Here's The Proof: Santa IS real!

I finally got a chance to do the Capture the Magic download. I'm planning on telling the boys that I have one more surprise for them. It would have been much cooler if I could have given them the picture right away but it takes me time to figure these technical things out! I was too rushed to create the perfect picture and print it when we got home from church. I'm sure they'll still think I'm The Super Coolest Mom on Earth who just happened to snap a pic of Santa unloading the goods! I'll make sure they know I'm The Super Coolest Mom! Go ahead and nominate me for the Mom-of-the-Year Award! I'll start thinking about my acceptance speech......

And can you believe that Toni saw the whole thing happen?! I bet she's got some secrets...if only we could get her to talk!

The 'I Can't Think of a Good Title' Post!

Here are a few pictures of Christmas at our house! Santa brought the big brothers their very own DS'. That Santa sure is smart to bring those little entertainment boxes! And educational too, of course!

Here's a picture of the Santa Loot! He came while we were at church. What a sneaky guy!

So Christmas is over and the house is busting at the seams once again! It's time for a thin-out of toy boxes! Slowly, very slowly as not to attract the attention of some little boys who may think I'm throwing away valuable treasures! Maybe I can be sneaky just like I was with the elf! Ya, probably not. Can I say how happy I am to be done with the responsibility of moving that little critter everyday! No more waking up at 2 am wondering if The Brewer moved it or if I'll remember to move it when I really wake up for the day or if I should just drag my butt out of bed and DO IT!

It's been nice and quiet around our house the last couple days. LOB and DJB are up at Grammy and Grandpa's cabin playing in the snow. They'll be back on Wednesday and I'm sure they will want to stay up till midnight to ring in the New Year! I'm not sure if they remember that we are going to go to the Fiesta Bowl Parade on Saturday. The Grand Marshall is Tony Stewart. We have a couple of his fans in our family so we just can't miss seeing him drive by us.

Our little neighbor girl and I have been coaching DVB to walk. He's up to 5 steps on his own and he's standing up without pulling himself up on something. It really won't be long now! DVB was so much fun on Christmas. He even opened a few presents and loved playing with all his new loot!

Well that's all for now. We hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year! We'll chat again in 2009!

Merry Christmas!

As you can imagine, there is a leettle excitement in the air at our house today! In years past, Santa himself has visited us in person after church and supper. But this year with the Super Santa Sleuth on his tippy toes, we better just have Santa drop his loot while we are at church. I also might do this. You download a picture of your living room and you have a choice of 100 different Santa poses to add to it. You print it and VOILA! You have proof that Santa IS real and what a cool parent you are for snapping a picture of the real Santa IN. YOUR. HOUSE!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

All About DVB!

So here's a post all about DVB. The poor 3rd child is getting lost in all the Christmas hoopla!


He had a great 1st birthday party earlier in the month. He could have cared less just like most 1 year olds. He wasn't even too enthralled with his very own cake but still managed to make a mess.

Here's a little video clip of his new "trick". He crunches up little face that's so darn cute. I'm so excited that I captured it on our mediocre taping system!





He really enjoyed his 2nd candy cane. I know, who in the world gives their newly turned 1 year old a candy cane?! I do, that's who! His first candy cane was enjoyed a couple weeks ago in attempt to finish my Target shopping while he had other plans of throwing a little hissy fit! Guess what? It worked! I finished my shopping in peace although I did have quite a sticky mess to clean up afterwords!

And it's totally amazing that our Christmas tree hasn't toppled over!


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In other news unrelated to DVB.....it's day 2 of Christmas break and there's only 13 more days till school resumes!
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And I FINALLY finished wrapping the Christmas loot today! Geez O Pete! That took me a few hours and I have NEVER finished this task to close to Christmas! How could that be? Could it be that 3 little boys and one little neighbor girl has kept me a little busy?!


I'm off to entertain these kidlets with some kind of craft that doesn't include glue, glitter, play-doh, or anything messy! Hmmmm... how about some good old fashioned crayons and a coloring book? I'm sure that's not going to fly!

Jingle Bells by DJB's Preschool Class!

It's Day 1 of Christmas Break. T minus 14 more days till school's back in session! But who's counting?

I haven't had any Santa debacles since Saturday so I must be on a roll now! Only 2 more days!

Grammy and I made 28 dozen cookies for my neighbor's clients on Saturday. That would equal 336 various cookies plus a few dozen extra for us! We had some sore feet and backs after 8 hours in the kitchen.

Here is the earlier promised video of DJB's Preschool class singing Jingle Bells. The quality isn't very good since I recorded it with my camera. Maybe some day we will invest in a digital video camera instead of the archaic video tape camera we have that is soooo old-like a whopping 6 years old! Can anyone keep up with this modern technology?

I wish you could hear his actual words. It goes something like this....

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle on the way

More much fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh-Heh!

Did you catch the bow at the end? Too cute!

Busted Left and Right!

I had a BAD BAD BAD Santa day! This time EVERYTHING was all my fault!


First of all, as I was writing last night's post, I was thinking to myself: Remember to move the Elf! Remember to move the Elf!


Guess what? I forgot! AGGGGHHH! And I was BUSTED!


And you know what else? No quick come back like last weekend's elf debacle!


Me: "Um, Um, Um.....Oh, I know why Nissy didn't move! It must have been because he was confused at whether it was night or day because Papa got called back to work at 8 pm and DJB spent the night with Grammy and Grandpa. He just didn't know if he should come or go so he must have just decided to stay in the same place."


LOB and little neighbor girl: "Yeah, I bet that's right!"


Major BIG UFFFFFF DA! How many more times am I really going to pull this off?


So Nissy magically found a new spot after the big kids were off to school!


2nd bust of the night....


Last week I ordered a few things from Toys r us. I got 3 of the 4 shipping email confirmations but the one thing I really wanted for DVB that was going to be from Santa had not been shipped according to my "account." So getting a little worried that it might not come in time for Santa to bring it, I called TRU twice to find out the status. Twice I was put on hold and twice I was interrupted by kids so I gave up. I thought, I'll try again tomorrow.


So The Brewer, DJB, DVB, and I are enjoying our quiet supper (LOB is taking his turn as a single sleep over night with G and G). Door bell rings....ding dong....


I think to myself, hmm, I'm not expecting any packages today but I can hear the rumble of the UPS truck out front so it's probably not a neighbor.


DJB sprints to the door: "Yep, it's the package guy! Oh, it's a buggy for DVB to ride in and it transforms!"


Thank you very much for the discreet packaging TRU!


Me: "Ah, GOB is that a b-u-g-g-y?" We can still get by with spelling if LOB isn't around....


GOB: "Uh, yeah...."


Me: "Oh NO! That's supposed to be from S-a-n-t-a! Now what?"


GOB: "It's too late know, might as well open it."


Now what?


DJB: "Oooohh look it transforms. DVB is going to love it." as we pass by it again on the way up to take baths.


Me: "Do you and LOB want to wrap it up and give it to DVB for Christmas?"


DJB: "Oh, ok."


I guess Santa won't be bringing DVB anything. Now how am I going to think of an excuse of why Santa didn't bring anything to DVB on Christmas morning?! Some little tiny, itty bitty part of me really wants Christmas to be done and over with for the year . I know, for all the wrong reasons, but MAN-A-LIVIN, I can't afford many more Oopsie Daisies! I am really going to get BUSTED big time one of these days!


Oh, and today I met the little imp who mentioned to LOB that Santa wasn't real at their classroom holiday party! I shot him a couple evil looks. Do you think he suspected anything?

I Thought It Wouldn't Happen Until at Least Next Year!

So we have a Doubting Thomas on our hands...

It all started last Saturday when we had plans to see Santa.

But let me back up...


We started a new tradition in our house this year. It's called Elf on the Shelf and I heard about it from here. It's a little vintage looking elf who comes in a very cool package from the North Pole and with a cute little book about how to use him. The idea is that the Elf, ours is named Nissy, comes to your home the day after Thanksgiving and finds a place to rest in your home. Every night when the kids go to bed, Nissy flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa whether the kid's day was good or bad. The next morning, the kids BOLT out of bed to see where Nissy has landed which is supposed to be in a different location in your home. Ahem! You see, the other night when The Brewer was gone hunting, Nissy forgot to move! GASP! And guess who noticed? Yep, LOB! Somehow my brain recovered abnormally quickly from the stun! And I replied, "Oh, Nissy must not have moved because he knew we were going to visit Santa today." Whew! The lie worked. He bought it!

And so back to my story about visiting Santa...

On our way to the hospital to see Santa (where The Brewer works), LOB saw Santa in a horse drawn carriage driving down a road. He asked, "Um Mom, I thought Santa was going to be at the Hospital. Why is he driving horses?"

I sold the story about that the Real Santa sometimes needs some extra helpers and they dress up like him and report back to the Real Santa later in the day. Whew! Once again, he's sold!


So we see Santa and Mrs. Claus---I'd never met her before so that was exciting!

And now, here's where DJB comes into play in the experience...He was DEATHLY afraid of getting his picture taken with Santa even before we got in the car! He repeatedly told me he DIDN'T want a picture with Santa and that he just wanted to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Well, recalling the stubborn little turkey DJB can be, I tried to bribe him! Yeah, didn't work! (let's see if the new blogger can insert a pic)

Do you see DJB's face? Um, no! It's funny, our last 3 years of Santa pictures have looked very similar!

So after I totally traumatize DJB we leave and then he has a major breakdown! He forgot to tell Santa what he wanted! Situation once again diverted! We'll email him when we get home! Story sold and bought once again! Whew!

So later in the day LOB says, "Mom, there is something peculiar about Santa this year."

Me: "Oh, Oh really?" cringing......

LOB: "Yes, every Santa has a different voice. When we get home I'm going to compare this year's picture to 2007's picture."

Oh great! I'm thinking, how am I going to sell this one?! So once again I told the story about Santa's many helpers...sold kinda sorta again....

LOB: "Well next year I'm going to bring a video camera and tape him."

So now fast forward to today.

As we're driving down the road he says. "My friend, Joshua, says that the parents wake up during the night on Christmas Eve and go to Toys R Us and buy presents and then say they are from Santa. And that Santa isn't really real."

Oh great! Now I'm thinking OH NO! I thought that I'd be able to fudge things enough to get through this year but maybe not next! Boo hoo!

So I say: "Oh, sometimes Santa needs the parent's help to shop. But I really believe in Santa and if Joshua doesn't, it's his own choice. Do you believe in Santa, LOB?"

LOB: "Yep, I do."

Whewwwwwwww!

So what's next? Is he going to stay awake all night to witness Santa's abundant dumping of goods? What's my story going to be next? I have a feeling we'll be having a little private chat and swear the kid to keep the Santa magic alive for DJB and DVB! And I think he'll play along. He's one who does not want to disappoint me or The Brewer with serious issues.

Oh, and DVB? He could have cared less about the whole Santa experience and just enjoyed himself a yummy cookie from Santa!

Uff Da! So how was that for post #2? Maybe tomorrow I'll get adventurous and try to post a video from DJB's little Preschool Program today. Maybe, just maybe!

The Birth of a Blog! The Inagural Post!

Ok, here it is! I present-da da ta daaaaaaaaaaaaa! 3 Boys and a Brewery!

This blog has been a tiny thought in my tiny head since about May 2008 when my BFF and I were brainstorming names and she came up with this wonderful name: 3 Boys and a Brewery! Because ya know, we have 3 boys and Greg loves to brew a few things-beer and bio-diesel! It's perfect isn't it?

So when I started building it in May, I thought to myself: Who in the world is going to read my little ol' blog?! And when I said to myself: Nobody, I gave up....but now I'm back and I'm not promising to update it daily but maybe every other day or every other other day! Who knows! I just want to keep in touch with family and friends and the others who will happen across our little story by some funky Google search. It would also be nice to document the silly things these boys do and say since I'm oh so bad at keeping their babybooks up-to-date!

I'm not sure how long it will take me to figure out all the technical little gadgets and how to insert pictures and get an automatic signature and such but I'll work at it and so far it's been pretty simple-I just have to play with it!

So here we are---let's toast to the birth of 3 Boys and a Brewery (I'll take a beer, please!) Cheers!


Beth