Pictures Galore, Folks!

First off... We have Allison's birthday session (BTW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!) done earlier this month. It still floors me how grown up she is.

And now we have all the goofballs together.

See this picture? Some would say this one isn't worth framing. Oh no. It is. She captured the pure essence of my kids. Ezra the candy fiend... Devon the Serious One... Allison the Little Mommy... (You KNOW she's starting to scold Anna right there, don't you?) Anna the Goofball... Yep. Those are our kids!

Oh dear. I don't know if my heart can take all this. I love these kids!

Pretty Girl...

Allison decided she didn't want to be a blonde anymore... I like it, what do you think?

Ezra's New Thing...

*sigh*

His new thing, when he's angry, is to spout off with something to the effect of "I not be wiff you, anymore! Hmmph!" Okay, it's kind of cute.

I'm wondering what to do about this. Ignore it? Reprimand him? Jeeeezum.

Ohhhh, the joys of a preschooler. He's the third kid I birthed, and I'm still at a loss sometimes. HA!

What Anna is Thankful For...

Tomatoes and radishes... Weird, but there are worse things to be thankful for, no? She made sure to tell us she was thankful for these things numerous times throughout the weekend. She certainly is developing quite the personality.

And really, I promise I will write about my other monkeys too... I suppose Anna's just been on a roll lately.

Letter to My Youngest Daughter...

My Dearest Anna,

Why must you write on things that are not made for that purpose? Also, it would be REALLY helpful if you would not go all Drama Queen on me when I ground you from your art supplies for a week. You're a smart, mature girl. Please refrain from doing this in the future. I know you're my little budding artist. I absolutely love that about you. I'm hoping this will only make you suffer just enough to never do that again. I got you your own little binder with paper and a zipper bag full of crayons and colored pencils. I put a whiteboard on the wall, in case you had an urge to write on the wall. Tell me girlie, how do I get you to stop without stifling your love for art?

Signed,
Your Exasperated Mommy

Anna's First Kiss...

There is this boy in church who Anna adores! Actually, we like the whole family. I was in a Bible study with the mom, the dad was once Anna's Sunday School teacher, they have two teenage girls, and a set of 4 year old triplets (identical boys and a girl). Allison is good friends with one of the older girls, and my two little ones play with the triplets.

One of the triplets has become the apple of Anna's eye. His name is Zachary. She is constantly talking about her "boyfriend". Oh, and even though he and his brother are identical, Anna has NO problem picking her boyfriend out. She even told me that she will one day marry him. I asked her, "What if you find someone out there that you like better one day?" She looked at me... She was dumbfounded... Then she replied, "Mom, there is no boy better than Zachary!"

Today, we have our normal church routine, and we sit next to the future inlaws. Anna insists upon sitting next to Zachary, and I spot her *gasp* with her hand around his shoulders. Oh my! What a forward little girl. Then... THEN... We see her kiss him. So, at 4.5, Anna has officially had her first kiss with a boy (who isn't related to her - LOL!)... Oh, just wait until her daddy finds out.

The Halloweenies - Yeah... I'm Late.

I apologize now. I have a lot of pictures of these gorgeous kids in their costumes. I got lucky, and had other people get some great shots, especially since I kept forgetting my camera.

Here they are at our church's annual Trunk or Treat. They get to do the Trick or Treat thing and we don't have to freak out about them getting candy from random strangers. And they get to hang with all of their friends. One of our members is a photographer. He got a couple really great shots of the little ones.

Here is Princess Anna, after she flagged him down. Really. She sees cameras, and she thinks they all need to be pointed at her taking pictures. While I can't blame her... I mean, look at that face... I am really trying to get her to stop. It might be just a *smidge* embarrassing.

And here is Iron Man Ezra. We watched the movie, and he's been fascinated ever since.


Here are the two pictures I took. Yeah. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to forgive the quality. Still not bad for a phone.

I had planned to take the little ones to a local photographer who was doing portraits at a local coffee shop. First come, first serve. I spent for-freakin'-ever on Anna's hair. I spiral curled it. Used half a can of hairspray getting it set just right. Then we got in the car to make the 30 minute drive, which ended up being an hour drive because of traffic. When I pulled up to the coffee shop, this is what had happened to those gorgeous spiral curls. *sigh* Thank goodness for the extra bobby pins I had. All ended up working out.

Here are the Halloweenies right before they had their portraits done...

And here are the portraits. Aren't they gorgeous? I hope the photographer (Jennifer Mazy) doesn't mind, but I screen captured the images from the slideshow. She did a great job on their shots and on everyone else's (See the full album). And my two little ones don't even look like they fight 92.4% of the time. I look at these shots when I'm frustrated, and it prevents me from selling them on the black market. Oh, I kid. Maybe. Sorta.

Some Pictures...

I know everyone and their mama has seen these pictures. That's okay. I'm showing off my kids AGAIN. HA!

We will have Devon in for some of them soon. It still makes me sad that he's not in these. So, instead of a group shoot, it was mostly a session for the sisters... Anna and Allison. Allison even wanted to match her sister in dress. WHOA! Who knew. LOL! Oh, and I had to get some of Ezra. Ezra suffers from "Last Kid Syndrome". You know how you have tons and tons of pictures of your oldest? Then a few less as you have more kids. I have lots of digital shots of my boy, but no framed shots. *puts bag over head*

Here's the slideshow for all to see - CLICK HERE

And here are a few of my favorites...

Random Pictures From Allie's Camera...

A few group shots sans Devon... I hate that he's not with us full time... :( But here are the turkeys I gave birth to!









Here is Anna in her Grandma's hat. My SIL, Janette, bought it for my MIL when she was in Mexico.


I bought some gorgeous Enwrapture Wraps through a group buy with some mom friends of mine at DFW Area Moms. Don't tell Allison, but I think she looks better in this one than I do.


WOOO! Cheap vampire teeth from Peter Piper Pizza, bought with the tickets she won. She loves these danged things!


Allison brought her camera to Walmart, where we were buying a few groceries. This is Ezra's handiwork. Not a bad photographer for a three-year old.


Here's the photographer himself. Allison thought he would look imensely better with a popped collar. *rolls eyes* LOL!


Peace out!!!

I'm BAAAAACK!

I've been MIA for a while. No internet, because well... NO FREAKIN LAPTOP!!!! It had to go in for a new hard drive. Thank goodness for Photobucket, or else all my photos would be lost.

Anyway. I'm back. Expect pictures! :)

Hijacking the Blog Again...

Again, I'm feeling the need to talk about Jenn sans the Barrelfull of Monkeys.

I'm not sure what's up with me, tonight. I'm feeling really weepy, whiny, and needy. I think that part of being an only child is being a little self centered. Not that I was spoiled. At least not by material things, because my parents didn't have the money to spoil me. LOL But, being an only child, I was the center of attention.

Sometimes, when I don't get it, I get pretty melancholy. I want to be popular. I want everyone to like me. This is all pretty self-centered. I should really focus on those I love. Focus on THEIR needs. Not like mine aren't important, because they are. I know I've heard someone say something to the effect of, "The more you try to focus on what is going to make you happy, the more depressed you're gonna get." Something about staying busy caring for others, and you won't have time to be depressed. I probably have it all wrong.

I think part of tonight's ordeal is that I'm severely sleep deprived this week. I've had nasty insomnia. I have no trouble dozing off when I shouldn't (right before I head to work... Watching the little ones...), but when it's time for me to lie down, my brain has been working overtime.

I mean, it is 4:30 in the morning. And I'm up. I have not been to bed the past three nights (days?) until 5am. Then, like clockwork, I wake up at 6am. Then, I wake up around 8. Then finally the last wake up is around noonish, when the munchkins get up. Sleep deprivation is a funny thing. I get moody. I'm sluggish. I don't wanna exercise (yeah, don't go looking at my other blog right now). All sorts of stuff that isn't good for me or pleasant for my family.

I miss time with my husband right now. More than just snuggling. I want some good ol' alone time. I want us to go have a beer together at some quiet little bar. Just talk and have a good time. No worries about the job or the kids. Just for one night. I want one of those a couple times a month.

Now that Allison's getting older, this is actually quite possible. I'm willing to give up some costly expense to pay her and go out. NO PROBLEMO. Heck, we can eat beans and rice 4 days a week to get this done, and I'd be good. Stinky. But good. Okay, bad joke. I haven't had a good night's sleep in a really long time.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Good Times at the Park...

So, we went to the park yesterday... Jennifer did about 3 miles! YAY JENNIFER! Most of it was walking, but anyway...

This is them in their stroller... I don't know how to explain this expression. I just don't. But it's cute anyway.

CHEEEEEESE!
If you look closely at the picture, you'll see someone wrote "white" on the bench... Very appropriate, since it's right beside the head of my VERY causasian boy... ROFL!

Miss Anna Vista in all her glory!

...and we wuz swangin'...


My mountain girl!

How Could I Forget!?!?

How could I forget??? I never posted the pictures from Allison's Spring Social. How is she this big? How is she this old?


She looks so grown up! By the way, she was actually sick, but wouldn't let me know. This is the kid that never gets sick. And she doesn't try to pretend she's sick to miss school (unlike her mother 20 years ago). So, when she came to me that morning and mentioned she didn't feel well, I immediately told her she could stay home. I think she then remembered the dance, and trudged through it. I realized later that she had a minor stomach bug, because she got physically ill that morning, AND at school. Goodness. She also didn't want to miss out on her sleepover that night. (I have more pictures, but don't feel comfortable posting other people's kids in pictures unless I have their parents' permission.)

Too Much Backyardigans...

It is official. The two little ones have watched The Backyardigans Super Secret Super Spy WAY TOO MUCH.

Last night we overheard Anna asking Ezra if he would be her evil henchman. *snort*