drummer boys

Ridiculousness.

my favorite birthday present

This moment.

I get carried away again..

Hey kids, want to make some snowflakes?

That was fun!  Can we make some MORE? 

And some MORE?

 And some more?

And MORE!

I eventually had to make them stop. 

The snowflakes spread from the dining room to the kitchen 

and down the hallway.

But I am READY for snow.

I would just love to look out my window and see a wonderful,

fluffy, six inches of soft snow.

Bring it on.

Marcus in the wild

He growls.

He rolls.

He hunts.

He gathers.

He smacks things with sticks.

Will he receive the instruction of his wise father?

my girl

This child is definitely a girl after my own heart.

decoration day

bubble bath

Happy Thanksgiving from the Cook kids!

I am thankful for my awesome new camera!

And of course, the beautiful things around me to capture on film:

(Beautiful is a loosely defined term)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Cook kids!

morning faces

Morning faces crack me up.

They are even funnier when they are all in one place.

Initial reports conflict:

It was storming.  Or maybe just raining.

They saw lightning.  Or headlights. Or something.

They were being really good.  Or they were talking and causing trouble. 

The boys were fake coughing to keep the girls awake.

But somehow they "gave" a sister that fake cough.

What a good way to start the day.  

For me anyways. :)

Flowers in the rain

impressed

I seriously impressed some boys today.  (It seems like it has been awhile since I have done such a thing.)

Yep, my mad crazy paper-airplane-making skills turned a few heads and caused  a few "hoorays!"

I

I think I would be scared if I were Peter.

I love it when they look at me and I know they are thinking 

"WOW, my mom is SO AWESOME."  

It doesn't happen often, so I soak it up when it does!

today

They were in a "crash em, smash 'em" mood all morning.

What is that on Marcus-

pearls, or bling?

When I said "say cheese," Marcus burped instead.

Clever.

Yep, he's feeling better.

This one too.

It is a challenge to direct those desires to CRASH, SMASH and DESTROY in productive ways...

This kept them busy for about... five minutes.

Now, what to do with this afternoon?!?!

Turkey progress

my babies

My babies and me!

I hadn't realized it was a wrestle-in-the-grass kind of day 

or I would have picked out a different coat!

I'll probably be sitting under these guys just like this most of the day today;

though on the couch, not in the sun on the grass!

(They're sick!)

soft-hearted super hero

Marcus has been unusually soft-hearted lately.  He is making more of an effort to share with his siblings (when he is not teasing them).  He has also rediscovered his love for "cute babies."  He has always loved the babies, but I think he thinks he has to keep some of those feelings in check if he is going to be a super hero.  Super heroes do NOT gush.

But this week he seems to have forgotten that.  He and Peter have been having so much fun together.  I think Marcus loves the fact that Peter can now steal things and be a general stinker, especially when Peter is stealing things from his other brothers.

The other day as we were driving, Marcus sighed and asked me, "Mommy, why can't Peter just stay a baby?  I like the babies when they are so little and cute!  Why does he have to grow up?"



It's a question I cannot answer, son.  But that evening, I was happy to see you soaking up some of that fleeting baby time:

He slept on you for a long time.  Not sure I have ever seen you (both) so still.  


Or so content.

One idyllic moment...

Wow, can  it get better than this?

Three boys reading together on the couch, snuggling by the yule log...

And in the girls' room, The Sound of Music... and lots of laughter.

...and the baby whining in the high chair.

Well, I guess you can't have it all, not at once!  But it is almost perfect!

Moving on up

Swiper no swiping!

Peter suddenly can reach much farther than he could a month ago. Today he grabbed Aggies bowl of Cheerios and spilled them all over! She yelled about it.
But then he looked at us like this...

Mommy time

Sorry in the tree house!

It begins

Thus begins our Thanksgiving project...

With a featherless turkey.

something good about being sick...

a benefit of room-cleaning

Sometimes, when you clean your room, you discover a WHOLE AREA of space that you could be using!

This week, the girls have rediscovered their closet.

Wow mommy, look!  You can see the floor! 

 Can we read in here?  Can we sleep in here?

Hillbilly!

Due to the sheer quantity of slobber, i rarely bother with a shirt for Peter!

ready to take on the world!

Chili helper

Peter helped me make chili this morning!

Either he has a short-term memory problem, or he actually likes the taste of onions!  

He wouldn't stop licking them!

This is the opposite of "help."

But it sure is cute!