If you've started at the bottom & read up, you would have read "I Pin-cess" & learned about my quest to teach Sloan the concept of less is more. She's not listening. She's in the more is more camp as pictured here. I didn't think she could add another accessory until she put on the mask.... 
So last night was Friday Night Movie Night. Normally I wouldn't feel the need to document this, however it was pretty monumental in our house. Lincoln actually dressed up as Hulk! Lincoln has been our only 1 of the 3 that has consistently not wanted to dress up, while the other 2 are forever in some sort of costume. Because Lincoln willingly put on Hulk & then stayed in Hulk for the movie was pretty big (especially in Tiernan's eyes - which in this picture are suppose to be in conjunction with his Batman face). I think this donning of the costume is because Lincoln moved in with Tiernan this week. We haven't done the full move yet, but he's sleeping in "Ba Ba's" room at night now. There's no going back because he thinks he is all that & a Happy Meal. He struts right in & climbs into the bottom bunk like he just belongs there. He seems to be doing more & more of the things T does (& therefore the costume...). Sloan was the princess to be saved by our heroes! In the picture of the 3, she's telling us that she's 2 & not a loser :) And for the record, I so didn't mean to add this nasty picture of me but since I'm this far into the post I can't delete it or I'd delete the whole thing! Nuts. Oh well, now you know what I looked like yesterday - a little strung out.
...what to get the kids for Christmas! Seriously, they had tons of fun with a box insert. Santa's going back to Toys R Us for some returns :)
Tiernan made reindeer hats at his Christmas party this Thursday, the 18th. (Yes, I'm actually posting in the SAME week as the picture!) So when we got home from the party everyone had to join in the reindeer fun!
On Sunday, December 14th, we had Tiernan's 1st play at school. It was the story of Mary & Joseph so Tiernan was the 1st King (some of us are thinking how appropriate....). His friend, Ben, was Joseph who is in the blue. It was fun to watch the kids & their excitement. They knew what to do & when so it was well executed. I was amazed that T knew everyone's lines. When we talked about the play at home (leading up to the actual performance), he would recite all the lines before him & after him. I guess he was really paying attention during practice. And yes, we were the total 1st time parents - we video-taped the play! 
Sloan has taken to saying "I Pin-cess". Several times a week, I find her jewel-laden, ready for the day. When she's in this mood, she ends up wanting to wear pink. It can be a pink sweatsuit for all she cares, but if she's in the "pin-cess" mood she's very specific about what she's wearing that day. We're working on the less is more... as I often find her with several necklaces, 3 big rings, & 1 of her tiara's. At least she's content being a "pin-cess" that does house chores! 
On December 6th, we celebrated Tiernan's 5th birthday with a party at our church. Thankfully, we were able to rent the gym so 13 of his friends (plus him made 14 kids - what was I thinking?!?) could come "Hulk Out" with us. With the theme as Hulk, Spiderman & Iron Man, Tiernan started off in his Hulk costume but it didn't last too long - he was back into the favorite, Batman, before long. The kids played "Web Spidey" aka "Pin the tail on the donkey". I had Chris draw a Spiderman on a poster board & I made webs with their names on them that we used for the game. We played "Hulk Stomp the Bad Guys" where we blew up balloons, drew bad guy faces on them, tied string to them and then tied them around the kids' ankles. They had to stomp the bad guys! That was pretty funny. Some kids totally got after it. Others were nervous about the balloons popping. The last game was the Iron Man pull. The kids were split into 2 teams, given a blanket & then they had to pull Sloan & Lincoln across the gym floor. We finished up with Hulk & Spiderman cupcakes, ice cream, juice & Sprite. The drink request cracked me up. I was totally going with juice pouches (a kids favorite & easy) but T had been to a party recently where Sprite was offered. He just thought that was the coolest. 
So after getting back from OH on Saturday, we all slept in on Sunday. See Sloan... That's how my girl rolls with her footie pjs & almost all her jewels. She spent most of the day like this, or at least until lunch. She then changed into her "pik pri-cess" dress & spent from nap on in it. Decorating a tree with 2 2-year-olds was challenging to say the least. But we laughed (after a while it was all we could do). The kids had fun so that's all that matters. Lincoln spent the 1st few days trying to blow the lights out. I so wish we got it on video, but we didn't. He'd just stand there and puff at the tree. Too cute.
We have SO much to be thankful for these days. Yes, this is the season for remembering all of our blessings but even throughout the year I can't help but be grateful for all that we have. We have our family. Not just the Bass 5 but our parents, siblings, cousins, and our friends. Even though some, okay most, are not in town we think of them so often and pray for continued blessings on them throughout the year. We're just grateful for all of our family & friends. We have our health, our freedom, our home, food, clothes.... At any rate, I'm in a grateful state of mind. 
We were in STL, came home for 1 day & then headed out to celebrate Thanksgiving in Ohio. During our 1 day home, a package arrived for the kids from Mimi & Poppa. More birthday celebration for Sloan & Lincoln, & early celebration for Tiernan! You can see he's sporting his new utility belt that fires the foam gizmos straight from the belt. Let me tell you how fun it is to keep track of those babies... Sloan is showing off her "pik pri-cess" dress. Her 2nd picture details the tiara and jewels that accompany the dress. I totally love this picture, not because she's eating tomato soup & grilled cheese, but if you look closely enough you will see that her ring is just as big as her finger! It cracks me up. Lincoln loved his Play-Doh, which he openly shared with "Ba-Ba" & "Shishta". 
We went to St. Louis not only to celebrate the twins turning 2, but Chris & I went to the Bears/Rams game on the 23rd. It was so much fun - we had 8 adults! NO kids! Left them home with a sitter! Mike made chili n' chowder for us to tailgate with... we forgot the spoons, bowls, crackers... pretty much everything but the soups & the beer. Go figure. We had a saviour that stopped & got spoons & bowls. Good stuff! 
Craziness isn't that the twins turned 2, it's that it's been almost a month since I've been on here! Yikes! But a lot has happened in this time. So... here we go... Pictures here are from Sloan & Lincoln's 2nd birthday on November 22nd. We celebrated in St. Louis with cousins. So they spent most of their actual birthday in the car. That's not as bad as it might seem when they got juice pouches, Lunchables, lolly pops - all treats for them! Momma made ice cream cone cupcakes to bring with to STL so that's what they are holding here. 
