That Charles

Just a few things that I don't want to forget....ever. ;)




I do believe everyone now knows Charles...aka...Cam's best friend...aka....Cam's imaginary best friend. Charles has proven to be a bad influence as Cameron tends to blame any inappropriate behaviors on his bff.  Charles tends to teach Cameron bad language and mischievous acts (hahaha). However, I must give Charles credit when credit is due. He might not be such a bad guy/boy (Charles also has the power to be young one day and a "gwown up" the next) after all.  The kids have taken an interest in growing up and getting married. Faith and Cameron often say that they will grow up and marry each other.  However, one night at dinner, Cameron comes out with, "I'm gonna' marry Charles girlfriend." Hmmm. I go on to tell Cameron that it really doesn't work that way. We don't marry other people's girlfriends. Charles would be mad, of course! Cameron just looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, cocked his head to the side, and said, "Charles will share." That was that.  Now, Charles is a good friend, don't you think?! ;)




Mallory has taken to potty training!!! In all honesty, I was not planning on doing that until summer. SHE initiated the training, however, and I am game! Parents, this is the way to go! Why push your kids to potty train when they are not ready?! Mallory is doing great (for the most part), and I am not begging and pleading. WOOHOO. Go Mallory Jo! I am so proud of her....I will try to forget that moment when she told a teacher friend of mine that she (and I quote), "Did a bolda (boulder) in the potty...two of dem." Thanks, Cody for that terminology.


Faith and Cam's bday is today. I can't believe that they are FOUR!!! I will be posting about that soon!

"Happy Howidays is Oba"

"Happy Howidays is oba." Poor Malllory sounded so disappointed when she told me that the other night. We certainly DID have a great Christmas filled with lots of family and gathering after gathering. We began out Christmas on the 23rd and continued right through Christmas night! We were absolutely exhausted when it's all over and done, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

So, here are some pictures of our "Happy Howiday":

 

 

 

The kids had their very first program!!! I took that day off because I certainly did not want to miss it!!! I had so much fun taking them to school...so precious. Anyway, Faith, Cam, and Mallory were not the most vocal in the program,  but they went up there, at least moved their mouths, and even did some motions! I was very proud. My mom was able to come, as well, and we celebrated with lunch at Chick-fil-a.

 

 

We did have an Elf on the Shelf. His name was Sam. I am not a fan of making your elf get into mischief. The whole purpose of an Elf on the Shelf is to keep YOUR children out of mischief, so WHY let your elf to all of these CRAZY things?! So normally, Sam just moved each night. Cody made it a little fun, though. He thought it would be super funny to find Sam a girlfriend. So, many mornings, we would find Sam with one of Faith and Mallory's barbies (see above). Leave it to Cody. :)

 

 

We did get a chance to make Christmas cookies! MeMe, Poppy, and Autumn joined us....thank goodness! We made quite the mess.

 

Here's Cam on Christmas morning! He loved his toy guns that Santa brought him. He got hunting stuff, trucks and trailers, and Ninja turtles, of course!

There's Mallory! She liked these little princesses that are in front of her. She also got a puppet theatre (she LOVES puppets), Sophia toys, and loads of Disney princess stuff.

 

Faith is checking out the bike! All of the kids got bikes, as well. Faith also received her Rapunzel dress and wig, Disney princess toys, and art supplies. Actually, the girls got very similar things, and Santa placed their stuff together so that they could just pick and choose which was theirs. :) It worked out nicely.

 



So, we were beyond blessed at Christmas...and we are each day. 

Charles Strikes Again

How do you forbid a child from playing with his friend???....ESPECIALLY if the friend is IMAGINARY???!!!

Okay, so it's not THAT serious, but this Charles character is a bad influence on my Cameron. I do believe that I have mentioned Charles before. Any time that Cameron says or does something inappropriate, he often blames it on Charles. This is how a conversation went yesterday in the car:

Cameron: Dad, stop being a lunatic!
Me: Did he just say LUNATIC?! Cody: Yep.
Me: What do you know about the word lunatic?!
Cameron: Charles say it. I went to his house one day, and he called his mom a lunatic.

Yep. Interesting, huh? I thought it was a bit funny, too.

Faith, is quite a character herself...always has been...that's nothing new. This morning, I threatened to eat all of the Krispy Kreme donuts and not give her any. She looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "Well, you'd get a belly ache."

Mallory, is simply growing up. She is outgrowing some of her belly issues, and she is much more content. She is talking non-stop, but what I love the most is her constant telling us, "I lub you."

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

We are counting down the days until Christmas break in the Patrick house....well....maybe it is just me, but we had a great time during Thanksgiving and it has only left me longing for MORE!

Christmas decorating came a little early this year...even earlier than the last. We bought a new tree for the living room and placed our old one in the playroom for the kids. Faith, Cameron, and Mallory loved helping with the first one, but they were WAY over it on the second go 'round! I love Christmas decorations. If I had plenty of time and/or money, I would likely go a little CRAZY. :)

Thanksgiving break was nice and needed. We slept in, hung out in pajamas, and stayed in bed and watched the morning cartoons...my favorite was Princess Sophia. We also made a trip to Chuck E Cheese! The kids were troopers on our LONG Thanksgiving day and they had a special treat with an entire day with daddy while I shopped like mad on Friday....and by the way, I am almost COMPLETELY finished with my Christmas shopping.

So, Christmas is coming, and those Christmas cards need to be sent out. I contemplated not sending any...but I know how much I enjoy receiving...so I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind. I love my children and their funny personalities, but, when it comes to getting all three of them in a decent picture, I would rather take a spanking...or better yet give them one. Here we go....I took at least one hundred. Picture taking with these three really brings out the Grinch in me..........

Starting off sitting....Faith was the only one that consistently took this adventure seriously.

 



Mallory became the leader...she thought it to be really cute to stand if I said sit....Cam's loving it, can't you tell?

 

Decent...

Moving to the porch....and silly again.

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Stay tuned for your card in the mail....I finally got a good one. :)



Imaginary BFFs

I must do a little bragging on my children. We decided not to go to the truck pull over the weekend. It was cold and the kids had coughs and runny noses. So, it was just us for most of the weekend. They were wonderful. Little angels. We stayed overnight with my mom and dad on Friday. They thought that was a treat! Saturday, we (just me and the kids) headed to WalMart to fill their shoe boxes that they are doing for school (you know the boxes that are sent to underprivileged children for Christmas).  I thought that it would be a good idea to let them help with it, but I was also hesitant and fearful that they would pitch a tantrum when they realized that they wouldn't be getting ANYTHING! I had no reason to worry, however...these kids were awesome. They walked the entire time and were great at picking things out. They never once asked to keep the stuff that we purchased. SO. VERY. SWEET.

Now, on to the funny story...

I do believe that I have mentioned my children's imaginary friends before. I think that it is so cute...and interesting. Having constant playmates with each other, I really wouldn't have dreamed that they would need imaginary ones. Nonetheless, they do....and their names are HILARIOUS. I was reminded to write about this because they were talking about their little friends tonight. Cody asked Cameron if he had spoken to Charles today. Just a week or so ago, Cameron had revealed that Charles had quite the potty mouth. Since then, if he says something that he should not, Cam continues to blame it on Charles. "Well, Charles say it." It is too funny. Since Charles seems to be a bad influence, I was relieved to hear that Cameron had not spoken to 'ole Charles today. Mallory, on the other hand, shouts, "I talk to Puddintain Daddy!" Yes...Puddintain.  She goes on to say,"Puddintain say bad word at school, Daddy." The kids didn't even go to school today. She was very convincing, though. Mallory kept saying it over and over.  Faith later said that her friend, AK, was badly hurt in an accident and she was teaching her how to write again. I think that this comes from our nightly prayers for Tripp Halstead, the little boy who suffered brain injuries from a falling tree.

My children....love, love, love!

She QUITS!

No, I'm not talking about my job...hehe....although how I would LOVE to come home!....

ANYWAY, I don't want to be one of THOSE parents...you know the kind of parent, who lives their dreams out through their own children MAKING them do things that they do not want to do. My parents NEVER did that, and I do not plan on it, either. If I wanted to do an extra curricular activity, GREAT. If not, that was my choice.  Now, I know that my children are only three and two, but I have already had my first experience with this type of situation....

My strong-willed Faith.....she decided last week that she simply did not want to do gymnastics. She actually decided to pitch a little fit once we arrived. She was glued to my leg and acted what I would call ridiculous. It just didn't make sense to me...she had been liking it!  I thought it was just some whim.  Mallory had fallen asleep on the way, so after whispering every threat that I could think of to Faith, I relented and out we marched with Mallory on my hip and Faith sniffling all the way.  Oh, I was fuming. I was not so much irritated because she had decided not to do gymnastics, but by the way she acted and how she had changed her mind so quickly. She thought of every excuse as to why she behaved the way she did, and I am still uncertain as to the REAL reason. However, it is clear that she doesn't want to go back...and I'm not going to push her.

So, for now, Mallory thinks that she is super special. She will go by herself this week! Faith is excited to go hunting with Cody and Cam (not sure if Cody is so much!). She may change her mind....she may not. We shall see. :)  Girls....so fickle! Who knows, I may have a TRUE country girl on my hands, here.

The Cutest Trick-or-Treaters EVER!!!

I have wanted to blog since Halloween night, but I have not found the time!

Halloween was a success! The kids did great in their costumes, they were not EXTREMELY shy, and they seemed to have a great time. There were no tears...so that always equals success.

Halloween morning, the kids had something special at their school. They were allowed to dress up, but I really didn't want them to go in their costumes that I had planned for the night. I was afraid that they may get torn...or worse than that...they may grow tired of them and refuse to wear them that night. Cam had said that his was itchy when it arrived in the mail, so I was sure that he would not tolerate it in the morning AND evening. So, these rotten little children had TWO costumes. Cameron already had a fireman costume from Christmas and I simply bought the girls some bunny ears and a tail to wear with their pink leotards. Cody was the fortunate soul, who had to dress them for this event. :)  I must say, that he did very well! YaYa was kind enough to attend the children's parties...so this was event number two that I have had to miss in the last two weeks...grrrrr. Here is the pic Cody sent me that morning:

HOW SWEET!!!

 

That evening, MeMe and Poppy came to us. I can not braid hair, so I needed my mother's assistance! The kids were so happy and excited about their costumes! THEY. LOVED. THEM. You could tell that they thought they were SO cute....and they were, of course! ;)  We only went to a couple of houses that were family. They were NOT the most excited trick-or-treaters once we started going to houses, but they weren't around my legs, either. I find that to be an accomplishment. :)  Unfortunately, we did not get to everyone in the family that we wanted because the kids really wanted to go to the church trunk-or-treat. Although I am so happy that the church does this, I just can't understand why it is done on Halloween night! For those of us, who like to keep with the tradition of Halloween of going door-to-door, there is no way that it can all be done!

The cast of The Wizard of Oz...they LOVE that book/movie!

They were doing "We're off to see the wizard" in this picture!



There were all treats this Halloween and zero tricks....well...unless you consider the lovely mural that Faith colored on my wall that day a trick. Poor Mallory....she was blamed by Faith and Cameron until we found out the truth the next day. Looks like painting walls will be in my near future.

I also wanted to post a picture from a couple of years ago. This little trick happened after we got home from trick-or-treating. Faith and Cam ran to the front of the car and locked us out. I look at pictures like this and can't believe that they were up to such mischief so young...and then I remember who their daddy is! ;)