Mr. Destructo

Nothing is safe these days.

He has now figured out how to push one of the little chairs over to the counter, climb onto it and grab whatever is in sight up there. It's pretty terrifying. He is into EVERYTHING - and fast. You can't take your eyes off of him for a minute. I don't remember Charlotte ever being this busy.



If you open the dish washer, he is pulling out plates, utensils, and cups - in a matter of seconds. If you open the refrigerator, he is pulling out everything he can reach - the other day dropping a jug of milk on his foot. If you open the pantry, he has pulled out and knocked over an entire box of cereal. You don't even want to know what happens if toilet seats are left open.



His favorite thing is to destroy whatever his sister is working on. If she has spent time setting up the perfect dollhouse campsite, he'll come through and destroy it in no time. If she is drawing at her desk, he runs by, snatches the paper, and runs away - giggling the whole time.



It is exhausting and amusing all at once. From what I've heard, this is just the warm up with little boys.

Happy New Year!

Our New Year's weekend started Friday. Judd stayed home from work and we decided to head to the zoo for some good 'ole family fun. It drizzled on us for the first few minutes, but cleared up towards the end of our visit. The animals were all super active - almost everyone came out to play as we walked by. The most amazing thing we saw was the gorilla babies. They were playing and riding on their mama's backs. We packed a lunch and stopped to eat it, then headed to the petting zoo, train, carousel, and playground. The kids were awesome - we had a really great time. I can't pin point any one thing that was truly special - but it was just one of those outings that I'll remember for a long time.











Saturday, I started my weekend project. I've been wanting to paint our dining room table for a while. I purchased some Annie Sloan chalk paint back in September, I think. So, Judd helped me move it down to the garage and I got started. We are really happy with how it is turning out. I was able to get 2 coats of paint on it, and a coat of wax. I just need to apply another coat or two of wax on the top and then it is finished. Hopefully it will hold up for longer than an hour with 2 kids running around it. In my haste I forgot to take a before picture, but the table was brown. (please ignore the disgusting garage in the background.)



I'm going to tackle the chairs and the matching hutch. I'm sure this entire project will be finished sometime in the beginning of 2013. :)

Saturday night we went over to the Himes residence. We fed the kiddos and got them all to bed by 8. Then the adults sat down and enjoyed a lovely dinner and played some games. Judd and I ended up leaving in time to ring in the New Year at home. We had a great time. I'm so happy that the kids will go to sleep over there so we have some time to hang out just adults.

Sunday and today have been a little rough. The kids have been driving us slightly crazy. Max is sick and doesn't seem to be turning the corner. Charlotte has been pretty whiny and ready for her schedule to resume. We have one more day before school starts back. Anyone want a play date tomorrow??

As far as resolutions this year, let's see....
1. Get Max's Alphabet Book done - I have D, E, F, G, & H - I just have to create the pages.
2. Get the 2011 blog book done. That will make 4 blog books! The past blog books are some of my most prized possessions. I LOVE them.
3. Fall back into love with my camera & the blog. I told Judd today that I was going to take January off from blogging. That I just needed a break. I think I've averaged 3 posts a week for 4 years on this blog. That is crazy to me. Judd talked me out of it. I guess I just think to myself - "No one will care about that" when the kids do something funny, crazy, bad, or loving. But, then I have to remind myself that it doesn't matter, because Judd and I will care and Charlotte and Max will care 10-15-20 years from now. I'm getting back to what I began with - this blog is for them, for Judd and I, and for the family and friends that want to follow what we're doing.
4. I've signed up to run the Publix Half Marathon in March. I'm locked in. I'm on week 2 of training and going strong. I'm looking forward to crossing that finish line.
5. We have started to eat better as family. The majority of what we are eating are whole foods. It all started when I was introduced to the book Cinch!: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds, and Lose Inches. It is a "diet" book, but I have treated it more like a lifestyle change. After being on the diet for 2 weeks, I felt SO good. Had so much energy. It was really amazing. So, we have started to incorporate a lot of the principles in our everyday diet. It's nothing weird, just different. A different way of thinking about food. I hope to continue that.

I think that's about it. I think that will keep me pretty busy.

2011 was a great year. 2012 promises to be awesome too. Judd starts a new job (yay! for promotions) tomorrow. We are going to redo our kitchen in some aspect. We are going to celebrate 10 years of marriage in Hawaii in June. Charlotte will turn 4, Max will turn 2. Can't wait to see what else it will bring!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started VERY early - 6 AM to be exact. We were completely done with presents and breakfast by 8 AM!

Charlotte has been asking Santa for 3 things - a new bike, a rocking chair so she could rock Cindy (her baby doll), and a bib for Cindy. So, Santa had a pretty easy job this year. He found a purple bike with streamers and a baby seat. He also found my rocking chair that my grandfather built for me for my 1st birthday and brought that for Charlotte. He was able to find a bib for Cindy as well.



Max didn't ask for much, but ended up with a big car ramp, some cars, balls, and blocks.



Charlotte was pretty excited to see everything.



Max needed to chill and eat some cheerios for a little while with his Great-Granddaddy.



Then he got in on the action.



After breakfast, Max went down for a nap, and Charlotte and I opened up one of the coolest things she got.



We played with that for a lot longer than I thought she would.

Then we took her over to the local park to check out her riding skills.



Judd drove us all nuts all weekend showing off his new infrared thermometer. He could quickly tell us the temperature of every surface. (He has some sort of odd obsession with thermometers and temperatures these days) Every time someone walked into a room, he would quickly shoot them with the thermometer and tell them what temp they were. It was a little unnerving having a red dot show up on your body.



After relaxing for a while, we loaded up in the car to drive to Douglas, GA to visit with Judd's grandmother Plymale. We visited and ate there, then headed home. We got the kids into bed by 8:00 and we went to bed not much after that - both Judd and I were pretty exhausted.

It was such a fun Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We woke up Christmas Eve to the promise of pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Grandmother had a couple of very eager helpers to mix up the pancake batter.



After breakfast we just hung out, ate, took naps, and then got ready to head to the Pannell's (Judd's great Aunt's house) for Christmas Eve dinner and festivities.

We got there and immediately Charlotte's cousin (I think 2nd cousin, or a cousin removed somehow), Michael, took Charlotte by the hand and showed her all around.

The most interesting thing that they found was the golf cart parked in the back.





Max was not quite himself that evening - he was VERY clingy to his mom, but he loved being outside. I FINALLY captured a picture of this child, looking at the camera, dressed nicely - a true Christmas miracle.



After dinner, Amy played some songs for us on the piano. Charlotte sang. She put on quite the show for everyone.



After that, it was back to Judd's parent's house to get the kiddos to bed so Santa could come. We set out cookies and zucchini. The zucchini was for the Reindeer. Charlotte saw on Olivia that Olivia gave the Reindeer zucchini. She has been talking about giving the reindeer for zucchini for a few weeks. We went out looking for zucchini, but ended up finding cucumber. However, that was good enough for Charlotte. So our zucchini was really cucumber, but it's our secret for now! The kids hit the sack and "Santa" got to work!

Merry Christmas!

My actual Christmas card file is on my other computer that is at home. So, here is an iPhone pic of our card this year.

Wishing you and yours a very magical, wonderful, peaceful Christmas.



For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6-7

Cookie Decorating Time

We packed up the car this morning and headed down to Judd's parent's house to start the Christmas festivities. We arrived around lunchtime, unpacked the car, and settled in.

Last night, I made some sugar cookies so that we could do our annual Christmas cookie decorating. We decided to go ahead and decorate them this afternoon, rather than on Christmas Eve, because tomorrow could be a busy day! We mixed up some icing and got to work.



Charlotte was UNABLE to keep the sprinkles and M&Ms out of her mouth. She understood she wasn't supposed to, but she really could not keep her hand out of her mouth. So, Emily, categorized cookies by "kid decorators" and "adult decorators".



Lilly was pretty savvy with the frosting and sprinkles. I'm pretty sure any fine restaurant would hire her as a pastry chef.



Emily rescued Max from the crib and he had a great time just watching everything.



Grandmother got in on the action.



Charlotte decorated quite a few cookies, I was surprised by how long she lasted. But, when she was done, she was done. She did taste test a finished cookie and declared it "Yummy!".



The finished products:

Cookies?

It sure is hard to stay inside and bake cookies when it is sunny and in the 60's.















We did whip up some homemade marshmallows on Sunday. But, if they weather continues, we may not get the mixing bowls out again!