Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Toothless

We had a pretty big even over the weekend, besides Thanksgiving that is.

The Tooth Fairy came.

Because my baby lost his first tooth.
Excuse me while I go crawl under a rock and wonder where the last 5 years went.

Monday, November 22, 2010

I'm Thankful

Thanksgiving...how did you come so fast? This year we have so many things to be thankful for

I'm thankful for...

...my husband. You are my rock, my best friend and the best father of my children I could ask for. I can't imagine my days without you. Thank you for all your wonderful support and love.

....Carson. Your loving, kind hearted spirit brightens my days. I'm thankful for your cuddles, your love and your need to follow the rules.

....Declan. You make me laugh. I'm thankful for your happy-go-lucky spirit, your story-telling and your 10lbs of attitude. You bring a light to this family that I love.

...Bennett. Your the most laid back baby yet. I love your smiles, your kisses and your hair twirling.

....my parents. You have provided me with so much. From valuable lessons about love, family and marriage to clothes for the kids and their education. I'm so very grateful to have such loving and wonderful parents. Thank You.

...to my inlaws. For raising a man who knows how to love, support and cherish his wife and family. Thank you for all your support, for the gas, for the kids clothes and the Target trips.

...that I can be a stay-at-home mom. I'm grateful everyday that I get to be here with my kids, in the middle of this parenting thing, enjoying their milestones, teaching them new things and loving them along the way.

...my friends. My girlfriends are another rock. They've provided me with love, laughter, tears, advice and even a smack upside the head if its needed. Parenting is a tough job and I'm grateful to have a group of women who can help me through it and enjoy it with me.

...my house. It's warm, it's cozy and I'm so grateful that I have a roof over my head every night.

...our soliders. Thank you for your sacrifices. I'm so grateful for all you do in protecting our freedoms. May God Bless you always.

...my children's generous hearts. They are always willing and wanting to put more of their allowance in the church jar then in their toy jar. We just started donating food to the food pantry twice a month and they are eager to help out those who are less fortunate. They don't miss a beat.

...our mailman. He's so cheerful, loves Emily and is always friendly with the kids.

...our pets. They make me laugh, they make me want to throw them off the deck but they also make our family complete.

...the boys' teachers. Their patience, their kindness, their love and their wisdom is over the top.

...Trevor's new job. He works 5 minutes from home, can come home for lunch and is home early every night.

...Dave Ramsey. He's changed my life, my money and my marriage.

...for a 4 day weekend. For time with family and friends. For Black Friday.

From our family to yours,
Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Painters

One big boy is prim and proper, diligent and very careful in his coloring.

One big boy is carefree, abstract and wild in in his coloring.

One big boy does not care to be dirty in any way, shape or form.

One big boy could care less about dirt/paint and where it lands.
(He just likes to make it all black)

Friday, November 5, 2010

Time

My life is busy. Sometimes I don't even realize just how busy it is because well, I'm too busy to slow down and think about that stuff. On Thursday I was getting the two older boys out the door for school. Lunches packed, backpacks checked, coats and hats on and kisses before they headed out the door. As I kissed my husband goodbye and shut the door I stood in our entryway holding Bennett for a moment. It was quiet, I breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment I, had a moment, to realize how busy I/we are. I always have grand plans on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when its just me and Bennett. I want to do my grocery shopping, Target shopping, Sams club shopping, clothes shopping, shoe buying, etc whatever it may be because I have one kid. And we all know its MUCH easier to haul one kid to the store as opposed to 2 or even 3. But lately I've been staying home. Staying home to soak in the quietness, to maybe start a load of laundry, to enjoy some peace and quite while Bennett takes a morning nap and maybe even enjoy time with my sweet one year old.

But this time is short and before I know it we are off to get Declan from school, eating lunch, taking naps, going back to school, having a snack, making dinner, getting ready for bed, picking up from the tornado that my house constantly looks like and then somewhere in the darkness laying my head on my pillow trying to get some much needed rest before it starts all over again.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world. But its important to know that I don't have time for everything. And I need to learn that lesson. It's ok if the house is a mess, it's ok if the beds don't get made everyday, it's ok if there are crumbs on the floor, it's ok if I don't get to the grocery store, it's ok if I pop in a video so I can sit in peace and blog and it's ok if I run out of time, for there is always tomorrow.

I recently took all the pictures off my phone and looking through them makes me laugh and makes me realize just how busy and chaotic our life is. Let me show you....

It's much easier to cook a meal when little ones aren't allowed in the kitchen.

Goofing around on the soccer fields.

Mmm...lunch at Sams. (It's actually not that good, but it's cheap!)

Normal kitchen scene.

Boys staying busy while I cook dinner.

Little boy making a mess while I cook dinner.

More mess....

and more mess.

Shopping at Target.

Playing at the Children's Museum.

Painting windows at the Children's Museum.

Preschool Halloween.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Boo!

November? When did this happen. It feels like school just started and here we are 2 months in, past our first parent teacher conference and looking down the barrel at the holidays. The weather has been fabulous so we've been spending most of our time outside, enjoying the weather, raking leaves, taking walks and taking in as much sunshine as we can.

This past weekend was Halloween and we had a party to go to. Can you guess what we went as?

The Smurfs! Aren't we cute, and blue? One big boy refused to paint his face but the other big boy was ecstatic to have it painted. I was rather impressed with how it all came together. Nearly every piece of our costume came from the thrift store, I made the hats, I borrowed a few items, some we made from supplies at home (Trevor's beard) and one thing had to be ordered online (my tights). Total I would say I spent less them $50 for all our outfits. Who knew I could be so thrifty and crafty, I sure didn't. It was fun and now I feel pressure to come up with something as equally cute and fun for next year.

When we weren't dressed in blue we were enjoying other Halloween festivities like pumpkin carving....in our jammies (even our Christmas jammies...that's how we roll around here).

We couldn't convince anyone to be a Smurf for the actual trick-or-treating though. So we took Optimus and Woody through the neighborhood gathering way more candy then any of us needs.

Bennett tagged along in the wagon.

He sampled the candy and enjoyed a mini pop.