my ellie grovers

We had such fun taking our Christmas pictures with our dearest Ellie Grover. She reminds me of my little sister. We started at Pete Jones:

my favorite picture of Finny

all my boys

Then we took a quick break at some hole in the wall and just so happened to get:

My favorite picture of Calvin ever. It helps that I LOVE CANDY!!

My sweetie took the love test and scored off the charts!

With a little daylight left, we headed over to the train tracks. It was semi-spooky and I never had so much fun--the boys are still talking about the trains. It was getting dark and the trains were on and rumbling. John and Ellie thought there was potential for danger, so we quickly snapped a few more shots:

Ellie took this picture of me and John while she was holding Ollie. She's quite the talent!

rocks anyone? Love this weird shot.




see the train lights on and notice the moon in the background?





I talked Ellie into crossing the tracks to this train with some fantastic graffiti on it. Ellie you are such a trooper!

Thank you, Thank you Ellie!!!!

it's raining, it's pouring....

I went out and bought these cute boots for Finn yesterday...

since it rains so much around here

Well, maybe not, but these boots were way too much fun to pass up. Besides, we have dew on our grass every morning, and it's such a pain to clean up soggy shoes and socks. In fact, just minutes after taking this picture, Calvin managed to find some mud pit and both of his boots were entirely covered in muck.

snuggle bugs

So it may not rain much around here, but it is starting to get very chilly. It's actually starting to feel like Christmas. We have to wait a few more days to get our big tree, but in the meanwhile:

the boys decorated the fun little tree

One of our Christmas traditions it that everyone gets to pick out a Hallmark Keepsakes ornament each year. And the gaudier the better.

my favorite is the incredible hulk

and some not so favorites

Much to my dismay, the boys picked these out last time. John insisted that they were allowed to keep them:(

do ya think Finn wants a bike for Christmas?

Calvin following close behind in the bike trailer

Ollie watches them, and can't wait to join in

the family

We always celebrate Thanksgiving at my parent's house. We usually end up watching movies like The Crawling Eye or King Kong but this time we got to watch The Princess Bride. Finn and Calvin were glued to the tube watching the sword fighting and the MGM lion roaring at the beginning. Grandpa Billy once let them watch the lion roar over and over and over...

Cousin Jared, the Cardiologist--No lie!

Jared's wife June(also a doctor) and their adorable son Luke

The twins--Jamie and Hayley. They always look this cute.

Jamie with her hubby Nate

Hayley and Nick, the newlyweds

Uncle Pat hanging out with Nick

Aunt Nanie and mom, 2 Jewish sisters

-well, now they are Christian, but the Jewish blood still runs strong. Jewish moms are properly neurotic, constantly bundling up their kids and obsessing over their eating habits. I'm convinced that's where I get it from.

Me and Ollie. What, no hat for Ollie?? I guess I'm finally mellowing out.

Finny and daddy. This is the 1st picture of John on my blog.

Daddy and Ollie

Finny with his Auntie Lindsay.

We celebrated Lindsay's birthday that night. Traditionally, Lindsay makes her own cake because mom is so busy cooking turkey, but this time Hayley made cupcakes. Happy Birthday Lin!

Dad and Lindsay

The boys love their "Gah-gum Del "

Finny and Calvin played with the almonds and walnuts all night.

Last, but not least, dad

This is for you Jess! My sister Jessica, her husband Steve and their 4 girls (Tacy, Emily, Kate and Ansley) live out of state. You were missed!

and the blanky goes to...

...my little niece, Ansley:

Poor little Ansley lost her other blanky, so this works out perfectly!

kitties struttin their stuff

This blanky was originally sewn for Sara's baby, but SURPRISE! A baby boy! Makes me 0 for 4 on all Chambless babies. Congratulations to Larry and Sara on the birth of Grady William. I'm thrilled beyond words that the boys are finally starting to rule the roost.

Other happenings...Ollie is 5 months old today and had his first rice cereal:

He scarfed it like a wild mashugina(sp?)!

I later walked into the living room and laughed out loud at this:

grey kitty (aka "baby Finn") in his high chair

It's remarkable how closely "baby Finn" and Ollie track in their development :)

One more Finn creation:

pink guitar he drew for mommy

We saw a cute pink guitar in a JC Penney flier and my dear boy thinks I'm getting it for Christmas. Last year I got socks, but who knows!

Go!Go!Go!

Do you feel like you are always rushing around these days?

Sunday mornings are by far the worst. This sunday we actually left for church at 9(it starts at 9).

It was a MAD DASH to get the boys in bed monday night, in time for me and John to watch Heros. More popcorn and smoothies.We are becoming wild party animals around here. If I had my choice, my power would be stopping the clock, so I could FINALLY make it somewhere on time.

Tuesday evening was no exception, as we rushed to get ready for small group. While running around, John informed me that he felt like we were missing someone--apparently a 4th child??? Perhaps a little Maverick would be sweet(I'm sure it would be another boy) though most days it feels like we have an extra kid. Even though Ollie is sleeping like a champ, I am still recovering from all the sleep deprivation. Last time I went to the dermatologist, I asked for advice regarding the bags under my eyes.He said "I normally don't recommend this, but for you, I'd recommend a filler". Yikes. Sounds like a needle is involved. Is that considered plastic surgery?? I will have to get to the bottom of this. Maybe I will just work on my atrocious sleep habits instead.

And then there is the sprint to wednesday morning Bible study. This morning, we actually got ready with 10 minutes to spare. I leisurely clipped Ollie's nails(heaven forbid we be early), because it was going to be his first time in the nursery, and I did not want anyone to think he was neglected. Right on schedule, I backed out of the driveway, when I heard the rumbling of all rumblings exploding from Ollie's diaper. I just cannot win. I rushed him back into the house and thankfully, the diaper contained about 99.99% of the goo. With a little help from the tide-to go pen, we were back on the road in record time. Sadly, I was still a little late to Bible study. At least Ollie did great in the nursery!

Later that evening, I met up with some friends for coffee, and was actually 6 minutes early! It helped that Ollie was my only travelling companion. Ollie also had his 1st Starbucks today.

Ollie, hanging out with drinking buddy Lijah. They are only 2 days apart.

From the rum look on Ollie's face, it's obvious that his coffee was decaf

Random Trivia(Something I read today about a study dedicated entirely to list-makers):
"50% admitted to writing down tasks they have already done, then triumphantly crossing them off. That way, they have a more complete picture of everything they’ve done, plus another opportunity to cross something off. It’s sort of insane how much we love crossing things off, huh?"

Festivus for the Rest of Us

And today makes 3 days in a row. Apparently I'm trying to catch up to Christie...

I was just commenting to my friend Gretchen how positive she is, and she confessed that her dad called her Pollyanna with a glad complex. In that spirit, I was going to list some of my favorite things, but realized it would take too much time to do them justice. So, instead, I will air some of my Festivus Grievances(Miss you Josh and Jessi).

1. Being sticky. Last night, I was tired of scolding Calvin, so as his punishment I took him out to Cold Stones(huh?). He licked some ice cream off the table. I did not freak out, though I did reach for some baby wipes...which were left at home with Ollie. We were sticky and it felt icky.


2. Blumps in my food. As a kid, butter blumps on my toast or in my malt-o-meal. This morning? Apple bits in my oatmeal that I picked out one-by-one. Raisins are by far the worst offenders, with the exception of Natasha's cookies. Oh and mayo blobs from Subway
   
3. Making a right-hand turn on R-dale Hwy, being stuck behind that one car who is determined to go straight
   
4. Mysterious pee smell. Just after Ollie's birth, Ally and Lorie came by. After they left, I discovered the bathroom had a stench of urine. Mortified, I remembered Lorie using the bathroom twice(she was still pregnant). It all started when Finn learned to pee "stand-up style". After scouring the bowl and floor and changing the trash, the smell was STILL THERE! Finally, I discovered that the shower curtain was the culprit(two days in a row), so bye-bye shower curtain. I'm only comforted by the fact that Lorie will someday understand when Henry learns to go "stand-up style". Oh, and for moms of boys, buy stock and trade in the product "Urine Gone". It works miracles on floors.



5. Use of the word "Colleague". It sounds much too mucky-muck and pretentious.


6. Running out of bobbin thread right in the middle of a tricky maneuver.


7. No nursing corner at church. With our bazillion babies you'd think we'd have one wee corner. John set up a chair for me once(or twice)and a man sat in it. Sheesh.


8. Internet shipping charges. With the outrageous cost of gas, I don't know why I feel so entitled to free shipping. Almost makes me want to shop at our ghetto mall.
   
9. The feel -of dry cotton balls on my skins bothers me altogether.


10. The look -John gives me when I'm in cyberspace too long. You know the look. Like you're an alcoholic caught drinking.


11. People who go on and on...Wait that's me.

Well, at least I discovered 2 of my favorite things...baby wipes and Urine Gone.

Super Fun

No, you are not seeing double--I have posted 2 days in a row. I am outa control! Here's a little something I whipped up for Ollie last night:

This applique tee was very quick and semi-easy. The only trixy part was sewing around the edges. It was hard to see where I was stitching. I tried to use my mark-b-gone pen to trace where I should stitch, but all my pens were pretty much dead, and so I had to hold my breath as I stitched along the edges on my machine. I always forget to buy those pens.It came out fine regardless and was very inexpensive:

Lap-tee $2(on sale of course)

RIT dye $.50 worth

Fabric Scraps $.50 worth

Wonder Under $.10( few bucks for 2 yards--only used 2 little pieces-thanks for the wonder-under tip Lorie!)

Baby Boy $ Priceless!

____________________________

Total: Around 3 bucks or so. Probably Less!(excluding baby of course)

just an ordinary day

Today has been a very ordinary day. I like ordinary days. There are no cute pictures of halloween costumes, nor major milestones to report on Ollie. I thought I would do something different this post, and just write about my lovely day. Besides, I've been itching to move past my Halloween post, kind of like how you must clean up Christmas decorations once New Years rolls around, or you feel like you are going to vomit, you are so over it. So here goes. I slept in till 9 this morning, as I do every saturday. I stayed up late last night watching Heros with John. He busted out the popcorn maker and we had ourselves a little party. I know you abandoned Heros, Sara, because you thought last season ended so lame. And indeed it was lame.However, I am completely hooked on Claire Bennet and Peter Petrelli. And last episode was the BEST EVER(even Stein agreed).
Then Natasha called around 9:05, to see if I wanted to go to Strawberry Patches but I had to go to Joanns instead. On the way there, I got a phone call from Ellie and we set up a day for our Christmas photo shoot. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

While in Joanns, Ollie was smiling and laughing non-stop. That was a first. All of my boys act up the instant I step into a fabric store. I got some fabric to make the trim for Sara's imaginary girl blanky. You're probably thinking, she's still working on that silly blanky? I am a bit pokey now that I have 3 boys, and everything ends up getting done in phases. Don't worry though, if Sara has a boy, my sister offered to take the blanky -- It will have a good home with her 4 girls.Then I scooted(well crawled) over the mall to Sephora for my make-up.

It was a total mob scene in the parking lot, with every truck blasting gangsta music. I actually felt nervous, but plunged ahead because I am out of my Bare Escentuals Fairly Light, and figured it was worth risking my life over. Did you know they have a Bare Escentuals color called "Fair" that is actually lighter than Fairly Light? The lady said I could only pull it off if I mixed it with my other colors.

When I got home, John and the boys were crushing water bottles and cans he collected at school. John was unscrewing the lids and dumping the backwash onto my lawn, while the boys were dancing on the cans to crush them. Even though they wore boots and gloves, I am still so grossed out, I am shuddering even thinking about it. I think it is just Y-u-c-k-o. Am I the only one who thinks that? Should I make John stop this nonsense?

During dinner, I spilled corn everywhere, almost broke a glass, and spilled my coke twice, and I'm not even pregnant. Well, John is playing the guitar for Ollie and and the boys are playing imaginary tubas made of string. I cannot miss this orchestra, so I will sign off.