Peanuts

Besides packing peanuts, salted and roasted peanuts, the men in our family also have "peanuts." Bryce has been using his as a weapon "hiyah! hiyah" he says as he flashes it from his pants. As we cooked a couple days ago, he said, "Mommy, look! My peanut is big!" Thanks, bud for telling me.  And yesterday, Mattie came and informed me that Bryce had shown me his peanut. Put your snake back in its cage, kid. Today, he asked if I had a green peanut. No, mommy has girl parts. Apparently he has a green peanut though. At least I haven't seen him putting any stickers on his peanut lately though as was the trend months ago.

(p.s. he's holding CARS silly bands)

Such a Lady ...and what a guy...

A girl can never have too many high heels! Mom had bought these for my friend Alexia when she had a little girl and I borrowed them for Olivia. I almost purchased a pair for my new soon-to-be niece, Lyla, but couldn't find them at my favorite baby boutique.

Am so glad that our BabyBug got to wear them for the Christmas season! Mattie had worn the little vest and velvet skirt...

...and now she's so big! She wasn't crazy about these pants being so long but she is precious from head to toe this day. ...at least for that moment! :)

And then there's Bryce...who got a bag stuck on his head.

It accidentally ripped!

So yesterday the kids sorted through the presents under the tree and stacked up their own presents. One of each of theirs got slightly ripped. But they ended up putting them all back. Whew! Then today Bryce accidentally fell into his present (big shocker there for those of you who know him) and tore his present open more (it has a side that doesn't have packaging on it so it's easy access). "Thomas! It's Thomas!", he shouts. So, I decided to let them go ahead and open the two presents that were already torn. Mattie's was just a book so she was more enthralled with Bryce's present - the Sodor Clock Tower. He LOVED it. Played with it a ton this afternoon. Once again, poor Livvy Bug gets jipped and didn't get to open anything.

Trouble

So, today the kids (Mattie & Bryce) both got in trouble at "play class." Bryce wasn't sharing and Mattie actually had the nerve to hit a toy out of her teacher's hand when the teacher asked her to put it away. Needless to say, we had much discussion about that throughout the day.

To continue our Christmas activities, we colored some popcorn green and coated it in sugar. Yum. Next on the foodie agenda are homemade marshmallows and caramel fudge bars.

Small Group Christmas

Friday evening we hosted our small group for an Italian Christmas dinner. Was a super great time. We had lasagna, arugula-almond pesto rigatoni, and sausage-kale-butternut squash penne pasta with garlic bread and salad! Yum! And for dessert, we had a birthday cake for Jesus and the kiddos decorated sugar cones with green icing and sprinkles/candy as ornaments (see photo). We caught Bryce and Jasmine drinking the sprinkles straight from the container.

And no Christmas party is complete without some carols. So, we pitifully sang a few before parting. Our group is growing really strong/closer together as well as in numbers. It's great to be at a point where everyone is participating, we have really good discussion, and look forward to getting together.

Favorite Lines

I'd like to use this blog to keep track of my favorite things that the kiddos say over the years. One of these days, I'll enter some of my previous favorites. But, for today, I'll just enter today's favorites from Madeline.

Coming in at #2: (she was speaking to Bryce) "Are you going to show everyone on facebook?" I couldn't believe that she would even know that word, much less understand what it was...when I asked she said it was a place where you put pictures in the computer.

Making #1: "Mommy, I wish you were smarter than me."  I can't remember what we were doing. I think it had to do with counting. Regardless, I sometimes think she may be right! I have lost so many brain cells over the past few years.

Pastor Doug has been talking about parents having joy and how far that can take you as a parent. I think he's right. I'm trying to be more joyful around them. They know when I am faking too. But I guess as Mary Kay said, "Fake it til you make it."

SOOOO Big!

Olivia is big because she can raise her hands in the air. Bryce is big because he now knows how to irritate Mattie on purpose. Mattie is big because she can now handle not having a nap and not melting down at dinner time.

Olivia cracked me up today by giggling a ton while I used the aspirator on her to suck loads of snot out. Why that was funny to her, I don't know. She learned how to be "So Big" during lunch today.

Bryce's favorite line today was, "You LIKE me, Mattie!" He repeated it over and over again any time she was getting frustrated with him (which was often as he doesn't obey her constant commands). I know this is just another sign that he's growing up :(

Mattie usually makes me regret not forcing a nap on her. Today, was different. She and Bryce played all day and she still ate dinner like a normal human being...sitting nicely at the table, no crying or screaming, complaining or whining. This is one instance where the getting big makes me smile.

Bloody Murder

So, today we all bundled up and went to the pediatrician's office for Mattie's 4 yr appt and Olivia's 6 mo appt (even though she's almost 8 mo old now). Mattie weighs 30 pounds and is 40 inches tall. Olivia is 16.5 pounds and 26 inches long. They both did well until it was time for shots. Mattie requested that Olivia go first. So, Livvy bug got 3 and didn't cry until the 3rd shot but at that point she really screamed. Once I got her settled down and into her carseat, it was time for the drama queen. I'd told Mattie that if she was brave I'd take her to the donut shop afterwards.

First, I couldn't get her to pull her pants down. I had to almost rip her arms out of their sockets to get the pants pulled down as she was fighting me. And then the screaming started. I got her up onto the exam table but couldn't get her to lay down. So, I laid my upper body on top of hers and pinned her down -- luckily we didn't have to call in the reinforcements since I'm so strong ;) I'm sure all of the other kids there were terrified hearing what was going on. Poor Bryce just looked at me in fear thinking we were killing her. I just smiled at him hoping to ease his fears. Fun stuff. Of course, I took them to the donut shop even though there's no way on earth I'd categorize her behavior as having been brave. Oh, well. Can't wait until March for the next doctor's appointment!

First-time blogger

Well, I'm not really sure about this whole blogging thing, but I thought we'd give it a whirl. Considering that most of our family lives away from us this could be a great way to keep them updated on the daily funnies our lives. And, the Lord knows that I'll forget half of what's happened to me by tomorrow. Do stay posted and bear with me as I delve into this new adventure.