chickens, jam and a happy new year.

we took the boys up to vogel state park in the very, very cold north georgia mountains to hang out with the allen clan in some cabins in the woods. we had a blast!

the boys loved going on a nature hike with papa ger’—he even made them walking sticks, which i’m totally saving. 

another highlight was feeding the chickens at pappy’s. alex was fearless, standing right in the middle of all those chickens!

he must have fed them five bags of chicken feed, if not more.

the chickens started following him around!

and max? well, max was, um, chicken.

i had to hold him the whole time. he did enjoy throwing chicken feed from shoulder level though. my poor coat!

the kiddos also loved climbing up on the old tractors.

and swinging on a wooden swing for two.

but mostly they loved hiking.

on the last night, alex got to play in a jam session with a bunch of guitar players. he was so pumped and they were so nice to let him play. the only person in this picture he knew was his great uncle scott (on alex’s right). the rest were complete strangers, but that didn’t stop him. nor did the fact that we only packed his toy ukulele instead of his new real guitar. 

we had a lovely time. thanks for having us papa ger’ and mamalin! i’m glad we have one more day off before it’s back to work. hard to believe the holidays are done. here’s hoping 2013 is our best year yet! happy new year!!

 

 

 

 

monsters inc in 3-d.

i went baby shopping with my sister-in-law. (yep, i’m going to be an auntie again!! hooray!!!) meanwhile, tripper took the boys to see a show …

look at that pure joy!

captain coffee.

day-after-christmas coffee attire. super!

santa’s been here!

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night!

lightning storm.

the boys got to try out their new umbrellas on this rainy christmas eve.

singing in the rain, just singing in the rain. what a glorious feeling …

take two.

we had friends from out of town visit on sunday afternoon, so we decided to recreate our new very favorite kid pose, complete with super messy playroom!

aren’t they so cute?? from left to right—alex in his new karate uniform (4), austin (4), max (4), chase (2), and bailey (5). yes, he is only five. bailey is actually only six months older than max and alex. he is at the top of the growth chart and as you know our boys are near the bottom. crazy, right???

anyway, with that little visit under our belts we are officially done hosting parties for the season. we’ve had three parties in the past eight days at our house—we hosted tripper’s office party last saturday night, the boys’ friends from school on friday night and old, far-flung friends today. i am partied out!! i’m so looking forward to being a guest at tripper’s uncle skip’s house on christmas eve and again a guest at scott and ashley’s house for christmas day dinner. weeeeeeeee!

pjs, pizza and the polar express.

we invited some of the boys’ friends from school over tonight for dinner and a movie. it was alex and max’s last day at their old school (yes, i cried. no, they didn’t) and we wanted to do something special for them.

think they had fun?

from left to right are ryan (7), ashley (4), ella (4), max (4), aiden (7) and alex (4). ashley and ella are in the boys’ classes. ryan and aiden are ella and ashley’s older brothers. the boys think they hung the moon. we also had our friend geno over, but i forgot to pull out the camera until way late. and we were sad that ried and collin could not make it. next time, guys!!

we also ended up keeping one of the kiddos for the night—the boys’ first sleepover! this is sweet ella. she’s been friends with the boys since their first soccer season. and she’s also max’s girlfriend. scandalous!

we pulled the matress from the guest bed into the boys’ room and it fit perfectly! they all look so cute snug in their beds. i told them it was okay to talk until they fell asleep—aaaaand, it is just after midnight with the talking and giggling still going on. i may have to send tripper in to give the five-minute warning—i am ready for bed!! 

finally sleeping! they were out cold. not even the flash in the dark woke them up!!

and the morning after. the boys were so excited ella was still at our house in the morning.

we made snowman pancakes for breakfast and now they are watching toy story 2. yay for our first sleepover!!

it’s in the cards.

happy holidays from us to you! a look back, because i want to!

2012: i thought this was going to be an awesome concept—and while it is nifty, you can expect a single picture card again next year. the boys are just too tiny to see putting six photos on one card.

2011: i couldn’t love this card more. photo by katie bower photography.

2010: gorgeous in the garden.

2009: we didn’t do one! i’m so sad about this. BUT, we were moving into our new house and things just got too chaotic and crazy. regret. regret. here’s a cute photo from that time that maybe i’ll turn into a card one day so we have a complete set.

2008: the first christmas. awww. naughty and nice.

we’ll see you on the flip side of christmas. i’m so excited for the break and can’t wait to see what santa brings the littles!!

xoxo.

when monkeys are hams.

the boys got new hats yesterday from one of our very favorite teachers—thank you ms. dee!! sock monkeys! for their heads! how cute is that??? i couldn’t wait for the boys to put them on. they couldn’t wait to monkey around—especially alex.

now, if it would just get cold enough for them to wear them!! christmas wish, anyone??

beware the baguette.

last night, the boys wanted bacon, cheese and tomato on a crusty baguette for dinner—meaning they wanted bite-sized bits of bacon and cheese, hold the tomato, next to torn pieces of bread.

as i was tearing the bread, pictured above, a sharp shard of the delicious crust forced its way up under my thumbnail. omg. omg. omg. it hurt so badly. i slowly pulled at the bread but it broke, leaving a painful reminder between my nail and nailbed.

all night it hurt. my nail turned a purply black in a tiny spot where that bread was hiding. the pain was so intense it made me see stars and left me close to throwing up many times. it was so small. how could it hurt so big??

today was no better. i took a lunch hour and drove myself over to one of those minor emergency clinics. i felt extra super cool explaining what had happened. “bread?” the doctor asked. “yes, bread.” i said. “BREAD!”

i have to tell you at that point if he had said the only way to help me was to amputate my thumb i would have told him to go right ahead. but he didn’t say that. he said—and this is the part where you should stop reading if you are at all squeamish—that he would numb my thumb, lift up the nail, pop the blood blister and irrigate until the bread came out. he was hopeful he wouldn’t have to cut my nail, but that could be a possibility.

sign me right up.

when all was said and numb, he began lifting. i did not watch. my squeamishness made me talk. a lot. i joked that at least he’d have a good story from today and he said he actually was meeting friends for dinner—and he couldn’t wait to tell them about this one.

“if they set down a bread basket, tell them all to be careful,” i said.

we had funny banter back and forth while he worked and then he yelled, “whooooaaahh. there’s a sandwich in here!” i’ve never told a doctor to shut up before, but i did then. it just slipped out. and then so did the bread. the doctor did not have to cut my nail. 

i’m now left with a numb thumb and a band-aid—and a different kind of pain, one that i can handle (like an ache). i will not be taking the band-aid off anytime soon. thank you, dr. rodon, i am truly grateful. and to the rest of you still reading—beware the baguette.