Goofy big brother.

This photo is not what it seems ...

It's Gabe, wearing his coat backward!

Just another goofy trick ...

... to try to get a smile from Max!

Max's coat is a hand-me-down from Gabe when he was the same age.  Gabe's hair at that time was just as bright blond as Max's is now!

Trying to get Max to look at the camera for me.

The UPS man is like a Santa Claus who visits every day.  Packages for everyone!

Joe was literally jumping up and down when his toy arrived.

Every night I bring Max to Grandma and Buddy's so I can exercise, eat, and shower.

He's always ready to go to the barn.

Playing with his Buddy.

Stay warm, everyone!  Goodnight!

Max watches cartoons.

Just when we got to the point where Max would not sit in the kitchen for me at all, he suddenly also reached the point where he will watch cartoons!

I think that most parents use the TV to keep their kids from screaming some of the time, but differ in which shows they (the parents!) can tolerate.  These are the ones I don't mind (and may or may not secretly like) ...

And these are some of the ones that are hereby forever banned from my house.

Thanks, Dad, for washing my car today.

Gabe is learning about telling time and classifications of animals.  Today we wrote to his pen pal Henry in Korea.

We have a busy week planned, with co-op at our house on Thursday, and the wedding this weekend!

As soon as Daddy walks through the door Maxie starts screaming, "Boo!" and pointing to the cabinet where the fruit snacks are kept.  After Daddy eats some dinner, they like to share a bowl of cereal.

Tune in for more thrills and excitement tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Today is Buddy's birthday!

He is 62 years old!  (More about Buddy in a minute.  Now ... back to me!)

I've been making vegetable juices.

Yum!  I hope to make a routine of cutting up fruits and vegetables in the morning for juice, and also for Gabe and Max to snack on.

Max went to sleep at 11:15 last night. (This is our normal time.)  Ahhh ... hope he stays on schedule.

Today we bought Gabe a very nice outfit with a vest and tie to wear to Jennie's wedding.  Chances of my getting a picture of him in it before the wedding?  Nil.  Here he is dressed as the Black Menace.

I've been putting this all-red outfit on Max lately, and Gabe calls Max the Red Menace.

Being a big ham at Granny and Gramps'.

I think today is Grumpy Dad Day.

Buddy's party was in the barn.

And all the cool people were there.  (The knife makes this a disturbing shot.)

Happy birthday, Buddy!

Blowing out his candles.

And here is what he wanted for his birthday.  It's a welding hood.  (Actually he wanted the conservative black one, but they were out of those, so now he gets to look like his head is on fire every time he welds.)  Ghost Rider!

Max is a night owl.

Remember how fussy Max was about being awake during the day yesterday?

My little night owl came to life once his teeth were brushed and he was in his pjs.

Just chillin' with Mama, not concerned that everyone else was asleep ...

Watching cartoons and wanting to play on the bed.  (Yes, the time on the clock here is accurate.)  By the way, don't you like my great big flat-screen TV?

Fast forward 9 1/2 hours:  Hey, wait a minute!  

Come back here!

Now what's with this piece of junk?

Alright, so my TV started acting up.  Sometimes the unruly thing would decide to announce its new-found sentience by raising its own volume to max without provocation!  Since he had the service plan on this TV (and the Geek Squad couldn't tame it), Dan was seeing dollar signs.   I'm fine with the older TV (it was Jamey's), and taking the flat screen back to Best Buy bought us a $1,072 gift card shopping spree!

Gabe was thrilled when Dan brought home the brand new Xbox!

Dan went to Best Buy three times today.  Max and I went twice, but Max was asleep the whole time we were at the store both times.  We'll see how that figures in to tonight's mom-and-baby slumber party.

Max is better at controlling Buddy's i-pad than I am.

Goodnight! (????????)

Max is not a morning person.

Suddenly Max does not need so much sleep, and his schedule shifted on me.  One thing led to another, and now we stay up till 1:30 every night!  Here he is, trying to sleep during the day.

Playing in the garden area, seconds before getting into some ants.

Dropping the camera in the mid-shot to run and get the ants off Max!

We decided to take a nice walk when he got up from his nap ...

... but it just lulled him back to sleep!

Gabe did not get the package he was expecting today.  He did not throw a hissy fit, though!

Maya, playing in the jump rope with some large candy cane decorations.  

I tried to get out the door to take pics of all the kids jumping, but by the time I managed to bundle Max up adequately to go out, they were done!

Max was not happy to be awake, bundled up, or outside.

He looks upset here, but rest assured that he is fine now, and gearing up for a long night with Mama!