This Is What Happens

When you spend 45 minutes curling your hair and trying out new shades of eye shadow.  The two year old pours an entire bottle of syrup on a few pieces of pancake.  Well played, Cyrus, well played.  

And in other news . . . . 

Noah - He is the busy worker bee.  He goes to work in the morning and comes home in the evening.  He has a new calling at church teaching the 8 year old class.  Word on the street is that he is a pretty good teacher, but I already knew that.  I just asked him what else I should write about him, and he replied, "that I'm a boy genius."  So, there you have it.  Boy genius over and out.

Katie - As aforementioned, she has been curling her hair and applying make-up, and if that wasn't shallow enough for you, she has also been experimenting with lip color only to find out fuchsia is not her shade.  She also stays busy with the kids.  She likes to read and is open to suggestions.  Aside from these jaw-dropping revelations, her feet are cold - always.  

Calvin - This guy is getting ready to start karate.  He is happy to start, but does not want to wear the uniform.  (I guess it's a little too Karate Kid for his tastes).  He also likes to read his Pokedex, which for all you outsiders, is an index of Pokemon.  There are over 700 Pokemon.  He can do a great impression of babysitter, and he is still a solid helper around the house.  There are never any crumbs left when it is his turn to sweep under the table.  

Wyatt - He has become the class clown, or I guess we should call it the family clown.  He's always ready with a sweet joke.  And his jokes are always the epitome of sophistication, centering on any bodily function.  He and Calvin are both enjoying the new trampoline.  I often hear him say, "Hey, let's go jump on the tramp."  Cold or warm, you can find them out there playing and laughing.  He despises his chores and often takes upwards of two hours emptying the dishwashers, pausing after every cup or piece of silverware to either complain about the heaviness of his load or take a very long bathroom break.  

Cyrus - All.  And I mean All this child wants to do is put on clothes and take them off.  All day long, he follows me around with some piece of clothing and will ask me to put it on him.  It sounds similar to this:  "lellow pans, peas" (translation: yellow pants, please) or "wed shurt" (red shirt).  He usually has 4-5 layers on.  This morning when I made him put on his church clothes, he nearly had a heart attack.  He did not want to wear them.  He also says, WHY? after you tell him no though I am pretty sure that he doesn't know what WHY means.  He and Noah do this cute thing when I am putting Cy to bed.  I will scoop him up and say, "It's time for night-night."  Noah will reach one arm towards him and say, "No, my Cyrus!" and Cyrus will in turn reach out his arm and say, "My Noah, My Noah!"  They both have pretend sad faces on and then they will smile at each other.  It's pretty cute.  

There you have it.  A little update with a promise for better pictures next week.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas came with a lot of anticipation at our house.  Noah has had a countdown on his phone for months, and it was checked quite regularly.  We have been trying to figure out our Christmas Eve traditions for as long as we have been married.  We tried my families, we tried his families, we tried just making up stuff, and we are no further than we were last year.  For Christmas Eve this year we decided to go out for dinner and then come home for games and junk food.  It was a hit!  I don't know if it will stick next year, but I think there's a good chance we will at least consider revisiting it.  The kids were generous and let us sleep until about 7:30 on Christmas morning.  Here are our attempts at getting a picture of them in front of the tree.

Nope.  Not this one.

Sweet hugs, but not "The One."

Wyatt singing, Cyrus and Calvin unimpressed with his singing.

Shafer Kids 1

Shafer Parents 0

Cyrus on a throne of presents.

Nothing short of glamorous on Christmas Morn.

The boys were extra great this year, so Santa left them a letter in our Christmas tree saying to look outside.  Low and behold, it was a trampoline!!! I quickly snapped this picture of one of Santa's elves setting it up on Christmas Eve. 

Cyrus and The Year of The Stuffed Animal.  

Calvin busted enjoying Cyrus' toys.

 Santa's Elf was so sleepy.  He fell asleep on our couch.

 Sandwiched in between Christmas and New Years we had plenty of play dates with friends.  The boys had so much fun, and I actually got some stuff done around the house.  We also stopped by the Children's Museum called Explora and had the best time.  It was a really fun time.  We were sad to have Calvin head back to school.  

As for New Year's Resolutions:  Noah and I had a quick conversation about this over dinner clean-up the other night.  We didn't make a single one and neither one of us cares.  We feel like we are good about setting and achieving goals along the way.  So, there you have it.  Maybe we will have some next year, but for now we will keep on keeping on.  

Prepare For Picture Overkill

But I don't care if it's overkill because I love this little family, and I love these pictures that we had done.  And since this blog is about us for us, I think pictures of us are a great idea.  You'll just have to scroll past the glurge if you don't like it.  Seriously, Allison, you are a great photographer.  Thanks for capturing such sweet/fun times in our home.

Snow Day!

Facts about the weather here:

Albuquerque is in the northern upper region of the  Chihuahuan Desert.  Its elevation is between 4900 and 6700 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest in the United States.  The climate is hot and dry though tempered by the high elevation. There are an average of 3,420 hours of sunshine per year.  Winters are brief but definite.  Spring is windy, warm, and dry.  Summer temperatures are between 90 and 100 degrees and are very tolerable because of the low humidity.  Fall has mild days and cool nights.  

In short, the weather is pretty awesome with each season being mild and enjoyable.  We happened to get a little bit of snow this past week and with it came a three day vacation from school!

The boys had such a great time sledding at our friends' house.  Cyrus decided to skip the sled and just scoot down the dirt bank.  It was cute.  When I finally got Cy to go down with me, we got the bottom of the hill and he said, "gin."  (again).  So we went again and again and again and again and again.

Fun With Cy

Cyrus is always up for a good time whether that means putting on 20 shirts and 12 pair of underwear at one time

 or letting Dad give him a drawing of underwear on his back.  Let's hope we aren't responsible for thousands of dollars worth of therapy in his adult life.

It's Turkey Day!

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  The day before the boys and I went to a little walking area near the Rio Grande and picked up some pretty leaves and big sticks for table decorations.  They weren't really into finding the decor, but they really loved climbing the trees and kicking the dirt.  Cyrus especially thought he was free and ran around everywhere just enjoying himself.

 On the morning of, my good friend Melissa and I ran a little 5K called the Hobbler Gobbler.  It was fun, and I was sure that a 5K was no biggie, but it turns out that an uphill course is hard!  I ran it, but it made my legs super sore.  As always, the best part of the race is seeing my guys at the end. It always make me feel like I want to cry.  I think because everything all at once is great - - - it makes me feel so grateful for my able body that I can ran and be strong.  It makes me feel happy to see that I have a sweet husband and healthy children.  And that they love me and cheer for me.  It was a nice way to start the day.  As for dinner, I had prepared most of it the night before, and I finished up the day of.  I killed the yeast for the rolls the first time around and had to make a second batch. It was nice to be able to do that and not stress about being ready at a certain time.  It was ready when it was ready and we ate when we wanted.  The second batch of rolls turned out just fine, except I made them super huge.  Everyone pretty much had a submarine sandwich roll.  Still, bread is so yummy, who cares???

The dollar store supplied our fancy glasses and table decor.  I think we all felt very ritzy with our stemware.

At Family Home Evening on Monday, we all told what we were thankful for:

Cyrus: Fun brothers, puppies, diapers, Elmo,and a carseat
Wyatt: Onix (pokemon) & Geo dude (also pokemon)
Calvin:  Our God
Mom:  Warm House, Electricity, Food, Handsome Hubby, and Healthy Kids
Dad:  The Banditos, and His Wifey (He wrote me a sweet little Thankful note, but that stays personal, so quit bugging me about it)

Thursday night I went black-fridaying and scored a couple of good things.  You'll have to wait until Christmas like everyone else to see what it is.  Friday and Saturday were really lame though because Noah had to work.  We missed him a lot and got pretty bored without him.

Here is one pre-race pic.  Can you spot me?  Just look for the sassy, cute, black skirt and leggings-wearing doll with the short hair.  Then look to the right and you will be able to see me in the pink shirt, black pants and stringy ponytail.  If you could see me from the front, you would say, "Wow!  You look so different without your make-up!"  To switch I would say, "Even an old barn looks better with a fresh coat of paint."  boo. yah.  Joke of the day.