So Long 2012

We've had a marvelous Christmas break! 

You may think that naps with the ipad by the Christmas tree can't be topped...

But we have had our Andrus family in town. LC is a particularly big fan and has spent a lot of time photographing our favorite folks, including this cute shot!

And he has spent some time with Big Joe participating in his favorite pass time

There has also been lots of time for playing with our new toys...

Serving up some pretty fancy tea and cake parties...

Knocking down some awesome storm trooper pig towers...

And putting Rembrandt to shame...

We have made a few trips to our favorite winter watering hole...

...and never get tired of playing choo choo train!

And thankfully there has been *SNOW*! 

Right now we are fighting sleep, as we are *DETERMINED* to ring in the New Year!

Here's to another good one!

Mixed Messages

"Heavenly Father, I am thankful for Santa Claus because he makes me want to be good."

*Almost* the message we intended. 

And judging from the haul this kid pulled in, he must have been very good!

Christmas!

 Santa totally overloaded his sled this year, we were happy to relieve him of his burden!

 We ALL agree, this was the BEST Christmas EVER!

From Pokemon cards...

 To Stompeez...

 To Angry Birds Star Wars Plushies...

 To horses and cowboy boots...

We all got something special from Santa.

But the best part was spending the day just playing and playing and playing together. No one changed from their jammies or lifted a finger to cook. 

Love it! and Love THEM!

Merry Christmas! 

Our Idyllic Christmas Eve

First Stop- The Polar Express to the North Pole... 

or at least the next best thing, The MBTA to South Station

Pops tried to warn me against such an ambitious endeavor. 

I told him it was all about building memories. 

He told me to grab the camera so we could forget the memories and instead have an idyllic picture of the past.

Say, "CHEESE!"

Well, thumbs up to the train ride at least!

The train display at South Station was pretty cool too. 

Things didn't take a turn for the worse until after a tasty pizza lunch, Tadpole needed to go to the bathroom, #2. Pops took him downstairs to the Men's bathroom, but soon returned and informed me that it was unfit as it was crammed full of homeless men. 

So I took him the the Women's bathroom. 

Tadpole was mortified! 

I stood watch outside his stall and it was obvious that he only took care of #1. 

I asked him if he needed to finish his business. 

With furrowed brow, he replied, 

"I just want to get the *Hell* out of here!" 

Ya, me too. 

When we got back to the family, LC was ready for his turn in the bathroom and Pops was displeased because thanks to LC and a mega tantrum his phone had been smashed to smithereens. Later, during a wrestling match with LC, Pops lost his favorite Federalist lapel pin.

Family, isn't it about time?

Thank heavens for the "Majik Theidor" production of the Nativity!

Oh ya! And the raspberry torte that the Stone's brought. Funny how we have enjoyed their company for the last two years and we only get a picture of their gourmet dessert each time! We really honestly enjoy their company more! But seriously, could you just die?

Then it was *PRESENT* time. We made a trip to the toy store earlier in the day to pick out gifts for each other. I think we actually kept the gifts a secret for the first time ever!

Abz got LC a mini firetruck, complete with siren!

Tadpole got Abz some fancy jewelery to match her snazzy new jams.

Little Chief got Superkid a Lego Pirate Walk-the-Plank game, 

which we all played and highly approved!

And Superkid got Tadpole his first Transformers. Tadpole is a major fan!

Bring on SANTA!

2 Nights 'til Christmas

We are simply going NUTS around here! With only 2 nights to go until Christmas, we have butterflies in our stomachs and ants in our pants! 

Perhaps Superkid says it best, "I can't sleep! I'm in *SUSPENSION*!"

I personally think the reason for sleeplessness is Abizella's foot in his face!

The important thing is that the kiddos continue to carry out their tradition to double bunk as they prepare for the big day!

He's On the TOP OF THE WORLD

Superkid had his first piano recital EVER this week!

Pops and I were beaming!

He played "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" as a duet with his teacher 

and "Home For The Holidays"

And look at that posture!

It was an all around great day for Superkid! He also passed his timed math-facts quiz on his first try, without studying. 

Nice work!

Count Your Blessings

Tadpole has recently joined the payroll of Tidepool Toads Inc. and thus is now under money management instruction. He has been given a little bank with three compartments to help him divide his money into "spending", "savings", and "sharing". As instructed in the Old Testament, the "sharing" compartment is for his tithing. Each week he counts his money and divides it among the compartments.

Being the pensive kid he is, one day he was mulling over this tithing business and as we were driving along he asked, "Mom, why do I give my money to Jesus?" Seizing upon an important instruction opportunity I counseled, "Because the Lord has commanded us to pay tithing and when we obey His commandments we get blessings." Pleased at my succinct, yet comprehensive answer I was completely satisfied that Tad would happily and willingly commit to a lifetime of tithing compliance. He then scratched his head and said, "Oh, I get it. We have to PAY Jesus for our blessings!"

Oh my. This kid is going to be awesome in Law School.

The Gingerbread Man

I have to be honest with you. I'm not sure what this "Elf on the Shelf" is. 

Maybe something to do with an Elf checking out your kids and reporting to Santa? 

We've never had any Elves show up at our place. Maybe it is because the Gingerbread Man has the scene under control. He is pretty good at keeping the whining down and the bickering at bay. Every once in awhile, he will turn up "missing". The kids like to conspire to hide him. That's why his "Big Brother" came on the scene. Tadpole came in my room the other day with a bulging sweater and said, "I'm just fat. I don't know where the Gingerbread Man and his Big Brother are!"

Nice try.

Perfect Timing!

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" 

 Last year it was the bottom two...

This year it is the top two!

Oh! Christmas Tree!

Christmas Tree Time!

We found a beauty!

We brought her home, pulled out all of the decorations, 

and got busy!

I think we got  a good one... 

I especially like it with my favorite sparkly things out front!

Christmas Vaneer

While this crew will never take home rewards for, "Best Behaved", we are happy to settle for most stylish (self determined, of course). Christmas and Easter are when this family shines! 

Thanks to Grandma for the fancy threads!

And thanks to Cousin Andie who dropped by from Colorado to be audience to all of this and acted as personal photographer too! We ALL LOVE YOU!

Wish Lists

Jessica showed up Thanksgiving morning with the newspaper tucked under her arm. We all spent the day browsing the adds for all things bright and glimmery to delight our hearts. It reminded me of receiving the Sears catalog in the mail right before Christmas. I remember flipping through the pages over and over again circling all my favorite picks, which turned out to be pretty much anything in the catalog aimed at a girl. I think it was first Superkid's idea to grab a pair of scissors and start clipping out favs for his letter to Santa. The others were not about to miss out in such great fun and important work!

Topping Superkid's list is the Nerf N-Strike gun with "nite vishin gogls". He is also dying for an iPod Touch, Lego sets, robots and the Polar Express train set.

Abizella wants an EZ Bake oven, fancy dress-up shoes, slippers, art supplies, Disney Princesses, and a sewing machine! ... that is until she saw the Black Friday door buster add at K-Mart for a $10.99 sewing machine and realized she could just but that herself! 

This will go down in history as the BEST $10.99 she ever spent! Long story short, K-Mart did not have said sewing machine in stock on-line, or in the store (I know because we spent a very ugly Black Friday night at K-Mart). After giving up and deciding the pay the difference and buy it elsewhere, I got online to see the terrible reviews. In the end the "difference I paid" was a little more substantial, but the machine will go the distance. Abz already whipped out her first project, a silky skirt for her doll. 

Nice work!

Topping Tadpole's list is Hot Wheel's Wall Tracks, after all it is the tidy toy that will never touch the ground and is still loads of fun! He is also pining for Angry Bird's Star Wars plush toys, remote control cars, Thomas the Train's buddy Victor, and GeoTracks.

Little Chief didn't catch wind of the whole making a list scene. 

But it is pretty clear what is on this kid's mind. 

Ponies. 

Ponies, Ponies, Ponies.

He loves his (okay, Abz's) horses. I find him up chatting with his little horse buddies, acting out little scenarios. If he sees me, he looks up and says, "Go away Mom!" 

It is clear the horse takes center stage in his heart!

It's 'Nowing!

Little Chief bounded out of bed Saturday morning screaming, "It's 'nowing, It's 'nowing!"

Snow is not the only "S" word LC struggles to pronounce. Other favorites include, "Shammy" for his big brother, and he brought the Andrus girls to their knees in laughter when he commanded the dog, Shadow, (repeatedly) to *SIT!*

 It was on this "Nowy" day that Pops decided that the rain gutters MUST be cleared. To be honest there hasn't been any time before now (the leaves are finally all down and *mostly* hauled back to the compost pile) and the weather is not getting any better around here. Still I was pretty sure he had a death wish when he crawled out on the slick roof, tied to a power tool.

But why would he want to kill himself when he has these darling little *lazy* angels to care for on top of that full time job of his!?
As he likes to quote George Bluth, "I'm doing the time of my life!"

 Pops said that the ambulance that was blaring down the street slowed as it approached the house. He was waiting for them to pull over, lean out the window and say, "We'll just wait"

No worries though, he only had one close call all day and it was during the 1% of the time that I was actually spotting him on the ladder. Pops is my hero. The true model manly man.

Aunt Cincha Heaven

My sister Cindy came to town just before Thanksgiving. I see my family so rarely that when I do get to be with them I usually end up laughing myself senseless and having that feeling of never being satiated. Cindy is the best. We came from the best family of all time. Not because we were perfect, not because we always got along, but probably because we could always laugh, and still do. 

My kiddos were instantly in love. Tadpole still asks when she will be back. She is good for snuggling, chatting, tickling, reading stories and throws a mean movie party! Popcorn with M&Ms and licorice will be the "Aunt Cindy" treat of choice for all movie nights moving forward.

The wonderful thing about Aunt Cincha is that she values us all so much. She connected individually with everyone of us. We can't wait for her to come back in a couple of months! Hopefully she will bring Uncle Shane and Cousin Davis with her!

And Cindy, the "Pooh Clicker" is totally all yours!