Keepin' it real

Just thought I'd share a few pics from the last week or so -- just everyday, routine things . . .yet things that I hope I never forget!

I looked in the bathroom this morning to see Kayla brushing her baby's "teeth" -- toothpaste and all!


Yesterday, Joshua was coloring with stencils at the table while I was picking up in the living room. He called to me "Mom, look at my picture. It's the Christmas light show!" Holy cow -- for those of you have seen the light layout, the stars along the top are where the colored snowflakes are. And, Joshua informed me that the banners are supposed to be the rolling snowscapes -- can you tell our family has been eating, thinking, breathing Christmas light show??? Joshua is SOOO pumped!


Disclaimer: I do not normally have dumped out suitcases on the floor . . . I guess the kids felt the need to "unpack" from Grandma and Grandpa's before the suitcase made it upstairs.

Anyway, on Sat. night, the Lawrence Welk show was on (hey, when you don't have cable, options are a little limited!!!!) and Joshua was imitating the tap dancer -- cracked me up!


Earlier in the day on Saturday was homemade pizza -- this is what you get when you say "Say Cheese!"

I wanted to make an advent calendar with activity pockets for the kids, so when I saw this canvas on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1, I decided the kids would have fun painting it. Joshua claimed it would be eaiser to go "shirtless" than to put on a scrappy big T-shirt . . . ok, whatever!


Kayla thought it was great -- and yes, she got more on her sleeve, than on the canvas! Fun times!

Happy B-day, Kayla!!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Kayla's b-day! I think Joshua was just as or more excited than Kayla . . partly because he knows this HIS birthday is 3 weeks after Kayla's! He insisted on "helping" with her cake, so he was the "official" ladybug spot "putter-onner!"

As you can see Joshua was right ready to help "guide" Kayla in all of the birthday proceedings!

She really gave it her all when she was blowing out the candles --so much so that half of the cake was designated as "Kayla's" due to the excessive saliva on the cake!

She actually wasn't all that interested in opening gifts -- when she had the first one unwrapped, she said, "All Done" and took off for the playroom! Joshua convinced her otherwise, though!

Opening the "Kayla-sized" chairs from G/G Nelson.

This was the baby (pretend, not real!) from Mommy and Daddy -- she actually played with it that evening and today it has been THE ONLY THING she wants!


Feeding the baby in the crib. This was actually MY crib when I was growing up -- so fun! Happy Birthday, Kayla! So much has happened in the last two years -- can't believe how time has flown!

This week . . .

Let's see . . . Kayla got her first haircut last weekend. I actually took her to my stylist to see how "a professional" does it! She did GREAT! This was pretty much her expression the entire cut, but hey . . . she tolerated everything just fine . . . so we weren't complaining!


We had a stretch of BEAUTIFUL weather the last couple of days, so we tried to take advantage of it! Joshua on his bike . . . SHHH . . .don' tell him, but this will probably be one of his last rides on this bike . . .he's getting one for his birthday in December!

Some sibling bonding in the sandbox . . . trust me, they only peacefully coincide for about 3 minutes and then it becomes "MY SAND" and "YOUR SAND" and woe to the person who takes the other's sand!

What a look of childhood fun!

Last weekend, we celebrated Uncle Brian's birthday and Joshua insisted on not only having a balloon for him, but also wrapping him a present! Happy Birthday, Brian! Oh -- BTW, count 'em . . . do you see the 3 purchased soft drinks??? Guess my family doesn't like our caffeine free diet Pepsi!!!


Check this out . .. NO SPOTS ON THE CARPET! Got it cleaned today, and the kids loved having all of the extra room!

They also loved getting to go through the "tunnel" on the way upstairs. Their 5-month pregnant mama, on the other hand, carefully calculated each and every trip upstairs, deeming it absolutely necessary before proceeding!



. . . and this here would be our baby in his new "Cubbies" uniform! He is LOVING Cubbies so far . . . one of the highlights of his week!