Lights, Camera, Action!

We've been meaning to get the outside lights up for some time now, and today ended up dry and with a little morsel of time to do it!  Hooray!

The ladder we have is only three steps high.  Still - I needed to get ON that roof.  Just Amelia, Andrew, and I were at home, so I looked at Andrew and said, "Throw all your body weight on this ladder and DON'T. LET. IT. MOVE."  I climbed up and then tippy toed quick on the top you-should-never-use-this-as-a-step rung and shot myself up on the roof.  The exhilaration I felt when I realized I was not dead or broken was fantastic.

I got all the clips on and then needed to help the kids unravel all the lights.  Umm...this meant I needed to get down.  Andrew said jump.
Me: "Uh, that's a lot of weight flying at the ground, buddy."
  Andy: "Oh yeah, and you have bad knees."
Me: "And a bad ankle."
I sat.  For awhile.
I  pictured stunt men and thought about tucking and rolling.
Seriously.
Then I laughed at myself.
If you know me well - you know I am uncoordinated.  In high school I accidentally gave a guy a bloody nose as he attempted to flip me over his shoulder.

I eyed the unstable 1 inch wide top of that ladder about 5 feet below the rim of the roof.  Again I said, "Throw all your body weight on that ladder Andrew.....you too, Millie!"
It was crazy.  It was stupid.
I made it down.

Andrew became the roof man.  After I made it down he told me that he gets up on the roof by climbing the tree on the side of our house.  He was up in like 15 seconds waving to me from the crest of the roof.  He did a great job and it was a lot of fun to work together.

Millie spent her time dutifully tangling all the lights as fast as I could untangle them, and once we finished it Andrew ran to plug them in.  He did so ceremoniously and.......one whole strand didn't work.  Instead of crying, we laughed.  It really seemed ridiculously funny.

So maybe we'll redo it on Monday, or maybe not.  Maybe this year I will just look at half my house lit up and smile and remember how much silly fun we had doing it.

January Catch up

Hope you're sitting down. This is a super (everybody scream...super is my word for the week) long post. Lots of pictures. Had to catch up on what's been going on around here.

Poppy (Mike's dad) is talented in the woodcarving area. He made these awesome cars and blocks for the kids for Christmas. Beautiful. Thank you, Poppy!



Went hiking with cousins and a friend over Christmas Break. Had a little picnic and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.




These cinnamon rolls were meant for serious bartering. Incredible. Came from friend's recipe titled "Clone of Cinnabon" and I'm telling you what. They were delicious. I love that in this picture Mike caught the boys picking at the flour. The crazy kids love to lick it. yuck!



Trip to the mall playground. Thought it would be a nice quiet outing. Ummm...28 kids there running around. We didn't last long, but Amelia loved the slide.




I think my boys are the coolest fort builders. They built this out of garden edgers and sticks.

Amelia sneaks in while Andrew makes repairs and then wonders how long til he notices her and hauls her out. This would happen over and over and she thought it was so funny. He is actually repairing the last section she snuck through, and does not know that she just walked right in through the entrance. I was greatly amused. (Oh- and if you look closely, there is a jar of caterpillars and leaves. Isn't being a kid so great!)

Me and Doons. I LOVE him! I love watching and listening to him play. I'll miss him when he goes to kindergarten.



Back at the ranch. Another boy moment. Andrew rigs up own parachute and decides to put it to the test.

Climbs to highest point he can find.

Makes the leap and then repeatedly tells us how cool and awesome it was. Repeats process. Is this dangerous? Yes, I'm sure. Especially when he began jumping with two large sticks for his "bracers." Mom put an end to that. Ahh, boys.




Mike took the boys out golfing on MLK day. They loved it. You must notice the polo shirts. The boys took care to "dress the right way." Thank you Jacob/fashion consultant.




Andrew was Robin Hood today. He was extremely proud of the clothesline he set up and insisted that I come out a take a picture, "because it really does look like the real Sherwood Forest, Mom. I even put clothes on it, but some of the clip things were really hard."



While making dinner I heard Jacob and Amelia laughing. Found them in the bathroom with Amelia intently putting "make-up" all over Jacob and combing his hair. He was such a good sport, and even though Amelia would occasionally laugh, she was very intent on what she was doing.


Andrew has friend over for playdate. They play cowboys, on a ship. He reads the map and she punches in the calculations to send them to Africa.

It sounds wierd,

but it feels oh, sooooo good.

Millie smells like sunblock in her little summer dress.

There are sounds of a chainsaw from next door.

Jake and Andrew played shirtless in the backyard (ok - it doesn't have to be hot for that to happen.)

We went to the pool today.

It's January 3rd and it is 82 degrees.

Mike's at the barbeque.

Can I explain to you how much I love Texas?!

Dashing thru the snow,

or at least through the 20 degree weather! Not sure where it came from, but I wouldn't mind a little snow if it's going to get that cold!

Anyway, we went CAROLING last night and delivered zucchini bread to lots of families. It was so much fun! We had a big box full of gaily wrapped bread situated between the front seats and it reminded me of doing the same with all my cousins many years ago in my grandparent's big green van.

All the families loved it and a few had never been caroled to before! I'm very happy that a number of our friends have expressed interest in joining us in the future, so that we have more voices to, uh, BLEND with, ahem.

Oh- and whenever the boys would hand the bread over they would exclaim, "It's zucchini bread!" (one of their favorite treats ever.) The looks on a number of faces - especially those of the children- were classic. (Revolting! Vegetable bread?!?) I finally told the boys to stop telling people what it was, so that it would be a sweet surprise.

So that's that. Had to remember this. Such a great night. And Amelia was decked out in the CUTEST little Christmas outfit with boots and hat. Adorable. Brought the camera, but I guess it wanted to stay warm in the van....

Do you hear what I hear?

Jake was home sick today, and by this afternoon was just at that in-between point of starting to feel better but not wanting to move around much. He was done with sleeping and watching movies and wanted something different to do. So....

TA-DAH!!! Up steps mom with a dramatic reading of The Night Before Christmas. All three kids were squished on our big boxy chair (yes, the who-knows-how-old chair still lingers from Provo days) and had huge eyes. As I made pattering sounds and pretended to throw up the sash, they watched my every move. I almost started laughing out loud as I visibly saw Jacob (dare I say it) begin to BELIEVE again. I hope so. And Andrew and Amelia were quite taken. Especially as I stood next to our very tall fireplace and placed my finger aside my nose. Should have them for a good while yet....

Whatever happened to kids memorizing poems? Sheesh! We'd better get to it!

Gift Ideas

So I (Mike) was talking to Andy about what we could get Cheri for Christmas. Here's his brainstorming session:
A: "If she lost her ring, we could buy her a new shiny ring"
-"Ok"
A: "If she lost her hand, we could buy her a shiny hook"
-"Oh,"
A: "Because Captain hook has one ..."
-"True enough"
A: "She doesn't like our vacuum, so maybe we could buy her a new one ... but made out of gold."
-"Huh, umm"
A: "But I don't think they even make vacuums like that, so ..."

Good ideas all, but I don't know that we can rely on Cheri losing her ring or her hand in time for Christmas. And solid gold vacuums are only for NBA wives, right? Or Liberace or Elton John or something.