santa spoils january toils

Everyday 4 Comments »

I know you hoped for a post about the arrival of #4, but instead we are all left wanting. Amy is now more pregnant than she has ever been before. That’s a fun record to break! Although this baby isn’t due till the 8th it is officially late, considering all the other kids came at least a week early. Way to buck the trend #4; we could really do without all the slothfulness… Maybe clearing our conscience with a new post will induce labor. Here’s hoping!

It wasn’t so long ago that it was still 2009, when kids were kids and Amy still had ankles. On the Eve of Christmas Brinley and her wiggle racer got into a fight with a wall and the wall won. Needless to say she had an extra egg for making the fondue.

fondueandbubbly

Drew had a very important lesson to teach all of us. The hardest part was keeping it under wraps.

lesson

All the fam gathered in the living room for the reveal, which was distributed machine-gun style.

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So what was the message? The Christmas story of course, courtesy of Fisher Price.

drewlesson

Then the big day came. What did Santa bring? Well for starters, Santa observed that if Brinley crashed into walls on a slow, low center-of-gravity device, going even faster on something with a higher center-of-gravity would increase her safety…right. Drew gave her a helmet, just in case. 

binniebike

Rowan & Santa both know that calculus, cold fusion and molecular biology are for the birds. On the other hand, shape recognition and text messaging are a tuffy! Check out that tongue action!

rosanta

Drew is a decade too young to be getting his own car, and it may be tough for his friends to bum a ride until Drew can get some engine and body work done…

rccar

Mommy & Daddy must have been listening when the kids BEGGED them for Pillow Pets for Christmas. If we had this moment on video you’d know why we are deaf.

pillowpet

Rowan wouldn’t even let go of hers to open more presents. A little filler here: Rowan’s lovey is a zebra too, and anywhere she sees the slightest imitation of zebra print she is sure to let you know: BABA!

pillowpetro

What? You mean you can talk on these things, not just text? Kids these days… 

phone

We might be where the palm trees grow, but it didn’t take long for us to find a snowy slope to satisfy our powdery desires. Check out Amy in Brinley’s snowsuit. I mean Brinley in Amy’s…one in the same.

brinleyoramy

Daddy taught the kids proper sledding technique: Sit down, hold on, and scream like a wild man!

sleddrew

Brinley was even leaning into the turns!

sled

Then Daddy tried to be a show-off stuntman. as usual…

stuntman

We’ve adapted to this mild climate, so before long our less than adequate footwear had served us to its breaking point and it was time for a warm-up. There’s nothing like getting cozying up to the fire with a good book. Kids these days…

feetfire

Sapatos en fuego!

shoes

Moving on, the kids called in the teleporter and had themselves dropped into a jungle infested with dangerous and deadly wild beasts. Good thing they each had a set of binoculars and a speaker that told them what might attack next!

safari

Where did that bear get that speaker and those binoculars from? Oh, hi Drew. 

bear

Rowan’s teleporter must have had some kind of glitch, as she ended up on a sheer rock face. Hold on Ro!

mountainclimber

There was a “disagreement” about whose binoculars were whose, and somebody ended up being able to do without…

makingdo

Eventually Rowan managed to get off the cliff unharmed and just in time to see more Baba! Hey Ro, you don’t happen to notice any problem with that zebra do you? Kids these days…

baba

Mommy says it’s midnight somewhere! Happy New Year! And these things are good!

newyears

 

solstice of solace

Everyday, Family 11 Comments »

Ladies & gentlemen this is your captain speaking. I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy your flight!  If you are not able to securely fasten your own seatbelt, please exit the aircraft immediately and crawl back under the rock from whence you came. Our in-flight movie, “The 3 Hooligans”, can be found on channel 5. Thanks again for choosing OscarStew Airways…

this-is-your-captain-speaking

Even though we’re still in a holding pattern here in St. George, we’ve settled in to our routine and are making the best of our time with family & friends. The kids are doing well, Amy is deep into the uncomfortable third trimester, and I’ve mastered the two-flight commute to Denver. What we haven’t mastered is keeping this stew warm. Sorry, we’ll try to do better. On with the show!

I’m not the only one doing the high flying these days. Case in point:

brinleyswing

Tarzan & Jane swung from those vines until those 30 year-old vines could swing no more.

tarzan

So, Grandpa J and I hauled the monkeys down to the hardware store and had them choose what color rope they wanted for their new swings. I made the choice easy: Lightning McQueen Red or Cinderella Blue? Works every time.

 

ladder

I didn’t even have the ladder down yet and this test pilot was already pushing the limits.

swingtester

Once it was certified by Drew, Rowan wanted to take it for a spin with Aunt Kristy. Check out the tongue action! Air Rowan!

rowanswing

Hey Rowan, what’s the best treat at Grandma’s house?

this-orange-picture

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Nothing beats an orange fresh from the tree. nothing.

rowanorange

Enough lounging around in the sun Ro-Dog, we got Christmas lights to hang. Layne & Shauna were great judges on proper light placement. Judgment may have been lacking on that sweater however…

christmaslights

Okay, so there’s a lot going on here. The green leaf-eating machine is doing its job while Grandpa does two jobs, the kids are doing their jobs, and the dog…well, who knows what he’s up to, but the shock collar is doing its job!

greenleafeatingmachine

Alright kids Grandpa and I have made a big effort to put all the leaves in a nice neat pile in the corner of the yard. Now drive Grandpa nuts and make a huge mess…GO!

rowanthrow

And we’re off to a great start!

rowanleaves

Binnie the Leaf Witch is hiding in there somewhere. Be careful you don’t get too close!

bburied

You’ve heard of snownados, but the Leaf Witch can conjure up leafnados!

btornado

Or maybe she just didn’t like me calling her Leaf Witch. Ok Binnie you’re the Leaf Fairy! Is that better?!

bleaves

Ok ok, the leaves are a big mess again. You kids go do something fast and risky. How about high-speed wiggle racing? Most excellent!

wiggleracer

There have been a couple of days where the temperature has dipped into the low 40’s (give us a break, we left our parkas in Colorado!), so not all the fun happens outside. Things get crazy pretty quick inside the house, like when Grandpa unknowingly put Ro’s diaper on backwards…

diapertutorials

…Or when this one dirties her high chair in more than one way.

ro-stinkity

Who would Drew and Brinley be if they didn’t exhaust a year’s supply of tape, glue and construction paper in just a few hours? Not my kids that’s for sure.

crafts

Alright…back outside. Hey Scoob, Daddy will now give you a rundown on proper leaf-diving technique…

 

 

 

youaresuchadork

Attempt #1: Plant the foot and launch!

dstunt2

Catastrophic failure! Brace for impact! Doh!

 

nicelanding

Attempt #2: Critical speed reached, prepare for liftoff!

dstunt1

 

Apparently Drew was just being nice to me. It seems he has already mastered levitation. Hummm…Hummm…

dstunt

While raking the leaves back into the pile I found this rare beauty. Nice ‘stache!

 

bonita

 

confections of the sea

Everyday 5 Comments »

Once we got settled we immediately jumped on priority #1: Halloween Costumes! That frightful night was just around the corner and we didn’t have anything ready. We pulled the team together and got it done in no time.

Drew & Binnie both sewed their own candy bags…

drewsbag

Brinley made hers out of a very stretchy material for the heavy haul she was hoping for. Ohhh yeah!

brinleysbag

In case there might have been confusion, the scholar made sure his bag was easily identifiable.

finishingtouches

Kristy trained Rowan in the fine art of stabbing large orange vegetables.

rowancarving

Brinley’s pumpkin had to be scary. That may have been helped along with Daddy’s sound effects.

scary

I see two scary pumpkins: An orange one, a red one, and Brinley.

pumpkinface

Which one is scarier, the one with all his teeth or the one without?

drewspumpkin

The Tres Caballeros ready for their night of spooking. Theme anyone?

driveway

The turtle got to show off his costume earlier at skoo during the parade. That boy has blended right into his new class.

halloweenparade

The jellyfish. Look but don’t touch! (Her candy that is)

jellyfish

The octopus. Hey, I don’t have a bag! You guys get candy and all I get is a glow stick?!

gypped

Trunk or Treat is a fantastic idea: High yield from little effort. Drew skipped all the way to the church building.

skip

Trick or Treat! Hmm…no answer. Maybe they’re scared of the glowing blue orb outside. wowowowowow…

tot

Those bags are getting heavy, but no matter. Those sea creatures will call a tow truck if they have to. Grampa can you…?

nighttime