Alexandra decided we should have a real tree for Christmas this year. I thought that was a great idea especially since my dad brought some back from Idaho. I love free. After propping up the one we chose from the yard we decided to go with the fake tree and put the real tree outside. I put the lights on and the kids decorated. I didn't care for the look of our sorry 10 year old fake tree but it would do. I only had to have it up for a month then I was planning on throwing it away. As it turns out it wasn't meant to be. While trying to sneak under the tree to peek at the only gift under it Eli knocked it over. No big deal we stood it back up. But last night while trying to rotate it enough to plug the lights into a different outlet it tipped over again and then again. The stand broke. So out with the fake in with the real. It isn't actually that bad it was just a bit lopsided the first time but makes up for its looks with its fresh smell. I love the smell of real pine. So we shall see if it can survive the next 22 days.

Mima and Brian

Derek's mom Felicia a.k.a Mima and Brian came to visit. It turned out really nice having them. I was a little worried they would go crazy with the noise or get bored but I think it went well. Derek had to pick them up at the Spokane airport at 11pm. Xavier and Eli went with him. i thought they would sleep all the way there and back. turned out they only slept on the way home. My mom babysat Vanessa and Alexandra that night while I went to Twilight with Camery. So disappointed. I will leave it at that. We spent the weekend just hanging out relaxing. I get so wiped out during the week I just want to crash on the weekend. Actually we didn't do much over the whole week. Derek took everyone to the batting cages one day while I worked. Alexandra had a pick up soccer game so they got to watch her in action. We decorated gingerbread houses one night. Decorated the tree. Thanksgiving we went to my parent's house for lunch then just chilled. Friday Kimber picked me up and we hit Walmart at 4:30. I went for the Nintendo DS with game for $136.00. It was actually a gift for Eli from Felicia. I ended up buying a new desktop. I swore I would never buy an HP again I couldn't pass. $400.00 with 2 year service plan. I might not have gotten it if my laptop wasn't sent off for repairs again 2 days before. I hate not having a computer. Anyway after that we went to Big Five bought nothing and Tri-state getting free wool socks. Again bought nothing but Kimber needed new shoes that day. Saturday I took his mom, Alexandra, and Vanessa shopping around town. It was fun. I never spend the time to go to the little shops in town. While I didn't find any Christmas gifts i did find a cool piece of fabric for Alexandra's room. Sunday we had a few friends over and celebrated Eli's birthday. His birthday isn't until Dec. 17 but since we had company we thought it would be something to do. I really liked having his mom around. It was nice to have a female adult around to talk to. I had forgotten how much I like being around her. It has been 3 years since we lived in Arizona where I got to visit with her all the time. The boys loved having Brian around to entertain them. He didn't have to do much. Just sit there and let them climb all over him. They headed back early Monday morning. Hopefully they will be able to come up again soon.

Tattoos

Derek's brother is here visiting and as he was talking about getting a tattoo. I said if I were to get a tattoo I would want to get a daisy. I have no intention of getting a tattoo. I think that they should have some deep meaning behind them. Not just go to the shop and pick something from a book. Anyway my point is that Alexandra got so upset. I mean really upset. She was so mad telling me she knew I was going to get one. I tried to tell her I wasn't and she would just keep saying she knew I was. I had to explain we were talking about Brian getting one so she settled down. I'll never get away with doing anything wrong. Not that I should try but it is hard because I am an adult and should feel I could do whatever I want without explaining myself to my 8 year old. But on the other hand do as I say not as I do never really works out.

Halloween

I was hoping to dig out the box of Halloween junk and find costumes for all the kids. Turns out I don't have any costumes over a size 2t. The kids already knew what they wanted to be anyway. Eli-Toad, Alexandra-Wednesday Addams, Xavier-fire Mario, Vanessa-clown. Ok I picked Vanessa's costume. Derek made Eli's costume. It turned out pretty cute. We didn't anticipate how heavy the hat would become after wearing it for 10 minutes. Xavier's costume I made. I thought it came out awesome. I already had the fabric and it took no time at all once I got my sewing machine to work properly. Nephews Carter and Byron wanted to be Mario and Luigi so I offered to make their costumes too. Derek helped get and spray paint the hats. Anyway, after getting theirs all done I felt really bad for not doing more for Alexandra. I figured we could just find something in her closet to wear. Um, Nope. So I went to good ol' Walmart and found everything I needed for cheap. The socks were my favorite and I am not sure I have a good picture of them. After putting her makeup on and doing her hair she looked perfect. The photos do not do her justice. She is so beautiful. Even in doom and gloom makeup. Vanessa's costume was a little small but after putting on a warm coat who would ever know.

We went to the church carnival/chili cook off. Derek thought for sure he would win. His chili was good. It was too crazy though and no fun. It was so crowded and I don't do well in crowds with my kids. We could hardly move and the lines for the games were too long. So after the kids had hot dogs and we did the trick or treating we went home. Not that I care much about how much candy they get but I was disappointed in the 10 pieces. I was hoping they would get enough so we could skip actually trick or treating on Halloween. We started on our street. Eli didn't want to be toad because how heavy his hat was so he was a bear for about 30 minutes and then wore the chicken suit Vanessa has on in one of the pictures. She started the evening with the chicken suit but put the clown on before we left. We ended up trick or treating East Montlake. It wasn't too cold this year. We started and ended early. Then we went and rented some movies and called it a night.

bad hair, sore teeth, crazy behavior

Bad Hair

Derek took Xavier to get his hair cut the same place he's been going for a while. However while cutting his hair the stylist kept going higher and higher with where to begin the fade. The first thing Xavier said to Derek was I don't' like it. I think that it ended up being a little shorter than he would like. So he flipped up his jacket hood and there it stayed all day Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Tuesday when I was dropping him off he shouldn't get out of the car because he forgot his jacket and refused to let anyone see his hair. I ended up going to the lost and found to get him a hooded sweatshirt to borrow for the day. I just prayed lice wasn't going around. i picked out one that looked good and smelled like downy fabric softener. Just praying lice wasn't going around. Was that wrong? But there was no way I was going to drag him out kicking and screaming. And there was no bribe good enough. He was willing to go home and sit on his bed for the rest of the day. That is what they have to do if they don't go to school, sit on there bed the whole day. But he had the sweatshirt and had a good day. He didn't want to go to school on Wednesday. Said he didn't feel good. Turns out his teacher told him he would have to take his hood down. The other kids kept trying to pull it off. Then some of them wanted to wear hoods all day. He got his feelings hurt because the fifth graders that help in PE kept calling him hoodboy. But he went, wore his hood all day except in the classroom. For his school pictures he took his hood down but wouldn't take off the jacket. I thought his pictures turned out cute. More personality than just some perfect portrait that most people expect.

Sore teeth

While brushing teeth the other morning she told me she had a bump. i took a look, she had an absest. A little bubble above her tooth. I called the dentist to see if she needed antibiotics until they could get her in. They had her come in that morning at 8. Note, I called at 7:45. I was glad Derek was home to take her. I thought she would get some meds. Nope, they went ahead and pulled it. as well as one other tooth that was barely loose. She brought home her teeth as well as a swollen mouth. It took her a couple hours to feel better and is adjusting to chewing on the other side of her mouth. The top tooth looked like all other teeth that you lose, barely any root. The other tooth was wicked. Long roots shooting out in 3 different directions. That has to hurt. i am so grateful for dentists. Ours, Dr. Walker, is in our ward at church and just lives up the street and is one of the nicest people.

Crazy behavior.

All the kids at my house are insane. I don't know if it is the weather or one kid sets the mood and they all follow. They are literally bouncing off the walls. This last week has been rain, rain, rain so we aren't outside as much as usual and I think it makes a huge difference. I still have the kids go outside but it is such a pain to have muddy shoes coming back in the house. The kids like to go in and out and back in 100 times a day. Some days I have 5 two year olds. They take turns hitting, stealing toys, and throwing tantrums. But the cake goes to Casey this time. For taking all his crackers and stomping on them, dumping his whole bottle of orange juice into the full toy box, and taking off his poop diaper and wiping his whole butt on the carpet.

Soccer ends

The last few soccer games were absolutely freezing. Expecially the boys games at 5:30 in the evenings.

Eli, Vanessa, and Xavier were laying flat trying to get the seagulls to land close to them.

Oh how I wish he wouldn't bite his nails. A horrible habit I share.

Check out these studs.

Soccer has come to an end. Eli played for a couple minutes in their first game and never set foot on the field again. He was just too young. He does have some mad skills but not enough nerve. Xavier got frustrated their first game also and didn't want to play again. After telling him I wanted him to go out and play for fun and not worry about scoring he did great. I think he had been mad he couldn't get out there and score right away. I told him I would give him a quarter for every time he just kicked the ball. I ended up owing him at least $10.00. By the time his last game rolled around he was having so much fun. He didn't want to come out of the game and he scored 8 times. Alexandra's last game was cancelled. They finished the season undefeated. We went to Pasco for a tournament. It rained almost the whole day. After losing the first game they won the second two. It was nice to play evenly matched teams. They beat the number one Pasco team. It was awesome. Kind of sad though to see how mad the other coach was. I mean furiously pacing. Their best player got hurt and he was reluctant to even take her out of the game. We aren't quite that competitive. Afterwards we went to Round Table for pizza. The kids all had fun. It's nice that we can now go places like soccer games all day and dinner and have well behaved kids. They don't wander off or act naughty. It's nice.

Never say Never

So I have noticed that there many things that I am dealing with that at one time I told myself I would never. Here are a few..

I will never let my children go to the store looking grubby, mismatched, or hair undone. said before I had kids.

I will never have a child over the age of 3 poop his pants, repeatedly. said before I had any 3 year old boys.

I will never let my house look like a disaster zone with a floor covered in popcorn, cereal, koolaid and anything else. again said before I had kids.

I will never have a child talk back to me without serious consequence, especially in the store.

I will never be more than 20 lbs overweight.

I will never be the one who fails at keeping in touch.

I will never leave the house in sweats.

I will never have that gut that bulges out below the waist of the pants that are too tight.

I will never tease my kids.

Anyway those are just a few off the top of my unwashed, unbrushed bed head. Yes it is 12:30 in the afternoon.