Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Clean up!!!

Winter Concert

So hard to believe my little Princess is getting so big! Here she is all dressed up for her very first school concert! She was so exicted to wear such a fancy dress! The Kindergarten program is usually the hardest to sit through... since either half the kids don't sing the right song, and the other half scream!! hehe - but she did really well and loved it!


Little J had his final elementary school concert! Whoo hooo! He got to play one of the horrible donging things that I despise!


And here he is all dressed up... still small enough to take a picture with his Mom!

Getting up our tree!

Each year, we set up our good-ole, faithful, made in Korea Christmas Tree! Only a few years have we ever gone with the live tree! Also, since we had our little mischevious kitten, Fester, we knew we had better not go all out with an expensive live tree!
So, we spent last night getting out the ornaments and decorating the tree! The kids really enjoy putting on "their" special ornaments each year - a great reminder of how much they have grown since years past! Let the Holiday Season Begin!

How was our weekend - part two

After getting the septic system partially fixed, we did not get our Turkey Day going until late afternoon.... We put the bird in... which was super tasty (though someone in the picture below shows their deep displeasure with the whole bird thing!).



Miss O was an awesome helper in the kitchen! She was in charge of cleaning the sweet potatoes and setting the table... she liked the potatoes the best because she actually helped me pick them out at the store! Little J made the green bean casserole, and the pumpkin pie.... and I supervised someone writing sentences!

How did our weekend go? - part one

I know the picture is hard to read... but basically, in a nutshell, it states that our septic system is NOT a toy, and someone has caused the family lots of grief!

Thursday morning, BRIGHT AND COLD AND EARLY, all three toilets in the house backed up... we had just put the pumpkin pie in the oven to cook.... Turkey Day was on the agenda! Until... the final flush!
So, being as cold as it was (5 degrees) the hubby geared up and went outside to take a look. Thankfully, I was not there to see the initial disaster! Our septic system access tube was removed and laying in a frozen pile in the back corner of our yard. Our system was CLOGGED and FROZEN. Grrrrrr.... thinking that our destroy everything Black Lab - Phebe was the problem, the hubby went to work trying to thaw and pump up some of the mess so we could get it fixed.
Welll.... he was having Big Al help him out... Big Al was apparently MISTIFIED about the problem and acting like it was a real concern.
Shortly after the pumping started, and the hubbys blood pressure and patience level was to the top, he informed me of the problem. I asked both Miss O and Little J if they had played with it, both denied... and then Little J informed me that he had seen Big Al twisting the lid open and dropping ROCKS and other things into the line.... just wonderful! That little tidbit would have been nice to know a few days ago!
So... we went without toilets, and water and washing our hands for a few hours... the hubby managed to get most the clog out... but still not a complete fix....
Big Al, on the other hand... landed himself in a pile of deeepppppp Sh*t! That is putting it mildly! He was sentenced with some sentences... 150 of them... and he is most likely on restriction until....... well... whenever I decide - probably close to Christmas! Ugh! Not a good day... A.T. A.L.L.

Halloween!!

This Halloween we had a skeleton (Big Al), The Hulk (Little J) and Ariel (Miss O). They all looked super in their costumes! Since Halloween fell on a Saturday, we were able to do trick-or-treating in town on Saturday, and then on to BOO Central at the CWU campus for fun activities on Sunday! Fortunately, they got a lot less candy then last year!!

Mother's Day

Usually, Mother's Day is a pretty quiet and normal day, for the most part! I don't even dream of asking for anything anymore... as my wishes usually fall upon deaf ears! But, this year was a little different! I asked the hubby to pleeeeeease finish off a mobile chicken coop for my little chicks that have been living in his shop so I can move them outside! The mobile coop was about half done as of yesterday. Miss O gave me a nice card and a pot with mystery seeds planted in it, and Little J had a nice card with some candies... great stuff as usual!
All afternoon - the hubby and the kiddos worked on the little pen....



Miss O was in charge of taking things to and from the shop.. what a great helper!


Since Little J was light enough to crawl inside (hmmmmm this could be a great kid coop as well!) he was in charge of the inside lights!


And a picture of the almost (waiting for paint) completed mobile coop!!!

Easter!

Well... there was not much fan fare this year for Easter! The Easter Bunny was out ill with the stomach flu! It took all the Easter Bunny's strength to get the eggs and baskets hidden! The kids really enjoyed hunting for their stuff! Fortunately, Big Al and Little J were helpful to their little sis in finding her stuff! She sure LOVES holidays!!!

Christmas Pictures

Thanksgiving

I guess the one great thing I can say about Thanksgiving, is that I am thankful it is OVER! While our Turkey day was great, and the day after was pretty good - the weekend portion was just flat awful.

We did have a tiny amount of snow right before the big day - and the kids made this cute little snowperson!

Memorial day weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend - the weather held up and we were able to relax and enjoy the day!

Little J spent most the time trying to juggle the soccer ball as long as possible without letting it hit the ground - inspired by his Uncle Steve, who can do it FOREVER!

Big Al and Little J spent most the day in the yard chasing balls and each other... they were worn out!

Great BBQ rib dinner was enjoyed - and the kids were happy to see their Uncle Steve - who can provide hours of entertainment for the boys!

Miss O raided the garden and collected us a bunch of lilacs to take home and enjoy!

Easter fun

Sunday was a gorgeous day! We were able to have our Easter Egg Hunt outdoors! The Easter Bunny went easy on the boys - who decided after last year that there was no such thing as an Easter Bunny! Neither boy complained or had any negative feedback this year - what a relief!!
Since each kiddo had their own individualized hunt for eggs and prizes - they worked together to help each other!

Big Al hunts around a tree for one of his clues.. while lil sis is telling him to look for an egg! We heard the word "duuuuuuhhhhh" muffled - but not quite enough!

Miss O had to be involved in EVERYTHING! Here she is helping Little J try to open his egg to find a clue!

Miss O and Little J seem to work pretty well together when it comes to stuff like this... unfortunately - they are very much like two peas in pod when it comes to behavior!

Someone had a clue to check for eggs in a hen-house!! How original!! Good thing the hens did not get upset about it!

The gruesome threesome enjoyed the beautiful morning while doing the hunt.. we all probably walked about 2 miles before it was all said and done!

The Easter Bunny must have been on a tight budget - or he/she finally figured out that the kids (Big Al) literally make themselves sick by eating all the candy in 15 minutes or less! This year it was more little toys and less candy! Here - Big Al is showing off his goods!

Miss O had a blast! She really gets into parties and celebrations of any kind... she squealed most the morning and had to talk all about the "wab-it" that brought her stuff!

Little J, who was the nay-sayer last year had only good things to say about the easter bunny this year - hmmmm imagine that!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day with their families!!

Благословения на Рождество!

Благословения на Рождество!

Today is Christmas!!! Miss O is the only person in our family who has been baptized as Russian Orthodox! So, since today is Orthodox Christmas... we wish her.....Blessings for Christmas!

Bye bye 2008 - Hello 2009!!!!

I tried really hard to get a better picture of what these two trouble makers were watching.... they are busy watching the birds attack the bird feeder outside... though they are really brave and fearless hunters - the snow tends to make them think twice!
They are wishing for a warmer and less-snowy winter in 2009!

Happy New Year to all!

The rest of the aftermath! - notes to self!

I need to make a mental note to self.....

#1 - Don't forget how over stimulated two boys get when the holidays come around! Arghhh....
Though it is a wonderful and enjoyable time of year, it is also incredibly stressful and can make parenting these two tougher than usual!
Two days in a row - Big A had major "challenges" that made some of his visiting time with his cousins very limited! Todays incident was biting his brother... hard enough to break skin - and his brother was wearing his snow gloves - so you know it was hard!

#2 - Cut back on fun gifts or make each boy get EXACTLY the same thing - right down to the color!
Little J is very vocal when someone else (aka his brother) gets something that HE may have wanted for 2 seconds in the last 8 years of his life... this causes a bit of a mental meltdown that always takes more than a few minutes to blow over. Maybe extra duct tape to keep him quiet would be in order!

#3 - Consider just letting Santa do his job... if he does not show... oh well!
I'm getting tired of the old naughty and nice list threat! Maybe next year I will hold fast to it!

#4 - Purchase ear plugs, dead batteries and non-functioning screw drivers!
That way - what is noisy that does not have batteries won't be heard, what needs batteries won't work, and what needs to be opened to put batteries in can't be opened... until the next day the store is open! :)

Anyone else got any great holiday tips?????

Aftermath of the big day - Part 2

Here are a few more photos of Christmas Day!
We had Christmas dinner at our house... ham and all the fixings! I have to say that the ham was ultra yummy! Alex raised one darn good and yummy pig!

Miss O got a BIG BIKE from Santa - and she is on it ALLLL the time! Since she cannot ride outside, we have let her ride it in the house! Luckily it has training wheels and she does not go too fast, yet!

Santa brought Guitar Hero for the whole family! It came with two guitars, but apparently, Miss O thinks that her Barbie guitar will do just fine!

Papa got alot of "Papa... HELP me!" He was busy busy busy putting things together and installing batteries!

PJ was ultra thankful that Big Al got him some dog treats! Unfortunately, they were wrapped pretty tight and he needed some help!

The Aftermath of the big day! Part 1

Here are a few pictures from Christmas! I was trying to download more - but for some reason it kept kicking me out! Here is the first set!! Enjoy!

A traditional Holiday Staple.... PEZ!
Christmas

Prior to wake up of the kiddos... the cats check out all the goodies under the tree!

Christmas eve we exchanged family gifts and those from the Grandparents

Big Al was concerned about getting more clothes!

A certain Little J is ADDICTED to the Dangerous Books for Boys!

Even PJ, our beloved dog gives presents! Every year he wraps up the traditional pajamas for each kiddo!

Miss O is always VERY thankful for gifts she receives!

Little J got her a Tinkerbell puzzle - boy was she psyched!

We made gingerbreak cookies, and the left over dough made a big O - so Miss O got the "O" cookie, and she was pretty happy about that!

Outside our house on Christmas eve Day!