THERE'S A DIGGER IN THE BACKYARD!!!!

Perhaps every boy's dream is to have a digger in the own backyard. I'm not talking just a little Tonka digger, but a life-size operating one. Well, a few weeks ago that dream came true for my boys.

The utility companies have been replacing all the electrical lines, and what could make that easier than to use a digger!?! We have one of the main boxes in the backyard, so there was a digger parked there for a good 3 days, plus diggers coming and going for a few weeks now. Of course I had to take a picture! Honestly, when George screamed "THERE'S A DIGGER IN THE BACKYARD!" I thought he was talking about the cable burying machines. I looked for the heck of it, and sure enough, there was a digger in the backyard.

There's lots of updating besides the digger, so I'm just gonna go person by person here.

George

The biggest news in George's life for hte past month is that he had his first Christmas concert ever at the beginning of the month. It was by far the high point of his school career by far. I was laughing so much because it was just adorable, but I dont' think that I was laughing so hard I was crying. I was just crying because I am such a proud momma and its an eye-opener that he's old enough and sophisticated enough to stand there and bust out five songs he had never heard before in his life so well. There was a point in a nice quiet moment that he blurted "I brought Christmas cookies!" in between songs, but other than that it was hard to believe he's only 4 years old when I was watching him.

George has also given up his nap. I don't really know why either. Some days we try to nap, and he's almost asleep but suddenly he lurches himself upward and proclaims "I can't sleep! I can't sleep!" I can't compete with that, so he wins. I'm lucky that he napped for a full four years of his life. Most people don't get that.

Christmas is pretty exciting with a 4 year old. He takes the Santa thing pretty seriously. So seriously, in fact, that if he won't do a timeout we threaten to call the North Pole and tell Santa and the elves to stop making toys for him and put him on the naughty list and he abruptly runs to the stair to do his time out, and does it well I might add. Sounds mean, I know. But you should see the rampages this little man puts out.

On the flip side, his helpfulness and sweetness is growing. He wakes up the sweetest most perfect boy you've ever met, and then sometime before lunch he gets a bit rambunctious and not so sweet and helpful. Sometimes when I ask him to pick up some toys or take his plate to the sink he replies with "Oh, yeah! I would love to!" Let's hope this sweetness stays.

Charlie

This boy is a dare devil. He climbs on the top of the couch. He climbs on the chairs, stands up, then yells at me to get my attention and then says "down" because he knows I am going to tell him to sit down. He climbs onto the table and crawls on it from the chair. A few days ago, he tried climbing out of his crib at a mere 18 months of age.

A week ago he had his 18 month check up. He has a double ear infection, weighed 24 lbs 13 oz and 33" long or something like that. He's a skinny guy. His top incisor teeth are poking through now. Other than all that, he's usually a pretty easy-going, happy guy that loves to smile and have fun, and read!

Louis

This boy is a little trouble maker. He takes the nuk from Charlie and runs aways with it. He does something naughty and looks and give you the biggest, cheesiest smile. He plays with the dog's water (a renewed interest) and giggles.

Louis also has double-ear infections, and weighed 25 lbs 2 oz and 33" long at his check-up. He's also a skinny guy. His top I-teeth are poking through, but he's also getting his bottom two right now and this week he's been unbearably cranky. There has been a lot of food/cups/forks chucked to the floor this week. Other than that he is a silly, happy guy that also loves to read. Oh, and he has a funny face which he will provide on demand.

Me

I will say this past week and a half the stay-at-home thing has given me a run for my money (or lack there of I guess). With George not napping and Charlie and Louis teething, having ear-infections, and running around pulling everything out of drawers and climing on things and playing in water and yanking on the Christmas tree and and and...I get nothing done. These days I'm happy if the dishwasher gets unloaded during the day, or if I get the breakfast dishes cleared off the table before lunch. I'm happy if I remember to think about sweeping the floor, let alone actually having the opportunity to do so. I think back to a year ago and think "wow, that was so easy back then!" This 18-month stage with Charlie and Louis is tough combined with a tired 4 year old all the time. Dang! That's all I have to say.

Matt

His life is good. Not only are his kids adorable, but his wife is beautiful and buff (who writes this stuff anyway?!). Lucky for him since I seem to be required to move appliances and tv's frequently. You see, the Zimbric house now has HD cable service. You may pick up your jaw now and read on. It was just a few bucks more a month so why not? BUT, our tv was nice but not new enough so we bought used and upgraded to take advantage of the HD cable. One 150-lb tv moved in and placed upstairs, one 300-lb tv down two floors to the basement.

Then, after the last cold streak we had, the beer froze in the lines of the beer fridge in the garage. That, coupled with our refrigerator in the kitchen dying and having no ice, left us very thirsty. So we moved the beer fridge to the basement. Now the basement is just screaming "finish me!" and "have a party!" Someday...

Ok, I need to stop now. This is all a lot to digest in one sitting. I kept with my promise of one blog before Christmas though. The pictures will tell you what else we've been up to . Mery Christmas and Happy New Year!