Did you post any yet??

That is the standing question... so here we goooooooooooo......

We begin at the stockings....

Our Fireplace

DINOSAURS !!!

Small boy chasing some of the removed stocking contents around

mmmm Orange Peel!


Where are the toys?



WEBKINZ!!!


Medium boy said "Now I am a webkinz boy!"
Tall girl was just excited.... they love that website.




Traditional Clausen Christmas morning Breakfast
French Toast Casserole & Star Fruit Salad
Coffee & Orange Juice
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Our Lovely Tree

Our Lovely Children

chanting "unwrap presents"

Zillions of Photos to Post

I have a zillion Christmas photos to post.

But let me get you all started with this video of Small boy today... taking steps with his new walk behind vehicle...

Thank you Uncle Josh and Aunt Tammy and cousin Gideon. He LOVES this thing and was playing with and then walking behind it within 20 minutes of us getting home today.




We all went to my brother Josh's house today to share dinner and open gifts with my Dad and Mom and brother(s) and sister(s). We enjoyed it and the kids had a total blast.

We were sorry to leave early due to Chris needing to be home to leave and play drums at a gig tonight.

Had I known we would be that pressed (or is it stressed) for time, I might ...

Oh but the weather was too windy and rainy and yukky -


AND the road was flooded we normally would take home so we had to detour on our way back-


...which is GREAT when you are already wondering if you are going to make it somewhere on time...


... you all know I don't like to be late, but did you know Chris cannot even think of being late for any type of work without practically breaking out in hives...


you know those kind on the INSIDE of your skin, but I digress...


I might have driven separately from Chris... but I did not think of it BEFORE we left today. ugh. Makes me look brilliant.


But... I did remember all the food and presents and all the kids I was responsible for and I managed to get them all back home with me too, so that is pretty good, even though I (we) were major time stressed getting out the door.


Chris was loading presents into the van while we were still opening the last one (um, caity... how long DOES that take ... wink wink, smile, smile :) ). Poor Chris barely had time to change into his tux and run out the door to drive for an hour to get to the gig. My sweet man!


yes... I did take a few minutes to snap pictures of my kids with Dandy and GrandDawn before we left, while my handsome WONDERFUL husband loaded our van...


and ohmygosh tammy I realized as I tucked a child into sleep that I totally forgot to hug your face and THANK YOU for organizing and making fabulous food for this... forgive me... you did a wonderful job, we really enjoyed being there! You and Josh are great hosts.



So all that to say...enjoy the quick video... stills will be posted soon!

Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night before Christmas... and I am stirring!

Christmas Eve Gifts

Baby Einstein

I am reading

Us too!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Holiday Photos

Most people go to the studio and pictures taken of their precious children, or have a photographer come to the house and have precious holiday pictures taken...



But not us....




We are do-it-yourselfers ....





if only for the sake of saving money.....





and all that studio arguing.....






Tall girl: look at the camera and smile....






Medium boy: PLEASE SMILE and hold it....

and PUT your hands down.





EVERYBODY look this way and say CHEESE...





Would SOMEBODY Get small boy back over here....





so, in order to save ourselves the STRESS (um, did this work?)






WE do it ourselves.... Unlike all home repair projects where we HAVE to call a fix it person ....





and these are some of the (unusable) results for Christmas cards....





but totally worthy of sharing with you.....

This was ALMOST it!

GOTTA LOVE small boy in this one

Medium boy's hand is kinda blocking here

Small boy was REALLY happy about this

This ran a close second too... Medium boy biting his lip, Tall girl has turkey neck and Small boy is actually forcing a smile COME ON NOW!

Male Model in Black

(no actual models were hurt during filming)

Very Handsome! Chris's rendition of male modeling. Thank you Mom & Dad it is a gorgeous and warm wool winter coat on that man! Kinda like a pea coat, only nicer!

Kids have to get in on the action!

See me travel with toys...

SMILE

See me smile for Mommy!

I am the cutest boy with a toy in my mouth EVER!!!

You must be joking

I lost a tooth. Really. A front tooth, well lateral incisor really... so the tooth right next to my front tooth. Saturday afternoon while driving in the van and talking to my sons in the back seat. I closed my mouth and when I did, I heard a CRACK as my teeth touched. . . and out it came. The tooth was broken at the gumline.

So Saturday night and Sunday and even Monday... I have been hibernating in the house. (Okay... Saturday and Sunday I spent pouting in the house)

Until today... I got a replacement... a temporary build up until January.

I don't have to lose the tooth (no extraction) The doc put a post into this previously root canaled tooth (just done ~6 months ago) and did a small (but strangely WHITE) build up to make it appear there is a tooth there.

So now instead of Minnie Pearl ( I mean the black out tooth thing, I actually like the hats)... I have a tooth(ish) looking thing in it's place.

Which I do completely prefer to the Hee Haw lookin mouth.

What a painful reminder of how mortal we are and how fleeting youth and beauty can be.

I am not a particularly vain person, rather self-centered at times but not vain per se.
But this is a hard thing to swallow (no, not the tooth, I did not swallow it).
I have commented to my close girlfriends, but it bears restating... My face is thin, not because I am particularly thin, but because I do not have back molars supporting my cheeks.

Losing my teeth affects me so very deeply. I mean, what do you do at my age when you don't have molars anymore and your front teeth are dropping out? Did you know that it can run $3500 - $8000 per tooth for implants (it is on that higher end if you have to have bone grafts) Egads.

So, for now, I am grateful that this tooth does not need to be replaced entirely. (Because no how no way at this point.) And I will wait to have molar implants until later in life.

The question arises: Why are your teeth going bad? We really do not know. The dentist thinks I just have fragile teeth. Meaning that by the time they find a cavity, it is already within and has consumed the interior of my teeth. So instead of a filling, I ended up with root canals early. Then from there, my teeth have been fracturing from the inside out. The last molar I had to have removed fractured under the crown, because the post fractured the tooth and then decayed from the inside out. So sadly, there is not much I can do... I have always drank my milk and brushed and flossed. This lateral incisor fractured inside too, probably just becoming brittle after the root canal earlier this year. SIGH.

All by Myself....

Clicky boy! My newest trick!

Gingerbread Dreams....

Medium boy with "C" house

Finished House and Train

MMMM

Tall girl's "C" House Masterpiece

Isn't this beautiful!

Hey, what about me...

He wants you to believe we left him in there the whole time

But you know we didn't!

The is the picture perfect Gingerbread Train!

Medium boy telling Daddy all about it!

Medium boy with his "M" Train Masterpiece

Oh yeah!

No really, only Dreams of Gingerbread, because as soon as we were finished, they ate almost all the candy off them! We took two separate days to make them both.

It was a lot of fun and cutting up while we made them. It was two days worth of sugarplum flum ... um, fun.

Some things just stick in your head...

Medium boy ... just too cute.

Signposts in Iowa...

We thought this was hilarious and noteworthy, considering the family history! We took a different way home from Des Moines this time, this was on the side of a building in the town square as we drove through. Pretty cool, ay?!

FIRST LOOSE TOOTH

Matthan officially has his first loose tooth! His bottom right front tooth is loose. He was very excited when I was brushing his teeth and found it. Looking forward to a visit from the tooth fairy ... whenever it finally falls out.

Thanksgiving and more...

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as we did. We spent a couple of days at Chris's parents in Iowa. We were blessed to stay with them and not have to spend money we did not have on a hotel. It was a fabulous visit and I will be posting more pictures of family soon. The kids had a blast with their cousins and loved Grandpa & Grandma.

Enjoy this video of Westley discovering the image in the mirror and giving himself a kiss.




The kids came home with awesome (mostly) new stuff... Thomas the train for Matthan from Aunt Brenda ... Strep throat for Caitlyn (Not so awesome and probably contracted prior to going to Iowa!). Yikes.