We couldn't resist.....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1509478762

Nutcracker

Between turkey legs, stuffing & pie and the insanity of crazed holiday shoppers kicking off the Christmas rush... Sara made her Nutcracker Ballet debut as a little mouse fighting alongside the Rat King on Carpenter Hall Stage at the Irving Arts Center. She twitched her nose with spirit, wiggled her tail enthusiastically and fought off the Nutcracker Prince's toy soldiers with fervent zeal. A valiant effort, but as the story unfolded, her demise was already written - and she exited the stage with a playful leap.

We were all so proud of our little Ballerina.

Game ON.....

Two years and counting.....

Caleb turned 2 on October 14th.

No spit was used in the blowing out of the candles in this production.

A favorite pastime of Caleb and Dad: sharing a slice with a scoop.

Milestones: Caleb says a few essential words: Daddy, Bye Bye, Ball and poop.

oh, and he loves to cheese it up for the camera.

We did it.

Ben sported his mohawk for his Kindergarten school pictures. Anyone out there have some favorite school pics? The difference between girls and boys: for the last 3 weeks, Sara has kept an active dialogue going about how she wants her hair done, clothes to wear & manicure needs for picture day - the boys run away at the suggestion of a bath.

A Toddler Obsessed

Caleb is obsessed. Without ever saying a word, he manipulates anyone in a 20 ft. radius with his determined, relentless mission: another episode of "The Upside Down Show". He showers remote controls eagerly on the nearest playcater and will squeal, whine, push and pull to achieve his goal. If his entire day were left to his own power, back to back repeat episodes would automatically be played in an eternal loop. Powered by the DVR, these episodes are guarded from accidental deletes. At first, we all enjoyed the talents of these gifted performers on the show, now we just hope they create new episodes. In the meantime, we are held hostage by our obsessed toddler. Help!!

we're still giggling here.....

Upon request.....the mini-faux-mohawk

Can I have a mini mohawk?

Ben needed a haircut this weekend - hates them. Cries and screams all the way through, which makes the hair stick to his face and get all itchy - which makes him cry more, and so on. Because of this, he gets really anxious about it and panics before he even has to sit on the chair. But on this day, he just asked if he could get a mini-mohawk. Andersen corrected him and said it would be like a faux-hawk. Whatever the hawk - his wish was granted (with no tears) and now my son has a mohawk.... for now. Our little Ben is growing up, his two teeth knocked out and a redneck/punk mohawk - I can imagine his Kindergarten teacher is getting nervous......

Ben looses first tooth(s)

Although Ben looks happy in this photo, he was most disturbed when his first tooth came loose last Saturday (bottom row). He was even more freaked out when Sunday afternoon he had a tumultuous romp on the trampoline and collided with his cousin Taylor and knocked out his top tooth - which fell to the back of his throat - caused a panicked choke and finally was swallowed. I think most of his tears were over the fact that he couldn't put the tooth under his pillow. I assured him the tooth would eventually come out - and into the toilet in a couple of days. This was not comforting. He did discover that since the two teeth were aligned - this was really cool for sucking things through a straw. He doesn't even need to open his mouth!

back to school....

I know it's been several weeks now, but it was a happy day for everyone in late August when Andersen, Sara and Ben began their 2007-08 school year. They get to walk together to and from school - uphill both ways. Caleb misses his siblings at times... but enjoys long naps, competition free snacking, and ride-along outings with mom or dad throughout the day. Summer days are lingering in Texas. The kids are taking advantage of fair weather days after school to improve their skills in riding bikes without training wheels, racing down the drive way on the razor, and lobbing tennis balls into the greenbelt behind the house. Ken is so proud... even though our endless supply of practice balls is slowly dwindling. Skinned knees, sweaty hair, sticky hands and filthy socks are all the benefits of some good 'ol outdoor playing.