Catching up...

First off, can you guess what this is?? ( I like to throw these weird pictures out there...to keep you on your toes.)
Well, this is going to be a ridiculously long post. It has just been too long since I blogged, and I have dozens of pictures to share. I may just have to make it a "chapter post" (derived from "chapter movies"-coined by William's preschool teacher for movies that you have to pause and finish later. We love the versatility of "chapter movies").

Chapter 1
Why I haven't blogged sooner:

Reason #1:
It is true that this picture alone would account for why I haven't blogged sooner...but there is also specific and pertinent evidence captured here.

Above is documentation of before-the-photo activity. It may help you appreciate the following pictures more. Here is the first try for a good picture. Notice that I captured Samuel contemplating how he will act--to smile, or not to smile; to act silly, or not to act silly...let's see what William is doing and go with that.Okay, smile. And, almost better, laugh. Makes a sweet picture.
Now the reward...a silly picture. Trevor branched out from his usual eye-crossing, and chose a new silly pose.
Now, why all these jammie pictures, you might ask? To document, of course.

Way back before Christmas, Hancock Fabric had a fabric sale. So, William, Trevor and I took a "field trip", and "researched" fabric. They picked out the above fleece fabric, and were ready to start making jammies right away. Fat chance of that happening in December. Trevor prayed every night that I would remember to make their jammies. Every night until Christmas, that is...then he tried most nights through January...and finally no nights in February. Poor guy. That's when I finally got them done. So, here they are, the much anticipated Police Pajamas!

Reason #2: The Piggy Back Project.

After having my sewing machine sitting out for over a month in the middle of my bedroom, I wasn't about to put it up (read: away--put it away. I think up might be southern?) without finishing every last project that I had stored up. Tami had given me some fabric to put some letters on the boys' new towels...so I gave that a shot. That was a fun, and new kind of project for me.
I stitched around the letters with my sewing machine on a really short zigzag stitch---my first try at that.
Looks good at a glance...but, closer up, not as nice, unfortunately. For one thing...why did it pucker-up after I washed it? I used Wonder-Under...did I dry it too hot and it melted??
Also, I missed some spots along the edges, and the fabric is wanting to come up. I'll have to go back and catch those spots, I know. And, I put the wrong side of the fabric up on the S and the W. Oh well, what can you expect from such an amateur? I don't know how Tami makes everything so perfect.
Anyway...all of that took up at least a week.

And, here's a random picture, of the guys watching the Super Bowl. What a bed-full.
Actually, this was what was on when I took the picture. Maybe they were watching commercials?

Chapter 2
When Kim and Miles Were Here:

We had so much fun with Kim and Miles while they were here. Let's see...that was about a month ago...can I remember what all we did? Ugh...work brain, work.

We went out to eat
We went bowling
We went bike riding
We went for ice cream
We made pizza
We watched a movie
We went to a State Park
We went to Sharon and Larry's for dinner
Seems like I'm missing some things...

Well, here's what I have pictures of:

Bowling

Bowling was fun. Here's Samuel getting ready to let-er-rip...
...or drop...

The pensive, watchful stance: (it did take at least 20 seconds for the ball to make it to the pins...)Trevor winding up...
...and watching... Looks like that was a strike....
Daddy, showing his good form...
Kim, lining up...
I see all the pins are still standing up... Poor Kim.
Miles decided to use this new contraption...The bowling attendant brought it out about half-way through our game...we think he must have heard all the balls the boys were launching down the lane, and thought this rolling-device would spare his floors...

Observe Miles demonstrate: you line it up...
...give it a little push...
...and enjoy perfect success! The pin shown did actually get knocked down. However, we were unable to recreate this feat even one time. Good thing I documented.
One big happy family!

Bike Riding

Oops, we forgot to take pictures of that. Even though Kim said, "we can't forget to take pictures of this!"

After-Bike-Riding Ice-Cream-Stop

Aren't they cute? See them wearing T-shirts in January? Maybe you can zoom in and see their goose bumps...

Tim, Kim and Miles rode to the ice cream place on their bikes. The boys and I rode in Tim's truck. I'm so glad I have a good excuse to not ride my bike that far. :)

Playing Phone Video Games

If the kids ever weren't playing games on Kim or Miles' phones, they were asking to. They actually make it look social. They spent a good bit of time piled all together like this.

We were sad to see Kim and Miles go, but were not sorry to part with their phones.

Breakfast

The Perales in me is compelled to take pictures at meals. It was a good meal, too. Breakfast, in the morning...it was essential to document.

State Park

One day we headed out to a State Park in Florida. After a picnic lunch, we had some time to kill before we took a cave tour. We got some good pictures.

Here's the inside of the cave. It was pretty impressive.
See Trevor?
See the cool, glassy pool of water?
See the bat?Here's a strange formation...with lots of texture...
ta da! That weird stuff is a rock!
On our way out of the caves...the Ham and Kim.

Chapter 3
Samuel's Birthday Week

Samuel started his day the way any birthday boy would want to...opening gifts.
He got Bakugans, legos...
...Play Doh, and an army coat... (to be modeled shortly...)
Following gifts was donuts (a MAJOR treat at our house these days)...
Ah, here's the coat. What a happy camper!
Judson came over after school, and they broke out the Doh.
Here's Trevor's creation. Can you tell where Trevor likes to eat? Here he has made a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup, and also a pancake with a banana mouth, a strawberry nose, and blueberry eyes. He likes to eat at IHOP.
Not sure what Samuel and Judson made...
After dinner, what else but more presents??
The name of the game he just opened is Toss Your Cookies. That makes me laugh. The kids didn't get it. We played it and had a great time.
Also, he got a transformer, which was a hit.
And lots and lots of gum.
Plus, a creatively packaged wad of money (complete with an amazing origami dollar ring)...
...and Pirate legos.
And a nice card from Great Grandma and Grandpa.

Sunday, we had lunch at Sharon's. Thankfully, Tommy walked around taking pictures. I would have fogotten to take any myself.

Notice, Samuel is wearing his cape...he wears it soo much.
Here's Mary Grace...
We had Little Ceasar's Pizza, and salad for lunch. Samuel's pick.
I put together this birthday "cake" using pirate legos and cupcakes. That was a fun way to jazz up our "food coloring-less" cake.
Woah! I'm at the end! I spent days loading up all these pictures, and I finally made it to the end with all my commentary.

Thanks, everyone, for the generous birthday gifts. Samuel had a fantastic birthday.

I hope that I can keep up better with my blog from now on! And that I didn't put you to sleep!

The End.

Dream Come True

Last night at dinner, William's dreams came true:He was handcuffed to Mommy.
...and eating pizza at the same time. Could it get any better?
William has been earning rewards for staying in bed at night...or at least staying out of our bedroom. These fine plastic handcuffs are his recent reward, selected out of a basket of other goodies. We sat down to dinner, and he wanted to handcuff me...didn't take him long to realize that we could be hooked together. He announced that now he would finally get to sleep next to me--something he wishes he could do every night.

I wonder how long that'll last...I expect the day will come when I'll have sneak little hugs and kisses to him. I'll try to enjoy the cuffs while they last. :)

Tricked Ya!

That's the kids' favorite thing to say lately...and they create many opportunities to say it, too.

Actually, Samuel tricked ME. I should have known--it's happened before. What looked like Poison Ivy starting up was actually HIVES. I'd rather hives, though, than PI. I have no idea what triggered it, but it comes and goes, and only bothers him sometimes.

Funny Trick!

What in...!

We are slowly getting back on track after our long trip up north. Sam stayed home from school 2 days with a little fever, and whatever crud that Tim and I had. Saturday we got the Christmas decorations down.

We've had a fire four nights this week. I love it. It really isn't cold enough out to warrant one, but, we have to take every opportunity to enjoy the fireplace. Here's the guys getting it started:The boys wore their new clothes to church today. They still like matching
Here's their "cheese" picture:
Here's their goofy picture that they got as a reward for doing the "cheese" picture. I don't know any other way to get them all to at least try to smile.
Oops...looks like Sam is giving someone "the bird". Ha!

He might want to give someone the bird--I think he has poison ivy! I found a little patch on his face, and after doing a full check, found it on his arms, legs, chest, back and neck. We did a whole wash-down and covered him with Tech-nu. Hopefully that works!

Here's a tid-bit: The other night while we were getting dinner ready in the kitchen, we overheard one of the kids exclaim, "What in carnation?!" I love it. I'm going to try to say it every chance I get.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tis the Season!

I feel like I have been going nonstop the last couple weeks...me and everyone else, I'm sure. We have been having lots of fun getting ready for Christmas--running errands, mailing packages, baking, decorating, making gifts...etc. etc. The computer has been calling my name: Ji-ill...come sit down and blog...

Let's start this blog off with an open house, of sorts. Mom asked me where I put various decorations, so I took some pictures. Here's our pretty tree, in the front room. I remember that when I was growing up we would keep the Christmas tree lights off all day, and turn them on at night when it got dark. Of course, that makes sense to do. But, I can't stand to walk through our living room and see the tree looking dark and lonely. I keep them on almost all day. Plus, the kids are here all day, and it starts getting dark here at about 4:30! And, I love the way the tree smells, with those lights warming it up. (To complete the picture, imagine Elvis Presley singing Silver Bells in the background... Every time Trevor notices that the Christmas music has stopped, he finds that song, and starts it up again. He said he likes the man's voice. I tried to tell him about Elvis, and I made it pretty interesting, if I do say so myself, and Trevor just nodded his head and said "okay". He's funny like that.)
Here's the stockings and mantle. Mom made all the stockings for us, and we love them.
Here's a closer shot of the pictures on the mantle. They are silly ones of the boys last year, standing on their heads on Mom and Dad's couch. I like how playful they are.
Here's a not-great-picture of our Willow Tree Nativity set...I put it our on top of the piano.
Mom wanted to know where the other furniture went that used to be in front of the front window...It's all in the guest room...which is, once again, piled high with stuff. How does that happen??? Sorry, no pictures of that... :)

On to other Christmas happenings...

Samuel had his Christmas program last week. He did a great job. Here's the pre-performance photo:On occasion, our boys will sing in the program, and on occasion, they will not. On some occasions they will hide behind the bleachers. Thankfully, on this occasion, we had a singer. It was fun for us to watch Samuel singing and doing all the actions. We were very proud of him!
Here's our post-performance photo, back in the classroom, where he gave us little Christmas presents that he had made in class. Awww...
A couple days ago, we had some friends over (which is so rare that it warrants blogging) and I lined them up for a photo. Caleb is Trevor's age, and Seth is Samuel's...but, since those 2 boys have had their birthdays already, the boys were ages 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4. Crazy fun. We made crafts, and ate pizza, and watched movies, and they ran around wild. :) It was Caleb and Seth's last day in Dothan before moving to Atlanta...we will miss them!
You can pray for a friend for Samuel at school...Seth was his best buddy, and the only boy he played with at "outside time".
Last, but not least, some pictures from just this morning. Trev started up a little ear infection last night, which kept us home for the morning. Often, when that happens on a Sunday, we will have church at home. Tim got out his guitar, and we sang Christmas songs. That is, Tim and I sang Christmas songs...the boys do not sing with us. But, they did get out some drums and a tambourine and made some happy racket along with us. That was fun. After that, I got out Grandpa's old piano, and the kids really had fun playing along with the programed Christmas music.
I hope your Christmas is off to a special start, too!

fa la la la la, la la la la!

We Got Mail

A package came in the mail yesterday! Grandma knows what it was...I had a little technical difficulty during filming, and missed the first time they said

Legos To Hang On The Christmas Tree!!!!

but I did get some other really sweet stuff...