Fly in the Sky; Flew in the Skew?

V, H and I made it safely to Mom's house. We flew. Yes, it was crazy!

First off, we barely made it to the airport on time. Hubby and J drove us (well, Hubby did the actual driving). I was ready to present all liquids and gels, which included two sippy cups, a jar of baby food, and lip gloss. But they just shooed me in. I got to go through the security line for families with kids (read: take all the time you need; it's crazy for all of us!)

In front was a woman with three older children, who was very sympathetic to my plight. I had to plop H on the (nasty) floor to collapse the stroller. V walked through the metal detector like an old pro, though! And the family behind us had a wee baby with lots of gear to dismantle. I didn't feel rushed at all :)

We ran to our gate and were the last folk to board. I observed my fellow passengers'faces to see if they were wary of my children. But most seemed friendly, or at least apathetic.

We did great until we started the descent. One minor dip and V lost a small portion of her breakfast. That was fun to clean up. I used all but one of my baby wipes. What was I thinking? I'm thankful my girls decided to wait to get to Grandma's before pooping.

We had a nice, relaxed, long layover in Detroit. But the girls were getting antsy by the time we boarded. I was hoping for nappy-nappy time, no crying-rying time. And all three of us got shut-eye!!! Woo-hoo!

Unfortunately, V was still sound asleep when we landed and nearly had a meltdown when I tried to get her to walk off the plane. Thankfully she woke up when the 20 degree cold hit us as we de-planed.

H was good overall. I discovered, though, that she throws things when she's tired.

Well, we made it! Bless the Lord! We're going to have fun in the snow, with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and Daddy and J (when they arrive next week).

Love ya'll!

the ugly christmas sweater party

We went to our first ever ugly Christmas sweater party this past weekend. (This explains the shoulder pads in my 3rd-grade-elderly-teacher-quality sweater and my poofy, red headband.) It was fun going to Goodwill with a few girlfriends to pick out our families' clothing! But shoot, my kids just looked plain adorable in their "ugly" outfits, so commented everyone. You can't see hubby's sweater well, but it has a Mickey Mouse embroidered on it. Mickey is wearing a scarf; this is why it's Christmas-y/winter-y.

i'm hoping that next year's party's theme is "Christmas sweatshirts with puffy paint, glitter and/or sequins, reindeer preferable".

Now he's writing!

J just came up to me and informed me that he had written the word "fish". I come to the whiteboard in the kitchen and find this:



After I get over my shock, I grab the camera and capture the momentous, uh, moment!

Minutes later he tells me he's spelled "cat".



He then proceeds to write Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Mr. Ray, and Tad. He's so smart!



(sorry this pic is fuzzy.)

How we eat lunch

After trying unsuccessfully to get the kids to sit down for a whole meal, I relaxed the standards. We find breakfast and lunch much more peaceful now! (For dinner, we have the kids sit in chairs.)





J prefers to "sit" on the exercise ball.

























V likes to stand on the "big stool". H, of course, is firmly strapped into her booster (no moving around for her yet!)












We're having Velveeta's mac'n'cheese with peas added, in case you're wondering :)

Take 2

I know, I know...I said I'd never blog again...but I just can't help myself!

I'm closing down our Totsites account and am not going to send out any more Snapfish albums (unless you really like them; email me and I'll send them to you since I'll still be uploading my pics there). Blogging, I believe, will be accessible to more people and more likely to be enjoyed by you, our friends and family. (What, you don't have time to see all 500 birthday pictures I uploaded?)

So, here is our family blog: LivingOutLove, Take 2!!!