Emotions are running high!

Rex had an awful morning of being terribly stubborn and wildly hysterical about not wanting to wear shorts for basketball, then wanting to wear shorts for basketball but wanting to pick out his own. He lost the privilege of picking out his own when he refused to pick out shorts to begin with. We finally got over that and had breakfast with Santa and then went to our basketball game. After that we went to Grandma Val's to decorate cookies, make gingerbread houses, and make Christmas t-shirts. Malloy made a mistake on her shirt and was sobbing hysterically for a while. She informed us several times that she did not want a Christmas shirt. When I told her it was time to go home she sobbed harder and begged for a second chance to make a shirt. It was so pathetic I gave her a second chance! We finished the T shirts and the kids went to play outside in our very first snow of December. Malloy came back in with tears in her eyes and said that Rex was making her so happy that she wanted to cry. He was outside marching around a tree making up his own Christmas song and it touched her so much that she needed to cry! We finished our night by watching home alone 2 and reading Christmas stories before bed. During the movie, Rex looked over at me all excited with his nose about an inch away from mine and his eyes all sparkly and said "this is our favorite part, isn't it, mama?!" When Kevin was setting up the traps for the bad guys. Those little moments make everything else melt away, let the holiday spirit shine through, and make it all worthwhile!!

grandma had the idea that the kids could make their own christmas shirts. rex got right to work to make....robot parts! ha! not quite what grandma had in mind, but it was perfect for him!!! malloy made a santa :)

red and green day!

 it was red and green day at school. rex was happy to be going back!! he's feeling better today - phew!

malloy was SO excited that she finally got to bring home her gingerbread girl story she wrote! she brought it home and read it immediately! 

crazy hair day!

 joey got the kids in the spirit for crazy hair day! 

malloy LOVED her hair!!! she said people at school kept asking her what planet she was from!

rex stayed home again because his nose wouldn't stop running and he still wasn't feeling 100%. there were a lot of video games played and tv watched! hopefully he got the rest he needed.


malloy has been doing a lot of big math problems with neal for fun. tonight she was trying to show me how she does it. she was having trouble adding 500+500 and we weren't understanding each other. i was short on patience because rex was exhausted and cranky, as was malloy a bit, and they were on each other's nerves. i told her i learned math a completely different way and it was difficult for me to explain it to her so that she could understand it, she wanted to see how i did math. when i showed her she said, "wow, that looks much easier!" ummm, yeah. i told her that when i learned, i just had to know that 9+8=17. we needed to have those facts memorized and that if i didn't remember i'd just use my fingers. tears started streaming down her face she said "i'm sorry, i know i'm just tired but it makes me really sad that you had to use your fingers to count!" talk about sensitive!!!

bus stop shenanigans! new coats! and glasses. malloy loves to wear glasses!!! 

rex's drawing of himself inside a volcano

just hanging out drawing before school

malloy made her own grocery list

stockings are hung! 

the kids had a snowball dance on december 4th. rex had a half hour utter meltdown before we left because his hair wasn't right, we weren't sure he was going to go to the dance at all! malloy was ready and all excited to go but was very patient while rex cried and threw a fit. rex warmed up at the dance after a while and was running around with his buddies tyler and karmine getting all sweaty. malloy danced with kaydee for a while and then played with isaiah. they had a great time!

oh toilet tree, oh toilet tree, how lovely is your toilet paper

rex had his first basketball game and it went better than expected! he loved playing and kept up with the pace of the game. loved hearing the coach yell "rex! stand up and dribble the ball!"

watching the game with cecelia

excited about his shirt

we played with playdoh after the game. it's been a long time since we've done that!!! rex was having me make 3D shapes since that's what he's learning about in school at the moment. malloy was busy constructing her own animals with toothpicks, getting them to balance and stand up.

we went to the corning sparklefest saturday night with grandma val and grandpa don. we saw reindeer, heard some christmas music, ate some hot dogs and indian food, had elephant ears, got some toys , and made some ornaments. it was a fun night!!!

sunday we went to roro and papa's to decorate their tree. rex did a few ornaments, but malloy was a big help. we stayed for dinner and had some yummy pasta and meatballs and celebrated grandma val's birthday with cake and ice cream!

our little display this year. starting small :)

movie night after roro and papa's.

joey had his own movie night

malloy has been super into raising her "babies" lately. she carts them upstairs and downstairs, tucks them into bed, plays with them and entertains them. one morning, she was playing with them and rex got all excited because he remembered he had a baby doll. they started playing house. malloy came down and started setting her babies all up. she informed me that she's a mechanic and she's bringing her babies to work so she can watch them. it's easier for her to watch them because her husband's a soccer coach so he's busy. rex comes walking in "hi, honey. i'm back from the game. i scored a goal." they really crack me up some times!!

both kids got nathan t. hall of fame awards at school! so proud! 

gold day

malloy finished with swim and we got her on rex's basketball team! she was thrilled to go to her first practice and was so enthusiastic about everything she learned! she loves to just dribble the  basketball during her free time. she did great at her first game, too! rex was out because he had a fever and wasn't feeling well.

after basketball, we went to grandpa gary's to help decorate his tree. malloy had a long sad spell and was missing grandma tappy extra. she cried for quite a while before being able to come out and help with the tree! she's got a very big heart and very big feelings!!

after grandpa gary's, we all went to roberson museum and met up with grandma val and grandpa don for grandpa don's work christmas party. we got to  look at the trees, eat some food, had a planetarium show, got our picture taken, and got a toy! it was a fun night!! 

the kids were being goofballs and posing in every room. 

imitating the people in the paintings

malloy's new toy from the museum. prancer the dog!

it has been SO warm out lately!!!! 64 on december 13th?!

rex went to the dr. on sunday because along with his fever and sore throat, he had a rash. turns out he has strep! no school for him on monday. he was sad to miss pj day!! 

another 64 degree day in december!