A New Look, Fun Stuff, Zack Days 4 & 5

I love this new look! What do you think? (I think Danielle rocks!) If you are considering a make-over for your own blog, I highly recommend her! :) Or if you even just want a blog button, check her site out. She does amazing work!

Yesterday I didn't get around to posting because, well, it was Friday and for some reason it just flew by. Maybe it was all the cleaning I did? Before I knew it, it was evening, Seth was coming home, and called to tell me he was bringing home Chinese. (Yey! No cooking again!)

After dinner, I played some games with Ethan. He loves to play games and I always feel that I don't have enough time to spend with my kids individually, so I wanted to take some time to just play with him. It's been a while! We both love games, especially Simply Fun games. If you've never heard of them, check them out! I have two friends that are consultants, and I have quite a few of the games. We just got their game In10sity, so we played that last night. It is a trivia game where every answer is a number between 1 & 10. Even Seth played, which is a rarity. :)

Then we watched some movies and hit the hay. Or tried. Ruby woke up 3 x last night, crying for some unknown reason. So I woke up a little crabby this morning. Ethan came into our room and whispered, "Mom, I can't find Zack!" I waved him out, motioning for him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake Ruby (sleeping finally, in her crib right next to my side of the bed.) He was back a minute later, pointing at the advent / nativity calendar. I shook my head "no" but realized it was useless to expect to get any more sleep.

Ethan found Zack, but it took him a little bit, and a hint from me... First I will show you were he was on Friday, and then I'll post today's hiding spot. :)

I wonder where he will show up tomorrow? Hm, and I just realized that this picture shows just how late I was up last night! :) And maybe explains some of why I've been so tired today!

We are off to go see the Live Nativity Drive-Thru at my alma mater! :D

Things I Will / Will Not Miss, Zack Day 3

Today I was looking around my house, and I realized that in a few years, my house will look drastically different. I am really looking forward to it. Even if we stay in the same house, I will be able to put stuff down at toddler level because I won't have toddlers anymore! I won't have to stack everything up high, and our Christmas tree(s) will be able to be on the floor again... not on little tables and such.

This led me to start thinking of all the things I will not miss about this time in my life... such as:

*Diapers. Enough said.

*potty-training. This kind goes along with the first...

*sippy cups. I hate washing them, and they don't seem to come clean in the washer. All those little crevices... ugh.

*baby toys all over my living room floor. (Ok, so it will be a few more years before I'll be completely rid of all toys from the floor, but we'll be able to get rid of a lot!)

*separate food for baby. This is already getting better, as Ruby is starting to eat more and more of what we eat...

*door knob covers

*baby gates

*drawer latches

*listening to a scream / cry / whine instead of words.

*our ripped up loveseat that the kids destroyed (although I think this is going bye-bye very soon!)

*booster seats at the table

*booster / car seats

These are just the things I can think of just in the last few minutes.

Of course there are also things I will miss:

*The girls letting me do their hair in cute litte ponytails. (Hopefully I will still have a few more years of this!)

*snuggling time

*tiny toes

*footie jammies

*all those cute little baby sounds (no, not the crying and screaming!)

*first words

*cute little clothes

*the look on their faces everytime they discover something new

*Nap time!

*watching them waddle around on little stubby legs

I'm sure there is lots more... But no matter what I will or will not miss, time isn't going to stop, so I guess I should just enjoy the days we have!

Diapers and all?

Well... maybe not the diapers... but you gotta love this:

and this:

and the ponytails!

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And for those of you curious-types... here is Zack on Day 3. I think he is trying to remind me that I need to hang my valance back up! It's only been months since I took it down and washed it! ;)

Zack, Day 2

Zack picked a great spot today! Perhaps he was trying to be tricky and camoflauge himself in the pointsettias? Ethan found him right away this morning, before he was even fully awake, still rubbing his eyes. It was the very first thing on his mind this morning as he stumbled out of his room. So cute.

Kibby just grinned, pointed, and said, "Lookit! I can't beLIEVE it!" Which made Seth and me laugh out loud. (When she wants to talk, she does!)

Meet Zack!

Today we had the arrival of a special guest at our house! Meet Zack, one of Santa's scout elves!

He arrived this evening, about 30 minutes ago (just before 9PM!) Ethan found him on top of the speaker! He is going to watch over the kiddos' behavior and report each night to Santa at the North Pole. Then he will be back in the mornings, hiding in a new spot each day! It will be the kids' job to find him! Ethan is so excited! :) Kibby just smiled a shy smile, pointed and said, "Who Dat?"

Ethan found our elf and named him.

Here is Ethan reading the book (all about these scout elves) called The Elf on the Shelf.

Zack should be a lot of fun for the kids this month! I'm looking forward to seeing where he shows up each morning! :)

Here are a few more recent pics...

I love this one!

Here is Ruby playing with the Christmas tree bulbs. She was actually waving her arms in excitement and squealing and laughing. Later, she discovered she could take the bulbs off and walk around with them. (Much to her sister's anxiety, which only made it more fun for Ruby!!)

I'll continue to post about Zack's appearances from time to time, especially if he happens to hide in a really creative spot. ;)