3rd Annual Holiday Cookie Day

We had our third annual cookie day at my house today. I can't remember the last time Brye, Melissa, Jackie and I were all in the same place at the same time with all our kids. Mom even came out this year which was wonderful to have that extra set of arms to help with the boys. With 4 boys 3 and under we thought it was best to get as many cookies made ahead of time as we could.


Melissa and Jake decorating a cookie...



PapaMom and Aiden decorating their cookies...



Owen enjoying himself...


Brye hates when I sneak around with the camera and just shoot without having people pose, so here she is trying to avoid me...

Jackie's Son Alexander...

The boys....Owen missed out because he was napping...

The girls and their boys, I even let Brye borrow Owen....

Santa

Aiden has been very excited to see Santa so I thought I would take the boys today. I knew Gary wouldn't have the patience to wait in line anyway. We got to the mall, parked in what felt like another county, got into the mall, waited in line for the elevator which only fit one stroller at a time so you can only imagine what fun it was trying to get the double stroller in there. We finally get to Santa and see a big sign that says "Santa will return at 2"....crap, now we have an hour to wait. So the boys and I did a little shopping. I spoiled myself at Lush with some bath bombs and then went and waited in the huge line that had formed while we were shopping. Aiden was excited in line and couldn't wait to ask Santa for the Wall-e movie. Things quickly change when you are in front of the man in red. Aiden wouldn't talk, at least he wasn't crying. Owen just wanted a fist full of that beard. So I told Santa what Aiden wanted, Santa gave him some stickers and we were off to pick up our picture. On our way out of the mall Aiden was sad so I asked him what was up. He said that I told Santa he wanted the Wall-e movie but he didn't give it to him. I had never thought about that, he thought you go and tell Santa what you want and he gives it to you right there, so I explained how you have to tell Santa what you want and he goes back to the North Pole and makes it. He's still a little bummed he didn't leave with the movie, but I think Santa knows he's been good. We'll be checking Aiden's stocking first thing on Christmas morning...

Christmas Photos

After 70 some photos I was able to find one for the new blog header but thought I would share a few of the others. With two very active boys and a dim room it was rather hard to get a photo without a blurry face. I fooled around with different effects for the header and tried to give it that "nostalgic" old feeling with the muted colors.

Kitchen Makeover

I was getting a little bored of the colors in the kitchen so we decided to re-paint.

Bye-Bye red....


And the new colors.....Benjamin Moore Timothy Straw and Mink.

We painted the little wall Timothy straw so the chalk board would stand out still (please ignore the mess in the other room, when you work on one room the rest of the house looks like it blew up).

Bath Time

Some pictures of Owen from after his bath this morning. He is such a ham!! I thought I would share a picture of Aiden with his towel at almost the same age...

Felt Food

I've been busy sewing up felt food for a Christmas present. I've actually had a lot of fun thinking of what to make next. I think I'll have to make a set for Aiden and Owen. I've made:
- a sandwich complete with bread, lettuce, cheese, tomato slices and a pickle
- a slice of water melon
- pea pods
- carrots
- a whole tomato
- strawberries
- raviolis
- pancake with a dab of butter
- cucumber slices
- eggs
- an orange slice

The strawberries and carrots are my favorite and I'd say the bread was the toughest.

Owen's New Talents

Just thought I would share a video of Owen's new talents....

A Boy and His Dog

After being animal free for almost 2 months and Gary asking EVERYDAY for a puppy I broke down. Jessica and Tony have had Layla for the last 6 months, since 2 dogs and 2 kids were getting a little much. Buster was sick and went on to better places and Layla was having some "issues" at Jessica's. So with Gary asking for a dog and Layla's issues I asked if she could come back. I think Jessica might be a bit sad about it but we've agreed to joint custody...lol. Aiden has been in love with Layla since she came home. He follows her, she follows him, though I do think she only follows him for the trail of gold fish crackers he leaves behind. I had to laugh the other day because I caught Aiden reenacting The Wizard of Oz with Layla ( He is OBSESSED with that movie lately...thank goodness I DVR'ed it) they were off to see the Wizard. Last night while I was cooking dinner Layla came in and lie down on the rug by the back door to look out the window, not soon after I saw Aiden laying there right along with her. I think I see some best buds in the future...

An afternoon at Grandma's

Grandma has been calling on days she has Chloe to come play, really it's so Aiden will come over and keep her occupied. As soon as Chloe gets to Grandma and Grandpa's she starts calling for Aiden and Owen. She gets so excited to see us walk through the door. When it's time for us to go home she quickly finds her coat and hat and tries to head home with us.




Aiden gets Chloe to do some crazy things....like smell his feet!

One day they'll be too big to admit that they were best buds!

And we can't forget Owen...he plays so well by himself!

6 Months

It's hard to believe that Owen is 6 months already. He's such a happy boy, always smiling and babbling. He loves to roll, roll, roll. He has recently started to scoot all around. He absoltutly loves Aiden and just lights up when he comes into a room. With in this last week he has really started to copy what we do and clapping.

Updates

I promise to have some updates coming soon. We were having a little internet problem and the lovely, oh so kind business I was "borrowing" wireless from didn't quite reach our house, but if I sat in the corner by the window, stood on one leg and held my breath I could get it 50% of the time. Now that we are back up and running I should be able to get some updates up at nap time. Well, that is if Owen sleeps, most of you know his sleeping habits.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

It was such a gorgeous day on Friday we decided to go play in the leaves...





This in my new absolute favorite picture of Aiden!!

Trick or Treat

What a GORGEOUS night to Trick or Treat, I can't tell you the last time the weather was this perfect on Halloween....no coats, no gloves, no rain, no snow!! We packed the boys up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's to trick or treat in the neighborhood behind them. Tim, Angie and Chloe were meeting us there and Grandma was going to watch a certain little pumpkin.

Aiden wanted to be a pumpkin but by the time he finally made up his mind about a costume all the pumpkins in his size were gone so I found him a cowboy outfit, the sell though was telling it was a "Woody" costume from Toy Story.

Nemo and our little pumpkin

It is SOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to get a picture of the three of them!! This is the least blurry...Chloe and Owen gave up and Aiden had moved on to a sucker.