HO-HO-HO.....get me outta here!

So this year I took the kids to see Santa at the mall. I actually put some effort into it and dressed them up, hoping to get a good picture of them. We arrived at the mall, and as we approached Santa, I was thrilled to see there was no line. Little did I know that it was now Santa's "dinner break" and he would be gone for an hour. Great, now I get to entertain the kids for an hour in a crowded mall, in their nice clothes. One of Santa's elves was very sweet and gave us a "front of the line" pass which meant that even if there was a line when Santa returned, we were able to get right in. So the kids and I went window shopping for awhile and got something to eat. When we returned I was shocked to see a long line of parents and kids waiting for their turn with Santa. I didn't have the heart to just cut in front of all those kids, even though I had the pass, so we headed back to wait patiently in line. When it was finally our turn, the kids were excited and Julia immediately ran in to sit on Santa's lap. Tanner started running also, but stopped dead in his tracks when he looked up and saw the big guy in the red suit. He turned to me and said "get me outta here!" Ha ha ha. I was laughing so hard, but was determined to get a picture after standing in line that long. So, needless to say the picture did not include Tanner......maybe next year.

What do you want?

It had been a less than pleasing day at work today. The Christmas rush is in full force and I find myself surrounded by gobs of cranky parents and kids. I was so glad to be home and just wanted to be left alone. Realistically I know that will never happen, but just the thought of it made me a little happier. So I return home, say hi to the kids and hubby, and go to the computer to check my email. All I needed was a little time to unwind and relax. After a few minutes on the computer, my husband hollered from the living room, "Leigh, come here." My first thought was 'are you kidding? What do you want?' Of course I didn't say that out loud, and being the good wife that I am (ha ha) I went to see what he needed. When I walked into the living room, this is what I saw...



How adorable is that? Apparently Tanner had climbed up on Ron's back to play horse, but was so tired he fell asleep. Ron wasn't able to get him off his back, which is why he had to call me in there. Talk about feeling like a jerk! :)

Headbands to the rescue!

So we have had a few days to recover from Julia's haircut and invest in some cute hats. Problem is, she doesn't keep the hats on...go figure. Thankfully I had set up a time to meet with a lady that makes headbands. I was originally meeting with her to purchase some for Olivia, but my focus had since changed and I needed to find a way to cover up Julia's haircut. I could have kissed her I was so happy to have something that would help our daughter look like a little girl again! :)

This picture was taken after the JC Penney "fix". Not much fix, but I guess at least it was evened out.

This is the fix with the headband....it takes a lot of hairspray and ratting. Yes, there is a slight resemblance to Aunt Jemima as well, but I'll take what I can get. :) Tanner's look says it all....

OH......WOW!

As parents of a 4 yr old girl, we have heard several times that little girls will experiment with cutting their hair at least one time. About a year ago, Julia found Ron's beard trimmer and took a small chunk of hair off the front of her head. No big deal.....she didn't have bangs at the time, so it was an easy fix....we gave her bangs. Problem solved. At the time I thought to myself ' that wasn't so bad, it certainly could have been worse'. I was right. While I was at work, Ron and the kids watched Catwoman on tv. I myself have never seen this movie, but later that evening we would find out which scene was Julia's favorite. After dinner that night, Julia went down to her room to play and Ron headed off to the gym. I was relaxing upstairs, talking on the phone with a friend. I heard Julia come up the stairs and looked up to see what she was doing. I was in shock as she walked closer, scissors in hand, no hair left. I told my friend I would need to call her back and hung up the phone. There were no words for what I was feeling at that very moment. She looked at me with big sad eyes and said "I don't want to be a boy!" My first thought was 'too late!' I asked her why she cut her hair and she said that catwoman did it on the movie and her hair looked nice when it was short. I'm sure it did look nice, I'm also sure that it was a professional that cut it. When Ron got back from the gym, he saw the damage and we immediately hid every pair of scissors we could find. The next night we took Julia to JC Penney to try and at least get her hair evened out. The hair stylist had no idea where to even start. The best she could do was to just make it as even as possible. After that we went on a mad hunt for hats. Julia did not want her picture taken after the incident, but I insisted.....after all, this will be funny.....someday.

That's not permanent is it?

It has become a ritual lately when I get home from work the kids greet me at the door and jump up and down screaming 'mommy's home!' It is adorable and so fun to see that they actually missed me. However, tonight I was greeted by Tanner only and I immediately noticed something on his forehead. As I hung up my coat I saw Julia sheepishly poking her head around the corner. Upon further examination of his forehead, I saw T-A-and part of an N written on him. Now I consider Tanner to be a smart boy, but to write the first 3 letters of his name, on his own head no less, would be genius. I asked Julia to come around the corner and she immediately tried to convince me that Tanner was the mastermind behind the whole incident. I let her know that I was happy she likes to write and is practicing her letters, but little brother's head is not the place to practice. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Luckily the pen wasn't permanent!

Candy pants

Sadly we still have Halloween candy left and I made the mistake of leaving the bowl on the counter one day. I was sitting in the living room feeding Olivia and this is prime time for Julia and Tanner to get into things they know they aren't supposed to have. They have learned that mommy isn't too quick to respond when she's holding a bottle. I had forgotten about the candy and when Julia came up from her room she spotted it. I told her not to go near it. She tried to convince me that she was just 'looking at it'. Hmmm....right. Did I think my parents were that dumb when I was her age? So I didn't say another word and figured I'd bust her when the time was right. Sure enough she attempted to tip-toe across the kitchen as if I wouldn't see her pass by the living room. Oddly enough a piece of her shirt was tucked into her pants. Hmmm, it hadn't been like that before spotting the candy bowl. I politely asked her to come into the living room and sit with me. She at first declined but when I asked again I could see the look on her face that she thought she won this battle. Miss Smarty Pants came and stood in front of me. I kindly untucked her shirt and heard the crinkling of wrappers (surprise, surprise). Her look of victory quickly turned to one of defeat. I told her to take the candy out of her pants and give it to me. It was hard not to laugh as she reached clear into her underwear to remove the 2 pieces of candy. I politely declined taking them from her after seeing where they had been. I let her know no one would be eating those and asked her to put them in the garbage. Nice try Julia.

I do my own stunts

Tanner has become quite the little dare devil lately and has given meaning to the phrase "boys will be boys". He loves to dive bomb off the couches, climb up on the counters and jump on beds. His new "trick" is to climb up on our bed and make his way over to our dresser. The problem is, once he's up there he can't figure out how to get down. As I was making dinner one night I heard him saying "let me down, let me down". I walked upstairs to see what he was getting into and saw this......notice what it says on his shirt....."i do all my own stunts".

Dancing With the Stars

One of our guilty pleasures is watching the tv show Dancing With the Stars. Julia and Tanner have also taken an interest in the show and find it fun to dance around and immitate the professionals. The other night Tanner came upstairs with Julia's dress up shoes and tutu on. I immediately commented on how 'pretty' he was and his response was "I'm dancing with the stars mom". Oh poor guy...I guess we need to explain which of the partner team he should be dressing as. Ha ha! I was able to capture a couple of pictures, but after the first one was taken he got embarassed and ran away. These pictures may come in handy some day. :)

Happy Halloween!

Last night we took the kids to trunk-or-treat at the church. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. Tonight I had to work and it was insane!! The mall has trick-or-treating in the evening so a lot of parents just pop in to have a picture of their kid taken in their costume. I was off work at 7:00 so it gave me enough time to race home and take Julia and Tanner trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. They loved it and couldn't wait to get home and show Dad all their candy. They were dressed as cows this year, I had to get in one more year of being able to have them match. Ha ha. I'm sure next year they will be picking out their own costumes. Hopefully the candy will be gone soon!

Working girl

So I have started working part time at Kiddie Kandids in the Valley Mall. It took a little adjustment and patience as I again entered into the working world again. Not that this is a difficult job, but the patience was needed when meeting and getting to know my co-workers. This is by far the most unorganized group of people I've met in my life. The majority of people I work with are single, no children, and I just have to wonder why in the world would they want this job. Not that there is anything wrong with being young and single, but it has been awhile since I've been in that circumstance, and I had forgotton how truly irritating and lame they can be. My only thought is that perhaps they need a good form of birth control. I definitely feel like the old fart around the place, and I'm sure they find my rolling of the eyes at their stupid conversation irritating as well. My job is to photograph children, families, etc. There are a lot of fun props and it's fun to get creative. Being a mom I have a pretty good idea of what parents are looking for when they walk through our doors. As a mom, I have come to the conclusion that I have more patience for the screaming child, the kid that won't stop picking his nose, or the lovely child that flat out refuses to smile. This being said, I get a lot of phone calls from my youthful coworkers asking me to take their shifts. This was meant to be a part time job, however I have found myself being out of the house and away from my kids way too much. I have since cut back on hours and it is becoming more manageable. I was hired as a seasonal employee, so hopefully after the holiday rush I will be back home with my kids full time.

P.U.

Tonight Tanner had a very stinky dirty diaper. As I laid him down to change him I said "whoa Tanner, P.U.!" He giggled then said "oh, P. Me!" Ha ha ha. I love their interpretation of words.

Fixing the leak...

Tonight Ron and I were trying to locate the source of a leak below our sink. We cleared everything out of the cabinet below and wiped up the water. I was laying on my stomach, holding a flashlight, looking for the source. I got up to answer the phone and when I went back to the sink, Tanner had taken my place. Laying on the floor exactly as I had been, with flashlight in hand. What a good little helper!

New toy...

Today Olivia got a new toy. She absolutely loves it when the music and lights are on. What a great investment we made.....she is not the only one that loves it....so does Tanner. Ha ha. He was so patient in waiting for his turn to play with baby sister's toy.

Julia's first day of preschool!

Julia's first day of preschool was September 17th 2007. She was so excited to go and didn't even say goodbye when she got there. She loves carrying around her backpack and doing her homework assignments. There are 17 kids in her class, so she has made a lot of new friends. She was star of the week from September 24th - 27th. She's growing up so fast!!

Valleyfest 2007

Today I took Julia and Tanner to Valleyfest out at Mirabeau Park. They had the city buses providing a shuttle from the Valley Mall to Valleyfest. We parked at the mall and rode the bus. It was the first time for the kids being on the bus, they loved it!! Once we got to the park, there were so many things to do. We walked all over, looking at different booths. The kids jumped in a big fire truck, made necklaces and played all sorts of games to win different prizes. Julia got her face painted and loved looking like a clown. Too finish off the afternoon, we all enjoyed a snow cone, then rode the bus back to the mall. It was such a great day!!

Falling in love....

Julia, Tanner and I were playing hide and go seek. I had a couch pillow pressed against my face "hiding" from Tanner. Julia walked up to me and said "what are you doing Mom? Falling in love with the pillow?"" Oh how I dread the teenage years with her....ha ha ha.

All girl...

In preparation for Julia's first day of preschool, Grammy Chunk took her to get her nails done. Julia was such a big girl and loved every second of it!

Privacy....

Tanner is now starting to take an interest in going to the bathroom on the toilet. The problem is that he is quite shy about it and there is rarely a moment of privacy in this house. He has his own potty chair and one day apparently decided he needed more privacy than what could be offered inside the house. I looked out the back door to find that he had taken his potty chair outside. He was sitting on it looking into the neighbor's yard....so peaceful, so content. Enjoying every moment of quiet. He is so funny....definitely has his own little personality.

Husbands and Prisoners...

Julia was watching me make dinner tonight and said "Mom, is Daddy your husband?" I said yes. She said "is he your boyfriend too?" Again, I said yes. She then asked "So you are Daddy's girlfriend?" Another yes. She thought about it for a minute and then asked her final question, "so you are also Daddy's prisoner right?" I guess wife and prisoner have the same meaning to her. Ha ha.

Pacific Raceways

On August 18th when we were visiting in Auburn, Grandpa Winters (Yippaw) happened to be in Kent, WA at the NHRA drag races. He was there with his Hemi Cuda and photographing vehicles from the starting line. Although the weather was rainy, Ron and I decided to take Tanner and Olivia and drive to the track at Pacific Raceways. Julia and Matt stayed at Grandma Andrews' house. We got to the track, found Yippaw and was able to visit with him for awhile. They weren't running any cars at that time because they needed to dry the track. After a few minutes of visiting and looking at old cars, we heard some cars start up, indicating they were going to race again. Yippaw wanted to show Tanner the race cars and walked towards the track. He put earplugs in Tanner's ears and got him ready to see his first drag race. As the cars took off from the starting line, the ground shook an Tanner jumped. It was so sweet to see him latch onto Yippaw even tighter. What an awesome moment to see a Grandpa holding his first grandson watching the drag races. Tanner absolutely loved it and was able to watch 4 or 5 races with his Yippaw. What perfect timing....we showed up right as they finished drying the track, and after those 4 or 5 races we saw, they called it quits for the night due to rain. On the way back to Grandma Andrews' house, we asked Tanner how he liked the cars. He would say "oh cars loud!" and then cover his ears. I'm so glad we made the last minute decision to go and find Yippaw at the track.

Auburn Washington

On August 17th 2007 we all drove over to Grandma Andrews' house in Auburn, WA. Matt was flying out of the Seattle airport, so it was a good excuse to go visit family. The night we got in Auburn, Grandma took us to see Uncle Ryan crabbing out on the pier at Point Defiance. It was neat to see all the crabs he had caught. Some people even caught a shark which they ended up using as bait. We all then went down to the beach to play near the ocean. Julia kept wanting to jump in, even though it was freezing outside and high tide. Tanner had fun throwing rocks into the ocean. Grandma took us to the Lobster Shack for dinner. It was delicious, although Ron forgot he was allergic to shellfish, and tried some crab legs. Ha ha. It was a pretty itchy night for him to say the least.

Grandma Andrews comes to visit!

Grandma Andrews came to visit and see Olivia for the first time. Of course she spoiled us all rotten...she's such a good Grandma! We all went to Cat Tales, a zoo near Spokane where they train tigers, bears and other animals. Grandma was even a good sport and got in the pool with Julia and Tanner.....it's always fun when she visits!

Happy Birthday Tanner!!

Tanner is 2 years old today!! He is such a little man and is getting so big. We had a lot of fun with him. He got his own lawnmower so he can help Dad mow the lawn. Uncle Layton was nice enough to help him put it together. After Tanner mowed the lawn, we all enjoyed some birthday cake. Happy Birthday Mister!!

A T-Rex named Sue...

Grandpa Winters (Yippaw) offered to take the kids to see a T-Rex named Sue that was on display at the museum. We loaded up all the kids into the van and picked up Yippaw, Layton and Apryl. On the way to the museum, Tanner got sick in the car so we had to turn back. Yippaw was still nice enough to take Julia to the museum. She loved seeing the big dinosaur bones! It was definitely fun for her!! Too bad Tanner-man was too sick to go! :(

Welcome Olivia!

June 22nd 2007 we welcomed our precious baby girl, Olivia Loucylle into the world. She was 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She has the prettiest dark hair and is so tiny compared to the other two kids! Julia and Tanner did so well with her, but preferred not to stay at the hospital for too long. They were having too much fun with Dad at home. :) Everyone is so in love with baby Olivia!