Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

As I'm writing this I have one little chubby girl on my lap, snoring in her sleep, with a fever and cough.  At my feet on the other end of the couch, Leah is lying in the pajama's she's had on since Monday...coughing up a lung.  Her fever broke, but we are left with the droplets of congestion filling the air.

BUT...despite the sickness that has slithered into our home, we did manage to celebrate Jesus' birthday, in a less animated way, than usual!

IT SNOWED!  And Mr. Boots made his final appearance before Christmas!

Leah had a school Christmas party Friday the 21st!

They played, Christmas Song Karoake.

Miss Katelyn, our babysitter, stopped by to drop of presents for the little ones.

If you throw a mattress on the floor in the living room, this is what you get! WWF!

I had some helpers with baking an apple pie.  Note the separation between the two of them...lots of slapping took place before the separation! :)

Who needs a horse when you have daddy home for a few days?

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Teaching her to fight off those silly boys!

I think she's got the hang of it!

Blake's ALL-TIME favorite activity!

Daddy got stuck in Blake's PT tunnel, so Blake crawled inside to help him out!

He was hilarious opening gifts!  He's squawk, squeal, ewww, and ahhh!  Then slap his hands to his face and then to his hips and then hold his hands out to the side, as if to ask "what is this?" (Santa brought the kids a trampoline)

Meanwhile, Autum took all the candy from everyone's stockings while they were busy opening gifts and established it as "MINE!"  She would not set any of it down to open other gifts, I had to pry these from her hand before naptime!

Jammin' out to Autum's karoake machine!

Waiting to open gifts with Mimi Teresa and Papa Gary.

We  set up a make-shift hospital bed for Leah to partake in the festivities as she was running a fever Christmas morning.

This is his "What is it?" reaction.

Aunt Kate helping out!

The kids got Plasma Cars for Christmas so Mimi Teresa was helping show Blake how to make it go by twisting the steering wheel back and forth.

Christmas Part II---this weekend...if everyone is healthy again!

Blake's Perspective on Christmas, Pt 2

Blake says:

Mommy looks like she got run over by a reindeer,
Most nights by 9 pm in the eve...
You can say she's exhausted from taking care of us kids and daddy,
But as for me and Chubby girl, its because of the big red headed girl, we believe..

Someday's she says she living in a big 'ol crazy fog,
We try our best to keep her busy, ya know,
But sometimes she just wants to sit down and eat a warm meal,
And sometimes she just wants to leave us with a sitter, and go!

When we found her Christmas morning,
Sprawled out in her bed on her back,
Her hair was a mess and she only had one fuzzy sock on her foot,
And a toothbrush and a breath mint, she did lack.

Mommy looks like she got run over by a reindeer,
Most nights by 9 pm in the eve...
You can say she's exhausted from taking care of us 3 kids and daddy,
But as for me and Chubby girl, its because of the big red headed girl, we believe..

We're all so proud of Autum,
The little chubby girl is doing so well,
Now she only screams when I steal her dolly or her treats,
And then hits me, bites me, and runs to mommy, the little tattle tell!

Now it's not Christmas at our house,
Without our tree fish lined to the wall in back,
And you just can't help but wonder,
Should we pull all the ornaments off the tree or just open the gifts in a sack?

Mommy looks like she got run over by a reindeer,
Most nights by 9 pm in the eve...
You can say she's exhausted from taking care of us 3 kids and daddy,
But as for me and Chubby girl, its because of the big red headed girl, we believe.

Daddy likes to hunt and shoot reindeer,
Every vacation day and weekend he will leave,
You can say he's a trophy buck, head hunter,
But if you ask Daddy, he just likes the peace and quiet in the trees.

I've warned all our friends and neighbors,
Better watch out for yourself
They should never start a conversation with the big 'red headed girl,
If they want to get to eat supper, and get to bed by a quarter to twelve.

Mommy looks like she got run over by a reindeer,
Most nights by 9 pm in the eve...
You can say she's exhausted from taking care of us 3 kids and daddy,
But as for me and Chubby girl, its because of the big red headed girl, we believe.

Merry Christmas!

 

Love, Blake

Snow, Snot, Santa, and Potty Training

This is how our week began.  We went to church in our Christmas dresses.  And this is also the first picture I have gotten, I believe, with all 3 kids looking at the camera, and no one is crying!  Being the week before Jesus' birthday is always a crazy one. 

Honestly, we have been attempting to fight off all the illness going around.  Lots of Vitamin C, Zinc, Congaplex, Multi-vitamin, Echinacea, Fish/Flax Oil, and vegetables!  In my experience, so far, maintaining one's pH balance is crucial to fighting off illness...so this would mean we need to eat lots of alkaline foods (vegetables, flax oil, quinoa)  to counteract all the acidic foods (fruit/sugar) that one typically eats this time of year.  I think we are running at half-speed around here, as a result. 
We all feel more like this:

This is the coloring picture Leah made for the coloring contest in town.  I think she's tapping into all of our inner feelings!  Red eyes, anyone? :)

Mr. Boots has been up to all kinds of mischief this week, as well.  He ate WAY too much candy one day, so he was belly up in wrappers and half-eaten candy one morning.  Leah thought she would help him out in the middle of the night, that night, by helping herself to some of his candy, but not before Jerad walked in on her in the act.  She tried to convince him with a mouthful of color dripping out the corners of her mouth, that she wasn't eating anything...BUSTED!

So the next day, he figured he'd better do some exercise.  So he bench pressed two chocolate marshmallow cookies to get a good sweat going.  Leah agreed he needed to workout because his arms were "really flat!"

 

 Today, he turned a toilet paper roll into a chair while reading the most popular book in our house right now, "The Potty Train!"  Autum has FINALLY figured out the whole potty training deal, and we are having pretty successful days so far.  She will run in and tell me, "MommEEEE!  I go potty, you go chocolate...YAYYY!" (as she claps her hands and runs into the bathroom)  I've been using chocolate chips as her reward, which seem to be working so far.  Except now Leah keeps telling me when she goes to the bathroom, I guess she is hoping she'll get rewarded as well! 

With this 'big girl' move, Autum has also decided she needs to dress herself every morning.  So far, her wardrobe choices have included: swim suit tops, Blake's flannel shirts, skirts over sweatpants, stocking hats, gloves, snow boots, sunglasses, and a tank top, a heavy winter coat, and/or high heels...this is the difference between the 1st and 3rd child...I do NOT care or have time to CARE about making her change.  Yes, we went to Walmart yesterday in this outfit...and quite honestly, fit right in! :)

The, other night, Jerad grabbed his jacket to run outside for a minute, and Leah, never wanting to miss out on an opportunity to go somewhere, asked "where you going, dad?"  He replied, "Crazy!!  Wanna go?"  And she asked..."will these shoes work?"
BAHAHAHAHA...I am still laughing out loud every time I think about her saying this...oh my goodness!

And finally, it SNOWED!  Daddy went out to work at 2 am, while I listened to the wind howl against the house, waiting for Leah to come hop in bed with me.  At least she waited until 6 am.  So needless to say the 2 hour late-start at school would have been wonderful if I had kids who actually slept in.  We were done with breakfast and cleaned up by 7:15 am....SO we bundled up and headed outside, to what I thought was going to be lots of fun.  I guessed wrong.

The two little ones were freezing as soon as they walked out the door.  Blake kept licking the snot off of his face, Autum couldn't move in her 2 sizes too big boots, she JUST HAD to wear.  Leah threw a fit about having to wear a winter coat and hat, and the snow drifts were so high I almost lost the two little ones a few times!  I ran them around the yard in the sled a few laps but took a turn to tight and dumped my precious cargo...who by this point, were completely THROUGH with being outside.  So back inside we went...

Kidnapping Baby Jesus

On the day's I'm home from work the two little one's and I usually get outside to play, which ends up in a walk uptown, due to Autum's begging to 'walk'.  And by walk I mean Autum pulls Blake in the wagon or she pushes him in the stroller, because according to her "I big girl...I walk, NOO stroller, NOO, MomEEY!" (she always emphasizes the end of Mommy)  So in typical fashion, we headed up town upon our usual route.  This time we were in the stroller, Autum was under my feet, literally, helping me 'push' Blake while he rode comfortably in the stroller.  (He grunts when he sees something that makes him want to get out and walk)  Well, Autum usually gets tired of helping me and wanders off the sidewalk to explore.  Whether it be to chase a squirrel, pick up pine cones and sticks, stand atop the tree stump and yell, wave at passer's-by, throwing rocks, or climb the handicapped ramp to the high school, she always finds something to distract her.  Well, on this trip, I was the one distracted as I was chatting on my phone while Autum wandered off, and only after a few minutes did I realize she had gotten out of my line of vision.  We were passing the Lutheran Church at the time, in fact, right in front of the nativity scene.  I didn't worry until I heard Autum's little voice saying "shhh, shhh baby..." UH OH.  Baby Jesus!  I turned around in time to see her removing Baby Jesus from the manger...I stopped the stroller and turned to help save Baby Jesus from being kidnapped.  I told her that it was time for Baby Jesus to go "nigh, nigh!" But evidently not in her book...she screamed "NO NIGH NIGH" and tugged a little harder on him.  I then had to physically intervene, I tried to gently remove Baby Jesus from her grip to put him back in his bed, but she was putting up a fight.  I ripped Baby Jesus from her hands, put him back in his manger and told her we needed to go...I started to head back to the stroller, hoping she would follow, while taking a sweeping glance around to see who was watching this mess unfold.  I turned around just in time to see her kick the cow in the head and send him toppling over, which lead to a domino effect, toppling the other animal, which caused the sheep to lean slowly over...and Oh Lord...NOOO!  I sprinted back over to stop the madness of a 2-year old fit and reset the scene, while Autum sprawled face first into the hay screaming and crying..."BAAABBBY!"

Hard to believe this little angel could be so ornery... :)

She loves her Oreo Cookies

I picked her up, tucked her under my arm, made sure the Nativity Scene was peaceful again and got the heck out of there.  On the way home we went a 'new' route.

Making the felt Manger's for Baby Jesus.  Autum put stickers on popsicle sticks and ate glue to kill time.

Story time by the fire.  The girl's were talking about the next scavenger hunt clue.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles for Jesus!

After that Baby Jesus mishap, we actually went to a birthday party for Jesus, as well.  I was really hoping there was not a Baby Jesus nativity scene involved in the story time, because I was still recovering from the previous mishap.  Thank God there were snacks, cake, Elmer's glue, felt, stickers, and Capri Sun juice at the celebration to help distract Autum's age-related obsession with babies.  The rest of the girl's followed a scavenger hunt around the house seeking out clues about the birth of Jesus from the story in the Bible.  Then they ate cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Toward the end of the festivities, the hostess said they were set to reenact the nativity scene with dress-up clothes and a baby Jesus doll...that was when I decided it was time for us to leave. :)  Little did anyone else at the party know, we had already relived this scene, rather publicly!

And Mr. Boot's got locked out last night so he had to keep an eye on the kids from outside...BRRR!!