incoherent ramblings...

Easter....start to finish 2012

Of course...eggs first.

Some pretty proud kiddos!

Easter at Pops and Grandma Crawford's house.  Ainsley P. was just precious in her little dress Grandma Crawford bought her.

And my little man....

These are the flowers the kids "hand" made for Easter presents.  The white ones are Ainsley P's hands and the colored ones are Drew's.

After dinner we went outside to play for a while.  But the kids got a little bit distracted...

....by the neighbors trying to get their cat out of the tree.

Still watching the cat...

Guess what they are watching...

They did finally get the cat out of the tree. 

The Easter Bunny came to our house today!

I was trying to take this picture ...

...when this guy popped in front of me asking me to open his egg.

I love her face here when she just can't believe the Easter Bunny would hide an egg in her pot on her stove.

And Drew found one in the coffee pot.

And this, my friends, is the best picture of the day.  Ainsley Paige jumping to try to get the eggs off the ceiling fan.  I love it!

Drew was playing "hockey ball."  If you look close you can see his ball almost to the basket.

When we got to Pop and Grammy's, I had the wrong lense on my camera because I had stopped to take a picture of this for my brother...

...and the kids dove right into the Easter stuff before I could change it so these are a little off.  But cute nonetheless.  Also, love the egg in Elmo's mouth in the background.  Almost as good as the egg in the fish mouth at Aunt Lindy's.  Almost.

We ran around outside and found the eggs from this morning.  I felt bad that the kids didn't get to go outside so they were fine with me hiding the empty ones. 

 Ainsley's face cracks me up here to.  I can tell she's thinking "Hmmm....my hands are full but I want to get those before Drew can.  Dilema."

And guess who got 'em?

Happy Easter everyone.  We are heading to Myrtle Beach at the end of the week so I am sure when we get back I'll have a few pictures to put up.  Night!

See if you can tell what these pics have in common...

...there's that tongue.

And Miss Ainsley used to stick her tongue out to concentrate, too. But now, she's got the most precious smile that just shows exactly how happy she is and what a great time she's having. Melts my heart.

The lighting wasn't ideal and obviously they were on the move. So the quality of the pictures leaves a bit to be desired but I love them anyway.

I'm going to quit while I'm ahead....

Yay!!  I figured out finally how to put pictures up again ever since my laptop updated browsers.  It was so frustrating.  But there is a picture...I see it!! 

Let's try again...

Helmets and Skates

They did fabulous in the living room.  Skated all around like Champs!!

Ainsley had a blast.

Drew screamed like a little girl if we made him stand up.  He was completely content to sit there and watch.

Lessons from Daddy.

Ta-da!

NYC & CT

So, Michael and I went to NYC and the kids went to their cousins.  See?

http://crookedpigtails.typepad.com/crooked_pigtails/2012/02/my-three-year-old-neice-and-twenty-month-old-nephew-stayed-with-us-last-week-while-my-sister-attended-a-conference-or-some-ot.html

 

Christmas at the Doveberry Inn

So excited to be able to spend the holidays with the Fayettes during the holiday season.  We had a blast.  Thanks guys!  Merry Christmas.

Drew took the present unwrapping very seriously.

But once he got it all unwrapped he couldn't wait to show Pop and Grammy.

Ainsley loves her new baby that eats bananas and drinks juice.

She took opening very seriously, too.

Nicholas was such a good sport and played with his 1 and 3 year old cousins. You can tell by the look on my kids faces they were very excited that he was playing with them.

Look at this sweet girl....all ready for her prime rib dinner.  Nice napkin, darlin'.

And then chocolate chip Mickey pancakes for breakfast.  We were spoiled with delicious food.

Ok, so these are (were) my brothers pet ducks that my kids loved.  Sadly, my mom told me that a mink got them this week and they are no longer with us.  But here are the pictures anyway because Ainsley still talks about feeding the ducks.

Here comes the wild man!

Comet and Aiko wait patiently for them to come back.

But they kept themselves entertained until the kids returned.

The obligatory "grandchildren" photos.  Pretty cute.

I love how my kids are looking up at my 9 foot tall nephew.  Ha.

The Bookends.  Meaning, the youngest and oldest grandchildren and both just happen to be the only boys.  The Bookends, as my brother Michael referred to them.

I have to put this picture up.  I had just said to Nick that he could put his arm around Drew if he wanted to.  Hilarious!  Doesn't it look like they are both petrified of each other?!?!  Insert thought bubble over Nick's head...You mean you want me to TOUCH him?  Thought bubble over Drew...You're not going to actually TOUCH me are you?

Ainsley, the newest photographer in the family, thanks to Grammy and Pop, caught all the awkward chaos on her new camera.

 

And they surivived.  Phew.  Close call.

Off to play with the flashlight.

Thanks for the great weekend!!  xoxo

Christmas 2011

Christmas in pictures. 

Christmas cookies at Grammy's...

Making Christmas presents.

Christmas Eve!!  Michael and Drew started off with a little nap to rest up for the delicious prime rib dinner, the cupcake decorating, the cousin ornament making session, the spreading of the reindeer food, and just the general choas that comes with the holidays and family being together. 

AP got in her pretty dress and then let me put a ponytail in.

My sister.

My Mama.

The "Chaos."

Mama, he's a chef.  I can see you giving me that look but he actually knows what he's doing!

Getting ready for dinner.  Yum!

Despite best efforts...there was no fabulous kiddos-in-front-of-the-tree pic.

Stocking cupcake decorating.  Delicious.  Fun.  Ridiculously messy. 

He didn't get to decorate but he enjoyed the end result.  Woo hoo!!

Cousin Christmas ornament making time.  Paint, glue, sparkly things, Oh MY!

All bundled up to go outside and spread the reindeer food Uncle Timmy and Aunt Becky made so Santa would find his way to Grammy and Pop's.

I didn't get pictures of them actually spreading it because it was about 4 degrees and I was holding the food but this is right after and just before we all froze to death.  Grammy was the only one smart enough to stay inside.  Ha.

I caught AP trying to steal a peanut butter ball...

Putting Santa's cookies on the plate to take home and leave on our table.  She's getting excited...

Santa did show up afterall.  Quinn is a big fan of her new bed.  And, yes, we love our crooked star.

Christmas morning.  Drew looks scared silly.

Ainsley was excited and went right for her stocking.

She helped Drew dump his on the couch but he just cared about the "chewies", aka starbursts.

Ainsley's purple bear that she asked Santa for.

And one of the babies.

Drew opening his dump truck from Santa.

The other baby doll.  She got twins.

The mixer that goes with Drew's dump truck.

Quinn sharing her new bed.

Sleepy puppy on her new bed.

Lazy Drew sitting on his present as he opens it.

Chef Ainsley P at your service.  Desserts are her specialty.

After we opened presents here we got ready and went to Grandma and Pops Crawford's for Christmas brunch.  It was delicious.  And then, as it turns out, Santa left presents there, too.  Good thing we had all that reindeer food!

Drew is clearly excited that he gets to sit at the big people table for the first time ever at Grandmas!

Waiting patiently to open presents.  Sorry it is out of focus but they were very good waiting.

Look at how cute her hair looked.  It is getting so long!

Drew got a tape measure and it was a hit.

Cheese!!  Taking a picture with Diego's camera.

And Ainsley and Drew both love, as do Michael and I, the new air hockey table.  Thanks!  Hockey is definitely in my kids blood.

Concentrate...

Then off to Pop and Grammy Fayette's for Christmas!  Very excited about the M&M's.

Cheese!

Ainsley was still into the whole Christmas thing but we had temporarily lost Drew because he didn't get enough sleep that day.

But then he charged the camera and he was back to his old self!

We had a great holiday season with tons of fun and family.  We hope the same for all of you.  Night!

Santa's Workshop, North Pole New York

We went.  We saw.  We wouldn't sit on Santa's lap but we'd talk to him.  We loved the reindeer -- kind of.  We touched the North Pole.  We now have Santa hats.  We behaved...almost.  We loved the candy maker's popcorn.  We colored and went down the slide in Santa's toy shop.  We sang jingle bells.  We sat in Santa's sleigh.  We were the happiest kids by the time we left.  And, of course, Mommy took pictures.

Drew was very excited when he spotted 'Anta!

"Hello Blitzen."

"And Hello Rudolph."  Rudy was the baby this year.

Time for Santa!  Ainsley panicked last second and didn't want to sit on his lap which was fine.  We knew Drew wasn't going to anyway.  So we all got in the picture.  I know, you are jealous of my fur hat.  You should be.  Ainsley talked to Santa and said she wanted a baby for Christmas and Drew wants a dump truck.  Phew.  My shopping is done.  Until Santa asked how old she is and asked if she liked to color.  He said they have a lot of coloring books at the North Pole and he'd be sure to bring her one.  One thing left to shop for I guess.

Touching the North Pole.

We colored.

We played.

Drew's new hat.

Ainsley's new hat.

Santa's house is over there.  I know.  It has the reindeer on it.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Christmas season is upon us and I am feeling particularly frisky this year.  So much so that I put aside the camera for the first time when we were decorating our tree.  Often times I feel like I have to take a picture of absolutely everything so that we'll never forget it.  But there are those times, like the other night, where it is simply impossible to ever forget.  Every ornament we unwrapped was like a little gift for each of them.  This year Drew was a lot more involved for a while.  He did lose interest but when I'd pull a particularly cool ornament out Ainsley made him look at it.  His expressions were priceless.  We could actually see him go from "what is that?" to "who cares?  It is pretty cool and I am going to smile!!"  Ainsley had Quinn kiss all of Quinn's ornaments before she put them on the tree.  Very sweet.  We danced.  We sang.  We forgot the garland.  We laughed.  We cried (OK, I cried but it was all very sweet and the icicles I made with my mom, Grandma and Aunt make me cry happy tears each year).  Then, we crashed.  We are tired kids this season!

I have taken pics of some fun and exciting things.  We are on our way to the North Pole on Sunday so I am sure there will be pics of that as well.  So for now...Merry Christmas season!!  Be safe.

Excited about the advent calendar!!

Our little elves...

...reading a book.

Snuzzle bunnies waiting for their calendar treat!

Our stylin' little elf (complete with a toothpaste mustache apparently).

And our silly elf.

We decorated a gingerbread house for Pop and Grammy tonight.

Drew wouldn't let Mommy decorate him.  AP was a fan. 

Happy Thanksgiving again!

The kids celebrated Thanksgiving again on Saturday at my parents house with Grammy and Pop, Pops and Grandma, Mommy and Daddy and Quinn.  Silly kiddos!!  Love them.

Our Official Turkey Taster.  Who doesn't like turkey.  We should rethink who gets to wear the pin next year.

But pepperoni is a good.

Model boy.

She clearly is not taking his lecture seriously.

The three stooges are ready for dinner.

Wardrobe change in time for dessert....a bathing suit for a popsicle?  And about that popsicle...who would pick a green popsicle over the chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, lemon marangue pie and apple pastry danish bars in front of them?  Yup...AP.

Guess what Drew picked??

And then he tried to feed Quinn her monkey for her dessert.

We spent last night at Mom and Dad's and Michael come home early to work on the garage.  When the kids and I got home they both got a turn on the tractor with Daddy!!

And then we went over to the neighbors house to check out the holiday decorations that my kids stare at every night.  AP wanted her picture taken with some of them.  Too funny!  The problem was that she was too excited to stand still for five seconds so I didn't get any good ones.  Plus, the coat she was wearing is about 3 sizes too big.

It's Wonder Woman and Santa!

And the Christmas Piggy.

Our final event this fine weekend was a quick trip to Wally World for just a few basics.  Look at my little hot mess and what she decided to wear....GO 'EERS!!  And the pink cowgirl boots really top off the look.  No picture but the final result ended up with a bright purple coat and panda bear hat, too.

Happy happy all.  Be safe and merry!