When I grow up.....

Timmy:  "When I get bigger, I wanna be a baseball.  I gonna be a Ginats (Giants)!"

Emma:  "I wanna be a Giants, too!"  

Daddy has since done some persuading and now if you ask her what she wants to be, she'll say, "A ballerina."

Kallie:  "I wanna be a balloon!"  

And Kallie isn't so easily persuaded out of, or into, anything.....she still wants to be a balloon!

Mommy loves you, too!

My sister -in-law told me that bath crayons were a pain in the butt to clean, and it's not that I didn't believe her, it's just that we'd never had them before and I wanted to try them out for ourselves.  She was right....they don't come off so easily.  We'll stick with bath markers...the kids love them, they seem to last longer, and I love how easily they wipe right off.  

However, due to bath crayons, this has been on my shower wall for over a week now....

...and that I don't mind so much :)

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for your comment!  Funny you should ask about the kids' sizes...we just had 3 yr check-ups yesterday and basically all they did was take heights and weights.  Oh yeah, and put everybody on antibiotics for this cough we've had for the past month and a half (hoping we can kick it now)!  The kids are all very close in size and always have been.  Timmy was born at 2 lbs. 15 oz., Emma was 2 lbs. 14 oz., and Kallie was 3 lbs. 1 oz.....or 3 lbs. 2 oz.  There are...discrepancies - I say 3.1, Tim says 3.2.....and I say since I carried them, I win! ;)  Either way, the kids have always kept this small weight/size difference.  Kallie has always weighed the most, by anywhere from a few ounces to a pound or two, then Timmy, and then Emma right behind Timmy by a few ounces to a pound.  Heights are very similar.  Timmy and Kallie seem to be in a race for who is tallest....sometimes it's Timmy, sometimes it's Kallie (either way, just by about 1/4 of an inch), but most of the time they have measured the same.  Yesterday Kallie measured the longest/tallest, by 1/4 of an inch.  And with the exception of birth and that first few months where Kallie and Emma were the exact same length, Emma has always been a tiny bit shorter than the other two, again by about 1/4 of an inch.       

So basically yes, there are small height and weight differences between the kids, but they're all very close in size.  That being said, it's amazing to me how different that similar heights and weights can look on different people and builds.  Timmy looks so much thinner than the girls, and just smaller in general to me because of his build (I call him a little bean pole or an arrow because he's so long and straight/skinny).  And I'm always surprised when he is right behind Kallie, and heavier than Emma, in weight.  More surprising is how different their sizes can look in pictures depending on where they're at.  If they're sitting, Timmy always seems to be shorter because he slumps.  Otherwise, it just depends on who's standing where and if they they are putting their arm/shoulder behind the person next to them, leaning forward, scooted up a bit, or back....  Seriously, even being staggered an inch or two further back from someone will make the person in front appear much bigger/taller and the person in the back way smaller.  There are so many other factors that go into it, too...bumps or dips in the lawn or hay or snow or whatever surface we might be on depending where we are and what we're doing.  I could drive myself crazy with trying to "place" them for a picture to make sure they all look exactly the same heights....so I just don't!  And I've learned that if I let them place themselves for a picture, they're more likely to stay there and look happy about it.

Wow...I just made a short story really long and boring!  Sorry about that!  Lol!!!

Kallie, Emma, and Timmy at their 3yr check-up

  

Reminding myself to...

- and -

It's cold here so our recent days have consisted of comfy clothes and art projects....coloring, sticker collages, play dough and anything else that will entertain three kids for at least 10 minutes at a time.  We've been snuggling in blankets and reading books...sipping hot chocolate, eating treats, and watching a little too much TV.  The house is a disaster (no really, Tim came home the other day and asked if we had been robbed.  I told him nothing was missing and it looked like we were just ransacked ;) bathrooms need to be cleaned, the laundry is piling up....and we are happy!

Tall white mocha, please!

While we were in Tahoe, Tim and I went and got Starbucks one morning.  I'm not a HOT coffee drinker, so I didn't drink it right away.  I had a few sips, but for the most part I let it cool while I was getting the kids dressed for the snow.  At some point I left the room to get something, and when I  came back....the door was locked!  This was the first time the kids had ever locked themselves into a room...or locked me out of a room, depending on how you look at it.  There wasn't really anything in the room I was worried about them hurting themselves with, but still...  I wasn't sure if they had locked it on purpose or on accident...and more importantly, I didn't know if they knew how to UNlock it.  There were lots of rustlings and little giggles as I repeatedly asked them to open the door for mommy.  They'd jiggle the door handle and laugh when it wouldn't open.  After a couple minutes of trying to explain how to unlock the door, it was finally open...and there was Timmy standing in front of me with the biggest smile on his face and holding my coffee cup up towards me, "I drink it all gone fo' you!"  And sure enough....he had!  There was not a drop left!  It made for an interesting day....and I'm sure it didn't help his tummy feel any better.  Good thing it was only a small!

Fast forward to a few nights ago.  Timmy was laying in bed and going through his whole list of questions that he asks EVERY night...basically stalling falling asleep...

"Mommy, we don't have milk to bed?"

"No, we don't have milk to bed."

"Mommy, we don't have apple juice to bed?"

"No, we don't have apple juice to bed."

"Mommy, we don't have water to bed?"

"No, we don't have water to bed." (I feel bad saying no to water, but ever since the kids started wearing undies to bed, I try to prevent any and all bed wetting)

This is usually the end of the questioning, but this night there was a long pause and then...

"Mommy?  We don't have coffee to bed???"

"Uh, no!  We don't have coffee to bed!"  Or ever again!!!

Lol!  Can't blame him for trying...tall white mochas are one of my favorites, too! :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!!

I love that song from The Elf.  I mean I know it's not originally from The Elf, but whenever I hear it, I think of The Elf...where Jovie is singing in the shower and Buddy is sitting on the counter singing with her.  Until she realizes he's there and tells him to get out...and then he runs into the wall.  I love that part!  Ok, now I'm just rambling...  But seriously...it was freezing!  I think when we arrived at the cabin (not our cabin...that sounded like I was saying it's our cabin....it's just a cabin we use occasionally), it was about 18 degrees!  I know it gets a lot colder some places, but 18 degrees is cold enough for me!  And in typical fashion, our trip to the snow didn't quite go as planned (if I had a nickel for every time I've said that...).  Emma threw up the first night (luckily, although not for me, 99.9% of it was in my hands so at least I didn't have to wake everybody by turning on the lights to clean the bed and carpet).  Her and Timmy complained the rest of the trip, "My tummy doesn't feel good today."  And Tim caught another round of the cold we can't seem to get rid of!  BUT we still managed to have some fun!!!

Timmy, Emma, and Kallie    

Lots of snow for.... 

Throwing snowballs...

And making snow angels :)

Emma

Kallie

This sled didn't work very well down the hill, but we put it to good use in the street...

Daddy pulling Kallie up the street...

And pushing her down....

The icicles were huge!

Itty-Bitty-Pretty Emma

Sweetest and snuggliest (is that a word?) little boy...ever!!!

Cutie-Patootie Kallie :)

 Mommy and Kallie

Now let's talk about the sledding.....

This is how mommy sleds...

This is how Daddy sleds...

He puts the kids on his back, gets a running start, and jumps on the sled/slope while the kids hang on for dear life!  I almost had a heart attack the first time I saw him do it!!!

But the kids LOVED it!  

I much preferred them going down alone! :)

Kallie taking an icicle break...

 A rare picture of Mommy AND

 Daddy...

And an even rarer shot of all of us together...

Hopefully we can make it back to the snow again....this time without throw-up, sick tummies and a cold! ;) 

Top Ten...

There are so many things I don't want to forget about 2010 (and I few I do), so in light of the new year, I thought I'd steal borrow a little idea from David Letterman (always did like him better than Jay Leno) and create our own Top Ten.

(taken earlier this year)

One of the things I don't want to forget....the kids learning to play hopscotch!  It was so sweet to watch them take turns hopping, not so coordinated, over (and on) the chalked lines.  

 And without further ado....

Top Ten Most Memorable Phrases of 2010!

10 - "I wanna do it!!!"  (This is nothing new or out of the ordinary for anyone who has lived with a 2yr old...but times 3, it is enough to drive you...literally...insane!)

9 - "You're the best, Mom."  (Okay I've really only heard this once.  But I never said MOST USED phrases, just most memorable...and it was memorable alright!  Kallie said this to me a couple days ago while just her and I were playing with play-dough at the kitchen table.....and it totally melted my heart on the spot!)

8 - "Cool Bus!"  (Timmy says this...and it would be ok if he meant "Cool bus!" but he actually means "School bus!" :)

7 - "Uh-oh, I pilled....I weed a wapkin."  (Timmy again.  Translation - "Uh-oh, I spilled...I need a napkin."  I think Speech Therapy might be in his near future.)

6 - "Officer Bob is gonna come get you and take you to JELLY!"  (Kallie said this to Timmy the other day and I just about peed my pants!  A little backstory...the kids love police cars, fire trucks and anything with sirens, but when we visited Auntie Aimee (Tim's cousin) and her husband came home, who happens to be a police officer, the kids were terrified of him....and his car!  We have since used him as a means of discipline - "Buckle up or Officer Bob will get you."  "Go to sleep or....."  I know, again with the great parenting, right?!  I have NO idea where the idea of jail, or "jelly" according to Kallie, came from, but it KILLS me so I'm not correcting her any time soon!)

5 - "Noooooo-wah..."  (Pronounced like a long drawn out Noah.  It is ANNOYING...the end!)

4 - "Lay me a lot!"  (I'm actually going to miss this one quite a bit some day...who doesn't want their kids to want to snuggle with them....not a little...but a lot! :)

3 - "Mom...MOM...  MOMMY!  MOMMY!!  MOOOMMY!!!"  "Yes, (Timmy or Emma or Kallie)?"  "Cuse (excuse) me, Mommy..." in the sweetest, most polite little voice.  (We are working on NOT interrupting and to ask nicely for someone's attention rather than yelling their name as loud as humanly possible...it's not going very well so far!)

2 - "Are you my best friend???"  (Not sure where the kids picked this up, but it is the cutest thing...EVER!  I never get tired of hearing them ask each other "Are you my best friend?"  Or say, "Daddy, don't leave....I'm your best friend." And it's always funny when it turns into an all out war, Kallie: "I'm you're best friend!"  Emma: "No, I'm your best friend!  Kallie louder: "NO, I'm your best friend!!"  Emma even louder: "NO, I'M your BEST FRIEND!!!"  It goes on and on and gets louder and louder.  And it's one fight I don't mind NOT breaking up.)

1 - "I wanna go to Gramma's house!"  (This IS the MOST USED phrase of the year...used by ALL the kids (but Emma is the biggest offender) ANY time of the day - morning, noon, and night.   It is often one of the first things I here in the morning; as well as all throughout the day...and if you happen to wake one of the kids while tucking them in in the middle of the night, they might just utter the groggy words, "I wanna go to Gramma's house.")