{b.i.f. intro}

There are lots of things that I want to remember while raising my kiddos.  These are things that don't really qualify for an entire story on my blog simply because they are nothing more than a random memory.  And trust me, random memories get kicked out of my brain for much more important information like remembering that when The Laurie Berkner Band jumps into Tuesday, they're gonna have themselves a Snoozeday. 

You may or may not care about these posts...they're really just for me.

With that in mind, I will be randomly posting my "because I'll forget" {b.i.f.} posts.  See my next post as example one.

{the breakfast police}

So, this morning, Amelia was busy buttering her bagel when I walked out into the kitchen. I had been in and out while they were getting their breakfast around because I had been printing some papers in the office.

I walk out into the kitchen to the smell of burnt toast. I said, "Who burnt something? Did somebody burn some toast?"

I didn't see anything burnt, but the toaster was set on "3" which is kind of a "charred" setting on our toaster {and the craziest part is that it goes all the way up to 5...what?!!}.

Anyway, Amelia was the only one standing near the toaster. I said, "Did you push the button down when nothing was in it?"

She shook her head yes.

Me: Ok, well, don't do that. That's not a good idea, and it's not safe.

Amelia: {in a very sweet voice, as she goes back to buttering her bagel} Will the police pull me over?

Me: {laughing on the inside} No.

Amelia: {to herself...kind of mumbling} I see them a lot. They are around a lot.

{Oh to live in a world where the biggest problem our law enforcement would face was 3 year olds engaging toasters with no bread!}

sometimes.the.truth.hurts

Sorry, Livi. This card that says, "I am a pig" is truer than most people realize. This girl can pack away the food! She has even grown impatient with me during mealtime and has decided that feeding herself is almost as good as having me feed her.

She can pick up small bits of food and put them in her mouth, and she loves holding a spoon while she eats {even if it's to simply bang on the highchair and demand more food}.

Unfortunately, this entire transition means that all of those small bits of arts and crafts, dropped snack, and unfortunate spills need to be cleaned up...and cleaned up in their entirety. I found her with a hunk of play-doh in her mouth today. Hmmm...wonder where that came from, Amelia.

Now, back to the game Hedbanz. It is a whole lot of fun for a family.  Put it on someone who is between the ages of 7-12's wish list.  And I love it when the 9 month old allowed us to put a Hedbanz card on her head! It was fabulously ironic that she was a pig. She crawled around for at least 5 minutes that way.  Loved it.

the.simple.things

Amelia would have been happy to stop at the scotch tape in her stocking. :) She was thrilled. She kept shouting, "I got tape! I got tape!"

Note to self: office supplies make fantastic stocking stuffers.

best.of.2011

January: Eden's 1st birthday party!

February: Josh builds tamers for the girls' closets {absolutely lovely}

March: welcome to the world sweet baby girl

April: sisters!

May: girls' weekend at the lake

June: lazy days at the lake

July: vacation

August: replace the deck boards

September: family vacation {look at all those cousins!!}

October: Tin Man, Dorothy, Giraffe, Elephant

{seriously, this is the best picture I took of all of them!}

November: stocking the freezer

December: a very Merry Christmas

Please join in and share your year in pictures!

the.potty.dance

I walked in the house tonight from running errands.  I really had to go to the bathroom, but I had to get my boots and my coat off first. 

Amelia was standing in the entryway, and I said, "I really need to go to the bathroom!!" 

She says, "Just do this."  {picture her standing there, knees together, walking/bouncing/dancing around like she has to potty}

Yes, I do believe that I've seen that look before around here...EVERY SINGLE TIME SOMEONE HAS TO GO TO THE BATHROOM.  We call it "the potty dance" at our house.  Sometimes it's a dance, sometimes it's a wiggle, sometimes it's a shake.  I'm pretty sure I see it daily.

december.fun

Let's just all face the fact that I'm a terrible December blogger.  Last year was exactly the same.  Oh well.  Take me as I am. :)

We have had a fabulous month so far.  We've made a lot of fun memories, and I'm looking forward to the many more that this week will bring.  I can't believe that Christmas is this Sunday!!  Wow.  Here are some highlights from the month...

My Aunt Barb always showers our girls with Christmas gifts, and this year Eden, Jill, and my mom joined us for a Christmas brunch at our house.  Mom jumped in a pic with the girls, and I thought this one turned out really cute {except for Amelia's completely dazed look}. 

One of Josh's college roomies was in town a couple of weeks ago to visit, and we were able to spend a couple of days with them.  We took our three oldest girls to a gingerbread house decorating class.  It was worth every single penny of the $11 each that we spent.  They had tons and tons of different kinds of candy to decorate the houses.  Everything was prepped, ready to go, and we left the mess there!  Loved it.

This picture below was nothing but pure fun.  Claire and Meredith decided to play a jump rope game, and Olivia crawled over to be part of it, too.  The girls handed her one end of the jump rope, and she couldn't have been more thrilled to be playing along.

She shook that rope as hard as she could.  Each time it came out of her hand, she would crawl right to it, grab it, and shake it again as hard as possible.  They all played together for at least 15 minutes.  It was the most adorable thing that I've seen in a while.

Here are a few other highlights:

-cookie baking

-my new Kindle Fire arrived {and the crowd goes wild!}

-Olivia is a crawling machine

-we went ice skating today

-made lots of memories with friends already

Have I mentioned that I love December?  It is seriously one of my favorite times of the year for making memories.  What are some fun memories that you've made this month?