Drama in the barnyard

Isaac and I are sitting here at the computer, and I realize that a drama is unfolding a mere yard away.  The little people barn shiloh got for christmas is embroiled in a soap opera!           

the director being only 2 and a half, i dont understand all the lines, but this is what ive got so far..

The goat is having an identity crisis and cant decide if it wants to be a cow or not.

the sheep is really impressed with the barns silo/slide and keeps yelling WOW!!!  every time it takes a ride.

The chicken must have done something terrible, because the horse felt the need to spank it and yell NO NO!!


Along with its identity problems, the goat upset because SOMEONE left legos in the yard, and its very busy kicking them all out with great gusto.

to be continued after snacktime..........

Christmas Love!

After Christmas comes pictures!!!!



      We made cookies a few days before christmas, and its totally going to be mine and shilohs new tradition!    she had a blast making them, and i had a blast helping.    She insisted on having  eyes, nose, mouth, and teeth on most of the cookies, even the bows and christmas trees.        Its strange that i dont feel bad eating one of the gingerbread man shaped cookies, but almost cant bring myself to bite into a smiling christmas tree.

We did christmas Eve at my brother and sister in-laws house.

Ate delicious food, opened "stockings" (they dont qualify as stockings in my book, since its not big fluffy socks, its gift bags so big i could fit inside them).

Played THE GAME.   our family game rivalry that really is called THE GAME.     its like aggrivation on steroids.    marbles, playing cards, large elaborate board...   

This is as close as we got to a picture with all the grandkids at once due to unfortunate photoshoot by my sister in law where i was not present to save shiloh from torture- "do you want a spankin? you better sit down and smile pretty!"    only one of many colorful examples.. 

so shiloh runs everytime My Sister-in-law walks into the room with a camera.

My handsome little boy checking out the christmas tree!

Isaac with some booty from his stocking!

yes. those are perry the platypus pj pants that i got seth for christmas :)

These gloves were in her stocking, and she just HAD to put them on right away.   they did hinder present opening quite a bit, but hey. shes happy:)     

Shiloh got her favorite movie in the whole world- homeward bound 2 ( i figured it was only her favorite because she hadnt seen the first one)  on a dvd that had the first homeward bound also.    Now they are both her favorite.

A barn, a drum set that i may live to regret buying but as much as she likes music, how could i not??

And last but certainly not least......................................(drumroll please)...................................................................................................

who knew?

Ok,   I got a brand new stove when we moved into our house.      I was (and still am) thrilled with the thought of a new appliance that didnt have anyone elses food crusted on it for me to scrape off, and ALL the burners would work!!  all the time!!   and i would be able to SEE  the temperature on the knobs instead of taking an educated guess and hoping i wouldnt burn food.              

I am soo happy with my nice, pretty, new oven, that I want to keep it nice and clean.     
So, I decide to clean up some stuff that spilled in the bottom during thanksgiving.   
I have never used the self cleaning feature before, and i was all, ok, great!   i can just push this button and the oven will clean itself!!  

       Yeah.    So, i look in the oven about ten minutes after pushing the button and i see FIRE!!   lots of fire!!       thoughts begin racing through my head....   is it suppose to do that?   should i call the fire  department??    what was it that you use to put out an electrical fire again??    this would qualify as an electrical fire right??     should i scream and wake up sarge??    (im sure that would just be great for his ptsd)   NO,   I'll do what any sane person would do when their pretty oven is on fire.......google.                 Fortunatly, I am not the only person who has made the mistake of not cleaning out the big stuff in the oven before using the self clean.         By the time I found this out, the fire was gone,  but i turned off the oven, and i will scrape away as much of the heavy whipping cream charcoal as i can before using it again.

On a lighter note,   christmas vacation has begun!  i only have my two yr. old to deal with until january 3rd!!!!!!   

weekend warrior, family style!!!

I am attempting to put an entire weekend into one post!            FYI,  some of this story involves the military and for OPSEC reasons names will be changed.


Lets set the scene-       Husband is in army reserves.  It is a two and a half hour drive to his unit.   they are having a christmas party for soldiers and their families.         We are able to stay on base, in a two bedroom HOUSE for 35 dollars a night!          This is our first mini vaca with  both kids.

We arrive friday without incident at FT. blank.      Go to thift store and buy ugly sweaters for ugly sweater party we attending saturday.     Have wonderful dinner at cheddars with Sarges aunt and uncle.                  head to cottage, go to sleep.     
            
Saturday-   Sarge leaves early in the morning for drill.           Me and the kiddos sleep in :)

Sarge comes to get us at 10:00  for unit christmas party.           Santa shows up at christmas party riding with a motorcycle gang.   they drive straight into the building.     Belle falls in love with motorcycles.           line up to sit in santas lap.      attempt to sit Belles in santas lap.      she arches her back and goes limp, almost hitting santa in the nose.       get picture of Belle sitting with daddy, NEXT to santa,  who she is till giving a dirty look.           get adorable picture of isaac sitting in santas lap.                                 

        Eat lunch,  which is served by the senior NCOs.         Its truly awful.     if you know what army food tastes like, you know what i mean, and if  you dont,  you could never understand.             We go back to the cottage around four and shiloh falls into a deep sugar coma nap.      

     Sarge calls, letting me know that hes going to drive back home and get the paper work he needs to get promoted.          time goes by, we have fun in the cottage ect ect...        Sarge calls again.
Sarge-  i got some good news and some bad news.
Me-  ok
Sarge-  the good news is i got a deer!  the bad news is i got it with your truck.
Me-  WHAT DID YOU DO? 
Sarge-  its ok, i couldnt find any damage.
Me-  breathing a huge sigh of relief that husband and truck are ok.
Sarge- more bad news. the deer got away.

more time passes..  Sarge arrives, and we all go to the ugly sweater party!       
stay at sweater party wayyy to late, because its so much fun!          go  to cottage, sleep like the dead until 5:30 when Sarges alarm wakes me up. 

   sunday-      They have a class A uniform inspection today.       Husband is putting on VERY tight  uniform that fit him like a glove in basic training, but now behaves kind of like a corset.         Button pops off  jacket.      Heroic luna (me)  does some handywork with thread and attaches gold button to jacket without a needle!
after a quick warning to be gentle with the button, and ya know, not to breathe in to deep or sit down,    we load the kiddos and drive him down the road to the reserve center.       I come back and sleepily start packing up  because we have to be out of the cottage by ten. 

Drop off keys at billeting,    and drive to the thrift store where i saw lots of nice jeans when we were getting our ugly sweaters.          find out that Belle can open dressing room doors all by herself!!   
find several pairs of nice jeans, all under 3% spandex  : p  (dont get me started on how much i hate spandex in jeans).    Find out that calvin had pooped sooo much that it leaked all over his jeans and his carseat.  clean up that loverly mess.

    go pick up sarge, get some subway cause its like 4 o clock and neither of us have had lunch yet.  
eat food,  drive away.    hear horrible sound from the backseat.   belle has thrown up all over herself and her beloved stuffed bear.           Like parenting superheroes,  we dive into the mess..   i tackle the weepy girl,  and sarge tackles the pool of puke in the carseat.              after that fun waa over, we visited a the kids great grandparents (they hadnt met calvin yet)  and another old realative.   

       after a loong drive through the mountains,  we can almost see the finish line! all we have to do is pick up the dog from the in-laws and get home so we can all crash into bed.    but nooo...  in a stunning crescendo to our weekend............... I hit deer!!!     this one takes out the bottom part of the bumper , the thing that holds the licence plate on, and one of the lights.
So, sarge is doing things with the insurance today.
I am busy washing car seat covers and bear, and holding kids who are really happy to be home and out of carseats.  

AND NOW THE BEST PART!!  PICTURES!

 Daddy and calvin got their faces painted!

Belle got to drive one of the army boats they use when they are building a bridge (sarge is a bridging engineer)

 Calvin was more than happy to sit on santas lap!    and he got a christmas bear out of it!

 Heres Belle, being tortured with kris kringle

 Belle checking out the boat she got to climb all over!

 Belles after party sugar coma, with the bear she got from santa clause
               

Belle, goofing off in the cottage.  who new a nightstand could be so fun?

   Heres Calvin, checking out his bear from santa!

   Belles Bear that got thrown up on, getting a bath in the bathroom sink.  he is to loved to risk getting hurt in the washer..

Happy anniversary santa!

The annual Christmas parade was last night,  so I bundled up the kids and we went early with Nonna to find a good parking spot.       We sat around in the truck for an hour and Belle people watched and carseat (what she calls cars)  watched.              ATLAST,  all the waiting was rewarded!  the  Fire engine came down the street all decked out in lights and fire fighters perched on top.     THEN.    They blew the horn..       and  ran the siren...       I dont think ive ever seen Belle move so fast.   She jumped out of my arms and ran for the truck.         so we watched the parade with nonna and isaac in the nice warm cab of the truck.

She called out Happy Anniversary, happy birthday, merry birthday, ect..  to santa clause.  pretty much everything BUT merry christmas :)    

Isaac sat on nonnas lap watching the lights with that look on his face pretty much the whole time!

Then, it was over...

MORE LIGHTS MOMMY!!