the big debacle

Busy, busy summer

2011-08-22T08:48:00.013-05:00

This summer has truly gone by in a blur. We've done so much and quite frankly I just hadn't been updating like I should because of all the activities. I thought I'd give a glimpse of our summer before fall sets in and we get back into a normal routine.

There were fireworks.

A rare moment of sweet brothers sleeping in.

Our first puppet show.

W loved the puppet show, and if you wait for it,

you'll hear him erupt into giggles. Too cute!

There's also been plenty of swimming and daredevil action by a certain 2 yr. old.

"Cautious" as we like to call him going into

the pool with his floaties and noodle.

"Fearless", on the other hand, jumps without hesitation.

We spent a little time at the farm with our cousins and Grandpa.

Having fun in the hammock swing.

Thirsty boy

Riding the tractor.

Of course, there was Zoo time.

No surprise that Fearless wanted to drive the tractor.

Big victory in that Cautious actually asked

to ride the carousel and loved it although he parked it on the bench!

Little bit choose to ride the rhino instead.

Notice G's face. He had just sampled the sand. LOL.

We can never turn down an opportunity to dance at the Zoo either.

There was also gym time and a trip to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory to see ice cream made.

Jumping

Did someone say ICE CREAM?!

"Look at me."

Love this smile!

But our biggest accomplishment of the summer was learning to ride our bikes!

Big boy W learned to ride first and was so proud of his new bike.

G quickly decided that he wanted to ride a bike too!

It'a been a summer of firsts for sure - first trip to the mountains, first time to the movie theater, learning to ride our bikes, and too many other firsts to count What a wonderful summer we've had! Hopefully, we'll get into a new groove once school starts up again. Until then, we've got one more vacation to go before summer ends!

Party time

2011-07-11T22:36:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, we celebrated w's 4th birthday at a local gymnastics facility where he will tell you "We exercised, ate cake and I gots new toys!" Despite a small delay in getting into the party venue, it was a great place to host a party. The kids had a ball running, jumping and playing on the equipment. We had 2 coaches at our disposal and who lead the group in some games. The best part was having the entire facility to ourselves versus the mad house that other party venues are when you have 5 groups sharing the same place. It's fair to say he and his friends had a wonderful time. And, of that, I am truly thankful.

Waiting to go in the gym

J having a blast

Whatcha doing, Willis?

Come over here and I'll show you the ropes.

Monkey see, monkey do...

Fun times with our friends

Pretty girl.

Taking a moment to chill a bit.

Watch me!

Hey, look at us!

Look at me go.

I take break, mama.

Jump, jump, jump...

All of our friends making funny faces for the camera.

Thomas cake

Goofing with our best buddy, J.

Happy birthday, sweet pea!

2011-07-11T15:48:00.011-05:00

Dear W,

I can't quite believe that you are 4 years old today. Four years ago I became a mother and with that came the huge responsibility of raising a newborn you. I hope I've done a good job so far and I'm so grateful that you came into my life, our lives, that day. I thought I knew what it would be like to be a mother. I thought I knew what it meant to love. Then, you arrived and taught me that I knew so very little.

Everyday you amaze me with how much you know. You love to reading and love nothing more than looking at books or your animal encyclopedia. You love spending time at the Zoo. I envision you growing up and being a Zoologist or veterinary doctor. You are truly a human sponge!

You love to play with your brother, most of the time, and love showing him how to do things and teaching him things. He looks up to you, shouting for you in the morning and showing you all the tricks he's learning.

You know your own mind and know what you want which can make you a stubborn child but I'm sure will stand you in good stead in later years to truly go out there and make something of yourself. I know you will make us so proud when you start school next year or two; you are already showing you have the makings of becoming someone really, really amazing.

You are caring and thoughtful, always making sure we're all OK and asking if we "slept well" and greeting us with "Good morning, mommy. Good morning, daddy." You love cuddling with me in the morning and listening to the stories of how you were in my tummy and how you got out and grew and grew from a teeny tiny baby to a big boy.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday today.

Loving you has shown me that I can’t control everything…that sometimes the most amazing moments come from letting go just a little…that sometimes it’s better to let life guide us just a bit.

Happy birthday, my little love

xoxo,

Mama

Sum, Sum, Summah Time!

2011-05-26T08:12:00.009-05:00

W and G's last day of school was last week, and boy are we ready for summer! But, prior to school being out, we had W's end of year field trip to the park and G's class party.

The Friday before school let out, all the 3K classes at W's school walked down to the locate park for some play and a picnic lunch. I brought our wagon and half a large watermelon to share with the kids. It was a hit! Unfortunately, severe weather is a normal occurrence in the South this time of year so our class trip was cut short due to a severe thunderstorm warning so we had a quick trek back to the school in case it got bad.

G's party was in his classroom so no big trips in his age group. They had party food and played a lot. At this age, they are so thrilled to have mommy or daddy pop in. Thankfully, one of the fellow moms took lots of pics and offered to send them to the class so I didn't have to pull out my camera.

Now that it has gotten hot, - yes, it's only May, but we've hit the 90s more than a few times already so it's going to be a HOT summer, for sure - we've pulled out our big inflatable pool and the boys are having a blast. The first day I pulled it out, they played for 3-1/2 hours nonstop! I imagine we will be party city for the kids circuit this summer. We've already invited a few of our friends over for some playtime.

With numerous playdates scheduled, involvement in MOMS club, a Zoo membership, a mountain vacation and a beach vacation planned, this summer is sure to great one and fly all too quickly by!

mother's day and other stuff

2011-05-22T19:18:00.005-05:00

Slowly but surely catching up. W's class hosted a tea to honor their mothers on Mother's Day. We had a fabulous time and W was super excited to give me his present and card. It's these moments that you want to wrap up and keep forever.

Speaking of moments you love capturing. Here's one of lil'G and his daddy. I would think that it's fair to say that is the look of love.

With all these kid moments, it is easy to miss out on the adult time so we took advantage of a local fundraiser to get some time out alone. Since we were all pretty, I had someone snap pic us the two of us. These days the cameras filled with pics of the boys or of one of us and the boys so its nice to actually have a recent picture where neither one of us look like a hot parenting mess.

This was piece of art for auction at the fundraiser. It cracked me up to see some space robot thingy interposed with some peaceful but dated nature scene. I may just have to recreate this and see what kind of response I get from guests to our home. Ha!

Easter 2011

2011-05-17T10:09:00.006-05:00

Getting caught up again...le sigh. We stayed in Birmingham this year for Easter and the boys were totally into egg hunts this year. Maybe the realization that these eggs represented candy had something to do with it? Ha! Little G was the beast though when it came to the egg hunts. He'd run, find an egg, pop it open and throw the empty egg down on the ground for another to excitedly pick up only to discover no candy. Cruel. With that said, we had a great time getting caught up and visiting my aunts, uncles, cousins and their children.

Family picture. W kept on doing "pirate eye"

which was a bit frustrating at the time, but looking back I love this pic.

Will's Easter basket

G's basket

Daddy giving a helping hand

Going to town

Stopping to pick his eggs clean

Daddy allowing them to have at it.

Needless to say, the boys had a blast even after the egg hunt was over with all of their cousins on my mother's side.

Trampoline time.

Colored bubbles. Thick like paint. Mama's not a fan.

But the boys like them.

Looking like Rob Roy.

change is hard

2011-04-13T14:40:00.005-05:00

Most of the people close to me know that my dad is getting remarried in May. While I have given him my blessing (not that he really needed it), it still is hard for me to accept. My mother and father were married for 39 years and I had never considered that one would remarry after the loss of the other. They were a pair so it's hard to let that go and know he is about to become a part of another pair.

The interesting thing to me is the people who have "inquired" how I am handling it. You see, these are people who dropped out of my life when my mother passed almost 2 years ago. People I had initially tried keeping in contact with, but for whatever reason, did not respond. It makes me sad and angry that these people all of a sudden want to comfort me when I don't need their comfort now. I needed it the months after my mama passed. I needed it then. So, for those with inquiring minds, I am fine. I'm fine.

No, I am not happy at the thought of him getting remarried, but it's not because I want him to be lonely. Him getting remarried is just another sharp reminder than my mother is indeed gone. I miss her so much. I miss everything about her. And, it was hard when he first started seeing his fiance not to feel as if he was betraying my mother. But, you know what? What I have come to conclude is that my daddy getting remarried does not diminish what he and my mother had, because my parents had something truly special. My mother loved my dad with everything she had and he loved her. They provided me with a loving and great home, with a sense of roots and the knowledge of who I am.

My mother had 2 great loves - my dad and me. I have no doubt about that. She always wanted my father and I to have a good relationship, and because of her, I can do that and support him in this.

Monday Magic: Kids say the cutest things

2011-04-11T07:03:00.004-05:00

I really should do this more often, but quite honestly, a lot of times I forget to write it and then forget it. ::hangs head in shame:: But, I'm resolved to do better, because the true is there is nothing funnier (or sweeter) than kids and some of the things they say or do.

W Funnies
- Me: Did you see all the strawberries growing on our deck? Pretty soon, we can pick them and eat them. W: You don't grow strawberries. You grow muffins!

- The other day we passed by my old office and I pointed it out. W will then onto ask me if I remembered when he used to work at his old office? He asked me if I remembered who he worked with and when I didn't he listed about 5 of his friends and "of course, Alex" (his cousin). When I inquired what they did at work, he matter of factly responded "Work." ::Duh::

- He likes to tell his daddy "Have a good day at school, Daddy. Be careful, Daddy." when S leaves for work.

G Funnies
- We went to Ross Dress for Less and they have these big poles attached to the shopping carts. I have no idea why or for what purpose, but G was fixated on them the other day. Every time we would pass by another shopper who were mostly female, G would exclaim, "Itsa ho!" meaning "it's a pole". Unfortunately, it sounds as if he was calling someone a disparaging name. LOL!

- He loves to tell people about "fissies in wa-wa" even when we are no where near fishes and water. The confused look on faces is priceless.

- He calls his his brother, "Bubbie" instead of brother, but more than that if you ask him what our names are, he will tell you. However, if you ask him his name he will growl and then laugh.

Clearly behind

2011-04-08T12:40:00.014-05:00

Clearly I have got behind on keeping up with this thing so over the next few days, I'll try to catch up and post some pics. First and foremost, we did get the bonus room finished and it's already gotten great use as a sewing room for me.

From the stairwell, looking onto my sewing area.

View from sewing area.

View from opposite end.

The room also served as a guest room for my father-in-law who came to visit for lil'G's 2nd birthday. Oh, did I say that? Yes, my baby boy is now 2 years old! I can't hardly believe it. Time flies so quickly. I have to do his 2 year letter some time this week. We're at the point now where people are asking if we plan on a third and all I can say is I'm not sure. I think S would be fine with just 2 or even prefer just 2, but I can definitely say that I'm not ready yet to close the door to a 3rd baby. So, we'll see. But back to baby G, or rather toddler (preschooler?) G. Here are a few pictures from his "Dactor" aka Tractor Birthday Party which was partly held at the park near our house and then moved to our house due to rain.

At the park , taking it all in.

Our friends having a good time.

Playing with friends.

Our one table smooshed in between the other 2 parties

held at the park at the same time.

Tractor and farm animal birthday cake

A full house

Bird-day ca-ak! YAY!

Digging in with our good friend, E.

Also, we've been working on getting our garden ready. This is our 3rd year with 2 large raised garden beds (in addition to the container garden on our back deck) and I'm trying something new this year to see if we get even better results. A couple years ago, I started hearing such great things about Square Foot Gardening and Mel's Mix and I finally purchased the book this past winter. Apparently, it's a specific garden mix of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost and 1/3 vermiculite which plants thrive in and weeds do not. I will say it has cost a bit more to create and put together than what I had thought so it better be worth it or Mel might hear from me personally.

Mainly a container herb garden,
or as my mother used to laughingly call it "a pot garden."

The beginnings of the vegetable garden.

Mmmmm...more great veggies!

I am looking forward to a bounty of cucumbers, squash,
zucchini, okra, sweet red peppers, sweet yellow peppers, tomatoes,
lettuce and green beans this summer. Think we got it covered?

You'd be surprised how much Mel's mix I put together and shoveled into those 2 beds. Wanna know? Over 18 cubic feet which worked out to 471 pounds of mix. *I am woman, hear me roar!* And yes, I am sore today from doing it. I still need to finish up the right bed. (I have French green beans to plant.) And lest I forget, weeding the pea gravel walkways and adding more pea gravel around the perimeter of the garden beds.

So as you can see, we've been keeping busy, but hopefully, these efforts will pay off in the long run. Stay tuned!

moving on along

2011-03-15T21:25:00.005-05:00

The bonus room is, that is. We did have slight hiccup though. Our contractor worked very hard on getting all the blemishes out of the concrete (meaning over 3 hours of sanding and buffing it to get rid of any old glue, etc.) prior to staining it. Well, no matter what he tried. The stain wouldn't take so we ended up with a floor that looked like, well, rusted.

Pretty, right?

Obviously, not the look we were going for so back to the drawing boards. I think S and I really would like hardwoods down there at some point, but the budget isn't going to allow that at this point in time. Also, in the essence of time, we really just needed to get the room finished so we went with a basic garage floor epoxy. To be honest, I wasn't really thrilled with the color selection offered but I think it's going to turn out better than I thought.

First coat of garage floor epoxy

A close-up of the new floor

S and I are now focusing on room color. Ok, really, I am, but S is obsessed with getting the furniture in and set-up. I keep telling him that we aren't doing a thing until all the painting is done, because truthfully, if we don't finish the wall color and trim before we start moving the new stuff in, then it probably won't ever get finished. With that said, I've started painting here and there trying to feel out the new color. I wanted something fresh and funky for a modern look and now I just have to make sure I can live with it. Ha!

Sneak peek

The color is light aqua and the picture doesn't quite get it right, but you get the drift. I've ordered a red area rug and am making large cushions for the futon with red accents for a fun twist. Now, I shall keep my fingers crossed that it all comes together.

Hopefully, I'll have a picture of a finished room by this weekend!

field trip!

2011-03-12T07:29:00.004-06:00

W had his 1st school (mini) field trip on Monday to a local ice cream parlor that is within walking distance of his school. Lil'bit was sick so he got to tag along as well. At 9:30 am, because we all need ice cream at 9:30 in the morning, parents lined up with their children and walked to the store for ice cream.

To make it easy, students had the choice of four flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or Superman (which was a mixture of *bright* red, blue and yellow ice cream). W really didn't care about flavor as much as he did colors. He wanted "red" ice cream so he got strawberry. Of course, baby G had to have a cone as well so he got Superman.

W loved his ice cream until it started melting and from that point on asked me to clean it off which for him meant me totally dumping the ice cream and just giving him the cone to eat. G, on the other hand, wasn't about to lose any ice cream and tried to devour his cone.

Excited!

Yummy!

Class shot

"Don't even think about taking it away, mama!"

What a mess!

Ice cream is good.

the end is in sight...

2011-03-03T21:51:00.005-06:00

of construction that is. The bonus room once finished will serve as a sewing room for me and a place for overnight guests to stay. Additionally, it will serve as media room down the road as the boys get bigger.

Background: Our bonus room flooded in November/December 2009. We had to rip out the carpeting and sheet rock which had begun to mildew in mold. Then, we decided to add extra insulation the the wall that connects to the outside of the house, which meant tearing out more sheetrock and redoing it. After that we decided to take out the drop tile ceiling which was oh so nasty due to the apparent rodent infestation that had been there at one time. As you can see, this turned into a bigger and bigger project which was being done by S and a part-time hired help. Since S was doing it in his free time (ha!) after a full time job, part time school, and 2 little boys, you can easily see why it drug out throughout 2010.

That's why we made the decision in December to find a contractor to finish it for us and we could not be more thrilled. We hired Natco Construction to work on the ductwork to make it more efficient, finish out the room, and to stain the concrete floor while we are at it. The guys at Natco construction are doing a fantastic job and we should be done sometime next week! WOOT! Here are some of pictures of the room under construction:

Removed the built-in bookcase and shelves. They were way too deep

to be efficient so we took them out in order to have a nice storage closet.

New ductwork to have heat and a/c in the room.

Patched up wall

View from stairwell.

View from the end of the room

View from other side

Additionally, we made a trip to Ikea in Atlanta for our 6th anniversary for a shopping excursion to help get the new room in order. We bought some bookcase systems, a futon bed for guests and a new table (sewing) for me. Since we will have exposed ductwork in the room, the room needed a more modern and contemporary feel to it so Ikea was the perfect fit. In order to make this happen, I had to get a trailer hitch put on our vehicle on Friday and borrow a trailer. We looked like country come to town rolling into Ikea on Saturday. The kids did well for the most part, but then the no nap meltdowns started occuring as we were trying to get our stuff loaded for checkout. We decided at that point to divide and conquer. Since we had filled out cart and still hadn't gotten the futon loaded, we decide to pay for what we had ready and take it and the boys to car. From there, I gave the kids their "special" snack and drink and pulled out the car DVD player which they hadn't used before and almost immediately we had happy campers. I stayed with them while S finished shopping for the futon.

With all that said, we then rolled out of Ikea and headed to Steak 'n Shake. We didn't have a romantic or fancy dinner with just the 2 of us for our anniversary, but it was perfect the way it was. We came to Ikea, we conquered Ikea and then we got milkshakes. As we sat there with our 2 babies, I couldn't help but think about the all the changes we had experienced since our wedding day. Here's a few pictures:

On February 26th, 2005, we became a husband and wife, but on February 26, 2011, we were a family of four. It was as it should be.

Hats, hats, hats (sung to the tune of Girls, Girls, Girls)

2011-02-17T08:14:00.005-06:00

We are quickly approaching my little guy's 2nd birthday. Where did the time go?!! I can't help but look at him and think he's one of the cutest things ever. (His brother is the other cutest little thing.) But, Lord, is he a handful! S and I often say G just goes from room to room looking for things to get into. You can not leave this one alone for a second. But, he can be so sweet too. He'll lay a kiss on you in a heartbeat and wrap his little arms around your neck in a tight hug. My mama's heart just melts when he does that. He is a daddy's boy for sure, but at night when he wakes up and is scared, all he wants is his mama to hold and snuggle into. I'm okay with that.

Little G is also my hat and shoe boy. W would rather be barefoot and only grudgingly wears hats. Little brother loves to accessorize! Don't get me wrong. He is all boy, but he gets the biggest kick out of wearing hats and wearing his "shuesh". Evidence below:

Little has also been known to sleep with his shoes on.

(Backstory: The other night apparently I didn't notice that he still had on

his "shuesh" when I laid him down. I did try to take them off when I went to check on him

and realized he had them on, but he wasn't having any of that.)

So you can see, he can be a bit of a diva too!

my funny Valentines

2011-02-14T16:44:00.003-06:00

A boy's story is the best that is ever told.
-- Charles Dickens

Happy Valentine's Day!

Circus FAIL

2011-02-03T16:16:00.004-06:00

I am probably the only mother who was not in a hurry to take the boys to the circus. Don't get me wrong I love the circus. I also felt like lil'G would love it as well, but dear, sweet, lovable W is very much susceptible to sensory overload. He always has been. He's never liked loud noises. He loves firetrucks but won't get near them. He was well over 3 before he would try inflatable bouncies or slides, because he didn't like the noise. He was overwhelmed by the crowd on the Quad before the UA/Penn State game. He loves, and I do mean *loves*, the Zoo and the animals, but if they even hint of coming up, he moves as far away as he can as fast as he can.

You can see why I wasn't in a hurry to take him to the circus. But also, I wanted him to love it when I did take him.

So, when I heard that they march the Circus elephants from the train to the Civic center, I thought that, perhaps, this would be something they would both love. Last Tuesday, despite the rain and cold, we went to see the elephants in a much more demurred setting and we had a ton of fun!

Where are they?

Snacks make the time go past.

And, the Cheetos make us look like clowns.

Here they come!

And, there they go!

After seeing the elephants, all W could talk about was going to the Circus. Oh my! I had my hesitations, but after scoring free tickets for the boys and getting discounted tickets for us, we were going to the circus!

I prepped W will all day regarding the noise and the crowds. He was prepared and so excited.

So excited to go in!

Enjoying the pre-show

See the clowns!

And we lasted all of 45 minutes - 25 minutes pre-show and 20 minutes into the show before asking me non-stop if we could go home. When the clowns juggled fire, we had our first mini-meltdown. S took him out to buy popcorn hoping to get him to calm down, but when they started walking back to our seats, W melted into the floor crying togo home. S got him to me and there I sat trying to calm him down.

Lil'bit, on the other hand, sat in his seat with the jumbo tub of popcorn (aka pop-pop as he called it), eating it as fast as he could, and yelling "YAY" every five minutes.

We had several more attempts to calm big boy down, including me walking him around the entire arena and culminating with him sitting close to me with my hands covering his eyes and ears. When the fire and cannons shot off signaling the men walking the hamster cages, the crying and hysterics reached epic proportions and I waved the white flag because I knew there would be no calming down and enjoyment after that.

With all of that said, I still have hopes of W one day loving the Circus. Perhaps, we will try again in a couple of years... or thirty.

January Ice Storm Photos

2011-02-01T07:42:00.005-06:00

We had an ice storm in January, and I caught some cute pics of the kids. Since we didn't have a computer, I couldn't get them up. As the old adage goes, better late than never, right?

Look at all this ice!

Mama said not to throw the ice,

but apparently, I don't listen too well.

We had fun sledding with daddy.

My little snow bunny coming back for another sled ride.

The magnolia had the most amazing ice leaves.

Ice leaves are crunchy.

Lil'G thinks they are scrumptious too.

The Sparrow

2011-01-31T07:44:00.002-06:00

"Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?* And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ~Luke 12:6-7

During my deepest, darkest times, this scripture has resonated within me. Today,my friend, Amy, shared this link on Facebook.

What a beautiful way to begin today.

Sparrow

Tags: Courage

I have always loved the verse that says God cares about us more than sparrows.

I’m not sure I’ve always believed it, though.

For the longest time I kept it to myself, always nodding at the right time while in Christian circles, furrowing my brow in agreement when it was brought up. As if I was considering the depths of this unfathomable love, and swallowing it like sweet tea in the hot sun.

Delicious.

But that wasn’t what I was thinking.

I was actually imagining what it must be like to honestly believe God would love me that way.

Those girls in Bible study had their act together. And all I had was a Bible that had brand-new stuck-together pages and a date with a guy who couldn’t remember my last name.

I decided it was a complicated last name and stifled the desire to be known by either one.

But the image of a sparrow chased me everywhere I went.

Years passed.

Decades, in fact.

And I continued to believed that a God Who would love someone like me wasn’t worth loving back.

And one day, over a cup of too-cold coffee, I decided I wanted to know what it was that made this bird so important. I had gone through a very dark time in my life and I was looking for Him, for answers, for a reason to believe He even cared, let alone loved me.

Quite frankly, I wasn’t that worried about love.

I just wanted to know I existed to Him.

Why would He care about the number of tears I cry, or hairs on my head? I just wanted Him to know I cried at all.

I waited on Him.

After about an hour I came across (I was tempted to say stumbled, but we all know that isn’t true at all) an article on a particular type of bird. It wasn’t a Christian reference, but rather a zoological-type book with statistics and pictures for someone who knows much more about birds than I do.

I skimmed it until I came across a sentence that explained how this certain type of bird learned how to sing. I didn’t finish reading it before the tenderness overcame me.

“And this particular bird cannot learn to sing in the daylight because it is always concerned with the chatter around it. Instead, its cage must be covered so that it is in complete darkness. Then, it is able to hear its master and will learn to sing…”

More than a sparrow.

More than the pitch-black-darkness.

He loves me.

And in that place of feeling left alone, unwanted, disregarded, abandoned, He whispered to my weary soul;

Sing, love.

In the black night, I listened to His voice and I heard Him in a way I never had before. I stopped trying to focus on the silhouettes around me, panicked and desperate for my bearings. I accepted the fact that it might be a long while before I knew where I was and how to find my way back. Slowly, I started to believe that He treasured me enough to trust my voice in the dark. Nobody watching, nobody to judge.

Just me and the One Who told me I was worth it.

Have you heard Him, too? I pray so.

Sing, love.

Despicable as the shadows may be, they hold the promise of the Master’s voice. Worry not about tomorrow, wondering if the sun will come again.

It will, as it always does, in some sense or another.

In the meantime, raise your voice to the One Who loves you.

He loves you.

It isn’t too late to fill the sky with the sound of song. And when you do, know I will be not-so-far away, joining in with you as we await the dawn.

Sing, love.

The Master is listening…

By Angie Smith, Bring the Rain

Now the computer's back, where were we?

2011-01-30T07:30:00.003-06:00

This month we gained 2 new additions to our family. Meet Mr. Toad and the wet Sprocket.

It took me a year and a half to convince S that we should get some, but he finally caved and we have had so much fun with our African dwarf frogs. Their names are a double entendre of sort. Mr. Toad's name comes from Wind in the Willows which I loved as a kid. When you put Mr. Toad with Sprocket, you get a great band - Toad and the Wet Sprocket. Ha!

In any case, W has the dubious honor of getting to feed them and he proudly tells S, "Daddy, that's MY job!" Lil'G, on the other hand, he is more like the girl "FISSS-SHE's" that the dentist wants to give Nemo too. So, our job, is to save the frogs from G's loving but deathly embrace.

Hard lesson

2011-01-30T06:48:00.003-06:00

This month started out with a bang. About 3 weeks ago, little G, unbeknownst to me, highjacked my large bottle of water and poured it over a closed, but running laptop. Yep, sweet baby boy had caused over $800 worth of damage. Thankfully, the good Apple people took pity on this poor mother and the Genius guy, without me asking, went to his management to ask them to cover the repair costs. Then the clouds parted and the angels started singing because Apple management said yes to covering the repair costs although it really was our fault. (It pays to be nice and funny to service reps!!)

With that said, there is always good with the bad and vice versa. When we got the computer back, we had lost all our precious pictures, videos and music collection. We were not able to backup the computer before we took it because it just wouldn't run long enough. We almost physically sick thinking about we had lost... over 6 years of wonderful, precious memories. (We do have an external hard drive, but, like idiots, we hadn't backed up the computer in quite some time. More than that, we can't locate it. (It had been kept downstairs, but was moved due to flooding and construction in the room.))

So here we are, trying to piece the last 7 years of our life together. Fortunately, S remembered he might have some duplicate files that he had been planning on deleting at work. He brought the jump drive home and I nearly cried. We regained over 6,000 pictures! Praise be! I have never been so relieved! We got back most of our photos, with exception of the last year and a half.

And I hate that. Because, it means I've lost so many photos of precious baby G. I cried for 2 days as the realization sunk it. We had photos of his birth and the first 2 months of his life and then nothing. I can be thankful that we have great family who are willing to give me copies of their photos, but I have a hard time swallowing that we've lost those day-to-day pictures.

On Friday, I went out and bought a new external hard drive. I backed up everything immediately. We will not go through that again.

The joy of Christmas

2010-12-27T15:38:00.009-06:00

Dear W & G,

It was my honest intent to do this on Christmas Eve, but by the time Santa had arrived, I was just too pooped out. The year has been one of my best Christmases ever. The time I have spent with you two has been priceless. We've been a part of countless Christmas parties, sung Christmas songs again and again, rode the Santa Express, visited Zoolight Safari and even had a few visits from Santa.

W, my darling boy, this is the first year you truly get Christmas. You've spent countless hours pouring over the Toys R Us catalog, eyeing a Zoo set with "all dose animals" and wondering if Santa is going to bring you. You've also been worrying about if mommy and daddy can take away your new toys if you misbehave and the unfortunate answer to that is yes. But, you are a wonderful boy, and even if you do lose them for a day or two, I promise we will give them back. It's also been a season of "Why?", because that is your favorite question these days. You're very inquisitive and want to understand why things are done. More importantly, we've spoken of how Christmas is baby Jesus's birthday and that He is the reason we give presents at Christmas. It makes me so happy to share that with you and that you are beginning to learn about our faith. I love you so much and pray that you continue to grow strong in the Lord and know the peace that only He brings.

G, my little imp, you are so precious to me. This year you understand that Santa says "Ho Ho" and you are perhaps understanding that with Ho Ho comes gifts. You are mischievous and it is that little giggle and infectious smile which gets you out of trouble most days. You are naturally curious and have broken no less than 10 ornaments this year, which is ok by me because I'd live with 10,000 broken ornaments to have you in my life. The thing you loved most during this Christmas season is the Advent calendar, not necessarily because you understand what it was about, but rather you understood it's contents...chocolate. You will beg incessantly for it because you, my sweet baby, love sweets. This year your big gift was a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. You practically hyperventilate when you see one so Santa thought you deserved one of your own. You enter it a la Dukes of Hazard style and ride around it while going "beep, beep." You...are...simply...adorable.

While this season brings us great joy, there is always a little sadness. This year marks my second Christmas without my mother, your "Gigi" and your daddy's 3rd Christmas without his mother, your "Grandma." It breaks our hearts that you didn't get to have them longer. They loved you both so very much and I firmly believe that they are your special angels from above, keeping a watchful eye over you. Your daddy and I are very grateful though for your grandfathers who love you both dearly. It is our sincerest hope that you have them for a long time and have great relationships with Papa and Grandpa.

As Christmas comes to a close, we pray that you both feel the fullness of our love and the fullness of our Father in Heaven's love. Because, W and G, you are our joy of Christmas and are so precious to us. Merry Christmas, sweet babies.

Love,

Mama

Leaving cookies, Christmas pretzels and milk for Santa

plus a few carrots for the reindeer.

Our tree

W's loot

G's loot

Can we open dis? Can we open it?

Can we open dis?!! PLEEEEASE!

Whatcha doin, Daddy? Can we help?

i love my vacuum cleaner. I love my hat.

I love my vacuum cleaner and hat.

Playing with our new garage.

Not really a 2-seater.

Alright, I'll push you.

a southern christmas meal

2010-12-22T15:41:00.002-06:00

This is the first year that we aren't doing a big extended family Christmas dinner. Growing up, I had several Christmas dinners so to speak. We always got together with my mother's family (a grandmother "Granny", 5 sisters, 1 brother, their spouses and all the children) the weekend before Christmas. Then, we did the big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve with my father's family (1 grandmother, 1 grandfather, 3 sisters, 1 brother, their spouses and again a whole passel of children).

Neither of the get-togethers were fancy. It was strictly potluck, but we had more food than you could ever imagine - turkey, ham, chicken, dressing, appetizers, casseroles galore, desserts. Every female had a new dish plus the one they had perfected throughout the years that they wanted to showcase, so to speak. No one, male or female, made a fuss over who was carving the turkey, but Southern women do stake a claim whose makes the dressing.

You see, whether you know it or not, there is a difference between stuffing and dressing. Stuffing is good, but dressing, well good dressing, is like a piece of Heaven. My mother, for years, was the queen bee when it came to dressing. In fact, I was well into my 30s before she would even share her recipe with me and even then, it was pinch of this and pinch of that until it reaches a trick, soupy consistency. No genuine recipe, for sure. But, with much guidance and trial, I think my dressing is really close to my mother's. When my mother passed, I thought I might be able to make her dressing and bring it to the family gatherings. I soon learned otherwise as the next one on the matriarchal list quickly let me know that she had the dressing covered.

Back to the Christmas dinners, by the time Christmas day actually arrived, my mother was quite tired of Christmas/holiday food so she instituted the big Christmas breakfast and light lunch/dinner for the other meal.

After I got married, the holidays became much more stressful with the addition of my husband's family. It's the juggling of family time that makes the holidays so hard. The first few years of marriage, we nearly killed ourselves trying to split the day with each of our families and finally we came up with a system. One family will get Thanksgiving day and the other family will get Christmas day and the next year we flip. It seems to be working for now.

This year, we will have my dad, his friend and my niece over at our house on Christmas eve and then my dad is planning on coming over on Christmas day for a bit. That is, if weather allows. You see, they are predicting measurable snow in Alabama on Christmas day. If it happens, it would be the first time ever recorded and it means that my dad probably won't make it to the house since we live up on a mountain and the roads won't be driveable. So, it may just be me and the boys on Christmas day.

In any case, it's a little surreal for me to think that all of Christmas dinner is up to me, but I'm getting a little handle on it and have been having some fun planning it out. So, without a further ado, I bring you this Southern woman's menu:

Christmas Eve

Apply Cider Vinaigrette Salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, and feta

Shish Kabobs

Roasted Asparagus

Baked potatoes

Rosemary bread

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

Christmas Day

Smoked turkey breasts

Honey glazed ham

Stuffed celery

Mama's cornbread dressing

Sweet potato casserole

Green beans

Cranberry orange relish

Rolls

Egg custard pie

Perhaps, with it potentially being a Christmas without the the extended family, I could take a less ambitious approach to the food, but what's the fun of that? So if you're in the area, and you feel like dropping by, come on over! We may still be in our pj's but the the food will be divine.

The Christmas Story Through a Mother's Eyes

2010-12-18T07:30:00.000-06:00

This was posted on my mom's Bible study blog. It's a really nice article that I thought was worthy of reposting...

"The Christmas story holds new meaning for me this year as a mother. Whether you believe as a Christian or simply know the story, it's an incredible one.

Mary of Nazareth was no more than 15 years old when the angel Gabriel came to her and said she would bear the Son of God, that she would carry -- through the power of the Holy Spirit -- the Savior of the world. She was engaged to an older man, a carpenter named Joseph. Though she was scared and had no idea if her husband-to-be would believe this divine event had really occurred, she simply said, "Let it happen as God so chooses."

And then there's Joseph. Imagine finding out that your bride-to-be is pregnant before your wedding day -- before you've even had "relations" -- and she tells you a story about being the one chosen to carry the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joseph believed and supported her.

When Mary was nine months pregnant, they were forced to travel well over 70 miles (by donkey!) to the town of Bethlehem, where they were to take part in the census. While there, it came time for Mary to give birth. With all the people in town for the census, there was not an inn or house that had room for them. So they settled in a stable, the only shelter available -- even for a mother about to give birth. Jesus was born in a manger, amongst common barn animals. No doctor. No drugs. No privacy. No family but Joseph and the shepherds looking on.

While this story took place more than 2,000 years ago, it holds some amazing truths for families like mine and yours, no matter what holidays you celebrate. It's a story of incredible faith, of ultimate sacrifice and love, of believing in what you cannot see -- all things that in today's time seem so far-fetched. To endure a lifetime with a child, knowing that he would be taken from you too soon ... how many of us would do that today?

As a Catholic, I have always considered Mary to be the ultimate symbol of what a mother should be. And now that I have my own child, I recognize her strength that much more. To give both physically and emotionally without thinking comes with the territory for us mothers. And in this season, the story is a constant reminder of the sacrifices we make each day for our children. "

written by: Christina Montoya Fiedler resides in Los Angeles, Calif., with husband Andy and son Joseph. She juggles baby and work from home as a freelance publicist and attributes her strong love for life and sense of humor to her loving familia.

From www.momlogic.com

A couple of cute pics...

2010-12-16T15:00:00.004-06:00

I have such a hard time getting pics of the boys interacting. Most of the time, by the time I find my camera, the moment has past and someone is left in tears. But, today I caught 2 really precious pictures and thought I would share.

Breakfast is so much better

when you have a brother to share it with.

Lil'G loves story time by big brother

W says..

2010-12-13T10:38:00.003-06:00

I thought it would be cute to do a post along the lines of "kids say the darnedest things." As an almost 3-1/2 yo, W comes up with some pretty funny stuff sometimes. So here are a few:

* "Mama, when you grow up you're going to be a new mommy." Mmmm, alright?

* "When Honey (our almost 10yo Boxer) grows up, he's gonna be a new puppy." If it were only that simple.

* W: "Knock, knock."

Me: "Who's there?"

W: "Elephant"

Me: "Elephant who?"

W: "Elephant eats carrots. Hahahaha! Dat's funny."

* "Daddy, you're a real boy." As opposed to a fake one...

* "We can't go to the Zoo at night. The animals are sweeping. Maybe, next summer."

* "Greysie, you can't go out of Honey's door. It's for dogs. You're a boy, ok? Maybe, next December."

Kendall Boggs Contest

2010-12-12T13:29:00.005-06:00

This is from http://kendallboggsfineart.blogspot.com/ Go for your chance to win a new painting for your home!

From Kendall:

Time for a Christmas GIVEAWAY! I'm doing this one a little different this time! I'm gonna let YOU chose which of these two paintings you want (once you win) I'm also gonna change up the rules a bit.

Okeey Dokey

You can have a chance to post 3 times!

For one post....tell me your favorite Christmas memory

To post twice? sign up to follow my blog (or if you're already a follower, tell a friend!)

To post THREE times???? Tell everyone about my contest on YOUR blog or cut and paste on your facebook page!!! (be sure and post your blog site in your post)

These are the two paintings:

"Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit"

15 x 30 mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas - unframed

550.00

"Four Dripping Trees"

15 x 30 mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas - unframed

550.00

Contest ends Tuesday, December 14th at 6 p.m. CST

My trusty random number generator will pick!

Good luck everyone!!!

and

Merry Christmas!

To my surprise...

2010-12-12T09:31:00.002-06:00

S and I were watching the news this morning and what to my wandering eyes should appear is my "niece" who is really my cousin's child should appear. They were doing a feature on a woman who become an artist after working with the kids at Camp Smile-A-Mile which is a camp primarily for children with cancer or in remission for cancer. When my sweet niece was 2-1/2 she was diagnosed with leukemia. It was such devastating news, but through the grace of God she has been in remission for 8 or so years now. God is so good.

This wonderful, adorable, smart and sassy girl can be found at 1:15. I love you, sweet girl!

W's 1st Christmas program

2010-12-10T20:24:00.003-06:00

It was one for the memory books for sure, because it turned out nothing like I expected. Where to begin? From little G singing along to Jingle Bells "HEY!" to him yelling "Bubby, BUUUUUBBBEEEE!" upon spotting W, he was quite the handful. Thankfully, S is a great guy and took care of the screamin'demon. Besides that, it was my baby's first Christmas program and I couldn't wait to hear him sing his little heart out. I knew it was going to be so special. That is, until I saw him marching in, and I knew from the moment I spotted him that he had a little problem that he was fixated on. For your viewing pleasure, I bring you "W's first Christmas program."

my song

2010-12-07T20:13:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd share something cute. W is totally into Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer this year. He loves to sing both songs. In fact, he has started calling Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer "my song". As in, "Mama, sing my song." Or "Mama, I'm going to see my song." Too stinking cute. I finally got him to let me record it.

As cute at that video is, I tried get him to sing it again and get better footage, but he staunchly refused and then stated he'd sing Frosty instead. Did you know Frosty has a gumpin nose, not a button nose? LOL! As you can see, he doesn't quite have it down pat yet. In any case, I'm sure that by December 25th he will know it word for word.

Blue Monday

2010-12-06T19:51:00.003-06:00

This week has been way too depressing. Last week, a teacher at the boys school lost her 3yo son quite unexpectedly. On Friday, I found out that a cousin had been out hunting, shot a buck, brought it back to the truck and apparently had a massive heart attack and passed away while waiting to meet up with his hunting buddies. The thing that is so shocking about this is that he was in great physical shape and only 39. He leaves behind a 10 yo son and a 4 yo daughter. Today, I hear of a child from my hometown who tried to commit suicide. When his family found him, he was already brain dead and despite the best medical efforts, he passed today. He was in middle school. Life can be so hard sometimes. All I want to do is hold tight to my precious babies, thank God for his mercy, and pray for peace to those who are hurting so badly right now.

God's grace is so good and he is waiting to pour out his love on those who ask. When a believing person prays, great things can happen. So tonight I am praying. May peace find all who desperately need it.

santa express plus christmas parade equals tons of fun

2010-12-04T18:05:00.008-06:00

We have been having the best weekend. Last night we celebrated S's birthday with a great group of friends. I was a little nervous because we were bringing a couple of different circles of friends together and you never quite know how that will go, but it went really well. However, I think the best part was that it was an adults only party and my awesome aunt kept the boys for the night so we wouldn't have to worry about picking them up late at night.

It was surprisingly eery this morning though when we woke up, because there was no sounds of little children in the house and everything was in the same place we put it the night before. You know we've really adapted to having kids when the quiet and neatness gets to us. Ha! In any case, I really missed my stinkers and couldn't wait to pick them up, because...

We had tickets to the Santa Express! W and G are really into trains and they got to go on an hour long train ride with a certain man in red making an appearance. Making the whole experience even better was having my aunt and her granddaughter (my cousin's child) come with us. W and his cousin, T, are 6 months apart in age and always have a fantastic time together.

Checking it out with daddy

Mommy says don't forget about me!

Trains are cool.

Hi!

Cousins at play

Auntie S, T and W

All aboard!

Are we ready yet?

The choo-choo goes "WOO-WOO."

Scolding Santa's Elf for sneaking the train without a ticket.

I got to say that the conductor was pretty cool.

Visiting with the big guy, Mr. Ho Ho Ho himself.

The plan was to go home after the train ride but as luck would have it, the town I grew up in was having their Christmas parade so we decided to stay and enjoy it.

In front of my grandmother's house

which is now owned by my aunt.

Enjoying his view of the parade

No matter how old you are,

everyone loves parade candy.

Thanksgiving at school

2010-11-30T17:11:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to get caught up so there are a couple of posts here. :P

Will's school puts on an AMAZING Thanksgiving feast for its students and their families and this year was no different. Here's a couple of pictures of my little Indian.

Thanksgiving at the farm

2010-11-30T16:47:00.004-06:00

When it comes to the holidays, each year we alternate Thanksgiving between the families. This year we spent Turkey Day with my FIL, SIL and her family. S went up on Monday; the boys and I went up on Tuesday. One of goals while there was to spend some time at the family farm, and in particular, I wanted to attempt to have our Christmas card photo taken there. As anyone who has had small children or has small kids knows, trying to get that perfect picture is often an exercise in futility. Here's a peak at one such attempt:

Despite it all, we did have a lot of fun. After our pictures were taken, we changed into comfy clothes (read: clothes that I wouldn't stroke out if something happened to them) and all went for a ride in the Gator. As luck would have it, we spotted 6 or 7 turkeys and a couple of deer. A bit later, we put G down for a nap and left W to have some fun with Grandpa as S and I went for a more "exciting" John Deere Gator ride (going up and down some very steep hills).

Boys goofing off in the shed.

Back into my picture outfit after Grandpa let me go

for an accidental swim in the pond.

late pumpkin patch pics

2010-11-27T09:08:00.005-06:00

We went together to the pumpkin patch back on October 16th, but we forgot to put the memory card in our camera which wouldn't be so bad since our camera will hold a certain number of photos without the card. Ok, no problem, except we had misplaced our USB to camera cord and had been just using the card reader. Well, praise be! I found our camera cord today and downloaded the pics. And, you know, the world was completely missing our on seeing our Pumpkin Patch pics, right?

Riding my wagon and taking it all in.

Fun in the trailer filled with "cah-tin!"

Made it to the top!

Ready to get down.

Giddy-up!

Can you boys sit here for a picture for mama?

Okay, look at mommy.

Ok, guess not. I give up.
Let's go pick pumpkins.

Dis one.

Cooling it with the pumpkins.

"Ah" see horsey.

Hey, who goooooeess there?

We love farm animules.

Godspeed Uncle

2010-11-13T15:49:00.004-06:00

When I woke up today, I grabbed the Ipod to check the weather and jump onto FB for a bit for an early morning commentary. What I found was my cousin's wife announcing the death of her husband's uncle, who is my uncle as well. (I think I shall post my thoughts on people rushing to post stuff like this on FB on another day.) Needless to say, I was a little stunned. You always are when it happens, even when you expect it to happen.

I knew my uncle had been in bad condition. In fact, he had lived in a lot of pain for several years. It's heartbreaking watching someone you love continually suffer so when death finally comes to them you feel relieved and guilty that you feel relieved.

In his prime Uncle R was quite a character. He was an incredible pharmaceutical sales man. My mom used to tell me that he was quite the BS'er and could sell ice to an Eskimo. More than that, he was a natural comedian. We often likened Uncle R to John Candy. There was always a story floating around about something he had gotten himself into.

My favorite memory of him though is of Uncle R, Aunt J, my parents and I riding around Lay Lake in Uncle R's pontoon boat with him blasting music from The Phantom of Opera. I'm sure we were quite the sight, but because of that day on the boat, my mother renewed her appreciation of broadway and I developed a life-long love for the arts, in particular The Phantom and broadway. I can't express how thankful I am to Uncle R for exposing me to something new that day.

Today, I imagine heaven is throwing quite the party. I can see him, my mother, and my Aunt Pam sitting around a table and jawing. I can hear bits and pieces of the conversation. It may go something like this, "Y'all ain't going to believe this, but..."

Godspeed Uncle R.

We love the Zoo

2010-11-11T21:26:00.004-06:00

Or rather, W loves the Zoo. Or anything related to the Zoo. He asks every day if we're going to the Zoo or if we can go to the Zoo. At night, he'll comment that we can't go to the Zoo because the animals are "sweeping." I can assure you that our Zoo membership has paid for itself over and beyond. I am amazing by the things that this 3 yo knows about the different animals. He'll proudly proclaim the lion as the "King of Beasts" and he'll tell you that lions, giraffes and elephants live in Africa. He'll also tell you that we saw tiger poop, too. He is a little boy, after all.

This week he wanted go see the stinky pigs. He also knows them by their more formal name - Red River Hogs. But, he loves peeking over them and declaring "Peeeeee-uuuuuuuu! Steeen-key!"

Look mama! There they are!

What a beautiful specimen.

What's he doing, mama?

Wild child.

After seeing the Red River hogs, we meandered over to Kangaroo Kountry. Every time we've been the kangaroos, they've been laying down and napping. This week we had a little excitement. We were witness to an altercation.

We think it was a domestic dispute. Police report pending.

After giving their statement, they decided

to make amends and not to press any charges.

Did you see THAT?!

Things that get high kicks from me

2010-10-30T15:01:00.005-05:00

Like all moms, I am constantly searching for things that make my life easier amidst all the chaos. Out of that comes my obsession with any and all appliances. I admit that I am an appliance snob, but nothing makes me giddier than finding something that cuts my time doing housework or cooking. As mom there a few things that I swear by: my Dustbuster, my Dyson, my Shark and my crockpot. All of these things help me spend less time cleaning or cooking and give me more time to do things with the boys or relax when they're asleep.

And, now I will add a good washing machine to my list. Why you ask? This is why...

Do you see that? A $32 water bill. Our average bill is between $80-85 a month. This is our first water bill with the new Energy efficient washing machine (Whirlpool Cabrio). Thats a $50 difference from last month to this month. LOVE. If this pans out, than could mean an additional $600 a year. That deserves a high kick if I do say so.

Ok, so back the crockpot, my friend, Jill, came up with this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup that rocks my world! Besides being low cal and low fat, it is SIMPLE and that is a plus. Really it's so good that I thought I'd do a shout out here as well as on my recipe site. Look below...

You know you want some.

Ok, so here's the recipe:

1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
3 cans RF cream of chicken soup
4 cups FF chicken broth
1 boxes long grain & wild rice mix with seasoning

Place chicken on bottom of crock pot. Add veggies, rice and seasoning packet from rice. Pour liquids over the top, cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken and stir well. Makes 12 cups.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 144
Fat: 3.14
Fiber: 0.9

If you like it and want more recipes from Jill, just take a look to the right under Blogs and find Culinary Creations by Jill. :D High kicks, Jill!

Happy Halloween from the whole gang!

2010-10-27T23:05:00.002-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Monster Mash

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Halloween Rap

Halloween Celebrations Galore

2010-10-27T16:09:00.009-05:00

Halloween isn't until this weekend but that's not keeping us from celebrating. Starting last Wednesday, we've had 4 Halloween events/parties and we still have 3 more to go before the big event. The kids are having a blast dressing up and enjoying all the fun that comes with it. Here's some quick pics of our fall fun.

Pumpkin Carving/Storytime at W's preschool

Pumpkins that moms and dads carved with the kids.
Ours is the 2nd to last one. It has "spooooky eyes."

Class picture. There are some really cute kids in W's class.

Notice anything out of the ordinary in this picture?

Seems like someone has a crush on W.

However, I'm not sure the feelings returned by the look on his face. BAH!

Mom's Club Halloween Party

I recently joined a MOMS Club. I've always had a small circle of really close friends but over the years we somewhat grown apart due to life circumstances and I really miss the closeness that friendship with other women bring. I had been leery about joining one, but let's face it, now that I'm not working I really don't have a lot in common with my friends who do. This gives me an opportunity to be with women who are going through many of the same things I am. Plus it is a great opportunity for W and G to meet new kids and develop their social skills too! Speaking of W, he did not make this particular event because he was in school. Poor bubba!

Hi, mama!

Sliding is a lot of fun!

Playing with our neighbor and buddy, E.

Hanging with a new friend.

Painting pumpkins.

I really love painting!

I know I'm biased, but I think this the cutest little face!

Mama & Me Bible Study

Not too many pictures here. Mainly because I forgot to take out the camera. However, here's a quick pic of W dressed as a Thomas train conductor.

G's School Halloween Parade

Both W and G's respective school have a Halloween parade where all the kids come dressed in the costumes and then are marched out in front of their giggling parents and one or two grandparents who "oooh" and "ahhh" over them. G's parade was today while W's parade is on Friday. Unfortunately, most of my pics turned out blurry. Not happy about that, but here are a few that would have been super cute had they turned out better.

Walking around the gym with a local monkey. ;P

Happy to see his mommy!

Realizing that he wasn't going to mama, but back to class.
These types of faces kill us mamas.

Blurry October

2010-10-26T14:28:00.004-05:00

I can honestly say that October has been a big, big blur to me. We have been going non-stop and I am T-I-R-E-D. On Sunday, I think it reached a frenzied peak and I had to admit to S that we were waaayyyy over-committed. We've averaged around 4 commitments every weekend this month. It's just so hard to say "no" sometimes. You don't want to let others down and maybe we all want to feel a bit "super-human" and be able to do it all.

Sometimes, I look at others who are in our same life stage and I wonder how they do it nonplused. I admit I feel a bit harried most of the time, and I do it myself mostly. I just want the boys to see, feel and experience all the world has to offer. I want them to know that life is a roller coaster...it may make you feel a bit queasy at times but it can also be a thrill ride. Then again, there is something to be said for slowness. It allows for you to absorb the fullness and richness of life. I hope as winter approaches we can slow down a bit and really enjoy it.

Today, I want to do a little spotlight on baby G. See today, he is 19 months and really isn't much of a "baby" baby anymore. He's running and talking and giggling and full of mischief.

Weight: Around 26 pounds

Height: 35 inches tall

Eats: Loves spaghetti, cheese, corn, yogurt, grapes, french fries, not a big meat eater

Words: "Peas" - please; "Deuce" - juice, "Pee-pa" - pizza, "cheeeez" - cheese, "shus" - shoes. "boo" - book or button or plain old boo though each one in hte right context. Yesterday he said his first phrase "Bye-bye, da-dee".

About G: He is a daddy's boy. W is my mama's boy. I chalk it up the fact that G has been with me since day one so daddy's a bit more of a novelty. With W, I worked so I was the novelty. He loves to read. In fact, he will chase you down with a "Booooo" as he calls it and repeat "boooo..." over and over again until you read him the story he desires. He loves buckles and buttons. He wants to buckle things over and over. He doesn't have the ability to unbuckle yet so he'll hound you with a "buuuu...ble" until you release it so he can buckle again. Can you tell by the above two things that he persistent? Sometimes, it can drive me bonkers because I can't easily refocus him like I could with his older brother, but overall, it's a really good characteristic to have.

He likes doing crafts. His teachers were bragging on him the other day. They had done a little artwork where they used a cut-out of his arm and hand as a tree base and then dipped his finger into paint to make "apples" on the tree; however, they were amazed that after they did it once, G knew what to do and actually did the rest of the painting himself! (They usually have to keep dipping the child's finger in the paint to dot the apple repeatedly, but with little G they didn't because he understood what to do. ) Color me proud.

Loves to sing "e-e-i-ooooo."

Helping mama blow out the candles.

By the way according to W, I"m 6 years old. God bless him.

Cake is good.

Gonna ask Santa for some wheels. G love this thing.

Total Randomness

2010-10-17T20:40:00.009-05:00

Just a few random thoughts that have been going through my mind:

1. Probably *not* a good thing to give W M&Ms at 8:35 at night

2. I saw a lady driving a Mercedes with a "Wifie" tag. I wondered what my personalized tag would read if I had one. The first thing that came to mind was "wornout." (I was just have one of those days at the time. Bah!)

3. Before kids, I wholeheartedly believe the only 2 things you can count on for sure in life were death and taxes. With kids, I revised that to death, taxes and laundry.

4. As my birthday approaches, I'm really missing my mom. I still can't believe she's gone. I look at my boys every day and wish she could see them now.

5. Where has my willpower gone for dieting/exercise? It's straight up disappeared.

6. It's probably not normal to bribe your kid to eat chicken by offering him broccoli. But. hey, since my kid actually likes broccoli, it works for us.

Am I in a weird mood or what?

Ok, so we've been on the party circuit this month. The first 2 weekends alone, we had 4 birthday parties. No parties this past weekend, but W's got 2 more invites for the weekend of the 22nd. Holy number of birthday parties! But, out of all those parties, I snapped this dance footage at my nephew's birthday party.

Up until this month, W has been very reluctant to get on inflatables. I always thought it might be the noise of the pump since he's not crazy about loud noises. But, something happened this month. He discovered he loves playing on them and little boy is making up for lost time! Little G, on the other hand, has NO fear and if he can get it up, there is no stopping him.

All my boys going down the big slide.

We've also been taking advantage of this glorious weather and been hitting up the parks like crazy. A couple of years back, the town I grew up in put in an awesome park and even though it's a little bit of a haul to get there, I like to take the boys out to it from time to time. Here are a few shots of our last trip.

Follow the leader.

Look at me, mama!

Hi.

Despite the look of terror on my face, I'm actually loving this!

Wheeeeeee!

(Though a bit blurry, I love this picture.)

How you doin'?

Friday Fun: Trikathon and Transportation Week

2010-10-01T14:59:00.006-05:00

Today, W's school held his trikathon and kicked off Transportation week. It was a gorgeous day and the kids were ADORABLE on their bikes, trikes and ride-on cars. Here's a few pics of the event. :D

Getting ready to line up

Ready set go!

Sheriff's version of McGruff.

Police motorcycles & cars

Fire Engine & Tow Truck

Race cars

Monster trucks

Little G technically wasn't an official participant but there was no stopping him.

History of Rap

2010-09-30T16:01:00.003-05:00

S and I love old school rap if you can believe or not. If you peruse our CD collection, you'd be amazed at what you can find.

Run DMC

Wu Tang Clan

Beastie Boys

Public Enemy

Digital Underground

Salt-n-Pepa

Eminem

Cyprus Hill

Ludicris

Missy Elliot

...to name a few.

The other night Justin Timberlake was on Jimmy Fallon and they performed this medley. So much fun! Enjoy!!

St. Jude Trikathon

2010-09-29T08:16:00.002-05:00

W's signed up for his school's Trikathon even though it may be easier to get a cat on his trike and ride it than to get him to do it. Bah!

Despite that, we do feel that St. Jude's is a worthy cause. Won't you consider donating?

Goodness what a couple of weeks

2010-09-27T14:00:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday, it will be 3 weeks since my sister donated her kidney to our father. Seester is doing fabulously. In fact, you would never know that she had surgery if you just met her. She's back to exercising and running around like usual. I only hope that she isn't overdoing it. Daddy seems to be doing fairly well. Right now he is staying at the hospital townhouses (which is another story in of itself) and every morning he gets up and heads over to the lab to see how how his new kidney is functioning. For the most part he's been getting pretty good results, but his creatinine has been a little high. They encouraged him to drink more fluids and said that should help. By Thursday, we thought it had resolved itself because his results finally came back good, but then the weekend hit and they went back up again to the point where he might have to be re-admitted to the hospital. So not good.

It's funny because God works in mysterious ways and sometimes He'll speak to you or let you know He's there in the weirdest ways. On Saturday, Daddy was a little frustrated and talking to me about it when something he said registered with me. He was frustrated because he had been drinking the required amount plus coffee and tea. When he said the part about coffee and tea, I asked him if it was caffeinated or decaffeinated. He replied, "Caffeinated." Oddly enough, I had just watched an episode of The Doctors on Friday and they had mentioned the caffeinated drinks are a diuretic and that you should drink an equal amount of water for every caffeinated drink you have. Basically, the gist is that caffeinated drinks will dehydrate you.

After I told Daddy this, he decided to see if he cut back on the caffeine if it would help. Well, today his blood work came back great! I'm not sure if that it truly was the reason or not, but maybe, just maybe, it was divine intervention.

So what else is going on? You can just call me the appliance slayer. In the past two weeks, I have has a little fender bender, a microwave to die, a dust buster croak, plumbing to be repaired and for the piece d' resistance (said with an exaggerated French accent)...my washing machine hit the dust. Really?! Yup. My friend suggested that I give up Modern life and go the Amish way, but I'm afraid of what I might do to a donkey. I replied that what I really needed was a maid. Ha! Anyone want to supply me with one?

Soooo, now I'm on the washing machine hunt. DH contacted a friend who works at Lowe's and he's offering to get us an energy efficient GE for $250-300. The appliance repairman told me whatever I do not to get a GE. He was adamant that they were carp. He told me he could get me a Whirlpool for that price, but when I mentioned my longing for a front load washer, he was good to give me a name of a wholesaler who could get me a great price on a Whirlpool so I just may try that. Now, I just need to convince DH's that we really need a front load machine even if they do cost a bit more upfront. Wish me luck!!

Another round of Monday fun

2010-09-13T11:29:00.005-05:00

It's time for another round of Monday fun. Today's spotlight features baby G who has wholeheartedly embraced the word "Cheeeeeeese" and hamming it up for the camera. His brother not allowing to be outdone quickly jumps in too. Ha!

CHEEEEEESSEEE!

Don't forget about me!

Brotherly love looks a bit like a wrestling match at our house.

I would be remiss if I don't include one of the boys favorite songs. W and I like to peruse YouTube and find fun little clips for a little "t.v." time when it's close to bed and mama doesn't want to pull out a DVD. This something we found and both boys love. Enjoy! :D

For my friends with sweet little babies

2010-09-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

I saw this on a friends FB page and thought it was so, so sweet. It reminded of me of my time with the boys when they were itty-bitties. I wish I knew the name of poem, but oh, well!

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton