How Did That Happen?

I am old. 

Or at least I feel that way. 

But let's not make this about me...because it isn't.

Lets talk about what is making me feel old.

Gavin turned 8 on Tuesday.

He couldn't be happier.

Me? I may have curled up in the fetal position and cried a little.

 Somewhere along the lines he went from no teeth,

to having lost some.

Not that having missing teeth changes the taste of cereal.

Fruity Pebbles...nasty to me...gold to an 8 year old.

In the form of abnormally colored artificially flavored fruit bits.

Gavin had to wait until dinner time to eat cake and open presents. 

I am sure it was torturous for him.

When the time came...he was ready.   

 I made an Apple Fritter Cake. I thought it was a good idea. 

Epic fail. No one liked it but Penny and I.

At least Gavin was gracious and said that even though he didn't like the cake it was still a good birthday anyways.

Not that bad considering, he has had some worse reactions to cakes in the past. 

The only thing he requested for his birthday was a certain Pokemon card.

We had to mess with him a little and put it in a bigger box.

Wrapped in another big box.

With a side of Skittles.

Until he unwrapped it.

Bliss.

Which happens to be the same feeling I get every time I look at him.

Resolutions

Last year seemed like it was a little rough. 

A lot of things happened that I probably could have done without.

But as a whole when I think about the year it doesn't seem that bad either...

Which means...that I am crazy...or..I don't have the best memory...or I have a selective memory...or get distracted easily. 

What was my point?

I kid.

This year I made some before New Years resolutions. I typically am not a "resolutions" kind of gal. I figure if you want to change something, you don't need the new year to do it. So I started in November.

My goal is to work on being grateful and satisfied with what I have.

One way for me to do that was to be happy for the clothes that I have (no matter how trivial that sounds) because truthfully...I have a lot.

I wanted to wear somethings that haven't seen the light of day for awhile. And by awhile, I mean that I still have a blouse that I had when I was dating Blake. 

So I switched all of my clothes backwards on their hangers and when I wear something I turn it the right way. 

It is fun to try to find some new ways to wear stuff and realize what things that I need to get rid of.

Plus, I don't care what anyone says...getting dressed in the morning is the quickest way for me to start my day off right. 

Especially when it is an outfit that I like.

They aren't all great, but they are not pajamas so that has to count for something. 

And...and...all of these pictures are a really good graph for how often I make our bed. 

Consider "making our bed more" a new resolution to start in February.

No Shame

The other day Canon was in the kitchen "just chilling." 

I couldn't stop laughing at how funny he looked so I took a picture with my cell phone.

Imagine my surprise when Blake sends this picture to me the same day...

I just can't figure out where he gets it from?

And why I evidently, have no self respect.

Say What?!

Going to the doctor is nothing new for us. When you have four kids it seems that at any given moment one of them will be injured, sick, bleeding, coughing, broken, vomiting and more. 

It seems to be a rarity that we make it to the doctor strictly for a well child check. 

Perhaps it was my patting myself on the back, for scheduling the well child check on time, that caused the shift in the universe. 

The universe felt the need to reverse the shift.

During Canon's check with Dr. Bean she asked if Canon was eating, hearing and seeing alright. I said that he has problems with listening but I wasn't sure how much of that is "not being able to hear" and how much of it is "selective hearing." The doctor laughed and said that it was probably selective hearing....

Then she looked into Canon's ears and gasped.

Literally gasped.

Then told me that Canon has holes in his ear drums.

The gist is:

When Canon's tubes came out of his ears the holes did not close up. They sent us up to Primary Children's Hospital to see an E.N.T.

The E.N.T said that we will have to come back in March and then they will do a hearing test and schedule his surgery, one ear at a time. 

Canon, when I ask if he is listening to me, likes to say "I have holes in my ears." 

Looks like he is catching on fast, taking it in stride...and quite the jokester.

Christmas

Christmas seems to be the best time of year. I suppose that is why the song goes "it's the most wonderful time of the year." You don't go making such a blanket statement if it is not true. 

Truthfully, I have been in a little bit of a Christmas coma. I snapped out of it, though, and I am hoping to catch up on all things Unguren related. 

The night before Christmas the kids got to open up their PJ's from Grandpa and Grandma Miller. It isn't a surprise to them, that they are pajamas.

But, they always get excited none the less.

Canon's pj's were Angry Birds and they said "this is my angry face" across the bottom....it couldn't be more false.

Ask for them to smile and this is what you get.

Ask them for a silly face and all of the sudden you have their undivided attention.

We thought it would be fun for our kids to act out the Christmas story from the bible. They used the nativity to move the people into place when I would read about them. 

I think Canon was all hopped up on night before Christmas juice because he was acting crazy. He broke off Mary's hand and then, when I was trying to read the Night Before Christmas we ended early because Canon started to read a book aloud and then was doing the one person wheelbarrow across the floor.

On the way to bed Laney asked if there really was a naughty list that Santa looked at? When we told her that there was Gavin promptly said "I am on the nice list." Then Canon asked is there was a "kind-of" list? 

I am sure he was hoping that if you make it onto the "kind-of" good list then maybe you still get a few presents. 

Lucky for him, Santa was feeling lenient this year.

Giving a "kind-of" kid a "kind-of" weapon....

We were really using our smarts.

The new kitty, from Santa, was well received. 

Although, Laney did say "Look, it's a kitty in our house. I did ask for a dog though...."

They haven't stopped mauling him yet.

When we did our yearly present buying spree at the dollar store, Penny picked out this hat for Blake.

The moment she saw it she said "I get this for Dad."

Which ended up being great. 

This was the first year that Blake and I didn't buy anything for each other. So, I am glad that Penny could bring home such a gem.

It has provided endless entertainment....

in the kitchen,

at the breakfast table,

and even in torturing the new kitty, Mozzy.

other christmas