Our First Self Haircut Incident

Well, I think it happens in just about every family, and why should we be any exception?  Clayton had a pair of scissors at the table and was cutting out some shapes I'd drawn on a piece of paper.  I was standing six feet from him cutting up vegetables in the kitchen.  I was aware that Eli was standing over there, but I wasn't really paying attention, as everyone was happy.  Then Eli said it.

Mommy, we're cutting our OOOWWWNNN hair!

What?  That got my attention.  I ran over to the table, and there was a pretty good sized pile of hair on the floor.  Eli had the scissors.  It wasn't immediately obvious who the victim was, but upon examination, Eli is definintely missing a fair amount of hair in the back, and Clayton is missing a small chunk on the front side.  It really wasn't that bad, and my boys are in real need of haircuts anyway, so when I take them in the next couple days, I'll just have them buzz it down to the level they cut at.  It could have been sooo much worse.

There was a long discussion about how only the hair lady is allowed to cut your hair.  No one else.  Period.  Hopefully that will be the first and last haircut incident in this house.

And thank you, Eli, for always feeling the need to narrate your life.  Your nonstop talking has saved us more than once.

Our Christmas Travels

Now that it's mid-January, I've decided it's time to share some pictures from Christmas.  We decided to spend Christmas back in Nevada this year.  We stayed with Ryan's parents and were able to spend a lot of time with family and friends.  It's always good to be back in Nevada.  It still feels like home.  We flew out Dec. 21 and returned home the day after Christmas.

The brothers

We took a trip to the Bellagio

 My neice, Julianne

Papa and my nephew, Jack

Aaron and me

Clayton

Inside the gardens

The gardens were so beautiful.

Kristin and Ryan taste testing the Panda Express buffet

The cousins enjoying Chinese food

The kids found great joy in pretending to have a slumber party.  It was so peaceful, none of the adults complained.

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Clayton and Eli sneaking behind the Christmas tree early Christmas morning.

Ryan surprised me with a Kindle Fire.

Eli

One of Clayton's greatest traits is his expressions of gratitude.  You could wrap up a single sock, and he'd be thrilled to receive it.  It really is fun to give him gifts.

Aaron was napping during the big unwrapping, so he had his own private session later that evening.

It was a good time spent enjoying each other's company and letting the kids get to know each other a little better.

He's an Eater!

Aaron, oh Aaron. 

You know, I used to always make my own spaghetti sauce.  I turned up my nose at sauce in a jar.  Then I had children that wouldn't eat spaghetti, and I was so confused.  I thought kids were supposed to like spaghetti.  One day I was running short on time and picked up a jar of Ragu, just to get something on the table quickly.  Don't you know they ate it down like candy?  Now we're a Ragu family, which makes cooking a lot easier on me, but it sure is orangey, which makes for a lot more clean up.  I miss my old sauce, but maybe one day they'll change their minds.

Thanksgiving

Now that it's January, I am officially behind with blogging.  I need to rewind back to just a little before Eli's birthday, so onto Thanksgiving it is...

We made our annual trek to Arkansas to meet up with my mom's family for Thanksgiving.  We had a great weekend eating, catching up with friends and family, and eating some more.  Meghan's family was able to make it in this year, so it was also a big weekend for the cousins to hang out.  We had about 60 Brown family members at our Thanksgiving feast.  We borrowed the gym at First United Methodist in Bryant again.  It's a great facility where the kids can go wild and not break anything.  Thanks to Meghan for taking pictures throughout the weekend.

Yes, he was a fan of Thanksgiving dinner.

The cousins (minus a napping Lane) with my Uncle John and Aunt Janice.

Lizzy with her "Claybug."  That's all she calls him.

Aaron fell asleep on my lap one afternoon.  He hasn't done that since he was a couple months old.  He must have been completely exhausted.

I made Meghan document it.

The cousins.  Lizzy, Lane, Clayton, Eli, and Aaron.

The cousins with their Great Granddad.  Aaron wasn't so sure about being held by Clayton, and apparently Eli is the boss of Lane.

We had such a great weekend, and I feel so fortunate that we've lived in Oklahoma so long and that the drive to my grandparents house is easy from here.  Thanksgiving is always the big "gathering" holiday for their family, and we've been so blessed to get to go almost every year we've lived here.

Warming Up

Hot chocolate has become a big part of this winter for our family.  I hadn't ever given it to the kids before this year, but way back in November, after playing outside for a while, we needed a warm up, so I pulled some out of the cabinet, and the four of us split two cups.  The kids were addicted.

I love this picture.

Yes, this was just after the stitches incident.

I wanted to get a picture of Aaron's face without the cup, but when I tried pulling the cup from his mouth, this is the only look he would give me.

Now anytime we play outside, the children feel practically entitled to hot chocolate when we come back inside, and most of the time, I agree.