i forgot these

i just realized i never posted our (the adults') costumes. they were too good not to post. this was our team for a halloween competition which, by the way, we totally won. "Let's get physical" was our team name - 80's aerobics inspired.
i tried so hard not to make a face while jumping.

guess who's three

how do you properly celebrate turning three? ask whitney. she'll tell you all about it.


first of all, there's a birthday cat, whithout a doubt, to have and to hold and to cuddle in bed (the cat's bed) and to name Sasafrass which, when called by a new three-year-old, owns the cutest three syllabals known to man,

and which, when obeyeing the new three-year-olds beckoning, brings the BIGGEST smile to a birthday girl's face.

of course, there's some getting used to a new finger on the still chubby baby hand that's so accustomed to two,

and, certainly, there should be tinkerbell-donning birthday cakes

complete with the bluest tongue-staining frosting availabe.

and birthday smiles

and birthday smirks


and birthday poses too.


and don't forget the hugs and kisses.

oh, and a party too rediculously big for any three year old.


and so, we have more love for this three-year-old than seems possible to have aquired for her in the three short years we've had her, but that's how it works with your kids - constantly baffeled by how attached you seem to have become to them. this one for sure

Grandma and Grandpa Fix their Grillz

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and fix their Grillz. Scary befores.

pillings incognito

it's all over. kind of sad. max was a ninja and i could hardly get any pictures of him all night, i guess cus' he was a ninja. nik was tinkerbell and whitney was peter pan. devan an octopus.















"we can fly" jumps

you can't judge a book...

it's thursday night and i'm getting revved up to complete (after starting) a couple of costumes. max is a little worried he might have to go as a second grade boy.
on his way down the hall towards his bed -
-mom, why didn't you just get one of the ninja costumes from the goodwill? (those words said with real tears and a bit of panic)
-i could tell they were all really flimsy. they would just fall apart.
-mom! you can't just say you could tell they were flimsy. that's like looking at a person and saying he's mean just by looking at him!
and that's max. always the last to judge a person by his cover.

obama-robber

the other morning max came downstairs with some very concerning news.

m - mom, someone stole a dollar from my bank. i counted my money last night and i'm missing a dollar.

uh, i couldn't tell him that actually the toothfairy had to borrow a dollar and would pay him back that night. can you imagine the line of questions that would have unleashed. i wasn't prepared to encounter that adolescent milestone. he's only 7, for heaven's sake, and i need as many more years as i can get of good "santa's watching you" threats.

anyway, nikki, standing there listening, clutching a new dollar bill, pushing her tongue through a new hole in her teeth, looked worried. she pulled me down to her level and quietly, after looking over both shoulders, said,

"mom. i think i know who took max's money."

crap! she was awake?

"i think obama took his money. he must have snuck in here last night."

poor thing. she thinks our could-be president wants to take all our money.

oh ... wait ...

Max wakeboarding