Gotta Get In Front O' That MISSYTOE!

Saturday night Paige got to have her first sleepover with someone who is just her friend, and not also her cousin. Her friend Maysen, who lives down the street. She was so excited. It was super cute, and they play really well together, and even included Cason. There wasn't a single fight or argument, just lots of games.
In the morning Jess played a cute superhero game with Cason. Caso got to design his own superhero, and he named him "Bimbit". Haha.
Sunday I was working on a project and called Trudi to see if she had something I needed for it. She said she and Dad were going to Bullhead to do a little more Christmas shopping, and asked if I wanted to come. Since Neely's young enough not to know we're buying her gifts right in front of her, she and I tagged along. So she got to have a date with me, Grampa, and Grama Trudi.

We got lunch first. It was delicious, and Neely colored her menu and the table.
Then she put her crayon where the straw goes.
Then we did some shopping. I pretty much finished ours, so I think we're ready for Christmas, and Neely had fun with Grampa and Grama Trudi.

Jess is now on his Christmas break, which is awesome. We spent a lot of time out front today, gradually working on our jungle yard.
The big kids rode their bikes in the driveway, while the jailbirds watched from inside the gate.
Paige heard about Mistletoe in a Christmas song or something, and was asking me what it was a few weeks ago. I told her how people sometimes kiss if they are standing under it. So she made up a song that goes "I gotta get in front o' that MISSYTOE!" Haha. Here's a video of her singing it while riding bikes. Cason borrowed Neely's beanie and looks like a little french kid or something. He sings his own song about Iron Man in the video too. :)

CHEEEEEEEESE!

Tonight I forgot I'd left the camera on the end table next to me. I heard Neely say "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!" so I looked up and saw her with the camera held up to her eyes like she was taking a picture.

I traded her my phone for it, so I could get this awesome picture of her "cheese" face.

Parrot Baby

Neely's been cracking us up with her copying lately. The other day we were driving with my mom and Misty with us. Misty sat in the far back seat (or the trunk, as Paige calls it, ha) and was talking to the kids. Paige asked for gum, so Misty asked Cason if he wanted some too. Then Neely loudly and clearly said "ME TOO!" Ha. We were cracking up. I'm assuming Cason must have said it just before and she copied him, because she's been a little parrot lately.

Then last night we were asking Cason to tell us what the letters on the chalkboard were. We've been talking about "H" and "I" lately, and Neely likes to come over and listen and help.
Well last night she was across the playroom when we were asking Cason. Jess pointed at the "H" and was waiting for Cason to tell him what it was. Neely realized we were doing the letters, and wanted to join in. She came running over and just as she came around to the front of the chalkboard she yelled "H!" Haha. So funny, she just yelled out the one she'd been hearing a lot lately and it happened to be the one we were doing at that moment.

Buzz and His Mom

We stayed home all day yesterday. Neely is suddenly really into drawing.
The other two were especially fun and imaginative. The playroom was destroyed, but it was a good thing. They played one game where Cason was Buzz Lightyear and Paige was his mom. It was really cute. Paige was all dressed up,
and they went to eat at a restaurant. I was the waitress. Then Buzz was "hurt" in a toy bin accident, and Paige said "Oh no. He needs to go to the hospital, and I'm supposed to go to work. Can you get the Elmo phone and call my boss and tell him I have to go to the hospital and I'll be late?" So I called in for her.

Then she took him to the hospital(my bed) and he got an x-ray.
She told me "He's gonna be okay. He just broke his leg. He needs a cast and a little bit of surgery." Haha.

Airstrike

Cason has been riding his tiny little tricycle around. I don't know what it is with us and making our kids ride bikes that are far too small for them, for far too long. Actually, I'm sure it has something to do with me being in denial about how big they are getting.

Well, we decided to get Cason his first real bike for Christmas. We found one we thought he'd love, the Airstrike, ha. It looks like a fighter jet, with the shark teeth painted on and all, and so of course we ordered it. It came yesterday, and obviously I made Jess put it together last night.

We decided to give it to him early, since it's so nice out AND Jess will have 2 weeks off for Christmas, once this week is over. That way Cason can practice riding it the next few days and we can go on lots of family rides during the vacation. SO...Jess came home for lunch today, and we unveiled it. His reaction was so cute.

Behold:


Obviously I made him pose for his "first big boy bike" pic.
They did laps around the driveway together, and Cason was SO happy.
He's also an expert rider, instantly. Although he likes to fake crashing once in a while, for fun. But he wouldn't be Cason without some dramatic crashes.

He kept telling me how he has the "most awesome bike ever". After a while he noticed a little warning sticker on it, that tells you not to ride at night, and all of that. He goes "Mama, this says: CASON. You are enough old." Haha, so cute. I guess he feels pretty grown up now.

Neely was looking sleepy in her stroller, so we went for a walk, with the older kids on the bikes of course. On our way back Cason was riding pretty fast, leaning forward like he was in a race. I got this picture of him, and noticed he's totally checking out how cool he looks in his shadow. :)

Letters to Santa

Last night we wrote letters to Santa with the cute paper and pencil set for it from Grama Trudi.

Paige was into it, but Cason was more into joining me in the kitchen to help make cookies. So he threw down a scribble to appease his dad.
Paige wrote that she wants "stick on nails" and even drew a picture of Santa in his sleigh. :)
Neely watched from her highchair, eating dinner. She even gave me her "cheese" and a smile.

Emails from Santa

We've been on a muffin kick lately. This weekend we couldn't agree on whether to make some mixed berry muffins, or banana muffins, so I invented bananaberry muffins. (Actually I'm sure it's been done before, but I'm gonna pretend we invented it). They were awesome. I made banana ones this morning. The kids loved the crumb topping, and Cason wanted to just eat the muffin tops, and then get another. Ha.
We've also been having some dance parties, and Neely has added some incredible moves to her repertoire. Her moves up until a few days ago involved pretty much just her lower half. But suddenly her arms are involved, and it's amazing. I'm gonna do my best to get some video of that tomorrow.
She also makes little monkey sounds at us when she wants something. Usually it's when she brings us a book she wants us to read. She'll hold it out toward us and grunt "Uh-uh-uh-uh" and it sounds like a perfect monkey impression.

Paige still has a pretty bad cough, and Neely's got a runny nose. :( I thought Paige was feeling okay though, until she had quite the attitude all day, which makes me think maybe she IS a little grumpy.

Speaking of which, she was being a grump during dinner, and ran off to her room, crying. Pretty soon we were eating dinner while listening to her cry loudly from her room: "If you want me to say sorry, come carry me out there!" Ha. We ignored her and kept eating. Neely was in her highchair, chowing down. At one point, she said, without looking up from her food, "NO Paige." She sounded like a little parrot. Her pronunciation of Paige is so cute. Sounds like "Paidsh".

This morning I opened their emails from Santa, which they loved. They each had one sent to them, and Santa talked TO them, using their name, which made them light up. It was SO cute.
Paige got shy, like he was right there, talking to her face to face.