Christmas Picture 2012

Getting a picture of the boys together with both of them smiling and looking at the camera is about as likely as winning the lottery.  And forget about getting a complete family picture.  I had tried twice to get a picture of them this Dec taking well over 100 pics, once with Luke's help and bless his heart he pulled out all the stops doing everything possible to try to keep them happy and entertained.  And it's about pointless to try and do it by myself.  In the end I ended up sweating, mad and with no good pics.  How does such a joyous occasion, (the holidays, nice and clean outfits on clean boys, trying to capture happy times and there's always candy!) always end up so miserable!?!   I dread it, which is why this year I put it off so long I'm surprised I even got cards out by Christmas.   My mom had come over and I asked her to help me give it one last try.  We had taken so many and we were both almost at our wits end, nearly unable to fake our smiles and enthusiasm anymore when the stars aligned and this beauty was snapped.  Hallelujah!!  And what handsome boys they are.  Getting SO big. 

Snowy Glowy and my Elf

Snowy Glowy came back again this year.  The 2nd night he was here, apparently he forgot to fly back to the north pole.......    So I had to set an alarm on my phone to go off every darn night at 11pm to make sure Snowy Glowy was getting his job done.  The first night after "his" fail, he wrote a note to Will to try to smooth things over.  He didn't forget again.  Although we were sad to see Snowy Glowy head back to the north pole again for 11 blessed months, I was quite happy to cancel that alarm on my phone. 

 

And speaking of Elves, I had my own little elf this year.  Will was so helpful decorating the tree!  I let him do the bottom and I did the top.  And I set aside my control freak tendencies and didn't even re-arrange one ornament on the bottom.  He did an awesome job! 

BEVO

When Will was 1 or 2, Allison got him a Bevo for Christmas.  Allison lives in Austin and Bevo is the mascot of the University of Texas.  Bevo has been a staple in Will's stuffed animal collection.  He sleeps on his bed, is often the root or mastermind of pranks ("Bevo did it!"), and is a great double as a pillow when needed.  This year she sent Dane a Bevo.  He is so excited to have a Bevo too.  Thanks Allison!!

A couple of cute things that I wanted to post about.

Will - He is such a big boy and so smart.  One thing he's learning about right now is time frames.  Today he said he wasn't tired and didn't want to take a nap so he went to his room for quiet time.  When I went down to check on him he was fast asleep.  Tonight I asked him if he played for a while or just went straight to sleep.  He said "I just played for one mm...HOUR."  (beginning to say minute, changing his mind)  So funny.  He'll often say things like: "Dane! We haven't played with this toy for 3 YEARS!"  He uses all the time references: minutes, days, weeks, months, years - he's just rarely correct.  It's so cute, and makes things so entertaining.

Dane - He is loving his new hobby of chewing gum.  I remember going through this with Will.  Since they always wanted to try it, we would let every so often, reminding them constantly not to eat it, but to put it in the trash or give it to momma or daddy when they're done.  If they fail, then no gum for a few months.  Then try again.  Dane has passed the test and is now a regular gum chewer, and he's so funny.  He can chew a piece of gum for hours.  Tonight he had a piece.  I offered him a drink.  He was about to take out his gum to have a sip when he looked at me and then backed up and said no.  I said "It's ok, I'll hold your gum for you and then give it back to you after you take your drink." holding my hand out to take his gum from him.  He stepped toward me, slowly removing it from his mouth, never breaking eye contact with me.  He slooooowly began to hand it to me, eyeing me the whole time.  I smiled, assuring him it was ok.  Just as I reached for it and began to take it from him he decided against letting it go and kept a hold of it, so the gum stretched as I tried to take it from his iron grip.  I stopped, assured him again I would give it right back if he would like to have a drink.  Against his better judgment, he let go of it, took the cup and a quick sip all the while staring me down so I didn't try anything sneaky. 

I think we might need to work on some trust building exercises.

Thanksgiving MI Trip 2012

We had a great time up in Michigan this year the week of Thanksgiving and the week after.  I'm SO behind on my posts right now so I'll be brief but wanted to add these pics. 

 

Daddy helped the boys make a fort downstairs on the bunk beds.  It was very cool and great for endless play and dark napping spots :) 

There were at least 7 deer that regularly came for food including 3 babies!  They were so cute with their fluffy fur and short noses. 

 

Caught a nice sunset on a walk one evening. 

We were driving home one afternoon and came across this gorgeous view.  The sun was beaming through the clouds.  It was magnificent!

Someone didn't want to get their picture taken.  I love that little pouty face!!!

When it was time to go we all took part in cleaning.  Will is getting to be so helpful and is more than happy to help me do things around the house.  He was literally running around helping us take things from one place to another, picking up, being an excellent little helper!  Dane was in charge of vacuuming the rug downstairs by the kitty litter.  That child must have vacuumed for 20 or more minutes.  He worked so hard and did a great job! 

Yesterday I was talking something over with Will.  Don't remember what it was, probably behavior related. 
When I was finished I said "Word?"
He smiled at me. 
I said "say: Word!" 
He said "how about I'll say AWK-word!" 

haha!!  I laughed so hard.  He is such a little cutie.