Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Max's Top Ten Goodreads for 2009

We are always looking for good children's books, so if you have a favorite - please share.

1. Leonardo, the Terrible Monster


2. Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs


3. Jumpy Jack and Googily


4. Guji Guji


5. Bear Snores On


6. I Spy: Christmas


7. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?


8. How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?


9. We're Going on a Bear Hunt


10. My Friend is Sad
His all time favorite didn't make the list because Brig and I can't stand to read it. It is only good for the pictures and Max reads it by himself so I guess we better give it honorable mention. It is titled, Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, by Richard Scarry. Our favorite part is how he can find this little creature on every page called 'goldbug' faster than we can. We check it out at the library every other time. If I wrapped it up and gave it to him for his birthday, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Max says, "Thank you for books..." almost every night in his prayers." He only looks like a defensive lineman.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Christmas Vacation 2009

Thanks to the "Here's to the Heros" promotion - we enjoyed our second
free trip to Sea World. The kids still won't remember it, but it sure
was fun. Brig and I had a great time seeing Shamu.
OOPS!








You can't imagine how thrilled Max was to see the monsters in person...



Polar Express 4-D, doesn't get more real than that. We had the smells of hot cocoa and snowflakes falling on our heads!


Even Avalon got the experience!

Shayla lives a dream by seeing a dolphin in the ocean on our Baywatch tour!
We saw a ton... so amazing!

We enjoyed the beach over the holidays for the 2nd year in a row...
who really wants a white Christmas???







Saturday, January 9, 2010

Do you know the Muffin Man?

Being under the weather has its pros. I have cared little about the dirty dishes and the laundry piles everywhere. It's kind of a liberating feeling to not care. I am not a clean freak but I can't go to bed without having the house at least picked up... well, I have lately and it feels good. Most importantly, I have spent 'quality' time with Max and Avalon. At lot of times, I am with them but don't notice the cute things they do or if I do, I'm not doing that living in the moment thing because I am always thinking about what needs to be done and to smell the roses is time wasting. Well, I've stopped and smelled so long, I've nearly passed out. So here are some Max funnies that I've enjoyed. (Avalon has started giggling so we'll post that soon.)

First of all, I wake up to him every morning singing "Mama, I wwwwwwwwuuuuvvvvvvvvv uuuuuuuuuuuuu," over and over again. Even after long nights with Avalon, it puts a smile on my face and gets me out of bed.


Once I picked him up and he pointed to my forehead and said, "Mama has pimples." I knew I had a few but I thought he meant to say dimples but then he grabbed his cheeks and said, "Max has dimples." If you don't want the truth, steer clear of kids.

One of our recent favorite moments was while watching the classic Little Rascals with him. He was sandwiched in the middle of Brig and me and as Darla and Alfalfa kissed, he looked at us and said, "Ahhhhhhhhhhh, they tissed!" How does he know you are suppose to ahhhhhhh about that? When we kiss, he gets mad and jealous.

Unfortunately, he got his mom's sweet tooth. I first noticed it when he ate Lucky Charms and asked for more before his bowl was empty. I looked in it only to notice that all the marshmallows were gone. He still does it. The other day, he finished lunch and said, "want tookie, Mama." I told him, "Max, no more cookies." He then said, "want animal cracker with frosting on it!" What I am suppose to say to that?

On Sunday, we couldn't go to church but he knew that Daddy had went. At about 11:00, he packed all of his toys in the diaper bag and dragged it to the door and said, "I go to church... ride in Minivan, peas, Mama, peas." He loves nursery and singing time.

In one picture, you will notice he is nursing Avalon. Brig just doesn't think there is anything cute about that so he will probably flip when he sees it on here. Sorry, Brig. In the other, he is driving our Baywatch boat in Galveston. He loved wearing the captain's hat. The crazy thing about Max is his memory. Weeks later, he still knows that the captain was Michael.






Thursday, January 7, 2010

Stubborn kid has to be bribed with M&M's

We have been under the weather all week after being on vacation to the beach. We just aren't holding up in below freezing temps and yet my parents in Wyoming are dealing with wind chills in the negative 20's... so why am I complaining? Since we are in, we have been working on his letters and alphabet. Unfortunately, he doesn't do anything for free. I had to give him M&M's after this stunt even with a jump start! And don't mind his outfit, he still looks better than me.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The presents were broken and scattered...

The blizzard started Christmas Eve.
After 45 minutes and a determined Dad, we made it out of our
driveway and over to our friends for a wonderful dinner and
Christmas presentation. We had all sorts of yummy food.
A white, icy, cold, blizzardy Christmas


This was probably the one and only Christmas for sleeping in. After a long night,
Max didn't wake up until 9:00. We did the traditional thing, then ate cinammon rolls
and little boxes of cereal for breakfast.




Nothing like the blizzard to break in the new hat and gloves.


Thanks to Cord, Heidi, and fam for the darling hat and to Grandma
Risa and Grandpa Barry for the doll. She loves them both.

Max got the train he asked Santa for. We videotaped him from the
time we got him out of his crib until he found it and touched it.
He couldn't believe that Santa really came. He kept saying, "Wow!"
...the stockings weren't hung by the fire with care.

Frohes Neues Jahr!
Santa won't come again til next year.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Disclaimer

I want to make sure everyone knows that it was SHAYLA and not me, Brigham, who posted previously about "getting into the ribbons and bows" with Avalon. Now that we have that straight, here are some pictures from the boy side. The girls have been getting too much publicity on here. Here's Max eating his first OREO, reminding Avalon who is boss, building with toys, and showing "Touchdown!"