Christmas and the Bearded Man

The shepherds on Christmas Eve...

Coming down Christmas morning...

Santa presents (A COOOL scooter for Wes) He also is enjoying new slippers from Uncle Danner, Legos from Grandma, and a Cars Race Track from cousin Brady.

A keyboard for Syd

A talking dog for Lando

Landon's favorite thing right now, besides marshmallows, BALLS! Not to mention he LOVES his "hammer train" from cousin Kelsi...

Syd LOVES her "at home Build-a-Bear" from cousin Noah. We made it on Christmas day. SO CUTE! She is also loving her slippers and "scrapbook/card kit from grandma" PERFECT for her!

Practicing, look at her go!

Surprise! The bearded man in NOT Santa, but AARON. Since Aaron isn't working right now he decided to take this opportunity to NOT shave. Here is the result...

He shaved yesterday, and I have to say I like it a lot better. We continue the job search like CRAZY. Nothing as of yet but hopefully the first of the year. Sorry no pics of me (Shan) on Christmas, but I did have a good one!

What we do During Christmas Break...

Oh, just a little crazy dancing to High School Musical...


Some headstands...

We take some cute pics...

We play with our neighbors all day long...

We also: Wait for Santa, Drive around and look at Christmas lights (I am turning into my parents, but this is NOT a bad thing), Spend lots of time together, Watch Christmas Movies, Make Treats, Remember the TRUE reason for the season (trying hard to help the kids remember that), and Wait for Santa some more...hurry up Santa!!!!!

Crazy Mr. Flashlight Head

Wes and Landon are little buddies. They both found headlamps today and tried them out. I didn't have my camera when Lando made FUNNIEST face going cross-eyed trying to look at the light in the middle of his head, MAN it was FUNNY! Excuse the booger nose child of mine, it's cold time at our house. We are all doing well. We are happy it's December. We decorated our tree last night! YAY!

New Moon!

The night it came out, I went to the midnight showing of New Moon! I went with my friend (who happens to be Wes's preschool teacher) who happens to have a 17 year old daughter who is WAY into The Twilight Saga. This certain daughter brought 2 other friend who are 17 also. Let me tell you, I came away from that night feeling 11 years younger than I am! WHAT FUN!!! We went out to eat (Spaghetti Factory) before hand. Then we headed to Seattle for a 9:00 showing of Twilight. It was fun to see that first. Then we had an hour break in-between shows. It was nice because we got to stay in the same theatre, same seats, no waiting in line...etc. AWESOME!

The teens I was with, were fully equipped with their T-shirts (which read Tyler's Van Team, if you don't get it I will tell you, I didn't get it either) and a WEATLH of knowledge about Twilight, New Moon and all the characters names and bios. This might have been the best part for me. I learned so much about the movie and remembered so much I had forgotten about the books, thanks to these girls. The movie was better than I was hoping (much better than the 1st) and Jacob looked WHOLE lot better that I ever imagined (every time I see him, I still think Shark-Boy and Lava-Girl, but I think this movie got me passed that) and Edward is still a bad actor, although very enduring.

Needless to say, I had a blast acting like a 17 year old girl again, screaming, laughing, and talking about the on-screen boys, not to mention getting to bed at 3:30 am. What a night to remember, if only I could recover from lack of sleep now...

Hug a Kid

Today my friend and I made a trip to the mall with 6 kids to play at the squishy (and germ infected) play place. It was overflowing with people and kids of all ages, since there was no school: Veterans Day. Thirty minutes after arriving, a lady stands up and starts searching for her child. She was just ignored for a bit but then, she started getting frantic. She couldn't find her daughter. She started screaming her name and running up and down the mall. When she came back around to the play area, with no luck, EVERYONE at the play place bolted into action. We were all quizzing her name, age, what she was wearing etc. We found out she 22 months old! SO YOUNG! There was a major search party heading around the mall, people running in and out of stores and asking EVERY passer-by if they had seen a lost little girl. By this time the mother is HYSTERICAL, and rightfully so! (it had been about 15-20 min)

As I watched this young mother so frantic and scared, my heart ached for her. I could not fathom the idea of losing one of my babies. Not knowing who they might be with, if they were scared, if they were kidnapped...you know, those kind of thoughts. The bad ones. The worse case senrio ones. I have been a bit on the negative side lately, in dealing with my children. I have felt, overwhelmed, under appreciated, burned out, ungrateful, not to mention very selfish, this past week. Today those negatives were wiped clean as I watched this mom deal with such panic and pain.

Back to the story...30 minutes, start to finish, the little girl was found, happy as a clam, in The Disney Store. The reunion between mother and daughter was BEAUTIFUL. The mother bawled and bawled (I could hear her halfway down the mall.) The little girl just held still in her arms, and hugged her mother tight. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and then hugged their own children.

As I have thought about this incident the remainder of the day, I have thought about all of the joy my children bring me. They are amazing spirits, who are smart, witty, fun, innocent, positive, HILARIOUS etc. I need to take some lessons from them in the positive category. I have got my little family and that matters MOST in the whole world. Literally.

I also have to say, on another note, I was very impressed by the other parents in the mall. Every single person was ready to help and jump right into action. They were genuinely concerned for this mother and daughter and helped until the end! Impressive Lynnwood, impressive!

Love these people!

Halloween Visitors

For Halloween this year, my sister flew in from Phoenix. It was sooo much fun with her and her little girl here. She got here the day before Halloween and left this morning... (sniff). WE of course did tons of talking and catching up, did Halloween school parties, trunk-treating at the church, and regular trick-or-treating. We also went to Seattle, did lots of shopping, the beach, Pacific Science Center, etc. Why does the fun always have to come to an end? Now I am just sitting here in a big empty house wearing rice on my tux, wondering what happened to my life (what movie is that from??????)

I feel like the worst mom because I didn't get a picture of all my 3 kids together on Halloween, but I did manage to get a shot of them separately... Landon the Elephant and Miranda his cousin (in which they have a love hate relationship) the bee.
The baby elephant drinking a bottle (I know he is too old to drink a bottle, we are working on that one :)) Wesley the Ninja...
Sydnie, the ghost (in which she changed to a baby the next day for her school carnival and then the next day for trick-or-treat she was a ballerina) A pretty day in Seattle!!Nice view from the Space Needle, my first time going up!! It costs a mere $16.00 to go to the top! YIKES! At least I can say I have been to the top now!
Since we went to Seattle on Halloween day, we saw some interesting people/costumes. This guys was working at Pikes Place and offering apples to kids. Kinda scary, but Wes wasn't scared, probably because there was food involved.
We ate at a seafood place near Pikes Place. Here is Aaron "downing" an oyster for the first time. We weren't quite sure he would like them...all raw and slimy...The Verdict???? Thumbs UP! Now I need to work enough nerve up to try them!

Octoberish Activities

The kids, just being crazy kids.
Landon got his first buzz cut, courtesy of his father, since I am not a fan of "mullets" (not sure if anyone should be a mullet fan)
October Sky
The boys on the (soggy) pumpkin farm. Sure has been raining a lot here. You would think we live in Seattle or something...
Can you tell whose is whose??
From left to right Sydnie's, Landon's, Wesley's. Happy Haunting!!

Chicken Tacos w/ Mango-Avocado Salsa

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1924691

(sorry it would NOT make into a link)
Here is the recipe y'all wanted. The only think I changed was I used flour tortillas instead of corn. DELICIOUS!

Calling all Decorators, or Otherwise...

You know who you are...you extremely talented individuals who decorate, or organize, or just have the best ideas in the entire world!! I need your help!! I have an EXTREMELY large "shelf" in my front room that I am at a loss of what to do with. I need some inspiration or creative ideas on how to dress it up! I want to get a HUGE pot and put something in it (is that lame?), but what else? Tell me your thoughts, ideas, suggestions etc. Thanks...

PS Ignore the big blue ball. My kids threw it up there, I guess that is their decor pick!

Fun with the Parentals...

Not sure if Parentals is a word, but it is now.
At the beach...it was a nice warm day! This is my idea of BLISS!My parents had never been to Seattle before and so we had to do all the "Tourist-y Seattle" things. We took a ferry over to Kingston just for the heck of it. We ate ice cream over there and then sailed right back. This is us on the ferry, FUN!Lando enjoying some good grub! BBQ ribs!
One of the days we went to the Pacific Science Center (and got in free!!!) It was VERY cool for the kids and even the grown ups. We spent almost ALL day in there!

Now, I am no expert at physics, but this cool bike was at the Science Center. Because of the weight suspended from the bottom of the bike, you can not fall over unless you are OVER 500 lbs. Of course ya gotta see the Space Needle and ride the monorail to Pikes Place!!!! I have never been to PP when it was SOOOO crowded. It made it fun though!!
Just LOVE this colorful pic at PP!

We went to Deception Pass....SO pretty. We walked over the billion mile high bridge and then went to a rocky beach where rocks were skipped for hours on end and AWESOME memories were made! That night we went out to dinner with mom and dad Lindsey WITHOUT kids (courtesy of mom and dad Banks)!!!! What an excellent time! SO, I made this post REALY long and put lots of pics up on purpose to make you all jealous and so you will all come visit! You are all welcome ANY time!! We had such a fun time with mom and dad!! We love you!!!!

Mom and Dad...COME BACK!

My parents have been here for the past week and it was soo much fun. It's always a let down after company leaves. I guess I have to get back to normal life sooner or later, right? I'll post pic later of all the fun stuff we did, but for now here is a family picture that my dad took of us...

Cleaning Therapy

Some may think the words CLEANING THERAPY are oxy-morons....I on the other hand really believe in the words. Nothing warms my heart more than a sparkling clean, everything-in-it's-place, completely organized house. I have an on going battle within me at all times, because if you have ever been to my house, you know it does not meet the above mentioned standards. And if you have a child, a dog, a husband, or are a human, you know that it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep up on it as well. BUt I really do try... What is most heart warming about a clean organized house is the ability to "SEE" the results....turning a stinking, dirty mess into organized bliss! I heart dramatic results!!!

Where do I get these odd genes from, you ask?...my mother. She so willingly passed them on to me. I always find myself thinking...what would mom do with, OR where would she find a home for 10 random paintbrushes and some rubber gloves, or if mom were here she would tell me to...(fill in the blank). I also find myself asking the same question about my cutie sis-in-law Betsy (BTW, who just had a baby 2 days ago!!!!!!). She is known for her mad skills of cleanliness and organization...If only I could be more like them!

Just wanted to share a little bit of my "obsession" because maybe if I write it down, it will motivate me to keep up on it. Look who is taking after me...

I swear he did this ALL on his own!! He likes cleaning almost as much as his mom!

Landon Pants!

Look whose walking...

...almost

He walks about 50% of the time, and the rest of the time he crawls. He is practicing a lot and will be a pro in no time!