38|365 puppy love joy

Annabelle is fascinated by Aggie. Aggie loves Annabelle too, but she knows that she is likely to grab a handfull of hair so she sniffs and kisses from a safe distance.

36|365 piggie love joy

The girl loves her some toes. They are a handy toy and an occasional snack. She is in my lap now as I am posting this and after seeing this picture, she has decided to play with them. She's making a noise that kind of sounds like toe. Yup, she's grabbing her toes and saying "doh."

35|365 "Mommy it looks like the angels painted the sky" joy

That's what Barrett said tonight. So sweet.

34|365 shampoo mohawks and bubble beards joy

These guys just kill me. They have been soooo sweet to each other these past few days. I am so proud of my boys. With Cody out of town this week, they have really acted like the "men of the house"...little bubble-bearded men.
Whenever I give them a bath it reminds me of being a little kid and taking a bath with my cousins. For us (3 girls) it was shampoo mohawks and bubble bikinis!



By the way, if you are wondering about our Disney World pics, scroll down and click older posts. I dated them so they'd show up on the days we were there. And there's more pics on my family blog posted the same way...so scroll down or click on the word February on the right to show all posts from Feb.

33|365 so cute in a hat joy

My friend put her hat on Annabelle while we were at the park to shade her from the sun.

32|365 eighty pictures for one keeper joy

I took my kids, all 3 of them, out to get some nice group pictures. I came prepared with my bribes--marshmallows, Phineas and Ferb fruit snacks and a trip to the park afterward. Maybe for normal kids this would be more than enough. Some kids don't even need bribes. Make no mistake. These are NOT normal kids. Well, see for yourself in the "gag reel" below. The keeper is the last one (Black and White).




So it was about this time that I decided to take the baby out of the mix thinking it might help the situation. Here's what followed.


Goofy and his brother Fake Smile


Cheesy and his brother Fake Smile


Who tooted?


I'll take that one.

31|365 "I can do it myself" joy

30|365 genuine smile joy

This kid suffers from a serious case of PCS (Photographers Child Syndrome) and when a camera is pointed in his direction he usually flashes a overly huge fake smile. I have tried many things to get him to make a more natural smile. The thing I have found that works best is to talk about that thing that is endlessly and universally hysterical to 5 year olds everywhere...poop. Another thing that works is when I show him a picture I just took of his weird fake smile.

Here's a real smile...induced by a little potty humor.

29|365 two kids down, one to go joy

We love our kids, but we love having a little time at night after they are all asleep to just be together...even if it's just for a few minutes before one of us falls asleep.

28|365 clean teeth joy

27|365 eating with chopsticks joy

I have been craving Chinese since we went to the Chinese restaurant at Epcot last week. So I took Kyle and Annabelle to Pei Wei for lunch today. I gave A a few grains of rice and that kept her busy while K and I fumbled our food into our mouths with chopsticks. After we were all finished eating, I picked up Annabelle and she had soy sauce on her face. hmmm. flying Teriyaki perhaps?


urban grunge effect added

26 | 365 bedtime story joy

Cody and the boys have begun reading a chapter book called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It's a fairly hefty book so I hope they make it through. This is the boys first chapter book attempt. Barrett seemed to be getting into it, but Kyle had ants in his pants tonight.

25 | 365 hottie hubby joy

I cannot imagine having a better husband and father for my kids.



Here's a little something he found when he got home today. He goes through a big jar of jalapenos about every other month.

I know, I know...I'm soooo romantic! ha.


Off topic: Annabelle is 8 months old today! Happy Valentine's Day!

24 | 365 her kisses are free joy

The boys are always kissing on their baby sister and I have been thinking she should start a kissing booth. That's what gave me the idea for these.
I intentionally gave the images a little grit and vintage look.

20|365 "arrgh, me hineys" joy

That's what Kyle says when he's in Pirate Mode.

19|365 even Cody was impressed joy

The fireworks show at Magic Kingdom was amazing. Well, I should say the projection show displayed on the castle was amazing. The fireworks may very well have been amazing but we couldn't see much of them. About 15 minutes before the show started, we found a great spot with a clear view of the castle WITH seats to rest our weary legs! Score! The castle acted as a screen for some really cool effects. Then the fireworks shot up into the sky...right behind some trees to our left. No wonder those seats were available.

18|365 magical joy

We went to Magic Kingdom today. So much fun!


Barrett and Cody on the Dumbo Ride

17|365 polkadots a la minnie joy

Annabelle told me her favorite Disney character right now is Minnie Mouse so we decked her out with polkadots all week!
Gigi made her the cutest little Minnie pillowcase dresses! (not pictured)


(This dress is store-bought.)

16|365 feeling at home in the Animal Kingdom joy

We had a great first day at Disneyworld. We kicked it off with a Goofy breakfast where we met Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey. We saw the Lion King show where Kyle was one of 3 kids who got to go up front and dance. We roared at dinosaurs, and went on a safari. We love this place!


Goofy meet Goofy, uh, I mean Kyle.


Annabelle on safari


Barrett rockin' the Mickey ears

13|365 cure for cabin fever joy

We are stuck inside again today. Today we have no hot water, some faucets don't even have cold. We have no internet (writing now to be posted later when the internet is back up), and we got notice from the gas company that we're about to run out of propane which is what we country people use to heat our homes. So, we have confined ourselves upstairs in the warmest room of our house to conserve what little gas we have left. What I am saying is we not only been stuck inside all day, but we have ALL been in ONE room ALL day. And did I mention that I am trying to pack for 5 for Disney World? Do I sound frazzled?
The boys are doing a good job of finding something to do. Today they made a fort with the sofa cushions.

12 | 365 snuggling inside with the kiddies joy

We woke up this morning to a sheet of ice covering the ground. not snow. ice. And it's really, really cold. So we've been hunkered down inside on the couch. I pulled my heavy comforter off my bed so we could get under it and watch movies in the living room. I would have taken a pic of this but the boys were not wanting to have their picture taken. So I had to venture out into the cold to get this.