#1 Three Years in a Row!

.....that's my family....I'm the little one that looks like she's laughing loudly and ready to get the picture taken!  Every time I see this picture, I laugh.  I got to see this picture when we went to my parent's for Thanksgiving.  I love looking at photographs from my childhood.....I love just sitting on the floor and trying to remember what was going on at that exact moment....and if I can't remember, I like to make it up.  :-)

I had my first Christmas concert of the season this week....yes, BEFORE Thanksgiving!  I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I get at these concerts.  I am always so sick to my stomach right up until the time to start....and then it's rock and roll time.  I mean, if I really thought about it, the kiddos could be picking their nose and everybody would love it cuz they are sooooo stinkin' cute.  The kiddos did a fabulous job and there was lots of laughter from the audience while they danced.  I am so proud of how much my kiddos have learned in the last 7 weeks when it comes to music, movements, sign language.....and putting it all together!  I love being their music teacher.....I love teaching kiddos!!!!

Every year, the kiddos make a "I'm Thankful For....." paper.  No applause needed, but I'm number one on #3's paper for the third year in a row......okay, I'll take a little applause....it sure does take a heck of a lot to keep the number one spot!

So Thanksgiving means lots of food, lots of turkey, and a lots of conversations to the #s about how to act.  They don't act bad....they truly are great boys, but sometimes they have to have a gentle, but firm reminder that if they argue and cause a scene, Mommy will unleash a wrath that won't be pretty for anybody involved.  It must have worked cuz they were good for two days worth of family....and it seems that they've had a fabulous time!

For Thanksgiving with my side of the family, we had dinner with my mom, dad and Mimi.  #3 ate a few rolls, a ton of cheese, 10 pepperoni, and some fruit salad.  #2 tried a little bit of everything, but he loved my dessert.  And #1 ate three plates....yes, three FULL plates....of food.  They love going to my parent's house because they have a tub with the jets.....
#2:  I wanna take a bath!!!!
Me:  Okay.  I'll get it ready for you.
#2:  With LOTS of bubbles!!!!
Popei:  Not a lot of bubbles.
#2:  (whispering)  Can I have a lot of bubbles.
Me:  (whispering)  Of course!
.....I mean, you can't be in the tub with jets without lots of bubbles, right?!!?!!?  And it only takes tons of water and 30 minutes to get all the bubbles out for the next person, right?!??!?  And we only used 1/2 of the bottle of body soap to wash and make make bubbles in the tub....I mean it's Thanksgiving and those kiddos are VERY thankful for Popei and Jojo's jet tub!

I made this no bake peanut butter cheesecake for dessert (though I'm pretty sure #2 would have eaten it for dinner), but we were all so full that we just waited until later to eat it.  Well it was getting dark and dad had to drive Mimi back to her assisted living home.....
Me:  Don't you want you to take dessert home with you?
Mimi:  No.  I don't care for it.
Me:  WHAT!??!!?  You don't want to take the peanut butter cheesecake home so you can complain about it to me on the phone next week?
Mimi:  Yes, put some in a bowl.
....yes, I talked her into taking it home by telling her she could complain about it.  :-)

We headed to Pa and Nani's on Thursday for Thanksgiving.  On the way, #3 had a meltdown about him not being able to win a game on the iPad.  He was screaming, kicking our seats, about to throw the iPad, threw it in my hand.  His therapist has told us that when he has a meltdown, we can give him caffeine and (like coffee or an 8-hour energy drink) and it would put him on a high and then crash him.  Well, we weren't trying coffee in the car and I just can't fathom giving him an 8-hour energy drink....so we stopped at a gas station and got him a Mountain Dew.  Within 10 minutes he was calm....not necessarily happy, but the meltdown was over.  And now we carry Mountain Dew around us wherever we go.  Cheers!

We had a great time at Pa and Nani's for Thanksgiving!  The cousins had a fabulous time....we played kickball, ate more than we could possible imagine and then rested in the den....and as the tech family that we are, everybody had iPads, iPhones, Kindles....or were snoring.  And then we left those #s and headed home.

Yes, you read correctly, Pa and Nani watch the kiddos every year so Hubby and I can go Black Friday shopping!  We are extremely grateful for it cuz it's the only time the two of us can go Christmas shopping without the #s.  When the #s were little, we had to be creative when we shopped, but we could do it by having blankets in our car and one of us taking the #s to one side of the store while the other shopped.  I said it was creative, not the best.

So we left our precious #s with Pa and Nani and headed home to get our game plan ready.  The #s have asking for very little, but they are so expensive.  We started off at Toys R Us, then to Five Below, next was Best Buy, then Kohl's, and finally Target.  Hubby and I didn't get to witness anything crazy like fights, ladies moving the cart returns, babies screaming in the check-out lanes....you know, like the things we saw last year.....but we managed to still enjoy the evening.

We did get to shop for our angel tree kiddos!  We adopted three kiddos this year.  We had such a great time buying for girls.....
Cashier 1:  Awwww....you're little girl is going to LOVE this baby doll and all the neat stuff you bought with it....you got a baby doll bed, high chair, food....she's going to love it!
Me:  Oh, we have three boys....these are for our angel tree kiddos.
Cashier 2:  I think all of the baby doll stuff is on sale for 10% off today!  It's your lucky day!
.....that girl sure did bless us last night with that discount!

Hubby and I got home at 3:30am and hid all the stuff and in bed by 4am...and then got up at 8:45am, got ready and drove to meet the family at the movie theatre!  It's our annual tradition....and we happened to luck up and see a brand new movie...."The Good Dinosaur".  A few times during the movie, #2 would be crying.  He is such a tough guy, but that kiddo has a heart of gold that just makes my heart melt.

So this is the game that #2 wants for Christmas...

......I'm pretty sure that we're just teaching #2 an elementary way to play beer pong with the beer and how to trash talk tougher in sports.  I mean, seriously.....look at the way it describes this game?!?!!?  Did we get it?  Of course we did....cuz now I'm intrigued about how this is like things #2 shouldn't be doing at the age of 8 years old.  

We've been home all evening and it's been so nice.  The #s have been playing together all night and then all of the sudden #2 comes in the den crying.....
Me:  Honey, what's wrong?
#2:  I'm trying to play MineCraft with #1 and I'm frustrated.
Me:  About what?
#2:  Because #1 tells me to get a hoe....AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A HOE IS!
....after calming him down and Hubby going to help him, a few minutes later #2 comes in crying again.....
Me:  What's wrong?
#2:  Now my hoe won't work.
.....after him asking #1 to help him (nice suggestion, huh?), he finally got it and has been happy all night!  YAY!!!!

So I leave you with a picture five years apart.....

.....things sure do change in our life by numbers!