband greeted the world on Christmas Eve with our annual Christmas Blog.  If you haven't read it, you need to.  He doesn't let me read it until he's done writing it and I haven't laughed that hard all year.  If you missed the deluge of emails and facebook statuses alerting our friends that it was available for viewing, let me know and I'll send you the web address.  It's uses our REAL NAMES (shocker!) but he justifies it by making it public only two weeks every year, so you have a few more days to enjoy it ... and READER BEWARE!  He is already planning a music video for next year.  Oh me oh my.

All Hallow's Eve

This blog is a year old!  Hurrah!!!!!!!  The Granna Halloween Fairy blessed our house again with many fabulous costumes.  Peanut started out the day in a Lion costume, previously worn by three year old Erik, three year old Jace, and three year old Dane.  But it didn't last long ....

Erik was once again something in a box, this time a robot!!!  Thanks Halloween Fairy, for the cool arms and legs.  Diva wanted to be a Ghost this year.  She was originally thinking "Sheet With Holes" Ghost, but we convinced her to be a little more creative.  

 Dane was a Pirate (Argh, ye Mateys!) and Peanut settled on being Yoda. 

Jace wanted to be Harry Potter, and finally decided on Harry Potter playing Quidditch because it meant he got a broom ... 

All of the store-bought wands were disappointing, so he made one with his Dad.  We think it turned out pretty cool.

We did our Trick or Treating this year on Friday night at our Church and spent a quiet Sunday at home.  But next year we hit the pavement again ...

Complete with Quidditch Goggles.  And of course no socks.

It Happened One Night

Once upon a time there was a two year old with floppy hair.  It was adorable floppy hair.  One day the Mother realized the floppy hair was getting a little too floppy, and admitted to her husband the Father it needed a trim.  This Father, waiting until his wife was away from the house for an evening, decided to take matters into his own hands and cut the floppy hair with scissors.  But since cutting floppy hair on wiggly children was his wife's usual job, he was unprepared for the wiggliness of this particular child.  The floppy hair was butchered.  The Father, muttering "Your Mother is going to kill me" (as witnessed by several small bystanders), tried to fix the formerly floppy hair by trimming it short with clippers.  Really short.  Much-much-less-than-his-wife-would-have-short.  Then he zeroed in on the poor child's slightly older brother.  When the Mother got home, the children were in bed.  "I bathed them!" the Father said.  Startled, the Mother mulled over this surprising statement.  Usually the Father doesn't think of things like that.  Hmmm.... Trying to delay the inevitable, he even distracted her so she didn't check her Facebook, where he had posted pictures of the butchered hair (yes, the World Wide Web knew before Mother did.)  Lying in bed that night, the Mother had an epiphany - "You cut their hair!" she exclaimed.  She knew it was the
One Reason he would have bathed her two little boys.  Sure enough, upon entering their bedroom, she saw the poor little shorn heads. 


Sniff.

I can never leave the house again.

Unless I take the clippers with me.

My Full Quiver

Across the street from our house is a large grassy path that meanders through soybean and corn fields.  It is the perfect place for bike rides, Sunday walks, and impromptu photo shoots.

 

Run Away!  She might take more pictures!!

Soccer Insanity

With four kids in soccer this season, life is pretty crazy!  We had our first soccer game last Saturday starring Diva!!!  I am so proud she is giving something so mundane as sports a try.  I told her to imagine the soccer ball as an annoying brother ...

The whole crew was there to support our favorite 7 year old.  Despite a few "back seat kickers" and another team's cupcakes within sight but out of reach, everyone did fairly well.  Go Diva!

First Day of School

A 7th grader, 5th grader, 2nd grader, and Kindergartener!

First Bus Stop Drop Off: 

Oh the trial of having a mother take pictures

Second Bus Stop Drop Off:

I don't think he's excited at all ...

 

Yes, his feet are bare.  So sue me.

See, mine are too.  Like mother like son.

Dane and Dreadlocks

A few pre-move pictures that I couldn't ignore!  First and most importantly, Dane turned FIVE!!!!  Watch out world, Kindergarten here we come!!!

He requested the marshmallow laden cake.  Of course.  And was gifted by a loving Granna a new costume to replace the quickly tattering dragon ninja costume, complete with movie.  His favorite thing to watch is Jack-Jack Attack on the Incredibles DVD.  

He also received (from the same source) a Costco sized barrel of Nestle Quik, per his request.  Please notice the remains of a mustache.  

My Dane is a force to be reckoned with!  I think next year I will give long complicated odes to my children on their birthdays ...  we'll see if it happens ...

In other news, just as important in certain eyes, Diva had a new summer hairstyle.  She loved it.  I loved it because I didn't have to look at straggly summer unbrushed hair for an entire week at a time.  

Her innocent face - hmm, I wonder what she's just done ...

Beware, more posts to come ...

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