A ton of Christmas pictures, finally.

Since I was not happy with the way our other Santa pictures came out, we took another trip to see a different big guy. And what better day to go see Santa than Christmas Eve. I think we might just have to make that a new tradition.



He couldn't totally decide if Santa was someone he wanted to get to know better or just pack up and run away from. I guess he figured it was not too bad. After seeing Santa, we walked over and had lunch at Berryhill, yummy!



We went to the 5pm Christmas Eve service at church and man was it windy! Gee Gee and Pap met us there.



The obligatory "kids in front of the tree on Christmas Eve" picture, crazy momma waited until most of the kids had stripped out of their nice shirts before taking the picture. Oh well.



Ummm, not really sure what is going on here but aren't they super cute?!



Getting cookies and milk ready for Santa!



Mighty Mite had to help too. Hehe



Then he decided he had to taste the cookies first, you know to make sure they were safe for Santa. Funny thing is, the is the first year Boog has not done that. Guess Tutti-Frutti is taking over that responsibility!



Santa's cookies and milk. Freshly prepared and waiting.



Before bed, Daddy read a few Christmas stories.



Listening to the story!



Santa came! Wheew, boy did he!



The look of pure joy when discovering that Santa had been there.



Santa brought me new cups!



Crazy mismatched socks! He loved them. Still wearing a pair everyday. Boy that is fun to keep up with in the laundry department.



Humm, how does this work?



What is this thing?



Huh?



Wow! I got the Spiderman gun I asked for!



Ohh, a bike!



Santa ate all of his cookies.



Having fun in the Handy Manny car.



Alright! The scary castle!



Something must have been funny.



This gift is the reason we had been fussing back and forth about spending money right before Christmas. A NEW paintball gun. A few months back, Sour Apple started playing paintball with friends from school. He had a gun from a while back but it was used. On the first day he went to play, he discovered that something was wrong with the gun he had, he was heartbroken. He borrowed a gun from a friend and had a great time. Well, a few days later, he began asking how much money he had left from his birthday. He had a friend that was selling an old gun for $50 so he could put the money toward a newer nicer gun. He kept on and on and on. I continued telling him that he was not going to spend that much on a used gun...yadda yadda yadda. I had decided the day he played and the gun did not work that I would get him a new one for Christmas. Boy, he did not make it easy. But the look on his face when he saw the new gun, by the way it was the same brand, possibly same gun that his friend was selling, made it worth it all. He was so super happy!



Oh boy! An iPod touch. Yes, I know...we bought an iPod touch for a 4 year old, so what's your point? That means that we all have access to our phones when we need them and it was the best investment EVER. He loves it. Glad we decided to go ahead and do it, otherwise there would have been a very unhappy little boy (who thinks that he is the same age as the big kids) who did not get the same thing as his older siblings.



This is cool!



Yay! Fuzzy boots!



Whatchu' lookin' at, Monkey?



presents...



presents...



The hats that grandma made.









I got a scarf, but found out just last night that I am now the proud owner of a hat too! Thanks grandma, you're the best!



Riding the skateboard from brother's new game.



New scooter...



and new bike!

New header...

Like my new header?!? It is about time I updated the pictures of the kiddos. Although, I cannot take credit for the photos used this time.

These are a few of our family Christmas pictures. Humm, I guess now is as good a time as any to show you the rest too but first, I will introduce the photographer. Didn't she do a great job?

A big huge thank you to my friend Shannon. We love them.





















Can you tell that these were taken when he was so super sick? He felt miserable. RSV sucks.







Do I even need to tell you that this is my all time favorite picture EVER?

Wheew...

Is it just me or has this been THE LONGEST short WEEK EVER?!? Man, the kiddos went back to school on Tuesday, we only had to take one of them in though. Lemon Drop spent the night with a friend Monday night so we only had to take Sour Apple. The little boys had music Tuesday and Boog started back to pre-school on Wednesday. So...my point is, why was this week so darned long?

Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that most days during the break we stayed in our pj's till at least noon? Or somedays we did not even bother getting dressed? Wow, when is there another break. Ha!

Other than that, the week shaped up fairly nicely. We finally made it back to the grocery store. Good grief, not sure when the last time we actually shopped was.

We are having some unusually cold weather for our part of Texas lately and we LOVE it! Not sure what that is all about but it is welcome anytime. It makes us really wish we lived somewhere that had a winter. Although, if you listen to people talk or listen to the news and weather advisories...you would think we were going to bottom out somewhere in the -30 range! Hehe.

Tonight, our pre-teen will be heading off to the school's homecoming celebration, alone...our baby is growing up. Not sure I like it. I know this is going to be a fun time in his life, but it means he is turning into something other than a little boy. It kind of hurts my feelings. We all remember what it was like for me when Boog was turning 4 right, I nearly fell apart! Crazy Momma!

Oh well, I have tried to bum him a ride home since the festivities will last until midnight. Daddy has to work tomorrow, I do not like being out that late alone and the babies will be home sleeping. Cross your fingers that the ride comes thru! Meanwhile, I guess if we can get the little ones in bed early, Daddy and I might have a quiet night home alone! Ha, what are the chances?!

Hope you all have a great Friday night.

the one with the funny faces

About a month ago, we (my mom and I) took the boys to the zoo. We had a great time. While we were there, Gee Gee was kind enough to show the boys how you are really supposed to eat a snow cone. Thanks!



Is this how you do it?



Or this?



Maybe I'll have a drink first.





Then I am supposed to do WHAT?



Pay attention...I am only going to show you once more!



Maybe this face will help!



While in the reptile house, Boog decided he would check all of the locks...great idea! Care to see what was behind THIS glass?



Fantastic...the world's deadliest snake! A gaboon viper! Sheesh. Glad the locks work.



The boys swimming (or crawling) with piranhas!



LOOK!



The big boys showing Tutti-Frutti the sign for...you guessed it...choo-choo.



Is this it?



You try it now.



Pointing to the choo-choo.



Aww. Wonder how long that lasted?



Uh...I got nothin'.



Can you tell we watch the Wiggles too much? Look at the fingers. By the way...why are the Wiggles no longer on Playhouse Disney?!? Don't they know I need my daily dose of Anthony! What were they thinking?



The conductor of the band!

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not me! Monday, where we can be brutally honest and live to tell about it.

Wow! First of all, it is NOT ME that has been MIA for I do not even know how long. Nope, I have been participating in every Not me Monday post since MckMama started this thing! I am a loyal blogger and would never leave my dear readers hanging, thinking I had fallen off of the face of the earth!

It is not me who has not posted any pictures of my dear sweet little angels lately. Nope, I am on top of things and I have all of my ducks in a row.

It is not me that still has a Christmas tree in the living room and Christmas decorations in the yard! Nope, we take our stuff down on New Years Day! Not a day earlier, not a day later. So, when Boog begged to not take the tree down, we took it down anyway!

It is not me who is dreading getting back into the swing of things tomorrow, taking kids to school, music and following a schedule again. Nope, I love schedules and having places to go!

It is not me who enjoyed having 2 whole weeks off with my kids at home. It was not us who stayed in our pj's most everyday till after noon! Nope, we were up and out the door with things to do!

It was not my husband who had extra days off because of the holiday schedule at work, and it was not us who enjoyed having daddy home so much! Nope, we love it when daddy goes to work and leaves us home.

It is not me who is going to make a real effort to get back into blogging again! Nope, not me!

Now, let me see if it is not me who can find a picture of some sort to hold you loyal readers over until I get off of my rear and post some recent pictures and bring you up to speed on what has been going on with Momma's Monkeys!

It was not our church that brought in real snow for the kids to play in for the Christmas Eve services, and it was really not us who chose the WINDIEST DAY EVER to go to the Christmas Eve service. It was not Boog who insisted on playing in the snow even though the wind was about to carry him away!



It was not Lemon Drop that wanted to go out there with him to play. And it was not me who went out too so I could be a good mommy and get some pictures. It was not so slippery that we nearly fell...on several occasions either. Nor did our feet push through the snow and get wet!



He was not so happy to be out there that he could barely contain the smile. Oh, and his nose was not red either!



Each year on Christmas Eve, it is not us that let the kids open one gift (a pair of pj's for Christmas morning) so they had not been asking all day. They had not been asking so much, that Boog was so worked up and excited...



Well, apparently...it was not Boog who remembered that we ALWAYS get pj's on Christmas Eve! Poor guy! Of course, it was not his loving parents and siblings that giggled (to ourselves of course) when we saw the face he made when he opened his package!



Someone did not care what was in his package. It was also not the only package he cared about opening...through all of our Christmas celebrations!



I am sure, it was not you readers that have missed seeing this funny little face either!



Oh yea...and it was not Tutti-Frutti that was angered by the taking away of Santa's cookie! Nope, he is more than willing to share with some strange guy that sneaks into your house in the middle of the night while you are sleeping to leave presents under your tree!



Happy Not Me'ing! Now run on over and see what everyone else is guilty of...oops, I mean not guilty of!

Hello again

Wow, have I really been this horrible at blogging lately? Nevermind, do not answer that...

The kids go back to school this week, I am not really looking forward to that. Yes, the normalcy will be nice, having schedules to follow, places to go and things to do will be a change from what we have been doing lately. You see, most days for the past 2 weeks, you could have dropped in at almost any time to find nearly all of us still bopping around in our pj's. I know, sad. We did manage to get around on New Year's Eve and take the little boys out to an early dinner. You could have probably called it lunch though.

The bigger kids had plans for the evening so that left us home alone with the little guys so we got all dressed up (I hate that I did not get a picture because it was really cute) and went out on the town. After eating, we hit up the bookstore. Yay! What adventureous folks we are!

Over the break, we have had a lot of time to relax, that is exactly what we needed too. We got some organizing done (not that you can really tell now!) did some cleaning, played some games and just hung out. We were really lucky the way the holidays worked out with Daddy's work schedule. During the time the kids were out, he had 4 days off each week! He went back to work yesterday and we were not happy about that.

We went ice skating one day, it was Boog's first time and I must say he really enjoyed himself. He outlasted all of us!

For the last few days, we have been touring the world though, buying tour busses, helicopters, finding band managers, getting a producer for our videos and releasing our first album. Oh wait, did I forget to tell you that we got Lego Rockband for Christmas?!? That game is awesome, we have the other Rockbands and Guitar Heros but this one is different. IT is a lot of fun, not that the others are not but this one is really super kid friendly. Even Boog can play along too. He plays the drums and I must say he is pretty good for a little guy. Tutti-Frutti helps me sing, either in my mic or in his own little play one. It is really cute to see and hear him walking around grunting and talking into it! Our band name is GB6, look for us...we are coming soon to a city near you and trust me, you won't want to miss it!

We had a great Christmas, I will try to get some pictures up soon, sorry I have been so horrible lately. I just cannot get into the swing of things. Since Tutti-Frutti has gotten older and more mobile, it is really hard to sit down in front of the computer. Unless, HE is in the mood for me to, which is really not often. He can usually be found standing beside me screaming like he is dying when I am on the computer. He stops what he is doing and finds me to do this, just so you know!

When all of the kids are in school, we are hardly ever even home anymore.

Wheew, I have really enjoyed being home. Relaxing schedule, I am really going to miss you! Come back soon!