Amazing Grandma's!

Andy and I have amazing mom's. They are so talented - I feel really bad for my kids who will have no one to turn to for help with the domestic arts but in the meantime I have fully taken advantage of my mom and mom-in-laws amazing gifts!


My mom made this dress for Naomi and she hasn't stopped twirling since she got it! It is SO cute - the pictures don't even do it justice! She's holding her Sleeping Beauty doll because she feels like a princess when she wears this - she walks around saying, "Make it pink...No, Make it blue!" Pretending that she is the blue version and her doll is the pink one.


This is Naomi's version of smiling for the camera...we're working on it :)

Andy's mom knit all 3 of the kids these adorable stuffed animals! They are incredible. I don't know why Calvin chose this moment to be a dog - but he loves his little animal and carries it around in his mouth like he is a doggy.

Sea World

We decided to avoid some of the post-Christmas let down we would drive to Seaworld on Christmas and go on Saturday. It was a blast - the perfect solution to the day after Christmas blahs!


At the 4-D Polar Express - it was awesome!


Remember the Rat from the Nutcracker - same idea here :)


I don't know why they have a race car at Seaworld but Tal loved it!


Relaxing at Shamu's Happy Harbour!

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas this year. The kids are finally old enough to get really excited for Santa. Tal woke us up at 1:30 a.m. to tell us Santa had come! They were so cute it renewed the magic of the day for Andy and I. Here are some pics from the day...

Dutifully decorating cookies for Santa...this is serious work!

So excited on Christmas Eve!

Yay for Christmas morning!

Santa brought a Little Tykes playhouse/castle - it was a hit!

Acting like monkeys with their new monkeys!

Really??

Tal came downstairs around 9:30 a couple of weeks ago and told me that Calvin had found a crayon and drawn all over the pillow. Nevermind that they were supposed to be asleep at 8...what's a little crayon? So in my nonchalance I didn't rush upstairs...maybe I shouldn't have assumed that Tal understood the difference between a crayon and a marker. In any case this is what I found when I went into their room...



Wow! He looks really pleased with himself...really, I had to laugh it was so cute.



Save me daddy!



Didn't want to neglect the feet.

My camera battery was actually dead when I came upon the destruction...so what could I do but make him sleep with marker on his face :) You just have to use your imagination a little - it was actually worse when I found him :)

The Nutcracker

Naomi has been taking a ballet class for the last few months. She loves it! I was afraid the excitement would wear off after a while but she still gets thrilled everytime. Tuesdays have become leotard day's at our house because she wears her ballet leotard ALL day long.

This Christmas her class put together an outing to the Houston Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. I thought it would be a good opportunity to expose the kids to the arts so we signed up. In the end I decided Tal might like it too so he got to come along. Hmmm....not sure taking a 5 year old and a 3 year old to the ballet is the best idea but they actually did great! Other than the momentary fear of heights Tal manifested when he realized our seats were on the edge of a very steep balcony they loved it. Naomi has decided that she is the Sugar Plum Fairy (you know she has a great tutu!) and Tal is content to be the Rat King. It was so fun we may have to try again next year!


All dressed up and ready to go!





Okay...so Tal is the only boy. Someday that will be really cool :)



Tal refuses to have anything to do with oversized Rats. However, Naomi (probably trying to be contrary) ALWAYS wants her picture taken with them. Still, she doesn't look too trusting :)



On the balcony - you can see the fear in Tal's eyes!

It's over! Yes, the liked it but it sure feels good to run again!

Snow

Yep. That's right. Even in Texas we can get snow! Unfortunately, we are grossly unprepared for weather colder than 50 degrees - but we did what we could.


This isn't exactly a fair representation. The day after it snowed our neighborhood had their annual "Snow Day" - that is they truck in a pile of snow for the kids to play in...


Our version of Frosty the Snowman

Notice the mismatched gloves...

"You rock!"

So, last month as we were driving to church Talmage leaned over to help Naomi put her seatbelt on. This is the conversation that followed:

N: You Rock!
T: No! You Rock!!
N: Hands in! (They put there hands together - like a team would do before a team cheer)
T and N: TOGETHER!!

Okay, really? When did my kids turn into the Power Ranger/Powder Puff Girls Squad? Andy and I just laughed it was about the funniest thing I've ever heard!

"Lindsey...You're HUGE!!"

Really?? Does anyone ever want to hear that? Even better, does any woman eight months pregnant want to hear that? As if I didn't know. So, thank you dear brother. Yes, I know I am huge...and I can't bend over...or see my toes...or do a million other things normal people can do...thank you for reminding me. :)

I was going to post a picture of myself - but I couldn't get up the courage to take belly pictures so you'll have to use your imagination :)

In the meantime...

Okay - I know have a lot of blogging to catch up on but in the meantime I found this video from April...it makes me laugh so I thought you might enjoy it too :)

Some more Halloween Pics...

Halloween was so much fun this year! The kids really enjoyed their costumes. Andy even wore a lion puppet on his hand so he could be the cowardly lion. My kids told everyone that I was the wicked witch of the west (they can't really figure out the direction thing)...I don't know why I couldn't be Glinda the Good Witch...oh well, what can you do :)



Wrestling Calvin into his costume :) I don't know why he is smiling - this is not funny :)



Dorothy and the Scarecrow...



Ahhh...isn't she cute.

Calvin actually did great with this costume...he kept it on all night! And he kept falling all over himself - just like the actual scarecrow :)

A rather stoic looking Tinman - he was totally happy being the tinman as long as he had his axe!

Dorothy and "Toto" - she loves this costume!

Calvin got a mosquito bite on his eyelid on Halloween. He woke up on Sunday with it SWOLLEN! Then as he was walking down the driveway he fell and scraped up the swollen mass...he looks like a boxer after a bad night and Naomi keeps saying, "Calvin is broken"

I'm back!

Okay, I know it's been a while but my camera battery died...what fun is a blog with no pictures of the kiddos:). Here's a quick update on what's been happening for the last several months!

April:

• Spent a weekend in Boston with some great girlfriends - nope, I wasn't running the marathon (missed it by 87 seconds...yep still hurts) but my awesome training partner, Angela was. Andy stayed home with the kids - it was a blast!

• Found out we were pregnant with baby #4! Yay!?!

May:

• Zipped to Paris for a whirlwind 5-day vacation sans kiddos (thanks mom and dad). It was incredible...the city doesn't dissappoint! It didn't hurt that one of the couples we were with spoke fluent french and had an amazing grasp of the city. We did it all - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Versailles (okay, I can't spell any more of the places we saw - but trust me we saw them all). We even managed to spend our last day visiting the beaches at Normandy and an amazing castle (Mont St. Michel)
  
  
  
• Got back just in time for Calvin to turn 1! He is getting so big!

• 
  
  
  June:
• Went to Seaworld...got food poisoning.
  
• Naomi turned 3! She had a princess party that was, frankly, pretty lame but what can I say it was the day after we recovered from the food poisoning.
  
  
  
  

July:

• 

(Random picture of us blueberry picking with the Smiths - does it look hot?)

August:

• Went to Utah to see my baby sister, Jessica get married! It was great - and the weather was beautiful





• Found out baby #4 is a girl! Awesome - now the girl team and boy team are evenly matched. Elisabeth will be the name...Naomi is stoked (can I still use that word?)

September

• Hmmm...

October

• Tal turned 5!!!!! What happened to my baby? He got a new bike and Andy has spent the month convincing him to ride down the steps of the deck...ahh to be a boy!
  
• Halloween: So much fun! The kids were characters from the Wizard of OZ. Tal was the tinman, Naomi was Dorothy (thanks to Grandma who made the cutest costume ever!) and Calvin was the scarecrow!
  
  
  
  

And here we are in November. Nothing exciting yet...but stay tuned you never know...