Our Christmas Eve Visit to Applebee's

Max: "I gotta go potty!"... {louder} "I gotta go potty!"... {climbing over Mom and louder again} ..."I gotta go NOW, it's coming out fast!"

Kevin: "Where's the bathroom?"

Rachel: "I don't know, I think it's over there."

Woman at the table next to us: "It's over there!"

[In the men's restroom]

Max: {whining} "No Dad, no"

Kevin: {whispering} "Oh man, these are gonna have to go."

Max: "No, Dad. It hurts when you touch me."

[After getting cleaned up]

Max: "Let's go Dad, this is taking too long."

Kevin: "Shh, we have to wait until everyone leaves so I can throw these out."

[Opening bathroom stall to leave, someone else walks in, closing bathroom stall]

Max: "Dad, why can't we leave?"

[Meanwhile, back at the table]

Kendall {with her grilled cheese sandwich on her head} : "Arrrrggg, matey... hee hee, ha ha {baaahhhggggg, extremely long, loud burp that I couldn't even imagine coming out of the largest, nastiest, grown man alive}"

[Kevin and Max return]

Kevin: "Well, he's going commando."

Note: Max is not pooping in his pants regularly anymore, we've been extremely sick around here, and this was a result of his ailment. We thought he was almost in the clear, but I guess not quite.

Chiefs vs. Broncos

(BIG shout out to the Kaiser's for babysitting so we could catch this game.)

Gingerbread Train

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

"Mom, I want to watch 'Clyde and the Flighty Meatballs'."

Translation: 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs'

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

Max: "I want Kinectimals."

Dad: "What are Kinectimals?"

Max: "Kinectimals, you are the controller."

Progress

You've all seen the photos of Christmas and Easter past with the horribly-awfully scary Santas and Easter bunnies next to a screaming, anxiety-filled Kendall. I drove with fingers crossed all the way to the mall hoping this was the year Kendall would see the same jolly, generous guy in red everyone else sees, and not the big, hairy monster she's seen in the past. It was definitely just as intense as before: clenched muscles, buried face in mom's shoulder, "no mama, no". This year was a little different, however. Santa scooted way to the left of the big green chair and offered the far, right corner to Kendall. With a little force from Mom, she agreed to sit and "cheese" for the camera with no tears. Of course, the blanky was not optional.

Honestly, I felt sorry for the camera lady, how do you center a picture like this??? No matter what you do, it's going to look like the photographer was intoxicated when they took it.

I love this picture. I didn't think a screaming kid and a smiling Santa could be topped, but I was wrong.

As you can see, Max is extremely relieved to have been able to give his requests directly to Santa. I don't think he really believed Freddy the elf would do the job right.

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

"I'm rockin' out this. That means I'm doing a good job."

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

Max: "Mom, how did Santa send Freddy (our "Elf on the Shelf")?"

Rachel: "Santa told him to come to our house and Freddy flew here like he does every night."

Max: {Looking confused at the box Freddy and the book came in} "In a box?"

Christmas Spirit

Take a look at Mr. Clark risking life and limb in the name of Chirstmas spirit.

You may think it a mere coincidence that his last name is identical to the first name

of one, Mr. Griswold...

I think not.

"Joy to the World!"

"Hallelujah!"

A little tree decorating action.

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

Super Hero powers according to Max:

Dad - Dragon power

Mom - Snowman power

Adrienne - Pencil power

Max - Everything power

Kendall - Blanky power

Lily - Dog power, the power to bite bad guys

New Moves

KSU vs Duke

#4 vs #1

The outcome wasn't what we were hoping for, but the opportunity to see it live was well worth it.

(Shout out - Thanks to the Maximuk's and Haf for making it happen.)

Jump, Jiggle, and Jive - Year 2

Snugglers

During a recent visit for a doctor's appointment, Owen and Max wanted to snuggle.