Monday, November 24, 2008

Feeling very thankful...

The holidays seem to be sneaking up on me. It's so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already here. I've done about half of my Christmas shopping already, so I feel like I'm doing pretty well as far as getting prepared. I'm planning to start Christmas decorations this week, which is surreal. And planning is the key word there...it all sounds good until it involves actually getting the boxes out of the attic!

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I've been hearing lots of discussion on the radio and at church about having an "attitude of gratitude" as they say. This has, of course, gotten me thinking about how very much our family has to be thankful for and how blessed I feel. I'm so thankful for my family - my sweet husband and children, our parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents...and for all of our friends. Basically that we have people in our lives who care what pictures we post on this blog and read all my sappy comments! : )

Even though Troy is having to work this week when he wasn't expecting to, I'm so thankful that my husband has a good job. Even though I get tired of picking up the house, I'm thankful that we have a home to get messy, and all the toys my kids have to scatter. (I'm especially thankful for my electric sweeper which makes the cleaning process much more effecient and fun.) I'm thankful that I can teach my children about Jesus, go to Bible studies, and participate in prayer groups without worry of persecution. The list goes on and on, but I just had to take a moment and express my gratitude.

One of my goals for this week is to understand what my children are feeling thankful for. Why do I have a feeling it will involve cupcakes and Kung Fu Panda?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Hey Andrew, come look out the window!

We got a little distracted on our way up to take naps today. I love these pictures so much. Davis and Andrew have been on a kick in the past couple of days where they stand together and look out the window, listing everything they see. They talk about the flowers and the trees, the sky, the birds, the flags on neighbors houses...and Davis summed it up the other day by saying, "It's just everything that I love."

Today, Davis called Andrew over to join him in looking out at the view.
And they were willing to indulge mom in a quick picture. Anything to put off naptime for another few minutes!




Monday, November 17, 2008

ARRRRRRR!!!!

ARRRRrrrr!!! Is that what a pirate says? I think so, but don't think I spelled it well. Pirate Davis made a grand appearance today, and his only diaglog was "Arrrrrr!"

Is that not hilarious?! He's got a sword, a hook, an eye patch, a ring on a gold chain and everything. Too funny...
This pirate play kit was one of Davis's birthday presents this past weekend. As you can see, Andrew is enjoying it right along with him. We didn't get to open all the presents at the party Saturday, because the place where we had the party needed the room before we could finish. So we spread out presents for a couple more days and just kept on celebrating! He and Andrew have been having a blast! Thank you to all our family and friends who gave him such fantastic birthday gifts!

Is it Seven-Zero-Zero?

Along with all of my other friends, our family is struggling a bit with the time change - even now 2 weeks into it. Davis and Andrew were on a great schedule of waking up at 7:00 am (Andrew sometimes as late as 8:00 am), but "falling back" threw that off so they are of course waking up an hour earlier.

It really is amazing that Davis's internal clock is spot on to get up at 6:00 every morning. OK, I have to admit that over the last couple of weeks it has shifted slightly so that some days it's 6:15 or 6:40, but early all the same.

So, I took Davis to Wal-Mart last Friday and let him pick out a clock. He's fascinated with the clock on my nightstand and will just sit and watch it change from one minute to the next. We figured this would be a great way for him to understand exactly when he's allowed to come out of his room.

We have told Davis not to come down until his clock says "seven-zero-zero". He is struggling, however, with waiting until it actually gets to 7:00. Somehow, that just seems like a long time to wait! So we still have a little visitor come tripping down the stairs each morning, but we are asking him to go back up and rest in his room until 7:00. Our response to his arrival downstairs every morning has been "Is it seven-zero-zero?" This morning he didn't come down until 6:50, so that's definite progress. Maybe eventually it will catch on...we'll see! Whose idea was this time change, anyway?

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I wuv mama...

...oh, what wonderful words to hear! Tonight just as I was about to head for bed, Andrew woke up crying in his bed. Troy ran up to check on him, then moments later called down to say that Andrew was asking for me. He has a tendency these days to ask for whoever is not around, especially when he feels he has been wronged in some way. Hence, much of my day is spent listening to Andrew cry "I want my daddy!" whenever he is getting in trouble. I respectfully suggest to him that Daddy would agree with whatever punishment is being administered at the time, but it seems to make him feel better just to cry about it.

Anyway, I was up in his room rocking my baby boy who was cuddled in his long flannel Spider Man jammies and wrapped in his blanket. So sweet...what could be better? I whispered, "I love you, Andrew" and got the most wonderful response. In the slightest whisper, I heard "I wuv mama." Music to my ears. Nothing sweeter. Unless it was maybe "thank you, mama, for all the meals you cook, groceries you buy, toys you clean up, laundry you wash, fold, and put away, thank you, thank you, thank you!" But I'm really not expecting that until maybe age 35, if I'm lucky. ; )

For now, I am beyond thrilled to hear a whispered "I wuv mama" at any opportunity!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Space Party!

We had Davis's birthday party today at Jumpin' Joey's. He wanted a space party, so we had rocket ship invitations and everything else "space" themed that we could add at a "moonwalk" place. Actually, after thinking about it, having his party at a moonwalk place was the most appropriate for a space party!
Susan Klenke did an amazing job of creating a space cake for us! Davis loved it!! And it was delicious. There wasn't much left after the party was over, but I managed to sneak a little piece once we got home.
I didn't manage to get many action shots of the jumping, but did get Davis at the bottom of the big slide.
Andrew is still taking in the moonwalks, and really only likes one of them (the big slide). But he digs the games area. He's already learned to very sweetly come up and ask for "mo' money, mo' money, pease"! They learn so young.


Friday, November 14, 2008

Indian or Chef?

Davis made a fabulous Indian hat (complete with four feathers) at school this week and loves wearing it. I enlisted my little Indian to help me make the rocket-shaped sugar cookies for his birthday party. He pushes a chair over from the kitchen table to get high enough to reach the island and help us cook. Not too stable, but it gets the job done.

He's getting really good with the rolling pin!

Look at that technique! Getting just enough flour on the rolling surface is key...he will be a master chef one day, and we can all say "we knew him when he baked in an Indian hat!"


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sunday Traditions

Double Dave's!!!! This is what we usually do on Sundays after church, so I decided we should capture the memories. This is one of the boys' (all 3!) favorite places to go on Sunday for lunch. We have trouble getting Davis and Andrew to finish their pizza before bolting to the games area to play. Dad and Davis always have a game of air hockey...

...and Davis usually wins!
But Dad holds his own, as you can see.
Andrew usually keeps himself pretty focused on a video game where he can drive cars, but he branched out a little today.



And Mom usually catches a spare minute to sneak an extra piece of chocolate-chip pizza. Ahhh, life is good! : )

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Mama, can I show you something?

You have to wonder what will come next when your 3-(almost 4)-year-old begins a conversation with "Mama, can I show you something?"

I was extremely curious at lunch today when we sat down and Davis raised the question.

"Of course, sweetie, what is it?"

He led me to the time-out chair at the edge of the kitchen, very excited. Our time-out chair has a lid in the seat and a cute little storage place underneath that only occasionally gets used. But Davis let me know that he stored a little of his cereal from breakfast in there this morning.

Ummmm, why did you do this?

Because, as he enthusiastically showed me, he had carefully taken a letter "D" from his bowl of Alpha-bit cereal (another childhood flashback for me), wiped the milk off, and kept it in the time-out chair for later.

I have to say, I thought it was adorable. I'm guessing the "D" was for Davis?

What was going through his mind at this point? Was he preparing for some later time when he might have a crisis during a time-out and need a snack? Was he just thinking that was the hiding spot most convenient to the kitchen? What were his plans for this little "D"?

All I could do was laugh, which of course thrilled Davis. He kept showing me his treasure, over and over, but I think eventually decided it looked to good to save so he ate it.

I'm thinking I need to periodically check the chair from now on just to see what might be lurking underneath.

You never know what might pop up in strange places. Yesterday, the boys were in the yard closely examining one of the jack-o-lanterns we carved last week and commenting on how stinky it was. We have been trying to explain to Davis that after a while, the pumpkins start to rot and we'll need to throw them out. This concept had really upset him until yesterday when he saw how nasty they can get after a few days.

Because they seemed so taken by the smell, I decided to take a closer look myself. Unfortunately, on close examination I found that someone (Andrew?!?) had hidden some "puppy poo" in the jack-0-lantern at some point. Which means that some little hands had to find it in the yard, pick it up, carefully put it in the pumpkin, and close the lid. And at what point I do not know. I shudder to think about the timing of this and where those little hands went afterward. Mommy must be more diligent with the pooper scooper.

I think I'm going to start checking my shoes, too. We have a new book from the library that talks about hiding a lizard in mommy's shoe...I hope they don't get any ideas!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

And the winner is...

...astronaut!

Andrew decided to be an "orange astronaut" for his Halloween parade at school. So much for the doctor costume. Maybe we can sell it on eBay. I think he was proud that he and "bubba" were both astronauts.

Unfortunately, Davis's costume keeps ripping out at the seam. We had it repaired last week at an alterations place, but this morning when he put it on, it ripped right back out...of course at 8:15 a.m. when we haven't had breakfast yet and need to leave by 9:00 a.m.

Luckily, my mom (who in her infinite wisdom must have seen this day coming, even 25 years ago) taught me how to sew when I was just a wee little thing. Somehow, I remembered how to thread the sewing machine this morning, and lovingly pinned and stitched the seams in the costume back together. Meanwhile, my precious boys were right beside me, watching PBS. It took me back many (many) years to the days when I sat by my own mom watching PBS while she sewed. The moment was fleeting, but very sweet all the same.

OK, so by the time we got to school, the seam had ripped out a third time. You know, I'm thinking in all the excitement of the day, no one even noticed!

Before the parties, all the kids were in a costume parade, and I was so happy to see my little astronauts as part of it! Andrew wanted to stay with me once he saw me in the crowd, but he was finally convinced to go back to his classroom with Ms. Brenda. Davis showed me some candy he had gathered along the way, and then kept right on going...probably in search of more candy.

Here's a shot of them together in Andrew's classroom...
Andrew is definitely proud of his pumpkin cookie here! This was taken during his class Halloween party.
Mom was doing a lot of running between classrooms, since Davis and Andrew had their parties at exactly the same time. Davis is pretty excited here about the treats he's getting...a cupcake in one hand and a "monster" lollipop in the other.


Davis is showing us his spider ring in this shot. Lucky for me, one of the other moms is a photographer and didn't mind snapping a photo of us.

And, running back to Andrew's class, another sweet parent offered to take a picture of Andrew and I together!
Their parties were great. Lots of food for parents and kids, and the boys came home with tons of candy. No need for trick-or-treating here!!








Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Doctor or Astronaut?

Well, Andrew sprung a new one on me today. We were in the car talking about their Halloween costumes, and how Davis would be an astronaut and Andrew would be a doctor. Then Andrew busts out with "I don't want that."

What?

After weeks of "I a doctor!" and asking for this costume? The day before their Halloween parade at school he decides he doesn't want that costume?!

OK, Andrew - what do you want?

"I an astronaut."

Hmmmm...he must really like Davis's costume. Lucky for Mom, we just happen to have an orange astronaut costume, size 2/3. Not so lucky for Mom, I took it to storage just yesterday. But they love to go to storage.

So we drive up to storage, all get out and troop in to find the costume. They had a blast, we found the costume really quickly, and now we wait...

What will he decide on tomorrow - doctor or astronaut????

(Now I can relate somewhat to what my parents must have felt when I changed majors five hundred times in college...what will she be? nurse, teacher, political scientist, geologist, mathematician?...no, accountant...and that didn't even stick too long. He must get it from me!)

Friday, October 24, 2008

My Dog Chews Bubble Gum!

This is Shelby. Not her best picture, but this is moments after she had her first experience with bubble gum. I think she's in shock.

Davis and Andrew were working hard to get the last few pieces of buble gum out of their machine. They were very generous, sharing the pieces and distributing them evenly among the family members present (namely Davis, Andrew, and Mommy). One "family member" they weren't planning on sharing with was Shelby.

As you can see, Shelby is lurking underneath the kitchen table, which she does anytime we are even remotely close to it. As the boys struggled to manuever this gumball machine, a piece unfortunately fell to the floor. Shelby is not typically a quick dog, but when food is involved, her speed picks up quite a bit. She attacked that little blue gumball like it was her last meal on earth.

What was hilarious is that Shelby didn't know what to do with it - as you can imagine! So our silly cocker spaniel is sitting underneath the table with a blue mouth, trying to figure out what in the world she's gotten a hold of. Davis, Andrew and I just sat under the table with her, laughing. I guess she finally swallowed it (probably taking her cues from Andrew, who swallows all his gum as well). I hope it sits well with her tonight. I really don't want to clean up after my blue-gum-ball dog!


Thursday, October 23, 2008

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Davis's class from school went on a field trip today to a local pumpkin patch. I was so excited when they asked for parents to volunteer to drive - sign me up!!

It was the perfect fall day that was cool and crisp with beautiful blue skies. We couldn't have had a better day to be there.

Mommy and Davis having our first field trip together! My little guy is growing up so fast.
The church where we went also put on a kind of carnival so that all the kids could play different games inside. I took tons of pictures, but chose just a few to show here.

Here's the classic...carrying an egg in a spoon. Lucky for all of us, they used plastic eggs. We wouldn't have been able to stand up in the mess if they had been real...eggs were "breaking" left and right!

Here they had a row of pumpkins and they were supposed to roll the ball down and back again. I think I see the first glimpses of a hockey player here...is it just me?

We had story time and a clown, then headed back outside for a picnic lunch. After our picnic all the kids played on the playground. When Davis was ready, he and I headed back to the pumpkin patch on the grounds of the church and picked out 3 pumpkins to bring home and carve. Just before we left, Davis struck one last pose with the scarecrow.


So much fun! I can't wait for the next field trip. This was a great day for Davis and Mommy.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Two Little Monkeys...

We are really getting warmed up for Halloween now! Davis and Andrew both tried on their costumes today and had a great time playing.

They love to take pictures! Andrew is a little doctor, with a doctor's bag and everything. Astronaut Davis is ready for lift off...

Speaking of lift off, I found them jumping on our bed in their costumes, singing the "Five Little Monkeys" song. More like two little monkeys if you ask me!

Andrew has one small problem with his costume. His pants are a little loose in the waist (wouldn't we all love to have that problem!) and keep falling down. Every few minutes he has to stop and pull them up. It's a little sad, but so cute, I have to admit!

...and we may have just given up on keeping them up!

Shortly after this picture was taken, he gave up and just took the pants off altogether. We'll have to come up with a solution before next week.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Art Day

Davis and Andrew were sitting at the table just holding hands and enjoying hanging out, so I couldn't resist taking a picture of it!

We tried painting the pumpkins, but all we had were watercolors which didn't work well on a pumpkin. So we settled on drawing jack-o-lantern faces on the pumpkins with a Sharpie marker and painting on some paper.


Here are their finished products - my little artists are so proud!




Monday, October 20, 2008

You're My Best Friend...

Davis and Andrew had so much fun today playing in the living room with their dinosaur tent. They got in the tent and I could hear Davis singing to Andrew, "You are my best friend, you are my very best friend today!" My heart just melted.

They are closely examining a little wind-up caterpillar...it's the little things...

Davis and Andrew are really excited about Halloween this year. We got them each a little pumpkin today to paint at home. We're saving the actual pumpkin carving for this weekend with Daddy.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Boys Playing Baseball

Davis and Andrew love to play baseball with Daddy! Mommy is not a fan of playing in the house, but I'm trying to relax about it. It's so great to see them having this much fun.

Andrew is making his move...

Davis has been working a lot with Daddy, learning to throw and catch with his glove. He's getting really good. The "Larry Boy" hat is not his usual baseball attire, but he does love the hat. Whatever works!
Andrew wanted his own glove so he could play like "bubba". Mommy and Andrew went to Target today to get him his own glove, and he is very proud!


Friday, September 26, 2008

Veggie Tales!!

Davis and Andrew love Veggie Tales, so we bought tickets to the show that came to town. They had to move the location due to damage from Hurricane Ike, but "the show must go on" and we are so glad it did!

At first, they were a little unsure of the whole situation. Davis really didn't want to stay and Andrew was just taking it all in.


But as things got going and Larry the Cucumber & Bob the Tomato came on stage, they warmed up pretty fast. It was a great show.
Of course, we got hats to match their favorite characters - Andrew loves "Bob 'mato" and Davis loves "Larry Boy" (Larry the Cucumber's alter-ego). Matching glo-sticks were in order as well.

Once we were fully outfitted and accessorized, we were ready to roll!


They can't take their eyes off the stage!

It was a fantastic time and we will definitely go again when they are back in town. Now that we have the hats, why not?