Draw Down

Me:"What do you want for your birthday?"
Mimi:"I want 6 more things then slippers.  I want 7 toys from you."
Me:"Well, please write them down, so we don't forget them."
Mimi:"I have to draw them down"
*after a few minutes*
Mimi:"Can you give me some ideas?" 

Here's her list, just in case you wanted to see it.
1-slippers
2-goldfish in a bowl
3-some pig game
4-a rocket
5-a card, this is a "6", she looked at Parker's card with a "9" on it, and flipped it around so she could copy it--very clever.
6-More Littlest Pet Shop animals
7-?, literally a question.  She said she wanted something to surprise her.

January

One, last, Christmas photo to share...

Now that it's really winter, we are curling up with some good books and taking it easy...

Mimi

Mimi:"What are we having for breakfast?
Me:"Bacon and Eggs."
Mimi:"Now that's what I call winter dinner...I mean snack!"
Me:"Breakfast?"
Mimi:"Yeah, breakfast!"
__________

Greg had just finished with the fireplace and had a bit of soot on his hands as he went to floss Mimi's teeth, she was surprised:"Why are your hands burned!?"
He washed them. 
__________

We were distracted with something while Mimi played the piano very sweetly (she doesn't actually know any songs besides the first few measures of "Mary had a little lamb").  When we asked about the music she told us:"A played two songs. One was called 'Falling Rain'.  The other one was called 'Joker Card'."
Later, I saw this on the piano propped up like music. 

7:30 pm

At this time of night there should be 2 people asleep in our house... but there's only one... and it's the wrong one.

Yoda has been yelling "Mommy!" for 25 minutes straight.

Although she is in bed, Mimi is too excited about Dinosaur sheets, Dinosaur stuffed animals, Dinosaur bedtime-stories, and sponge hair curlers to sleep. 

I'll give you a hint, it's not me, or Parker.

Anyway, here's some more of Christmas:

What our lives were full of in 2011

Or...
Some stuff I may or may not have blogged about in 2011

Parker earned his Bobcat and Wolf badge and has now moved onto Bear!  

Dino goodies--Mimi is still as Dinosaur-obsessed as ever.  

Carnivore {Meat-eating} Dinosaur= gummy bears and Swedish fish

Herbivore {Plant-eating}Dinosaur=Carrot and Celery sticks

AND

Sweetivore {Candy-eating}Dinosaur= CANDY

(another idea from the internet)

Bread

I don't bake as much as I should, but when I do, they can't wait for it!   

Drilling holes in the house.  Kind-a freaky.  But very helpful to make our dryer work better. 

Getting Yoda off the bottle.  

Lots of gardening.  ahh... I almost can't wait :)

Studying

Greg studied the entire year, from January until November.  Solid.  When he wasn't studying for an exam, he was working on a smaller internet class-thingy (something that took about 50 hours to complete, and he did 2 of them in less then 2 months.  That's on top of working and being a full-time dad). He passed both of those--wahoo!!! 

Goodbye Soccer. 

No one was having fun, and that is supposed to be the point. So we have quit for now.  The only thing I'll miss is how crazy cute Mimi was in her little shin guards and cleats.  

So many fevers I lost count

Hiring someone to do elective surgery on the house. 

 I got this sweet bike trailer so Yoda could join us. 

Growing grapes=snacking on grapes, making grape jelly, and making grapevine wreaths.  

Carving out a craft/sewing area for myself.  It's not perfect, but it's SO nice.  (more pictures on their way.)

All that doesn't even include all the family and friends that we visited or who visited us--that could be a complete other blog post.  

I've given up on resolutions for me.  I'm just working on small, reachable, daily goals for now.  Life is too messy (literally and figuratively) to add in any more guilt.  2011 was interesting--here's to hoping that 2012 is awesome, with no ER visits :) 

Chess Club

Often Mimi plays with the chess set and calls it "Chess Family".  When she puts them in the box that holds all the pieces, she calls that the minivan.  She's super cute. 

I talked Greg into being the Chess Club leader at Parker's and Mimi's school.  With this new volunteer position, Greg has stewardship over dozens of chess sets. 

The other day the kiddos helped sort out all the pieces and sets.  It was like a Chess Family Reunion. 

What a weekend

The weekend started with a blast.


And stayed on track.






Sometimes we were puzzled.


But, we got what we always wanted.



More birthday and Christmas pictures to come.

Yoda's Birthday

2 Years

Yoda turned 2 years old!  

This is often where he sits playing with his favorite things: trucks, tow trucks, race cars, sippy-cup and his bunny. 

Tomato Cage Tree

I saw this idea on the web and since I had just taken down the garden, I decided to put off finding a place for the tomato cages for a few more weeks.  A few ribbons and lights.  It probably won't be our only tree and it will probably go outside, but for now, it's just a funny tree in our living room.