Merry Christmas!

We hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Some of you have requested that I post my cookie sheet advent calendar. You should be able to click on it to see it larger. The boys have had a great time sharing the duty of adding the magnets each day. The only one without a number was #25. It is all about baby Jesus anyway!

P.S. You have to check out today's new entry to thedeanery ...hilarious!

The Aftermath

These are some pictures we took around town of the trees that were broken by the heavy ice. It is so sad to think how old these trees are and that they have survived such strong winds around here but could not handle the weight of the ice.
I think the most amazing pictures are #'s 1,10,11,12,and 19.
I am sure glad we live in a new neighborhood with tiny little trees that just bent over a little.

Baby, it's cold outside!

Here are some pictures of the ice storm. We were without power most of Monday and for a few hours on Sunday night. We were some of the lucky few that got to sleep most of the night with power. There are still many homes without power and we feel very blessed to have ours back on. Some of the pictures were taken after it had started melting. The pictures do not do it justice. It has been an adventure!

And the winner is...

Scott, my brother in law was asked by his wife (my sister) what I should rename my children on my blog and he said, "Well, that's easy. Ned Nederlander, Dusty Bottoms and Lucky Day from Three Amigos!"

I love it. I do not love the movie, but I hope it is popular enough that some people might get the connection.

Thanks so much to those of you that took the time to make a suggestion.

Scott, your prize will be in the mail soon. :)

Special K

K put his own shirt on this morning. He did a really great job, but it was on in-side-out. I told him how proud I was of him for putting his own shirt on without any help (he does it sometimes but he usually says he can't do it and wants help). Then, after lots of praise I convinced him that he needed an undershirt on so that I could take the shirt off and get it back on correctly without making him feel like he had done anything wrong. I love this silly boy!

Okay, now on to something I have been trying for a while to find the time to blog about. I am sure you have noticed that I do not use my children's real names in my blog (gotta protect the innocent). Well, I like the names Little L and Big L but I have never liked using K for my middle child. I just could not think of anything better. For some reason I don't like the name Middle K, so I do not know what else to do.
I am really hoping that you all can help me out with this. If you can think of a fun name to call K instead of K please post a comment with your made up name. The creator of the winning name will win something wonderful. I don't know what it will be, it depends on what the winner thinks is wonderful! So, put on your thinking caps and either post a comment or send me an email.
While we are on the subject I just wanted to add that if you happen to use our real names in a comment I will not publish it, this does not mean that I did not appreciate the comment, I just want to keep that private. :) Oh, and if you happen to have a link from your blog to mine (I love that people do that) please list it as ScrapChairPotato, not my real name. Thanks!

(Revision--If you have a good idea for all three of the children then please submit that, it does not have to only be K that you rename)

Partners in crime

This is where we found Little L and Ethan playing yesterday afternoon. They love to get in the fridge together. They are usually trying to get juice or milk. This time it was an egg. Ethan has been asking to eat eggs for the last few days, I guess he was sick of waiting and was ready to make it himself! :)

Not quite what you were hoping for...

I have some photos for you, but I don't think they are what you are expecting. While I do have several cute pictures of my nephews and sons at play, I am posting photos of a very different nature.

Daddy came out of the shower this morning sporting a nasty mustache. I think he may have been inspired by a friend of ours that is having a mustache contest at work. I could not contain my laughter. The boys were so concerned with the new look that K decided he would take care of it on his own. He grabbed the nose hair trimmer and went to work. He and Big L tried their best but did not get rid of much facial hair so K moved on to the nose hairs... Daddy did not enjoy that part so much, I think he would rather do that for himself.

He did not leave the house looking like this but before he shaved we got some really great, and totally disgusting pictures.

Enjoy!

Too busy snuggling to post anything

I am on my way to pick up my sister and her adorable boys from the airport today. So... I think it may be a little while before I get another post written (not too long, but a few days at least). I will try to do it soon, I do have a lot to write about. But, for now I will be spending some good quality time snuggling my nephews (one of which I will be meeting for the first time today, hooray!).
Talk at ya soon. :)

D is for Doughnut

Today K's Alphabet club learned about letter D. We went to Krispy Kream for a guided tour. We (6 moms, 6 Alphabet club kids and 4 tag-along younger siblings) arrived at 9:30 am. The store was not ready for us, but the kids were all ready to have some fun. All of the children ran around yelling and playing, they were already having a blast and they had no idea what was to come.While waiting some of us got a free doughnut. Did you know if the "Hot Now" light is on they give you a free doughnut? Anyway, it was fun because K was able to have a taste of the doughnuts we would be learning about.We finally were invited to step behind the counter (this baffles me that they still do this, what about the liabilities?). We walked past the big conveyor belt, festively decorated doughnuts, and over a slippery, grease covered floor to the back of the store to where it all begins. The children were able to touch the dough before and after rising. They watched the dough cook and then the doughnuts bathe in a waterfall of icing. I think Little L cared more about what our tour guide had to say than any of the Alphabet club children. Either that or he was so tired he was just could not help but stare in that direction for a very long time. Then began the really fun part for the kids, they got to decorate their very own doughnut. An employee dipped the doughnut in chocolate and then the kids got to dip them in sprinkles. I think that K was most excited about the fact that he got to put his doughnut in its very own bag. We went back out to the tables and they got little sacks full of two more doughnuts, a hat and a sicker book. The last two pictures were when I asked K to show me his messy hands, he is so silly. All of the kids seemed to have a great time and they were so very cute. I would love to show you pictures of all of them but I would not do that without permission from all of parents, so you only get to see my kids. :)

Doughnuts

For our Grandmas and Grandpas

This is definitely the sort of blog post that only a Grandpa or Grandma could love. Nothing too exciting, just pictures of the happenings of the week. So, this is for you Grandma and Grandpa Dibb, Nana, Grandpa Roger and Grandma Sylvia. We miss you and wish you were here with us.
Big L only had two days of school this week thanks to parent teacher conferences, and fall break. We started off the long weekend making cinnamon rolls. The first day out of school was gloomy and rainy and we were expecting severe weather throughout the day. I let the boys eat the very ends of the dough roll (something my mom always let us do) and they did not stop there. They continued to eat almost all of the flour and sugar (mostly flour) that was left on the table after I had cut the rolls. It made me thirsty for a big glass of ice water watching them stuff their mouths with flour. The cinnamon rolls did not turn out too well (yeast doughs and I do not get along...yet, I am detemined) but we ate them all within three days anyway.
Once the severe weather passed we were left with beautiful clear skies and wonderful temperatures. The only complaint we had was the wind. Big L lost his shoe once while riding his bike and it blew out to the street, those Crock shoes really are lightweight. We played outside for several hours each day. The older boys always wanted to play on their bikes and Little L was happy to just walk around outside. Today while we were playing I noticed that Little L was looking so big, I could not help but take tons of pictures.

Fall break photos

Halloween Memories

Since we are busy getting costumes chosen for this Halloween I thought it would be fun to share some pictures from the past (some not so distant, some from my childhood). It was fun to find the really old ones, they are pretty funny.

Halloween Photos

I love these boys

This is what being a stay at home mom is all about. I love watching these boys throughout the day. They are so funny, cute, smart, talented, and naughty in their own special ways.

Big L has been playing around with these balloons since I taught K's Alphabet Club school on Wednesday for 'Letter B' day. Yesterday he asked if he could write on the balloons like I had written on them for school. I said it was fine as long as he was very careful with the sharpie marker he would be using. He was so excited, on one balloon he wrote his and his brothers' names and initials, on the other he decided to draw a person. He said it looked like Little L: a big head and a little body. :) I love all of the detail.

Today I decided to pack a lunch for K in a lunch box like Big L. K wants to do all the big boy things that his brother is doing. When I gave him the lunchbox he asked, "What is this?" I just told him to open it at the table. He was so surprised, and excited. I wish that I had pulled the camera out as soon as he opened it. His face is a little blurry in the picture that I chose but it was the only one that even got close to showing how much his face lit up when he saw it. (All of this and he still would not eat his PB&J, I cannot get this kid to eat a sandwich.)

Little L has an obsession. He loves to eat the erasers on pencils. If his big brothers leave a pencil out (this happens quite often) he will find it and the eraser will not survive. We were shopping at Target the other day and I found a huge pencil, it was about 18 inches long. I decided to hand it to Little L, point first, to see what he would do. It took about half a second for him to figure out what he had in his hand and to turn it around to bite off the eraser. Luckily I got it away before I had to pay for an enormous pencil with no eraser. The older boys thought it was pretty hilarious. This picture is not particularly adorable, but it shows him in the act. If I am around he always gives me the 'I know I will be in trouble, so I will watch you to see how long I can get away with this' look.

I really do love these boys and I am so glad to be the one that gets to be home to experience all of the wonderful things that make each of them unique. I am also VERY grateful to have a husband that would not have it any other way. Honey, I love you!!

uninspired

I know, it has been forever since I posted. I have a good excuse though, I have been sick (oh, wait, that is not a good excuse, I have been sitting at the computer most of the time I have been sick). Well, I guess the excuse still works because we have not done anything but sit at home since I have been sick. I was trying to think of something to write about so I decided to look at pictures on my computer to get some inspiration and realized the last pictures I took were at the soccer game a couple of weeks ago. So that didn't help me out. I decided to look at old pictures and found a bunch of K doing his normal crazy things. I put some together in a slide show. Some are sideways, I will have to figure that out and fix it later. Enjoy!

crazy kid

doubleheader

Saturdays have changed lately around here. Normally it is a lazy kind of day. With Daddy at work we don't usually do the kinds of things that most families do that have the weekends off. With Big L out of school we don't even have to get anyone dressed by noon if we don't want to.

Well, it is a bit different these days. Big L and K are in soccer. Those of you who have two or more children in sports know that this can take up what feels like your entire Saturday.

K's team had a double header. I have been dreading this day since we got the schedules. It actually turned out to be better than I expected. It helped that Big L's game was at the same time as one of K's games so at least we were not there for 3 hours. Man, that would have been like church in the sun, with people screaming (not just the children during sacrament meeting) wearing jeans, wind blowing in your face, sitting in comfortable lawn chairs with cup holders, and a team huddle and cheer at the end. Hey, maybe I'm on to something. Anyway, it also helped that Daddy did not have to go in until noon and was able to be at Big L's game while I was at K's.

The part I was most worried about was K getting tired of playing. Most of the 3 year old children are crying or refusing to play by the end of one game. To all of the parents' surprise the children did really well. Other than the constant running from the ball instead of toward the ball, and K's raging allergies the games went well. I even saw one goal made by our team. I don't watch the game as much as I do K to make sure he is running in the right direction, and not getting trampled or pushed, etc. I never know by the end of the games which team has won. My children never know either so I guess the indifference is hereditary.

Naturally I had my camera with me (you never know when there is something you will want to scrap) so here are some of those pictures.




Notice that K is looking at, but running from the ball.



K's favorite part is snack time. Big L is getting a drink because his team did not have a snack. Was I supposed to bring it this week? Probably. Ugh, another absent minded mommy moment.




Little L looks so sweet in this picture that you can almost overlook the comb over (courtesy of the wind), the dry boogers, the drool and the pimple on his chin. I said almost.



Big L has a hard time taking a 'normal' picture these days. When I get the camera out he usually says, "Mommy, take a picture of this." and he then pulls some kind of crazy face so he can look at it on the back of the camera when he is finished.






K during snack time. I like the way the pole runs parallel to his head. :)



Little L was not happy unless he was walking away from the wind which also happened to be away from the game and my line of sight. He spent most of the time in his stroller. Sorry buddy.






K was exhausted. Oh, my goodness. I almost forgot the best part of my story of the day. On our way home K asked me to close his water bottle. I was driving so I asked him to try it again for himself. Well, I guess he did not get the lid on all the way like he thought he had. The water was spilling in his lap and when he finally noticed he asked in an irritated/whiny voice, "Mommy, did you pee my pants?" No K, I did not pee in your pants. I did put a towel under him on the couch during his nap in case he went pee in his pants.

Suddenly

Big L's first grade class has a 'student of the week' each week. The student is spotlighted all week and is allowed to bring pictures on Monday and show-and-tell on Friday. I have been so looking forward to Big L's week. I was looking on shutterfly.com yesterday and was contemplating making a 20 page hard back book with pictures of Big L for his special week. I was only thinking about doing this because I got one free with Pampers Points.
I decided to look on line at his teachers weekly parent letter to see who was student of the week this week to see if I had time to order the book. (It is done alphabetically so I figured I could see who it was and look at his class list to see how many more students were before him.)
I got to the parent letter from last week, scrolled down and the letter said:
Student of the week this week Tre.
Next week Sept. 24-28 Big L.
I immediately had tears in my eyes. How could I have missed this??? I first felt so sorry for Big L that he had gone through almost the entire week knowing that his mommy forgot to send pictures. I thought that he must not have said anything because he did not want me to feel bad (yes, even at 6 he really thinks of things like that). Then I thought about what his teacher must be thinking, 'oh, poor mommy of three little children, she just can't get it together." or worse, "there goes Big L's mommy again, that flaky parent, no wonder it is so difficult for Big L to get his work done on time." Then came the selfish thoughts, that I would not get to make the cute book, or scrapbook something special and have his teacher tell me what a wonderful job I did on it.
I cannot understand how this happens. How do our emotions change so unexpectedly? How can there be absolutely no warning. One moment you are fine, going on with your day, and wham you are in tears. I was amazed at how quickly I could produce tears. I was sick about the whole thing, and on a mission.
I decided I would find several pictures of Big L and print them up for him to take to school on Friday. I spent the next hour going through picture CDs (so much for the fridge I had planned on cleaning). I also pulled all of the layouts that had Big L in them and put them all in one album.
When Big L got home from school I asked him if he was student of the week. He said that he didn't know. Well, at least he was not feeling like his mommy did not care about him. I figured his teacher must not have made a big deal about the fact that he did not have pictures to share. I was just glad we at least had Friday left to send pictures and Big L could take show and tell. Now, this all did not make me feel much better, but at least I could make Big L feel special for one day if not all week. Seriously, HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS??






Turns out, it was a typo. He is student of the week next week. Whew! Well, at least it got me to look through old pictures and find these:

Aaaahhh...much better

It must be the scrapper in me, I just put pictures on the side of my blog and suddenly the whole world seemed a better place. Maybe it is the fact that it was pictures of my cute kids. Maybe it was that little embelishment my layout needed. Whatever it was, I was suddenly giddy about my blog. Funny what makes us scrappers happy. :)

What was I thinking?

Ok, so I started this blog . . . and . . . it has been like three days and have not posted anything. That is so like me. I get so excited about things and start doing it and telling everyone about it and then I do nothing about it. I cannot think of anything at the moment but I am sure if you are reading this you can think of a few things I have told you I was so excited to do and then never did, am I right?
Anyway, I am excited to do this blog but I am so worried that it is going to be stupid or I will offend someone with a rant and they will never speak to me again. I am always uncomfortable with my own writing. I even call my sister when I am leaving a comment on someone elses blog so I can read it to her to see if it sounds ok before I post it. I know, I'm a dork.
Oh, there is another reason I am crazy for starting this. I know this will be yet another thing that will keep me from doing the things that I am supposed to be doing. It is 8:38 and Big L starts school at 9:00. Not such a bad thing if I were dressed to go to the gym like I am planning to do, or if Littl L were dressed. At least I packed Big L's lunch today. I have been forgetting that lately (only twice). I don't know how. When the school year started I was so excited about it. I put cute notes in the lunch box, made sure he was going to be eating healthy, and that he would have enough food to last the long, long day at school without his mommy to beg snacks from.
Well, I should go get my clothes out of the dryer and get dressed. I can wear clothes to the gym that are wrinkled from sitting in the drying for 3 days, right??

And we're off!

Here we go.

Just a friendly reminder to my readers. . . all three of you!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!!
Just a reminder to please not use our real names in your comments. If you do accidentally use our real names I really don't mind, I just won't publish it. I enjoy the comments either way!
Also, if you have a link on your blog to my blog, or my husbands, please use the title of the blog and not our real names. We work hard to keep our privacy and we hope you respect our choice to do so.
I know, I'm a litte crazy, I am trying to embrace that little fact about me, maybe you will someday too!
Ned, Dusty, Lucky and I thank you!!