Merry Christmas a little late

I've been slacking on my blog again. I kinda felt like I didn't really have anything post worthy to share. Christmas has come and gone (mostly--one last family party tonight) and, as much as I was dreading Christmas morning, it turned out to be an enjoyable time with the kids. It was more relaxed than I thought it would be (ok, I was more relaxed) and the kids liked their gifts (I was scared they wouldn't).

Thanks to everyone who sent cards. I love getting the updates and photo cards so I can see how everyone has changed. My goal for next year is to make our cards so I need to remember to prepare way ahead of time. If you know me then you know that is one of my weaknesses. ;o)

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas Day.


Here's Miss Lauren with her itty bitty Sesame Street back pack. She liked it so much she wore it the whole time we were there and on the way home.


This is Todd with his Pokemon quilt my mom made him. She made all the kids quilts with matching pillow cases. He doesn't look very excited, but he really liked it.


Here's Zack with his quilt. You can't really tell what the print is, but it has all different sports stuff on it. This one was my favorite.

Matt's quilt is Spiderman. He was so proud of it. The quilt is hiding his big grin.

And last, all the kids with the scarves I made them.

Lauren has a quilt, too, but I didn't get a picture of hers for some reason. It's a super cute hot air balloon print.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Scattergories

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things.. nothing made up! You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Miranda
BOY NAME: Mason
4 LETTER WORD: Mate
GIRL NAME: Madison
OCCUPATION: Meter Maid (2 points!)
A COLOR: Magenta
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Mittens
BEVERAGE: Mountain Dew
FOOD: Mashed potatoes
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Makeup
A PLACE : Miami
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Making out?
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Matthew, get out of the pantry!

Present to myself

I finally recovered my kitchen chairs. I've had this dining set for about 11 years (2 years BC---before children) and I now know that you should never have cloth covered chairs with little ones in the house. Didn't take me long to figure that one out. They've definitely been through it all.

Here's a before picture. You can't tell now, but the material used to be a really pretty green and white plaid. The rips on the side of the seat are from the booster seat straps the kids used when they outgrew the high chair. This isn't the worst one either. I'm a little embarrassed to post these because of how yucky the chairs are.

Here's another before shot. GROSS! I can't believe I'm putting this on here.

Ahhhh . . . so much better! I'm thinking I might get some plastic to cover this material to protect it so it will last longer. A while back I covered a chair with a plastic table cloth just to see how it would hold up. It didn't. The table cloth wasn't very durable and it didn't help having little fingers poking holes or tearing it either. I have enough material left over that I might go really crazy and make a matching table runner. Watch out! Miranda with a sewing machine! ;o)

Gingerbread Cookie Ornament

First off, I don't recommend this project. It didn't turn out very well for us. I ended up trashing them, but I figured I'd post what we did today. Couldn't let all my work go to waste. ;o) If someone else can figure out how to make it work better, let me know.

Supplies: corrugated cardboard, sequins, scissors, Elmer's glue, gingerbread man cookie cutter, cinnamon, pencil, thin ribbon, & rickrack

Step 1. Trace around the cookie cutter on the cardboard and cut out.

Step 2. Cover the cut-out with glue and sprinkle with cinnamon. Let glue dry completely, then shake off the excess cinnamon. I used a small paint brush to spread the glue evenly over the cut-out. That might be where I went wrong. Maybe I spread the glue too thin? (I have no idea why the picture turned out sideways.)


Step 3. Decorate with rickrack on the arms and legs to look like icing. Use sequins to make eyes and buttons. The directions I have suggested cutting a little piece of rickrack for the mouth, but we didn't make it that far. Cut a 5 in. strip of ribbon. Glue the two ends to the back of the head of the gingerbread man to make a hanger for the ornament.

That's it. Seems simple enough, but the cinnamon kept coming off. And I had a hard time with the glue not wanting to stick to the cinnamon, which made it hard to try to glue the sequins and rickrack on. I'm usually pretty good with crafts. I have no idea what happened with this one.

Anyone else want to give it a go?

Giveaway

I got this from Brooke's blog and thought I'd give it a try. I believe Mindy is Brooke's sister-in-law. Is that right? She's very crafty and holds giveaways from time to time. I thought this one was too cute.


Here is the latest Giveaway from Mindy… Anyone can enter to win… Go to her blog and leave a comment about your favorite Santa Memory. (I hope it works. I'm not very computer savvy.)

Kids' Music Recital

A friend from church teaches a basic music class once a week for 3-5 year olds. This past Saturday was their recital. The kids sang songs about the different seasons---Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Autumn Time, Pumpkin Pumpkin on the Ground, Once There Was a Snowman, & Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Oh, and Do As I'm Doing with the audience. It was so cute. They did a good job. The funny part was that we could hardly get Matt to practice during class. He wanted to play with toys or sit in my lap the whole time. But at the recital, he was the ham.

Zack the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

This instrument is called a Boom Whacker. Each one is a different length and plays a different note when you hit it against something. The kids were supposed to be hitting it against the tip of their shoe, but Matt decided to hit himself in the head(yes, through the entire song).

This is the aftermath of Lauren getting out her own rhythm sticks and hitting big brother in the head with them. Of course this was right in the middle of the recital. That's me behind Matt going to retrieve the sticks from Lauren. I was supposed to be helping out on stage as crowd control, or 'kid control'. Apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job. ;o)

Here they are playing the jingly instruments and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Again, Matt is hitting the instrument against his head.

This one is Wheels on the Bus. Toni, the kids' teacher, was trying to get the kids to sing loudly so everyone could hear them. About half-way through the program, Matt & the little girl next to him started going back and forth, "I sang that one the loudest! No, I sang it the loudest!". Even started sticking their tongues out at each other. This kept on until the next song started. LOL!

Here's a video of the kids singing Rudolph. This is the only song we got on video. I wish we'd recorded the whole thing. The screaming/singing you hear is Matt. He's on the left in the red coat with the black and red scarf. Listen for the finale. Too funny! :o)

Getting To Know You

I got this from my sister. I would love to see what you will write on yours! 1. Do you like blue cheese? No 2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No 3. Do you own a gun? Do my husband's guns count? 4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? No flavor, I usually get a lemon-berry slush. 5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?Depends on what kind of appt. 6. What do you think of hot dogs? Not my favorite food but I'll eat them if I have to. 7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story and The Santa Clause movies. 8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Milk or Juice 9. Can you do push-ups? Nope 10. Age? 32 11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Silver earrings my mom bought me for Christmas last year. 12. Favorite hobby? Reading 13. Favorite Actor: Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale (I can't pick just one!) 14. Do you have A.D.D.? No . . . oh look, a kitty! 15. What's one trait you hate about yourself? No comment. 16. Middle name? Michelle 17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment... 1. I need to get off here and work on Scout stuff. 2. I probably should start supper soon. 3. Where is the dog? 18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday/today? Diapers, toilet paper, & paper towels. 19. 3 drinks you regularly drink? Diet Dr. Pepper, water, & milk 20. 3 Current worries?~ 1. finances 2. finances 3. finances 21. Current Love right now? Love that I finally have my van back. 22. Favorite place to be? Home 23. How did you bring in the New Year? At my parents' with fireworks. 24. Where would you like to go? Italy 25. Name three people who will complete this. They've probably already done it. 26. Do you own slippers? Yes 27. What shirt are you wearing? Kindergarten field trip shirt 28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Never tried it 29. Can you whistle? nope 30. Favorite color? Lavender 31. Would you be a pirate? Maybe if Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp were on the ship with me. ;o) 32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Depends on my mood. 33. Favorite girl's name? Lauren 34. Favorite boy's name? Todd, Zackery, & Matthew 35. What is in your pocket? $1.18 in change. 36. Last thing that made you laugh? Uncle Red chasing Matt around trying to kick him because Matt kicked him first. (My kids are so nice.) 37. Best bed sheets as a child? Don't remember. 38. Worst injury you've ever had? Fell out of a moving car, fractured my wrist & chipped my skull. 39. Do you love where you live? Not really. 40. How many TVs do you have in your house? One 41. Who is your loudest friend? Maggie. 42. How many dogs do you have? One 43. Does someone have a crush on you? Not that I know of, unless you count my husband. 44. What is your favorite book(S)? Anne of Green Gables, Harry Potter series, Twilight series. 45. Where were you born? Alabama 46. What is your favorite candy? Peanut M&M's. 47. Favorite Sports Team? Don't really care for sports, but if I have to pick one it's U of Alabama. 48. What songs do you want played at your funeral? No idea. 49. What are you doing at 12 A.M.? Hopefully sleeping. 50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? What time is it?

Our Family Christmas Photos

Ok, since Ian has been harassing me for not updating my blog lately, I figured I'd go ahead and post our Christmas shots. But first, here are two super cute ones of Miss Lauren.

This is one of my favorites of her. I followed her all over my parents' yard trying to get some pictures of her, but she kept running from me.

This must be her best side.

Here's our 1st attempt at our family Christmas picture. Pay close attention to Matt in each photo. I have no idea what he's doing, but he's very busy in each shot.

Here's the 2nd attempt. Now what is he doing? Looks like he's trying to take flight and, I think Zack fell asleep.

Here' s the final one and probably the best of the three. I still have no idea what that child is doing. LOL!

Christmas Cards

If you'd like to receive a Christmas card from us please email me your address. I'm planning to work on them this week so I can send them out by Saturday, hopefully, if life doesn't get in the way.

My email address is: randas2boys@yahoo.com (yes, I know it's a little outdated) ;o)

If you'd like to send us a card, just let me know when you email me and I'll send you our home address by email.

Happy Holidays!

Sick kiddies----again.

We made it through the Thanksgiving holiday ok. I would've shared some pictures of our dinner with my parents and the kids at the pow wow the next day, but dummy me forgot the camera both days.

The weekend started with Matt & Zack sick. They both had nasty coughs(still do) and Matt had a fever to go along with it. Zack woke up one night wheezing and coughing so badly that he threw up (sorry TMI). Thankfully no more fever for Matt and they both seem to be on the mend, except for that lingering cough.

Lauren started getting sick shortly after the other two. She had a low grade temp for a couple of days, threw up once, and now she has the nasty cough. I took her to the dr. today because I was worried she had another ear infection with the way she's been acting. Her ears are fine, thank goodness, but the dr. thinks she may have strep. Oh, and she's started running fever again today. We will find out Friday if it's definitely strep and we may end up having to treat everyone else, too.

On top of all of this, we have Scouts tonight. I would cancel but we're taking a field trip to the police dept. and then going out for supper. The boys have really been looking forward to it. They collected teddy bears to donate to the police dept. for the officers to carry in their cars to give out to children who have been in accidents or some other traumatic incident. They also get to take a tour of the police dept. I know we'll have fun, I just wish I didn't have to worry about sick babies at the same time.

Here's a funny picture I wanted to share of Lauren in the crate with Brownie. I promise I had nothing to do with it. She did this all on her own. Is it legal to use this as a form of time out? ;o)

New baby

We have a very unexpected addition to our family. Ian was browsing the County View(our local free classified newspaper) this morning and started reading off all the listings for free puppies. The next thing I knew we were off to pick up a puppy. She's a chocolate lab mix. The kids have named her Brownie----Chocolate Brownie Smith. I was going for Coco or Sasha, but Brownie fits her very well.

Twilight movie

I went with my niece to see Twilight Friday night. We're both big fans of the book series and we both had high hopes for the movie. I didn't absolutely love it but it I didn't hate it, either. In my opinion the book was so much better, but I guess that's usually what happens. It's that way for me with the Harry Potters flicks. Some have been great and some not so great, but now I love them all. I guess it takes a few times watching it to separate the book from the movie so I can appreciate the movie a little more. I'm sure I'll watch Twilight again after it comes out on DVD. Maybe I'll like it better the second time around.

Kid Funnies

Ian was watching Spiderman 3 after we put the kids to bed tonight. Matt came wondering out and saw what was on. (The kids wanted to watch it earlier but Todd said they couldn't because it has cussing in it.) Matt, remembering what Todd said, told Ian, "Daddy, you can't watch Spiderman because it has 'kisses' in it." Ian said, "Yes, I can. I'm a big boy. I give mommy kisses all the time." Matt comes back with, "I give mommy kisses, too. That means I can watch Spiderman!"

Sometime last week the kids and I were out doing errands. Apparently I've been neglecting my tweezing and other facial hair removal. The sun was shining just right so that Todd noticed the 'other facial hair'. He says, "Mommy, you're growing a mustache! You need to get a hair picker!" Thanks, son. I love you, too. ;o)

A couple of nights ago as I was helping Matt get his PJ's on, he asked me, "Mommy, why do your legs hook up to your butt?" The best answer I could come up with was, "Because that's how Heavenly Father wanted it." Then, he asked, "Mommy, why don't your legs hook up to the side of your butt?" I said, "Because if they did then you wouldn't be able to walk and you'd look pretty silly." After that he started getting a little too crude and I had to end the conversation.

Kids . . . . if they weren't so stinking cute I might have to send them to live with the gypsies.

The Good, The Bad, & The Fabulous

Today seemed like a total bust. We didn't have school today, unless you count Todd making 'documentaries' of the grandaddy longlegs on the mailbox and the kids jumping on my bed as school.

I needed to do grocery shopping and pick up a few things at Walmart. I had a momentary lapse in judgement and took all 3 boys with me. We found what we needed in Walmart in record time and decided to have lunch with Ian while we were in town. Next up was the grocery store where my children suddenly forgot how to behave in public. I just want to know one thing. Why in the world do grocery stores put toys in the front of the store before you can even make it to the produce section? Why do they even have toys at all? I have to explain to my kids every time we're in there that I'm there to buy food, not toys. Can you eat the toys for supper?

So after about 5 min.(yes, only 5 min. but it seemed way longer) of trying to get my children away from the toys and interrupting Todd's attempts to dump Zack off the front of the cart, I decided it wasn't worth it to try to shop with them today, or any other day for that matter. I marched their happy little selves right back out to the car and we came home. I will, from this point on, shop alone unless it's absolutely necessary. And even then I'll find a babysitter.

On a good note, (or the fabulous part) a cousin gave me a ton of clothes for Lauren. She desperately needed winter clothes. There were even a few things for Matt and Zack in there. I have some clothes that a friend gave me a while back, but they're all 24 month to 2T and she won't be able to wear them this winter and probably not next winter. She's such a little pea mite, not like the boys at all. I'm not used to having one so dainty. She'll be 18 months old next month and she's in size 12 month and some 18 month stuff. I can't wait for her to wear some of these clothes. They are super cute! Some still have tags on them. Thanks, Roxann!

Crazy busy!

Sorry, I've been neglecting my blog again. We've had a busy couple of weeks between homeschooling, cub scouts, sick kiddies, and everything else that seems to want to happen at the same time.

I'm happy to say we finally have our first pack meeting behind us. I'm the den leader and Ian is the Cub Master. We had to postpone it 1 week because everything kept falling apart. First off, I couldn't get the boys' Bobcat badges. The scout store was completely out and they were on back order. :o( They were also out of everything else I needed. I was trying to make a little something for the boys as a reward for a project they'd been working on and it kept going wrong. I guess I was making it harder than it had to be. Then, I tried making these really cute ghost cookies(it was right before Halloween) with Nutter Butter cookies and those didn't turn out either. I finally let myself off the hook since nothing was working out. We had the meeting the following week and it went pretty well.

The weekend of Lauren's pageant Todd was sick with a virus. He had diarrhea(sorry, TMI!) for 3 days, then a low grade fever, then broke out with a rash that lasted for over a week. It's finally just now starting to clear up. Thankfully no one else has been really sick. A couple have had the upset stomach part but, not for more than a day and no fevers or rashes.

We took the kids to the Veteran's Day parade yesterday. It was nice to get out and do something as a family. We had one of Todd's friends with us, too. After the parade we were standing next to our car talking to my dad and suddenly a piece of chocolate came flying out of nowhere and pinged Matt right on the top of his head. I looked around thinking where the heck did that come from. It was the missionaries! The one(Elder Hammer) was aiming for Ian, but he took out Matt instead. Poor kid! Man did he cry. Elder Hammer felt so bad. All we could do was laugh. Isn't that awful? Matt finally settled down. Paw Paw gave all the grandkids(and the missionaries) $1 to go get ice cream at McDonald's. Word of advice----never go to McD's after a parade. I think everyone who went to the parade went to McD's afterwards. It was a madhouse!

Back to scouts again tonight. We had a new one join us which brings our group up to 5 total. I need Calgon, chocolate, and a diet DP. I'm soooooo glad it's only once a week. They're a good group of boys but they have way too much energy for that time of day. ;o)

Miss Liberty Pageant

Lauren was in the Miss Liberty Pageant this past Saturday. It was a fundraiser put on by one of our Girl Scout Troops in honor of our local veterans. She won 2nd alternate and Prettiest Eyes in her age category. She did better than I thought considering it was her usual nap time, but we did have a few not-so-fun moments on stage. Here are a few pictures of my little sweet pea. :o)

Warning----contents may explode when subjected to extreme stress.

I think I've beaten my previous record for length of time in sacrament meeting before leaving because my children can't behave.

We actually made it on time with 10 min. to spare. We've been doing much better in that area. Everyone was fully dressed, shoes on, shirts tucked, hair brushed(with the exception of Lauren not keeping her barrette in her hair-oh, well), and scriptures located. I even managed to pack a snack bag for Lauren.

I marched my little crew in, found a place to sit, and attempted to get everyone settled and ready for sacrament to start. Zack immediately started in with his usual laying down on the pew. Todd put Lauren's blanket on his head, and Matt was turned around talking to the person behind us. I grabbed the blanket, told Zack to sit up and tried to get Matt to turn back around and face the front. Zack still wouldn't sit up so I decided the best thing to do is ignore him and go ahead with singing the opening song. Zack and Todd were still being irreverent(talking, giggling, Zack still laying down) so I gave them 'the poke and shhhh'. The next thing I knew Todd spit in Zack's eye! I was soooo ticked! I marched my crew right back out before the opening song was over.

We tried to hang out in the classroom that has a speaker so we could hear the meeting but I was so fuming mad I couldn't see straight and I didn't want to be cooped up in a little room with 4 kids. We ended up right back home where Todd and Zack are banished to their room to clean for the rest of the day. They've lost other privileges for the next week plus, I get to invoke the use of child labor around my house for a few days. They already have their regular chores but now they get to do mine, too. MUWAHAHA!!!!!!

I am . . .

I am… tired. I think…of my family first. I want… a better quality of life. I have… many blessings to be thankful for. I miss… my sister and friends I've lost touch with. I fear… death (and really BIG spiders!). I feel… exhausted all the time. I hear… Lauren playing with a toy. I smell…a stinky diaper. I crave… diet dr. pepper and chocolate. I cry… when I'm really mad. I search… for who I want to be someday. I wonder… who my kids will grow up to be. I regret… taking things for granted. I wish… I could save the world. I love… a good book. I care… what others think of me. I always… do what needs to be done. I never… leap before I look. I worry… about everything. I am not… even-tempered. I remember… when I didn't have any worries. I believe… there are better days ahead . I sing… when I'm in a good mood. I don’t always… do what other people tell me to do. I argue… with myself a lot. I write… not as much as I'd like to. I lose… lose? I'd like to lose weight! . I listen… when my kids call me. I can usually be found… at home. I forget… what I'm doing sometimes . I am happy… when I have chocolate and a diet dr. pepper!. Thanks Brooke and Megan for this Post idea!!

Lauren's 1st Birthday

Ok, so I'm a little late in posting this one. Exactly 4 months late, but better late than never. She had a Strawberry Shortcake pool party with lots of family.

Here's Miss Lauren with her own personal cake Maw Maw made for her. It says 'Tootie' on it which is Maw Maw's nickname for her. Dummy me didn't get a picture of the big cake before it was cut.
Here she is finally digging into the cake but not quite the way we had in mind.

Now the fun part. Presents!!! My baby is growing too fast! :o(

Go Dogs Go!

Zack is playing football this year and Ian is his coach. It's such a hoot watching these little guys out there on the field. Most of the time the coaches have to position the players where they need to be. At Zack's last game he kinda sorta tackled his own teammate. Oops! It was so funny. But between him tackling his teammate and his teammate tackling the opponent, they managed to get the other kid down. Zack's team won 26-0. They are undefeated so far. Oh, and the cheerleaders are too cute.

Here are a few pictures from their opening day game. The blond cheerleader next to Zack in the last picture is the one he had a big crush on last year in K4. He even asked her to marry him. I don't think it worked out. ;o)

I'm back

I thought I'd give this another shot. I look forward to catching up with friends and family.