This week in pictures

Get daddy while he's down. Kiss attacks are the best kind.

What kind of crazy looking horse is that?

Get to work, little buddy! You've got a long way to go. Jack loves to use his rake and it is the perfect time of year for it. Finally my kids are getting old enough to use for slave labor around the house.

Mommy's mascara is not a toy... nor is it lipstick. This was a bigger mess than it looks- all over the walls, their toys, the TV and of course their faces- I think Eve just got caught up in Jack's creativity. I can't seem to keep him out of my makeup. He loves to play make-over when I'm not watching. I think having an older sister who is so girly is having some disturbing effects on the kid.

It's a good thing he's so cute.
We've been dog sitting for my parents this week. It's been pretty rough. Cutter is old and slow and easy as can be but if it wasn't for Misty puppy's incredible cuteness I doubt she would survive the week. After being home all day long with the kids and the puppy, I've been threatening to never ever let our family get a dog. The kids have been so hyper with the puppy around. I guess it is good that they are getting lots of exercise running away from her. Even though Misty is still little, she is good at getting the kids to scream in terror as if she's some rabid beast. She likes to bite onto Jack's socks and drag him off the couch or sometimes she just sneak attacks from behind and knocks him down on the floor and then continues licking and tackling him into submission. Poor kid. This should give him some nice phobias to discuss with his therapist when he grows up. There has been lots and lots of yipping from the puppy and squealing from the kids going on. Surprisingly, even after the abuse they keep wanting the dogs to stay forever. I however need a break already. Misty puppy got up five times in the middle of the night last night and had to go outside to potty each time (except for the time she didn't give us warning before leaving us with a nice oozy present in the middle of the floor at 5 in the morning). But all the other times were so much more fun since Kole and I took turns taking her outside and having to stand in the 15 degree weather to ensure she did her business. Now I know that women have an amazing ability to forget the bad parts of having a baby in the house but from what I remember, this is much worse!

But how can I stay mad at that cute puppy face?

Family Time

This last Sunday we had a family dinner at Kole's parent's house to celebrate having all of Kole's brothers together again... even my parents got included. It is so rare to have everyone together lately. Grayson is the only kid living at Kole's parent's house anymore- well, for now. We always joke that it's just a matter of time until one or more will be back. Sam moved into an apartment with his cousin Nick a few months ago so even though he lives in the same town we do we hardly even see him anymore. Keaton recently graduated from basic training in the Army so he got a little time off before he'll be moving to a base near Seattle at the beginning of December. I guess he will stay there before probably being deployed sometime in April. Damion flew in from Washington D.C. where he is usually oh-so-busy volunteering in something to do with politics. OK, I know I should know exactly what he does and who he works for but I just don't- even though I know I've heard the answer over and over.

Anyways, Eve and Jack had cousins from both sides of the family there and they all had lots of fun playing together. But I think Eve and Jack especially enjoyed manipulating Damion and Keaton into doing whatever they wanted them to. Eve likes to play hard to get at first before she clobbers them and demands they do her bidding. I saw Eve and Damion doing lots of dancing and twirling together. I highly doubt that was Damion's idea. He really is a softy for her. She sometimes tells me how she's going to marry Damion someday. Why does she always want to marry family members? Hopefully he, and all the other brothers, won't still be available when she's old enough. I know Deb is praying pretty hard.

Here are Damion, Keaton and Jack... with the most annoying toy bird ever. Jack loves it and wants to make it "talk" over and over and over and over. Should have gotten packed away with the rest of the Halloween decorations. If I hear "the end is near" one more time...













Eve LOVES her new red dress from Grandma Deb which she got to wear when Grandma took her to Disney's Princesses on Ice. Since this is her new favorite outfit, she rarely takes it off (we usually have to bribe her or tackle her amidst tears, kicking and screaming). At least it is almost Christmas and it looks pretty festive.


















Jack just wants to be one of the boys playing video games.














Eve and Brooklyn- they've probably made some kind of oath to be princesses together forever.

















I think you lost something, buddy.

















My dad and Jack blowing raspberries at each other... naughty!













Cousins- Kennady, Eve and Brooklyn













Quite the dip from Grandma Deb

















My mom with Eve and her cousin Kaylee.













Try to smile a little harder, you two. It's like when your parents used to tell you that your face would get stuck that way.













You know who.













Story time with Grandma Deb













Everyone wants Damion's attention.

Puppy Love

My parents got a new puppy! She's at the peak of cuteness. Everyone swoon. I've been waiting in great anticipation for the puppy to come home ever since my dad told me they were getting one way back during summer- she hadn't even been conceived yet. I made the mistake about a month ago of telling Eve about the puppy and she has been asking me every day since if the puppy was coming "today" It's hard to explain how long a month is to little kids. However, I'm sure I've been way more excited than the kids.

Anyways, "Misty" came home just yesterday and we all just had to see her. She is so cute that it almost makes me insane enough to want a puppy of my own. And then I remember: having a puppy is like having a new baby- only worse in many ways. Not only do they not sleep through the night and then bark and bark when they are unhappy but they pee and poo right in the middle of the floor. Makes changing diapers look like a breeze. Like children, they rarely listen and they cost a lot of money to take care of. Plus they destroy all types of things... toys, clothing, furniture. Oh the joys! But I realize that I am having puppy withdrawls already. We will have to go visit her again soon. I'm sure we will be doing a lot of puppysitting in the future. Since I don't live with my parents, I figure my relationship with the puppy is probably much like grandparents must feel with their grandkids... they love them and love to be around to spoil them but they get to give them back when the not-so-fun stuff is going on. I think this is going to work out rather nicely.

So cute it's scary

Happy Halloween and happy birthday to my pumpkin! Eve turned 4 years old on Halloween. I can't believe I have a four year old! Really, a Halloween birthday is not as bad as it sounds. Kind of fun actually... there's always stuff to do and she'll always have an excuse to play dress up. We had her birthday party on Monday with just family but next year we are going all out. Save the date.

What a wonderful Halloween it was. Eve was a princess again (and has been everyday since) and Jack was a lion- a very angry lion.






And this was only the beginning of the evening...

Trunk or treating was about the happiest Jack was all evening. Hence why this is the only time I could get a picture of his face. He was in awe. People just handing out candy... he could hardly believe it. This was his second Halloween but he was too little to understand last year. He was so excited, he was running from car to car (often in no particular order)- with some very close car accidents on the downhill runs. Eve loved all the compliments on her costume. For her, getting candy was secondary to everyone seeing her dressed so pretty.

I realized that as adults we can often become cynical about the holidays. They somehow become about consumerism and materialism and we let ourselves get wrapped up in over analyzing everything. They don't seem to hold the same magic they did when you were a kid. But once you have kids of your own, you see everything through their eyes and everything becomes splendid again. I had so much fun this year. Eve and Jack are at great ages. Everything is still so new and fun and so it seems new and fun to me too. These next few years are the glory years of childhood.

The fairy princess with the little girl (Grandma Wendy)

In case you can't tell, Kole was "white trash" and my black belt lets everyone know I could kick his butt (but I don't need a costume for that). Really, since I was so sick last week I didn't plan a costume for myself so Kole let me borrow his karate outfit. He really is a black belt. Now that's scary.

The kids both liked trying on Kole's mullet wig. This is what our kids would look like if they were raised by the family down the street. Seriously, their little boy has a mullet. Can anyone say child abuse?

Time to put the bikes away

We had quite the snow storm last week. They said it would snow but I wasn't really thinking this much. I was so sick with the flu that I didn't even take the kids out to play in it. (FYI- If you can get a flu shot anywhere, get one or you could get the flu 4 different times this year from all the different strains. Glad I'm not dead from the swine flu but it still was not fun... and definitely not fun to have sick kids. Just sucks that we've had to deal with the flu and we still have to go get shots.) But anyways, I am sure we will have plenty of future opportunities to play in the snow. I would put all the outside toys away now but it is suppose to be close to 60 today and close to 70 in a few days.