Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas!
May you have wonderful memories,
with your loved ones!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A Christmas story

Brandon with a bunny at the tree farm~age 6.

So this morning Brandon came into the kitchen and said,
"Hey Dad, you wanna hear a song I learned?"
"Okay," says Dad.
"Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Joker laid an egg, the Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker got away."
Dad said: "Yep, I know that song."
B: "How did you know that song?"
Dad: "I used to sing it when I was a kid."
B: "YOU had Christmas when you were little?"

That was the end of that conversation.

Grandpa Joe, Grandma Josephine, Grandpa George, and Grandma Georginia

Here is how we found the children on Sunday morning!
It brought back some memories of good ol' Willy Wonka!

Winter Weather Reminder

We interrupt your regular, non-weather-related blog to bring you this important WINTER WEATHER ANNOUNCEMENT:

Reminder: When you see ice on metal objects, it is NOT - we repeat,
NOT - a good idea to lick it.
You will stick to it!

Now, if you are 5 and have not yet seen "A Christmas Story," then appropriate mothering actions can ensue.

But if your very intuitive mother had given you a verbal warning 2 weeks prior, then you will not receive the proper showering of empathy.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER ANNOUNCEMENT:
If you could avoid doing this in a public place, then said mother might be able to show a little empathy. But if for some unknown reason you are compelled to lick the cart return racks in the WAL-MART parking lot, then you will be quickly removed from the scene, and given proper attention at home, with a photo, and blog post.


This has been a Winter Weather Friendly Reminder.

Reality

I received many compliments on the photos that I had shot out at the tree farm. But the reality is, that you get to see the best ones...until now!

Here is about the 253 picture of these two adorable sisters...

You can see the frustration on Isabelle's face.

Let's throw some brothers into the mixture:

Nope: everyone is saying "No" or something like that.

Keep they eyes open...we're almost done here kids!

OKAY, I think we are getting close, just a couple more!

Uh, Gabi, we are not quite done yet!

So there you have it, the reality is that EVENTUALLY the odds will fall in our favor to get a good picture, just depends if we can get it before Gabi changes her mind.

O Christmas Tree...

The time had come once again to make our trip out to the tree farm...and it was COLD!
So we were pretty quick with the selection...and the kids had no problems enjoying themselves!

Decorating the tree was promptly started 3 days later,
and finished by the 5th day!

This ornament is one that I made in preschool.

Love the hand painted ornaments that FILL our tree!
We have several that were created by my grandmother, and Will's mother.

Take a look at last years trip to the farm!
http://coopd-up.blogspot.com/2007/12/o-christmas-tree.html

Gingerbread houses!

Well, actually we made them out of graham crackers. Mom decided to keep her sanity and not spend hours making the raw materials. The building/decorating was strenuous enough.

We got all kinds of candy from the store for decoration. We're talkin' ALL kinds. M&Ms, Nerds, wafer cookies, peppermints, butterscotch, Gummi Bears, soft mints - you name it, we probably used it.

Mom made the "glue" out of eggs and powdered sugar. Raw eggs, so we couldn't eat it. Too bad - it looked (and smelled) like frosting.



Mom assembled the houses. Then ... decorate away!





Daddy shingled his roof with Nerds. (Insert joke here.)



Gabi color-coordinated her roof with M&Ms all by herself. Seriously.

We're displaying the finished products on our mantel - out of dogs' reach. Not bad, eh?

5

We have a 5 year old girl in our house as of this morning!
She said yesterday:
G: Mom, when I wake up in the morning will I be 5?
Mom: YES! You will be 5!
G: (thinking, then to self) OH, right, I will still have blond hair!

Here is a look back at all the wonderful things that Gabi did this past year!

She can keep up with the fastest of the boys on the soccer field!

She knows how to put on her best smile!

This girl can really pull together an outfit!

She can feed goats!

Ride the wildest of animals!

Clean her plate.

Act her age.

Pose for the camera.

Pose for the camera.

Look angelic.

Eat a Chicago-dog!

Enjoy some blue ice cream.

Can handle her drinks!

Walk and enjoy the scenery at Navy Pier.
(sidenote: this photo was taken right after Gabi shoved her head through the protective-metal-guardrail...
note red ear!)

Enjoy fine delicacies like Hagen Daas Ice Cream ($$$$).

Wear fine jewelery, unless they contain bugs.

Chill with a sista.

Be the life of a party.

Show a pinata a hard time.

Be herself!

Hold strong to her flower girl responsibilities, and eat cake!

Get some ink, to match her dad.

What an amazing gift-challenge-joy-love she has put into our lives!
Happy Happy Birthday, Gabberjaw!