The Last Few Days

We're not doing all our usual decorations for Christmas, so that we won't have to pack it all up in a rush the last few days before we move.  Instead we got a small Christmas tree at Home Depot... 

 

 

...and some dollar store ornaments to decorate it with.  We did our usual day of decorating and watching Rudolph. 

 

 

 

 

 Then we finished up by going to the Parade of Lights with the Cassons and the Barsons.  It was fun, although Kingman could probably plan a more time efficient parade.  That thing took 4 times as long as it needed to, with like 150 yards between floats.  This was the first year we made it to the end of the parade.  One year it was way colder than we anticipated and Paige was a baby, so we got her out of there.  Another year a random stranger mistook me for someone else and tried to pick a fight with me out of nowhere.  The last time we went we left for the E.R. before the parade even started because Caso accidentally stepped on 3 or 4 week old Neely's face as she was lying on the quilt.  So this was our first positive experience at the parade too.  Ha.

 

Sunday turned in to "Leaf Day" after church.  I raked up a HUGE pile of leaves and then the kids played in it with Jess.  They threw them, buried each other in them, and Caso and Jess filled their jackets with leaves to make big bellies to smash into each other.   They always love Leaf Day.  But it's over now and I've bagged up SO MANY leaves. 

 

Caso was sick yesterday so I spent my day sewing mostly.  I decided to make Stacy(Skye's wonderful mama, for those who don't know her) an ornament inspired by her beautiful dog Steinway.

Skye helped me with a plan to surprise her.  She texted me when her mom arrived at her house, and I was going to drop it off at the door, and text HER when I left.  Then she'd tell her mom she thought she'd heard the UPS man and ask her to go check so she'd find her gift.  So I thought I'd be clever and leave Skye's doe ornament and surprise HER too. 

 

Meanwhile she texted me to tell me the painting she'd been working on that I loved was done and to see if I still wanted it so I'd have first dibs.  When I tiptoed up to her door the painting and a sweet card were waiting for me.  Skye was the biggest trickster.  I love my painting!

Leaf Hunters

While Jess was in Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago I tried to keep the kids entertained so they didn't miss him TOO much.  One afternoon we went on a leaf hunt.  They brought baskets and looked for any leaves that caught their attention.  They loved it.  Such a simple thing that made them so happy. 

Neely rode in the stroller, and enjoyed herself too.

 Then we came home and they set up at the picnic table to sort through their leaves.  

 

 

We gave out "awards", like biggest leaf, smallest leaf, yellowest leaf, reddest leaf, spottiest leaf, etc.  They each won several.

 

 

 

Playing Catchup Yet Again

Well, maybe when we move to Oklahoma I'll be better at blogging.  Hopefully. 

We had a good Thanksgiving, a little weird.  Both my parents and Aunt Mollie and Uncle Tim were gone, so it was smaller and quieter than usual, but still nice.  Tyra and I cooked for one of the get togethers, so I was too busy to think of taking pictures.  

Other than that we've mostly been trying to do some work on the house and yard to get it ready for renters.  Dan and Veronica bought our playset from us, so it's gone, which makes it easier to work out back.  We don't have to watch Neely as closely.  But when they were taking it away, I got pretty sad.  I didn't expect it, but I have good memories of staying up super late putting it together with Jess, and of watching the kids have fun on it.  But like I said, the kids can play safely without me having to watch them like a hawk.

 There's been artwork.  This one was a drawing by Paige, FOR Cason.  Outer space, with the Iron Giant and the cutest astronaut dog.

 

There have been sleepovers with cousins.

Playing with/fighting over the kindle.  On this occasion I heard Neely say "OH!  Dangut.  I miss again."

 Another common cause of arguing in our family is Neely's desire to hold on to Paige's seatbelt while we drive.

Also, she would rather die than keep her arms inside the straps of her own carseat where they belong.  I have to stop the car 20 times a drive to put them back in.  It doesn't matter how tight I make it, she will force her way free.

She's also mastered the pouty face.  She abruptly crosses her arms, puffs out her lips, scrunches her eyes and eyebrows angrily, and says something in a naughty tone.  This one is fake, so she's not doing the eyes, but it's close:

She's quite sweet, but quite naughty at times, telling her brother and sister off.  I blame Cason.  He spoils her rotten.  We try to teach her to share, and to ask nicely for things, but Cason gives her whatever she wants, no matter how she's acting, because he's golden hearted.  We keep trying to tell him why it's important for her to ask nicely first, but he doesn't care much.  

The other night at Grama's, she was cuddling me and yelling at the other two not to try and cuddle with me too.  They wouldn't give up, so she told Cason "Cason wanna cuddle Grama." and pointed him over to Grama on the couch next to us.  Haha.  Smartie.  Using redirection on him.  :)

This picture is from dinner tonight, and just makes me laugh, the way she's drinking from a mug onehanded, wearing Paige's watch.  She looks like a tiny grownup.

She's in to singing lately.  She'll just make up a song about what she's doing or what she wants.  But most often she sings one of two songs:  She learned to sing Ring Around the Rosie from Caillou, but she just sings "Pocket Rosie!  Pocket Rosie.  We all sit, we aaaall sit, we...all.....fall....DOWN!"  The way she sings the "Pocket Rosie" part is unbelievable.  She sort of gets a spanish accent, rolling the "r" and making the "s" sound really hard.  Every time she sings it, which is 100 times a day, Jess and I look at eachother in disbelief at how cute it sounds.  I think I have video of it, which I will post if I find it.

Her other favorite is "Rockabye Baby".  She sings "Rockabye baby bobot!"  No clue why she thinks it's about a baby robot.  Haha.  So cute.

iPhone Pics

It's going to take me a while to get used to having an iPhone.  I forget how many of my pictures are on my phone now, and most of them are because it usually takes better pictures than my camera.  So I just realized how many pictures I had that I would have put in past posts if I'd remembered to get them from my phone.  So here's some catchup:

A few weeks back Neely had her first braids:

This is a cute one from the pumpkin patch:

 A sweet one of my 2 littlest holding hands in the car:

 Count Bananula, who I made for Paige on Halloween.  I wanted to put something fun in her lunch in honor of one of our favorite days, that would surprise her and make her smile.  So I cut a quick cloak out of felt, and almost made her late for school sewing elastic to it and making his face out of white felt and melted chocolate.  :)

 Neely being weird and having a wagon handle as a hat:

 Neely enjoying birthday cake:

 Paige enjoying birthday cake AND cupcake:

 The boys enjoying being together:

 A sweet note from Paige:

 (I've since found exact copies of this letter with other people's names(and titles) swapped out for mine, like Daddy, Cason, Neely, and even Gia)

Neely flexing in her constellation shirt from Grammy and Grampy:

 Looking (and feeling) pretty in her outfit from Grama:

 Being incredible at Arby's on Paige's birthday:

 Paige enjoying her birthday dinner. She chose Arby's:

 Neely being a weirdee:

 Pretty in another outfit from her birthday, this one from Grampa and Grama Trudi:

 Sleeping and looking cute:

 Looking lovely:

 Boys at Bayleigh's soccer game:

 Neely noticing Devynn for the first time:

 Paige at her last soccer game.  It was a chilly one:

 Visiting at Misty's, and Cason bonding with Uncle Jordan while helping him start a fire:

 Devynn enjoying the warmth of said fire:

 Cason holding newest cousin for the first time:

 Enjoying my new sweatery blanket.  We love that thing.  He stayed in bed until I finally woke him up at 9:45!

 Neely and I are sick, but she's starting to feel better.  She told me "I wide a horsey Gia."

 Gia's the sweetest.  Except when she blatantly steals food from the table or tears into a garbage bag right in front of me.  No respect at all.

Now I'll try to be better about posting these as they happen.