Christmas 2011

Heading to Grandma's for Christmas.  Travis is going in disguise?

My lovely neice, Halle.  Marie calls her "boo-yah-yah."  

Travis got legos for Christmas and went right to work.  

 Then sat and relaxed, just admiring his work. 

 Eva created this style for Chris.

 Marie waiting to see what Luke got from Santa. 

 I wouldn't buy those boots for her because I said the snow would be too deep and she'd never wear them.  Grandma saved the day.  Guess I was wrong on that one this year. 

 Each time I go to Chuck and Sue's and stop at Creative Kids, I see this ridiculously priced baby doll and want to buy it each time for Marie.  But, I don't.  That is why I look more excited than Marie to tear into this doll that Grandma got for Marie.

 Buckhouse cousins.

Not many Christmas breaks that the kids have played in the sandbox.  They were so hungry for snow, they started sledding down the slide.  

Marie still hums while she eats

Bison game and pretend swimming

 Travis says "I am a very lucky kid."  Chris and I will be heading to Texas Jan 7th!

 Even luckier!

 College.  So fun.  Except for that learning part.

 Taking Travis with somewhere by himself is the easiest, easiest, easiest thing ever.  He doesn't talk, doesn't complain, smiles nicely, isn't always starving like the others, etc, etc.  Being alone with Travis shows me why people would have just one kid.  If we had just him, we'd take him with us everywhere!

 Dad making waffles the next morning.  He couldn't sleep because he kept pinching himself to see if it was a dream or not.  The kids think his waffle making is very loud.

I come home from being gone for 30 minutes.  Chris tells me "Luke decided to go swimming." (it was 40 some degrees outside today afterall.)  My thought was "what kind of mess does that mean I'll be cleaning up."   

Nope. Instead we've got these awesome pictures to embarrass Luke with for the rest his life.

Santa

Travis had a plan and jumped right on his lap.  We were the only ones there at the time,

so we got plenty of time to chat. 

 Funny that Santa has the same hold on Luke as I do in the Christmas card picture this year. 

 Oh, Marie really wasn't that sad.  I just made her put the sucker back until she told santa what she wanted.  So, with that big, fat lip sticking out she said "neigh, neigh."  Eva wasn't going to sit on his lap this year.  She just wrote a letter instead.  But, when I told her she had to show Marie, she was eager to help. 

Bumper

Ha, ha, ha, ha.  My brothers are so funny.  My bumper fell off on the way home from working at Northern Cass one very, windy day (not kidding, that's really what happened!)  So, home for a weekend; my brothers made me this bumper.  Which I didn't notice until after I had driven it through town, to church, etc and saw someone taking a picture of it and then finally looked at it.  Classy. 

Halloween

Mimi and Boo-yah-yah were ready for church on Sunday!

 Travis always asks Chris "Who would you cheer for if the Bison and Vikings were playing each other, and who would win?"  Luckily, our neighbor, Keaton, came over and so they could have a game!

 Bumblebee and Adrian Peterson.

Looks like every picture I have with every single one of my friends.  Eva and Liv were both bumblebees.  The girls and Travis went trick-or-treating with the neighbor girls, Paige and Allison, for the 3rd year in a row.  This was Travis first time with them and the houses not being "too scawy." 

 

 So, I took the dinosaur and the lion trick-or-treating.  Luke the dinosaur. 

 Mimi the lion who can't speak and says "ta-ta-ta" for trick-or-treat and "doo-doo" for thank you. 

I think we've gotten our use out of these costumes from Cousin Jack.  The lion could not have survived another Halloween.  Chris had a pliars out just to get it zipped up for Marie this year. 

Travis the lion and Eva the dinosaur- this year was 17 degrees I think? 

Luke the Lion

Eva the Lion

 Travis the dinosaur

They wasted no time tearing into this stuff. I think they sat and ate for 30 minutes?

Family Pictures Sept 2011

These hands should really be red...

I love this picture.  So them.  

Oh, "boo-yah-yah", you are so loved.  

This was Luke's silly face... it's such a great fall picture.  Of course, we couldn't get this picture with a big, beautiful smile.  

Meezy-Mae

Such a sweet 2 year old. 

Love how Marie is just dragging the dolly into every picture.  Much like it is dragged everywhere.  I did demand that boo-yah-yah wear clothes for the pictures.  

Can you see the "naughty" radiating from him?  I can.  

Eva- 8

Getting a picture of these two together is impossible.  Luke mostly tried to eat her pigtails in every pictures we took... or choke her.  They couldn't be closer to each other than this or they were fighting. 

Our photographer is my new neighbor:

http://savagephotography.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

Marie turns 2!

Our youngest child is 2 years old, hard to believe.  I've never enjoyed a 2 year old in the house without a baby being in the house.  Very fun!  But, then again, how can anything this cute not be fun?

Marie and Eva look exactly the same.  It must've been the flash, because they

 have exactly the same skin tone as well.  (Eva above at 2.)

And then when I was looking for pictures, I found this one of Ingrid

and had to put it in here because it's just hilarious.  Makes me want to drink wine with my friends. 

This is the kind of stuff that happens!

2 year old Marie and Eva have a huge, huge difference in how they played dollies.  Eva didn't, Marie plays dollies non-stop.  Maybe it was because Eva had real babies?  I'm not sure.  But, Marie never stops.  SO DARLING.  She burps her babies just like Sheila does at daycare.  

For my Physical Therapist friends that don't believe I am truly doing my postural restoration exercises every day, and my back STILL hurts, Marie is proof as she does her exercises and takes deep breaths.  Ha!!!!!

Farmer Mi-mi.  

Travis in the same bib overalls.  These started with cousin Jack and made it all the way to Marie!

Speaking of Travis, these are the kinds of pictures that Travis takes with my camera......

small helmet on Marie's head?  Weirdos.  

Oh yeah, and Chris officially hit his mid-thirties a month before myself.  (That's 3 candles and a 5 because I couldn't find a 3.  In a piece of one of his faves, key lime pie.