New Year's

I can tell it is New Year's as the resolutions are starting to show up around my house. Even Sophie has apparently switched from fat stogies to a lighter, healthier smoke....

Sophie's old partying ways....

 The new, improved e-cig smoking Sophie...

Trip

We got home yesterday from a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, which was our 3rd Christmas this year.  We squeezed in a trip to the winery, some time in the tent, some smores by the fire, and lots of riding around in Grandpa's buggy.  In other words, it was awesome.


Amelia enjoyed the campfire....

Ev was the embodiment of "ball 'till you fall" ...

Shade

Sometimes when the sun is ruining your view of the DVD player, you have to get a little help from your dad...or at least borrow his hat...

Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours looked a little something like this....

Christmas gift chaos...

New play costumes....

Ev is apparently not a fan of peanuts...he kept saying "hey guys, there's something in my ice cream. Can you please get it out?"

Rudolph

Holiday serenade....

Home Again

Christmas #1 is in the books. As always, it was great to see my family.  Even more predictably, it was sad to leave them. 

On the bright side, Amelia now knows how to play fake slot machine games on the internet...

Start Your Engines

Tomorrow begins our annual Christmas travel fest. We will travel to see my family for a few days, come back home so Santa can make a visit, then head to Meg's parents' for a few days.  The kids are incredibly excited. Sophie, who spends this time in doggy jail, is not.

Naybe

I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure I heard Amelia telling her Elf, Naybe, "snitches get stitches" tonight.  Let's just say I'm thinking Naybe will have nothing but good reports for Santa the rest of the year.

Toy Stores

Here is a note to toy stores...when you have places where my kids can play with some of the toys it gives me an opportunity to shop while they're distracted and it allows me to see what they really enjoy playing with...this makes me want to spend a lot more money in your store. Bad for me, but good for you.

Voices

Amelia, like, totally started talking like this the other day. I guess she, like, learned from one of her BFFs, Claire. It's really, like, super interesting to see her learn things from friends with older siblings.

Nice Date

With Everett's social calendar full, Amelia and I slipped away for an afternoon date. I don't want to get into all the specifics because our dates get pretty wild and crazy. That said, I will share that it involved, putt putt, go karts, arcade games, and ended with ice cream sandwiches. So, yeah, you can go ahead and feel jealous...


Showing off her form...

 Sporting some post go kart ride hair...

Looking Forward

Seeing those pictures and videos from nearly 3 years ago only helped me realize how big the kids are getting. Then, seeing them both at their schools yesterday made me realize they are both much bigger than I thought.

First, Amelia now gets dropped off at a school that has kids 3 times her age and doesn't miss a beat. There is no more walking her to her class and hugging her goodbye.  You simply pull up to the front of the school and she hops out, straps on her gargantuan backpack, and heads off into the distance.  I'm equal parts proud of her and horrified at how fast she is growing.  It won't be long until I'm dropping her off at her first middle school dance, date at the movies, or first day of college.

Secondly, despite being over a month away from his birthday, Everett has already been transitioned to the 3 year-old class at school.  To make matters worse, before they separate classes in the mornings, we have to drop him off with kids in the 4 year-old room. A few days ago, he was one of the older kids in his class. Now, my little man is now surrounded by kids who probably shave before they go to school.

I know kids grow. I know I can't stop this or even slow it down. I also know I don't like it. 

Looking Back

While looking back, I also found this video of Amelia meeting Everett. In my head, she never sounded this little...

Looking Back

As Everett gets older, I occasionally like to look back at this blog to see what Amelia was like when she was his age. For some reason, it crossed my mind tonight. So, I did some round math in my head and went back to the month before Amelia turned 3. As it turns out, a month before she turned 3, she was spending her first few days welcoming her new best friend into the world....

Wish

If I had one wish it would be that a little girl this pretty when she smiles wouldn't spend every night crying like she gets paid by the tear. After all, getting bathed, read to, and snuggled until you fall asleep to the sound of lullabies is not the hardest night.

Frosty

Even snowmen need love...

All Dressed Up

When your daughter thinks dressing up is putting on every piece of fake jewelry she owns, she occasionally looks like this....

and when your son thinks his big sister is the coolest person God ever made, he occasionally looks like this.....

Going Fast

We got Everett's school pics back yesterday. I can't believe how fast he's growing.  Meggan's baby is gone. My toddler has moved on. Now, he's a full blown little kid.  We booked his 3 year-old birthday party today. I'm excited about the years to come. I just hope they slow down a bit.

Christmas Spirit

We are in full Christmas spirit around the house these days.,..even Sophie is getting in on the act....

Chatter

As Everett approaches 3 years old, his vocabulary grows by the day.  This is both good and bad.  In just the past few days he has made great strides in being equal parts annoying and incredibly sweet.  For instance, he has now reached a stage where regardless of what you say, he responds with "why?".  Then, no matter what reason you give him, he'll ask "why?" again. This will continue 100 times in a row if you let it.  Generally, I just walk away before I yell "because daddy said so!".

Now, to offset that toddler annoyance, he gave us a surprise two nights ago.  He decided he would start saying his prayers with us at bedtime.  I wasn't as surprised that he wanted to say them as I was shocked at how much he had been listening to as we've been saying our prayers. He hit all the high points that we usually touch upon.  He asked for rest, health, good dreams, and more rest.  He may not have really understood anything he said, but it was sweet watching him try his best to do exactly as Amelia does each night. It's even adorable to hear him start by saying "Pure Jesus" instead of "Dear Jesus".  As a dad, there have been few times where I've felt more like our parenting was on the right track.

Rock Circle

Amelia's class just completed a lesson series on Native Americans.  Tonight, she took about 20 minutes explaining the meaning of each article of clothing, jewelry, and drum she made. Then, she made a "rock circle" and performed this little tune for me.....