Happy Holidays!

Our warmest wishes to everyone! We hope peace and happiness touch you all in the year to come.

THE.WORST.SANTA.PICTURE.EVER.

Need I say more?

PICTURES!

Because I have a minute...

but only a quick minute, I will update, but no pics yet. So sorry- I'll have Eric do it tonight. Well, today was a big milestone. Our fabulous Aunt Missy, Micah's gf, watched the Beanie while I helped out at Mavi's school. Keenan has only been watched by himself by Aunt Kerri, and while I was a little nervous, I knew he would be in good hands today. I think he had a pretty good time. Apparently Missy took him to not one, but 3 playgrounds and let him play at all of them. She taught him how to roll down the hill, and probably focused a little more attention on him than I get to, considereing I have 3 toddlers. And did he run and give me a giant hug when I got home?? NO. He ran to Diego and gave HIM a bear hug. Hmph. So while Missy and Keenan were rolling down hills, I was at preschool, trying not to have a heart attack while Mavi covered himself and THE WALLS AND FLOOR in paint. I actually had to ask if I could go outside instead of taking deep breaths while trying not to scream "Oh my god NO, what are you doing?" while the painting was taking place. Who knew it would be that hard to watch your child be creative? It wouldn't have been so bad if it was watercolors of something easy to get out of clothing. Nope. Gold and Navy blue tempra paint. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. The kids both have ear/eye infections and are on medication to clear it up. I actually got to sleep all night long last night, which is a first for about the last two weeks. I sort of wondered what was wrong with them and then was like, oh yeah, they sleep through the night when they aren't sick. Yay! Take care and I promise to post pics soon.

As we all know...

I am not really a very political person. But this is actually the FIRST time I am really excited about where our county can become. I'm really hopeful that our country is going to do it's best to be a positive place for my little boys to grow up. On a side note, Mavi thinks every time my phone rings it's Barrack Obama with his present (apparently president sounds like present to a 3 year old.) Anyway, yay for us as a country for doing the appropriate, intelligent thing. Maybe it can become a trend.

Boo Flu

Well, I am now big advocate of NOT getting the flu shot. My poor little Beanie is having such a hard time with it. Fever, chills, and fussiness. Boo. Mavi told a story to his teacher this morning that I have to share. He wrote me a letter and this is what it says. Dear Mom, Hey teacher Laurie- I want to tell you something. I had a dream about my mom pooping on the grass last night. Yeah, she pooped on the grass. And there was a magnet thing in it. It stuck to stuff. It wasn't a scary dream. Love, Mavi OMG. Can you say embarrassed. You would have thought I actually did poop on the grass. Go Obama.

3 YEARS OLD!!

Mavi had his 3 year checkup today with Dr. Lisa. We absolutely love her and honestly, he thinks it's a special treat to go and chat with her. Especially since he got no shots today. He got his flu vaccine through a nasal spray. Keenan had to get it through the shot as he's not quite 2 yet, but he did great and only cried as I held him down for the shot. Maveric has finally joined the other ranks of 3 year olds and is on the chart for weight! Yippeeee. He is 27 pounds which puts him in the 10th percentile and is 37 inches long, which is 50th percentile. Apparently his head is no longer measured, but his birthmark is measured and recorded. It's still the same size overall with no evidence of fading. Usually mongolian spots fade with age, but that's on kids with dark skin, whose skin generally gets darker as they age. Apparently mongolian spots haven't been studied much on whitey white kids, but nobody seems to worried about it, so I have decided not to be either. Mavi is great on all of his "skills" (nunchuck skills, bowstaff skills, etc. ) except for fine motor. Dr. Lisa advised putting him in an art class or getting him evaluated and going to occupational therapy IF he needs it. I am putting him in art in January, so I think we'll wait for 6 months and see how it goes. Unless anyone has any other ideas. She asked him tons of questions and of course when she asked "What does mommy do when you do something naughty?" he goes, "she yells!" Then he smiled at me and said "And puts me in timeout." The little traitor. At least he didn't say "She beats my ass." That would have been a bit more embarrassing. Not that I do. But the threat is always there, right Jami?? Anyway. Trick or treating was fun, and they both seemed to like getting candy. Keenan kept trying to go into people's houses after they answered the door, because, well, that's what we usually do. And Maveric got a little cold that night. So after eating a treat from Darlene that was 60 grams of sugar! at 8 o'clock at night, he slept nil on Friday. Which meant so did I. Saturday was one of those watch tv and lay around kinda days. I'll post some Halloween pics tomorrow. Take care. Also please send some good karma to our good friends, Mike, Karla, and Mikey. If you want to join the fundraiser for them you can visit Jace's blog and click on the Marathon for a Month icon. They are a terrific, caring, positive family dealing with some medical issues and could use some help. Thanks!

Trick or treat...

This is at Boo at the Zoo. The kids get to trick or treat and see the animals. Pretty cute idea. We're in the reptile house in this photo.

BEANIE!

Mavi's "birthday party". We didn't really do anything this year. I'm sorta over big bday bashes. Only 17 more to go. Whoo-hoo.

Mavi and Ty.

Cute cake, huh?

Loved the hat. RIIIIGHT.

New undies. This one will definitely come out at wedding/graduation/16th bday bash.

Mavi with a bat on his hand.

Sasha getiin' some loves.

Our little shrek.

Ahhh, trick or treat time is upon us again. Luckily Eric has taught Mavi how to say the good ole "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" That should be fun when we visit the neighbors. Thank god his cute little brother will be there to say "tick-tee" and defuse the rudeness of asking someone to smell your feet AND give you candy. We've had a good few days since my last post. Mavi is doing ok at school- still cries when I drop him off, but apparently enjoys the rest of the time. I think he likes smaller groups. He always freaks out when we go places and there are "too many people". Just wait til kidnergarten, buddy- 25 kids to 1 grownup. Oh joy. Keenie is doing well too. His new fave movie is "all about". A show about garbage trucks and recycling. He runs around going "all-bout? all-bout?" How do you refuse that? So we watch the damn show 6 or 7 times a day. Even Mavi is sick of it and that boy eats, sleeps, and breathes garbage trucks.

Whoops- time has slipped by again!

So I don't have any pics right this second to post, but we have seen and done alot in the last month. I went away and left the kids with Eric for the first time EVER to go to a friend's bachelorette party in Aspen for a whole weekend. It was tons of fun to not have to worry about babies while having a hangover. We had a great time and I made lots of new friends and caught up with some old friends, too! The next weekend Eric and I left the kids with his parents for the weekend to go to that same friend's wedding in Aspen. We had so much fun and loved Aspen. It was exciting to see everyone in our group without worrying about the kids getting into the booze or falling off of the mountain. The kids had a great time with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Greg and are still asking for them to come back. Mavi keeps asking to visit Grandpa Greg's church with the snakes. Mavi had his THIRD birthday last weekend and we kept it very mellow. Had a playdate Friday, and we tried to do a pumpkin patch on Sunday, but apparently Daddy and Keenie have allergies. A fact I already knew, but became quite apparent after an hour at the patch. Also Mav was having some issues with too many people at the pumpkin patch (it was crowded and we waited about 25 minutes to get in). In any case, the patch will NOT be an event for next year's birthday. Mavi seems so grown up sometimes, but so clingy and needy at others. He likes going to school and his friends, but HATES when I leave. We're going to keep trying until December and if he is still having such a hard time, I might try to find an activity that both kids can do with me there. Ahhh. Send good karma to us that he will start to like it more. Please. I like having only 1 kid for 2 hours twice a week. Keenan is such a stinker. He says a ton of words- basically everything we say. He got a bonk on his head yesterday and I think it's just a matter of when and not if- when we visit the emergency room again. He's so loving and sweet right now too. Always hugging and kissing. Wrestling too, but that's another story. I will try and post some pics of Mavi's bday this week. Take care!

Update, schmupdate...

Keenie Beanie during his afternoon nap. Seriously, this is how he sleeps.

Mavi in his big boy bed with a snake book. And we wonder why he has nightmares!

Keenie, Mavi, and Diego building a fence with little people toys and hiding out in the teepee my Grandma Rosie bought for me when I was little. My mom brought it out here a couple months ago and these boys can't get enough of it.

Mavi with a rattlesnake at the museum.

Well, I haven't been the best photo take these past few weeks. Actually the camera has been sitting on the computer desk, instead of seeing action. I went to a bachelorette party weekend in Aspen last weekend and I missed my boys (and my girl sasha) like crazy. Let me just say that, again, vodka had the best of me and monday was a LONG day.

Mavi is enjoying preschool (somewhat) and is still adjusting to having me away from him for a whole two hours. He plays for a while. Than cries for me. Than plays, than cries- I think you get the picture. Keenan, on the other hand, throws hysterical fits when it's time for us to leave, so I've got both of them freaking out. It's a lot of fun. Sometimes I think I should just leave Keenan there and take Mavi with me.

Mavi has a new favorite book. How do dinosaurs eat their food? He sits and reads it to Keenie fairly accurately. The funniest part is when a dino "eats juicy oranges" Mavi says he eats "orangey juices". Too cute! Keenan is talking a ton. He repeats everything we say- no curse words yet, I think we learned that lesson. He loves to watch Monsters, Inc and asks for "monter-k" all the time. They both love, love, love being outside and the weather has been perfect.

Thanks for checking in and hopefully we will have more pics soon.

A little sampling of cuteness...

Mavi on his first day of school.

Keenan looks so thrilled. Poor guy, I swear he does smile. You'll see.

I need to rotate this, but here's Mav with his grandpa pants on.

Beanie cleaning the pool at Ben's birthday party.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Grrr.

See, here's a smile.

This tired little man fell asleep on top of the Elmo chair. Just couldn't make it until nap time.

WE LOVE CUPCAKES!

Gotta love naked painting.

I'm wondering if tattoos are in Mavi's future.

We have decided to save money by using wipes packages as hats. Just doing our part to "go green"!

First day of school! First day of school!

Well, I have some amazing pictures to post, but I am not that computer savvy at 6 am, so you will all just have to wait until naptime or something. BUT, that said, Mavi had his first day of preschool yesterday. Keenan and I actually got to stay with him, and it was only for an hour- graduated entry- but he loves it! His preschool is a parent co-op which means that there are 3 teachers and 2 parent helpers there every class time. It is a very laid back school, his one teacher is such a hippie, and that's exactly what we were looking for. The kids can basically do whatever they want- paint, color, read books, play outside, climb on the jungle gym. It's awesome so far. Then Keenan had his 18 month appointment yesterday afternoon. He is 23 1/2 pounds and 32 inches tall. He is also at 2 year old level for gross motor, communication, and fine motor skills. Not bragging, cuz he's also ahead in having huge tantrum skills as well. At least he was an "angel" at the dr.'s office. He sure can turn it on for the people he loves. Mavi was a little worried when Keenan got his "pokes" but we went and bought a cake (the bakery was out of cupcakes, how does THAT happen???) and all was calm once again. Anyway, pics soon.

Pikes Peak

View from the Cog Rail. Or maybe from the top of Pike's Peak. I wouldn't know because I was stuck inside the building with a sleeping child the ENTIRE time we got to be at the top.

Mavi cheesing with his Village Inn balloon.

Keenan with his perma pout on. This kid is under the impression that the world should revolve around him and is just pissed off that it doesn't. What to do??? :)

Mommy playing with Keenan and Sasha.

Daddy and Keenan.

Well, we rode the cog rail up to Pike's Peak for "fun" for Eric's last flex friday of the summer. Next year I think we will all get root canals instead. 'Nuff said. Mavi starts school next week and is super excited. I'll hopefully have more photos in the coming weeks. See ya!