Buddies

Hayden and his cousin Samuel had a blast at Nana and Papa's last week. They were hardly seen for the three days Sam was with us. Sam has a lot of energy, though, and I think he wore Hayden clean out. The day Sam left, Hayden took a four hour nap. Poor guy.

We Survived!

but just barely. Our trip to South Carolina was quite interesting. Ellie's demeanor on the flight to Charlotte was as bad as I expected- maybe three of the worst hours of my life. However, she was just about perfect on the return flight- I think God decided that I, and all of our fellow passengers, deserved a break. Hayden and Chloe were great on both flights, of course. Also, all three kids got sick while we were there. Poor babies. HOWEVER, seeing Nana and Papa, Uncle Tim, Samuel and Aunt Amy at Christmas was worth everything, and we really did have a nice time- in between flights. I hope everyone out there had a nice Christmas as well. Bring on 2008!!!

Hayden, the Red Nosed Reindeer

Hayden had his first ever school program last week. He and his classmates performed a variety of holiday tunes, and were fabulous. I especially loved their visual representation of "Its a Wonderful World". Brought tears to my eyes, it did. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Happy Birthday, Travis!

Poor Emily. She has to go through life with my brother as her dad. I think she really is suffering. Happy Birthday, Uncle Travis, and I just have to say, "Ewwwwwwww."

TWO cute for words

Billy turned 2 last week, and is the cutest 2 year old I have seen in a long time. He is always smiling and up for something fun. Happy (late)Birthday, Billy boy!

WHEEEEEE!

We went to Billy's house on his birthday to give him his gift, and the kids had a blast playing with their favorite person in the whole world: Chauncey. He was throwing the kids in the air, which they loved, and I can't believe that he actually got air with Hayden. That is a BIG load to toss up there and catch. I'm impressed!

Legoland

Legoland is one of those places where its fun to be there, but you aren't too upset when its time to leave either. The kids had a blast, even Ellie, so from that point of view it was great. Two of Hayden's favorite things in the world, Lego and Star Wars, came together magically. The girls liked the train rides and playground areas, and Mom and Dad liked the fact that there were NO lines for any rides. The place was empty. Bad for Legoland, good for the Craft family!

So I'm no Stephie Rue . . .

but I have a cute family, and we had fun at the beach. I'm working on my photographic skills, and I am becoming slightly obsessed with the *&^%$%^ histogram. It was a bit cool at the beach, but Hayden managed to get in the ocean anyway. More pics from Legoland to follow.
** For those of you not in the know, Stephanierue.com **

Who's ready for Christmas

ELLIE IS!
ha ha ha ha
We had an interesting time with our Christmas pictures this year. You'll have to wait to receive yours to see the winning shot. I'll give you a hint: it wasn't these two.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is our traditional Craft Family Christmas Tree day. Apparently, we are the only ones this year not deterred by early Thanksgiving b/c we literally were the first ones to take a tree off the lot. They were just putting out the trees when we rolled up and grabbed our Chanaukah Bush, urm, I mean Christmas tree. (having a 6'8" ceiling really limits AC's vision of the perfect tree.) We decorated that afternoon, and have a lovely tree with an overly laden bottom half. Ho Ho Ho.

Look Out, GQ

Billy had a mini-photo shoot on Thanksgiving. He'd strike a pose for me, run over to "tee it" on my camera, then run back and repose. Very cute- I think the boy has a future in the modeling industry.

What a bunch of Turkeys

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a decent picture of 7 grandkids??? This is just a hint of what our "photo shoots" look like. Stephie, if only you were here . . .
We had a great Turkey Day, though!

Nothing New

Nothing new to report.

The Crab Car

One of the kids' fave games to play with dad is Crab Car. They all three pile on and go for a ride. If AC has enough energy, they even do Crab races. The best part is watching when AC is tired and trying to stop the game, but Ellie refuses to get off. I think we all know who wins!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great halloween. Chloe was a lovely Princess, and Hayden a Clone Trooper. Ellie, of course, was a very serious Tinkerbell. We had fun trick-or-treating with our friends Maya, Luca and Ryder, and they brought home lots of candy for mom to eat.

I'm Tinkerbell, dammit.

Pumpkin Guts

The kids and AC carved our pumpkins the other night. The best part is getting the slimy seeds out. Its been so hot here our lovely Jack O' Lanterns are already soft and slightly smelly. Now THAT'S scary.

The Perfect Pumpkins

It's hard work finding the perfect pumpkins, but we managed.

Where's Your Nose

Ellie is an expert nose-finder. She can find her nose, any kid nose, grandparent noses and even doggie noses. She's a genius.

A Bed full of Monkeys

Here is Ellie and her monkey family. MoMo #1 was recovered safely (she had shoved him into one of her drawers) and so we are now up to 5 monkeys that Ellie loves. We have the MoMo twins, BoBo, Anna and George. And I think we can all guess what Ellie's favorite food is: that's right, bananas.

Hayden's biggest fans

The girls love going to Hayden's soccer games- they get a snack, and get to yell as loudly as they want. Ellie especially likes to go onto the field to help daddy coach- she tells those kids a thing or two. What a cheering section!

Soccer Star

I took these at Hayden's game yesterday. The Green Tree Frogs are quite the powerhouse, with Hayden their defensive star. Most importantly, I haven't seen any other team having quite as much fun out there as our little Frogs. I think AC is the most relaxed coach in the history of the sport. GO FROGS!

A Three Star General

Ellie has taken to walking around with her hands clasped behind her back- much like a General reviewing her troops. Maybe she has a future in the military- her screeching abilities would serve her well.

Being Goofy

I guess the nice weather brings out the goofball in Hayden. We went on a picnic the other night and enjoyed the cool-ish weather, and free entertainment.

The Case of the Missing Monkey

Ellie's main monkey, a.k.a. "Mo-Mo", was reported missing on Thursday, October 4th, approx. 1 p.m. Mo-Mo, pictured here in the last known sighting, is a constant companion of Miss Eleanor. A replacement monkey, "Mo-Mo 2", was purchased yesterday, but the search continues for the original. Any information leading to the recovery of the Monkey will be rewarded with a slobbery kiss, and maybe even a huggy.

Report all information to the Center for Missing Monkeys, or Ellie's mom.

E's lookin' at you

I Love this picture.

Wet 'n' Wild

We went to a mall with water fountains yesterday, and the kids had a blast. I had to literally carry Ellie away when it was time to leave kicking and screaming. Emily went with us, and she is so sweet and fun to have around. We really had a nice evening.

MIA

I apologize to our legions of fans out there, ok, mostly to Tara, about our lack of blogs lately. I haven't even taken any pictures lately. We've been a little lazy around here. Don't worry, though- now that the weather is nice, the kids can go outside, and the camera will emerge from hibernation. Until then, enjoy a couple of greatest hits from September.