Fun with Cooper

Rudy and Brady have loved having their cousin around again - especially at Nana and Popsie's house where they are allowed to ride the cozy coupe and big wheels in the house (only until the 12-month inspection on their new house though).

Wheresis da kitties?

Rudy spent the last two nights at Nana and Popsie's house. He walked into the house this afternoon when he came home, took a lap around and came back to me...

R: Wheresis da kitties? [anytime he can't find something he says wheresis]
K: They were sick. They had to go to the doctor.
R: Why?
K: They had colds and they needed a lot of medicine, so they needed to stay with the doctor.
R: [In deep thought for a while]
K: After the doctor makes them better, they'll go to new homes.
R: I have an apple??

I took the kittens to the SPCA to see the vet yesterday because Frankie and Lola were very lethargic and all three of them were sneezing and had runny noses. The vet called and said that all three of them needed 3 different meds 2-3 times a day for 10 days. I didn't feel like we'd be able to keep up with that schedule, especially around the holidays. We talked to Brady, who didn't seem too interested in keeping a cat, so we decided to leave the kittens at the SPCA where they'd be better taken care of.

I was worried that he would be distressed to come home and find the kittens gone. Apparently not...as long as we have food!

We did find out that the kids and I can start volunteering at the SPCA, so we'll be able to visit with Frankie, Lola, and Fiona until they get adopted.

Sneaky Elves

Santa's elves dropped in on us last night to let the boys know that they're being watched. The elves rang the doorbell and disappeared, but they left behind new PJs for Brady, Rudy, and Cooper.

I know there are some people out there who can take one picture of 3 preschoolers where all the kids are looking and smiling. I am not one of those people.

Unfortunately, I'm also not one of those people who is adept at photo editing. I can rationalize that part of the charm of these pictures comes from the goofiness of the subjects!

These are unrelated pictures, but too cute not to post. Rudy is going to be the most devastated when the kittens leave. As soon as he gets up in the morning and after nap, he comes down and asks, "I have a kitty?" He loves toting one around with him wherever he goes. I think we have decided not to keep one at this point and to just foster another litter in the spring.

Back to the 'burg

We took a trip back to Williamsburg with some friends last weekend. James and I never pass up an opportunity to get back there - a lot of fun memories. I'm sure the kids will be sick of hearing the college stories long before they get to college themselves {at The College, of course :) }

We happened to be in town for the Yule Log Ceremony at W&M. We went and didn't feel all THAT old (probably only because we stood outside the fence next to a much older couple). Happily, we thought the event was almost as much fun as we did as undergrads! The new president's reading of The Grinch couldn't compare to President Sullivan's (he kept pronouncing the Whos down is Whoville as "woos"). Brady thought the Gentlemen of the College version of the 12 Days of Christmas was hysterical and has been repeating the last line (three fat hens and a duck...QUACK) since then.

We ran into Santa Claus at Merchants Square. He had a magic bell with him that only he could ring - none of the kids could get it to work.

The boys with their treats from Wythe Candy Shop (which doesn't sell blackberry brandy cordials anymore...what is that about?!?) Thankfully, the house dressing at the Cheese Shop still tastes just as excellent!

A trip to DoG Street isn't complete without sticking your head in the stocks!

The kids were very excited to be on this adventure with their buddies!

Kitty update

One of our foster kittens (Shrek, renamed Oscar) has gone to his new home. We still have Fiona, Frankie, and Lola with us. I'm back and forth every day about whether we should keep Fiona or Lola (or neither).

Rudy LOVES the kitties - he picks one up and carries it around with him everywhere. He's about as gentle as a 2 year old can be...these kittens will be well-socialized, that's for sure!

Even Maggie has a favorite: Lola, because she ignores Maggie. (Fiona has a tendency to fight back!)

Cats have always been attracted to James, who is quite vocal in his preference for dogs over cats. He is open to keeping one of the girls, though, and they all obviously love him:

Lola is the runt of the litter. She's very sweet but also very insistent on sitting on my head...not a fan. She's also not all that great at grooming so I've had to bathe her twice already!

Even Ben and Bella have favorites. Too bad Cindy won't let the kids take one (or two!) home!

Denial

This little lovely is from James...

Scene: Bathroom during toothbrushing last night, kids open drawers, Rudy slams one shut on Brady's fingers.

Brady: screaming
James: Rylan, tell Brady you're sorry.
Ru: silence

Brady: screaming
James: Rylan...say, "I'm sorry, Brady."
Ru: I not know how to talk.

Foster parenting

So, we're foster parents. Of cats. Four of them...teeny tiny little 5 week old kittens that my dad found abandoned outside our neighborhood.

Two boys and two girls - Shrek and Fiona and Frankie and Lola. And they are CUTE! The boys love them of course, and I wouldn't be surprised if we own one of them before it's all over.

All aboard the Santa Train

It's become a new tradition to see Santa on the Santa train. We meet up with some friends for this annual event.

Rudy was not the least bit shy, practically jumping into Santa's arms and shouting,
"Blue Angel! I wanna Blue Angel jet!"

Brady was a little more reserved and very polite, asking for Star Wars Transformers and Hot Wheels Stunt Track. He was a little stumped when Santa asked if he'd been good and looked to James to help him answer that question!

Rudy and Ben...best buds!

Brady, Bella, Ben, and Rudy.

Bella is NOT Brady's girlfriend, she's his best friend. He's as uncomfortable as I am when people ask him if she's his girlfriend.
(Just one of my personal pet peeves when people talk to little kids!)

Even the grown ups had fun...

I love me some Christmas

The trees are decorated, the halls are decked, the cookies are started, and the kids looked extra handsome for a whole afternoon for the Santa Train today...why can't we have more Christmas time??

When can we eat some?

We started our Christmas cookies yesterday. Around here, this is a process that pretty much lasts all month long. I've continued my mom's tradition of abundant Christmas cookies, baking at least six varieties (usually more). The staple of the tradition, though, is sugar cookies. I've never had a sugar cookie I've liked more, although I do realize I'm biased!

The best part of the process:

Good morning!

Rudy generally plays in his room for a while every morning before he calls me in (which he does by shouting MOMMMMEEEEE).

I went in to get him one day last week and he had taken his striped Cookie Monster socks off his feet and put them on his hands. He had also found two wooden hammers in his bed and was using them to build a boat (or so he told me).

Thank you, Adam Sandler

Of all the Christmas songs we've been listening to lately, this is the line my two year old picks to sing over and over and over:

One fine looking Jew.

As in "Paul Newman is half Jewish. Goldie Hawn is half too. Put them together...what a fine looking Jew" from the Hanukkah Song, by Adam Sandler.

For what it's worth, at least it sounds a little like funny looking shoe when he says it, so if anyone else asks we'll just tell them that's what he's saying!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We've been very busy getting ready for Christmas around here! I'm feeling a bit of pressure because of the short Christmas season this year, but I LOVE Christmas and I'm determined not to get grumpy or stressed about it.

We have decorated four Christmas trees so far (2 at my parents and 2 here) and finally finished decorating the house (after a frustrating search for my favorite tablecloth!). We start my favorite part today - baking Christmas cookies!

We broke down and bought an artificial tree this year. James HATES putting lights on the trees. He thought he was spared that misery this year with our new pre-lit LED tree, but our white artificial tree in the office had a bunch of lights out and our outside light strands were half out, so he still got to have the fully holiday experience!

We had extra colored lights since we didn't need them on the tree, so we wrapped them around the trunks of our big pine trees in the side yard. That looks truly classy, let me tell you!

More chuckles

A few more laughs we've had the last few weeks...

-Rudy was awake for several hours one night last week. I was also asleep and apparently very out of it, because it didn't occur to me in the middle of the night that he might not be feeling well. It was the next morning, that it started to register. He was in a good mood and eating his breakfast, but he kept telling me (very matter-of-factly) that his tummy hurt. Except he was pointing at his ear. I would ask him if his ear hurt. "No, Mommy, it's my tummy." And he'd point to his ear again. In any case, he had a terrible ear infection and you'll be glad to know that his "tummy" is better now!

-Since my birthday, Rudy has been impressed with the concept of surprise. He loves bringing me gifts or hiding and then jumping out and yelling "PURPRISE!"

-Remember last week, when I wrote about a good way to bring tears to my eyes (when the boys act like they love each other)? Well, we had a new way to make Mom want to cry this week. We had friends over and all the kids were upstairs playing. I overheard this lovely snippet:

Brady: Rudy, do you wanna get hit? [spoken in a voice like Ru was about to get a treat]
Rudy: No.
B: Do you wanna get hit? Do you want me to hit you?
R: Nope.
B: Then give me that jet or I'm going to hit you!

Oh. my.

The many faces of Ru...

OK...only three of the many faces...

Thanksgiving fun

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week...lots of time with my family and TONS of excellent food!

We were tasked with table decor for Thanksgiving, so Brady and Rudy helped me make these pinecone turkey place cards. My SIL made the very cute mini-bouquets behind them.

James was able to take off almost the whole week and the kids really loved having him around.

Dessert with Oma...

Any time you want to make me cry, just give me an example of my boys lovin' on each other. It's pretty much guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes anytime I see them being extra nice to each other. I love knowing that they're buddies, and I really hope it stays that way forever. This is what Brady told his teachers he is most thankful for this year:



We seem to be having some challenges with our camera batteries holding a charge, so we only caught a portion of Brady's performance at preschool. My favorite part (of course, the part not on 'film' was the Mayflower song sung to the tune of My Bonnie lies over the ocean).