let it snow!!!

I AM SO EXCITED!!! 

:):):)

.....

every night i walk into max and brennan's room and find them, 

in some fashion, 

peeking out of the window.

for the first week i scolded them b/c i didn't want them to rip the curtains out of the wall.

{brennan has already done this once on his side.}

they told me they just wanted to look at the blinking lights.

in a rush i told them they could see our lights from the top of the stairs.

the second week, after i put them to bed, 

i was walking down the stairs 

and 

i 

saw 

them.

in all of the blinking glory!

down  the end of the street and across the way.

a house with blinking snowflake lights,

and sign that flashes "merry christmas."

i turned around and ran back into the kids room,

"are you talking about the blinking snowflake lights?!!"

and then brennan was all,

"YES!!!! and the merry christmas sign mom!"

and from then on, 

i made sure to remind them to peek every night 

out of the curtains to look at the blinking snowflake lights, 

and the sign that flashes "merry christmas."

 ....

in other news...

chase got up on his hands and knees today and spun around in circles like a dog CHASing his tail.

and then i helped him stand up holding the seat at the end of my bed.

i let go and he was just standing there ALL BY HIMSELF.

who does he think he is growing up??!!

waaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

"LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT

SNOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!"

TAT's {halloween declarations in december}

{brennan's friend gave him batman tattoos for christmas this year.}

.......

max and brennan sat at the counter last night while i made pizza, 

intricately discussing their halloween costumes for next year.

brennan declared batman.

then he said chase could be robin.

max was jabbering in agreement with her eyes really big,

talking with her hands,

and i suggested {really excited like} that max be cat woman!!!

well, she shot me down faster than a new york minute.

"Noooooo!!!! JOOOHHHHH-KERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"

and then brennan started getting all upset 

b/c he couldn't' understand why she would want to dress up as a BAD GUY.

plus he said she was a girl.

but he was mostly concerned that she wanted to be a bad guy.

when chase woke up from his nap brennan went running for a robin tattoo and a wet paper towel.

explaining to sean how to put it on, since he had come home at this point in the story,

and was giveN the honor of TATTING up chase ray.

as if everyone needed to be branded with their respective tattoos to seal the halloween deals.

good thing halloween is still 10 months away.

it will give us 10 months to convince max to be cat woman instead of the joker.

and 10 months for brennan to change his mind 5 times,

and then pick something entirely different 3 days before halloween.

i'm voting cat woman b/c i think little leather pants and cat ears would be so fun to dress max up in.

brennan is voting cat woman b/c "sometimes cat woman is bad, but sometimes she's good."

at least chase won't be old enough for opinions on halloween yet.

for sure, he'll be robin if brennan still wants to be batman.

but what does that leave for me to be?

this is going to require some serious thought...

but for now, we'll just stick with the TAT's.

mr. independent

FREEDOM!!!!!

he is now feeding himself.

glory be:)

SNEAKY FAST.

tonight brennan saw the first present under the christmas tree.

the following occurred...

"hey! there's a present under the tree. maybe it's for you mom...

{thinking, thinking, thinking in his brain as he starts walking toward the stairs, 

and then as he's walking up to brush his teeth he says:}

that santa is SNEAKY FAST!!!"

like he was imagining santa sneaking in presents under the tree 

while we were cleaning up dinner tonight.

i love that brennan.

and the way his brain thinks about the world.

mr. goodbar

2 out of 3 kids smiling ain't bad.

and max didn't cry!

i was halfway hoping she would.

b/c i love laughing at the pictures of the last two years {here and here} 

{2010}                                                                         {2011}

where she is wailing in trepidation of santa.

oh how i love my little brood.

.............

{it's just not christmas without my mr. Goodbars. fala-la-la-la-lala-la-la!}

grinches & chubby fingers in clay

"my neck is getting tired again from holding up my big heavy head...maybe i ate too much food."

-brennan 4.9 years old

.......

today, we made grinches.

i got only the pants done before everybody else was already ready for cutting and gluing.

so, i figure i'll put him away in my folder for next year, and then maybe i'll get to his red coat.

and then maybe the year after that i'll get to his shoes.

and then MAYBE the year after that i'll be able to write my name and glue on his cotton balls.

the cotton balls are always everybody's favorite part:)

the white puffs never fail.

so fun.

max was done coloring in about 15 seconds.

not kidding.

brennan colored with green and red crayons in the same hand at the same time.

it turned out SUPER cool:)

and he made sure to let me know he colored the grinch's hands green.

only green.

b/c that's what the grinch looks like.

so proud!

and then while their cotton balls dried brennan chased max around the kitchen table.

her pink slipper heels slow her down,

but when you tick her off, even those clicking heels won't keep you safe.

run for your life!!!

that's what i tell brennan.

and he does.

smart boy.

"it's the mooooost won-der-ful tiiiiiiiiiime offffffffff thaaaaaaaa' yeeeeeeeeeaaaaarrrrrr!!!!!!"

my pantry door is soooooo happy:)

 AND
sean's cousin kelsie brought us her creations for my walls and tree this afternoon.

i keep standing in front of them in each of their respective rooms,

where i have already hung them,

and i can't help but pinch myself.

i want to freeze time.

i don't want them to get any older.

i just want to keep living this age over and over and over again.
in this land of innocence and sweetness.

{except i'd love it if chase would stop waking up to eat in the middle of the night.}

{but at the same time, i wish he wouldn't stop...funny.}

i can't get over their little chubby fingers and toes.

and all of the fingerprints they leave on my walls.

heaven:)

....

want kelsie to do your kid's impressions too?

you can email her at k_h833@hotmail.com

the very BEST christmas Pageant Ever {or book}

so proud of my little reader:)

i just love reading my book on one couch,

and him reading his book on another.

.......

when i was teaching school i would read
"the best christmas pageant ever"

aloud to my students during the week or two before christmas break.

we would laugh and laugh at the Herdmans and their crazy antics.

it is still my favorite book to read every year before christmas.

and one of these years i hope that i will be able to read it aloud 

to my children and husband, with them all sprinkled around the room listening.

laughing at all of the same parts,

smiling when the christmas spirit fills the room from the story,

and learning about the true meaning of christmas together.

until then,

i will sit by my tree and read my book.

with brennan on the couch next to me and the room all a'glow:)

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down toolhouse. The toolhouse burned right down to the groud, and I think that surprised the Herdmans. They set fire to things all the time, but that was the first time they managed to burn down a whole building. I guess it was an accident. I don't suppose they woke up that morning and said to one another, 'Let's go burn down Fred Shoemaker's toolhouse'...

but maybe they did. After all, it was a Saturday, and not much going on."

"The Herdmans moved from grade to grade through Woodrow Wilson School like those South American fish that strip your bones clean in three minutes flat...which is just about what they did to one teacher after another. But they never got kept back in a grade. When it came time for Claude Herdman to pass to the second grade he didn't know his ABC's or his numbers or his colors or his shapes or his "Three Bears" or how to get along with anybody. But Miss Brandel passed him anyway. For one thing, she knew she'd have Ollie Herdman the next year. That was the thing about the Herdmans--there was always another one coming up, and no teacher was crazy enough to let herself in for two of them at once."

.......

the very best christmas book ever:)

adam-son's b-day

this is my very handsome and charming brother Adam.

it's his 31st birthday today.

HAPPY HAPPY ADAM-SON.

wish i could make you a cake.

:):):)

CAST-AWAY or OFF {chocolate haystack recipe}

i found the missing foot

AND

i glued them back together.

three times,

b/c they kept sliding off.

i'm not sure gorilla glue was the best choice for mending...

but it's become my right hand man in the kitchen.

kind of like windex for the dad in "my big fat greek wedding."

something breaks,

and i go running for my gorilla glue.

brennan's lucky i didn't gorilla glue his arm back together when it broke.

i bet it would have worked great.

AND

it would have been free.

see, genius:)

"there you go!"

except about the whole it's not supposed to go on skin thing.

at least, i don't think it's supposed to b/c it just gets really sticky and takes all day to rub off.

nevertheless,

all feet are glued back on and accounted for.

brennan's arm is better too:)

OH HAPPY DAY!

on our way out of the orthopedic's office we bought our celebratory blue gatorade,

and then made our way out through the aquarium revolving doors.

where we found santa and his reindeer made out of ICE.

 brennan touched Rudolf and wanted his picture with him.

but he wouldn't look at me b/c he said the "real rudolf is right behind me!!!"

i just love PCMC.

goodbye cast!!!

hello santa and his reindeer:)
and hello the beginning of my holiday baking...

chocolate haystacks

ingredients:

32 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1/2 cups peanut butter

2 cups coconut

1/2 c almonds {or any nut}, chopped

12 oz chow mein noodles {the hard crunchy ones}

directions:

1. melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 1 min. intervals

2. stir in the peanut butter

3. stir in the chopped nuts and coconut

4. stir in chow mein noodles WELL.

5. make haystack mounds on a cookie sheet over wax paper

6. place in cold for 20 min {i just put mine on my back porch, but a freezer works also}

and vwallah!

keep refrigerated or frozen.

serve with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

and a huge napkin.

you're welcome:)