Elf

The boys both received pajamas from St. Nick this year.  Alex loves the shirt of his but of course decided the material of the pants wasn't right.  This kid and materials.  He has to have his long sleeve t-shirt poking out of his jacket sleeves because the material of every single winter jacket ever made "gives him goosebumps."  And I have yet to find a sheet set that is soft enough.  Whatever. 

Sam LOVES his new pajamas. They are designed to make him look like an elf.  He had them on the other night, came into the kitchen, and asked me to let him climb up on the table.  Once he sat down, he asked me to move the chair away.  And then very proudly said, "There!  Now it looks like a shelf and I can be the elf on the shelf!"

Fancy Dressers

I bought some super cute jeans for Sam because he's still young enough to wear what I buy for him unlike a certain 10 year old I won't be naming.  So the other day, I grabbed those jeans and a cute yellow plaid button up for him to wear to school.

As soon as Alex saw him getting dressed, he asked, "Does Sam have pictures today or something?"  I said no and that he doesn't have to have pictures to wear a nice outfit (read:  not sweatpants and a tshirt).  I got him all buttoned up, and told him to go show Daddy how handsome he looked.

Travis's immediate response?

"Does Sam have pictures today or something?"

I tried.

This is the best of about 8 attempts.  They were sitting and eating their Popsicles and talking and looking so cute...until I tried to take a picture.  Alex instantly did his weird squinted eyes, sealed shut mouth smile and Sam wouldn't stop yell-smiling.  Sam finally at least kept his python jaw closed for one, but Alex was a lost cause of cackling.

Photo Shoot

"Mama!  Let's take some pictures before we go inside!"

"Ok Mama.  Now funny ones."

He really can be the best sometimes.

Back to Fishin'

The boys talked me into setting up the fish tank again.  We got it all set, got some neons and a beta.  All good.  The beta only lasted a couple months and we lost one neon, but they were still happy.  I was not super thrilled though because for some reason, this particular tank is an algae growing machine!  I like having a fish tank so I am not super upset about cleaning it, but this thing has visible algae like the day after cleaning.  So, I started talking about getting an algae eater for the tank.  Sam won't stop talking about when we are going to get our "allergy eater" and it is the cutest thing to come out of his mouth in the last 7 months at least.  Much cuter than his constant repeating of me flippantly calling his butt a "fart cannon."

Kraut!

Travis's family makes sauerkruat pretty much every year.  Like a lot of it.  If I remember correctly, his parents are the third generation that makes it.  This year, Alex and Sam were helpers once it was time to jar all 191 jars of it.  Apparently they helped for a couple hours and did a great job.  I am not a fan of sauerkraut, but I am for sure a fan of cute pictures of my kiddos.

The Puns Start Young

Sam went on a field trip yesteday to Schuster's Fun Farm.  They have a pumpkin patch, a giant corn kernel filled sandbox, all sorts of stuff for the kiddos to climb around on, animals to pet and feed, and a small corn maze.  Sam was telling me about it and then dropped this bomb:
"Mom!  Do you know what happens when you can't find your way out of a corn maze?!  You get cornfused!!"

The joy on his face from this pun made me prouder than it should have.