Busy, Busy, Busy - It's that time of year

The Christmas holidays are always pretty hectic.  Lots of activities and program and functions.  It is nice to finally start to slow down and take a break.  So here's to a large post with lots of pics. :) 

 First up, Crazy #1's winter party.  I got to organize and plan the party for his class.  The big hit was the paper bag snowmen.  They were a little difficult and time-consuming though, but very cute.  He had fun and was really glad I was there with him (especially without the other crazies).

 Then on to Crazy #2's Christmas program.  He was so stinkin' cute in his 4th of July tank top.  He sang more than any of our kids ever have.  They usually aren't too into that sort of thing, but he did great.

 He really loved the stick when those came out.  It was all smiles. :)

  Happy boy!

 We had to make cookies for Santa, so we baked up some sugar cookies.  The boys made quite the mess, and then they had a roller battle which I had to break up.  On a side note, I'm quite proud of myself because I actually made the cookies from scratch and even got them rolled out.  I have major rolling issues normally, but I was determined this time.  Yay - score one for the mama with the rolling pin.

 After Sweetness woke up from her nap it was time to decorate them.  There was a lot of icing and sprinkles to be had.  You can ignore Mt. Vesuvius in the background that looks like it may explode at anytime.  That's just the art center.  It explodes several times a day thanks to Crazies #2 & #3. 

 Notice all the little hands in the photos.  They were always stealing cookies.  :)  I think Santa will be enjoying them too.

 We headed to the Dickinson Festival of Lights too.  It was lots of fun, and we got there just before the crowd got too crazy.  The lights were beautiful.  The kids got run off some energy too from all that sugar (see above).

 So many lights.  It really is a great thing that the city does.

 Now it's time to set out cookies for Santa and write him a few notes.  We've got carrots for the reindeer and a bowl of water for them too.  Santa is getting some of those delicious cookies and chocolate milk.  Evidently that's his favorite.  Crazy #2 is giving Santa a little soemthing extra with his nose pickin', and Sweetness is her mother's daughter with her tongue out for concentration.  Ha!

 I love how intense they all are.  Crazy#1 is saying Thanks and asking what Rudolph looks like.  I think he is just testing Santa to see if he knows the answer.  He was very determined to catch Santa in the act and not go to sleep all night.  He still claims he never went to sleep.  Uh huh...

 Santa came anyway.  Despite Crazy#1's lack of sleep.  The boys were excited to get a sno-cone maker and a batman cave.  Sweetness got a stroller that she loves. 

 Then we tried out some of the new toys.  The sno-cones were a big hit.  Crazy #1 is even trying to start up a sno-cone stand to make some money.  Ha!  It was a good Christmas.  The crazies had a great time and we just enjoyed our time together.  Until next year...

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

It's official - it's Christmastime.  the cheeseball is made.  :)  Crazy #2 made the cheeseball while Crazy#1 made the rice krispie treats.  I got chocolate covered pretzels made for all the kids classes.  Things are getting done around here.  Yay!  The boys had lots of fun making their foods.

Grammy was swingin' Crazy #2 and Sweetness "high".  They loved it.  they tried to go fishing today, but were attacked by geese.  Ha!

We then enjoyed some pb&j with baked Cheetos.  Yummy!  That's a pretty good day all and all.

MOM = Grossest Job in the World

Seriously the grossest job in the world.  Today I got to start the process of collecting poop.  Oh lucky me.  And not just one time.  Oh no...  three days, non-consecutive filling 2 -4 vials per day.  I have to scrap and swirl poo.  Oh my lucky day!!!   Then I get the supreme pleasure of storing said poo in my refrigerator.  Yummy...  Anyone want to come over for dinner?  I thought not.

Crazy #2 was totally fascinated by the process and even told me that he liked the smell, but that he wouldn't eat it.  WHAT?!?!  One day down though.  I sure hope this leads us to some results.  Meanwhile, the ever patient Crazy#1 was yelling at me the whole time I was scrapping his poo because he wanted me to give his sister her breathing treatment.  She gets to watch t.v. while she does it, and the boys join in.  I told him I was a little busy, so of course, he thought of another easy task for me to complete while scrapping poo.  Obviously I should read to him while hunched over the poo.

You better get well boy!  You hear me!

Flyin' High

Nothing makes a better jungle gym than Mama and Daddy.

This one makes me a little sad though.  Look how skinny Crazy #1 looks.  He has lost so much weight.  I'm hoping we figure out what going on soon.  For now, he had a great day at home playing.  He doesn't ever want to go back to school.  Great!

Hmmmm.....

Well she seems pretty happy all things considered.

Winter in Texas Ain't Like Other Places

Yep, the kids had the hoses and supersoaker (provided by the neighbors who are into throwing their toys over the fence right now) out in full force right now at the beginning of December.  Crazy #2 shows his brains by coming out with the umbrella to protect form attacks.  Unfortunately, it didn't totally work out as planned.  You see there was an inside attack.

Sweetness got into the act too.  She found some trash in the yard, and she really did not like that yuckiness.  Can you believe she is in a diaper in December.  Weather was perfect until we were attacked by mosquitoes.  We are not supposed to have mosquitoes in December. :(

Then I came in to find this.  yep, that's my breadmaker.  Apparently, someone thought it was the perfect place to stash some magnets.

Sweetness Goes Crazy

My little Sweetness is getting to be quite the handful.  She is getting into everything.  She is such a mess, and she makes herself know.  Whether that means pushing a boy out of my lap to have it all to herself or changing channels on the tv or emptying the fridge.  Needless to say I'm exhausted.  Chasing behind her is wearing me down.  Crazy girl!

Just Another Day - Just Another Outfit

I wanted to get a snap of Sweetness' new outfit.  I love having a girl to dress.  And I love that she is still to small to protest my choices. 

However, this is the fastest way to get one of the other children to want their picture taken.  Crazy #2, the Ham,  decided to start pushing his sis out of pics to get his picture taken.  "Take my picture, Mama," said in the deepest baby voice ever. 

Not to worry, she took matters into her own hands and started pulling his hair out.  Yet, somehow she is the one that ended up crying about it all.  Such a Drama queen.

She is so beautiful though...

Ugh... I have sizing issues on this blog.  I need the figure out that so we can have bigger pics.

Last Chance: Get It While It's Hot!!!

The other day I told the kids they had until the end of the evening to eat all the Halloween candy they wanted.  Whatever was left over would go in the trash (except for what Mommy pulled out for her own little treat.)  Sweetness took the warning to heart.  In about 2 seconds, she had all the lollipops unwrapped all in her hands, and was sucking on different ones.  No messing around.

She was pretty proud of her work.  On a sidenote, I've really got to start keeping my flash on my camera.  It is getting so dark here.  Although I do love that I can shoot at ISO6400 and still have a usable snapshot.

The Marble Jar is Full!

Crazy #2 finally filled up his marble jar last night.  It just took one dishwasher to unload and 2 bins to fill.  So that meant a trip to Target was in order.  He has worked hard to earn those marbles and that money, and he knew just what he was going to get.  Although he was hoping for more accessories to come with it.

Meet the newest member of our family.  He is the King of the Zhu Zhu pets or so I'm told.

However, we need another one so that they can battle.  He is such a boy.  He also needs battle armor and an arena for said battles to occur.  :)  I told Crazy #1 that they were on sale this week, and that he better hurry up and earn some marbles this week so that he could get one too, but he really doesn't like doing chores.  Yea, and I do!  Crazy #2 has already told me that he isn't going to fill up his jar again.  He is just going to get his other stuff at Christmas.  At least, he has a plan.

Halloween Festivities

Let the fun begin.  We (I) carved 3 pumpkins, decorated a trunk, made goodie bags,  and trunk or treated to start off the weekend.  The kids had lots of fun, and they all picked a perfect pumpkin for their personalities.  Spooky for Crazy #1, silly/happy for Crazy #2, and well I pick an easy design for Crazy #3.  The boys actually did pretty well at carving.  I think they turned out pretty well.

 Then we headed off to trunk or treating.  The kids had a great time and showed off their new pumpkins.  Oh and Crazy #1 pooped in the parking lot.  Yep, once again he had to go potty almost as soon as we got there.  Great.  Luckily someone else had a portable potty seat to use.  An of course, he was in a costume which he had to get all the way out of to go, so he was out for the whole world to see.  And of course, it's never a quick process for that one.  Hahaha!  But a fun time for all.  I'm tired!!!

Guess Who Came to Visit

Ted E. Bear has come to hang out with Crazy#2. Crazy #1 is determined that Ted likes him better and had more fun when he brought him home. I told him to be nice. Ha!

Crazy #2 is pretty excited about having his special friend here. He is loving all Ted's stuff.

PCS - It's a serious disease

So yep all photographers dearly wish to have amazing photos of their children to hang on their walls and adorn those beautiful albums. Alas, these poor children are constantly forced to look at the camera, move to better light, skooch away from that background (mama needs some bokeh), or wait while Mommy changes lenses to capture that perfect vision in her head. Hence these children can quickly come down with a bad case of Photographer's Child Syndrome (PCS).

I'm pretty sure Crazy #1 is seriously contemplating whacking me with that stick in this moment. Ha! Meanwhile my reflector holder (Crazy #2) had left his station - I thought that giving him a job would keep him busy. It didn't work! Crazy #3 crawled out of the stroller and found a small mud puddle to walk/jump in in her brand new dress and shoes. And no I didn't get pics of that. I was to frustrated at the time to just take some fun snaps and enjoy them later. But here is the one keeper from the night.

Not the keeper I was hoping for, but a keeper none the less. And poor sweetness is riddled with mosquito bites because I didn't have spray, and I was determined to get some decent shots.

Pretty much the same old stuff

Sweetness is still making a mess. I really wish those boys would close the doors back on the tv unit. The battle over the cd cases strewn all over the floor is really wearing me down.


The Crazies lost in the world of video...