Woah, Nelly, there are a whole lot of pics in this post but I’m playing catch up. Make yourself a little snack and scroll away.
We have had a baby gate around our TV/entertainment center since we got it. For Liam we just had the six sections of the play yard stretched out in front of our TV and fireplace and he never tried to go behind it even though the ends were open. Jack went behind it almost as soon as he started crawling so we created a fence around the important things (the electronics) and this has worked for us for years until a couple weeks ago when I walked into the living room to find Jack as pictured above. In his defense, a piece of food had fallen onto the floor inside the gate and he had figured out a way over so he could retrieve it, not to cause havoc. And I know what you must be thinking, Michelle, your son is nearly 4, isn’t it time to take down the baby gate? And you would think that but one of the last times we were at my parent’s house, we found Jack in the living room feeding DVDs into the VCR. So, no, we are not yet taking down the baby gate and I have moved the chair he used to scale over the baby fence – after I had him reenact how he did it.
These are Triple Chip Blondies – do yourself a favor and make them, or find someone to make them for you and don’t look at the recipe so you will never know how much butter and brown sugar is in them.
Afghan from my childhood, now in my home. This makes me happy. And warm.
Jack has amped up his affection-showing lately, always wanting to hug everyone in our immediate family, including poor George (ironically, his increased affection for us has not translated to affection for others and when you ask him to smile for or hug others, he staunchly refuses, typically with a look of disgust on his face – a real charmer, that one). George in general tries to steer clear of close proximity to the children but on this occasion, Jack was eating some food and George was hoping to get some so he got too close to Jack and was rewarded with a tight squeeze.
Me and my littlest boy-o. I just love this picture.
I made a ball out of paper – gotta love the ideas you find on the Internet.
Cake batter muddy buddies are delicious – I’ll be honest and say I quickly get sick of the traditional muddy buddies but this cake batter version is addictive!
Simon and I at the fun. concert… not pictured the three girls who sat in front of us wearing coordinating outfits (everything was red, black and white) who were way done up for a concert in a field house and wearing 4-inch heels that made it comical to watch them walk up and down the bleachers.
Liam has been branching out more with his Lego creations, including the “people” he is putting together – this is one of my favorite combinations.
Liam’s also gotten into drawing comics – this is his redo of Captain Underpants. By Liam Bennett and Illustrated By Liam Bennett.
A collections of pics from my GWA (Girl’s Weekend Away)… clockwise from top, left: we made infinity scarves, painted our nails, ate yummy snacks and played Ticket to Ride (so fun!).
The view from our weekend house: Lake Pentwater (or is it Pentwater Lake?)
Liam likes to hang out with me and read. I love it.
The boys decided it was time for a new sticker chart so they created their own, all categories have to do with being good, either in general or to specific people in our family. Apparently that is it.
The boys are not wallflowers.
All sunset shots from the same night.
Thanksgiving Day, post-dinner, pre-pukefest. I love that Chris looks like he’s about to take flight. It’s a running joke as to how Chris is going to accidentally damage Liam when we get together – this time Jacob took over for his dad and unintentionally clotheslined Liam. Happy memories.
Jack from Thanksgiving Day – full of life over at Grandma and Grandpas house and then passed out on the hardwood floor in the entryway at Uncle Mike and Aunt Joan’s house.
But in less than 24 hours, Jack was back to his normal self, building towers bigger than a preschooler and glaring at the camera. This is the face I got when I asked for a smile.
You’d think they were facing an execution squad, but no, we were about to take them to get a slushie from the gas station – which was apparently the highlight of Liam’s trip to my parents’ house this summer, getting a 44-ounce slushie every day. When I asked him who he was the most thankful for, he said, “Grandpa, because he buys me slushies from Speedway.”
Friday night I got to cuddle my sweet godson, Ethan, what a little nugget. I’ve still got the magic mom arms to put the babies to sleep. Love him.
The boys wanted to play with Ethan, Ethan could not be bothered.
Liam sweetly told me that he wrote me a note, then passed me this piece of paper. Le sigh.
Left: photos from 2011. Right: photos from 2012. One of these things is not like the other. I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.
Call me crazy, but I love black licorice flavored anything but taffy is especially my favorite. Thank you, Horrocks for having this back in stock. I also love that Jack knows when he comes to my office, he can check the second drawer of my pedestal for candy.
Jack and I played cars. And by played, I mean, I sat there while he circled the cars up and told me not to touch anything.
ememby 
You always make me smile.