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...