Sunday was Cookie Chaos!

Here is batch one - more to come this weekend!  Being the Christmas Cookie Lady is both a blessing and a curse but the kids love it and helped by decorating and licking the beaters.

After Visiting Santa, We Toured the Festival of Lights with Friends.

Trevor enjoyed pretending to be scared of the giant nutcrackers.

We Visited With Santa.

I took the Kids for a Winter Hayride with Santa.

As we arrived at the trail to begin the hike to the Park, they were kind enough to call and announce it was cancelled due to rain.  Do you see any rain in these pictures?!  Exactly.  Anyways they had fun chucking various objects at the water attempting to break the ice.

After Rushing Heather to the Doctor I Rushed to the School to Catch Trevor's Performance

Trevor is one of these green shirts.  I tried my best to not be that parent blocking everyone but yet get some footage of his first school wide performance.  He was so excited to see me, his nana and his grandpa there to support him.

School Concert Day - Heather Gets Pink Eye

Heather woke up to this mess.  She obviously missed the concert.  I felt so bad for her!  She got to go to the doctor and then spend time with her baby - Kitty.  They are quite the pair of cuteness!  I came across this ridiculous site and just had to take a photo.

Day Two - No School - Sledding with Daddy

Government was closed today (never for Kristen) so Eric stayed home with the kids and they went sledding. 

Poor Trevie!  There goes the sled and no Trevor!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

First bout of snow here in DC - the neighbors came over and the kids had a great time!

Heather is Starting to Care About Her Appearance and be "Crafty".

Here is her first foray into hair chalk.  I don't know if I'm ready for this. 

Meanwhile she had homework. We told her to complete an old test that she didn't complete.  She then produced tears ON THE SPOT and announced that when they fill in answers after the fact the teacher punishes them by making them walk laps.  I immediately had my lie detector on and knew this could not possibly be true. I told her to do it.  More tears.  Eric walks in and tells her to do it.  More tears.  Then she tells Eric the tale of woe.  Eric buys it hook, line and sinker and starts screaming about the teacher and seeing the principal and how this is unacceptable.  Meanwhile I email the teacher who immediately responds and tells me um no she can obviously complete the answers.  I show that to Heather and told her - you can't outwit Mommy - she's just as crafty and she tried every one of these tricks on Nana already. She's not even 11 yet folks - I am in so much trouble.....

Thanksgiving Was a Success!

We had everyone over to Chaos for Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take a single photo since I was cooking!  I did manage to get a few photos of the "turkey ninja" at Giant as we got emergency foil to cover our cooking trays with.  Prior to everyone coming over, this is what occurred: 

Trevor: THERE IS SOMETHING IN OUR ROOM IN THE ROOF.....

Eric: (shouting upstairs): There is nothing in your room.  Its a squirrel running on the roof and you can't see it.

Trevor: No.  Its an animal.

Eric: Its a SQUIRREL.  Running on the roof.  Its fine.

Meanwhile I'm on my way to investigate because only Trevor knows what Trevor knows and I knew that the shouting would just continue....

I arrive in the room to find Trevor with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the ceiling.

Kristen: UM...THIS IS NOT GOOD.

Trevor: NOT GOOD.  I TOLD YOU SO.

Eric: What?

Kristen: WE HAVE A LEAK.

Trevor: WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE.

Heather: Is the roof going to collapse?  I'm scared.  I'm not sleeping here.

Eric: GRRRRRR.  

Anyways - the good news after $150 expenditure the House of Chaos is leak free and the ceiling has been repainted.  Happy Turkey Day to all!

After Playing "Miner" at Nana's Heather Broke Her Tooth.

I suggested they stop with one word games - they seem to be deadly!  Miner consisted of throwing rocks as hard as you can on the ground to break them open and see the sparkles and "treasure".  The next morning we headed to the dentist where the dentist was quite put out at the sight she had to deal with - she was able to rebuild her tooth out of composite.  Heather was quite pleased to inform me at the end of the day that "her plastic tooth was still in her mouth".  She was quite put out at possibly being scarred for life!

The Next Day They Were Invited to a Bowling Party.

Trevor couldn't get the swing of tossing a ball one handed but Heather was a little pro.

Trevor Turned 7!

He opted for a moonbounce park party and we had the "glow experience" and a Skylanders theme.  The kids had a great time!  They ran in the dark with glow necklaces and went crazy.  Afterwards they had pizza and cake.  I haven't seen Trevor smile that much when he's not fishing!

 

 

Once Trevor figured out about the glow he was happy to put this shirt on they gave him and cover his Skylanders shirt. 

 Trevor gave me a thumbs up on my creation.  It only took me two times to make it.  The first attempt collapsed on itself due to the weight.

 

 

Trevor with his friend Anthony being little hams.

Chaos Adds a New Friend to the Mix.

With the government shutdown and Eric furloughed as well, it was quite easy to tell Heather no when she asked if she could have a kitten.  However, Heather can now read and as soon as she saw "SHUTDOWN OVER" on the television she promptly ordered her uncle to pick up the phone and order her kitten.  Thus "fur-lough" has been added to our house.  We don't have a real name for her yet.  The committee cannot agree on a consensus.  Heather is in absolute love with her.

Funny Trevor Story.

Heather was playing a videogame that involved scuba divers.  Trevor starts yelling at her about bikinis and how she's not wearing them (in the game) and how he doesn't need to see her stomach.  I poke my head out and see Heather is "shopping" for various bathing suit options/wetsuits for her character.  I then come out and partially lift my shirt and say hey Trevor!  I'm wearing a bikini......Trevor yells "FOR SHAME WOMAN.  FOR. SHAME"  We laughed so hard.  Where does he get this stuff?!

Family Update

Most of you know why the blog's been so silent.  

Just an update to let everyone know that things are getting back to normal slowly.  For those that don't know, Mom had emergency surgery last Saturday for ruptured colon (diverticulitus) and Mike had his spinal fusion surgery on Monday.  Dad and I have been going floor to floor at Fairfax for a week trying to maintain care for both of them.  Mike and Mom are now both at my parents after both being released this weekend and hopefully this week will be one of recovery for both of them. Mike is slowly getting around the street and walking without a walker.  Mom is slowly moving as well and also walker free!

I'm back to the craziness of life on Capitol Hill for now.  Thank you for all the prayers - if you want to help they can always use food I'm sure!

Sprained Wrist Was Worth It.

This weekend Heather was enjoying the great weather while I was inside dealing with Trevor who had the stomach flu.  She was next door and having a ball with a bunch of boxes.  The game was "box".  You climb into a long skinny box and have someone push you over so you fall face first. Anyways she woke up a day later with wrist pain and it was the same arm and location she broke previous so off to the ER we went. Luckily its a small sprain, she has a removable cast and all is well!  She even went back to school the same day.  The office ladies at the school acted like I was a monster for making her go.  The Assistant Principal asked her what happened and Heather explained.  She said was it worth it?  Heather's response?! DEFINITELY.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.  I suggested perhaps we shouldn't play box any more.....here she is mugging it for the camera.

First Day of School Was a Success!

Here's a pic before they took off for school.  Heather entered fifth grade and Trevor entered first.  After they came home, we found out Trevor had to be moved because sitting next to his best friend was too distracting.  I was a bit relieved that the teacher picked up on that potential problem so quickly.