I can do anything you can do better

Kilian and Lucy are starting to be a little bit competitive at times. It hasn't gotten out of hand, yet. Being two years older, Kilian can usually do things better/faster/easier. Lately we've discovered that Lucy has got him on two things. 1) rolling her "r's" and 2) winking. He just cannot do either.


She often practices rolling her R's in the car. The other day after he tried and tried, I heard her coaching him on where to put his tongue, etc. She gave up on him and said, "I think the problem is just that you are missing so many teeth".


Of course if you do practice rolling your R's right now - you'll see teeth have nothing to do with it.


Hopefully I can catch some video of the winking attempts Kilian makes. I didn't know our faces had so many muscles.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Jamesnia!!

Here are the kids and St. Nick after Christmas Eve Mass. Last night was a really fun night at home. After our favorite soup and opening 1 gift, Brad read "Twas the night before Christmas" (to those that could sit still enough for it) for the 3rd year in a row. We're calling it a tradition now.

These are such fun ages - which reminds me...I can't answer 6,4 and 2 for their ages now. 7,5 and 2 now. Birthday posts to come later.

Somebody learned to curl ribbon. He made about 20 of these in various colors and taped them ALL AROUND the house. I was even greeted by one on my shower door yesterday.


This house had 4 nice hooks already on mantle for us when we moved in, so it only seemed right to go ahead and hang a stocking for Baby James #4, even though I don't anticipate it getting filled!

Finally - this is the present that appeared behind our couch on the 23rd. It is to all 3 kids from Brad and me. It is way too heavy to move over by the tree. The kids are stumped. They haven't even given any guesses. I'll give 2 hints though....it is bouncy and I lived on mine while I was growing up - even competed some :)

By the way - I'm not really blogging at 7:00 am on Christmas morning. I typed this last night and am trying out the "schedule" feature for the first time. I think I like it!

Polar Express

Earlier in December we got to experience the Polar Express right here in Lubbock! We all wore our pajamas and managed to stay warm enough while we waited in line to get on a real train. It was a double decker and we were on the top level!

You can kind of see it behind Lucy (who is being carried by my dad. My mom was too sick to join us that night).

Brrrr. I have on my favorite red robe (and no make up apparently).

Here is Kilian with the conductor - who did come by and punch our tickets!

Here is Camille holding hers...waiting for the conductor to come by.

Kilian and his buddies looking out the window as we take off.
>
Our hot chocolate and cookie servers

After about 30 minutes, we arrived at the "north pole" - please excuse the glare on the window. Some elves and their "boss" hopped on our train at that point.


The elves sang and told jokes and even let some kids have some microphone time. Our brave Kilian hopped up there and sang "Jingle Bell Rock" for everyone. (he does NOT get that courage from me...)


Santa made his way through the train car, asking everyone what they want for Christmas. Camille's very helpful answer was "toys".

Santa also gave each child a special jingle bell.

Here is our attempt at a family picture. It is quite difficult on a train that sways back and forth so much. I'm so glad we were able to get tickets. They sold out pretty quickly!

We went with two other families from school and all the kids loved every minute of it. I'm looking forward to remembering this each time we read the "Polar Express" or see the movie in the future!

Worst Aunt Ever!

While I was on a blogging sabbatical during the month of October...two VERY important things happened.

Avery Grace

was born on October 1, 2008

Avery is my sister's first baby, and Camille and I were lucky enough to go help out some when she was about 3 weeks old. She is coming to visit us for Thanksgiving, at which time I will help her mommy create a blog.

AND

Xavier Kolbe

was born on October 30, 2008

Xavier is Brad's brother's 4th son. We are counting down the days until Christmas when we will get to meet him in person. You can see lots more pictures of Xavier and his handsome brothers by clicking here.

The economics of a craving

For some reason when I am pregnant, I lose my usual sweet tooth and want spicy/salty things. This time around I have been wanting buffalo wings everyday. It turns out there are several ways to satisfy such a craving:

Most expensive:
On a whim, walk into WingStop and order a combo with wings, the best fries in the world, a drink, and say yes when they ask you if you want ranch dressing. Then they will charge you for that tiny little cup of ranch. But oh so good.

Less expensive:
Go into Buffalo Wild Wings on 40 cent wings day (Tuesday) and cave in when they ask if you want their "Buffalo chips with cheese" (which are circle shaped fries with melted cheese). Get smart when they ask if you want ranch dressing. Use your own ranch at home.

Almost cheap:
Talk your family into going to Cici's Pizza so they can get whatever kind of pizza/pasta/salad they want. Eat about 6 or 7 pieces of their buffalo chicken pizza and dip into a cup of ranch from their salad bar.

Pretty cheap:
Order some chicken strips from McDonalds and ask for some extra containers of their buffalo sauce for dipping. Don't order fries, and go home and drink water.

Super cheap:
Drink from the left over containers of buffalo sauce from McDonalds - skip the chicken.

Unknown:
How much does it cost to make your own buffalo wings? Gross - are you kidding?? I don't touch raw chicken wings when I have morning sickness.

The good news:
Buffalo wings haven't sounded good in over a week!

A trimester worth of updates

Long time no blog....

While I know I didn't have it as bad as some, I spent a good part of the last couple of months a little queezy and super tired. I am feeling much better now. I don't require 14 hours of sleep a day, and I can walk past the seafood counter in the grocery store instead of covering my nose with my shirt and running past it.

Here is what we've been up to during my awake hours (in reverse chronological order):

We trick or treated - Camille did NOT care for her costume. I forced her into it saying over and over that Halloween is supposed to be "FUN".

Our "ninja" scored the most candy. We ration it out at the rate of 1 per day - and if they don't make the time to brush their teeth in the morning before school, no sweets after school. It has worked wonders for my morning "slow poke" - below.

Minnie without her "ears".


The not so happy flower. I think she only scored about 4 pieces of candy.

One Saturday night my sweet husband took pity on me since I didn't feel like cooking and let us go out to eat.

Lucy fell asleep like this at the table before we even ordered. I didn't know one could balance that well in her sleep.

Here is Lucy dreaming of more time at the beach.

Kilian has joined cub scouts and was super excited to go on his first camping trip with Brad.

Camille and I went to an apple orchard in September. It was the first time for both of us.


We learned that when you go the week after the Apple Butter Festival, the pickins are slim. It was fun anyway.

Camille on her way into "Parents Day Out". When we pull into the parking lot, she gets excited and says "I see Ms. Kristen's house!!!".

This is always the first thing she goes for once she enters the room. This girl loves baby dolls!

Two cheezy kids in their uniforms before school.

Camille finally got her first haircut at 2 years and 3 months. Lucy got her first haircut at only 5 months!!

Thanks for checking in on us!!

Voter Intimidation

I voted today. No line at all. I did not see any Black Panthers, or hear groups of people saying "mean things" to people with my candidate's sticker on their cars. The only intimidation I experienced was the 2 sweet elderly woman insisting that Camille and I have some donuts and coffee/ice water as we walked toward the "exit" door. I gave in with a smile.