Ava is OBSESSED with Arial. I remember when Annabel was two and she loved Cinderella. She would reenact the bead snatching scene and run from the room sobbing with no warning. Well, now it's Ava's turn. But she loves Ariel and her favorite part is when Ariel's voice is taken away. She sings the notes constantly throughout the day. And she's so off-key, it's absolutely delightful (no, really, I LOVE it!)! She also sings her own versions of the songs and tries so conform her own wardrobe so that it resembles Ariel's. I suppose I should buy some shells. Anyway, I took some video of her singing yesterday. It was pretty cute so I thought I'd share.

Family teambuilding? Sure! These two are at each other from sun-up to sun-down and I'm drawing the line! Today I busted out the duct tape for a little unity-coaching.

Notice their wrists?

Andrew had to feed Ava since her right hand was a little restricted.

SO WHAT if Rock Band is the closest any of us will ever come to playing an actual instrument. It's wildly entertaining and everyone can rock to their heart's content.

Another experience from this last weekend was the visit with Smokey (The) Bear. ("The" is inserted simply for formalities, only a few will truly understand its significance.) Anyway, back to the point. It reminded me of a similar visit that happened two years ago. Here's the blog post that corresponded to the earlier incident for those that have no idea what I'm talking about:

http://lifeaslisaknowsit.blogspot.com/2008/09/only-you.html

I was really surprised when Ava didn't scream in terror when the giant bear in tapered leg, low-riding jeans tried to hug her. The previous night Eric had told all of the kids a campfire story where Ava was kidnapped by bears, who later fell to their death into a volcanic pit before her very eyes. Thankfully her long-term memory is still fleeting.

A1 and A2 just finished some pretty awesome swimming lessons. They both improved a LOT and even were introduced to diving. That's pretty impressive to me, since I never learned to dive! Scary! Andrew's favorite part was when they got to shoot hoops on the last day (his new favorite sport is basketball).

We celebrated Annabel's birthday on Saturday at Wahooz. After we took Andrew there for his birthday, it was the only place she wanted to spend her important day. It was considerably busier on a Saturday than it was on a Thursday night, but we had a lot of fun. The weather couldn't have been better.


But, SEVEN? Really?! I'm not sure how that happened!

Today is Ava's 3rd birthday. However, she's got the attitude of a 13 year old. Big personality in a little package! We celebrated her day Carlson style, by making the day (well, Sunday) all about her. She went to the zoo, Red Robin and then came home for her party. AND she got to skip her nap. We all tagged along! But, since we celebrated on Sunday, we're not telling her that today is her ACTUAL birthday. Shhhh.... I'm not up for another party.

Riding Mr. Humps

Loving the penguins

Enjoying the singing talent at Red Robin

Opening presents

Blowing out her candles

We went hiking in the foothills as a family. Even the dog got to come along. I only had my cell phone, but still couldn't resist trying to get a picture of the kids. And then there's Ava....

We missed our normal October family photo-op last year because we were all taking turns DYING of swine flu and pneumonia. And then our favorite (because it was free) photo store closed down leaving us in a lurch for our annual birthday pictures. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Or, rather, the camera. We went to the park and tried to get just a few good shots, but I was pleasantly surprised by our results! Here are some of my favs.

Yesterday was Andrew's birthday. We continued with the traditional "all about you" day. Andrew got to watch Transformers, paint, eat at Red Robin, but best of all, he got to go to Wahooz!! He wanted to go to PoJo's again this year, but we convinced him that we knew of a better alternative. We all had SO much fun. Laser Tag, Go-Karts, Bumper Boats, Mini Golf, Pizza, Arcade games, Ticket games, climbing gym, more Laser Tag, more Go-Karts... We closed the place down!!

Just wanted to share some pictures of the fun for those of you that weren't invited! :)

I've been lucky lately. I've had the opportunity to relive what it was like to only have one child. And, I must say, we had it good! There is nothing more fun, more fulfilling or easier than having one child! Let me clarify that: in relation to having more than one child later down the road.. I am nowhere near suggesting that one should go from 3 to 1, or that once you have more children you long for the days of less. I am simply stating that when you only have one child, you don't really realize just how good you've got it... until you're outnumbered.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take Thing 2 and Thing 3 to the foothills and to the park. It was a whole other experience in remembering what it was like when there were only two little monkies to keep track of. Bliss! Hardly any fighting (because who would sever relations with their only playmate) and they never lost track of one another.

But in reality, there are three. Always finding something to disagree about; always doubling up and leaving someone out; and always three different ideas about what constitutes fun. Don't get me wrong. I love the dynamic of three. Three times the fun, right?! Sometimes I just like to remember first-hand how much EASIER it used to be!

With that little tidbit, here are some pictures from our little outing yesterday in the beautiful 60 degree weather!

I hear over and over again from friends with children that the first year they send them off to school is filled with sickness. Schools are a notorious cesspool of germs, and all that close contact wreaks havoc on immature immune systems.

But, seriously? It's mid-February and Annabel has already been absent SEVENTEEN days! Yes, you read that correctly. Is that a lot? I mean, I'm thinking that it is, but maybe those of you with kids in school just laugh at that number and nod your head in silent acknowledgement of the secret, unspoken familial trauma brought on by school days. Because not only is Annabel getting sick, she's infecting us with her unfortunate luck as well! In the 7 years that Eric and I have been married, he's gotten a cold here or there, but that's about it. In the last 4 months he's had swine flu, pneumonia, seasonal flu, and a sinus infection! Annabel was blessed with her dad's stellar immune system (really, it's normally amazing) and BS (before school) she had maybe thrown up like 3 times. Ever. She's puked more in the last 6 months than she has in her entire life! Gross!

And, on a side note. Being sick is expensive. When your child starts missing school they want you to take them to the doctor! Once they reach junior high, I'm told that absences aren't excused unless you have a doctor's note. Seriously? You want me to pay $30 to take my kid to the doctor to have them tell me he's sick (and usually there's nothing they can do) just to avoid sending them to school to puke on the carpet, make a mess, and infect everyone else?!

And, on another semi-related note. Going to school is expensive. Your first impression would be that public school is your cheapest option for schooling. Well, that may be the case, surface level. But just wait until your child comes home asking for money for:
1) Baranca, the homeless girl her class adopted (is this even for real?)
2) Read-a-thon pledge money
3) Lunch money because the cafeteria screwed up and fed someone else on your kid's account
4) Yearbooks (in 1st grade?)
5) Yearbook messages (pay to have it printed? can't I just use a pen later?)
6) Candy-grams so your kid doesn't feel like a loser when everyone else gets one
7) Pennies for Patients
8) School carnival tickets
9) Eating out at restaurants that give a % back... no pressure when kids come home begging: "We HAVE to go out to eat. It's for the SCHOOL!"
....
....

I could go on, but I'll spare you some of the smaller, more trivial ways schools must resort to begging for money.

As I'm typing this all out, I turn to Annabel and ask her, "what all have you had to take money to school for?" She laughs and starts listing things off then says "It's like they make all that stuff up just to get money." My thoughts exactly!

I'm only posting this because Eric made fun of me. Here are some pictures of our 3rd child's experience with mouth trauma. (If you remember, Annabel at nearly 3 years old knocked out 5 teeth. Andrew had part of his tongue biopsied at nearly 3. Here's Ava... nearly 3... it's her turn!)

This happened as she was climbing into her chair to paint at the kitchen table... something she's done hundreds of times. From the front, you can tell that she darn near bit a hole all the way through!

Please, God. Spare us from more mouth traumas!

On Saturday we went bowling. It was the first time ever taking the kids. They sucked.

Annie managed to have semi-accurate form!

Andrew was the cutest, with his Granny-push. Each time his arms would flail into the air and stay there for about 5 seconds while he watched his ball roll SLOWLY down the lane.



But my favorite part... was the part where I won!

Santa was faithful in fulfilling the children's wish lists this Christmas.

Eric. This one's for you.

Rule #1: Never wait until the night before to complete a school project and expect that I have a glue gun. Because I don't. Well, now I do. But that's just because I went out and bought one after you mocked me for not having one.

Rule #2: Never show Mom up on a school project by going above and beyond reasonable and customary. Because there is NOTHING wrong with reasonable and customary. In fact, normal and average are what schools STRIVE for.

Rule #3: If Rule #2 is violated in any such fashion, you will be required to complete ALL remaining school projects, said and implied, from date of such violation until completion of school year (or longer depending on degree of violation).

Now that that's established, here's Annabel's teddy bear float made from a box. The 1st graders put on a teddy bear parade at school this morning. Grandma Dexter was kind enough to accompany me and the rowdy other two to watch.

And on that note, anyone want a 2.5 year old that likes to run and scream in terror: "HE'S GOING TO GET ME!" whenever someone walks 10 feet behind her? Or how about "Mommy... WAAAAIIIIT!!!!" when I get more than 3 feet away. Only moderately embarassing.

I decided to take advantage of the kids dressing up for Andrew's performance last night, and snapped some Christmas pictures. I'm going to show the picture that captures their true personality and you can decide... are they naughty... or are they nice??!!

But only because they were rude first!

In case you have been checking your mailboxes in eager anticipation of a most wonderfully delightful Christmas card from our little family. . . quit waiting 'cuz it's not coming!

We were all taking turns with the swine flu when we normally capture our fall family portrait in October. And then in late November / early December we were taking turns with coughs and pneumonia so there was no studio portrait of the kids.

And, of course, I just can't bring myself to send out a generic Christmas card (not to mention I didn't buy any in anticipation of photo cards. . . and by the time I realized THAT wasn't happening, all the decent ones were gone).

So, if we've offended you terribly by not sending Christmas love your way in the form of a folded piece of cardstock with some generic wording printed on it, please accept our most sincere appologies. It's not because we don't love you. I'm just cheap!