12 Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a santa hat wearing juicy bay..beee!

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a notable mommy melting heart specialty! 

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a colicky toddler as grumpy as can be!

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

two sticky hands n some eyelashes to stir some jealousy!

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

another pathetic grum-py baaaay-by!

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love sent to me..

a wacky eyed glare as goofy as can be!

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

some lips that's meant for kissing mommy!

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

his crabby person-a-lity!

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a booger diving ex-tre-mity!

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

his new favorite ac-ti-vi-ty!

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a sneeze to make him entertainingly dizzy.

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

a smile worth a gazillion pe-nnies!!!

Wordless Wednesday



This should be a CRIME!!! If the suspect is a baby, is that forgivable? Will he still make it into heaven?



Do You See What I See?

It didn't finally hit me until earlier this week when I was face to face with my mother listening to her talk about whatever it was she was talking about at that moment. But, I was soooo relieved when I finally figured it out because it was truly driving me mad! Finally, I solved the puzzle as to who the future Princess, Kate Middleton, reminds me of.

She's a younger version of my mother!!! I see it! Do you?






(By the way, I just LOVE these older pics of my mom. They bring a smile to my face.
She looks so happy and carefree. And her clothes are sooo hip and vintage.)

    

In the middle of our conversation, I yelled out, "It's YOU!", that's who she reminds me of. "You have a very strong resemblance to Kate Middleton!"

It was bugging me but I finally figured it out.

She laughed at me; doesn't agree at all. But check it out for yourself. Here are some pics of my mother around the same age. Call me crazy, but I really see it. Do you see what I see?

Well, I say... if Kate Middleton wants to know what she'll look like when she becomes a Nana one day, someone please direct her over to this here blog, will ya?!

On a side note.... There's a horrible stomach flu working its way through our family. It started with Emily, then me. Megan was next, then Ben. Matthew had it 2 days ago. Today, I got a text from Sarah who babysat on Wednesday. Guess who she's kissing today? It's not Ryan. It's the same object Brianna and Elizabeth are listening to their echos yelling back at them from while their faces are planted in it. THE TOILET BOWL. What's worse, Nana was babysitting!!! Sorry Nana! If you deserve any title at all, it's definitely NOT the future princess. Instead... we crown you Queen. Queen Nana of the Sickies. You will always have a throne to sit on in this house. (And I don't mean the toilet, But yes, there's that too!) That's way better than some odd nobody chic, getting lucky and striking it filthy rich by marrying some Prince. Pshhh!!! Puulllease. Who needs the Prince of Wales when you could have these six kids to clean up after! Queen Nana is totally more honorable than a prince's wife! The Future Princess, Kate Middleton, has nothing on you!!! 

Oh, and daddy is the ONLY one in this house who has not gotten sick! Something tells me he may be the next victim! 

(cue the music....DUN. DUN. DUN!!! )

To Be Continued...

Sarah & Ryan

In a secret little place where I often long to go but can never seem to find the time, lies a hidden gem of a park. It’s only a stone’s throw from our house and the perfect little spot for little boys to look for frogs, little girls to write in the sand, or for boyfriends and girlfriends to get lost in each other’s arms. I wish I took my kids here more often. It’s a dreamy little place for lovers, or a little boy’s perfect playground, or ‘just the right spot’ for a family to picnic and pretend that they are miles away from home. I don’t even want to really blog about it because I don’t want others to discover it. It won’t be the same if we go next time and ‘others’ have found it out!

I managed to sneak in a little photo shoot for my cousin Sarah and her boyfriend Ryan. It was a little thank you for all the free babysitting she does for me! You two are cute together, and I love the ‘tale’ behind your romance! It reminds me of the innocent childhood love of that little girl and little boy on all of those cards you see in Hallmark.

Ryan, you survived! It wasn’t that bad, was it? Sarah, I loved taking your pics and can’ t wait to do it again someday.

Grand Canyon Or Bust...

A surprise trip to the Grand Canyon and the Polar Express was just what we needed to get into the Christmas spirit. We had the trip planned for a few short weeks and surprised the kids early one morning by waking them up and having them get into the fully packed van. They thought we were going to the store. But after one hour turned into two and two turned into three, they eventually got the idea that this was no quick trip. But with Sir Speedy daddy at the wheel, we did get there in about 5 hours. Here are the kids outside the cabin we stayed in. We made good friends with the grandchildless lady in the campground office (who fell in love with all the kids) and the maintenance worker who had to fix the doorknob that mommy broke and the heater that Megan broke. Speaking of heaters.... the last night we were there was 14 degrees and windy! But I digress. By the end of the weekend they felt like family to us!  

After checking out our cabin we headed on over to a new attraction in Williams, Az. Bearizona! The kids love animals so this was probably more memorable than the hole in the ground we call the Grand Canyon! But I'll pretend that's not the case!

Sunday morning when we woke up and opened the cabin door, we found a blanket of white snow had fallen while we slept. How exciting that was for all of us! We hopped in the van and headed on over to check out the Grand Canyon. I couldn't wait for Elizabeth to see it because not too long ago she did a report about it and even made a life-like model. She asked me afterwards when and if we would ever take her there, so I was excited to see her reaction. But after watching this video, I think Emily enjoyed it more!

It started snowing on us. Can you see the snowflakes in this pic of Ben?

I'd like to show you pics of the Polar Express Train ride but we didn't bring the camera with the built in flash. But, maybe it's better that way. Better left to your imagination. Better left to what only your brain brings to life when I describe how truly phenomenal it was. Because I honestly don't think that any pics we could have taken would do it justice. It's something that had to be lived and experienced by you alone. If I had to describe it, I'd say that it was like the book and movie- The Polar Express - come to life. It felt like the train took us to another world. Take your most favorite, cherished childish dream, and imagine it REAL. Imagine it really coming to life. Imagine walking through it and smelling the cookies that were baked and the hot cocoa sipped just like in the movie. Imagine feeling and touching the snow, moments before boarding the train. The same white snow that lies miles ahead in the "North Pole". Imagine wiping the vapor on the windows of the train to get a clearer picture of Santa standing there waving back at you as he held is belly and yelled out in his deepest, happiest, "ho, ho, ho." Cause that's what happened to us that night. I think I can speak for bothy daddy and I when I say that even we felt like little kids again. Kids that woke up in the middle of the night and boarded a train full of mystery and powers unimaginable. I'm so very glad that daddy and I  our kids got to experience this. I hope it preserves their innocence, stirs up their imagination, sustains their Christmas spirits, encourages them to believe in magic, and curbs their desires to want to grow up and be adults. I was a kid again if only for a mere 55 minutes. Sigh....

If I could use only 1 word to describe this whole trip, it would be ~MAGICAL~.