Things That Happen at My House

We find the Tukk having a little bread with his butter. At least, it's usually on bread. Sometimes he just snitches fingerfuls straight from the butter dish. And I'm not gonna lie... I always look the other way and let him have at it. He's 5 1/2 and the weight of an average 2 year old. If he wants to eat straight butter I say go for it.

We find cups of “creation” all over the place. And you never, ever, under any circumstances try what’s in them. Unless the children beg you too. And then, of course, you give in and take a swig. And then make "mmmm... so good" noises while you throw up a little in your mouth. 

You fall asleep on the couch during movie night, roll off, and land on not one, not two, but THREE Nerf guns. Seriously. I mean, you never know when aliens are going to come crashing through the living room window, so you have to keep an armory at the foot of the couch. With styrofoam bullets littered everywhere. And some shields and armor flung on the coffee table. And swords stashed in the armoire and on the kitchen table. So if those aliens show up, you're totally covered.

We find prisoners in our sprinkles. After all, what better way to imprison a Lego gone bad than in a bottle full of sprinkles? 

We even find our water bottles under attack by rogue ninja Legos. Because if there's one thing we have more of at our house than swords and Nerf guns and styrofoam bullets, it's Legos. Sweet heavens above, the thousands of tiny little foot-ripping Legos that lie strewn about my house. 

They are EVERY. WHERE. I. GO.

I find fifty dollar bills in the salad I took to work. This would be a lot more exciting... if it wasn't paper money. I suppose I should just be glad it wasn't a Lego. 

And sometimes we have chocolate cake in bed. Because when you spend all day battling the dark forces, double fisting butter and trying not to swallow and/or step on Legos, you REALLY  NEED a little chocolate cake in bed.

Why Cold Meds and Haircuts Don't Mix

So, this happened while I was at work yesterday.

Through a haze of tears brought on by hysterical laughter, I sent these pics to my friend Sharelle, who usually cuts Tukk's hair. For some unfathomable reason, she assumed that Tukk did this himself. Or maybe Muggzy did it with her dog paws. Or maybe a blind baby cut it. She was wrong. Cole - who's been on his deathbed for a week and downing massive amounts of cold medicine - was the man who held the scissors. Sharelle and I had this conversation.

I read "and that includes when the kids do it themselves with crayola scissors" and hysterical laugh/sobbed some more. 

And that, dear friends, is why cold medicine and haircuts don't mix. Ever. Never ever ever.

The Cousin Binge

The Pokies were down for a week during Christmas break, so we spent pretty much every waking minute with them while we had the chance. The highlight is always the sleepover.

We were also able to revive our holiday movie tradition and go see The Hobbit on Christmas Day.

One night when all the kiddos were at our house Caulder came sprinting into the kitchen and shouted, "Mom, Dad's gone too far!" I went to investigate and found Cole out in the front yard picking the kids up by their ankles and dunking their heads in a snowbank. I would have intervened but he threatened to do the same thing to me, so I did what any good aunt would do... I ran away and hid under a warm blanket in front of the fireplace. Judging by the looks on their faces, and the fact that they spent the rest of the night begging Cole to dunk them again, they must not have been too scarred.

We got to party it up at the Provo Beach Resort pretending it was summertime.

Isn't she beautiful?

And these two are still besties. They don't leave each other's side anytime they're together.

Yaya, June and Kolby were all brave enough to tackle the ropes course.

While they played around up in the air, the rest of us tried our hand at bowling.

Monkey boy had more fun climbing the ball ramp than actually bowling.

And after watching these nimble little foxes maneuvering their way around the laser room like pro thieves, I've decided it's time to stop working for my money and start a juvenile theft ring. 

We also had a rare night with the Hansen clan. Every time we get together we can't figure out why we don't hang out more. We have so much fun when we're all together! I especially enjoyed the fact that all the girls on the Hansen side of the family learned about Cole's instant barf reaction whenever you mention anything relating to the workings of the female body, so they spent the night talking in depth about periods, tampons, and hemorrhoids. Watching him squirm and almost cry was the greatest gift anyone could have given me.  

But then all the parties were over and the cousins went back to Idaho. And now we're just depressed. Our only comfort comes from brother snuggles, finger sucking, and Kenny. I have no idea how we're going to survive until next Christmas.

The Big Day!

The crazies were just a teensy bit excited to open a present on Christmas Eve.

This was the site that greeted them on Christmas morning. At 9 am. When they finally dragged their lazy butts out of bed.

I think it's totally normal that my 8 year old asks Santa for bacon every year. The kid is a genius.

The aftermath...

We had breakfast at Yaya and The Babe's after we opened our presents and followed Santa's treasure hunt. Our traditional treasure hunt at home was good practice for the scavenger hunt Yaya had in store, courtesy of Aunt Rylee, Uncle Andrew, and Aunt Darbs. The Babe was thrilled about all these Christmas goings-on... he fell asleep after breakfast and snored the entire time. There's nothing better than a good Christmas coma, am I right?!

The cousins finally solved all the clues and found their gifts buried deep in the potato pit of doom.

Yaya and The Babe got the boys the new Disney Infinity game for the XBox. As you can see, they were just a little excited about it. 

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Farney gave them these sweet beanbag chairs. They spent the rest of Christmas break parked right here, playing their new tablets and Infinity game, not changing out of their pajamas, eating stocking candy and pretty much having the best Christmas ever.

And although their new tablets, Legos, chairs, XBox games, and mega bacon pack were pretty great, nothing could compete with the awesomeness of the giant boxes the chairs came in. After all, they're quite versatile. Alien space ship? Perfect. City condominium with skylight? Why yes. Rocket ship filled with candy and a lantern to light the way in the deep recesses of space? You know it. And why did Tukk tell us he needed a scwew dwivew and his blankie? So he could stab holes in his box and create the perfect cardboard tent, complete with stars shining above. And then, of course, enjoy the starlight while snuggling the faithful Kenny.

It was such a fun Christmas. I feel so lucky to be able to share my favorite holiday with the three people I love more than anything on this planet.