Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Who ARE These People!?!

That is what Elliott said Jax was saying as he turned his head from side to side, eyeing his siblings as they crowded around him this morning, vying for his attention.

Well I'll tell you who they are.
This is Me ~The Mom~ who spends alot of time walking around with somebody attached to me. Sometimes along with a toddler in one arm as well.  You can pretty well guess how much gets done in that fashion...then again, you might be surprised what a desperate Mommy can actually accomplish that way.

courtesy of Kate
Looking out the window at these tracks in the snow made me think of how much of my time is spent these days. Walking in circles in my little confined space with an occasional straying out every once in  awhile. :D  And hey, a lot of fun was had in doing that. :D
Then again, the other day I looked out the window from my perch on the bed where I sat feeding Jax and exclaimed over the beautiful day and the hopes that we would get out to the park with the kids.  Mr. Wise Guy, who was standing at the window had quite a different perspective...
He was staring off to the left at a  large bank of DARK clouds that ran along the entire horizon, that I was unable to see from my point of view.  He's like that. He always has my back when I get a little carried away with my dreamy, flowery thoughts. :D
When I was able to take a good look out the window I chose to notice how strikingly beautiful the sight was of the brilliance of the sun shining above those dark clouds, reminding me that no matter how dark the storm clouds are, the sun is still shining up there as beautifully as ever.  Sometimes it just takes those looking on from a distance to notice and point it out for us.
Now, after that small diversion here is the rest of "these people".
This is Kate. She is getting SO tall these days. She has always been very responsible and if you need to know anything around here, she can tell you the facts, how-tos and where-abouts of everything.
She loves you bunches Jax...
And she's your best bet on survival if Mom isn't around. :D

Then there's this Boy ~Elliott.  He was SO pleased to get a little brother!
He loves you beyond words too, and he likes to make up what he thinks you are thinking, Jax.

Sometimes I wonder what He is thinking...like when he was watching me give you a bath the other day. He was staring at the way I had your head cradled in my hand so you wouldn't slip away from me. Then he opened his mouth and uttered the most awful thing I had ever heard him say.  "You know what the most fun would be is to cut off peoples heads, because then you can throw them back and forth like a ball!"  
Elliott when I was taking above photo "I think he's enjoying my armpit!"
Don't take it personally! He's very random like that.
He is highly distractable, a little wild and crazy at times, and not very dependable at all...

But he's super sweet and loving too. :)
Then we have Miss Aubrey. She was the baby until you bumped her out of that spot.  She doesn't hold it against you at all tho. She also thinks the world of you and wants to hold you all the time. :) She means well...but beware of her! :) She can be what might be called "positively" naughty.  Last time the kids were having a bath I peeked in on them to find the bathroom flooded with water.  I exclaimed and questioned why there was water all over the floor!? Elliott suggested that they must have splashed alittle too much. I suggested (in the form of a very pointed question) that someone must have dumped their little buckets of water over the side of the tub. Aubrey happily admitted that "YES! We did!" in a very enthusiastic tone. To which I responded firmly that that ought NOT to be so. She looked up with a big grin and a wave of her hand in the area of the floor and said,"But see, its all keen (clean) now mommy!"  Ah yes, now all I needed to do was mop it up and the bathroom would sparkle. :D

She is growing up fast (thanks to you Jax) and becoming quite independent. Dabbling in a little potty training here and there, rushing to do things with a "No I can, I can" and declining help from older siblings or Mommy. 
She also likes her pockets.
She loves to be silly. She's bubbly and  very loving. If you want to put a smile on her face, tell her she can have a snack any time of the day...even 5 minutes after we get up from eating a meal.
Her down sides are that she is easily frightened and she's pretty whiny during teething. :D
And that brings us to YOU Mr. Jackson Henry. You gave Mommy a bit of a rough time to begin with, but now your getting down the whole sleeping-at-night thing. You pretty much just do your thing right now, which is eat, sleep, and blow out a diaper or two,and sometimes even let us do our things too. :D
You're just beginning to smile back every now and then and the kids LOVE it.
Occasionally you surprise yourself with some little baby coos too.

I also noticed the last time you had a bath that you are starting to fill out and get a little chub on ya.
You do a good job of putting up with all the loving and the accidental bonks and thumps you're given by all these people.


Oh and if you're wondering what all that racket is...
Its just the geese flying over. They're ticked 'cause its hunting season right now.


P.S. Daddy is the one that comes home and makes everything run smoothly. I'm pretty sure he's your HERO...or at least he will be once you're old enough to eat real food.  :D

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Family Pictures

So when Grampa D and Gramma Jo were here over Thanksgiving I knew it was our last chance to try for an outdoor family photo...and we desperately needed one for this year. We picked the warmest day in the forecast during their visit...which still wasn't very warm. After Sunday morning meetings, and before we got to eat anything, we did a pit-stop at the  bottom of the hill. We piled out of the Yukon, peeled off our jackets and had Gramps and Gram snap pics for 5 or 10 min. amid protests of freezing kids. That was it. Easy as 1-2-3. :D Thankfully something turned out. Having Grandpa D and Gramma Jo for photographers made all the difference! :) Thanks a million!
I was thinking today of how glad I was that we took the extra time to do so, because today, a mere 4 days later, we have a high of 20 degrees (tho its only 8 degrees right now) and a low of 7 with wind chill of -6 tonight. And it is only to get colder over the weekend! Definitely our last chance for pictures!
 Now if this baby would just make an appearance I can get the photo sent out along with the birth announcement. At least that is the idea, but it usually doesn't happen in any decent time frame, so don't hold your breath if you're waiting for a copy. :D
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Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Helicopter Birthday!

We had a birthday boy the beginning of this month, who at the last minute requested a helicopter cake instead of a fire engine. Easy enough! It cut my work in half. We didn't exactly go all out like last year, as this year things were a little crazier around birthday time. When I went to decorate the cake the morning of the "party" I discovered all I had in the cupboard was green or yellow food coloring, and no time to run out to the store. I obviously hadn't thought much about his birthday ahead of time or I would have had some red too.  But I'm afraid I had used it all up in the Sunday School lesson two days before. ( Moses turning the water into blood) :D  So that is how we ended up with a yellow helicopter instead of a red fire truck (which I was rather unprepared to make anyway). He says he wants the fire engine next year...but that is subject to change. :)
 Here is the method we used to make a helicopter cake. Super easy! Most of it I did the night before.
 I used the scraps of sugar sheets that I had left from last year for the windows. Glued together all the accessories, baked the cake, cut to desired shape and threw it in the freezer the night before. The tail is a fat popsicle stick covered with cardstock. Propellers are straws embellished with cardstock.  Small wooden dowels cut to size with cardstock landing gear glued onto the cardboard platform finished up the props. Everything was stuff I keep on hand in the craft cupboard.
 Next day when it was finally Aubreys naptime I pulled out my frozen cakes and "frosted" them with melted chocolate for a quick and easy cake. Made with a round pie plate and a square 8x8 that I whacked up a little to add to the giant cupcake baked for the main body of the helicopter. I poked the wooden dowels into the landing pad for a nice sturdy base to set the helicopter on once we arrived at the party destination. In hindsight I would put a dab of chocolate on it to glue the helicopter to it so it wouldn't topple off. But I didn't have room for the whole stack in my freezer and didn't have any melted chocolate once we arrived on scene, so it did get knocked off its perch at one point. No harm done tho thanks to its hardened chocolate shell.

 Plunk the helicopter on the frame and Ta Da!



Somehow my little man went from this
 to this
 to this
 to this

 to this
In just the blink of an eye!

Mr. Wise Guy and the kids rode their bikes to the party and The Boy settled into his seat of honor immediately. :)
 Waiting patiently for all the ladies  to arrive...
and get this party started!!!


Cake time was immediately set into motion.
That smile means it was a success.
 The most special part of THIS birthday was that for the first time in 4 years he got to share it with his neighboring cousin who is only a few days apart from him. This was a huge milestone. :D


Festive pumpkin parfaits for the birthday girl!
Cousins

 Present Time!

On your mark...get set...
 GO!


Ka-dooka horn for his bike.



And Whoot ...

Party's over!