Things that make me smile...

Meet the oldest man in our house (for the day anyway). Today was the 100th day of school and the kindergarteners got to dress up like they were 100. I didn't have anything grey for his sweet stache, but it did add a few years. I especially love the tie. He is a good sport about being dressed up.

This is the picture of all pictures for me. I swear these goggles never get old!

It's funny the things that you do to get some extra things done.

When Lizzie smiles she doesn't just smile with her mouth, her entire body has to get excited with her. So cute!!!

I love this little girl and her smiley face and pointy tongue.

Mr. Smooth!

I've never had a child that makes a better mad face than Thomas and this picture captures it beautifully. I love this little boy!

Didn't everyone own a pair of fuzzy footy jammies with the feet cut out at one time or another? Thomas came to me one night with a very distressed look on his face and proceeded to sit down and point out to me that his big toe was poking through his jammies. It's a wonder they made it this far after 3 little boys going through them, but I did the only natural thing there was to do (no not throw them away), I cut the feet out and here's the result.

I find it rather hilarious that little 2-yr olds think that "big" underwear are so completely awesome! Thomas is definitely not potty trained, but because he has such a skinny little heiny I sometimes use these cushy undies to keep his pants up a little better and when I do, this is how he feels about it.

This, my friends, is why we have thrown out every marker in our house. This fine fellow likes to write on everything but paper with them and suck them dry. I found that this particular blue marker had been sucked dry (it was white at the tip), only after Thomas colored blue on the kitchen window and himself. Nice.

This is my little Katie girl on a regular day. And with the boots yes, I mean regular. Below are pictures of the everyday life of Katie Soter.

As of this week I can't keep Katie in anything other than this fine getup. Despite my attempts to put her in regular clothes every morning, give it an hour at best and Katie will prance in wearing this, strike a fabulous pose and say, "Well, how do I look mom?" And I will say, "You look beautiful Katie", and she will shake her head as if to acknowledge that yes, she does look beautiful and then be on her merry way to do all of the lovely things that Katie does.

In her own words, "It's Superhero Katie to the rescue!" This is usually her first pick of costume, but this one is MIA at the moment. Bummer! (except not every time she needs to go potty).

This is one of her very favorites. There have been many occasions when I have gone in to check on her and Thomas after they have gone to sleep and this is what I find her in, sweating like crazy, but so happy. I love this quirky little girl!

Last, but definitely not least, here is my little princess. This is the first time that Katie, of her own choosing, put on a princess dress. It had to be documented! She looks beautiful!

Just to let you know, it is only January. Not warm outside, but here are my kids, pretending apparently that it is the summer time. They were bug hunting by the way.

This deserved a slot in the blog. It was a Sunday morning and might I just mention, like not more than 45 or 50 degrees outside. I look out the window and low and behold! What month exactly does Matthew think it is? Perhaps Nicholas is also a little confused?

It's the whole heard. What a fine heard!

My beautiful baby girl and her first time sitting up (with a little leg support). She was mighty proud about it!

The mighty men and their mighty marble tower.

That my friends is a cool dude pushing a cool dude in a sweet ride.

Lizzie is one lucky girl because she is everyones favorite. No one ever gets mad at Lizzie (except maybe when she is crying and mom hasn't come to her rescue, which makes it hard for the smaller kid to hear their show).

My beautiful girls (and yet another of Katie's many "looks". This one is affectionately referred to as "dry bones".)

My handsome boys!

Thomas was not a fan of all the mumbo jumbo I made him put on to wear outside, but he was a fan of being outside and was mad as a hornet when I made him come in. I love that when he tried to look at you from the side his little face got lost in his coat hood. The funny look of a bundled kid is my favorite part of the snow (perhaps one of my only favorite parts, other than my kids loving it!)

Katie was so excited to play in the snow. Last year she was too little so this was really one of her first experiences being let loose in the snow. She loved it!

This boy was totally decked out. He loves to play in the snow, but he is not a fan of being cold. A man after my own heart. I realize that this is a laughable amount of snow, especially since it was enough to cancel school for 4 days, but for us it was plenty. It was great powdery snow so the kids didn't come in soaking wet, thank goodness.

My biggest of boys. This is the most intense of my little friends. He will stay out long past everyone else and loves it!

This is a thing of chocolatey beauty.

The bakers behind the beauty.

It's Mr. Elf Thomas. He insisted on this belt Christmas morning. Nothing new or fancy about it. It's just a belt, but he was a happy man.

Excited little friends (to put it mildly) on Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas morning everyone!