When Moms away...

So last night I ran out after dinner to get my haircut. This happens like twice a year people because I'm a "wear my hair like a birds nest on top of my head" person due to baby's tugging and lack of showers. Really, it's all the rage. So I left, had a glorious 50 minutes of no one talking to me except for the hair dresser who wanted to know my life story, and was home in time for the chaos that is bedtime.
After we got the kids down, Pat informed me that there was a moment of pure pandemonium while I was gone. He had just gotten Fin in the shower, and was changing Lilah when he heard a panicked shriek coming from Cole in the living room. Before we go any further, you need to know where our tree is located in our living room...



So Pat runs out as he hears Cole shrill screaming "HELP! I'm stuck!!" over and over again. We have a tiny living room but he could NOT find Cole and it sounded like it was coming from the direction of our Christmas tree. He said he kept saying, "Where are you??" but Cole would only answer back saying he was stuck. In the midst of this, Fin shot like a bat out of hell out of our shower b/c he had heard screams. Naked and dripping wet and starts yelling, "Dad! He's in the tree!! He's stuck in the tree!", so Pat's frantically searching through the tree trying to find Cole with Cole still crying. The common sense of how could a three year old hide inside a small Christmas tree apparently did not come into to play in this scenario :o)
Pat said he was really panicked until he noticed the cries coming actually from the couch. Our coach is pushed up against the wall but Cole had apparently wiggled his way behind it and got halfway across the back before his head got stuck pinned between the wall and the couch and he didn't think to move backwards :o)
Once Pat moved him and calmed him down, he said he was fine. But I was laughing SO hard at Pat telling me this story b/c I could just picture him and naked Fin searching through the Christmas tree branches for Cole. I mean seriously people, this is the type of situation three men get themselves in without the help of a woman...

Split 'Em up Date night: Frozen edition

One of my favorite things we do as a family is intentional split em up date nights. I've blogged about several before but tonight was such a fun one.
Usually Pat will take Fin or Cole and I'll take the other two and we'll take them on individual errands or little fun dates to Barnes and Nobles to read books or something like that. I never do just the boys because let's be honest...a nursing babe and mom are not soon parted.
But for awhile I've been DYING to see the new Disney movie 'Frozen' because I have such sweet memories of going to see the new Disney movie every year as a kid with my parents. The Lion King...Little Mermaid...love them all.
Spur of the moment I bought tickets today for this afternoon to go see the movie with the boys and Aunt Banans. It was rainy and freezing today and I knew if we all stayed at home we would drive each other crazy. I nursed Lilah before we left and off we went.
True to tradition of growing up, when we met Anna there she immediately stuffed two bags of candy in my purse to sneak into the movie theater. We found our seats and Cole immediately folded in half in his and then either sat on the edge of his seat with a scared look or stood up for the next twenty minutes before he settled into Anna's lap for the movie.
The boys loooove going to the movies and are so tickled at everything but bless them, they CANNOT whisper to save their lives. Every comment of "WHEN IS THE MOVIE STARTING?" or "I DROPPED MY WATER CUP" is whispered at a loud roar which made Anna and I die laughing. After the first preview, Cole looked at me and said, "I liked that movie!". I think he thought that was it :o) He watched the whole move with no expression on his face, neither getting happy or scared and then at the end hopped out of Anna's lap and said, "I love that movie". Hilarious.
Fin felt every crescendo in music, intense moment, and hilarious jokes. He jumped from busting out laughing at the snowman to crawling in my lap at the scary parts to hopping into his chair when the bad guy got beaten. True to his classic old man outlook on life, when he left he said, "You know, I thought that movie was just going to be like "meh" but it was ah.may.ziiiing!". You always know where you stand with him.
The sweetest moments of the evening for me were when we got to the movie theater, Fin announced, "Before we get out of the car let's say, "Thank you mommy for taking us to the movies" on the count of three". Then when we were leaving the movie theater, Cole spontaneously said, "Frank you mom for that movie". Melt. My. Heart.
Had such a sweet time with my boys and Pat took Lilah girl to his parents where his mom could cook him dinner :o) He loved his time with her too and send me a pic of Grandma and Lilah who were coincidentally wearing matching Jammies when they showed up. So funny.