Baseball Boys

I am terrible about taking pictures. My excuse used to be that my camera was too big and bulky. But now that I also have a sleek little point and shoot camera, I'm not sure what my excuse is. I have just one, ONE, photo of Jonah to document his baseball season this year (and it's not even that great of a picture, poor Jonah):

Reuben was a tad bit luckier. My camera happened to be in my diaper bag and my diaper bag happened to be at his last game of the season so I have a few more of Big Reubs to document his debut in t-ball:



Notice Reuben with his "Beth Batheball Buddy Bankths Bonney":)

And we musn't forget the die hard fan who went to every practice and game to cheer his brothers on:

Go Choppers GOOOO!

If you give a boy a camera....

this little boy to be specific:

You may get a bird's eye view into his little 7 year old mind:

Paper Flowers

Paper flowers make my heart glad! Pier One Imports is clearancing all of their fake foilage.

3 paper flowers are busy giving my coffee table a whole new look:



And look how those sprays of orange blossoms brighten up my mantle!


Yes, indeed--that was $7 well spent :)

Christmas Eve Merriment!

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We had a wonderful Christmas Eve! We invited our pretend grandparents, otherwise known as Ms. Bea and Mr. Marvin, along with a little neighborhood friend to participate in the festivities. After a delicious lunch/dinner (linner?) at Outback Steakhouse, we made a quick stop at the dollar store so the kids could pick out presents for each other and then bee-lined it home to get ready for the big night. Todd helped the kids wrap each other's presents, while I started on the cinnamon buns. When the buns were safely baking in the oven afloat in all of their caramely goodness, we began my favorite night of the year by opening the first gifts of Christams and putting them on:


Then it was time to act out the Christmas Nativity. Faithful Todd read Luke 2 while our budding actors performed their parts of standing perfectly still. Being the only girl in the fam, I usually have to play Mary, so it was very refreshing to have our neighborhood friend fill in for me. Although Jude would not let me wrap him in swaddling clothes, he was very professional in his part as baby Jesus, beaming munificently up into Mary's face.



Next, we heartily sang our favorite Christmas carols and then off to the kitchen to enjoy ooey-gooey, oh so yummy cinnamon buns and hot chocolate in our new snowflake mugs.


Of course, we musn't forget Santa. He needs all the energy and comfort food he can get on his long, arduous journey across the globe:


The Stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there!



To bed, my little childlings and may your dreams be filled with sugar plums and all good things this Merry Christmas Eve!

Bad Habit

I have this bad habit of wasting my time perusing the anthropologie website and salivating over almost every single item they have in their home section. I confess, I load up my "shopping cart" without a hint of discretion. Sometimes there are over 30 items in my cart at a time. BUT here is where you should be very, extremely proud of my perfect self-control: I never proceed to checkout. Never, ever, EVER. Really, that is admirable, yes?

On a side note--just in case you were planning on getting me a Christmas gift this year--I will give you a peek at the rug that is my heart's desire:



And, bonus, it only cost $1000. I repeat--it only costs ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! Very affordable, darling :).

How to Behave and Why

My kids are having a fabulous Chrismas full of wonderful and delightful surprises. However, if I wasn't a little bit of afraid of my children, I would cancel all their presents and give each of them their own copy of this helpful instructional book:

Let me tell you about MY NIGHT.......

This evening, I had my nose out of joint. My little naughties were much naughtier than usual. The house looked (still looks) like a bomb exploded in it. Pretty much the only noises I heard all night were "Crash", "Whack", "Scream", and "I'm telling Mom!" I spent two hours making soup with one arm while holding the baby in the other. And then those rude little things refused to eat it and sat at the table saying "Ooh, this is so yucky, mom." Reuben managed to "accidently" tip his soup over so he didn't have to eat it while the others spread biscuit crumbs from floor to ceiling (exaggeration, not quite to the ceiling, but really, almost!) There was also actual punching at the dinner table. After dinner, I excused myself to go cuddle baby Jude to sleep. I instructed Jonah to go turn on the t.v. to the pbs channel for the kids, hoping against all odds to have 15 minutes of quiet so I could get Jude to drop off into dreamland. No such luck. Reuben had taken the batteries out of the controller and lost them so there was no way to turn on the t.v. For the next 30 minutes there was a steady stream of kids coming into my room to tattle tale: "Mom, Reuben filled the bathroom sink with biscuits and turned the water on." "Mom, Jonah accidently broke a picture and there is glass all over the living room." "Mom, someone peed on the floor and I slipped in it" (no confessors). And on and on it went. I finally got Jude to sleep (the smallest Crandall cannot fall asleep unless his head is laid snuggly on his mother's arm) and had dozed off myself, when I heard three happy, excited voices by my bedside. My sweet stinkers presented me with handwritten love notes, mangled biscuits left over from dinner and ice water (note to self: never, EVER, make biscuits again). And another surprise was waiting for me upstairs:



Well guess what, me wee boys, I love you, too! And you may count yourselves very lucky that I've changed my mind about our theme song for next month being "I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas, cause I ain't been nuttin' but Bad!"