shorties funny farm

The Schaefer's vs December

Christmas was wonderful. The 12 days of Christmas went wonderful. I really liked it. I will have to make lists and review them many times before we decide if we will do it again next year.

Best present each -

Josh = ton of $ to us at Gander Mountain

Brooke = kicking pink north face coat

Emma = ipod touch

Lily = science kits and art kits

Max = the boxes it all came in

But December held much more for the Schaefer clan -

JOSH -

Had to take 30 days off of work. Which works great over the holidays. He has been working on various house husband things but one morning he woke up and decided to take care of a long over due problem. Our "pink bathroom". Over the years I have learned to love the midcentury modern little house that we live in, but the pink bathroom has been falling apart for years. So he ripped it down to the studs. Place your bets on how many years it takes to finish it again. I say 2 years. But I don't care. I think its kind of cute. I did not think all that dust was kind of cute. We all enjoyed the demo. I managed to put a whole between

the bathroom and our bedroom. Whoops. Josh thought that was funny.

You may be asking - why the pink toilet in the playroom? That would be a good question. He is

going to put it back in the stripped bath so at least we have two functional toilets in the house. Really a good idea, but for now it cracks the kids up in the playroom.

BROOKE -

I am back on weight watchers. Hold

me to it. I need to get serious about this. I am just so happy that it is easy to just float around and eat Qdoba (purrrr) everyday. I am trying to focus. I am working on my 52 lists a day of garden plans. I am really excited to have a big garden this year but we shall see. Struggling with my Megs leaving, but

trying to keep a stiff upper lip. I already miss her so bad I started crying in the car

with Josh yesterday when we passed her apartment complex. Poor guy. My crazy is his p

roblem.

Been taking lots of time off to spend with Josh while he is on leave. Try to take lots of pictures while everyone is around. I am really enjoying my Emma being here so much over break. This is my first year to look forward to winter break and then look forward to it ending. The time was so nice with the kiddos but they got lots of cabin fever by the end. This picture of Max is my favorite picture I took over break.

My New Years resolutions are -

Be more attentive to my friends birthdays/special events

Do better at gift giving (more thought and effort)

EMMA

Emma is loving her ipod touch. That kid is so sweet. Even when we told her it was second hand she could not have cared less. As a teenager that would have made me humiliated to use it. She is just excited to have a really cool new toy. We spent 20 mins on line downloading free apps last night. We had lots of fun. (We vote virtual water slide as our favorite.)

She got a North Face jacket from my parents for x-mas and she even wears it to sleep. She has been spending lots of time here and it has been so nice to really get to have her as part of the team. What a great kid. She spend all her time with her ipod and phone in her hand, but chasing after Max trying to talk him into kisser her or hugging her. Which happens some. Then Lily is chasing her trying to get her to hug and kiss her. It is a funny little circle.

LILY

Oh little Lily, where to start? I took her to see civic theater's Wizard of Oz. Just the two of us. She was MAD that she didn't get to be a munchkin. Asked me 100 questions about why I didn't "sign her up." I really did think about it as the time, but she was too young for the try outs. At the intermission they had get your face painted like a munchkin and that had to happen. She loved it. She even got to meet Dorothy and Toto.

She has been helping me with the stitching on Max's invites. It is a slow process and it takes all my inner calm (small) to just let her do it and not take over. She is also up to her usual cuteness and art projects. Lizzie has had to go thru several dress up sessions and fashion shows. I just love that little face. She is trucking along on her piano lessons and has just started gymnastics. She is showing some talent and piano but hates it and is not showing any talent at gymnastics and loves it. How Lily.

The Max

Mr Max is such a little fart nugget. He is starting to talk in more than grunts and one word sentences. But I have a strong feeling that we are the only one that can understand him. He has this favorite pair of pajama's that he wants to wear all day every day. They are cute little Gap flannel jammies that are pretty roughed up. His hair is still a major source of cuteness. Those curls are stunning.

He has this little ear flap hat that he loves and when we take him to school he will not take it off. He wears it all the time. It is like his little walking wooby. He loves sitting in a chair with his Papaw havig snacks and watching movies. Adorable. He is also crazy about Sharpies. He can smell them out.