February's not a great month anyway

At least that's my excuse for not posting a single thing the whole month of February.  I have a lot of other excuses too, like laziness, but I'll spare you.  Here's a recap of our February.

We had a western dress up day at school.  And I actually got my kids to look semi-western.  Huston even wore boots!  Though he kept expressing over and over that he didn't want to wear "the hat."  Arden did wear "the hat" and the boots too.  Somehow we managed to miss the rodeo this year (I'm not the biggest fan), but the kids did get to go to the Stock Show with Mimi and Grandpa. 

 

Here's a random picture from February 7th, when the weather was nice and I had what I thought was the awesome idea to set up these two tents in our backyard connected by a tunnel.  I thought the kids would have a blast and would be entertained for hours and I would get so much housework done and it would be a win win.  Yeah...not so much.  Instead I spent 15 minutes setting everything up and hauling all their toys out there, only to have them be bored with it in 5 minutes.  I insisted they stay outside for at least 20 minutes because of all the trouble I had gone to, which lead to Arden crying at the back door, "Mommmmy, I just want to come inside now!  When can I come in?!"  Not the best day.

Here are the kids at school the day before Valentine's day, dressed for their Valentine's parties.  The loved passing out and getting candy from their friends.  For days afterwards, Arden would call from her bedroom, "Can I look at my Valentine's candy?" and then she would dump out her bag and sort through all of her treats and treasures.

So glad I took their pictures in front of a dead bush, instead of one of the beautiful trees in the background, by the way.

I popped down to Huston's class for his party while my class was having their nap.  Can I just say that I am still so in love with the fact that he finally wears these adorable little hats that they make?  For so long he refused to wear anything on his head, and now he happily wears his party gear.  It makes me so happy!  How cute does he look with his little popsicle stick full of glue making a Valentine?!

We had a special little Valentine's dinner at home on Valentine's day.  I set the table and hung up some hearts that Huston and Arden made at school for decorations.  Then I asked Huston to write our names on some red heart cut outs and put them on the plates.  He had so much fun doing that, that he decided to also draw his own hearts and cut them out and write everyone's first initial on them.  Then Arden woke up from her nap and was sad that she didn't get to help decorate, so she put stickers on some pink hearts and put them on everyone's plates.  Huston had so much fun with the whole process, that the very next day he started working on some eggs with our names for our Easter dinner, he said. 

We had a really fun little candlelit dinner and I could leave you with that perfect image and leave out the part about how I made a pasta dish with cream cheese in it, even though I know Clarke doesn't like cream cheese, thinking you wouldn't be able to taste it, and then I tasted it and you totally could taste it, so he ended up having leftovers for our "special" Valentine's dinner, but that wouldn't be honest, would it?  Nothing says "I love you" like cooking food you know your spouse doesn't like.

Here's a funny "Who's on First?" conversation between Huston and Arden a few days ago to end this little recap on high note:

Arden to Huston: "This candy is mines."
Huston: "No, Arden, it's not mines it's mine."
Arden: "It's not yours, it's mines."
Huston: "But Arden, you don't say 'it's mines' you say 'it's mine."
Arden: "Mommy, is this candy mines?"

January

Well, hello there.  Please excuse my January hibernation and consider this my attempt to peek out from my cave of blankets and hot coffee.

Yesterday I got to hold my sweet nephew, Austin, for the first time.  Huston and Arden were so excited to meet him for the first time, as they hadn't been allowed back in the NICU while he was in the hospital.  He is the CUTEST little thing and I'm so glad I get to be his aunt.  We're so thankful to God for the healing work he has already done in little Austin's life and know He has big plans for him.

Since the weather was actually beautiful yesterday, the kids and I ate a snack in the backyard and played for a long time.  Please excuse the trashy look of our back porch in these pictures.  I would say it doesn't normally look like that, but I would be lying.

Huston amused himself by coming up with superhero costumes.  At the end of last year he started playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance with Daddy on the Xbox, and now he loves playing with his Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Dr. Strange action figures.

When Arden got up from her non-nap to come outside with us, she informed me her name was "Haircut Fananny" (rhymes with 'nanny').  She gave me haircuts with tweezers and blow dried my hair with the bubble gun.  Then she scooped up some mud, which she said was dog food, and fed it to her dogs (who of course live on her feet, where all her imaginary friends live).

After we played I said, "Arden, it's time to come inside and wash your feet."
She said, "You mean Haircut Fananny."
I said, "Haircut Fananny, it's time to wash your feet."
She said, "You mean, my dogs."
So I had to revise, "Haircut Fananny, it's time to wash your dogs."

She is such a crack-up with her character names lately.  A few weeks ago, she wanted me to alternately call her, "Arliss," "Garla," and "Onion."  One day she was "Baby Reindeer" and "Rudolph."

There was a lot of pretending about hospitals while Baby Austin was in the hospital, and Arden would be "Nurse Arden" and Huston's action figures would fly in to visit the babies.

Her imaginary friends, Baby Junior and Mom, are still big players in her life.  She refers to them constantly in everyday conversation.  The above picture is of her brushing Baby Junior's hair with my silicone basting brush.  One day I got her little toy doll house out with all the little people and furniture that go in it.  I heard her and Huston playing with it and turned the corner, expecting to see the toy people inside the doll house.  Instead, I saw her foot propped right up on the second floor because, as she said, "This is Baby Junior's house."  Just a few minutes ago I walked into her room to find her little blankie wrapped around her foot and when I asked her what was going on she said, "Baby Little Blankie just wants his mom."  I said, "Who's his mom?" and of course the answer was "Baby Junior."

Huston's other big interest, besides action figures and drawing (which he does all day long), has been building.  He built constantly with his magna-tiles after we gave him those for his birthday, and still does.  They are one of the best purchases we've ever made for him!  At Christmas he got Lincoln Logs from Mimi and Grandpa, and CitiBlocs from us.  This week while we were running errands he wanted to take the instruction manual from his Lincoln Logs along with us so he could learn how to build the buildings.  He studied it the whole time we were out, and came home and built a really complicated cabin!

The CitiBlocs are a bit trickier because they fall over so easily, but Huston is determined and will rebuild and rebuild until he gets it to work, even if there are a few tears of frustration along the way.  This week Clarke has been helping him build this city, a few buildings at a time, every night.  Aren't they so cute with their heads together, studying the picture to make their city?

Here's a quick brain dump of Huston-related things:

He pulls his pants up constantly and it looks ridiculous and drives me crazy.  He just can't leave them on his hips, he thinks they need to be up to his armpits.  People are going to think I don't buy him the right size pants.

This was probably last month, but we were going to Ridgmar Mall, and he asked, "Why does it have two malls in it?" I was trying to figure out what he meant, like maybe he meant why do we go to two different malls, but he repeated, "No, why is it just called Ridge Mall Mall?"  I cracked up, because I knew he'd been saying it kind of funny all this time, but never knew that's what he'd been saying.

A few days later I was making grilled cheese and he asked, "Why does it have a girl in it?"  This one made sense, as he pronounces it, "gurled cheese."

He says "destroyed-ed" for "destroyed" and it cracks us up.  "Daddy, they destroyed-ed that building!"

He's a deep thinker who always asks questions about things.  He even asked one day, "Why did God make bad people?"  

He's most likely to be found hunched over a drawing on the floor with his markers or in his room pretending with his action figures.

Arden continues to be a book-lover, as she has been since birth, practically.  She's most likely to be found in her bedroom with her door shut, reading on her bed.  She has to ask before every nap and bedtime, "Can I weed in my bed?" and usually has to be told to put her books down before she'll fall asleep.  She can stay up until 10 reading sometimes!

She says, "I fink" for "I think" and all her r's sound like w's.  "Mommy, I weely weely want to weed my books." 

She only takes naps if I go into her room after she's read for awhile and pat her back.  I like those sweet times of putting my baby to sleep.

Here's a few snapshots from our playtime at the park last weekend on another good weather day.  Here's hoping for more spring weather soon!

Christmas Recap 2012

So, I've let the blog slide lately and now I'm overwhelmed with all the things I need to write about and remember to post.  I thought I'd start with a quick recap of the fun times we had this December and some favorite moments, and then maybe I'll get around to catching up on some other posts.

My friends and I kicked off the season with our second annual "Favorite Things" party.  It started as a Christmas craft day a few years ago, but then we all had a gaggle of kids and decided it would be more fun and less stressful to just give each other gifts!

We followed that up with a cookie decorating party with our kiddos.  It was a blast!  Huston and Arden had so much fun icing and decorating their cookies (and licking the icing off the knife and dipping it back into the communal icing bowl multiple times, and licking the icing off their fingers, and eating multiple cookies right before dinner time).  I mean, what's not to love about that? 

As with last year, I loved dressing Arden in her little Christmas outfits every day.  I just adored this Santa dress, that she only wore once.  Unfortunately, I only got this goofy looking picture of her in it!

Once on Christmas break, the kids and I had our own cookie decorating day and this time they got to help with rolling out the dough and baking them before we iced.  They had more fun than I would have ever imagined and it was worth the giant mess in my kitchen!  

We did Christmas at my parents' house the Sunday before Christmas day.  Huston and Arden LOVE playing with their cousins.  Arden was most excited about her four new Olivia books (she literally shrieked when she opened them) and Huston was over-the-moon for his new Ghost Rider action figure.  It's a post for another day how he came to love a dude with a flaming skull head...

We had a great time at the Christmas Eve service at church.  The kids were very well behaved and I get choked up every year singing Christmas songs while I look at their sweet faces.  

Christmas morning at our house!  Santa came and the kids were so excited!

I take the worst Christmas pictures, but here are a few with the blinding flash on (as you can tell by the kids covering their eyes in the picture above!)

Huston got more action figures (Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, and Iron Man), a remote control truck from Santa, Citi Blocks (which he has yet to play with), and several other things.  Arden was probably most excited to unwrap two more Olivia books, including a new one we had never read, and a Leap Frog Tag Reader, which she has been loving.  

After unwrapping presents and having breakfast, we headed to Mimi and Grandpa's house.  The kids unwrapped even MORE presents, we had a great time hanging out with everyone (including my parents), and we even got to see it SNOW ON CHRISTMAS!  It was pretty magical.

A few favorite things in December:

Our annual tradition of unwrapping a Christmas book every night until Christmas.  Daddy read the books this year and the kids had fun taking turns unwrapping them every night.

Although I don't have a picture of it, probably my favorite thing we did this year was our Advent Devotional.  It was our second year to do it, after Ashlee and I hosted the ornament exchange last November.  I think the kids got much more out of it this year, and I loved that it was simple and quick to do.  Every night after dinner we'd sit by the tree, have the kids remember some of the previous ornaments we had done, and then tackle our lesson for that night.  Arden learned that God is "eterrrrnal" and Huston cracked us up by guessing that the Alpha and Omega ornament meant that God is "E-Terminator!"

How could I not mention Huston singing at his school Christmas program?  I mean, it brought me to tears and was just the  sweetest moment!  Here are the kids on the day of the program outside the school:

I loved listening to David Crowder's "Oh for Joy" album over and over with the kids.  Huston would play air guitar and request that we listen to his favorite song, "Angels we have heard on high" over and over.  I loved how Arden sang, "Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the flames."  

Hanging up our Christmas cards is always one of my favorite things about the season.  This year I hung a few up on glittery tree branches that the kids made for me when they spent the night at Mimi's house.

I will remember Arden playing with our nativity set and recounting the story this way,

"You're going to have a baby!" said the angel.

"No way!" said Mary, "Am I?"

"Yes! You're really going to have a baby here!"

I loved all the lazy days we've had at home with Daddy, playing with Christmas toys, having a roaring fire one day, and just being together.  I am trying to treasure all these precious memories while the kids are small and everything is so special and amazing through their eyes.  

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas, too!

He Sang!!!

Huston sang at his Christmas program today!  And I cried.  I was so proud.  Words cannot encompass the emotions I felt seeing him up there.

So, even though I know few people will want to watch these videos all the way through - here they are.  Excuse my shaky videography.  In my defense, I was tending to my students, trying to film, and trying to look at Huston directly, instead of through the camera.  Enjoy!

Feliz Navidad

Joy to the World

Rudolph

Jingle Bells

Happy 3rd Birthday, Arden!

My baby turned 3 on the 15th and we celebrated her birthday with friends and family last weekend with a book themed party.  I couldn't think of a more appropriate theme for my book-loving girl!

Here she is in her birthday outfit, scored super cheap at Gymboree by Grandma.

I set up a little library in our front living room, complete with books, stuffed animals, glasses, and other reading props.  No one really used it, but I liked it anyway.  :)

I made some bunting by cutting up old Golden Books I found at Goodwill for fifty cents.  You should have seen Arden's face when she saw me cut out the first triangle.  She burst into tears and cried, "MY BOOK!!!" She was so offended that I had cut a precious book!

Cork board decorated in honor of the birthday girl:

Party favors were "bookworms."  Ha!  I kill myself!

Clarke made a great video with pictures of Arden throughout the year.  The video slide show set to music is probably my favorite birthday tradition for the kids.  It started way back on Huston's first birthday because CVS had a deal for a free video made from their Kodak machines in store.  After doing them at CVS for a couple of years, Clarke took over creating them with imovie on our mac.  The kids always love looking at their pictures, and it's so fun to show them to our friends and family!

Watching the picture show:

I wanted my mom to make a pink ruffled cake for Arden and it turned out so cute!  And tasted just as good!

Arden loved opening her presents, and got so many things just perfect for her!  Clarke and I got her a Kidkraft play kitchen, and she got lots of play food for her kitchen, two stuffed dogs in little carrying cases, a princess dress up set, a Hello kitty doll, a coloring book, some story books, and several other things.  She was a pretty happy girl!

The requisite family birthday picture (which required probably 55 attempts):

Happy birthday, sweet girl!