WDW

We pride ourselves on not going with the flow. We try hard not to fall into the trap of American consumerism. However, we chucked all that all out the window and went to DISNEY! I wanted to hate it. I wanted to be above all the materialism. However, we had a great time. We did pack our own lunches and didn't purchase crap souvieners. Sophie is quite the shopper and asks begs for things everywhere we go. She didn't disappoint at Disney. After a day of the begging, I told her that if she wanted anything, she could pay for half of it and I would pay the other half. She quickly replied "But, I don't want to waste MY money.". Touche!  She thought about it for a while and then very nicely delivered this zinger: "Mom, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I see ALLLLLL these other parents, buying lots of stuff for their kids." Insert maniacal laughter here.

Such a good time. Great memories! Great fun!!

4 years?!?

We met this handsome guy four years ago today. Thanks, Alex for having a birthday today - it serves as a great reminder! We don't do big "gotcha" day celebrations at our house. Birthdays are a big deal across the board and I'm just too tired to make a big deal about 8 different days. Lame? Probably. When we told Micah at dinner that it was his special day, he promptly put in a request for the gun he wanted since he can have "anything in the world, today!". See what I mean about too much work?

He LOVES to see himself in crazy pictures.

And this guy, are you kidding me with how cute he is?

Weekend of cold!

Global warming, nothing! It's crazy cold here. The kids are enjoying the snow, though. They got some new shovels yesterday, but might be a bit confused about where to shovel. I always think they are super cute out there!

Silas wins the "dweeby-ist" picture award. He made a sink out of legos and insisted that we all wash our hands, complete with his sound effects many times. He knows how important hand hygiene is!

I finished this project for my friend Rachael's birthday. I had a lot of fun making it and enjoyed completing a project! 

Soph and I had a great lunch together at Qdoba on Satuday. I love their nachos. Sophie thought they were a little too spicy!

This picture cracks me up. It was a rare day of sun in Michigan. Probably still only about 20, but Micah had the answer for that.

Makenzie spent the weekend at Bair Lake working in the kitchen for a middle school retreat. Seth was around, but has  a real aversion to me taking his picture - bummer!

Phew!!!

Dan is a rock star and puts the little people to bed EVERY night. Some nights when they go up, I breathe a sigh of relief, feeling proud we all made it through and had a few laughs a long the way. We have been trying to help Micah poop in the potty (he did, after all state it as his 2013 goal).

To say he is struggling with it would be an understatement. Dan and I have had way too many conversations about how to help him. No action yet. So, after tonight's try, I cashed in this baby.

Silas tried his hand at potty training too. Privacy people!! He makes me laugh. A LOT! He loves to put stickers on his forehead.

Micah is a lovey-bear all the way. He has so many funny things he says right now. Immediately, after he sneezes, he says "Bless you, Micah!". When you ask him what he is doing, he says "Good". Every time. Whenever I say "Good job, Micah!", he says "You're welcome!"

I've been working on some canvases and having fun being a little creative.  These two are still a work in progress. I'll re-post when they are finished.

I decided that I would just blog from the pictures I take each day. There are normally quite a few. Lots of cute subjects!

These boys, Silas especially, will spend a very long time cutting, coloring and taping. I put up with the paper waste and mess for the moments of contentment, creativity and above all....you guessed it....QUIET!

Silas got upset because his "sister and brother left him behind". They just went down the basement ahead of him, but you can feel his pain, right?

Seth and Sophie had a piano recital today at a nursing home (I feel like that isn't a politically correct name, but I'm not sure what it should be). They were cute. The boys had to be "plugged in" to keep the disturbances down. They did do a little lacing too. Don't worry we are always teaching :)

Dental Takeover

5 of the 7 of us had dentist appointments today. Needless to say, we kind of invade the place. The kids love the dentist and the cheap, little toys they get after their cleaning. Sophie and Silas had about 100 questions about everything around. Silas' 100 were really just the same question over and over. "What is that?" Sophie had some more complicated ones, such as "Richard (our favorite hygienist), did I get bubble gum or cotton candy tooth paste last time?". I'm sure he takes copious notes on her choices.  Micah sat perfectly still with a cheesy grin on his face the whole time. Makenzie had a snow (really  ice) today. It was a strange day because, she was off school as were a lot of districts and it was almost 50!  She, as usual, was a champ and ran a daycare in the waiting room. Complete with correcting Sophie's math. She is good people! 

Not a great picture, but I felt like Richard was being a good sport, so I'd cut him a break.

Check out those pearly whites!!!

We went out to Panera for soup after our appointments.  Sophie added a new potential job to her list today as well. Apparently, the parking attendant taking tickets and money seems pretty compelling!

Google plus awesomeness!!!

Just figured out how to add photos right from my phone (the only way I take pictures). Maybe I will blog more??