merry merry 2011!

We had a wonderful Christmas this past December!  Something about this Christmas seemed calmer than year’s past (and, I think it helped that I was able to sneak off to the 11pm service at church with a friend!)  Having the boys be at an age where they had more of an understanding of what was going on was so much fun.  We made ornaments for most of our family, and the boys LOVED making them, decorating the bags they went in, and handing them out.  It was great!  We also did a little Advent devotional this year called the Jesse tree, so we read short stories from the Bible that led up to Jesus’ coming.  The boys still talk about the different stories!  And, as everyone knows, three year olds are very into birthdays.  So, we decided to make some birthday muffins to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.  There was confusion about whether Jesus would be joining us to eat the muffins and how He would come, if He did come to eat, but all in all, I think they understood we were celebrating something great:  the birth of our King!

We had a banana muffin baking party on Christmas Eve Eve . . .

Why not put measuring cups on your head?  (I should issue a disclaimer that anything from my kitchen is eat at your own risk)

We went to church on Christmas Eve for a lively and wonderful children’s service.  Then we had dinner and did gifts with the Murphy family at Sugie and Bumpa’s house.  It was so much fun!  Uncle Christopher was in town and carried on our Paps’ “Santa Box” tradition . . . which is a rowdy and hilarious Christmas grab-bag, of sorts.  I think Hudson may have been a teensy bit excited about it.  What do you think?

One of my favorite quotes from that night was William turning to Hatch at my mom’s and pointing to the shrimp cocktail and asking “Daddy, may I eat one of those wormies?”  AH HA!  I love it!

This picture is so sweet!

I wanted to make something very small for each of our kids this year, and seeing that I am a consistently wonderful procrastinator, I may  have been sewing the days leading up to Christmas.  But, it was fun, and I loved being able to do that for my little ones.  (And, a note here about our stockings:  They are from PB kids.  My Nana painstakingly hand-knitted us all stockings—even Anna!—which hang in a row at my mom’s house.  They are amazing.  SO AMAZING, but in the spirit of Christmas, I have relinquished them to hang nicely in the row at Sugie’s house. )

These next pictures are hilarious to me.  William had mentioned that he would like an excavator for Christmas . . . (yes, this is a steam roller)

Hudson had mentioned thinking that a steam roller would be neat.  (Yes, this is an excavator!)

We had a great time enjoying them opening their stockings, which were packed with felt food . . . apples . . .

peanuts . . .

. . . potatoes

I love this one!

And, nothing beats eating a waffle on your way out the door on Christmas morning!

We headed to Sugie’s for our Christmas morning celebration!  Isn’t our Birthday muffin display (with massive candle) hilarious?

And, once again, the gift giving was such fun.  Sugie and Bumpa had given this grill set to CHARLIE.

And, they’d given this train set to WILLIAM AND HUDSON.  We were laughing so hard, because the boys could not have been less interested in their own gifts! 

I somehow managed to make it through Christmas without a SINGLE group picture . . . none of my three children, none of us with my parents or my grandparents, or our cousins . . . I am not sure what happened.  I feel sad about it.  Let’s not do that again next year!  But, I did snag this sweet shot of Bumpa with his only granddaughter!

Mommy’s Little Helper(s)

Hudson is big-time now . . . he can open and close the fridge on his own, and we our doing our best to train him to ASK us before he dives on in for a treat or two at any given moment!  The other day, he was getting out his cheese stick, and Anna snuck in and began to take everything out of the fridge door.  (Aside from “Mommy’s juice” in the glass bottle at the bottom of the fridge, almost everything in toddler reach is plastic.  I may have learned a lesson or two in my three years as a mother of young children.)  Anna began to tackle the shelf that is second from the bottom . . .

I let her do it, because we know her favorite game is “in and out, out and in.”  So, once she took them all out, she then started to put everything back. 

One by one.  One by one.  And, she had a great ole time doing it too.  She thinks she is just so big!  And, she is precious!  (Don’t even think of trying to help her when she is working on a project.  She’s no baby.  She’ll do it herself thank you very much!)

One thing that I have noticed about Anna is that her interest in toys is completely different from the boys’ interests at her age.  I don’t think it has anything to do with gender.  I do think it has everything to do with her having two big brothers.  She thinks she is big (and she has the bumps and bruises to prove it!)  She has never wanted to push any baby push-toy or even stroller, but as soon as she realized she could push brother around while he rode his bike, she was in high heaven!

Some mornings, when I go in the boys’ room, I am greeted by this:  (note the child in the closet)

Because I don’t love starting my day this way, we are trying to give the boys a little more freedom and encourage them to come and get us when they get up (instead of being confined to their room . . . BUT, they’re not allowed to go downstairs alone yet either, because we all know Hudson will just walk out the front door and down the street and I’ll still be in my bed!) So far, they are doing pretty well . . .

***

I took these two big boys to their 3 year check up this week.  This time, we actually walked into the office together and it was a milestone:  No stroller.  I wasn’t carrying around 3 50lb overflowing bags or a combo of sippy cups and snacks and diapers and wipes.  We walked in together like a mama with her big boys.  I couldn’t believe it.  The appointment went well:  Hudson is still measuring 90-95% and William is 25% (height) and 50% (weight).  They are both growing well and are very healthy.  We are tremendously grateful for this!  I had an emotional moment at the doctor because their 3 year check up was their first “big kid” check up!  No more weighing on the baby scale—they stand up just like the rest of us on that big, ugly scale!  They stand tall on the wall to be measured, the got their blood pressure taken, and they even did an eye exam (despite the fact that we’re still learning our shapes around here).  And, the doctor didn’t ask me many questions . . . she asked them.  And, they answered.  And, answered.  And, answered.  It was a sweet little morning at the doctor and we had a special lunch afterward with Daddy to celebrate how big we are.  I am feeling like these years are FLYING by me . . .

(here, they are half dressed.  we seem to be starting our mornings earlier and earlier with snuggles in bed.  the boys are working on dressing themselves, which is quite fun.  I love having a slow start to my morning with my little loves!)

Before I took the boys to the doctor, Sister went for a ride at Sugie’s house.  She would honk her horn and wave and scream “BYEEEE!” out her window.  Hilarious!

She also had a great little swing!  (Notice the knot on her head?  She fell off our slate side walk and knocked her noggin on the concrete city sidewalk—she was chasing her brothers and hasn’t mastered the downward climb of the one step yet.  Poor love!)

Escape artist

And, despite our good but busy week, little William spiked a fever this morning.  So, Daddy, Hudson and Anna headed off to Uncle Judah’s basketball game, and a very sad William stayed home with mommy.  He was devastated to miss his Uncle’s game (he said “we can sit where there are no people so they won’t get my germs!”), but we promised that there would be more games.  I think I was the winner of this deal though, because I got a great morning to relax with my little man on the big red sofa. 

I hate sick babies, but I do love the snuggles. Here’s to hoping the sickness is short-lived and doesn’t spread amongst us!

keepin’ on, keepin’ on . . .

So, a very determined and hard working Daddy was able to remove the artistic masterpiece that Hudson created on our den wall with Magic Eraser . . . (Yes, Magic Eraser, you may sponsor my family and all of our many endeavors that inevitably involve Sharpie markers within—or on—the walls of our home)

This Friday night, we had a tiny Reppard family FIRST . . . we put Anna to bed, threw on our jammies, and snuggled on the couch with some popcorn and watched part of Mary Poppins.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  I think that the boys loved it just as much as Hatch and I did!

Snuggle bugs!

It has been a little chilly around here, but it hasn’t stopped us from playing . . . we throw on our winter hats, bundle up, and head outside to play!

Sister is quite adventurous and climbs up onto things all of the time.  I walked into the dining room to find that Anna had climbed up onto a stool and was about to climb and stand up on a nearby chair!   And, this precious child still hesitates to say “please” but has managed to master saying “mine” and “NO!”  (Wherever did she hear such words?)  She is precious as can be, but boy is she going to give me a run for my money.  Sister is a sweet little wild woman!

Cousin/Baby Charlie had been on a very fun beach vacation with his Ba-Ba and Poppie, so we had to pop in for a visit once he got back home.  We all loved being with him and hearing about his ride on the airplane and his trip to the beach!

Daddy had a dishwasher museum in our front yard this weekend . . . it seems that our appliances are fading one by one.  Fear not, our very own mr. fix-it is working hard to repair our dishwasher and I’m sure it will be as good as new before too long!

 

Normally, we put Anna down for her nap and then I get the boys down for their naps.  But, one afternoon this week, Anna fell asleep in the car so we were trying to tire her out before putting her back down.  She was my little assistant and worked to help me get the boys into their beds.  She gave each of her brothers a snuggle and a kiss (along with quite a few giggles) before heading off to her own bed.  It was so cute.  She would lean in and make the kissing noise with her lips . . . OH MY HEART!

I LOVE THESE BABES OF MINE!

May you have lots of snuggles and warm blankies all around you in the coming week . . . nighty night!

artist in residence

the teacher told me this morning that the boys really, really loved using their easels in their art class at preschool this week . . .

I am glad to see we are learning.

I was on the phone making a doctor’s appointment . . . the other two were asleep.  He was unusually quiet . . . the woman I was speaking with on the phone said I should surely buy him an easel (!).  Let’s hope that’s what he was going for . . .

While I know that wipes will not take SHARPIE off my wall, I thought it would be a good lesson for him to at least try.

Once we get our hands on some Magic Erasers, we’ll show our progress reports . . .

Thankfully, we have had experience with this in the past from our boys and from friends (our sweet friend, Harper, wasn’t quite 2 when our boys were born and she came for a visit and left us with some infamous artwork all throughout our guestroom!  ah ha ha!)

Harper, we miss you, girl.  I think you may have met your match in my Hudson!

Perhaps I should hide my Sharpies, too?!?!  (I thought I had already done that . . . )

 

. . . I will post some after pictures once our situation is resolved . . .

Don’t you love creativity?  Let’s hope this fans the flame of his creative little artistic self . . . (thinking that makes me feel better, anyway!)

an important message . . .

from our snowmen:

FRIDAY IS HERE!  Have a great weekend!

Life as we know it: Today

We had a wonderful, lovely Christmas—one of the calmest (for us parents) in years.  I promise to actually post what very few pictures I have from Christmas (unlike last year . . . which I never posted).  This year, Hatch was able to take off of work between Christmas and New Years, and it was such a treat for us!  We LOVED being together!  I am realizing (or, maybe, just now willing to admit) that transitioning back into the reality of post-holiday life is hard for me.  I think I need a slow immersion program or something!  Today was my first day back full-time in the mama gig with daddy at work and the boys at school.  It was a wild time! 

Here is some of the damage from today:

-William tripped walking up the stairs to preschool today, and I ended up carrying both him and Anna into the building.  (Why do I not have amazing arm muscles?  Please, someone tell me!)

-I accidentally hit Anna in the head with a bag of groceries (bad move, Mama.)  I felt horrible.

-I realized I had no clue when the boys’ 3 year check up was supposed to be, so I had to call the pediatrician’s office to find out.  Nothing says starting a new year well like organization . . . or lack thereof, in my case.  Can someone please tell me if there is an app for my iphone that will show me my daily calendar on the “home screen”?  I need help.  Lots of help.

-While bolting down to the basement to get a Coke for a lunchtime pick-me-up, I threw open the fridge door and one of the shelves in the door broke open and a glass bottle shattered at my feet.  Thankfully, I was alone, so no one got hurt.  Unfortunately, because I was alone, I could hear three sets of feet running amuck upstairs.  The cleaning up of that mess had to wait until Daddy came home.

-I opened the fridge and the tiny, expensive tub of blueberries that I had just bought as a treat for our babes fell onto the floor and rolled all around. I thought I was going to cry. The rascals thought it would be fun to smash them. I did not.

-I have done nothing this week but grocery shop.  I am not kidding.  (Don’t get me wrong:  I am grateful for food and the ability to shop for it.)  We had a great week and rest we did, but now, I am trying to make up for lost time.  In a frenzy today to put away groceries, I put a glass jar of salsa in the bottom of my chimney cabinet in the pantry for storage.  I had completely forgotten that sister likes to play in the pantry, even though I tell her not to.  (I was thinking:  the boys won’t mess with the salsa—they don’t like it.  I have to keep things they will tear into without my notice up HIGH.  We have had many an incident of Hudson breaking into a huge bag of Cheerios and dumping them all over the floor.)  Anyway, while I was trying to make dinner, sister went into the pantry, picked up the salsa and dropped it onto the floor . . . like it was a game or something!  She dropped it with every intention of dropping it!  RASCAL!  Thankfully, she is fine—she was actually completely unfazed, I am hoping that all of the salsa will come out of her clothes, and I was able to clean up the mess and barricade the pantry off before the peanut gallery got too close! 

***

This is random, but I have to say that William rarely likes to eat much for dinner.  Tonight, I made them eggs for dinner, and when I put his plate down, he said “This looks great!  Wow!  What a yummy dinner!  THIS IS GREAT!”  It was hysterical.  And so dear!

***

It has been so very cold here, that all I want to do is bundle up and snuggle.  We had a good morning snuggle yesterday, but Hudson had asked to snuggle with me on the sofa last night before bed.  Of course, I agreed to stop whatever I was doing to snuggle him . . . and, before we knew it, William jumped beside his brother, and then, there was sister, with her little hands raised in the air for me to pick her up.  Here we have a grainy picture of a very sweet moment for me!

Hatch went to a Parenting Class at church tonight (Lord, please help us!  I am serious!) so I manned the fort into bedtime.  We had a pre-dinner snack of Kix, and sister seemed to have found a great spot to keep her treasure!  While Anna had Kix, Hudson had his requested snack:  cheerios with kix mixed together, with blueberries on-top, and milk.  He requested that a third cereal be mixed in, but I had to limit him to two . . . ha ha!

William was really eager to help sister eat her treats—it was so precious!

And, sister kept giving him spontaneous hugs.  This is a hug-in-progress.  Things like this melt my heart!

Oh, the treasures!

As a Christmas present to ourselves, we splurged on a Dyson vacuum that we found on Woot.com (one deal, one day—we love it).  It came today, and I walked into the den to find this.  Look at the smile on that girl’s face!  She is caught in the act, and she is thrilled!  She adores being with her “Brub-ee” and “Brub-ber” and pretending she is just so big.  (Please also notice my Hudsey reading to himself in the background.)

In action!  (Yes, she did eventually fall off of the box.  She cried.  She recovered.  She climbed back up again.)  Sister also loves to climb on the boys’ stool and up the stairs . . . she can’t go down the stairs or get down from the stool, even though it is hardly off the ground.  She just screams “MOOOM-MEEEEEE” until I come to her rescue.  She smiles EVERY TIME.

I left the room for less than a minute and returned to find this:  Adventure knows no bounds . . .

And, yes, what you have all been waiting for.  We had a thorough vacuuming done on Saturday with a normal machine.  Yesterday and today we ran the Roomba (Hatch’s robot vacuum) . . . and we also ran the regular vacuum over the carpet.  THEN, we did the Dyson.  We went over the rug three times.  And, my new best friend Dyson pulled this nastiness out of our rug. 

*

Dear Dyson,

Meet the dirty chaos that is my home.  I have high hopes for you.  VERY High hopes.  Best of luck to you, little yellow friend.  Best of luck.  Stay strong.

(And, Dyson, you may sponsor my blog.  And the clean-up of my home.  Thank you very much.)

 

And, I will leave you with the highlight of my night:  My boys snuggling together (excuse the poor photo quality) tonight before bed.  Hudson put his hand on William and this was their conversation:

Hudson: Wee-yum I yub you. (Pause)  Where are your glasses?

William:  Mommy couldn’t find them.  She was looking on the floor for them.  (Pause.)  Hudson, I love you.

OH MY HEART.  OH, PLEASE, LORD, HELP ME TO REMEMBER THESE SWEET TIMES!

And, with that, a good night . . . and a promise for Christmas pictures to come!