Christmas Eve

Our house lit up with luminarias

Here in New Mexico we have a tradition of setting out luminarias on Christmas Eve along the walkways in front of our houses. We've never participated before (nor anyone in our former neighborhoods) but this is the year of becoming real New Mexicans and so we did. I loved it.

Most of the houses in our neighborhood also set them out, and since it's not too cold here most of the time, we bundled up and strolled around the neighborhood to check out the display. We were alone on the streets (except for a few late putter-outers) and so we sang every Christmas hymn we could think of as we walked and it might very well be my very favorite Christmas Eve ever. Sometimes I say mean things about New Mexico (mostly that she isn't as pretty as some of my former homes) but there are some really great traditions here that I have grown to love. I hope to spend every Christmas Eve in New Mexico, walking the chill, quiet night hand in hand with my family, singing of our Savior's birth.

a little holiday song and jig

I must confess I very rarely actually take time to watch videos that people put on their blogs (unless it's my nieces or nephews, or one of Melissa's shorts!). I'm so sorry, I feel like such a jerk confessing that, but I thought I'd say it just in case anyone else feels guilty after they don't watch this one. But it is only 30 seconds and I can almost guarantee you'll smile just a little.

Merry Christmas Winter Break!!! Time to bake things. And only 1 week until Christmas! I literally could not be more excited!

!!

baby fever

Is this not the greatest plan ever? That while we willingly create these messy, smelly, loud, needy little people to perpetuate our species, they are given to us in the cutest, most irresistible form imaginable? I'm sure no one else wants to look at dozens of pictures of my baby, but I could look at them all day so everyone else here gets to enjoy my whims. ha!

I absolutely love having baby Roman in our home. He creates the sweetest and most loving atmosphere between us all it's really a gift to have him. He started out life pretty grumpy, but he has turned into the sweetest, most social and smily baby I've ever seen. I hope he continues to grow very veeeeeeery s-l-o-w-l-y. I love seeing his personality come out, but I looooove his babyness.

ready

We are ready for fires this winter


and Ben is ready for Pediatric clinicals today (with his new bow tie, best thrift shop find evah!).

these are the things you see when your house is filled with boys

The Ninja Turtles have been trying to pick my locks again.

giving thanks in 2010

Just a few photos from Thanksgiving... It was a lovely day and I loved having a day to remember to be grateful for all I have. It is so very much, and I don't take the time to really express and acknowledge my gratitude all the way from my tippy toes very often. I was happy to remember and celebrate the day with family.



And now it's Christmas time! Woohoooo!

how could i say no?

I couldn't. So here's a photo of him in the hat.

He's just so cute to me I just want to sniff him in all the time. It's nuts.

I'm not super thrilled with this particular photo, but Ben snapped it quickly under poor lighting and meant to get a better one later but neither of us have yet so here I am posting the eh photo. Try not to judge too harshly.

Editor's note: I did have to edit out a giant booger glued to his forehead. Awesome.

there is finally a tiny chill in the air

and so it is knitting season once again. I've got all kinds of projects planned and I can't wait. I might even post them as I go. This is called: No. 1; Pumpkin Colored For Roman.

it's already past time to think about christmas gifts

I really wish we still lived in the olden days when we could just buy one bigger present for the kids, put a bow on it, and call it Christmas. I'd love to get one of these tricycles for Banks for Christmas (and you can get the red one from Sam's Club for a pretty decent price), but I just know he'd be so disappointed with just one toy. le sigh.

What do you think? Can parents (on limited budgets) get away with just one quality toy these days or should I just go for mass like the kids probably want?

because i have a kindergartner now

School pictures! We actually debated whether to get Benson's school pictures since, let's face it, they are hideously done but I'm really glad we did. He's too precious for words.

I still can't believe I have a kindergartner. I don't feel a day over 21.

halloween 2010

Left to right: Banks, Benson, Carrie, Ben

Somehow Ben ended up with two pumpkins modeled after him. He was particularly inspiring this year apparently.


Skeleton, Knight, Ventriloquist, and half-hearted ventriloquist dummy

I've been feeling sort of anti-blog lately but Ben keeps getting on my case to post something and it's probably good to make an effort here. I'd like to think I'll record my memories in a personal journal but if I don't have some sort of public accountability it's just not going to happen so I need to do better here. And it's fun to remember things!

Halloween was fun, as usual, and even though I had a mad dash to the finish with costumes (again!) it's getting more and more fun to create costumes for my little guys because they are so excited about the final results. Next year I'm going to try and convince everyone to dress up in a theme since I have 3 boys and that would be awesome-sauce.

And now: on to Thanksgiving! And we have family here this year which makes it twice as awesome! Yes!

bestest friday

We had such a lovely friday.

We went to a park near our house to see if we could watch the glowdeo from far away. We couldn't see it, but we did spend the evening running around and playing football.


{Did I mention that Roman can sit now?}

We packed hot chocolate and rice krispie treats and brought our big blanket to lay together and look at the stars.


{There is an awesome hill for rolling at this park. Can't wait for sledding in the winter, if we get enough snow anyway}



And when it got dark, we turned on the flashlights and daddy told everyone one of his trademarked "Adventures of Supermommy" stories.


Extra bonus: although the city lights blocked the balloon lights, we did catch the fireworks show. It was awesome.

allllloooooo????

I just finished typing this big ole post but it was as boring as all get-out. I just can't think of a good way to break the silence. So here:




Sugar should not be boiled in an otherwise microwave safe plastic container in the microwave. It's a really really stupid idea.

Amen.

aquarium

Look at that face! Pure joy I tell you!


Even Nosy Posy came to get a look

Banks has started to look longingly at the fish at Walmart, so to appease his fish desire (but not actually commit to keeping something else alive...) we made this little aquarium for preschool the other day a la made by joel.

It's nice that Banks is finally getting old enough to enjoy some art projects cause I can only take so much cars and trains play. Barbies on the other hand.... haha good thing I don't have girls because i wouldn't get anything done for all the dolls and Barbies playing.

um i'm like hyper from sleep folks

So hyper in fact that I just posted this with no actual content. Just the title. Ahhhhhh i feel like I'm hyped up on energy drinks or something but in faaaaaaaact:

I'm sleeping at night!

And so is Roman!

And I'm giddy with energy!

It's so awesome!

And he's cute and I have photos to prove it:

a book penned by ben, as dictated by banks

"Dad-e" (given to Dad by Benson)


"F-16"


"Is going to"


"Punch your face"

Notice how I get smilier as the photos go... makes me laugh every time.

"Punch you in the face" is the go-to line around the house these days. And sadly, I find it hilarious almost every time someone says it. hahah I shouldn't be encouraging it but it's just so dang hilarious to hear coming out of their little mouths.

For example last night's post bed-time exchange:

Banks (wandering out into the living room after being put to bed): Benson said he's going to punch me in the face.

Me: Benson, don't tell Banks you are going to punch him in the face. It makes him feel bad!

Benson: But Mooooooom! I'm just making a deal with him! I told him if he doesn't give my CTR ring back right now, I'm going to punch him in the face when I get up in the morning, but if he gives it back I won't! That's fair!

Me (laughing so hard but trying not to): Ben, you need to go in there and explain the significance of threatening to punch his brother in the face over a CTR (Choose The Right) ring because if I go in there I'm gonna laugh and they'll never learn.

Why is this so funny to me? It kills me.

And yes, I have tons of bangs (fringe) now. My hair was postnatally falling out by the handful and it called for drastic measures. Plus, fall just says "bangs" to me.

this is what i am doing

Doesn't Roman's hair look like a toupee? That kid has SO MUCH hair!

Sometimes, just for a brief moment, I forget what I'm doing here. I'm not furthering a career, I'm not biding my time until all the kids are gone and I can do my own things. I really believe I am doing the most important work of my life right this minute, and when I remember that I truly love my life. I saw this magazine on Design Mom today and this quote from there struck me to the core:

Our lives are the sum

Of each moment and interaction.

Each day we work, eat, laugh, teach, play, read, remember...

And work at it all again the next day.

Within seemingly small moments we find opportunity

To build relationships, develop character, find joy

For the price of our time.

Life's most essential possibilities are realized at home.

Where we share, teach, grow, learn, serve, give

Our best without praise or fanfare.

Because every effort, every moment matters

In the development of a person.

Nothing is really routine.

-Seeing The Everyday

What a true and beautiful statement.

3 dollars for the cleverest title

My thoughts are buzzing around in my head these days at a million miles an hour, and really aren't related. But in the spirit of This American Life, today I'll attempt to bring you three stories on a common theme. This post's theme is hilariousness. This is gonna be awesome. Let's pretend!

1. While up to my elbows in dishwater this evening I decided to forgo the usual pandora in order to listen to the music in the other room. Wipe Out has something very humorous to children and husbands approximately every 8 seconds. I counted between their bursts of laughter. It was pretty hilarious.

2. As Ben was clearing the table after dinner I asked him if he would finish med school if we suddenly won a million dollars a year for the rest of our lives. He said yes, but he would buy a really nice car (and I even know which one without him saying so). I said that's fine, because the first thing I would do is buy this dress:

to the tune of about 2 grand. And i'd probably go for the bag while I'm at it. And then we proceeded to laugh for the next 5 minutes about how hilarious it would be to get a million bucks a year. That's $83,000 a month. hahahaha I just laughed typing that!

3. We had strawberries and cream in crepes for part of our dinner last night (which Banks REFUSED to even try... I think his buddy Ambrose is sending him anti-food vibes from across the ocean:) ) and then I made up the rest of the crepe batter at lunch today. THEN I left the bowl with a few small strawberry remains on the counter under the open window and went to take a sweeeeeet nap (yessssss!). When I woke up (to my alarm-- gotta go get Benson) I wandered into the kitchen half asleep for a drink of water. I noticed the bowl of strawberries and wondered how all those poppy seeds got into the bowl. How odd.

Fast forward to an hour later when Ben discovers a trail of ants from the window to the bowl exactly like you'd see in a movie, or a painting of a picnic, and the bowl is swarming with, uh, poppy seeds. My lack of sleep for the past 4 and a half months is nothing if not hilarious.

And that's the post for today. I hope you enjoyed it!

(he did get off the bus!)





Oh my gosh it's friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiday!!!! I can't wait until 5 o'clock; I've got a hot date. YESSSSSSSS!

I am so thankful for the weekend this week. WHEW.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

kindergartener

Before


After

ow that the fourth day of kindergarten is nearly over, I should probably get around to writing down my thoughts these last few days. What an experience to hand your first child off to another person, to be molded for 6 hours a day by a near stranger... The only relief that first day was knowing that some sort of divine intervention landed him in the best class at his school.

We actually requested and got another teacher initially, on the recommendation of an acquaintance, but after meeting her I was very apprehensive. She just didn't seem to be the kind and loving person I imagined and frankly, I was scared. After meeting her Benson said, "I hope she doesn't yell at me," and I got the same vibe. By some miracle we got a voicemail later that day from the sweetest woman, who is now Benson's teacher, saying there was some sort of mix-up and she hoped we wouldn't be too upset about the change into her class. Oh the relief! I'm so grateful for the "mix-up" as I couldn't imagine a better teacher for Benson. He loves her and so do I.

I've now entered the stage of annoying mom, as I grill him on absolutely everything that happened during the day: What did you eat? Who did you play with? What did you learn? and on and on and I usually only receive the most casual answers: Oh I don't know mom, not much, I don't remember, I had to visit the nurse because I got my finger smashed (!) like this is all no big deal and he's an old pro at kindergarten now.

My favorite thing from the first day was after he came home Ben asked if he missed us and he said without skipping a beat, "Nope. I was too busy having fun to even remember you!" Which is probably the best thing he could have said.

And Banks is on cloud nine, in case you were wondering. He doesn't miss Benson a bit, and it's crazy to see the change in his personality. He's outgoing! And social! And sweet! This is going well so far. And I only cried 3 times the first day, 0 times the next few days, and once today as Benson got on the bus for the first time. I was like the person in those movies where they chase after the bus (or train) and fall in a mess in the middle of the street after it's out of sight. I just hope like crazy he actually gets off the bus when I go to meet him in an hour!

rub a dub dub

three boys in a tub. Cute and squeaky clean and I just wanna smooch em.

Pretty sure Benson will be the only Kindergartner in his class to know the branches of the Brachial Plexus.

We register him (for reals this time) on Thursday, as this is his last full week before school starts. Please have the end of the world before then. I'm hyperventilating.

dear summer,

We're through. I just can't take you anymore. Sure we've had some good times, like

playing basketball,


and swimming lessons,





and visits with family,



and baby blessings,


and concerts in the park to listen to ridiculous "celtic" music all about beer and potatoes and brides,


And batman shirts from Grammy,

but seriously, we're done. You are too hot and dull. Please send in your oh-so-attractive friend Fall. He's always been my favorite anyway.

LoveRegards,
Carrie

ps. I like you much better in Michigan. Let's meet there next summer and see if we can rekindle this romance.