Stuff that doesn't have a place

Sometimes I just want to share with you.  And many times the pictures or "stuff" that I want to share have no real storyline.  No matter how I stretch it, I just can't get an introduction, middle or end to wrap it up into one small little gift of  a post.  So I save it...hoping it will scoot it's way into another longer post. But even that doesn't usually happen.

So here it is.  The "hot dish" (are you from Minnesota?) or "casserole" or garbage pail.  The dump of pictures with no point.  Sit back and enjoy.

One of the Best Pictures of Bailee ever taken.

Barbies for Boys-awesome gift!  (A box of Lego "guys", many were actually girls. All had outfits and pieces that connected them with a career: i.e. someone on computer, skateboard champ, police man, garbage man, chef, waitress, construction worker, Gardner, biking mailman etc.  Now Eli can mix and match outfits and assessories just like barbies)

Have you ever seen a crock pot full of meatballs?
Over Christmas I saw one and I was ...I don't even know the word to describe how I felt. I had to take a picture.

I don't even think that picture does it justice. That whole big crock pot was FULL of meatballs. I have never seen a crock pot that full of anything before (unless at a luncheon or bridal or baby shower).  There aren't just meatballs floating on top-the whole thing was full.  And then they were gone.  Even though I didn't get to eat any (breadcrumbs in meatballs) I could tell that everyone enjoyed them.  But every meal is this large when we are all together.

I'm not sure how this happened.  This is not a normal skill for a 10 month old.  One day I walked in after Hugh's nap and there he stood-in his crib-with his pants off. The pants have a tight elastic waist band and that was why I was so surprised. I do not know how he was able to pull them over his diaper?

If you open the bathroom door-Hughie hightails it there. He wants to go in the bathtub.  His favorite place to be.  Without question.

We recently moved the new pictures of the boys to a different wall.  We also added a big framed family photo.  Of note-you can't tell the size, but the boys pictures are 8x10's and the family photo is the next size up (11x15?) in a larger frame.  (I feel like they look very small in my picture). All the frames are brown, but each one has a slightly different design (Hugh's is very plain, Eli's has 3 grooved borders and the family one is "weathered" meaning it almost looks like dark brown drift wood) but I couldn't get a good picture that made the pictures look the way I wanted. Or how I think they actually look.  Also, we know they are hung straight because Andy treated himself to a laser level and had a lot of fun hanging them.

This year we had a small Christmas party. We live very close to a neighborhood that has tons of Christmas lights up for the season.  The weather was perfectly mild that we all bundled up and walked it.  The kids loved it and I think the parents thought it wasn't too shabby either.  And although we didn't really get a shot of the whole group, we did attempt to get the bigger kids (there were 3 babies not in these shots) to all look our way.  Sorry, Connor just couldn't really get in there and as you can see, we had no success getting full on smiles from them all at the same time.



This was much needed.  Thanks PW for making us pose for this picture.



Well that's it for now.

What's happening here?

The boys and I will be gifting Andy a free, quiet, man weekend.  He can do whatever he wants (after he finishes his to-do list of course) while we drive hours and hours to visit my sister, For the Love of Naps. I'm so excited. Because of illness they missed Thanksgiving and because of the Packers and time constraints we only were together for 1.5 days at Christmas.  My mom, Grandma Barb, is coming along to help me with the drive and to hang out with us.  I've heard Ed might be mixing Lemon Drop Martinis.  Lots of Lego and train time will be had.  We will also be able to give Sydney her birthday present and share some ice cream for her 2nd year of life has begun and is happening RIGHT NOW!

I'm gearing up to make a late night drive and to handle sleeping in the same room with Hughie who still wakes frequently at night.  Hoping for no snow while we drive. So far we've been blessed with healthy kiddos. 

Stay tuned for an update on our fun trip.  Hugh's 11 month report and pictures. My top 10 list of things I love sparked by text conversation with a friend who I really like but who has a totally different top 10 list.