Christmas 2008

The Fat Man was good to us this year...most of us that is. Despite Jonah's fervent prayers that "Daddy won't call Santa different words," Josh still didn't get the boat he's wanted for the past three years. That's what you get for calling Santa names at our house.

Jonah and his pirate ship

Ellie and Char got a dollhouse and Ellie has hardly stopped to play with anything else.

And a stroller for Charlotte. She loves it!

Christmas Eve with the Allreds/Porters. We decided to share the kids' pipe talents with the family.

Jonah was the Drummer Boy in the Nativity.

Ellie was an Angel, though as I recall, the angel bit was strictly an act. That's what you get when you drag your 3 yr. old to party after party with ne'er a nap.

The whole crew.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Char Pictures

Gotta love this girl!

Because I know you don't already have plans for this Saturday afternoon...

Bring the Family! Dec 20 @ 2:30pm Mesa Arts Center

An Afternoon of Christmas Delights

Featuring Handel's Messiah, Greensleeves with Youth Symphony of the Southwest & Interactive Christmas Sing-A-Long Adult Price: $27 & $17 Child Price: $10 Our Gift to You! Your Adult Price: $17 & $10 TO REDEEM USE PROMO CODE: PARENTS & FRIENDS To purchase, call 480.644.6500 or click here

Holy Jolly

We've been having fun with Christmas carols this year. I'm pretty sure Deck the Halls has most of our 5-and-under-year-olds slightly confused. I've heard several variations, all very amusing. Around our house it's "Deck the halls with holy jolly..." (not to be confused with holly jolly) And Ellie...well, she has the "fa la la la la" part down. Heck, what am I talking about? Five and under? I can never remember all the words to that song. But then I'm notorious for making up words. It's good to know I've passed something on to my kids.

Here's the kids' recent favorite. Jonah on lead pipe. Ellie on back-up pipe. Charlotte, prima ballerina extraordinaire and occasional jingle-beller. Mom, up and coming director, producer and photographer.

Note Jonah's concern for Ellie's "form".





Other fun/funnies...

Making forts

Sleeping in tents

Being prepared for "bad guys" at all times

And Santa's Little Helpers

Tagged

Tiffany invited me to bold what I've done on her list...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (Tiff...if I remember correctly, we actually did this together. Hawaii! Remember???)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance [not the patient]
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check [not on purpose]
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I think I'm boring and need to be more bold!

You're all tagged! Ha!
Just paste this list into your blog and bold the ones that you have done, and unbold any you haven't.

Awesome pics

My friend Jill is a great photographer. Here are a few she casually shot, testing out the location, lighting, etc. I think they're amazing. Of course the portrait subjects may have something to do with that :)





Thanks, Jill!

Then again, maybe not.

Josh put this on her Sunday and got quite a different reaction--twirls and smiles. These fickle girls in my life, apparently. I just have to say that Char has got my heart bursting to the seams lately. She is so dang cute I can hardly stand it. She has recently learned the art of "please" and "thank you" and while I secretly loved the blood shrieking screams to get what she wanted, I have to admit the change has been quite lovely. Sometimes she signs "more please" and other times gives me her sweetest grin and belts out, "peeeese!" and "ank-ou." For now I just don't see how she could get any cuter.

"Cheese!"

"Please!"

I won't go broke on clothes...

because Jonah wants nothing to do with them. He was in desperate need of new jammies so I came home with some cool batman p.j.'s and the kid is refusing to wear them. In fact, he's put a ban on all future new clothes. I can't say this surprises me really. Josh is pretty much the same way when it comes to handling even life's smallest changes. When I get him a new shirt he hates it for a day and then it's his favorite the next. These fickle men in my life! When Josh and I tried to explain to Jonah about growing up and out of old clothes he just said, "I'll get new clothes when I'm bigger, like when I'm fifteen!"

We'll save a bundle on Charlotte too because she doesn't like the frilly, expensive stuff. I learned this when I tried to put a poofy dress on her last Sunday and she consequently threw herself on the floor in hysterics, ripped at the dress and through tears shouted repeatedly, "No! No! No!"

Maybe Ellie will make up for the former two.

Frilly...check. Poofy...check.

And finally a little Halloween montage of my sweet babes!

There's a smile on this girl's face now (a bag full of candy can sometimes have that effect), but believe me--this was not the case just 10 minutes prior. Note the poofy-ness of this sweet little butterfly contraption. Enough said.

An exhausting day in the life of a pirate.

I just remembered this one from two years ago. I probably don't even need to mention that I was not providing parental supervision at the time...that would be Josh.

Symphony Plug

Come to this...


And partake of this...

Well...maybe if you're out that way???

AND...in case you missed it the first time, you get another chance!


We're coming to the Higley Performing Arts Center November 22, 7:30 PM for a repeat concert! It's seriously awesome music if you're even a little bit into the classical scene.

Friday Froughts

Pictures of Halloween and the such to come...hopefully. My camera broke again and is in the shop with all my precious pictures on it! Maybe this will be just the excuse I need to get a real camera :)

Other news...I did my spring triathlon last Saturday and it was a blast! I wasn't a blast (finished almost last in my category), but the actual experience was way cool. I'm looking forward to another one in March and Joni, you inspired me! I'm doing the Arizona relay from Wickenburg to Mesa in February. My poor group, is all I have to say. I don't think they fully understood me when I tried to explain just now slow I am. Joni, maybe you can give me some good tips (besides buying just two, not three huge bunches of Costco bananas)!

Well, Jonah's asking for "fresh water" from the R.O. so I better go. (I didn't realize we had a sea brewing in the fridge water...what they won't say to get us off our hineys.)

Call me lazy...

but I really do not like having to wash Jonah's sheets every day he's had an accident, which lately seems to be nearly every night. So last night when he asked if I'd put his sheets on for him (besides the mattress pad which was already on), I said "No," to which he said, "Fine, I'm not going to bed! I'm going to stay up as long as you do! I'm going to watch a movie! I'm going to play the hunting game! I'm going to get something to eat!" and on and on and on. Like good parents, Josh and I just ignored him and eventually (like within 10 minutes or so) he ended up on the kitchen floor asleep...

I guess he got to go to bed with his sheets after all.

As if he hadn't caused enough trouble for his parents already, the next morning he woke up, stole the camera and took this fun little clip of Charlotte...all while I slept, completely unaware (as is the case most mornings I can't drag myself out of bed).

Pumpkin, Shpumpkin

I thought I'd get away without having to do a Halloween craft this year, when Jonah asked today if we could create this...

It's as creative as we Greers get.

But I got a cute picture of the kids out of it.

Spiders and Pumpkins and Skeletons...Oh My!

We have some sugar addicts in the home. Yes, I'm one of them but I think even my kids have me beat. Yesterday morning Jonah woke up early to sneak some of the Halloween M&M's that were left within reach the night before. On his way back up to his room, loot in hand, he ran into Josh and always the logical one, said very seriously, "Dad, you shouldn't have left the M&M's out cause I'm just going to eat them all."

And then again this morning they were left out (you'd think I'd have learned my lesson) and being only subconsciously aware that the kids were getting into them whilst I slept off my late night, I soon afterwards became fully aware of the situation when Jonah came in smelling of chocolate, fist full of chocolate. Of course it was Ellie's fault, not his.

At least they shared...


And more messes. Charlotte is now completely independent of my feeding her...as you can see.



Later today...

After arguing for a bit about whether Jonah's Halloween toy was a skeleton or a pumpkin and getting a little frustrated with the conversation I finally just said, "It is what it is, Jonah." To which he replied, "No...it's not what it's not."

What do you think...pumpkin or skeleton???

Or spider! AHHHHHHHH! (Let me just note that, despite its appearances, that black widow looking spider on his shoulder is not in actuality a black widow spider because there's no red on its belly...according to Jonah.)

Symphony of the Southwest

A shout out for my symphony (that hopefully will last through the new year!). It will be a fun, cultural event in a beautiful venue. Come out to the Mesa Arts Center and give us a try!

As an orchestra member of the Symphony of the Southwest, I would like to personally invite you to our first concert of the season on October 25, 2008 at 8 PM at the Mesa Arts Center in the Ikeda Theater. We are very excited to present a family oriented program featuring local radio and television personality Michael Dixon as narrator in Benjamin Britten's wonderfully entertaining and educational masterpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra as well as beautiful classic pieces from Liszt, Strauss, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and more.

Every piece on the program is well known. Even if you are not familiar with the titles of the music or the composers, you will recognize and enjoy the entire evening. All of us have heard portions of these works used in movies, on television and even in Tom and Jerry and Looney Tune cartoons.

The Symphony of the Southwest is at its highest caliber of playing to date, and our ticket prices are friendly to everyone’s budget. I hope that you and your family members will come and acquaint yourselves with our fantastic orchestra that belongs to the Valley. Hope to see you there!

Tickets may be purchased from the Mesa Arts Center Box Office by calling 480.644.6500 or on the web at http://www.mesaartscenter.com/EventDetail.aspx Ticket prices begin at $10.

Fall Break 2008

Not that Fall Break means much to a Mom with three kids at home. Still, any chance to get out of the house is very much appreciated. And then when we get to spend that time in a chilly place up in the mountains where it really does feel like Fall...well then, a break it is! Get ready to scroll down through a mound of pictures.

Reasons to love Haigler...

Games...

Grandpa Dale's stick game that the boys loved. Throwing sticks...how can you go wrong?

The girls got into it too

Charley joins the fun.

The younger the better when it comes to playing cards. Here we are playing Uno with Phase 10 cards...Ellie's actually really good.

Four Wheeling...

Jonah loved his rides with Dad...probably not so much with me. Though Josh would disagree, I find it utterly unsafe putting the 'pedal to the metal.'

Fishing...

Not my personal favorite, but it makes Josh very popular with the kids.

Afton scored.

The craziness of these cousins...

Emma and Ellie dancing to some teenage silliness.

On a little hike to find the pumpkin patch that unfortunately was harvested a day too late for pictures :(
(Ellie, Jonah, Liam, Ethan and Luke)

Char, Ellie, Afton and Liam on Uncle Art's cool swing that he built.

Preston...always the best friend with my girls

Char being a door bell

Last, but not least...Scrappin'

Mikki scrappin' away. We all accomplished quite a bit!

'Twas a great trip that I was sad to see come to an end (except that it meant rejoining with hubby after a few days' absence). I'm cursing the 90 degree weather, but this is where I live and I'm almost sick of hearing myself complain about it...so, here's to cooler days ahead and a very mild, bearable Arizona winter.