Musical Beds

A trip to Costco (for milk) on Saturday led to the purchase of a mattress for Lance. They were all stacked so nice and neat, and there were only a few left. I couldn't resist. Luke was 2 1/2 when he moved into a bed, so the timing seemed right. Plus, Matt was there to help me hoist it into the car. So, why not?

L&L were SO excited as they rode on top of the mattress while we pushed it through Costco. We got all kinds of comments, like "awww, cute..."

As soon as we got home I got right to work washing all the bedding while Matt dismantled the crib and changing table. We even hung up a Cars poster as part of the "big boy" theme. All was well, and Lance was happy.

Then bedtime came.

Lance wanted to snuggle in Luke's bed. Then he wanted to snuggle in the living room. Then he wanted me to lay down with him in his bed. Then he wanted Luke in his bed. Then he wanted to roam the hallway. We tried all possible scenarios...except for Lance in Lance's bed. Crud. Night 1 was not good.

Sunday night came. Lance was seriously overtired from playing Musical beds the night before. We put him in bed and shut the door. Quiet. Sweet! 30 minutes later I went to check, and there he was:

NOT in the darn bed.

Night 2 was the worst imaginable. No sleep for anyone. At 4:00 Matt headed off into the garage to reassemble our best friend, the crib. While he was at it he noticed that the tire on the van had a nail in it and was flat. Nice.

At 7:30 he left to get the tire repaired. At 9 he came home and hucked the bed into the garage, with Lance sobbing at his side. Luke remarked, "Lance, you can have it when you're a little older. You're not ready." You got that right, Lukie! My apologies to Matt, for wasting an entire Saturday and 2 nights of sleep... all for nothing! No more impulse buys at Costco. Lesson learned.

A Few Christmas

Off to work.

Figured it Out

We got a NEW camera just before Christmas and I am happy to say that today I finally figured out how to upload it to my OLD computer! There are 244 pictures on it, and the resolution was set so high that it is taking forever, but I am halfway there. The new camera has this awesome smile detection setting where it automatically snaps a picture when it detects a smile. I'll never miss out on a smile again (hopefully). Here's Luke putting it to the test:


Yep, it works!

On December 23rd we left to spend Christmas in San Diego. Luke woke up at 4:11 in the morning, pumped and ready to go. Most of the drive was OK, and we kept ourselves busy and happy with things like this:

We were super excited to see my grandpa from Minnesota

Not too shabby for a great grandpa, huh? He still shovels his own (and other people's) snow, too!

...and to meet my dad's newest addition, Kyle

also know as the Mellow Fellow

Christmas blogging to follow...
Happy New Year, everyone!

Packing Up

We are heading south tomorrow. Here are some worrisome quotes I just heard from Luke as I was packing in my room:

"MOM! I need a rope!" and, "MOM! Help me put Lance on this board."

The packing will have to wait.

Happily, I get to have lunch with one of my favorite friends today. Matt, being the super guy that he is, volunteered to watch the combined 5 kids while we lunch. Sweet.

Busy Little Elves

Luke and I made about 5 dozen Christmas crayons yesterday for our Sunbeam class. We peeled wrappers until our fingertips hurt. Then Luke tested one out and discovered that they don't work very well. Whoops. We used the big crayons from the dollar store because I thought they were easier than the Crayola to peel. I've made them before with Crayola crayons and they worked great. If only Crayola sold wrapper-less crayons! Million dollar idea!! What to do about my little Sunbeams? The last thing I want is an angry Sunbeam mob on my hands. Ideas?

Dear Santa...

We wrote letters to Santa the other night. In addition to the requests for gifts, we had to inform him that we will be in Poway on Christmas.
I thought I'd share perhaps the most unique letter that Santa has ever, or will ever receive. It is from Luke, and it goes like this:

Dear Santa,
I would like:
1. A gold light socket with a pull string
2. A gold canopy, just like the one on the kitchen light
3. A down-rod
4. An orange outlet

and then...

Just as we were ending the letter, he threw in a final request...
"Can I also have some nipples and collars?"

Not to worry, he's no pervert. He just means these:

(Essential ceiling fan parts)

O Christmas Tree!

We got our Christmas tree and, to our surprise, Luke was way into it this year. He decorated most of the tree himself, and he seemed to play a little game called let me see how close to the tippity-tip of the branch can I hang this ornament? So, I am playing my own game called how many shattered bulbs will I clean up before Christmas?

Lance wondered why we would use a perfectly good trolley as a decoration

trolleys should be played with...duh!


the final touch and...
voila!