Catching up on the rest of the year

Oh my goodness! I have gotten so far behind, it's reprehensible!!!!! (Yes, it required that many exclamation points.) I'll blame prepping for the holidays, getting very little sleep due to an infant's growth spurt, and just trying to keep up with the demands of four children and a house for eating all my blogging time.

Granted, this "keeping up with the house" thing of which I speak has been stepped up a bit. A homemaker needs to have standards, right? And since I got pregnant with The Baby, I had definitely let my standards slip. Now that she's a bit more independent, I have more time to devote to keeping this place clean, but I have a TON of catching up to do. It's getting better, though! There are days when I'd like to set fire to my home office, though. I've gotten help organizing it, I've rearranged it, and yet the paper still seems to be breeding. It's frustrating, but I'll get it under control. At some point.

Ok, so last time I wrote was end of November, right? Before Thanksgiving? What do you mean, I should backtrack and re-read my own blog? Well, I guess that does make some sense. Give me a minute, will you?

Wow! I didn't post Halloween pictures or even mention The Boy's second birthday! My goodness, somebody slap me on the wrist. Suffice it to say, I put together the best trunk I've ever put together for the Trunk or Treat, but I feel my costume efforts suffered a bit as a result. So here's a picture of our costumes, duly labeled (I stole this from my own Facebook album):

 And here's the trunk. It looked awesomer in person and with better lighting, just so you know:

 After Halloween, this little bit of insanity happened. Mayhem turned TWO!!

 It's a good thing he's cute, and that he mostly adores his baby sister. Otherwise, I'd be crazy right now.

 See the cute? This is why I only complain about my lack of sleep (due to these two!) a few times a day, instead of all day long.

 We continued our Thanksgiving thing theme again this year. Instead of turkey feathers, we did leaves. It was awesome to be reminded of all our blessings as we filled up the branches. How blessed we are!

 When you let your sister-in-law play with your phone, you end up with photos like this.

My mom came for Thanksgiving!

The Baby is learning how to roll.

The Baby laughs because she did not get back onto her back on her own.

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and sigh...
(That's my automatic hot chocolate whip stuck in Miss Bubbly's hair.)

Cranberries--my favorite fall color!

The Boy and The Baby playing.

Impromptu family gathering.

The Eldest blows out her candles--she turned EIGHT. More on that in another post.

The Nativity Play at Nana's house.

More play!

What The Baby thought of the play.

The Eldest as she plays checkers with my mom.

The Baby IS a Christmas present!

Crazy hair in the tub.

And that's all for now, as this post has gotten too long. I'll cover the rest of Christmas, The Eldest's birthday and baptism (!!) in the nest post. Stay tuned!