Big Boy Bedroom Makeover

Raise your hand if you cried when your *baby* moved from his/her crib to a big boy/girl bed. Anyone? Just me? Okay Mom, I see you. 

It was way PAST time for Austin to be moved up to a twin sized bed. His crib converted into a toddler day bed- but he was starting to get a wee bit tall for it. So off we went to the furniture store.

And do you know what the boys picked out? A bunk bed. I asked if you got a free visit to the ER for a broken arm with purchase, but the sales person didn't get my joke. Or it wasn't funny...

Either way, I convinced Austin that a bunk bed with stairs would be a much cooler than the one with a ladder. And safer. So we'll see.

 Before...

 More before...

 Still before.

 And after!

 I was stressed about whether or not everything would fit okay, but it worked out great!

 I have started a love affair with hooks.

Not hookers. Geesh.

 God bless American sized closets!

I heart organizing. Sigh.

And the boy loves it. Winning.

Ski Patrol

Yep. Austin is taking ski lessons. He has his very own set of skis, boots, a helmet, goggles, boot carrying strap thingy, plastic lift card holder, and whatever other crap you buy for skiing. Because he wanted to.
And guess what?
He has no interest in learning how to control his speed or stop. He wants to, (and I quote) "keep my skis straight and go as fast as I can".  And get all of the female instructors to pay attention to him. And then throw snowballs at his instructor James (who looks like the werewolf kid from Twilight- but I digress). We're trying hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he IS only 4.95 years old. But seriously? It takes all of my self restraint to not repeatedly beat my forehead against the nearest wall every Saturday morning when he is goofing off as his peers ski past him. It has been decided that we are going to stick with it. And hope that he will at least learn to "pizza slice" his skis and not crash into people at the end of a run.
Poop in one hand, hope in another. See which one fills up first.
So keep a look out. I'll be the mom on the mountain with her eyes closed repeating "at least he is having fun" over and over to herself while her son feigns weakness and fear in order to lure in older women.

 On a mission.

 Objective #1. Get someone else to carry your skis.

 Objective #2. Get a cute girl to "catch you" at the end of your run.

 Objective #3. Get a cute girl to help you get going. 

 Objective #4. Get another cute girl to watch you while you are preparing to go down the hill.

 Do I even need to say it?

 I'll give him this- he has good balance and rarely falls.

I've seen grown men standing at the bottom of the hill listening to their instructor fall down.

 I know he likes it.

He just doesn't want to LEARN it.

Stinking cute.

A decent run. Hallelujah!

 And lunch with his ski buddies.

Back to December

I know. I know. I needed a break. It wasn't you, it was me.
But I'm back. There won't be as much posting as there used to be back in the day, because I'm getting older and slower. And blogging was becoming a CHORE. And I have enough of those already. But I do like having a way to keep family and friends posted on what we three have going on. So here we go. Again.
So where were we last time? Novemberish?
Let me catch you up on December!

 We three did our annual tradition of visiting Downtown Saratoga during their Victorian Christmas Night. The decorations were gorgeous, the cotton candy was free, and the temperature was frigid.

 The local Synagogue had a Noah's Ark that you could walk through with live animals. It was very interesting. And slightly stinky. Probably much like the original ark.

 Did someone say balloon animals?!

 And two seconds after this picture was taken Austin fell on top of his balloon on the sidewalk. 

And it didn't pop. I considered it our Christmas miracle for this year.

 Mommy and Austin's annual Gingerbread creation.

Austin mostly squeezed icing and ate candy.

Men.

 Austin's Christmas tree farm visit #2.

Last year Austin spent the whole time asleep in the car while daddy ran out by himself and grabbed a tree.

 This year Chris looked at what I estimated to be 473 trees before finding a suitable one.

I was spending my time imagining what life would be like without any fingers. Because I'm pretty sure frostbite was setting in.

 Reindeer!!!!

 Chris lives for Christmas tree hunting.

All aboard the Polar Express!

 Tickets. Check.

 Family self portrait. Check.

 Adorable little boy in new Christmas pajamas. Check.

 Blinding a hobo with your camera flash. Check.

He was wearing sunglasses the next time he walked through our car.

Seriously.

 And then my son asked why he didn't have a whole word punched into his ticket like in the movie.

Sigh.

 But they DID have cookies and 500 degree hot chocolate that Austin drank on the car ride home when it had finally cooled off.

 The best part? My son who wants NOTHING to do with Santa had a conversation with the man himself! And decided that Santa did not have to leave our presents outside this year. He could come inside.

 Nonny and Pop came up for Christmas!

And Santa was really good to Austin this year.

Well, good to Austin and Daddy.

 And then Mommy cried when she opened the door mat Austin made her at school.

The one that NO ONE will EVER wipe their feet on.

 Then things turned redneck really fast. Thanks Aunty K and Uncle J.

 This will be getting many of miles of use in the back yard this summer!

Mommy was a little jealous. 

I always wanted a Jeep.

One that I could fit my butt into.

 And, of course, SNOW!

And an igloo.

Which my husband had lovingly built and left a candle burning inside of all night in order to strengthen the walls. (He got some tips from a boy scout leader)

And then he didn't even flinch when Austin played inside of it for only 5 minutes and spent the next hour demolishing Daddy's creation. I love than man.

So there you have it.

A small sampler of our December.

So now, on to more regular updates!