Bum on the Run

Oh please, you guys think Spencer actually has time to sit around all day and wait for me to put a diaper on him?

He's got things to do, man!

Cuter Than the Real Clara

Julia's third grade class did a "Wax Museum" where they each had to pick a historical figure to research and dress up as. (I know, that's horrible English. Shame on me.) J chose Clara Barton, who founded the American Chapter of the Red Cross. (You could tell that the kids did their own research in class without help from home; Julia talked about Clara's childhood and early employment, but never actually mentioned the Red Cross. I love it.) Miraculously, two days before the event, we found this fabulous dress at Goodwill that worked perfectly. Add one apron form Michael's, some red ribbon, and an awesome bonnet from Alexa's Nursery lesson on pilgrims and voila! A real Clara Barton look-a-like. (Only cuter.)

I could really just eat her up.

My mom got to come too, which was doubly cool.

Alexa refused to leave Julia's side the whole time we were at the school, 

even while my mom and I wandered off to hear the other kids' reports.

See the green "button" next to Clara Barton's name? You pushed 

the button and then the kids would read their report. So awesome.

Stare into the sun, you group of wound-up third graders, then hold still for a picture!

The Zoo Lights Secret

Ever since we moved to Arizona, we have had a tradition of going to Zoo Lights around the holidays. Sadly, as the years have worn on, Zoo Lights has gotten a heck of a lot more crowded. Tired of fighting the crowds, we opted for an earlier visit this year, going on a member's only night before Thanksgiving. It was like magic: we finally discovered that pre-December was the absolute perfect time to go. Interestingly, because it was so empty, (and because we don't have unlimited resources to pay for Polar slides, camel rides, and zip-lining) we walked through everything pretty darn fast, and found ourselves grappling for the answer to the girls' question: "Is that all?"

So, irony of ironies, on the year that we figured out when the perfect time for a visit is, we simultaneously decided that we aren't going to go anymore. Isn't that great?

Don't be sad, though; we sure aren't.

Here are some highlights of our last Zoo Lights extravaganza:

Farewell forever, Zoo Lights.

Peas on Earth

This is what Spence looks like when he's trying out peas for the first time: 

Don't let his cheesy grin fool you, though; he's not a super fan. He just 

happened to recently learn that the Walker way to smile happens to look like this. 

He actually scrunches up his eyes and face now when we take his picture. 

As if I didn't already love him enough!

(I never knew giving peas a chance could look so darn cute.)

And this is what it looks like when I send the girls downstairs to give Spencer some more Cheerios while I am busy doing something upstairs:

It's as if his high chair tray were actually made of Cheerios...

Happy noshing, little buddy.

Santa Baby...Slip a Machete Under the Tree, For Me

The last time we were in Flagstaff (over Thanksgiving weekend), Julia started coveting her Aunt Amy's machete. That's right, I said machete. Amy uses a machete to trim down tinder for the cozy fires in their cabin's wood-burning stove; since the girls started helping out with this, quite the attachment has formed on Julia's part, to the point where she told us that she wants one of her own. 

The machete: just a basic accessory for any 8-year-old girl walking in the woods

Imagine Santa's surprise when Julia sat on his lap and asked him for one. He looked quizzically at Craig and said, "You mean like a knife?" What he should have said was, "You'll poke your eye out!"

I think her "thank you" may have been a little premature; I talked to Santa he said there's no way in heck he's bringing her one. 

PPZBG

We all wear so many hats. Wife, daughter, mother, sister, Primary secretary, sometime blogger, and budgeter extraordinaire are just some of mine. Lexa's specialties are different. I already knew this, but it really hit home on the day that she really opened up to me and told me she was a "Pretty Princess Zombie Bad Guy."

I mean, see for yourself.

Pretty

Princess

Zombie

Bad Guy

She's just so good at so many things.

Christmas Poncho

"Batman doesn’t get picked on and he wears a cape. A poncho is just a cape that goes all the way around.” – Gloria from Modern Family

Call it a cape. Call it a poncho. Call it a Christmas tree skirt. Any way you look at it, I'm so cool it's not even funny.

Well, okay, it's a little funny.

Christmess

Ever wonder what it would look like if you put three children ages 8 and under in charge of decorating your Christmas tree? Well, let me just help you out with that one.

This year we were gone for the day after Thanksgiving, which is usually when we decorate the tree together, so we opted to get 'er done on the day before Thanksgiving. That day happened to be when I was pretty busy trying to get some of the holiday cooking out of the way, all while Craig was sawing and hammering and working away at a major room rearrangement, just because the holidays aren't crazy enough and we like to complicate things just for kicks. Needless to say, after the tree was put up and appropriately fluffed by the parental units, we put the kiddos in charge. (This was the part where Craig's extension ladder turned out to be VERY handy.) 

Honestly, they did a stellar job. But whoa, Nelly, was there a mess when they were done.

During a periodic visit to check on the girls' progress, Craig, in his wonderful way with words, summed it up perfectly:

"Man. It looks like Christmas threw up in here."

 And indeed it had.

The Scarlet Neighborborhood

A few weeks ago we had an impromptu photo shoot at the entrance to our neighborhood on the way home from school. Have I said yet how much I love these beautiful girls? I really, really do. 

(Note that these were taken in November and the girls were still wearing shorts and skirts. Not to worry, though, more wintery weather has set in since December and we are starting our days in the 40s. Brrrr. It's almost like a real winter. Ish.)

Hmm, I thought Spencer was in one of these, but I must have opted not to let the girls hold him on top of a crumbly granite wall for a picture. Smart move, Mommy.

And yes, our neighborhood is called "Hesper Knoll," which makes me think of Hester Prynne of Scarlet Letter infamy. Every. Time. I see. The sign. Thanks, Hawthorne.

For the Lull Between Holidays...

Remember when I said that I hoped to get Halloween pictures on here before Thanksgiving? That was funny. What can I say? The procrastination tendency is part of my genetic make-up. And, speaking of make-up, Craig did a bang-up job of making the girls (and himself!) look extra scary this year.

Equally scary: Christmas is in less than two weeks. Better sneak these pictures in now, while no one is looking.

Probably the cutest witch in the history of witches.

Super. Baby.

Yes, we're super. And we know it.

Don't cross their paths, people.

Who knew Drac drives a minivan?

And now, on to Christmas! Or, at least something else that's not Halloween.

A Plague on Both Your Houses...

 So Craig and Julia have been bonding over "Plague," which is a game on his cell phone that I know almost nothing about, except that the purpose is to kill off all of the inhabitants of the world with mutating viruses and bacteria. Sounds super fun, I know. Their identical brains make this quite an intriguing endeavor for them, though I personally would prefer to watch paint dry and/or grass grow.

Cute Julia was playing the other night while Craig was gone and left this little note on the counter for him to read when he got back:

I love that girl. And her wacky brain that I will never, ever, completely decode.

Spencer's Greatest Hits

At almost 8 months, little Spencer is certainly getting around town. He's been hesitantly crawling for about a month now, and getting braver and going further by the day. (Read: it's the beginning of the end.) He hasn't figured out yet how to get around the kitchen counter from the family room to reach me, so he isn't following me around crying, as all my children have been wont to do at this age, but I have a feeling it's right around the corner. Or, more specifically, right around the kitchen counter, which he'll be traversing any day now.

Here are a few recent fun moments with our cutest boy. ( I can totally say that.)

Forget Black Friday, I found a killer deal on adorable baby boys on a Tuesday of all days.

Prunes. Prunes is the magic word every two or three days, if you catch my drift.

Taking the workout world by storm in his Baby Pilates class.

I have never seen a baby so happy to be outside in the cold.

Already equipped with a generous supply of front teeth, all this
baby wants for Christmas is unrestricted access to the tree.
Sorry kiddo. Access denied.

Good gracious we are blessed to have this sweetest boy in our family.

Queen for a Day

Craig and I got a pretty good laugh when we read what Julia wrote in response to the prompt, "Describe an absolutely perfect day" for her homework:

"The absolutely perfect day would be if I were rich and I was the queen of the world and I never got in trouble and I got to eat whatever I want to eat."

Amen, sister.

Especially the eating whatever you want to eat part.

(On another, almost absolutely perfect day when Julia actually caught a butterfly with her bare hands.)