Warning: Kids speed the aging process

 Tonight, while hunting through some photo albums I found this picture.  My first thought was, man I look young, this must have been taken after one of the girls.  No such luck.  I had just had Connor, after 5 days in the hospital.  Sure I look tired, but I look a lot younger than this...

 Me and my Con man at 3 years old.  It seems like I look a decade older.  I have wrinkles, ginormous bags under my eyes.  I just look, I don't know, soccer mom-ish.  Like next I'm going to stick all of my kids in hockey and run for vice president.  My hair looks better, but my face, egads, OLD.  You know how you look at your kids as newborns, then as preschoolers and kindergarteners and think, wow, look how much they've changed.  They look so much older. Yeah, I think it works that way for moms too.

Coincidentally, this would be Connor a few hours old.  Notice that nah, nah, nah, tongue sticking out at the camera like, screw you parents I'm going to do whatever I want.  That would be very much my son.  Maybe that's why I look so old.

One for the Trekkies

Seems as how I was raised in a house of Trekkies, I think it's only fair that I give Star Trek a fair shot in this household of Star Wars fanatics.  We have watched the old Star Wars movies so many times, Dave can now recite what the characters say before they speak.  Having recently acquired the newer ones, they are now the boys main obsession.  When Greg found out he could go on a Star Wars ride, and a Mater ride in the same day at Disneyland, the kid nearly peed his pants. 
So the other day when Dave made the horrid error of calling William Shatner "Kirk Picard"  I realized that something had to be done.  Due to the fact that our local Blockbuster is sadly (tear) being closed, we are switching to Netflix.  Which means we can stream through the almighty Wii.  Which means that we can now stream Star Trek movies.  Which means we will now have forced family fun night of watching Star Trek movies.  Yeah!!  It's just a matter of time before the kids have turned to the Dark Side.  There is no reason we can't love both equally.  Besides, let's face it, my children are doomed to be nerds.  It's genetic.

The best feeling in the world

Connor has turned into Mr. Clingy.  He always wants to be carried and sit on my lap.  Of course he gets away with it because he is the baby.  He has a hard time falling asleep at night by himself.  He likes to sleep with "Gweggy", but Greg doesn't always want to share his twin bed with his brother. So I sometimes lay with him until he gets relaxed enough to fall asleep.  (the kid gets really hyper when he's tired)  Tonight as he was falling asleep, he was sucking his thumb with one hand, and rubbing my face with the other.  I'm thinking to myself how sweet this moment was.  I felt so at peace with the world for that moment with my little boy.  Those are the moments that I try to catalog in my brain in hopes that I will never forget them.  He rolled over, and scooted back to me.  He seemed very relaxed, and as he was snuggling right up to me, I figured he was on the verge of falling asleep.  Then he farts on me and rolls away laughing.  The little stinker just wanted to fart of me!  Sadly, he really enjoys farting on people.  So much for sweet moments.  Ahh boys.

The Ha is 9

Hailey has always been our most challenging child.  Regardless of all the other stuff, she is a strong, determined, and interesting child.  She's the kid who will one minute infuriate you, and the next crack you up.  She has such a sweet, loving spirit.  Even when she's mad at you, she still loves you to death.  (I literally mean to death, she will squeeze you until you are gasping for breath.)

 Hailey has always had her own, distinct sense of style.  If it's sparkly, glittered, or shiny, she will wear it.  She'll probably beg me to buy it.  She got the sequined boots for Christmas, and the sequined dress and purse from my sister.  Basically, if it has sequins or sparkles, Hailey will love it.  We are talking about a kid who has pleather leggings here.

 Always in full exuberance over everything.  It might be snowing, so she should be prepared to catch snow or snowflakes full on.

 More unique Hailey stylings.  She has been referred to as Pippi Longstocking for a reason.

Hailey is a great athlete.  She obviously does not get them from me.  I think she has found her niche in life.  She has a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and she's not afraid to get hurt.  Which works in her favor on the soccer field works in her favor.  If only we could find a way to channel her extraordinary energyv 12 months of the year.
Hailey is truly a special child.  There are a lot of things about her that few people understand.  But she has a HUGE heart, and love's people to the fullest.

Connor's 4 now! (How did this happen?)

I don't know how, but Connor turned 4 in January.  It seems like just last year I had him, and we moved to Spokane.  He has turned into quite the character.  He is basically a miniature Dave.  He looks like a little Dave, he's all boy.  None of that tiny, nerdy Paulitz genes here.  Where Greg's all space and math, Con's all wrestling and sports.

Notice the unbuttoned pants: Connor prefers sweats or unbuttoned pants so that he can enjoy the luxury of waiting until the absolute last moment to use the bathroom.

 Ahh, the Superman costume.  I found it at the Value Village late this summer, thinking it would be something fun Con could dress up in from time to time.  Ha!  He wore the costume day in, day out, like it was regular clothes.  He would proudly tromp around town in that too small, well worn, Superman costume with camoflouge rain boots. It was way to small and paper thin (from wearing it every single day).  For Christmas, I made him a sad, but less ragged, bigger, Superman costume, which he has refused to ever wear.  So, for his birthday, my mom ordered the child a larger, less sad Superman costume.  Within a few days, it was well worn and now means repairing.  It doesn't get the same wear and tear as the old ( I think because it's not flannel like the toddler version) but still.  When you have a kid wearing a Superman costume like it's real clothes, you get some looks.  But as my dad says, I'm a free range parent.

Somehow, this is the only picture I could find of Con initiating a fight.  The kid always wants to fight.  If you offer to read him a story, he'll say "let's fight!"  Which pretty much consists of him trying to punch and tackle you, while you remain defenseless.  He is such a boy.  I mean, the child hums himself to sleep with the Imperial March.  Such a funny boy.  He holds such a spot in my heart, I'm pretty sure he can't ever move out.

Greg's 6th birthday

Greggers had his 6th birthday back in November.  It's hard to believe he is already 6, it seems like it was just last year that I had him.  Obviously, he had a Star Wars party since it is his new obsession.  Tonight he was like "I don't know why but I've just been really into Star Wars lately."  He was so serious about it, like it was a life changing decision.  He is such a serious, mild mannered little boy.   I am always hearing from his church and school teacher what a great kid he is.  I've come to the conclusion, Greg is just a unique boy.  He was the perfect spirit to come to me during a very difficult time.

 My sad attempt at a yoda cake.  I am forever trying to copy cakes I find online, with dismal results.

My little "dream boat."  He has become the crush of Ness Elementary kindergarten.  Funny story from a mom at school.  She was on a field trip with the class, her daughter kept hitting her on the leg trying to get her attention.  When her mom finally looked at her, she said "mom look there's Gregory, isn't he dreamy?"  I feel like this is going to be the story of Greg's school career with girls.

A Very Star Wars Christmas

 My little brother and his beautiful family came up from L.A. to spend Christmas with us.  Jonathan is my first nephew on my side of the family and he is so stinkin cute.  It was so great to see them, I never get to see them because they live so far away.

 We go for the put on every decoration you have own, in the most haphazard manner possible approach to tree decorating.  Because of our schedules, we cut a tree down from a farm instead of traipsing through the forest.  It felt a little like cheating, getting a ride on a hay ride to where the trees are.  But we got a very full tree, which means we can stuff even more decorations on it.   Connor did an especially great job with the decorating.  He managed to cover every single inch of the tree, exactly in the center, right at his height.  There  was this huge clump of ornaments right where he stood, and he was so proud.

Hailey helping me make cookies. 

 I let Greggers dip some oreos himself (don't worry he washed his hands first) and Con got his favorite job, putting on ridiculous quantities of sprinkles.

 This is what happens when you leave a 3 year old in the kitchen while you go give a nebulizer treatment.  Connor my little stinker, dumped the entire bottle of sprinkles in my dipping chocolate.  Then used the empty container to scoop water into the chocolate.  Ruining a whole pan of good chocolate and making a huge mess.

 You know how there's always those presents you just can't wait for the recipient to open because you know how much they'll love it?  I was so excited to give my brother his Christmas gift this year.  Carl is a pretty serious Pepsi lover.  (I guess the love of Pepsi products is genetic)  He also loves to whole himself up in his room, only emerging when absolutely necessary.  So my sister and I got Carl his own mini fridge for his room. I knew there was nothing he'd love more than to be able to keep his Pepsi stash right where he can reach it from his chair.

 Star Wars has officially taken over our house.  Greg now tells everyone he sees that he got a Millenium Falcon for Christmas.  Be prepared to be appropriately excited about this.   Of course the Star Wars guys need a place to hold their next battle.

 We stole the Campbell's tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree.  Only Dave and I got smart and sleep in our own bed.  Why would grown adults voluntarily sleep on a hardwood floor?  Kids are watching Return of the Jedi for the 10th time since they got it for christmas.

 All Connor really cared about for Christmas was a bowling set.  Anytime anyone asked him what he wanted he'd say bowling.  So of course Santa brought him a bowling set.  His birthday is in a few days and he still says he wants bowling even though he already got it.

I just love Christmas with little kids.  I can't imagine what it will be like when they are slovenly teenagers and then move out.  I just don't think I will get the level of excitement over anything when they are in high school.