Well Hello There!

I apparently needed a little break from blogging after all of that NaBloPoMo business, eh?

To catch you up, it's been a busy busy month so far. Almost all of the Christmas shopping is done and then some. Some of the presents though, have unfortunately not made it all the way to Christmas. Namely, one beautiful NIKON camera given to me by my awesomely awesome husband man.



I haven't been able to stop taking pictures since last week when I opened it (completely against Ace's wishes, might I add.... but NIKON!!! SHINY!! WANT NOW MINEMINEMINE!!) and my children are now beyond sick of it all. The moment ZK sees me pull out the camera he either darts from the room or turns on that nasal-y whine that makes me want to claw my ears out.

Ah, well. Tuff noogies. I've wanted a nice camera for years and I'm not about to let a little grumpiness stop me from taking photos to my heart's content.




That's his signature move.






The rest of the Christmas gifts will definitely make it to their spot under the tree I promise. This one, though, is not leaving my sight. Neither are any of these toddlers, until I can get them to pose for "Just one more shot!"




Gah! Fine. Never mind.

I Love Today

I love Thanksgiving. Love Love Love. I love feeling like I could show up to dinner in my Pj's and it would be completely appropriate. I love having a reason to just sit around the table with family to eat and talk about all of the good things in life. Most of all, I love having a day that gives me a reason to look at all of the positives in my life and to think about how grateful I am for all of it.

There was a ton of great food to be eaten, courtesy of my mother in-law and sister in-law (I'm not what you'd call a "good cook"....but I'm getting a lot better at it!) and best of all we had Kitty's famous Pumpkin Roll for dessert! My but that woman can cook.

I made sure the boys were dressed in their Dallas Cowboys stuff and Ace and I wore our jerseys today because the Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving. Before dinner, we all walked down the street to a little grove of trees off the side of the road to take some family photos.







Then we all walked back to stuff our faces.




Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Ours was lovely. I really hope yours was too.



P.S. I'm about to stand out in front of a Toys R Us for a midnight opening for Black Friday. Am realizing I may be much more hardcore about this than I first thought....

Chomping At the Bit

One more day people. One. More. Day.
Today I took pictures with my phone because, I knew you'd be expecting an entry and I also knew that I wouldn't feel like typing one. See how I plan ahead? Please to be believing my bullpoop?

Look! Pictures of some adorable little kids! LOOOOOOOOOOOK at teh squishy baybees!

This one? She totally looked like a boy a year ago. No, seriously. She is now my sweet dramatic little princess squishyface. I love her.


This one? He is too smart for words. He scares me sometimes with how very observant and cunning he can be. He's sly like a fox and cute like OHMYGODSTOPPIT. FEAR HIM.

You know the story on this one. He's a man to be reckoned with. I don't care who you are or what you think you know about kids. This one will give you what-for. This one will show you who's boss. He's the man and you'd better get used to it or he'll kick you in the knee cap.

He's gonna make an awesome adult but GOOD LAWS he's difficult to parent. I'm so proud.



And last but not least, Ace got me a Jason Witten jersey. w00t w00t!

Good enough for today? Eh? Wait... Hey! Look over there!!

* (Scurries away) *

Stripety

"PFFFBBBBTHHHTTTT...."












MuuuuAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!




Heh...




Heh-Heh...




Heeee.





Today was fabulous. Thanks for asking. I have to go snuggle with some stripety little babies now. Goodnight Internet!

You Better Not Pout, I'm Telling You Why...

So yesterday I had the brilliant idea to tell ZK about Santa coming to bring his presents next month... BRILLIANT.
The negative is that I didn't think about the fact that a 3.5 year old has absolutely NO concept of time and therefor has asked me at least twice every hour "Is it Christmas yet Mom?... Is it now?". I amaze myself sometimes with my genius.

The positive side to the situation is that ZK is now aware that Santa "can see you all the time" and will know if he's being a good boy or not. He doesn't want Santa to bring him "Just a little rock!" instead of presents.... How do you explain a lump of coal to a toddler? It's a rock. A rock instead of cool presents. That's explanation enough for him to understand that Santa means business.

Anyway, I have a teeeeeeensy twinge of guilt each time I remind him about Santa watching when he's trying to make trouble but the guilt is quickly replaced by the satisfaction of knowing that this awesomely effective little tool will be good for more than a month. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You know? Santa totally rocks.

Adventures! Sort of.

Dear Internet,

After work today I went to Walmart. I know! Action! Adventure! I have no life! I have no idea what my original reason was for going there except that I needed to get out of the house. I neeeeeeeeeeded to get out. By the end of the week I'm beyond stir-crazy and even grocery shopping seems like a fabulous vacation from my routine.
I ended up getting a few great ideas for Christmas gifts for the boys. ZK and CJ were so good! I was bracing myself the entire time for some big meltdown or for something to get broken or someone to need a diaper change mid-shop, but no! They were perfect angels. I needed that today and they totally delivered.

ZK has a habit of asking "Mama can I have this?" as he points at Every. Single. Item. In. The. Store. Today was no different. He made me laugh though, as we were walking through the toy section he looked up at me and said "Mama, I fink I jus need everysing" in his lispy little toddler voice with a serious look in his eyes. I couldn't help but hug him right there because boy do I ever remember that feeling. The feeling of wanting all of the toys in the store and asking for each and every one in hope of getting just at least one thing before we went home ohpleasepleasepleasemompleeeease???

And so, I left Walmart with two tiny stuffed reindeer, a tiny wooden airplane and a couple of things for Ace's birthday tomorrow.
Oh yes! Did I mention that tomorrow is Ace's birthday? Because it is. I have fabulous plans for a really fun cake and we'll be having dinner at one of our absolute favorite restaurants with the whole family. Ace is off all day and I look forward to all of us being able to have a Saturday together again. We all enjoy our together time so much, no matter what we're doing. We like us, you know?

My First Baby

He's so much cooler than I could ever hope to be.




He's also a huge frickin DORK- but in the most awesome way...





And sometimes he watches TV like THAT....... How could you not love this kid?

Mama loves you ZK. You're my buddy. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Family Time

Today was busy, productive and wonderful. Ace had a Saturday off! This doesn't happen often. We made the most of it by spending the first half of the day eating donuts with the boys, lying around the house and playing on the floor. It was fabulous.
After lunch, we headed to Target with nothing in mind except to find some fun new toy to play with. We first had to stop at the snack counter to get our popcorn (we do this every time we go there- ZK calls Target "The Popcorn Store") and then we spent an hour or two just meandering around looking at this and that and talking about whatever.
The boys smiled and ate popcorn and pointed at Every. Single. Toy. saying "I need this!". Ace and I walked out with a Tonka truck, two toy microphones and a car booster seat for ZK.

I remember that there was a time in my life when I would never have walked out of a Target without buying myself something. A magazine? A shirt? It's funny how things change, isn't it?
We ended our little excursion with a trip to the SPCA to visit the doggies. Usually, I can be in there and leave with no problem. This time though, I almost walked out with another dog and I am SO GLAD
I didn't. There was a male Yellow Lab puppy with big eyes and huge goofy paws that almost had me. The moment I laid eyes on him I had already named him. I looked up at Ace and said "We need to leave NOW." And we did. I have a weakness for puppies. I'm completely ruled by maternal instinct and little puppies are like Kryptonite for me. I see the little faces and the big eyes and my brain says "BABY!!".... but puppies grow up. They grow up to be dogs that I must walk and care for and feed. It's like adopting another child! I'm so glad I resisted. Someone will snatch that little guy up before next week is done, I'm sure of it. That someone will not be me. Thank goodness.
We came home and the boys and I played with the new toys while Ace mowed the lawn. I made dinner, we watched TV and played some more and now the boys are in bed.

I wish every Saturday could be like this one. Goodnight internet!

Writer's Block

I've got nothing. Still. I've written a few entries in my head and then nothing has made it to paper and so, here are more photos for you. Please don't throw anything at me. At least, not at my face. Maybe just try to aim for my arms.... what?

Usually up to no good....

But always always happy.





One Green eye, one Blue. Because he is THAT awesome.


No, you didn't misread.. it says "I Love Pooping". Because I'm classy like that.



He's like a tiny little Buddha.


Don't be jealous... Not everyone can be this lucky.

Worth A Thousand Words

Or maybe even a million. My kids RULE.

Life Is Beautiful

Errrr....

Look! Pictures of mah baybees! Y'all always seem to like those.



This Level Of Cuteness Should Be ILLEGAL




Bubbas!!!



You go ahead and guess where he gets it from (HINT: NOT ME).



Too Cool For School, Dude.


Oh Mah Gawd I can't believe this is happening....



My 3Yr old is more electronically savvy than I am.. He can work all of the Apps on my phone! Ones I didn't even know I had!


I really have nothing of value to say today and I plead 3DAY WEEKEND on that one. It is time ta shut awf teh Brainz. I hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day weekend and God Bless Our Troops!

I'd Been Gathering Moss...

I never get out of the house. Like, literally NEVER..... it would frighten you if you really knew how little I leave my home nowadays. I like to tell people it's because I work so many hours here and that by the time all of my kids are gone for the day I'm just too tired. Really though, I'm not really sure what the reason is. I guess I'm just in kind of a huge rut right now and have had no real desire to get out of it.

My friend J though, has a real talent for forcing people out of their comfort zone in the very sweetest way possible....



Holy Catfish Batman!!



That's right, I went indoor rock climbing. She really didn't give me much of a choice. She asked me to go on a night that Ace happened to be off work and she was sure to ask me in front of him so that he pretty much had to agree to watch the boys for me.
I must tell you right now that this is NOT something I would ever do normally. I am the LAST person on earth that would volunteer to do anything even remotely adrenaline fueled or involving heights...
I walked into that gym with knots in my stomach and a lump in my throat. J and Vee both assured me that I would NOT plummet to my death. They gave me a quick lesson on how to work the ropes and sent me up the wall!



I made it to the top on my very first try!






J is teh awesome.





It's a little awkward looking, but I never fell once :)



Vee = Sexy Spider Woman.



Party On Wayne.... ;)