Happy March 1!

Robin......

For those who don't know......Robin is my father and we call him Papa in this house.


While out today Dalby spotted a bird.  
I said, "I actually know the name of that bird, it is a Robin." 
Dalby, "Then he must be a Papa."
Me, "He maybe Dalby.  Good thinking."
Dalby, "He must be really, really old"
Me, "Why?"
Dalby, "Because if he is a Papa he is really, really old.  My Papa is really, really old and 
he is your dad, right?"

Dress up

This is Quinn's go to outfit.... It is especially difficult to take her serious when she gets mad in this get up. The view from the back is fun too!

O Christmas Tree

We are headed north for Christmas but we are SOOOOO excited this year for everything Christmas.  Dalby shoulders' slumped when I told her we were going to Michigan this year.  I think she was disappointed because she thought we wouldn't get a tree here in Tennessee (which we originally weren't going to have one, but since we got a tree she hasn't stopped talking about seeing everyone in Michigan).  She has been talking about a tree since November.  As we were driving one day in early November, it was quiet in the back seat, which is normally filled with some sort of chatter, arguing or singing.  I asked Dalby what she was thinking....her answer...."I am wondering where we will get our Christmas tree?"  In the past Ryan and I have not gotten a tree because of our holiday travel.  This year we decided we would get a small tree to decorate.  It ended up bigger then we thought, not huge, but not table top size like I had originally pictured.  It makes us happy here and is a great source of entertainment.  We get up every morning and turn on the tree.  One morning, it was 6:30am(we have already been up at least an hour if not an hour and half by 6:30am) and Dalby came racing in,  "Momma, momma you forgot to turn the Christmas lights on."  As if we had gone the WHOLE day in the dark:)  Quinn and Charlie let me know I am slacking with one word, "Ites".  


The day we got the tree was an adventure.  We decided to get the tree early so we could enjoy it before we left on our trip.  So the first Saturday in December we headed out early.  All the kids were fed(at least once, 7:30am is usually morning snack time), dressed and diapered/potty and in the car by 7:30am.  Where might you get a tree at 7:30 in the morning?  Kroger.  We drove down the street to Kroger to pick out our "little tree".  We arrived and the little trees looked sad.  So we upgraded a bit to a mid-sized tree that required mom to sit in the back and hold the tree as it hung over the back seat of car seats(We think Charlie got a bit of tree in his eye but he survived).  We arrived home, dad trimmed the tree and we set it up to let the branches fall.  I climbed in the attic handed ornament boxes down and unpacked non-breakable and repacked breakable ornaments and replaced the extra ornaments in the attic.  During nap time we wrapped the tree with lights and that afternoon we decorated.  Everyone got a chance to hang ornaments and most ended up on the lower half, but the tree looks great!  It was a full day of decorating and I did a bit of baking too but then to top it all off Ryan and I had his company Christmas party that night.  So we had a tree bought and decorated, baking done, showered, dressed and the house semi-ready for our babysitter all before 5:30pm.  We were pretty impressed with ourselves!

Let's get a group shot before we go to Kroger to get our tree.

An attempt at "We are happy with our tree."  You can see why Ryan calls Quinn "Popeye"

A picture of our whole tree.  It comes a few feet from our ceiling.

 Hmmm..... what is he up to?  A look we saw often from both Charlie and Quinn.  You knew it was trouble when you walked in and saw them standing side by side in the Christmas tree corner.  The were particularly fond of the tree after we hung candy canes on the tree.  

 A sweet shot of all three as they admire a few presents we put under the tree.  They were presents for our trip so they were opened when Daddy got home.  Luckily we didn't have to guard presents along with the tree this year.  

 Merry Christmas!!!!!

Christmas cookies

The master at work....

Warmer...

Maybe we need to keep the house warmer... Quinn likes to walk around in her hat and Charlie in his boots....

School Pictures

This series of pictures is from the first day of preschool.  I thought they would help explain some of the mischief that is caused by one pink polka dotted 20 month old, who shall remain nameless.  Some days she can spend a lot of her day in time out and it seems her only regret after each time out is that she got caught.  Now don't get me wrong, each child visits time out but our polka dotted sister seems to see the guest room more frequently then the other siblings.  So, the first day of school pictures - first please notice everyone is dressed, shoes on, clean diapers, potty, hair brushed(I promise Charlie's hair gets brushed every morning) and we still had time for a picture:)  Next everyone is sitting.  Each time I try and take a group shot I always start with the sentence, "Everyone please go stand over there."  Why do I think that will work?  I have no idea!  

 We always start with one of Dalby standing and the other two somewhere in the room or Charlie headed for the camera.   

So everyone sitting....now for smiling and then if we are lucky everyone looking at the camera.....and here is the shot to keep...but I didn't know that yet...

We start to lose Quinn...for whatever reason she gets upset ...

and then frustrated that Dalby and Charlie are tickled...

 Oh wait...Dalby has cheered her up...maybe this is another keeper....

 and another....

 Oh no....here comes the hand...its reaching...

 contact...and look at the pride on her face...

 and then the blame and the satisfaction....

 Now she laughs because she has gotten her sister, brother and mother upset and

were done with this photo session!  Mission accomplished!