Let's come to a consensus.

I'm a little undecided on how to pronounce the new year. Will it be "Two thousand eleven," or "Twenty eleven?"

Which will you use?

I'm not even sure what to title this post.

As you know, when you move to a new address, you get the pleasure of receiving all the catalogs, magazines, etc, marked "or current resident," that your house predecessor subscribed to. So let's just say we've been enjoying some new reading material these past 2 months.

LL Bean and Chadwicks? No problem; I'll look through them. Fancy speciality toy catalogs with ridiculous prices? The boys enjoy those. But TODAY, we got a Walkenhorst's catalog.

Not familiar with Walkenhorst's? Neither were we. In fact, the only people who WOULD be familiar with this publication are those ordering merchandise to ship to their relative/friend who is INCARCERATED IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. Seriously. It's a whole catalog of stuff that has been approved by the CA Dept of Corrections. For instance, all the electronics are see-through, so no one can smuggle in a weapon inside your flat screen. Don't believe me? Click here to visit their website.

I should have known something was wrong when I read the tagline "Request Your Parole Clothing Catalog" on the cover. Wow.

Oh, Micah.

I came down the stairs just before church to find that Micah had taken all the couch cushions and piled them on the floor so he could jump on them.

Me: Micah, did you ask me before you took the cushions off?

Micah: I am going to ask. Right now.

(He continues playing. . .)

Me: So, are you going to ask me?

Micah: I already did!

Ridiculous

I usually don't post on stuff like this, so if you're not in the mood to hear me vent, stop reading now.

I came across this article today in the paper: Health Group Sues McDonalds Over Happy Meal Toys

Are you kidding me? OK, California Mom, if you don't want McDonalds marketing aggressively to your kids, then DON'T TAKE THEM IN TO A MCDONALDS. You are the parent, remember? That means that you, more than anyone else, get to control what your kids are exposed to. I am so tired of parents blaming their problems on everyone else.

There, my tirade is done.

Fun with Jordan

So. . . it seems a little late to be posting about our Thanksgiving, but I couldn't resist sharing about the boys having fun with their super tall, super strong cousin Jordan!

(Yes, this was after Eli hurt his leg. You can clearly tell how upset he is.)

Actually the boys had a great time with ALL their cousins. I think they interacted more with their cousins this trip than any other in the past, which was really fun! Here are the boys with their girl cousins: Jessi (age 15), Kelsey (19), and Natalie (12).

And here are all the young Bardwell men: Eli, Josiah (14), Micah, Jordan (18), and Kaleb (12).

(I sure hope I got all their ages right. . .)

Update on our little Sir Limpsalot

I have not blogged at all about this yet, so for those of you not related to us or local, let me fill you in: On Thanksgiving Day, Eli had some kind of mysterious incident that no one quite saw, but he was suddenly sprawled out on the floor screaming and refusing to stand on his right leg. He didn't walk at all for 3-4 days on it. Even after he started walking, he's had a persistent limp and has not been the carefree, happy child he normally is. We can tell he's been in quite a bit of pain.

We'd taken him to the doc shortly after this incident, where they did 3 rounds of xrays, all of which came back negative. Good news, but bad in the sense that it didn't give us any answers to what was wrong with him. His limp (and bad mood/apparent pain) persisted, so I took him back to the doctor on Tuesday. We were referred on to a pediatric orthopedist, whom we saw today.

It turns out that he likely DID break his leg! The doctor said it is about half healed, and didn't think putting a cast on it for the next week and a half would be necessary. So we are certainly glad to have an answer to Eli's issue, but I feel terrible that he's been hobbling around on a broken tibia for the last 2 weeks!

As you can see from these pictures, he's clearly agonizing in pain. I guess that's a little consolation for this Mommy!

I guess it was only a matter of time. . .

Living with 3 boys, I shouldn't be surprised to find a pair of underwear on our Christmas tree.

Christmas Carols with Micah

"Jingle bells. . jingle bells. . jingle all the way. . oh what fun it is to ride on one old slopin' sleigh. . ."

Christmas is not your birthday.

Last night, I was going over my gift list for the boys, marking down what we've gotten them, what we have left to buy, etc. I'll be honest. We don't get the boys that much for Christmas. They're getting one "santa" gift and one gift from us (so about40- 50 bucks in gifts each, maybe a little more once you factor in stockings). Plus this year, they're getting a little extra with some joint furniture gifts that we bought for their playroom but are just waiting until Xmas to get them out. As I was going over my list, I actually felt a little guilty that we weren't getting them more.

Then I read this post from our friend John Louk. And my guilt immediately changed from, "we should be getting them more" to "we're getting them way too much." Read it and let yourself be convicted too.

World Vision and IJM, you are now on top of my list!

All 4 of Us

Just in case anyone is forgetting what Ked and I look like. . .

Thank you, Black Friday

I'd like to formally introduce you to our new everyday plates. There will be no more whining about the ones we lost in the move.

The Funniest Kid's Show

I've watched a lot of different children's programming in the past 3 years. By far, the one that adults will find the funniest is the old standby, Sesame Street.

Mommy Confession

So finally in the past week, I have had time to vacuum my whole house. It's the first time I've vacuumed since we've moved in. WHICH IS DISGUSTING SINCE WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR A WHOLE MONTH.

Vacuum-ers out there, what's your frequency? I'm hoping it's better than mine.

When the Mommies are Away. . .

. . . all these blondies get together!

Two weekends ago, Tara and I (and a few others) went to PJ's and Pigtails -- a bed and breakfast just for scrapbookers! While we were gone, all 6 of our boys got together for some football and fun! Here are the youngest of our 6 guys: Bryson (2) , Caden (7), Eli (1.5), and Micah (3).

The Annoying Saga Continues

Our oven has been broken for the last week, and it was finally fixed today. To celebrate, I thought I'd make some chocolate chip cookies. So what happens? I realize that I have ALSO lost my electric mixer in the move. I have the beaters; just not the mixer part. So the missing box claims yet another victim kitchen piece. Seriously, this is so annoying.

UPDATE: I've added a list on the sidebar of things we've lost. The list is growing daily.

To counteract this unfortunate-ness, here are some cute pics of the boys.

My favorite tree in the world is the Japanese Maple Tree. We had a small one in our yard in Michigan. I knew that Yellow House was THE house for us when I discovered that it, too, had a Japanese Maple tree! The boys are learning my enthusiasm for this tree too. . .

A Sad Day

Eli and I were looking at family pictures on our walls. We came to our wedding picture, taken 7 years ago, and I asked Eli who was in the picture. He said, "Daddy! Nah-ee!"

Unfortunately, "Nah-ee" means Melanie. My younger sister. My own son doesn't recognize a picture of me that's only 7 years old. Aging sucks.

The Land of NO. . .

. . . Is where Eli is living these days.

Daddy's Pride and Joy

No, I'm not talking about the 2 cuties you see here.

I'm talking about the hours of internet research and meticulous detailing that Kedron put into Micah's cool purple R2D2 costume! This costume was created from, among many things, a carseat booster box, an old lamp, purple duct tape, my crafting buttons, and lots of spray paint. See that purple box with the black circle on his head? There's a red bike light inside it, so it blinks red!

We went to trick or treating on the square today, and while Micah got robbed in the costume judging, he did bump into Thomas (aka Harry)!

Our cute little monkey :)

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch!

We decided to take a break from settling into Yellow House and go to the pumpkin patch! Never mind that it was the coldest morning of the season; we went and had a great time! The boys loved the corn sandbox. Except for the rowdy school kids who where pelting corn all over the place. It's a rare setting when OUR boys are the best behaved :)

Here is Eli on my personal favorite: the Wiggle cars! All you have to do is move the steering wheel back and forth to make it move.

Micah did pretty well on the pedal tractor, despite his super short legs.

Here we are on the go carts. This was probably Eli's favorite part of our trip!

Nana and Micah had a go-around too.

Our 2 cuties chillin' in the patch.

The only way I can get Micah to actually look at the camera is if I tell him he can make a silly face. Notice Eli is sticking his little tongue out too.

Seriously, so cute!

Nana and Micah doing a water pump rubber duck race. It's less complicated than it sounds.

This is the best picture. Ever.

A few pictures

All right, all right. We just got our camera hooked up to the computer. Don't expect any interior house pictures yet, though. We'll be unpacking for weeks. And by weeks, I really mean months. :)

Here are the boys on our rockin' front porch swing. This thing on its own was worth the price we paid for the house. Well, almost.

The boys have discovered something wonderful since we moved here: playing in leaves!! Since we only had like 12 leaves in our previous backyard, this is really an adventure. By the way, how early is too early to teach them how to rake?

Best and Worst

Kedron asked me last night what my favorite and least favorite parts of Yellow House are so far.

I love the living room. It is huge with great woodwork and many windows. I love the downstairs because it's the one "safe" (ie babyproofed) room in the house for the boys. And we can watch our TV with the surround sound really loud when the boys are sleeping. Overall, it is nice to have so much more space.

My least favorite part of the move is that I feel like we're staying in someone else's messy house. It does not yet feel like "home" for me, and our junk is everywhere. Trying to unpack/organize with the boys is impossible. I have not been this tired or overwhelmed since I had a newborn.

Also, thank you to all who have expressed your concern over our missing plates. :) No, we have not found them yet, nor have we found our potato peeler or fruit bowl. I'm assuming the box with all these items either got put in the trash by accident or fell off of someone's truck. Thanks for all your offers to loan us your own plates. We'll be OK though :)

Add potato peeler to the list of things we've lost in the move

And no, we still have not found our plates.

We can't find our plates.

I've unpacked every box marked "kitchen," and have looked in the bedrooms, toy room, garage, storage room, scrapbook room, etc. Those darn plates are nowhere to be found.

How many signatures does it take to buy a house?

I'm including the written offer, loan application, and all the documents at closing (including places you have to initial). Make your guess.

Lasts

I'm trying to capture some of the small "lasts" in this house before we move. Here is the last time we made cookies (ie: I made the cookies and the boys "helped" by licking the beaters).

The last time the boys helped me with recycling by throwing it down the stairs.

The last balloon we saw from our house. This will be one of the things we miss most about this neighborhood (second to the Camwells, of course).

(that dot above the white house roof is a balloon)

Cute Eli Videos

Cuter in a Hat?

We all live in a yellow sub, er, house

We're moving! To a VERY yellow house. We actually refer to it as Yellow House. It is more "in town" than we are now (translation: we can walk to the library, town square, Simpson) and Kedron is very excited to walk to work every day. We'll be gaining 1 more bedroom, hardwood floors, a shaded back yard, and a porch swing! We're very excited!

A Day Out with Thomas

The Mullers got Micah tickets to see Thomas for his birthday. We enjoyed a wonderful day, despite the (constant, heavy) rain. Here he is, straight from the Island of Sodor!

Silly cousins (in their Thomas shirts) on the train. Micah was scared to get on, for fear it would be too loud, but less than 5 minutes into the train ride, he exclaimed, "This is FUN!"

Sweet little boy.

Like I said, it rained constantly, but that didn't stop us. Fun was had by all!