Roeder Xmas 2014

Here is a glimpse of what happens when the Roeder clan gets together to celebrate Christmas. 

A rare photo of just Andy and his mom!

 sorry it's blurry, but you get the idea.  The room often looks like this.  This happens to be when we are opening presents-so a little more jammed.  There are people to the right sitting in the dinning room area too.  My spot was way in the back between Andy and Erika.  Luckily there is a nice big basement for those kids to run around in.

Everyone gets out to play in the snow together!

And if you stay in side you may luck out and have this happen!!!

This year we had a photo session.....it got kind of crazy

ALL of the big boys

The sisters

Allllll the girls (Except Adelia is sleeping)

The In-laws....

The original 8.  It's hard to get a good shot but you can see how lively and fun they are.  Oh, by the way it may or may not be around midnight here....

All 10 Roeders

Grandparents and grandkids....wish it wasn't so fuzzy

Just the bro's....can you imagine growing up with these hooligans?

The 3 sisters and the sister in laws

How we really feel?  JUST KIDDING! The in-laws were told to have a serious or sad face! It was hard to do.  

You can tell it's a fun time.  Crazy.  Loud.  Happy. Loving. FUN!

Letters to the man

Dear Santa, hope you could read these letters and make sense of them!

Dear Santa, I would like lights and Lego sets and placements.  How good are your reindeers?  From Eli

I love all the expressions in this shot....shows many different holiday moods

A glimmer from our season

I never posted about our Christmas season.  A few weeks after all the celebrating I thought about it, but I couldn't stomach all the holiday hubbub.  I have waited until now, and even though it is not fully spring, the weather is slightly more mild and hopefully the idea of a Christmas recap will still capture some of the magic.  Because there was quite a bit this year.

Let's start out with our visit with Santa.  We were unprepared for this visit.  We were at Eli's school Christmas party when in walked the man himself and even Mrs. Clause!!!  The boys wanted to go talk to him and I had to hurry quite fast to snap the pictures.  The pictures are VERY blurry because I was moving and trying to be swift, but you can see the joy, excitement and magic in these believers eyes.  Mostly I love these pictures because little Hugh is telling Santa SOMETHING-a story?  What he wants for Christmas? Who knows.....watch Hugh's body positions and expressions.  Classic.

Cinderella

I grew up watching Cinderella with real actors.  I am not sure when the Disney cartoon version came out, but I have yet to see the whole thing from start to finish.  So when I saw the preview for the new Cinderella that was coming to theaters this year I got real excited.  I don't have a little girl to take on this adventure, but I do have a awesome little God Daughter and friend who let me tag along.

I was looking forward to this for quite a while.  Back when I took Lily out for frozen yogurt we talked about what to pack in our purse for the movie adventure.  She wanted to bring a hat in case she got cold and also a phone in case we wanted to look at pictures during the movie.

So this past weekend we ventured to the big theater.  We let Lily pick the candy, pack her purse and pick the seats.  She didn't pack the hat or the phone, but we looked on my phone while we waited for it to start.
 

I'm not sure how magical the movie was for her because it was a bit longer in parts of no magic/cartoon etc.   But when we finally got to the magic of the fairy godmother that changed the animals and transformed Cinderella into her beautiful outfit....that was IT!!!  So special.

I'm grateful to have these girls in my life, to go on adventures with.  I'm sure many more to come.

Although she didn't have her tiara on, she had sparkly shoes!

*** As a side note, Andy was fixing the faucet and had all the water turned off which prevented me from getting a shower in before the movie.  Therefore I was wearing a black fleece and hat and that made me sad that I didn't like "cute" or "girlie" for this girl outing!

All 5 of us at the park!

Today we went to the park after school.  All of us.  All 5 of us!!!

The boys ran ahead and I looked at Andy and I said "See, 3 will be easier than we thought".  And he said "we'll see".  Guess I'm more optimistic than he is today.

I can't believe next year at this time we will have a 7 month old trying to eat the sticks and the sand at the park with us.  I can't wait.

no potty at the park

 This is an exciting time for our family.  My mind races and is boggled a lot lately about this amazing Third that is on the way.  My belly is definitely poking out, proving to the world that Third is growing, expanding and will be showing up.

pssst Hughie did you hear? Mom is PREGO!!!

Poof! He's 3

Dear Hugh Lou,
Why does the age 3 make you such a big boy?

You have lost all your baby fat and the doctor says you are very lean.  We've cut your curls.  You're talking clearly.  You know your numbers, colors and letters of the alphabet.

So big boy you are and big boy I have to accept.

You love: fruit, crackers, Mickey Mouse, Minions, Legos, the color blue, olives and pickles, running when I ask you to walk, suckers, doing everything yourself, reading books with mom, the library, your grandparents, the zoo, lining up things by color, playing swords with Eli (E-eye) and pretending to be Mario.
You don't like: to get dirty or sticky, anyone else putting you to bed except mama, meat, potatoes and most vegetables, when plans change and you aren't ready for it, when something falls on the floor
"Not yet" to everything-your favorite phrase
"Relax Mom"
From his car seat while we are driving: "I have a booger on my finger, I eat it now?"
"I want to take the baby out" (the baby in mom's tummy)
"E-eye talk about our day" (at dinner)
"E-eye be nice to your teacher. get all your dojo points" (These are instructions he gives to Eli every day before school)
"It's not dank enough to go to bed"  (Dank=dark)

This year for Halloween you were a train conductor.  You chose a sucker out of your halloween candy bucket every time.  You finished speech therapy.  You went on your first "rides" at the Mall of America and the church festival.  You won a goldfish!  You learned to go potty like a big boy.  You go to Brenda's two days of a week and your friends there are baby Nolan, Ashton, Maddie and Aubrey.  You call everyone a "he" or a "kid".

Your sleep....well it's better but still waxes and wanes.  I'll take it.

This year for your birthday you wanted blue cupcakes but mostly sprinkles (see interviews in previous post).  We had make your own pizzas and you had a donut for breakfast.  You celebrated with family and just a few friends this year.  You got a new scooter for this summer, new Mickey Mouse underwear and a few other fun presents this year.

You are my biggest fan.  You always want to sit by me or be around me.  And that melts my heart.  You are the perfect little/big boy for me. We are like magnets.  Your little personality is so stinking special and you come right to me to share the good and the bad.  You snuggle me and ask for me and need me for so many things throughout the day.  I can't stand to think of the day when you won't let me hold your hand or won't ask for me to be right.there.by.you.  So this year, we are going to enjoy you being 3.  Big ol' 3.  Will watch you enjoy playing and learning with Eli and starting a new role as a big brother.  But always filling the most important role as Hugh Lou!

Love,
Mama

Interview with a 3 year old

Poof--he's 3. I can't believe it. The years keep chugging along, or zooming if you want me to be honest.

Who remembers this 2 year old???

My camera ran out of room for the videos so sorry this is all in snippets and keeps getting cut off.

 Ok, because I'm more than 30 years (WOW) older than him, I do get to put my 2 sense in. Truths in this interview: he was 2, is now 3! His name is Hughie. His favorite color is blue and he does like hot dogs (as much as this dietitian mom cringes). Sandwiches? Not so much. His other favorites are black olives, pickles, (YES!) cheesy crackers, bananas, any type of berry,macaroni and cheese, eggs and pancakes. He doesn't share bunk beds with Eli, he sleeps in his crib with his bunny, 2 mickeys and a minion guy. His favorite song is from Shrek and Scooby doo (that got cut off). His favorite toys are: Mickey and mario and minion "guys", legos, anything that plays music and books. He is not into trains like his brother was. Favorite show is Mickey Mouse and Baby Einstein but will pretend to like anything Eli likes. I don't know if he has a favorite animal, so I can't tell you if a robot is the accurate answer. There is more to come on this beautiful kiddo and his big birthday soon!