On a sled, painted red...

Thor loves books that require singing along to. He even makes us sing books that are not singing books. Anyways, that is not the point of this blogpost.

Today Grandpa asked Thor if he had a sled. This prompted Thor to sing a line from his book Jesus is With Me: "On a sled, painted red, Jesus is with me..."

When I reminded him that we actually DID have a sled, painted red... that caused an awful lot of excitement.

So to add to the elation, I went to fetch the sled from the basement.

I mentioned to Grandpa that it was probably too cold to take the baby out, but he said it was really nice today. So when he left, we bundled up  and had our first sled ride of the season.

Sled Ride With Little Ones: A 3 Step Plan

Step 1: Plop baby down in the snow for his first snow-angel.

 Step 2: Squish the kids into the sled.

Step 3: Get the sled moving. Fast. This step is important to halt the building whining and fussing (it was cold)and create instant smiles and giggles.

And for the record, I trusted Grandpa without checking the temperature first. I'm not entirely sure that 8 degrees is considered warm enough to take a baby out... but, we certainly managed to have a nice time!

Fashion Faux Pas

Ah, getting out of the house. This is one of life's simple pleasures for a stay at home mom, such as myself.

That is, until, the stars aligned: another child was added to the mix, M turned (notoriously) two, and winter's chill required extra layers. This simple pleasure has taken a turn for the worst. It has been morphed into a daunting task that leaves me questioning my parenting skills on a good day, and my sanity on a bad day.

When it is time to go on our outings, I would describe the infant as cooperative. The three year old, marginal. The two year old: a reckless whirlwind of negative energy.

This is why we ventured to the bank with M wearing a fluffy lollipop-print bathrobe as a jacket. Warm? Perhaps. Ridiculous? Yes.

And to get coffee wearing her brother's summer sandals, a pair of leggings, and an exuberant cheetah-print dress coat. I deemed my need for coffee much more important than fashion at the time.

It's a shame that all of the cute outfits I have for her are misconstrued so severely that it looks like I don't value basic dressing principles.

Exhibit A: Returning home from a Christmas party. Yes, complete compliance was achieved upon exiting the party, as they were allowed to wear each other's jackets. Harmless, right?

Wrong. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we failed to imagine what the next outing would be like when M had to wear her own jacket. Sigh.

Exhibit B: Why yes, that is 5 pairs of undies.

Summer cannot come soon enough.

Hello, Gorgeous Christmas Man

We teach our kids everything they know, and sometimes we forget that. Certain things are so commonplace that we assume that our children just know what they are.

I was reminded of that today as I was standing in my favorite coffee shop, the Red Roaster. Seasonal decorations were up, and my little Christmas-decoration lover, Thor, was just loving it. He noticed a wreath with Christmas ornaments and squealed with delight.

Then, he ran over to a seating area and gleefully yelled, "Mommy, look at that MAN!"

That "man" was a Santa Clause holding a Red Roaster menu. I just had to laugh.

Thor reached out to touch his soft, white hair. "Hello, gorgeous Christmas man..." he softly said.

Oh, the joy of watching my kids experiencing such simple and wonderful things for the first time! Christmas is so much fun this year.

Christmas Bling

Introducing: Our first Christmas Tree!!

Well, you can hardly call an undecorated Christmas Tree "bling."

But walk into my house at night, and you will know what I mean about the bling. We have lights. Everywhere. If you are tall, you will probably have to duck under strands of lights. But I just love them...

The large tropical plant had to move to make way for the tree. And it got some well-deserved "bling" as well.

Anyways, back to the Christmas tree. It is real. It smells amazing. It is stunning and perfect in every way! And get this. It was only $15 at Menards!

Dax turned 4 months old the day we brought it home, and he clearly approves of the tree.

The big boy can sit on his own... well, sort of. I'm not gonna lie, he did faceplant it into the tree. However, he handled it like a man and just grinned.

Mmmm, a new texture.

And now I want one in my house year-round.

Baby Food: Can You Dig It?

My baby food maker has been getting quite the workout lately.

Turns out all of the kids dig baby food.

I am so happy that I have the awesomest baby food maker ever, the Babea BabyCook. It was a gift from my mother-in-law for baby #1, and we sure have gotten a lot of use out of it.

So far, the biggest hits are pictured in my fridge below:

Avocado-Banana

Butternut Squash-Honeycrisp Apple-Pear

Blackberry-Blueberry-Apple-Oatmeal

Carrot-Butternut Squash-Pear

With the Azure Standard Co-op truck coming to Minot, we have been able to score some great deals on organic produce and make almost all of the baby food completely organic.

I don't encourage Thor and Maycee to eat the baby food... they beg me for it. And get so excited about it. 

And with such fresh, colorful food... can you blame them!?

And on a side note... in case you were wondering... yes, the "Man Spoon" has a butt.

Picture courtesy of the Man Fork who was kind enough to pose for us.

Life this Week: Photographed

Dear Santa. For Christmas, I'd like the gift of walking. This is getting rediculous. -Dax

As you can see, Maycee is instructing her little brother on how to break ornaments. She is the expert on ornament breakage so far this year. I say "so far" only because it sure seems like Dax is really focusing on Maycee's little lesson!

Dax and his many cute faces...

Thanks to my Mom for this great wreath... it is my new favorite thing!

Thor's dream came true this week... Daddy brought a grader home from the jobsite. He has been given several rides and just cannot get enough.

It was very foggy this morning... made for some neat pictures!

My little flower-adoring girl had to pick a frost-covered Purple Cone Flower.

Wait a minute... what is wrong with this flower?

Dax now loves avocado/banana homemade baby food. He is a great eater for being so young! It is unbelievable how much he can eat!

Rough housing.

No Kidding

Is goat yogurt a legitimate first baby food?

I pondered the question for a moment. The organic carrots just weren't that appealing to the little man. But he did appear quite interested in his brother's blueberry goat yogurt.

And we all know there are not really any "rules" with third babies, right?

So we gave it a whirl.

He quite clearly told me, at that point:  "Me Man. Me need food."

And ever so cutely gobbled up a lot of yogurt.

First feeding: Success.

This guy... I think he's a food man.

Sun, Rocks, & Mud

We had such a lovely day yesterday and lost most of the snow outside. There was sun, mud, and rocks to throw. These three ingredients are all my kids have ever really needed to have a good time.

Fun was had.

Hook Me Up With Some Gum

"Hook me up with some gum, please Mommy?" says Thor after his nap.

I guess this is how big 3 year olds ask for gum nowadays. I have no idea where he gets these things... but they sure keep me laughing.

Doctor Day for Little M and Big D

Dax is so happy; band-aid and all...

Dax had his very first trip to the Doctor today! Maycee tagged along for her 2-year check-up.

Highlights:
• Maycee is in the mere 10th percentile for both her height and weight, whilst Dax is in the 110th percentile for his height and weight. Big and Little.

• Maycee's cute grin while Dr. Pederson checked her over. She laid on the table so nicely. I am fairly certain that she thought of the appointment as play. Thanks for the Doctor Kit, Grandma Eve-- playing doctor with Thor really paid off today! She said "AHHHHH" when the doctor requested as she looked into her mouth. She also said "AHHHHH" when the doctor shined a light up her nose. :) I'm so proud of her!

• The way Dax started to pout as he realized the pain of the needle in his chubby leg... and then a little grunt... and then a huge smile as the nurses praised him and pasted a bandaide on. He's such a tough little guy.

So... Where's the Freakin' Cereal?

Ahhh... the things kids pick up on.

Yesterday morning was a cold, blustery day with our first-of-the-season snowfall. We all got a late start up. Thor meandered around the living room in his white undies, whilst I was feeding sleepy baby Dax on the couch. Then it came.

Thor sweetly walked up to me, twisting his fingers around a ponytail that he found on the floor, and asked: "Mommy, can I have some freakin' cereal?"

If I had been drinking a glass of water, it would have spewed out of my mouth right there. "Umm.... yes, in just a moment." I said very calmly.

Now, these are the things I have learned since having kids. If I tell him NOT to say that word, he is quite likely to repeat it often. If I laugh, he is likely to repeat it often. And totally out of context.
So I hastily chose to ignore it.

Fast-forward three minutes or so. I shuffled through the pantry doors, admittedly barren of cereal.

"Mommy, where's the freakin' cereal?" Thor chattered as he moved some boxes around.

"Thor, you really cannot say that, ok?" says the One who really hopes it wasn't her potty-mouth that got Thor saying the word in the first place.

"Ok." he said. "I won't say that."

"Great!" says I, still chuckling, mostly inside.

As we ate the last of some wheat Chex, I couldn't help but laugh inside. And BBM the quote to my sister. And my mom. And my husband.

Am I proud? Not really.

Humored for the day?

Definently.

My First Blog Post

I finally got around to making myself a blog. I cannot believe it has taken me this long, but then again... I have been a little busy in the last few years. As for the title of my blog; well, this sums up what I will be "blogging" about. I won't mention too much about the dog, but he always seems to show up in the background of most pictures, so I figured I'd give him a little credit.

And what a better way to kick off my blog than with some candid photographs from this morning, of the kids in their Sunday best!