Crazy Hair

My little boy is growing up.  He amazes me each and every day with how he is growing into the most responsible and wonderful young man.  As much as I am wanting him to stay little (how is it even possible that I have a 9 year old?!?!?)...it is amazing to watch him grow!  

Today was crazy hair day at school, and Garrett wanted to go all out.  This, in and of itself, is a HUGE milestone.  Usually Garrett is a tad on the reserved side...not wanting to stand out in a crowd for any reason.  :)   (hmmm...wonder where he gets that from?  It scares me to death to see how much alike he and I are!!!)  But today, he wanted his hair standing on end...spiky all over!  And a last minute decision to add some hair color to the mix was just the icing on the cake!

 

How I love this crazy kid!  

for Mom...from Olivia.

Olivia just walked up to me as I was making dinner and handed me a flower she had made out of some straws and connectors that the boys have been playing with lately.  It was completely her own design...which was cute because it actually looked like a flower!  Proof that she is truly out of the same DNA that my creating/lego-loving boys are!

She handed it to me, mid stride...on her way to see what the boys were up to next.  Over her shoulder she offered the following advice:

O - "It's a fwower, for you mom."  (slight pause).  "Uh, don't eat it."
Me - "Huh?  Don't eat it?"  (another slight pause of my own)  "Wait.  Did you try to eat it?"
O - "Yeah.  I wicked it (licked it).  It's yucky!"

Well there you have it.  Don't eat plastic flowers.  They're yucky.

Warning...Slightly Out of Order

Because the completely logical post a week after Christmas, is the Halloween pics that someone may or may not have JUST uploaded from a spare camera...get ready for some trick-or-treating!  Here are those elusive Halloween shots that never seemed to make it to the blog this year.  Not that much of anything makes it to the blog these days anyway!  :)  

Just know that this blog is truly a look into my scrambled brain...completely all over the place and full of all the pure randomness and joy that is our lives!  And one day, I will finally get around to printing off said crazy blog, and I will want these pictures included!  SO, you get the pleasure of following our journey, in no orderly fashion.

Halloween was a bit crazy this year.  Steve and I escaped to Denver the last weekend of October and I made it back just in time to go trick-or-treating while Steve stayed in Colorado for a business conference.  Thanks again, Grandma for watching the kiddos!  :)  

Olivia was a princess.  What else would this thoroughly girly-girl want to be???  A dear, sweet and amazing friend made this dress and passed it down to Olivia.  She could not have given it to a more grateful little girl...Olivia was on cloud nine to be wearing a REAL Cinderella gown!!!   

Ethan was determined that he would be a ninja turtle this year..though I didn't even know he knew what a ninja turtle was!!!  And as I LOVE the challenge of trying to create something that I can picture in my mind, mixed in with my flat-out refusal to pay money for a store-bought costume if I can at all help it...the poor kid got the brunt of my creative attempts this year.    But he was patient with me, and at least told me he loved his costume.  We'll see if he lets me experiment on him again next year!?!?  That will be the true test!  And yes, I had to post the 'texting' Leonardo' picture!  How funny is that!?!

Garrett was a ninja.  No turtles for this kid...he was a warrior through and through. And he pulled it off like a pro...Stealth is this kiddo's middle name!   On a side note, who knew you could tie a t-shirt around your head and feel as though you've completely morphed into a full-fledged ninja!?!?!  I may or may not have tried it out myself...who wouldn't?  :)

  

Me, much to my kids dismay, dressed up as a mom and graced the neighborhood in my usual attire.  Ethan says that I'm no fun...but I'm okay with that!

Visit from Santa

We had a special visitor a few weeks ago...Santa himself stopped by to personally check on the kids!  They were surprised and excited...and scared out of their minds - the way we tend to be around any holiday figure!  :)  He did bring candy canes, which quickly won over the kiddos, and eventually they would at least sit on the same couch.  

We all SCREAM for ice cream!

The other morning, while taking a shower, I hear someone on the other side of my door banging and yelling.  Not the most uncommon occurrence in our household since everyone seems to think that Mom needs absolutely no privacy what-so-ever and that whatever they may be doing or thinking ranks WAY higher on the importance scale than anything Mom may be doing...but I digress.  :)  So here I am rushing through rinsing my hair and hurrying out of the shower, just in case this time it's something important.  As I shut off the water, I can finally hear who and what is the culprit this time.  Olivia is on the other side of the door...banging/knocking somewhat impatiently...waiting for her turn.  When I ask what she wants, this is the response that sweet girl gives me, "Uh Mom?  Tan (can) I have ice cream?"  WHAT?  It's 7:30 in the morning and she already wants ice cream?  Although in actuality, it's no surprise...this girl is all ME...and this just proved it once again!  :)  But still, the answer is no, which I told her.  But, when I opened the door, she was still sitting there in front of it, hugging a box of ice cream cones from the pantry.  "Pweez, Mommy?"  Still no...but at least she got a hug and tickle on the way back to the pantry to put the  cones away. 

This was not that morning...but she did get an ice cream cone eventually!  :)  Persistent little thing!  

Rockets

Thanks to some amazing friends, we were able to attend a Houston Rockets game this past weekend and had a blast.  The kids are already asking when we can go to another one!  

 The closest thing to a family shot that I could get!

 Garrett and Spencer...Rockets Fans through and through!

 E enjoying the coveted seat next to Dad!

 Cute Daddy/Daughter shot!

 Olivia eventually gave up on the game and just wanted to wander up and down the stairs...good thing we had an aisle seat!

Post-game shot, with E posing as a 7 foot player.  Too cute!  :)

Sweet Olivia

Here are only a few of the joys that Olivia has brought into my life today.  How I love this crazy/spunky girl!

Olivia, while riding in the car, has started taking off her top seatbelt and trying to roll down the windows. Ugh.  Doesn't help that she is the most stubborn child on the face of the planet and does not put it back on without me having to pull over the car and put it back on her myself.  And yes...I have her seatbelt as tight as I can get it!!!!  She's just so stinking skinny that she can wriggle out of ANYTHING!!!
    Me:  Livvy...put your seat belt on!!!  We are driving in the car!!!  Put it on right now!
    Olivia:  Why?   (asked innocently and sweetly and repeated over and over in every conversation)
    Me:  We wear our seatbelts to be safe.  PLEASE put it on!!!
    Olivia:  BUT I DON'T LIKE SAFE!!!!  I DON'T LIKE SAFE!!!
 
Heaven help me!!!


Hollering from both boys upstairs...
   Boys:  Mom...you NEED to come up here.
   Me : Okay.  What's wrong?
   Boys:  Olivia.
   Me: (already taking the stairs 2 at a time, knowing a disaster has already ensued, if that was the reason they gave) Okay, on my way.
   Boys: (as I'm rounding the corner, into the room) Uh, mom.  You're probably going to be sad.

So, I walk into the room.  Olivia, only being alone for a short time, had climbed up on the bathroom counter.  Pulled the drain on the sink so she could fill it up with water.  Added every hand-towel and/or washcloth that she could find and started to wring them out while leaning over the edge of the counter.
 
But at least I got my bathroom cleaned, right???  Most other things on my list of to-do's for the day got pushed back because of the constant chaos surrounding sweet Olivia...but I guess I should look at the things that she forced me to do...such as cleaning the upstairs bathroom today instead of tomorrow and getting all the laundry done...since she had soaked every towel in sight!  :)