Since it's literally been a year since my last post

I'm not going to even try and catch up.

It was a busy year.

Ty was gone for 6 months

(deployed to the Middle East)

and I had a baby.

Fun times.

We took family pictured for the first time in about 2 years.

Hopefully we don't wait that long until we do it again,

but there are no guarantees.

Leo

This boy is a great big second grader.

He likes school even though,

"all we ever do is work, work, work."

He loves to read.

He is almost always happy to read by himself or to his brothers,

but he still loves to play outside most of all.

This year his artistic talents have really emerged.

Ty and I can barely draw stick people,

so we're not sure where his talent with a pencil came from.

We've been pretty amazed with the drawings Leo brings home from school each week.

Leo is a great older brother and does his best to look out for the other kids.

He is also really into the holidays.

He makes sure we have the house properly decorated

and that we do all of the "appropriate holiday activities."

Jay

This boy started kindergarten this year.

It was pretty much the worst thing that ever happened to any one.

3+ months later and he can almost make it through the day

without a major melt down.

Even though he's a total stinker,

all of the people at school love him.

(He has that effect on people.)

Jay is sweet and generous

(when he wants to be).

He loves tangerines and had to take enough to share with all of his classmates.

He is obsessed with Elf on the Shelf.

(I'm super glad his teacher is doing that at school,

because I absolutely refuse.)

He comes home every day and is so excited to tell us all about Elf's shenanigans.

Jay thinks life is super funny

and is almost always laughing about something.

He's also very concerned with things being fair for everyone.

Jaxon

This boy is 2 now, and he sure does act like it.

He's finally started talking

and his favorite words are:

NO!

Mine!

Nein! (His German heritage is showing through.)

Go!

Stuck!

and Uh oh!

All shouted as loud as possible.

He still loves babies (much to Ari's dismay),

dolls and stuffed animals.

He also loves keys and escaping the house to play outside.

He can open the front door even when it is locked,

dead bolted, and child safety latched.

He's really good at noticing when no one is looking and slipping out.

He also loves to be a big helper.

Heaven help you if you take the trash out without his help.

And you'd better not even think about unloading the dishwasher by yourself.

He's still a little drink stealer,

and he eats frozen Gogurts like they're going out of style.

Ariadne

 This little girl had her two month well check today.

She is 10 lb 8 oz (40%)

and 22.2 inches long (45%).

She's starting to stay awake for longer stretches and is quite social when her eyes are open.

She likes to swing in her swing,

especially if the mobile and the music are on.

She tolerates her brothers fairly well.

She loves to sleep in our bed,

especially when dad cuddles with her.

She's on her way to becoming the most spoiled of our children,

but she totally deserves to be so we aren't even worried about it.

She has crazy hair that sticks up all the time

and the cutest little smile you've ever seen.

She's also getting rolls on her thighs

which we love to pinch.

Jaxon:

Started "posing" for pictures like this.

I loved it, so he only did it for a few days.

Sometimes gets tired in between naps.

Instead of crying he just plays horizontally.

LOVES to be naughty.

Some of his favorite naughty things are:

climbing in cupboards,

turning off the computer while you're using it,

stealing your phone/book and running away,

and escaping out the front door

(which happens to be the only door in the house he can open).

ALWAYS wants his shoes on,

but NEVER wants his pants.

LOVES to be in the middle of things.

And is learning to use utensils.

(He definitely doesn't want you to help him.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We had a pretty quiet celebration at our house this year.

Grandma Reber and Uncle Dan joined us for dinner.

Poor, pregnant Aunt Krystal had to work all day,

but she made it for second dinner.

We cooked, played games and ate all day.

Jaxon liked the pie part best.

Some things we're thankful for:

Mama - Leo

Candy - Jay

Pie - Jaxon

Family (especially the ones who come and visit, hint, hint) - Kristen

Guns - Ty

This is the face Leo makes when you tell him to smile:

This is the face he makes when you make fun of his "smiling" face:

Merry Christmas!

Jaxon was less than thrilled about meeting Santa.

The funny thing is that he ran right up to him,

bypassing everyone else in line,

and the freaked out when Santa picked him up.

It was kind of hilarious.

Not even a candy cane would console him.

This year was the first time that Leo was willing to sit on Santa's lap.

It was also the first year he expressed doubts about whether or not Santa is real.

He said, several times,

"Well, I believe, but I kind of don't believe."

We'll see how next year goes.

Jay has always been pretty uninterested in seeing Santa.

He asks about him a lot, but doesn't ever want to see him.

We pretty much had to force him to participate in this picture.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

A few weeks before Christmas we decorated gingerbread houses with our friends.

(They were actually Halloween houses bought on clearance.)

I was surprised at how well the kids handled the icing bags.

And Jay Alvin was in candy heaven.

I'm pretty sure he ate as many pieces as he put on his house.

They were pretty happy with the end result.

And the frosting was hard enough that it even took them a few days to get the whole thing eaten.

 I'm so glad we bought the boys a bunk bed so that they could 

sleep squished together 

on half of the bottom mattress.

I mean, it really is pretty cute.

And convenient too.

Because now we have a well-used

"napping bed"

in the dark space behind the couch.

It's a win-win really.

This boy thinks any drink with a straw should be his.

 And if you don't give it to him he will take it for himself.

And he smiles so cutely that you don't even mind.