I love how little minds think

Today, I was lamenting over my laundry pile.

Correction. Piles.


I've been sick for the better part of a week, so my normally semi-contained pile has really gotten the best of me.

In addition to the normal towels/whites/lights/darks/jeans/Shane's work clothes/delicates/Lola's clothes loads, I've also been trying to de-germ: which means all blankets, all comforters, and all pillows must go through the hot wash//double rinse cycle.

My laundry room is not pretty. And, I won't lie--it's kinda been makin' me grouchy.  (I justify it by saying a laundry room in this state would make anyone grouchy....but, even so, I know my attitude has been stinky.)

Ugh.

Me: *grumblegrumblesighgrumbledeepbreathgrumblesigh*

Colin, meanwhile, is observing me.

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Colin...I'm just bummed out 'cause I have all this laundry to do."
 
"Oh, Mommy....here, I will help you!"

He began pulling clothes out of the dryer and putting them into a basket.  Then, once the basket was filled, he took it down to my room for me so that I could fold it. (There may or may not have been several other baskets in my bedroom, also waiting to be folded. Ahem.)

When he came back to the kitchen, he said to me,

"Mommy? When I get to heaven, you know what I'm gonna ask Jesus for? Not anything for me .... I'm just gonna ask Him to give you this certain super power....the kind that when you snap your fingers, all your laundry will be done and folded for you! 

Now, I'm not sure if He will do that....so we better not get our hopes up or anything....but I'm sure gonna ask Him for you anyway!"

And, suddenly....this Momma wasn't so grouchy anymore.

I love that kid.

From our house to your house

 We wish

 you all

 

the merriest,

 

most wonderful,

  joyful, and peace-filled Christmas

 ever!

From our family to yours--Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Song of the day--my original

Her name is Lola

 She is a showgirl

She likes to

clap her little hands

and can snap!

  (It drops our chins)

She gets excited

And gives huge smiles

 

She is a precious little girl

Round her fingers we are curled

 And on our wooden floor

 She's standing more and more

 She's our girl with three great brothers

Who could 

Ask

For

MORE!?

(Everybody now!  "At the Copa....")

Happy weekend, everyone!

Song of the day--take TWO

Colin, returning from school yesterday:  "Mom! I learned new words to 'Jingle Bells' today!"

And then, he proceeded to sing....

"Dashing through the snow
in a one horse open sleigh
o'er the fields we go
crashing in the trees!
The snow is turning red
I think I might be dead
I woke up in the hospital
with stitches in my head!"

Lovely.
*sigh*

Song of the day

Cameron's version:

"Angels we have heard of flying....
Sweetly thinking holy things....
Glooooooooooooooooooooria....
King and shell see staaaaaa-aaaay old*."

*enter Cameron's proud, gap-toothed grin {and Mommy's giggles} here.

A nearly perfect Saturday

Cartoons

A roaring fire

{Outside frozy...Inside--Cozy!}

Bumblebee Brother helping Sister

Banana-chocolate-chip pancakes disguised as:

Snowmen

Reindeer

and Elves 

(poor thing--looks like I decked him, but his black eye is a melted chocolate chip!)

Boys who just couldn't resist playing with their snowmen

Boys who enjoyed playing in the snow {again}

and a girl who enjoyed watching {again}

 

And snuggling

Maybe not quite as good as Buddy's day: "First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."


But nearly perfect for me!

Christmas with Mrs. Claus

Just like last year, last Saturday we went to our local library and saw Mrs. Claus.

Now, you may remember that we don't "do" presents from Santa here at our house, but my boys still know who Santa is and get very excited when they see him at the mall or in movies (especially one of our holiday faves--ELF!!) We had a great visit with Mrs. Claus, and a very fun morning at the library!

Mrs. Claus, doing my favorite thing--reading the true story of Christmas first to all of the children!

Colin with his bestie, Colden....

....and his soccer buddy, Matthew

Ethan looks so much more grown up than he did one year ago! (They ALL do!)

His favorite part of sitting with Mrs. Claus and giving his list?

The sugar at the end, of course.

"Heh heh heh....candy....mmmmm"

Cameron was 'very specific and very intent' with his list, Mrs. Claus told me afterward!  He knew exactly what he wanted:

1. A Mario Kart game for the Wii (check)
2. A sword fight game (i.e., Wii Sports Resort--check)
3. Bears jersey #54 (Urlacher--check, coming from Grandma Jane) 
   
4. Lip balm.

I swear, that kid has me rolling each and every day.

After list-making time, the children get to go and decorate cookies.

I'm pretty sure this is their very favorite part of the day....well, except for the 'eating' part!

I would like to take this opportunity to address four things:

1. Below is Cameron's cookie. 
2. It is half-eaten--that is as far as he got, thank God.
3. I was not present when he created this monstrosity--rather, was with Ethan on Mrs. Claus' lap.
4. If you can believe it to be humanly possible, Colin's cookie was worse. *sigh*

Dis. gust. ing.

While the boys were decorating cookies, I took Lola for her first trip (on the outside) to see Mrs. Claus.

Can I just say how precious I think this picture is?

She did really well (as long as I was within a foot of her *grin*)
but was most enthralled by the candy cane!

"Mmmmmmmmmm!"

I tried to get a good picture of all four of them at the end....but, by this point, Ethan was 

in a full-blown-sugar-coma-meltdown and would not cooperate!

{For some reason, though...I really still LOVE this picture!}