Mama's Towhead Boyz

Houdini

2010-08-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

We've been practicing "time-outs" with Boden for a few months now...this is a picture of our "time-out" bench in the "time-out" corner...The routine we do: is scolded for your wrong-doing, with Boden, mostly, throwing toys ALL over the house, or once in awhile biting his brothers :(...But he sits on the bench for TWO minutes (for age 2)...after 2 minutes, we go over the wrong-doing, and then he has to go apologize to whom he's hurt, or me if he's throwing toys..and then he has to give a kiss and hug and say "sorry"...it's a pretty cute routine, it's amazing that he even will sit still for 2 minutes, so that is HUGE.., and he's NEVER gotten off the bench....but...our little Houdini has left the building, or I guess, the house....

I went to find him..and I couldn't...and then "POP"...out of the cabinet..look what I found, all proud of himself for his new magic trick...I couldn't be to mad, cause it was pretty darn cute..., and well, he did stay in the general "time-out" area...

This kid is FULL of energy and always has SOMETHING up his sleeve....our magician in the making...

I've really got my hands FULL...he will start a "Mom's day out" in Sept, 2 days a week. He got a Scooby-Do lunch box this week, and he keeps getting it out and saying, "Time for school"..so I think he's ready to get out of the house...and explore what the world has to offer, or at least make some new friends, and give Mama some time to clean the house!!!

Krafty Kiddos

2010-07-14T13:31:00.001-07:00

Wow...I can't believe that Summer is almost half over!!...it's just down right wrong how fast it goes by!! We've been keeping busy, thank GOODNESS for our pool!!, it's such a GREAT family pastime that we ALL enjoy..especially our dare devil boys, that LOVE to jump off the waterfall!! I will say, that I can't entertain all THREE 24/7, although, they would love that idea...but the other day, Brandt asked me for some ribbon and tape...I was busy with one of the million household chores I'm responsible for...so didn't think much of it...and it had been quiet for over an hour or so...that's when you gotta start worrying..when you haven't had to break up a fight or get a juice box for awhile...but I will say..I was pretty impressed with what the boys came up with to entertain themselves BY THEMSELVES...they used the ribbon and tape to make a giant spider web...they weaved it in and out of the furniture, and attached bugs (plastic fake ones of course)...cars, money, you know, the usual that you would find in a spider web :)...it was pretty cute and pretty clever if you ask me....

This picture isn't very good cause I took it on my I-phone...but you can kind of get an idea:)...It covered the entire Entertainment room...

Then today, they asked for tape again, and this is what I found:.....

High heeled shoes!!! or maybe the clog style ones?

I named them the "Sponge Bob" shoes, and they thought that was a riot...all fun and dandy, until the weight of their little bodies (not much as you can see by the showing rib cages:))...crushed them to the ground...but they got a few minutes good use out of them:)..on a side note, they BOTH eat a TON, they just RUN it off AND they are obsessed with NOT wearing a shirt in the Summer, boys just don't do that, you know !! ...I really feel they will have a occupation some day that lets them create and build, they both love it and are really good at it....Mommy's little architects is what I'm thinking...Cute days like this, makes the Summer go by even faster...hope you're enjoying yours...

Rub a dub dub...3 little sqeeky clean boys all in a tub...

2010-05-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Monkey see Monkey do..See Daddy shave...Monkeys need to shave too!! They had all gotten shaving sets from Santa..complete with shaving cream, shavers (plastic and no blade of course) and cute little brush applicators..way cute..and way fun for the tub!!

Brandt wanted me to set up a mirror so he could "see what he was shaving"...VERY fine peach fuzz that is....he'll be the one when the time comes to always be clean shaving, baby face...Barrett, will have a gotee, and Boden will probably be all bandaged up with a million little cuts...he's a little clumsy!!!

Up close and personal with Mr. Gotee himself....

The finished project...can't you just SEE the difference!!!

Awh...the baby of the family...everything he does is just pure cuteness...well, that is MOST of the time...

Springtime Smoothies...

2010-05-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, don't fall over...I've got a post!! Gosh, it's been 3 months or so...that's my record...we've had some major events taking shape over at our household...but let's not dwell on our unforeseen circumstances..let me just focus on the loves of my life, now and forever...this is ONE of them..he's become my shadow...

Let me just make sure I've got EVERY last drop...

.
Did I Really just do that? Let me just stick my hand in here to make sure I didn't leave anything inside?

MMMmmmmmMMMmmmm, MAMA, you make THE best smoothies!!!!
Yep, I can juggle the glass, now that it's empty....fancy trick...

Aren't' you proud Mama? All gone..., I'm a health nut with my blueberry, strawberry, protein smoothie, I do hope you have some Spray n Wash on hand, though?

Thanks Mommy, Can I have some more?

The BiG bRotHEr turNs SIX!!!

2010-02-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Mr. Brandt is now officially SIX!!..He's been wishing for the last entire year, that he was already six, so when the day came...BIG huge smile the entire day for this little Blondie...We did a football theme, excuse me, NFL party...you could come in a jersey or cheer leading outfit...it turned out super cute, and with good timing too, since the Super Bowl was right around the corner..This is Brandt with one of his good buddies from Kindergarten...

Middle brother Barrett was having a ball in the arcade...I found this new place, that had a great party area, and really yummy pizza too...

Goin' in for the big blow....all SIX candles...

Baby brother, always chewing on whatever he can get his little hands on...thought he'd try out the center piece for dessert....MMmmmmm...

I'm just way to cool now Mom..I guess when turning SIX, you go from Mommy to Mom, or so I'm told...geezzhhh....But the MOM, did manage to find these Texas jerseys where you could pick your # and put your own last name on the back, so Yes, your Mom is just as cool as you, buddy!!!

Here are some Brandt's favorite cheerleaders...he won't admit it in front of his buddies, but when it's just MOM and Brandt, I get the entire low down...and these girls are "beautiful, Mom"..and that they are : )....

The cake was from our favorite place in town...it's become our tradition...I did pretty good this year, not to have a HUGE amount of left overs...I'm learning..I think we each got a piece the next day, along with our very happy babysitter : )....Brandt insisted on MOM wearing a "pink" jersey, gee, how perceptive of him that I like pink, so luckily I scored this Cowboys jersey with pink AND sparkles...!!!

Loved the place where we had the party, but they basically rushed us out of there for a party that was following ours, so presents where unwrapped at home...I think it's more fun for them anyway, as not to rush, rush, rush...Brandt LOVES Lego's!! That was what he asked for, and that is what he received with a TON of Football, NFL Football, that is : )....Although, he says his favorite team is Texas..I don't think he quite gets the NFL thingy..maybe at 7?...

This mask was included with his favorite SIX shirt that our wonderful friends, Melody and fam, get the boys every bday...and let me tell you, ALL the boys think it's THE coolest!!! Even baby attempts to put it on (really it's on TOP of the head, not eyes)..and then he "flies" through the house...boys are so darn cute, even if I am just MOM, now...

In AN INstant...

2010-01-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

I was only gone a second...just to pottie...good thing I just went and did my business and not read a magazine or anything...Boden is on the loose...he's into EVERYTHING right now...always thinking about what he can get into next....it's a lot of work, never get anything done ...but it's so fun watching him develop new skills and learn new words...I'm savoring every minute I can...

Brandt's new Girlfriend...

2010-01-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, she might be a little to old for him, but I've heard she's a really sweet girl....

Oh no, not again....

2010-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Perfect time for a little snoozer...makes time out time go REALLY fast....

George...

2010-01-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Barrett's Preschool does many cute things. This is one of them. Curious George comes with his suitcase which contains many changes of clothing and undies too...(that is just SO funny to a 4 yr old!)...but we were lucky enough to have George the entire Christmas break. He is suppose to go EVERYWHERE with you, your parents take pictures of you and George and then you turn in a scrapbook page of George's adventures. I must say George had a fantastic Christmas with us this year...and Barrett is already on me to do his scrapbook...gee...just add it on to the project pile...but it will be fun...and good Barrett and Mommy time...

Aprons....

2010-01-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share this cute idea I came up with..These are actually the CUTE vintage style aprons that I gave away for prizes at my Holiday cookie party this year.. After realizing that they were the same size as my laundry room windows and the same colors (gold and brown), I lucked out that they only had 4 left to buy!!. I tied the aprons together (back to back)...There is one on the backside so it looks just as pretty from the outside. After tying them together, I put the bow on the front side which makes it even cuter!!! I don't think Lenny our lizard likes them as they block some of his sunning rays, but it looks so girly and colorful in the laundry room, I love it!!!..and I'M the one that does the laundry...so sorry, Lenny....

GrandPA...

2010-01-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Russell loves the sunshine.. and on his way to Florida every Winter, he always stops for a visit. The boys just love it...Grandpa Russell, is the tickling, let's play airplane kind of Grandpa...and of course they ALL have to pile on Grandpa at once...it's much more fun that way...It use to be myself and my siblings while growing up...The "dog pile" is what we'd call it!!...I guess some things never change...

The Christmas present that never came....

2010-01-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

His eye teeth...he's got the ones in front...the ones in the back...but the ones in the middle are missin'...We thought that they'd come in around Christmas...but nope, just a lot of sleepless nights as they try to pop threw, lot's of grumpy days and fevers...they are takin' their own sweet time...lots of drool, lots of whimpers, but no teeth, not yet...Maybe for Valentines day????? We hope...

ThEre IS hOpE.....

2009-12-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

Barrett, love the kid to death, but I've always heard that when you have 3 children, one will be a challenge, and well, so far that has proven to be Mr. Barrett...He's always pushing the limits, testing our patience, and is just down stubborn...not sure where on earth he gets such a characteristic such as that..But I was having a VERY challenging day with him, wits end, about ready to throw in the towel...and then I see...there IS hope...the kid can be as sweet as candy, if he wants...the key word is WANTS...Bella, our kitty, had crawled on the couch, all curled up as kitties do, when Mr. Stubborn, went and got all the stuffed animals he could find in close range, including his beloved green baby...AND his favorite blanket...I walked by to check to see what he was up to and why he was being so quiet (usually not a good combo) and he had covered Bella up while she was napping..although she did have to perk up for the picture...this cat never misses a photo op...it just melted my heart, gave me hope that my challenging child does have a heart of gold...I know he does, it's just covered with a lot of boyness...One of the best feelings I can experience...Hope...that one day all the stubbornness will be channeled into a great career, a great person, a great heart...

So long 2009....

2009-12-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

Hearth Room fireplace and bookcases...The 6th stocking is Grandma's when she comes to visit...Opps...I guess I never finished..note the right side floral arrangement is missing the poinsettias'...oh well...to late now.....

What goes up, must come down. The law of physics. Or pertaining to the Christmas season, you drag ALL the crap out, now it's time for ALL the crap to be packed away, back into the designated labeled bins, until next year...Usually I keep up all our Merry Christmas decorations until AFTER New Years, but since our house is lookin' like a department store on steroids, I thought I'd get a jump start to the LONG process today, while it was SO cold and rainy outside and the big boys were at tennis camp today...

(this is just a PARTIAL view of the LONG (well LONG when you're makin' bows) staircase..

This season, was the Year of the Bows for me...Count them 83 NEW bows...staircases, fireplaces, outside gate and doorways, and garlands galore...I don't really care if I ever see my bow maker and/or floral wire for ALONG time....

Our Radko tree....

Our Texas Tree....

Mantel in the Kitchen

Centerpiece in the Kitchen

The huge Peacock tree....I have some ideas for next year...I'd like to add some more trees (surprise surprise, right), 3 different sized flocked trees for the dining room.. I've already started to collect birdhouses and birds for tree #1, but I'm undecided for tree #2 and #3, don't tell my husband, he'll have a heart attack!! But maybe not since our very sweet neighbor whom always delivers a WARM poopyseed cake EVERY Christmas told us she has NINE themed BIG trees...see, I'm not the only Looney Christmas Toon out there!!!

So I've had lots of friends and family back home ask to post some decorations of our house...and there ya go...here's a few of them...The boys are all sad that I'm putting "the pretties" away...but Brandt says, "Mom, now we can turn over a new fresh year"...Yes, and he's right..I've already started my "to do" list..some of the things on the list are left over from last year and the year before, but maybe THIS year will be the year?...I love the challenge that comes with a "clean" slate each new year brings...got lots planned, lots to accomplish, lots of dreams to make a reality...I can feel it..THIS is the year...

GiNgErBrEAd HoUSes...

2009-12-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

My boys LOVE this party that our neighborhood does each year. Actually Brandt asked when the party was going to be BEFORE Thanksgiving!!!...Gee, and I thought I was the planner in the family...It amazes me how creative they can be for their little ages..and how precise the placement of the candy has to be (Barrett)...he's going to be my little architect or engineer when he grows up....Hopefully Boden will be able to join us in 2 more years or so...But he got to go see Santa at Bass Pro with Daddy...so he was really happy to have Daddy time, oh, AND see the fish!!!

Just getting started....

The finished product.....

And finished product #2 WITH the boy's trade mark, flip-flops...Merry Christmas Southern Texas style...

ChrisTmAs TrAdiTiOns and CoLLectIoNs....

2009-12-21T04:32:00.000-08:00

I'm one of those girls that loves Collections, my main one being cookbooks. When we built our house, on my "wish list" was the idea of having a spot JUST for them. It worked out perfectly that the "wine" room-slash-cookbook room turned out just perfectly..

.It seems like the Holiday season brings out a few more collections in our home...I think mixed with some of the TRADITIONS that we practice over the holidays, really makes such a fun and exciting energy in our house for both Scott and I and our little boys....

The first one is our traditional advent door house, where the boys get to open the door right before they get tucked in to a little surprise..They love it and it makes bedtime a little less of a drag!! I've learned that they have to have xmas jammies on, teeth brushed, AND story time must be over, as if we stray from my strict schedule, some how it seems like I'm reading the books to the wall while little hands are very busy with their new trinket!!! I had been searching high and low for little things that will fit inside the doors that won't fall apart as soon as the kids touch it, but My friend Jenn, has the same one and gave me a super hint.She just puts a note in the door, with a clue to where the "goodie" basket would be (which is substantially bigger than the little door) and then her kids figure out the clue and there they find the basket of goodies!!! So, next year, I'm using her idea, for sure!! Sorry dollar store

....Also, one of my COLLECTIONS is displayed in the kid's area, tall, pencil like snowmen, fun ones that the kid's just love..we really have found some special ones, and the kids look forward to helping me unwrap them every year from the storage boxes....

I also collect Tall, pencil, type Santa's...it's so fun to see the diversity we can find and they look even more magical all placed side by side...Also, I LOVE my new old fashion sleigh, I got this year, it just works perfect as a centerpiece down the table, of course I had to spruce it up with some colorful packages!

This is perhaps, my favorite tradition that I came up with for the kiddos. It's our "book" tree where Santa leaves new books every year on Christmas...but this year we changed it up a little...we now have a sleigh full of JUST Christmas books. The kids each get to pick one (total of two) books a night and then we sit by the lighted book tree to read them. They love it...The book tree holds very special ornaments. It has many childhood ornaments from when I was little and it also holds all the hand prints, feet prints, home made type of ornaments that they kids make at school, parties, or at home...aka: the crafty tree!! The tree also has special ornaments from Grandma and our K.C. Omie (Lynne) that has gotten the boys very special ornaments since they were born...This year, they also got to put up there own trees in each of their rooms...and pick out the ornaments....again, they LOVE it...and it such a given to me of what kind of ornaments they will pick out...so predictable...so fun....

View of the book tree.....

Then as several of our friends down here take part in this tradition...Elf on the Shelf..our elf's name is Charles...He watches over the boys all day then flies to the North Pole at night to tell Santa of the behavior that the boy's had that day...a good or not so good report...then when he comes back in the wee hours of the morning, he changes spots, and the boys have to go and find him..which has now become THE very first thing they do in the am....You can't touch Charles, or his special powers go away...I thought they'd try and sneak a touch...OH no..never..it's so fun to hear them talk about him, and I've used on more than one occasion..."You better not do things like that, cause you know who is watching YOU..".....Sometimes Charles doesn't move, (Mommy forgets to move him)...but with the rather large not on my bathroom mirror, this problem has been somewhat eliminated....I just told the boys that Charles must of "really like THAT spot!!"...it worked, thank goodness!!!

We also have several places that have stockings...Santa always leaves a little something in all of them..you know, you gotta spread out the goods...it's kind of like a Easter egg basket but with stockings watching them scurry from room to room...FUN....

I started collecting Christopher Radko ornaments around 10 years ago, when we received several for wedding gifts. Of course they are my favorite since they were the first and cause they scream wedding!!!....So over the years each Christmas, I've added to the collection and now we are able to just have one tree dedicated to only Radko exclusively.....They all have been selected very carefully and they all have to have a special meaning only to our family...no buying cause it's cute, it really has to mean something...For instance, the July ornament in the picture is special to our family as both Boden and Barrett were born in July. Other examples, Daddy has Santa riding a golf cart with clubs on the back of the cart and Mommy has sparkly red ruby slippers to signify my special town in my heart of Kansas City... Now that the boys are older, we make a trip to Fredricksberg to the Christmas shop that specializes in Radko and they boy's get to pick out something significant to them. This year Santa playing soccer, and Santa swimming, how perfect!!!! Mommy's this year: An awesome leopard purse..Love it...!!!

Another collection that is so special to me is my naivety figures. I have 5 different ones so far: from Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, and Mexico, the other one is the Willow Tree figures, which I LOVE and have gotten from my sweet sisters and step-Mom, Linda.. While traveling, it's so fun to be on a hunt and find such intricate works of art...and I would rather have something special for a souvenir, it just means so much to me....So I'm always on the hunt for at least TWO items when I travel... that perfect cook book, which...most the time, half the ingredients I can't even pronounce, let alone get at HEB (our local grocery store), but the pictures sure make your taste buds excited!!! I'm really kidding, most of them are just fantastic and so fun to sit in the wine room with glass of vino and remember the yummy food and beautiful sights.....

More shots of the naivety.....

And now something JUST for Mommies: this tradition was on hold for a few years but made a fantastic come back this year....My annual cookie party!!!...Gosh, I have pictures going way back...even before lots of my friends had children...I've done it several different ways, just to mix it up a bit...so of course you gotta have a cookie tree...so fun with the wooded spoons on top...more on the cookie party in an upcoming post...it was FUN and yummy this year and for me brought back fond memories of my KC friends, whom I miss so dearly...

More of the cookie tree

....One last tradition,....I'm a huge scrapbooker...I could do it all day, every day and NEVER get tired of it....I plan to be pretty much a full time scrapbooker once all my kids are in school..in 10 years...ha!!....I have a scrapbook just for our Christmas cards that we've sent that year. It's so fun to look back and see how children where added, then another and another...Our first card together was our engagement in Greece and our second one from our wedding....so special...I'm wondering if I'm just extra sentimental today??? or am I just realizing at this time of year, how blessed I've been? I love creating such a special childhood for the kids...I hope they appreciate me, being boys and all...but hopefully when they are looking for their lifelong partner someday in the far distant future, these memories and the type of Mommy I was with them will be embedded in the back of their pretty little minds...I do know that all I have and give is because of the true meaning of Christmas. When the Savior was born, and that is the most wonderful TRADITION and COLLECTION them of ALL...

TiS THe SeAsON....foR JaMMiEs.

2009-12-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well, you know how I LOVE jammies...especially ALL matching...here are the boys modeling version #1 for the holiday season....Gosh, they are so excited for Christmas this year. They've always have been excited in the past, but this year it's reached a whole entire new level. It may be the fact that Brandt can now write his OWN list, or the fact that they now understand when they see a commerical on tv that the toy really does exist, or it may be the fact that they can really grasp the fact that Santa CAN fit down our fireplace and you don't HAVE to have snow for a sled to work, and there REALLY are elves that help Santa....It's such a magical time of the year with all the anticipation that comes with the waiting and wondering..the new traditions that we've started in the last few years, that the boys just love. It's such a rewarding tribute to us, as parents, to know that we are molding the kid's childhood memories into what we hope will be enjoyable happy ones that will be pasted along year after year...from child to child...

My LItTle InDIanS

2009-11-30T02:58:00.001-08:00

I thought this was so cute...In Brandt's Kindergarten class they did a little Thanksgiving celebration. We were asked to get a white pillowcase and cut a hole at the top for a head opening, two holes on the side for arm openings and fringe at the bottom....and WHA-LA-..an instant Indian outfit/dress..We were asked for the kids to decorate it at home (to save valuable learning time at school)...AND since there are TWO pillowcases to a pack, with the left over one, Brandt spent and entire Saturday coloring a "back up" outfit...His class also made Indian hats, complete with feathers and an Indian style "Penne" noodle necklace...Both the big boys had a lot of fun playing Indians...cheap entertainment, gotta love it!!!

So this is Barrett modeling outfit #1.....

and Brandt modeling too, with his Christmas jammies on too!!!

and again...the outfit #2, has a total Indian battle scene, complete with tee-pees, a huge sun, and very colorful animals...I love how creative he is becoming...not sure wear he gets that?? :)..

ThAnKsGivInG HiGhliGhtS....

2009-11-30T01:41:00.001-08:00

Hope ya all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday...We are all so extremely blessed, to me it seems somewhat sad to just attribute ONE day...I know Christmas gets all the hype..but I think Thanksgiving is right up there on the Holidays to really celebrate scale and a Holiday that is a great teaching lesson for our children...Just remind me NOT to go to the grocery store (HEV, as the boy's call it) ON Thanksgiving day with all the other 50 million people...I just ran out of time the day set aside for errands day, thinking there would of been 51 million people on THAT day, so I'd just wait, wrong,...well, a few million people does NOT make that big of difference...

These pics are somewhat out of order, as I always forget the way "blogger" downloads stuff, if only someone would invent a way to "sort your order of pictures", how genius...But anyway, here are is my darling sister Kelly and just as darling niece, Ryan, roasting marshmallows after we are stuffed to the exploding limit with turkey and all the fixins'.....just some s'mores to top it all off with...

Here are the boys out enjoying a little game of Putt Putt on Happpy's (Grandpa)..new putting green, complete with really cool mini sized putters and pretty golf balls that somehow were chucked mostly into the adjoining swimming pool...do they just need more practice?? Nawh..it's called Boys see water...balls go into pool, cause it's COOL when Happy has to rescue them with the net from the bottom of the pool....

Omie and Happy put a new addition onto their beautiful home this summer...it really makes Family gatherings even MORE fun as the SEVEN, all FIVE and under Grand kids have even more room to RUN around in...and that they do...rather fast and loudly I might add..

Sweet-Pea, Ryan...The oldest of the girls, keeping all the WILD boys in line..so glad she's so responsible as when all the boys get together, the loudness and naughtiness level goes WAY up on the Rector Scale....

Do-da-do....Roaming around Omie and Happy's backyard, Disneyland is what I call it..it's the MOST manicured yard I've ever seen, complete with LOTS of fun thing to play with and to do..hence, the nickname....

Before I had children, when I would dream about what they'd be like, I just knew from a feeling I'd have that I would have a left handed child (Brandt) and one with a dimple (Boden) and was hoping for an athletic one too!!!...here's the picture to show that lovable, squeezable little masterpiece in the cheek, little dimple...LOVE it....and then there is Barrett, with his little athletic muscles all defined, a little Micheal Phelps, is what I like to call him..and yes, he's a very fine swimmer!!!

Two of my little blessings...the 3rd middle one...is not only Micheal Phelps, but a Speedy Gonzales too..he won't sit still for a picture, you know he might miss 3 seconds of fun..In this Holiday season, let's all remember to count our blessings..we have so many to be thankful for.. from the simple and much overlooked: a warm place to sleep, a pillow to sleep on, blankets and clean sheets...to the complex and still overlooked: our families, friends, and freedom to pray and give thanks to the Giver of it All, Jesus Christ....

ARresT WarrAntS

2009-11-16T02:48:00.000-08:00

(Click on pictures to make bigger!)

This just seems highly inappropriate posting Halloween pictures, while I spent most of the weekend putting up Christmas trees and Staircase garland..but here they are: Officer Brandt and Officer Barrett, with baby brother as the jailbird..

In the above pictures: Brandt arresting his friend Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz (Vienne)

Barrett partaking in the "Trunk or Treat..our subdivision is so large and on so many acres, that going door to door would be impossible, so basically they throw a huge party for the kids complete with a bouncy house and a cotton candy stand. If you ask me, the adults have just as much fun as everyone decorates their "trunk" and the kids go "trunk to trunk"..People go ALL out. For instance, our friends that were characters from The Wizard of Oz, decorated their trunk with a yellow brick road and a tornado, complete with debris stuck in it!! Also, there was a REAL hearse, complete with a coffin displaying one of their kiddos all dressed like he had been in a major accident, and the kids had to reach into the casket to get their candy! Yikes!!!

Brandt with a Pretty Witch (Georgia). She's in his Kindergarten class at school.

And our Mr. Jailbird, complete with ball and chain. I made his entire outfit. I ordered white children's scrubs. Used black duct tape (I did try fabric spray paint, but it bled all under the tape, a total mess). I ironed on the wings and numbers...The ball and chain was a Styrofoam ball that I just wrapped in the black duct tape and then I used a light chain and sewed it on a cuff. It was a huge hit, watching him run around dragging the ball with his Officer brothers right behind him!!
Officer Barrett, Boden's front view (I couldn't get a great picture of him to save my life!!) The front of his costume says "Playpen Penitentiary"...I used black puffy pant to draw the Bulldog..cuteness..Officer Brandt, and Mommy and her boys...(don't use just love how Texas cops wear flip-flops??!!).

We had a great Halloween. The big boys are getting so curious about everything, I guess they always have been, but it seems with the older ages, I get more questions which are getting a little bit more methodical.

For instance, On Friday Brandt came home and when I went to get him off of the bus, he seemed upset. I asked him if he had a bad day? He commented, "Mom, I'm a little made at you." Ut-O?..I had put a banana in his backpack on Monday in the side pocket, and by Friday, it had turned into a black, squishy mess, that got all over his hands at school, when he went to grab his show n tell, which was ALL over his show n tell as well!!...I explained it was an accident, that I could wash the back pack etc...And his response: "Mom, every time I get upset or sad about something a little piece of my heart falls off, (this is said while he is using his finger and thumb showing a "tiny" pinch)..it falls to the ground, it's just a small piece, like the size of a crumb, but Mom I just have one heart and it is slowly chipping away.."...Wow, drama!!! If he was saying this to make me feel terrible, it worked!!

Now they constantly ask me ALL these questions about Santa!! They are SO excited for Christmas already!! Did I mention it was CONSTANT?...Scott was gone all weekend hunting and I thought I was going to explode!!! It was like I was being interrogated the entire weekend about Santa!! Maybe their Policemen uniforms gave them some magical powers or something? As I felt like I had done something to Santa and they were going to hound me until they heard what they wanted to hear!!!

This is the first year they put up little Christmas trees in their rooms..They keep going to their rooms to check on them, it's so cute. They picked out their own ornaments which makes them even more proud of their OWN trees...I have a feeling it's going to be a GREAT Holiday season this year..and I'm so ready, bring it on....

a HAlLoWEen CuPCake...

2009-10-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here's Boden this am, enjoying a Halloween cupcake. The ones I made with my sleep deprived BFF and her newborn, baby Luke...Boden really didn't know really what to think, the only other time he's had sweets was on his 1st birthday...I think most of it DID find it's way into his mouth though.....

We are really doing up Halloween this year...I'm trying to make it "extra" fun, since LAST Halloween we were living in our Hallway!! While half our 2 year house was being demolished and remodeled due to a water leak..oh joy that was..I don't think I ate ANY Halloween candy last year...for 1: had a newborn and had no time...and 2: I had NO appetite, not even for chocolate (my favorite), as I was literally sick to my stomach and gut for a good month or two, while I watched the house I designed get jackhammered apart..Very few people actually knew how devastating that was for me, I think a lot of it had to do with the timing of having a newborn....I learned many valuable lessons during that time, so I understand now maybe why it had to happen, but Halloween will always remind me of the deep dark hole I feel into last year at this time..

.So, my whole point of telling you all that was back to we're making this an extra "FUN" Halloween and since I didn't eat any candy last year, I'm just eating it ALL THIS year...please remind me next year to buy the kind I DONT like...!!! I think there are magnets in the 8th bag of Snickers that just gravitate to my stomach...I just can't figure it out...????Not to mention the cupcakes that Boden is eating in the pictures that Tami and I made on Thursday, it's Saturday...Gone!!! It's a good thing the gym up at the clubhouse just opened up..I'll need a ride up there first thing Monday morning!!!

My PuMpKIns....

2009-10-31T13:04:00.001-07:00

From my Punks to your Punks....Happy Halloweenie.....

ThE ONE sOckED shoWer...

2009-10-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

I debated if I should put this picture on my blog, cause there are lots of pervs out there surfing the net, but you can't see anything cause of the thick foggy glass....

This is what happens when you shower three boys, every night, the same routine,...but I was extra tired that night and they went the entire shower, washed all 3 heads, until I noticed at the end...I forgot one of Boden's socks..,a very cute one at that, black with white skulls....A total Mommy moment...I just had to laugh...

HaPPy HalLoWeEniE....

2009-10-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Boden's pumpkin..... Barrett's pumpkin....

I've got LOTS of cute pics of the boys, dressed up, pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins..BUT I'm still in the process of putting the final touches on Boden's costume today, yes that's right it IS Halloween TODAY...nothing like waiting until the last minute!!! But I had to do a post about our pumpkin catastrophe...

When you have a 15 month old, a 4 year old AND a 5 1/2 year old..carving pumpkins actually means: Mommy draws the face and Daddy carves..they won't even put their hands in the pumpkin gunk..and they are boys..what is wrong with them?? Well, actually Boden dived right in..

We usually put our pumpkins on the front porch, but this year we decided to just leave them in our outdoor living area, where we always carve them...BAD IDEA...The next morning, I went outside to play with Boden and I about had a heart ache...Somebody or should I say something ate Brandt's face off!!! Not him, (he was at school) but his pumpkin..The animal chopped out the eyes, nose, and mouth, leaving only the outline of where these parts USE to be...

I thought all day, how I was going to break the news to Brandt..He's one of those kids, that things have to be PERFECT and when something is NOT, Watch out, he doesn't handle those situations very well.. Later that day when I picked up Barrett from Preschool, I even prepped him, starting out by saying "I have some bad news...." Told him what had happened...His reply "He is going to Freak Mom"....Great...can't wait until he gets home on the bus...

So he did, I again started out by saying "Brandt, I have some bad news sweetie..." told him what had happened, and of course I ended it with "It's really no big deal, I got a back up pumpkin, that we can carve right after dinner"...he raced to the back, swings open the back door, RUNS to look at his pumpkin, I'm holding my breathe..."MOM, THAT IS THE COOLEST PUMPKIN EVER, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA!!!" (Yes, he's in kindergarten!) I LOVE it and I LOVE the animal that did this!!! My heart started beating again, What did I just hear?..are you kidding me??..I started to breathe again.."Yes, sweetie it does, and I bet YOU are the ONLY one in the whole wide world that has a pumpkin carved like AFRICA!!"...

WOW, what a relief, and how creative without having to think about being creative!!...So the pictures that you see at the top, are our pumpkins this year, Africa and all....

BuRn IT uP....

2009-10-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

Sundays are always a day of rest at our home, family day too of course, game and popcorn night if you really want to know more about the day in our household...We skipped church..ssshhhh..with good reason though, the boy's had bad coughs all week with runny noses and felt like we better not spread the germs ya know....

So Daddy was in pure heaven, as he got to build the 1st fire of the Fall season...He had spent one entire Saturday chopping wood and placing it on his new wood rack holder, so we are SET with wood if anyone needs to borrow any...Yes, I think the temp outside was around 60, but that is chilly for us, a great day for a fire...Scott has ALL the bells and whistles of a professional fire starter, the canvas thingy to carry the wood inside, from his gigantic firewood rack (that was placed in a horrible place, not ideal AT ALL, but it was already stacked with wood before I caught it!!, but that's another story), the gloves and then all the tools you would ever need for prodding, poking, and extinguishing...if you're going to build it, might as well do it right...

I was a little nervous what Boden would do...but he followed his big brother's leads and just plopped down next to them..and just watched..in awe.. Free entertainment once again...the best kind....With the type of fireplace we have, it really puts out the heat, warming that part of the house so nicely!!! COZY with a capital C!!

Not sure what the boys were doing here...looks like Brandt is directing traffic with his whistle around his wrist, and Barrett doing the "let's make a fire" dance...now THAT just adds to the entire entertainment factor...and Boden saying, "hot,hot, hot, hot, hot....."...What a great day we had. Daddy and Mommy actually took naps in front of the fireplace while the big kids napped too, ah..heaven., then actually read a magazine for awhile which is a HUGE treat once you have kiddos, and it's actually an added bonus if you can make it through the entire thing...even the kitties curled up with us...I wish every Sunday could be a repeat of this past one....

HaIr THroPhY Of ThE Day....

2009-10-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

He looks so serious here...I guess hair trophies take a lot of deep thought!!

If you haven't guessed yet, it's a strawberry today...seems like he always plants it in the same spot or least near it...

BuDDiEs....

2009-09-28T04:48:00.001-07:00

Ahhh...Bella + Lenny = BFF's...This is Bella's new resting spot, ever sense we got Lenny..Who says a Bearded Dragon and kitty cat can't be buds..Well, in our household, it's a go...I don't really think Bella is stalking him, well, maybe just a little, but it truely seems like they enjoy each other's company...Ah..Brotherly Love....

TimE OuT is TirInG

2009-09-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

Oh Barrett Reed, You never stop making us laugh...I think you were in time out a tad bit too long!!!..Not sure why you were even IN time out..We forgot!! No I'm kidding, Daddy put you in time out...I'm sure it either had to do with you jumping on the furniture, throwing something in the house, or not listening...those are you're top 3 reasons....But thank you for making us laugh and thank you for the several minutes of quite time in our house!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barrett is our VERY active one. If kids had volume-slash-speed controls on them, he's would be cranked constantly!!! Some days, it's out of control..I know people told me when we would say we where having boys, "They are very active"...ugh, active?? Can you say Tornadoville...

He has such an imagination, a fully born entertainer...A typical conversation with Barrett: Such as last night,

(B) " Mommy, if I eat two of these yogurts, I will get a prize.

(A): "A Prize? From who?"

(B): Very seriously he tells me, "From the car insurance people"...

Don't ask, I don't know..Earlier that day, as Barrett pointed out the "buffalo" that crossed past the side of our car, he said, "(B): Mommy, do you see this scratch?" He points to a little cut on his forearm,

(A): "Yes, honey, I do. Do you need a band-aid?"

(B). "No, but if I'd scratch it, lady bugs will come running out"...He says very matter of factually....

I think that is what is so sweet, He really believes this stuff!!! Not sure where or how he dreams it up..But we just let him believe what he thinks, isn't that what being a child is all about? Dreams...So innocent...So real....

HAir TrOPhieS

2009-09-28T03:22:00.001-07:00

This kid can NOT eat anything without making a complete mess of himself!! He always has a noodle or banana stuck in the hair with each feeding...Hair trophies, is what I like to call them...

Then there is his new favorite, spaghetti or ravioli...Yes, I could just forgo it, but I'm trying to diversify his taste buds, and the choices for a baby are somewhat limited when you have to take in the softness factor of the food...

After the routine of cutting everything up, getting him safely settled in the chair, I'm busy preparing the rest of families meals, then I look over and he has devoured EVERYTHING..this kid can eat, and then it's always a surprise to see the end result and what just happens to make the hair trophy of the day???....It's not everything that was in front of him, just ONE thing, could be several of the ONE thing, but just ONE kind of thing....

Maybe it won't be AS messy, once he uses a fork? I've tried, he gets the concept, but he just can't stab the pieces hard enough to get them to stick!!! But boy does he love the Train forks!! Ya know, the Choo-Choo ones....it's ALL about the SOUNDS right now...

Mess or no mess, I guess it's great that he's a good eater, and not picky at all..I guess I can be thankful for that, even if it does include Hair trophies...

ThE NeWest FaMiLy MemBeR

2009-09-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we really didn't name him...so let's call him Buffalo Bill..He's giant..I thought I'd get spooked out having a bunch of dead animals hanging in the "Man Cave"...but doesn't seem to bother any of us...His hair is really brittle, kind of like a Brillo Pad...The boys love him..he's our new friend..just hanging out on our wall...in time to catch the Fall football next to him on the t.v...I could think of many other bad habit Scott could be involved with and if it's hanging dead, very hairy animals on our walls, I guess I'm ok with that...

Our Mr. Potato Head...

2009-09-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Barrett is the jokester in the family...Here he is modeling the Mr. Potato Head glasses...He's always coming up with something to make us laugh..Poor little guy, when the all the rain came and went, it took his little voice with it!!! He's been hoarse, talking in this broken -up- soft- radio- voice all week..I'm secretly liking it, as the decimal noise level in our house has went down a few notches!!! I'm sure it's related to the allergens floating around...

Scott's parents are in town this week, it's always fun to see them with the boys..They seem to act extra sweet and extra silly, I guess they know they were hired for the weekend entertainment...Boden is cutting teeth, so he's been a joy this week, but hoping he's back to his fun self once they cut through, his pain does manage to go away when all eyes are gooing all over him, and to add a couple extra set of eyes this weekend, has made his smile extra big, especially since they are eyes he doesn't see very often...

I have 2 projects I've been working on..you know.. with ALL the spare time I have...1) is catching up on all the kid's pictures...Shutterfly is LOVING me this week, I've ordered hundreds and hundreds of pics..I do solemnly swear to never ever get THAT behind again...2) which I haven't had the courage to tackle yet, but the decoration room..where I keep all Halloween/Christmas etc...it's scary, can't even get up the stairs leading into the room, I could seriously open up my on Holiday store, it's bad...My hope is to purge and organize..I need to be able to get to the decorations though before I can start...One thing at a time, right??

...I remember those days when my projects use to consist of trying a new painting class or taking a calligraphy class or cake making class...Reality check!!..those days are over, or let's just say "on hold ( just to make me feel better!!) it's all about staying a float these days... on top of running kids here and there, remembering what day we have what...What happened to the days where I use to make a carrot cake from scratch, with all the hand placed nuts up the sides and drawn carrots on top with the little frosting tips, then watch my favorite soap opera on the couch while I'd sample it??? Well, I never did watch soap operas..but it sounds good...I did make the carrot cake from scratch, AND hand place the nuts AND draw little carrots with orange and green frosting, however...gee, how life progresses...

LeNny lOvEs tHursDaYs...

2009-09-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

Lenny loves Thursdays as this is the day we stop after I pick up the boys, while on our way to karate, we venture to the pet store (and I'll tell ya, our small town pet store is an adventure in itself!!) and get Lenny 12 medium sized crickets for $1.35. I think he knows this is his "treat" day as we walk into the laundry room, he gets REAL excited, comes off his perch and starts climbing the sides of the aquarium!! The boys LOVE it, although this particular Thursday, Brandt lost his privilege to help, (sorry buddy, but we do have rules around here..king for a day, but not the next!! very short lived!!)..One of them gets to hold the crickets on the way home, and the other gets to help put them in with Lenny..you know, ya gotta make it fair..and well Boden, he just bangs on the tank!!! "WWooowwww"...he says while Lenny is chowing away, one cricket at a time..

I was a little ticked off of where Lenny has made his spot...This at first was just a temporary holding area while I hurried and moved MY inside herb garden to the other counter, thinking I'd move it back in the direct sunlight, once I kind of rearrange things..but little did I know that Lenny LOVES his view and just stares out the window and daydreams. He especially likes it when the sun shines directly in on HIM in the afternoon!! So, not only do the boys come first, but as does Lenny as Mama decides to keep her herb garden just tossed to the side as to make Lenny lovin' life..geez..the things I have to do for ones happiness..even the reptile in the family, as my herb garden is starting to wilt...

oUr KINg

2009-09-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Brandt is doing very well in school and is loving every moment of it, as I knew he would. I'm doing some volunteer work at his school. After the meeting, I stopped by his room to peek in and the class was gone to computers. His teacher was there, so I had the pleasure of chatting with her. She said Brandt was having a bad day so far...he came in all wet and soggy from the bus (we have RAIN, which is a TRUE blessing in our drought conditions)..not sure how that happened as he left the house, he was all decked out in rubber!! His raincoat, boots and umbrella...then she continued to tell me his water bottle fell out of his backpack and spilled a little, he hurried and wiped up the spill with paper towels, then the lid must of untighted in the crash to the ground cause as he was placing his back back in his cubby, the whole bottle came rolling out and continued to spill it's entire contents all over the floor...it was a rotten-no-good-very- bad- day..so far...Later that afternoon, I had emailed his teacher regarding some room Mom issues, and I had included that I hoped Brandt's day had gotten better..she returned with great news: HE was CROWNED KING OF DAY!!!...which is the highest honor in their class...You have to do several "extra" good things in the day to earn it!! They are awarded a color each day depending on their behavior for that day...Orange being the best, and this is even better than orange!!! So he received a crown and a booklet that the entire class made for him, full of pictures they had drawn of of Brandt in his crown..how darling...

So, so since Brandt hasn't had any home work yet, he just creates his own...here he is practicing his letters, literally as soon as he walked through the door...He wore his crown all night..Boden thought it was funny and would try to reach to take it off his head...I forgot to mention that in the first picture, that is our new bus bench...I decided we needed a sitting area while waiting for the bus...as Brandt makes us go out and wait almost 10-15 minutes early every am..!!!..It's so fun getting involved in his school..I like to go when he's there as I feel like I'm closer to him and I know what's going on in his day...It's non-stop though at our house..I thought I was a busy person anyway...oh, my..things just went up a few notches with all the extra activities, such as karate and soccer, the volunteer work I'm doing, plus all the normal stuff of running a household while the hubby is out of town making a living!!..It's a lot of work, but I want the kids to have the best childhood they can remember and that takes a lot of sacrifice as a Mother...they come first..and some days THAT is a struggle!!!

StILL gRoWing....

2009-09-06T04:48:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how grown up Boden is seeming these days..maybe it's because he tries to hang with his big brothers, just to fit it...We've reached a new phase where ALL 3 of them can play legos or blocks, although Boden doesn't really "play" how the big boys wish, it's fun to see all of them interact with each other..

These pics are his ONE year pics from my dear friend Melody.. He just seems so big to me..I miss those nights when I'd snuggle for long periods of time while he was all wrapped tight in such a soft blankie..now this kid can't sit still for a minute!!!...But now there are other little things that I love, such as his jibber jabbish and the way he cuddles with his loveies...I find myself thinking..ONE more???...baby girl?..actually I think I'd want another boy, Burke would be his name as this was the name we were debating on when Boden was born...BUT then I look at my to do list that is about 100 pages and remember how I USE to sleep until at least 7am, and I realize how crazy I really am for thinking that!!!

Boden is such a joy and brings our family so much happiness..I always pray everyday for their health and safety as sometimes it seems just to perfect...I tend to think what is going to happen next??? Just please don't let it be hurtful to my children or include their health...Maybe I'm just a worry wart (Which I know I am) but I do worry about their health and all the crazy drivers out there that really don't pay attention to how focused you should be when you drive a car...

.A sorority sister of mine was in a fatal car accident, they were hit head on, luckily she, her husband, and two kids survived after months of being in the hospital and so close to death..they were VERY lucky..the person that fell asleep at the wheel, not so lucky...but it just gets you thinking..we could be next, and not so lucky??? I guess it's a control thing?? Not being able to control the other driver on the road passing by you? Anyway, I guess there is only one person in control of your destiny and I should just remember that HE is the one in control...

Silly silly happy boy...that brings us so much joy...The baby of the family is just so easy to spoil, he has his parents loving on him and waiting on his every need and then the BIG boys are constantly asking him what he needs or wants and are just so overly eager to be THE person that has the best idea or the silliest face to make him giggle...

This shirt is so appropriate for him...A funny funny face on the front and a big ole' SMILE on the back....So it's another day..a Sunday...a holiday weekend..we've had a little rain!!!..On our way to church...things are good..we have so much to be thankful for....now if I could just invent a car crash proof car....I'd be set!!!!

Lenny....

2009-08-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been talking about getting a dog for sometime for the kids, trying to decide which breed, what name, big, medium, or small, long hair, short hair, no hair...it's ALL just so overwhelming...Should we get it now, at Christmas, when Boden is pottie trained or train both the dog and the kid at the same time...decisions...back and forth...questions, concerns..should we just stick with our cats???....

Our great friends that are just about ready to increase their family size by one with baby Luke coming in 6 weeks, decided that..One more kid..one pet has to go...so no, we didn't inherit a dog..we have now have our adopted Lenny the Bearded dragon...aka: a big fancy lizard....

I'm a little squeamish around him, maybe just not use to him yet, maybe cause I'm a little uneasy around weird looking things with no fur...but the boys are well, boys..they LOVE him...even Boden, as we let him take his first peek at him, he grabbed for his tail, which we quickly pulled him back...the next time, thinking, oh... he's really just looking, getting a feel for him...reaches out and grabs him with both fists and pulls on his head...ouch!!! Sorry Lenny...

But he's pretty neat looking, especially when he sticks out his tongue..He's got a really neat "beard"...I think he likes his new home, he LOVES looking out the window..We need to feed him crickets once a week, so I'm sure this will be a high lite for the boys every week..I guess we could fit it into "the good job chart"...feeding Lenny could become a deserved treat??...Not sure what the cats are going to think...

WeDdiNG VoWs

2009-08-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my Mother came down to watch the boys so Scott and I could attend his niece's wedding in Minneapolis..We decided not to take the boys as I didn't want them to be all tired out for when the first days of school started, and I've always been pretty strict with their bedtimes..Well, I probably shouldn't of put THIS picture first..but I do have a secret..I LOVE to smoke a good cigar!! I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, can't STAND them, gets my asthma going, but now a good cigar...bring it on!!..The thing about a cigar, you don't really inhale the smoke, you just puff, so it's basically just the taste of a cigar..My Grandpa Pow-Pow, as we'd call him, smoked pipes while I was growing up, and it kind of reminds me of him!!

Scott use to live in Minneapolis for 10 years, so it was so fun for him to reminisce in his old stomping grounds..we had lunch at some of his favorite spots. We took a jog around the lakes in his old neighborhood and just took in the PERFECT high 70 degree weather!! LOVED it..There is something about the Midwest that is just so awesome, maybe it's just because our roots are there, where we spent our childhoods, but I LOVED all the trees and beautiful flowers and green grass, and that fresh smell..you just forget how awesome it is when you've lived away from it for so long...We stayed downtown Minneapolis at a friend of ours loft apartment..urban living, LOVE it..not so good for 3 kids, but how nice to walk out your front door onto the street with the world at your fingertips, awesome pizza and coffee shop, literally 3 STEPS from your front door...just such a different way of life for us as we have to DRIVE 30 minutes for ANY type of anything!!!

This is my little flower girl, Emma from my wedding..LOVE her..it was so fun to see her all grown up..She has such a bubbly personality..Gosh, where did those 10 years go??? She and her brother Kenny are the children of one of Scott's childhood friends....Allison I knew would be a beautiful bride, but my goodness, she was breath taking..the ceremony was outside at a conservatory/zoo/garden, with just the most fantastic flowers you've ever seen...Nic, her husband is such a delight, it was great to meet his family as well. Allison started law school the same week she got married, so she had a very memorable week!!!

Scott's brother Jeff had a hard time that day, as I think almost every man does giving his daughter away..We are so happy for them and wish them years of happiness..Weddings are so special, but it's even more touching when it's family, as you welcome another family into yours...I just love going to weddings, it brings back such fond memories of ours..and then to listen to the vows, the commitment you take before your friends and family..Some days are so challenging but it's good to hear and refresh what is truly the most important words spoken at a wedding...it makes you think how far you've come in a marriage, all you've been through together, it's truly a blessing, although sometimes it doesn't seem like it, to have someone beside you everyday, living life, sharing this journey together...

REal ScHOol....

2009-08-25T11:23:00.001-07:00

Brandt was so excited for his first day of kindergarten that he slept with his backpack!!! So cute!! We were unfortunately out of town the weekend right before school started ( a family wedding we couldn't miss), so I had missed his meet the teacher, but luckily my Mom was able to take him..It's a good thing as I think he was more nervous THAT day, than the actual school starting day...I'm sure getting to meet his teacher and see his classroom ahead of time somewhat calmed his nerves...And he found out that LOTS of our friends, both boys and girls, are in his class this year...

Up with the roosters!!! We have to get up mighty early...which is no big deal for our household..we've always been early to bed and early to rise..He has to be at school at 7:30am..which is so much earlier than when we use to be in grade school!! The bus picks him up at 6:30 AM!!! I guess it's all training for his career someday!! He'll be one of those doctors that has all his rounds done by 11:00 am!!!

I did pretty good watching him go to his Kindergarten class..no tears where shed..it a great experience for us as Brandt has been ready to go to school 3 years ago it seems..His first word was "tractor" which quickly turned into "excavator"..no dog, ball, Mama, for this kid!!!

But today, I lost it, the tears came a rollin'...Grandma, Daddy, and Mommy all walked him to the bus stop this morning, his very 1st bus ride!!....He just looked so little getting on that bus!!! Luckily the bus driver is the total Grandma type and with her sweet talk had both Brandt and I feeling at ease..

.It's been kind of a hassle trying to figure out how to juggle the boys going to different schools at different times..(Preschool is at a different school) and wondering how it's going to work with Boden's schedule...Most of my friends' hubbys drive to work and can just drop off the kids on their way to work..but with my hubby traveling, that just doesn't work for us...so we opted for Brandt to take the bus in the mornings...which let's the baby sleep in and Barrett catch some extra winks as well..Thank goodness Brandt takes after me and just rolls out of bed early in the mornings as chipper as ever!!! I'm so thankful that he thinks the bus is "way cool!!"..I guess another perk to living in the country!!!

And here is Mr. Barrett...his Preschool started today..he's in REAL Preschool, no more Mother's day out for this one!!! He has the same teacher that Brandt had last year..which is I guess a good thing as he's already familiar with her and the room..but is kind of sad as he is separated from his BFF, Trevor.

The kids were bugging me to get new lunchboxes every time we'd go to Target..but I insisted that we use last years...and finally they are ok with that...It's so weird just having ONE kiddo to take care of, this is easy!!! Boden keeps yelling their names and looking for them, he adores his big brothers.. It's so quiet around here...I keep watching the clock wondering what they are doing..I'm sad I just can't go sit down and play with them or go jump in the pool with them, I'm thinking I like the LOUD house better, I keep waiting for the phone to ring from the school, ..but I know it's for the best and so great for them to learn so many wonderful things about our world...

Summer winding down to an end....

2009-08-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Do I hear a cheer....!!! We've had a great summer, but I'm oh so ready to get back into the Fall routine..and have a wee little bit more time for the things I can never get done...The boys are constantly picking on each other, out of sheer boredom, and we've painted all there is to paint, we've done every craft there is at Hobby Lobby and my kids have constant shriveled up raisin hands from the pool...and I'm just running out of things to do in the Mama bag of tricks...

I'm hoping little Mr. I don't like the daycare at the gym..will soon get over it..so the staff doesn't have to come and get me after screaming his head off while I get about 15 minutes of exercise in..that is my main goal to work on before the big boys head off to school..I just miss that small little amount of time to do something I enjoy by MYSELF!!! I feel a little guilty wanting the kids to go back to school, I keep thinking of those that can't have children or those whom have lost children, then I slap myself and realize...shame on me for thinking that!!...I guess it's normal to feel like this when you are home with them all summer, all day long...loud boys running around our house constantly, they talk loud, they yell loud, and they eat loud!!! I just need some quiet..my ears would probably start bleeding if the noise stopped and I heard silence for a day...it's a lot of work and it's costin' me a lot of wrinkles!!!...but I love them and wouldn't trade it for anything...but I'm still really ready for school to start...

And THIS one..is talking talking talking...lots to say..lots of the jibber jabber we love..but now we are making some of the words out to be English....He would spend the entire day outside..LOVES to be outside..cries when we come in...and is totally in LOVE with his Daddy right now..most likely because he's staring at my face 24/7!!!..But it's fun, tiring, but very exhausting..he makes me smile and laugh every single day..so I guess all those wrinkles are worth it!!!

Place cards

2009-08-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

I thought these turned out super cute...I was in charge of making the place cards for a girlfriend's shower this weekend..she's getting married!!!...But thought I'd share...I made ones similar for Thanksgiving dinner but put the letter clipped onto a pumpkin...With these I just used big chipboard letters (with sparkles of course)..glued them onto a folded piece of card stock, attached a flower with a brad, and used rick rack glued to the bottom....You open the card and I've written the names of each girl inside...I just like the idea of putting a big bold letter on the outside, instead of just writing each girl's name on the outside (kind of boring to me??)..But Jen will love these..it will be a super fun shower..as it's an over night one..I'm sure I'll have some stories and some fun pictures!!!

Sedona...

2009-08-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the hubby and I got away for a little romantic get away...it was exactly what we needed...we hadn't had a date night since the Spring...and well, I had kind of forgotten whom I was married to!!!.. We had been to Sedona once before on a day trip many years ago when we were in Phoenix on a business trip..we fell in love with the town..and had always wanted to go back...

So after I had a melt down due to the fact of Scott being gone almost THREE weeks in a row...some business, some pleasure..Scott decided to book a little get away before Mama RAN away!!!

We had a fantastic time..we are so lucky that we enjoy the same activities...hiking and biking are high on our list..and what better place to do it...the high desert in the summer time..magnificent views..there is just such a serenity about being in such a beautiful, quiet place that has been made by God's hands...We sat for hours just taking in the majestic scenery that just revives your soul and makes you really appreciate this beautiful world we live in...It's such a peaceful feeling to wake up in the am and see how the sunshine casts it's rays on the unique red rock, and then you realize how could anyone ever get tired of this view???.. Especially, depending on the time of day and what spot you look, there is always something new to discover...

I just love how active the locals are out there, tons to do and see and experience..and there is a huge artistic community out there, which attracts many very unique type of individuals, which I LOVE, we had lots of yummy food and wine, which was easily work off with the next day's hiking..we got some really cool art pieces...treasures...is what I call them..and they are a great memento of a wonderful trip we had together but also how lucky we are to live in such a fantastic world full of natural wonders that have been created so perfectly...

Summer is soaring by....

2009-08-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

So much happening..so little time to do anything "extra", let alone blog..but I'll catch my family up, whom insists that I blog at least once a week of the boys...(they need to get their booties down here and help!!)...So..this is for you...

Boots...these boots are made for walkin'...OR watering the gardens...Boden LOVES these boots, when he sees me pull them out of our shoe basket, he knows exactly where we are heading..it's usually his first shower of the day, as he likes to stand under the hanging baskets when all the excess water runs out the bottoms of them...I guess a little mud in the hair doesn't hurt, hugh?...This kid is a water freak!!! Even the puddles of water on the patio make him laugh and giggle...

This the season for peaches in Texas...this year the crop wasn't too great with the major drought we have in the area and all the million days in a row of 100 plus temps..but we did manage to find some awesome ones at HEB or HEV, as Brandt calls our local grocery store...So, we made a pie from scratch, the crust and all, cut the lattice top and all the old fashion Iowa ways of doing a pie the right way....It was an all deal ordeal, as we had to patiently wait for the crust to cool in the re fridge, which is really hard to explain to a 4 and 5 year old...but we made it..and you can only imagine how surprised Daddy was to walk into our yummy smelling house that was consumed with that old fashioned smell that congers up such vivid childhood memories...and no I'm not talking about you Mother, I'm talking about Grandma Aalsburg's pies, she'd make almost every Sunday...but don't feel bad, as I do still remember your awesome chocolate cakes that I'd eat in almost one sitting!!! Anyway, it was a very successful evening, I scored big with all the males that dominate my household!!!

This was a big hit at our house for Boden's 1st bday...he LOVES it..and the nice thing is the fact that the boys will push him around the house for hours and he just giggles and attempts to honk the rather hard to push horn the entire time...and the big boys love to see how much crap, I mean toys, they can stuff in the front "hood" of the car...priceless entertainment....

And then there are the mismatched-raga-muffin-not-so-matchy-matchy-anymore-almost-twin-boys....Thanks to my good friend Jennifer, whom talked me into letting some of the "stuff" go once you have THREE to worry about, so I finally gave in and started to let them pick out their clothes for the day...Usually, Mr. Barrett comes down in these knock your socks off outfits, that even Me, your pretty hip up to date fashionist expert, wouldn't of dream putting together, and he WOWS my socks off, well, I hate socks, so I guess I should say flip-flops...I know you're surprised right, you'd think it would be Mr. Brandt, the one that likes pink and uses the "that's so cute" phrase a little to much, which has made us question he's sexuality on more than one occasion...BUT this particular day, I was a little surprised, or should I say shocked when they came down simultaneously dressed like THIS!!! I didn't say a thing, except, "Thanks guys for getting dressed today!!"...and even more surprisingly, we went to Target like this...it didn't even bother me, which is such a huge step for me!!! I just knew that if I'd get stares..they'd take a look at my dress (casual comfy workout clothes more than likely) and my baby in a rocker T and plaid shorts that DO match...I just knew all Mommies would know..(She let THEM pick out their outfits today)...well, not that I really care what people think...but NOW I totally understand when I see those out in cowboy boots or rain gear in the 100 plus temps, they've given in too!!!...I'm no longer appalled!!! I finally get it!!

So next is getting ready for Kinder..school...Brandt has asked every week if it's the week he starts school, I think he's just a wee bit excited...We've had our school supplies since the list was posted on our school's website in June...He's just so "ahead" of himself or so he thinks...I was trying to get a hold of my Mom this week on her phone while the boys and I were traveling in the car...I said "Gee, I wonder what Grandma is doing?? I've tried her a couple of times and she's not answering" and Brandt informed me "Mom, she probably just went off line for a little bit..."..and he just came to me just know and told me that he needs to rest his legs while relaxing with them up on the coffee table as he is really wore out looking for the remote control that he's misplaced..I asked if he had found the remote..."No, not yet, but after I'm more relaxed after a little break, I'll get right on that"...I have no idea where we found this kid!!! Maybe this is normal for a 5 yr old?????

I'm ONE....!!!!

2009-07-13T14:27:00.001-07:00

Even though you poop your pants more than anyone I know...Even though you didn't sleep through the night until you were 6 months old...Even though you've made me so unorganized not to mention tired...I wouldn't change being your Mother for anything....We all love you Lots and Lots..and wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the bottom of our hearts!!!

You're brothers "try" to play with you but for some reason you insist on destroying their space ships they just made out of tinker toys!!! Barrett gets in your face and does all these funny faces and you just giggle and giggle..and your biggest brother Brandt would do anything for you, he makes you things and draws you pictures and will get you anything you need....

You love being ONE, cause that means you are just catching up with your brothers...

Ta-Da...I'm ONE today!!!

My attempt at saying CHEESSSEEE....

I will admit when this girly girl Mommy found out we were having ANOTHER boy..I was a tad bit disappointed I wouldn't be putting hair bows in your hair...BUT God truly gives you what you need..and YOU are IT for us, I can't imagine my life without YOU in it..our whole family adores you..you play the BABY role in our house to a T..it's a little hard not to spoil you when you bat those big baby blues at us and just walk around like you own it...We all LOVE the sound of your jibber jabbish words when you want us to know just exactly what you are saying...I wish you could stay a baby forever...you fit perfect on my hip and since you LOVE taking showers, you always smell SO good!! But I know you'll grow up to be such a wonderful young man that we'll be very proud of..those days can wait..cause we LOVE having our baby brother around....Thank you Boden for being such a wonderul baby and just a joy to be around...

Celebrating our Freedom....

2009-07-07T11:00:00.001-07:00

Our family...celebrating this amazing country we live in...

Happy 4th of July.......

Green thumb...

2009-06-21T19:39:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when the big brother's leave their markers out, with the lids OFF!!!

Baby birdies....

2009-06-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

We had a relaxing Father's day...just what we needed..One of Scott's favorite things to do is to work in the yard. I think he missed his calling in landscaping...actually if there is such a thing as a professional stick picker upper...that would be my husband...He'll pick up the tiniest sticks for hours and hours or if that gets old, he'll switch to rocks..a professional rock picker upper as well!!!

As he was trimming dead branches from the trees in the backyard..he stumbled upon a bird nest with the tiniest little birdies...they were chirping and chirping..and sticking their heads out..we think they were VERY newborn, just by the looks of them..I stayed outside to see if the Mama would come when they started making all the chirping sounds..and she didn't come..Scott said he didn't touch the nest..and I'm hoping that his scent didn't stay on the tree??..I'm really worried about them..We went out for dinner and did a little shopping and fish watching at Bass Pro, when we got home..they were still by themselves and still chirping...

I'm such a animal lover..and such a softy that it's just tearing me up as I'm just getting very disgusted with their Mother..I'm hoping that she comes at night?? You know I'll be out there first thing in the morning..if they are still chirping in the morning, I'm going to call my friend Dawn that is our vet, maybe she can make a suggestion???...

We think they are baby cardinals as we've seen many cardinals in our back yard and especially in that particular tree...Knowing me I'll be tossing and turning all night thinking about the dang birds..why do I have to be like that..I could really use a good nights sleep!!! We watched Benjamin Button last night, I stayed awake most of the night thinking about the stinkin' movie!!..which was fantastic, bye the way..., the special effects are some of the most amazing I've ever seen!!! Anyway, I'll keep you updated on our three little amigos in our backyard..I'm hoping for a happy ending....

The roof, the roof, the roof is on FIRE!!!

2009-06-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our local fire chief!!!

Do you all remember that song from college?(the title)..flashback: college, singing that song at the top of our lungs at the SAE house jumping on the beds!!...Anyway, back to present time: a few weeks back, it was a VERY weird day for me, by the way it wasn't our roof, only the backyard!..I started off the day going to the allergist. I haven't been able to breathe through my nose or taste or smell for several months. I've had no energy, headaches, talking and sounding like I'm under water and just BLAH!! no other way to put it...He starts off by taking notes on all my symptoms, proceeds to tell me what millions of medications he was going to put me on and that he'd see me back in 2 weeks for a CAT scan...THEN, he examines me and says, "Change of plans",..we need to do a CAT scan first thing on Monday (it was a Friday)..He said, " I see thousands of noses a year but I only see about 2 to 3 noses like yours a YEAR!!" Gee, no wonder I've been feeling like something has run over me and turned me into dog dodo for the past 6 months!!!." And by the way drop your drawers, I need to give you a few shots in the butt"..well, he really didn't say it like that but by the middle of the day, I could breathe through my nose in which I then proceeded to devour everything in the kitchen fridge due to the fact that I haven't tasted anything for MONTHS..I had forgotten how much I LOVE food!!!

And why am I telling you all this?..Well, the shot in the butt not only made my nostrils free and clear, for some reason, it made me REALLY loopy and So our afternoon play date and the FIRE (s) that happened later that day was the one of the most unreal experiences I had ever been a part of..it was like I had belly up'd to the bar for an entire day but was in charge of the kids AND had another friend Mommy and child..

Our subdivision has very strict rules, one being you can't burn (brush, sticks, limbs, etc.) in the neighborhood unless they lift the "no burn" ban (due to our drought conditions) and have taken the proper steps which include written permission as well as the subdivision's maintenance crew coming over to your house VERY early in the mornings, examining what you are burning, etc..and then there are MORE rules, you can only burn for certain hours, it has to be enclosed in a fire pit, and you have to have the entire area around it watered down you while you have the hose within so many feet..I know sounds retarded but knowing that some dumb ass isn't going to just start a wild fire like the ones in California..aahhhh, I'll take the rules AND it's a sure great thing that for once in his life my husband DID follow the rules as he is one of those

rule breaking type, you know the type, like I'll park here if I WANT TO type, yep, that's him...Anyway, as he burned all am, he left what seemed to be just ashes and a gray smoke from the pile to handle some business calls..meanwhile, I'm enjoying having another Mommy to talk to, eating lunch and gabbing, We hear "FIRE"!!! HONEY, WE HAVE A FIRE" CALL 911..as he goes running, shoeless, out the back door, I look out to a sea of flames and black spoke..just motionless..Did you know that 80% of people stand still when they see something like a fire or an accident, because your brain hasn't seen that sight before so it takes longer to process a quick response..well, I'm defiantly one of those 80% and thank GOD, luckily Scott is the other 20%. I call 911 (which felt very odd, not sure if it was the shot in the butt, or just because I've never called 911 before) but my friend Nichole and I AND Adela rush to get buckets of water from the pool to deliver to the fire!!! It was such a surreal experience, all drugged up and stuff that I'm not sure really what sequence of events happened..but I do know that the fire was OUT and we were VERY thankful that a new fire station which JUST literally was staffed DAYS before our fire..As the fire in the backyard was put out, Nichole and I run into the house, She says" Gosh, it smells like fire IN the house too!!!" AND sure enough we have a SECOND fire going: Scott's lunch!!! I had made lunch for us 3 and Adela was warming Scott's up on the stove but as she saw the fire in the backyard, she rushed to help, not even thinking to shut the stove off..As I look over on the stove, black smoke is rising oh so fastly and as Nichole exclaims she smells fire, I yell "OH hell, there IS a FIRE!!" Luckily, we caught it before the alarms went off, but I guess if they would of went off, the fire department was already very close, like say OUR BACKYARD!!!

All in all it was a VERY exciting day at our home..that we are SO thankful we still have!! Scott's feet were burned and really banged up as he stepped on many rocks and cactus that coat our yard..but on the other side of things THE KIDS HAD THE BEST PLAY DATE EVER!!! I guess it's super duper cool to have the fire truck come to your house..they were super nice to the kids and showed them all around the truck..We thanked them over and over for what they do as a career...Our pool was FULL of excitement the rest of the day..My girlfriend told me that I didn't have to start my backyard on fire on account of her. I told her I just wondered how she was going to "top" the excitement when it was our turn to come to her house. She said she was on her way to dial the traveling circus.....

Our first graduation in our house...

2009-06-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Brandt graduated from Preschool a few weeks back..it's just amazing how when I have a moment to reflect on how fast my family is growing up, it seems so unreal to me..With Brandt, it's special, being the first born, as I haven't yet experienced the direction a little boy takes with his growing mind and body...it's new to me and I just sit back in awe...He's starting to read words and writes his name on EVERYTHING, and is becoming a little artist!..just the littlest things just amaze me.

You know that they will grow up someday but to watch each little step knowing that someday he's going to be a man, it brings tears to my eyes as I cherish the little boy mannerisms and feel like it's such a gift to watch them grow up...We just finished up bedtime books, I remember when we were reading Thomas the train books and know it's a library book that he picked out about outer space and the solar system with the antique car book laid aside for him to look at as he falls asleep..just please don't grow up to fast!!

Yes summer IS here, the days seem just to FLY by for me!! I thought I was busy with the boys in school, gee did I ever misjudge myself..summer to me is like a Fall school day on steroids!! And having ALL 3, running to the library, swim lessons, the gym, out to lunch, back for a quick meeting with our lawn guy and then off to karate..THAT is my life!! We do have some camps coming up so there is some relief for Mommy in the near future..it's busy busy busy, but I can't imagine it any other way...

Our favorite toy in the toybox...

2009-05-31T19:49:00.001-07:00

He's IN

He's OUT

Not really sure if this is where he wants to be anymore...

He's Brandt and Barrett's favorite toy!! Whether it's IN the toy box or OUT of the toy box...

Rainy day

2009-05-27T04:21:00.001-07:00

Our Memorial day weekend was very relaxing, just what we needed...A couple of days called for a possibilities of showers and we welcomed them with much gratitude as it's very dry in our area. It's such a rarity these days to see rain, so with drinks in hand, Scott and I sat outside in our outdoor living area, while the younger boys napped, we were entertained by Brandt playing in the rain...it was so soothing to listen to the rain drops fall and to also smell the freshness of the rain, I didn't want the shower to end. I'm trying to pay attention to the little things, the pure beauty in nature, rain drops, how wonderful a rain shower can actually be...slowing down and taking notice..to me that is what matters...It's amazing how if you shift gears, to low, what you can see, the enjoyment you receive from little things that you haven't really noticed before.....

The blue gloves

2009-05-27T04:02:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back we had to take Brandt to the emergency room. He had gotten sand in his eye at school. We washed it out with saline water and did everything we could to make sure we got all the sand out. His eye was very sensitive to the light, very red and swollen, it just wasn't getting any better...even by wearing the pirate eye patch for a day or two. So, Scott was kind enough to take Brandt as I had my friend Lori in town.

It ends up, he had a scratch and some sand that was stuck up in the folds of the inside of his eyelid, they did a special wash and prescribed some eye drops by the next day it looked a ton better and within a few days it had completely healed...When Scott came back from the ER, he put all the paper work along with the drops on the counter so I could look at what I was to do for follow-up when I spotted these blue gloves in the pile of paperwork...I asked Scott, "Oh, am I suppose to wear these gloves when I put the drops in?"....He replies, "No, I just saw them lying there and thought I'd take a pair since I had to pay the $100 co-pay for the emergency visit, I didn't want to walk out of there empty handed!"....THAT my friends, let's you in on a little insight on how my husband REALLY is...and it's even more fun, when we were out doing yard work this weekend and you guessed it...He wore the blue, latex, hospital gloves to pull weeds!!! He's obsessed with gloves!! So obsessed, he's turning a little clepto when he sees gloves!!! I'm not kidding we have close to 75 pairs in our garage, they even had to get their own bin, or should I say bin(s)!!..But just to let you know, the gloves really aren't' meant for gardening, as within a half hour, they were holey and he had to pitch them...that will teach him, hugh?....

My new favorite picture frame in the house

2009-05-22T18:50:00.001-07:00

Having a place to go to is home; having someone to love is family; having both is a blessing.

Oh, how so truely true....

Ahhhh...lazy crazy summer dayz...

2009-05-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

It's not quit June yet...but we are so ready to switch to LOW gear...we got lots of stuff going on this coming week with the end of the school year. .I've decided that my theme for the summer: simple, relaxing,..border line LAZINESS..that has never existed in my vocabulary, as I've always got to be doing SOMETHING, and usually it's two things at once, multi-tasking IS my middle name...but the older I get, I'm finding that true happiness to me is being able to simply just enjoy our beautiful surroundings..and do things that I TRUELY enjoy doing, isn't that what life is all about??...I'd rather do a few things REALLY well than ALOT of things not so well..and then not even enjoy them in the first place...The good news is there are LOTS of things I really LOVE doing..so that leaves little time and room for the things I really don't want or care to do..

So this leads me to this:

Making funny faces at Boden and making him laugh so hard, that his snack comes back up on Mommy..THAT part, not so funny, but the laughing part..THAT is what I'm talking about..enjoying life, just hanging out with the boys, simple pleasure..nothing better...

Boden seems to like this idea of SIMPLE too....

It really makes him happy....and Mommy too.....

Mama's day....

2009-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Mama's day was extra special this year for this Mama..Mostly because it was my FIRST Mother's day with ALL THREE boys....

Boden has always got to be touching' my face...or trying to kiss it...or mauling it....with slobber, of course..

After hanging in the pool, We went to Ohana's..a Hawaiian Steak house and sushi bar.. where a chef cooks the meal in front of you...And I picked this place knowing very well that the boys would FREAK when they saw FIRE in front of them...And boy, did they ever..They were ALL mesmerized by all the steam, fire, cutting, knife juggling...ALL just right up a little boy's alley...the chef really put on a show specially made for them it seemed...full attention..

Here the boys are eating the "volcano" ice cream...They serve the sherbet ice-cream in a huge glass of "Hawaiian" blue water which has dry iced packed at the bottom for the "volcano" to erupt while eating the ice-cream..cool hugh?...They both couldn't stop grinning..

Here the chef cut an onion from big to small and stacked it, poured water and ?, inside it...and it scooted along looking like another volcano about ready to erupt with the steam pouring out of it..See, what a good Mommy I am to pick such a fantastic place to entertain my family on a day that is designed for ME!!! Really, it's all about entertainment+good kids+Mommy has time to eat a good meal=Happy Mama...!!!

THIS is what the floor looks like after dining with a 9 month old..they better have a GREAT vacuum is all I have to say...and YES that IS a bottle of Tylenol amongst the toys and crumbs and cheerios..when all else fails, grab the first thing in the diaper bag that is different than the first tricks that were pulled out of the bag..it usually buys a few more minutes which equals more bites into Mama's mouth....

Happy Happy day..The day started with breakfast made by all 3 boys served on a cookie sheet..(I guess all the cute serving trays in the cabinet where not in working order) cute detail actually..with flowers..that were actually given to me by the boys at swim lessons on Monday (almost a week prior) so KIND of wilted..but a flash of a memory came to me as I remembered Barrett handing it to me after his lesson, and as the swim instructor whispered into his ear what he was suppose to say to me..."Happy Birthday Mommy!!!"...opps, as I'm smiling ear to ear.."Mother's day" as his big brother corrects him...then as I'm admiring my cookie sheet serving tray and wilted week old flowers, I have six tiny eyes staring at me as I eat the "egg McMuffey" (is what we call them)..and then somehow my breakfast is fastly disappearing not into MY stomach, but the little proud bellies that go along with the little eyes that are watching my every move..good thing, I wasn't TO hungry...they must of REALLY worked up an appetite slaving away in the kitchen so early on a Sunday special morning...but later I did manage to get some beautiful flowers that weren't wilted along with a beautiful ring....!!!!

THE T-shirt

2009-05-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

The T-shirt says it ALL...enough said.....

These boots are made for walkin'

2009-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I've been such a bad blogger lately..gee, and I wonder why?..Our 9 month old has invested in a new hobby which consists of acting like he's a lot older than his NINE month old self and is WALKING around the house like he owns it..Get out of the way or he'll just plow right over ya!!...So if not having 3 boys is busy enough..well, now it's takin' the term busy to a whole new dimension..a high level of business..Boden not only is he ONLY walkin' but will not eat baby food only what we eat, and he'll let you know, oh beleive me..give him baby food and it comes right back into you face...

It's so cliche' that "they grow up so fast" but golly they really do..Brandt opened a belated bday present the other day, dressed in is vintage Star Wars T-shirt, camo shorts, camo rain boots, and "I Rock" ball cap on backwards..and as he opened the package and held up light up Star Wars jammies that the sword really lights up and blinks, he exclaims "Wicked dude..just Wicked"...What??? Did he just say "wicked"..isn't that a Broadway play instead of slang for something that is "totally cool"..or am I just use the the Valley girl talk from MY days growin' up?? Regardless, I'm embracing the changes that come with them growing older..I'm a little sad every time I go and get Boden out of his crib in the am and it seems like he grew a few inches...
I'd really love ONE more, but I'm just to dang old...at least that is what I tell myself...but then I see those cheeks...all puffy and soft...and warm...
AND those big blue eyes...ok, I'll stop...Scott was gone all weekend to a conference so I have a hall pass tonight NO BTB for me tonight...that's short for Baths, Teeth, and Books...I'm laying in my bed with the door locked and watching DWTS,uninterrupted ..oh, that's short for Dancin' with the Stars...How many hours do I have to wait?...3 and 1/2...Great...I can manage that....

My little mini Mini-bar......

2009-04-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

Have I ever told you I eat a TON and I constantly snack...So, I actually made my own "mini-bar" in my bedroom to suffice my nightly snack attacks..I've tried AND tried NOT to snack once I'm in bed...but for the life of me, I just CAN'T do it!!! Since I am a snack junkie, I've tried only putting the 100 calorie snacks in "my bar"..but then one snack turns into two...and then three!!!. I have to have the crunchy salt washed down by something chocolate!!!.What is wrong with me??? Why do I crave and LOVE food, especially snacks so much?? Snacks are my friends!! I know it's SO unhealthy...what do I do??? I'm looking at this picture thinking...I need to re-stock!!! Cosco..here I come!!!
This is the full view of the built in that is in our bedroom which hold my mini bar. Now, that you know where it is and you're coming to visit...don't get any big ideas!!!The kids have no clue where my stash is ..thank goodness...well, and Scott won't touch ANYTHING after he's brushed his teeth for the evening...and me...bring on the cavities AND the bad breathe..I NEED my snacks to get to sleep!!! If you're wondering where the sodas are, they're just a short walk up the stairs in our gym..So no need to worry about how I wash down the unnecessary calories at night...it's all taken care of...I actually started with the fridge IN the bedroom, but was soon vetoed to make way for Scott's big ass tv..jeezz..the nerve of him!!!

A Hoppy Easter....

2009-04-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

Our Easter holiday was a busy one..It was so nice to celebrate a holiday in our OWN home!!! Boden was such a joy, he's at the age where he is amazed at everything, so all the plastic eggs in our home were a HUGE deal for him..He LOVES toys that make noise, so the Easter bunny knew to bring noisy toys....
I've decided that our Easter bunny likes us to have TWO baskets...One he fills with toys and goodies but then you need ANOTHER basket to pick up all the eggs he leaves!!!..It was so fun this year..This picture is deceiving..Barrett is the professional egg hunter, Brandt..not so much..Barrett actually gave him most of the eggs in his basket..hmmm...may be the fact that Barrett is "the bad ass balls all out" type where Brandt has to methodically think through the entire process before he even starts...

The Easter bunny was really good to Mommy this year..not sure how he fit these BEAUTIFUL couches (yes, that's plural for TWO)..in his Easter basket but Thank you Easter bunny for the wonderful surprise(es)...They are MASSIVE and look perfect in our hearth room....
Like I mentioned before, it was no big deal that Mommy forgot the baskets at the neighborhood egg hunt..all 4 eggs Brandt got he could manage quite well in his arms....
Boden was having a BALL with BUNNY..he was trying to eat his fur!!! Smiled the entire time and just laughed and giggled..
The boys really are getting so big...We always get "Are they twins?", usually I think cause I always dress them the same, but now Mr. Barrett is the same height as his brother, so now we get even more questions and double takes...!!! Despite all of our Easter egg hunts, birthday celebrations, last minute hostessing Easter at my house, oh did I forget to mention that???, it was fine, actually good for me to host an event with things not perfect, it was a "growing" experience for me....My Dad was in town for almost a week..we did get LOTS of projects done around the house...it was a perfect Easter for us in many ways....

A Jet plane coming in for a landing...

2009-04-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

I've been rushing around with my head spinning the last couple of weeks, unpacking, organizing, organizing, oh, and did I mention organizing??? ...I was in a huge hurry the other morning, barely having time to put the mascara on, let alone pick up after myself...as I sat down that night at my makeup area..I just had to laugh at the jet plane that came in for an emergency landing while I was AWOL from the house all day...then it just hit me..I'm the Mother of THREE boys...My life is filled with Star wars, the Incredible hulk, AND don't forget good ole' Spider man...amongst my eyeliner and makeup brushes..I LOVE the fact that I'll never have to share ANY of my shoes or clothes..they'll always be waiting on me as I'm still messing with my hair..and I always get all the rings from their Easter egg hunts at school that are really meant for one of the little girls in their classes (actually they are pretty cute rings!!)...I just love being the Princess of our castle..sometimes going through the chaos that the days bring, you just forget the reality of the dynamic of your family..I just couldn't imagine it any other way...

3 boys a swingin'

2009-04-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks for everyone's well wishes with us moving back into the house....it's such a comfortable feeling to be surrounded by familiar walls...to hear laughter in our own home...The first night we stayed in the house as morning came Brandt told us "I just slept 50 hours!!"...That my son is called a great night sleep in your own bed!!!

There are still workers everywhere, I spend an hour each night scrubbing the floors, dirty floors drive me insane!!! And there are boxes here and there and stuff just jammed into

drawers (just to get the dusty box outta here)...but I have all the time in the world to organize..I just want to enjoy the feeling of home...it's the best feeling ever, you just take it for granite and don't know how great home is, until POOF!! it's gone....

I'll show some pictures, once our furniture is in place, shelves are hung, etc...But more importantly, our three boys are just ecstatic to be running around with all the toys they've missed for the last 8 months!! I LOVE the fact that they will play in their rooms by themselves and not to have to listen to each footstep above my head while trying to have a conversation downstairs..It's the best....While moving into our house last week, little Boden started to wave!!! Watch our video.....

Growin' up way to fast.....

2009-04-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Brandt seems to of jumped a couple of years with his age...only 5 but going on 25...Here he is talking to Grandma Marcia on the phone in his favorite Star wars shirt he got from his buddy Jaden for his birthday..."Mom, I just don't like trains anymore, that's for babies"..."I only like Star wars"...and then he goes into some spiel about each character and what they do...

Yesterday we had our "date" day...We went out to lunch and then to the park..We also went to the doctor to get a psychical for Kindergarten...I just can't believe it!!! I had to fill out a progress report in where one of the areas asks you to ask a brief question and then you'd write down the response....The answers changed tremendously from the last time we initially filled out the report...I had to fight back tears...For example: What is a lake? Last time: water!!! This time: It's a body of water that can be natural or man-made, you can fish or take a sailboat in it or just have a picnic by it!!! What is a fence? Last time: I don't know!! This time: It can be wood or iron and it goes around your property to keep people and dogs out..if you didn't have one then the neighbor's dog would constantly be over in your yard all the time and it just might happen that a dog would come over that you wouldn't know who it belonged to, so you and the dog would be sad until you would put up a sign by the mailbox to see if you could find the owner...WOW!!! I could go on and on...but you get the point...he's a little windy and VERY specific!!! This all comes after we got on the subject of butterflies as we saw one while playing outside...I just asked him a simple question : What is a butterfly before it turns into a butterfly..Well, not only did I get the entire cocoon story but also all the scientific names of each stage a caterpillar goes into...and to tell the truth, I can't even remember what the names where!! Gosh, leave it up to our 5 year old..

I'm so excited for him to start school, he has such a passion for learning and is always wanting to learn everything about everything..It's just as exciting for me as it is him to look forward to him learning about this world we live in....It's so fun to watch him sound out words, to spell, to watch his imagination grow...I love you little Smarty pants buddy and look forward watching you learn as much information as we can give you...

Doin' the happy dance.....

2009-03-23T00:36:00.001-07:00

Finally after 8 long months of being "kicked" out of our home...we are on the down slide of being proud homeowners of a house we can actually LIVE in!!!! It's been quite the headache to redo and remove everything, but the end results have truly been worth it!!! This pic shows the new wainscoting that we added, the different type of stone I added in the hallways and my new chandeliers, which Scott can't stand, saying they are to "girly"..hello, you're married to a girly girl what do you expect!!! Get over it...hello alligator on the wall in YOUR room!!!

Brandt, in his famous AIG shirt, that he loves WITH his furry crocs on a nice 80 degree day..showing the new puck lights we added to our bookcases and the green wash as well which REALLY looks green in this pic, but it's really beautiful, I promise!!!

Standing in front of the toy room, we had to have new doors made, as the old ones where totally warped from the water damage...the painter did a fabulous job making them look like "real" barn door with his talented painting job....

The new back splash tile, which I LOVE!!! It's all hand painted, so it's not "perfect",which I love!!! They move our range back in tomorrow, so I'll be able to make a casserole in my OWN oven...gosh, it's the little things, sometimes!!!

More of the tile WITH the awesome new counter top!!! They are Scott's favorite thing in the kitchen....All in all, we are so happy with the way things have shaped up to be...we are ALL walking around filled with excitement, there is just NOTHING like home!!...There is a ton of moving to do and unpacking, but it seems like the hard stuff is over..The workers will be there a few more weeks doing touch ups, some work in our garage, hanging all our pictures and mirrors BACK up..etc...gosh, I'm going to miss them, after 8 months of seeing the crew almost everyday, they've become part of our family it seems like..BUT it will be nice to have the peace and quiet that we were once use to...

MAJOOOR...Blowout, and I don't mean tires....

2009-03-16T16:27:00.001-07:00

Don't mistake this for something that Boden crawled into, nope, it's not paint, not pudding, Yep, you guessed it...body produced nastiness..absolutely disgusting..THIS is by far THE biggest blowout ANY of my boys have produced..not in the 5 yrs of being a Mommy have I ever encountered such a over abundance of a body fluid malfunction..
Yep, he even got the socks AND the entire rug was covered as Mr. Boden is crawling all over dragging his mess BEHIND him...AND after I took these pictures of him while I was setting the camera down, the little STINKER reached behind him and grabbed the paper towels you see in the background there and pulled off about 20 of them..maybe he was just trying to help me clean up his mess??? doubt it, we now have moved into the "let's keep Mama on her toes" stage..he's not only crawling everywhere but pulling himself onto and INTO everything...so much for the cute little baby that SITS there and goos and plays with a rattle...I'm in for it now X (3)....

Springtime at the Ranch....

2009-03-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

It sounds like we picked the perfect week to be gone from San Antonio this past week, as I hear the temps were well below normal for us..way down in the 40s..Yikes..AND it rained most of the week, which is a blessing for our area as we haven't had a significant amount of rain for more than a year...

Despite the cold temps, Mr. Springtime paid a visit to our yard and left some beautiful flowers for us to enjoy..There is nothing better in my opinion than that fresh smell of everything so fresh and blooming..Our entire family are big outdoors type of people which makes it extra special for us as we could spend days and days outside working in our yard while the kids play around us...

The Mountain Laurels are the South Texas version of the Midwest Lilac trees..I just love the light purple color...We had a great vacation..but are glad to be home as not only are we the outdoors type family but very much home bodies as well...Things are cooking on the outside of the house as well as the inside...stay tuned for some updated pics of our "remodel" project...it's lookin' good..

Boden's 6 month video

2009-03-02T17:03:00.001-08:00

This was created by my awesome friend and photographer...Melody...At Rockin' A Photography...

Barrett the Baracuda...

2009-02-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

We have a little athlete in our family, definitely takes after his father in that category, Barrett has already mastered the skills that are set at his level way early than he should. The sessions go until May and here it is February, and he's accomplished them all!! They moved him up to the next level, in which he has mastered most of those skills already too!!

This is pretty exciting for us, as Barrett wouldn't even get into the pool the first four swim lessons that I took him to. He'd barely put his toes in the water, he'd just sit on the side with the biggest pout on his mouth and just stare at me through the glass as I'd sit with the other Mommies..talk about feeling guilty. I actually was going to talk to them to see if I could get my money back when... on his birthday he was given a little rubber duckie with a party hat on as we checked in..I'm not sure what it was about that duck, perhaps a distraction, but I glanced up from my "to do" list, there he was splashing around with the other kids. squirting his duck on everyone....I just about ran and jumped into the pool to kiss him!!! And now look, he has surpassed his brother that has been taking the lessons twice as long as him, ssshhh...don't tell...we're just proud of him....so glad he can exude some of that energy that is so plentiful in that skinny little no-fat-to-speak-of body....

They get to ring a bell on top of a podium while receiving their medal, ribbon, sticker, and certificate...He was on cloud nine all day, it was such a big deal, that even Daddy came to watch! We all went out for pizza to celebrate..the point was to make him feel extra special and I think we did just that....

Crocodile Dundee

2009-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Sometime ago I posted pics of an alligator get together that we had at our home. My hubby had killed an alligator on his "best guy's night out ever"... We had a fish fry/alligator tasting party that was well...interesting to say the least..We've been waiting forever for the taxidermist to mount Scott's alligator..and finally, this is what we picked up this weekend..

It took up the entire bed of the pickup..The teeth are the kid's favorite part... A little scary if you ask me....

Well, we picked out the perfect wall in Scott's room to have it mounted..we added some spot lights with our "remodeling" job...It is pretty cool, I'm just glad the kids aren't scared of it..So, I guess we'll be having another get together when we get back into the house so everyone can meet the alligator that we all ate awhile back!!! Now we can all watch as one room in my house is transformed into a wild game park!!! Hmm..what should we name him?....

Laundry helper...

2009-02-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

My little helper....

Another thing about Adela, is she is the best laundry folder...I wash, but she folds and puts away... Teamwork is what it takes....I know, I'm spoiled, lucky is what I call it...lucky to of found her, lucky to have her...

Finally a pearly white...

2009-02-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Boden has been cutting his first tooth since he was four months old...so we pleasantly surprised when we saw that pearly white peek through!!! So easy to remember too, as the same week he started on his way to crawling....

I guess it's hard to see in the pics, but it's there, I promise!!! He'd chew your arm off, if you'd let him!! Poor guy..hopefully the first TWO (actually) will be the hardest!!! When Brandt and Barrett had just had one tooth, we'd call them Mr. Snagelpuss...I guess we'll have to come up with something else since there are two....

Crawl Boden Crawl, yell the cheerleaders....

2009-02-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official Boden has reached an important milestone..crawling..I'm in for it..I think. It's so cute to watch the big boys in amazement as Boden does something super cool to them...

Just in time for our family vacation, he's going to be crawling around on the beach, just like I imagined.....

The boys are close to him...cheering...cheering..louder..and the bigger Boden's smile gets!! It's been a long week for me..My neck is aching, my back is stiff, I'm use to at least one day with no kids to have some quiet time, but not this week with Adela's condition..but that's ok, cause we still have her...boy do I appreciate her even more than before..congrats little baby Bo, on being the center of our family entertainment...it's so fun to watch you grow up!!! I just love the blogging thing to keep track of your progress..so long, old fashion baby book..I'm going to have your entire life recorded..I don't know why I think that's so cool, maybe because I'm just so sentimental....

Emotions

2009-02-20T00:32:00.000-08:00

Emotions...the ones that affect your heart. Your heart beats fast. Your heart drops. It's filled with disbelief, filled with joy, filled with relief, filled with sadness, filled with complete frustration..feelings, they are so real, so lived, so uncontrollable. I've had a week where my heart experienced each and every emotion on such different a spectrum that it's actually changed my outlook and attitude that I desperately needed. I think God was speaking to me this week in letting me know what is really important...I guess your heart and mind work together and you forget what is truly important..I'm forever changed by my emotions...( This post is rather long, but I want my kids to read this someday...it's part of who I am, I want record of my changed outlook...)

The week started with pure frustration. I had to come up with my own move-back-into-the-house date, as there is no sense of urgency with the builder repairing my home. I know it's a custom home, but come on!!, 6 months so far is a LONG time away from home...So I had told them this is the date we are moving in (right after Spring break) I had this in my head and heart for a couple of weeks, I don't adapt to change very well when it has something to do with planning. I'm a planning freak, I wish I was more spontaneous, I consider this a flaw of mine, but that's just the way I'm made. I've embraced it, so has my loving husband. I ended up calling the builder and totally going off on him...really..it wasn't pretty, it ended up with me sobbing on the phone, pleading with them to just let us go back home...My emotions got the best of me...

On Wednesday I got a phone call from my nanny's daughter (she speaks better English on the phone) that her Mom, Adela wasn't coming to work. WHAT!! My ONLY non kid day with a list a mile long that I so methodically mapped out on paper the most time efficient way to go about getting the entire list done..My first reaction, panic, lots to do, I was kind of short on the phone and left it as OK, let me know when she's coming back, I guess. I was selfish....Adela has NEVER missed a day of work in almost 4 years. I found her shortly after I moved to Texas. It's pretty common down here to have a Hispanic housekeeper, nanny, etc. with familes with young kids. I needed her so bad when we were building the house, as it was a nightmare taking a toddler AND baby to pick out furnishings, etc.. Adela has her corks, like feeding my kids WAY to much sugar, I have hide the sweets from her!! AND she doesn't discipline very well, not like we do anyway..It's more like a soft..."no-no be nice"..when we do time outs, put toys in time out, etc..So I've had my days of bitchin'..but as my Mom points out, No one will take care of your kids the way you do. She's right. The most important thing is she's dependable, LOVES my kids like her own, honest, caring. She's a wonderful cook, a neat and tidy women, she teaches my kids Spanish, and teaches us the Hispanic culture, which is a treat for us... She's a very special person to our family. She's part of ours, we love her.

She was in a car accident about a month and a half ago...Thankfully she was ok, pretty banged up, but ok...She showed me her leg, which was the deepest darkest purple you've ever seen. I told her she needed to go to the doctor, not having insurance she took off work and drove to Mexico so see her doctor with her family. ..She came back, she was taking some medicine and she would be ok...so we thought..over the next month she had develped some type of infection..and I learned from my friend Amy, that we share Adela with, as Amy has small children too...that she had spent the evening in the emergency room, and basically the doctor told her that she was to think about amputating her leg so the infection wouldn't spread to the rest of her body...What?!! They thought it was gangrene. It was so much more serious than I could ever imagine. I spent the entire day in a daze...To think about someone you love having an appendage cut-off, because she can't afford insurance in the USA, has absolutely horrifying to me. I was in touch with her family many times during the day. She was admitted to the hospital, they did numerous tests. If the infection was in the bone, they really would have to amputate. My stomach dropped. I was sick. You hear all the time how people can die from a staph infection. I spent the entire day in a daze, crying, saddened, what if we lose her. My selfishness went away. I need her. I depend on her. What would I tell the kids. We've lost a pet and had to explain death already, but not on a human scale. She can't die!! She's part of our family. I was shaking..and praying..a lot..It wasn't looking very good most of the day....We were waiting on the tests results...her family called...a long day...good news..it wasn't in the bone!! Praise God...once again...I was so relieved. My emotions went from panic to relief, my heart skipped a beat, I could feel the weight on my heart float away...It was the end of the day.. The sun got brighter, euphoric feelings I can't describe over took me. Something changed. I called my builder, I apologized to him, told him I was wrong, I know they are doing their best, taking pride in their work..It was a great feeling to admit to being wrong to be forgiven. It was a huge slap in the face, wake up call, a life changing moment for me. The only thing that matters is God, our health, our close friends, and our family..I thanked God, prayed to keep that feeling I was given of such utter thankfulness, to adapt that feeling as one I had forgot about in a long time. I hugged my husband, sobbed to him, kissed my kids, and changed my attitude...

Emotions...pure disbelief, utter sadness...Being from the Midwest it's not as common to have a pool, so when Scott and I put in a pool, we were really nervous about messing it up with the chemicals, the timer, the hot tub controls, etc and with Scott traveling and I'm so busy with the kids, it made sense to us. So we hired a "pool guy", Johnny. The first time he came out, long hair, built, tattoos all over, just kind of sexy to me, ripped jeans, wife-beather t-shirt,..the rocker type...yah...Totally cool, and hip.You know, just like the "pool" guys on tv!! As we got to know him, his "image" doesn't match his look. He's totally honest, a family guy, and just fun to hang out with. He's a guy's guy, so Scott adores him too. He's become a friend of ours...

He excitingly told us about expecting his first Grandchild awhile back, you could see the gleam in his eyes..he had his children early in life, which he's very close to, we've meant most of them...he kept us updated weekly on the pregnancy while he was cleaning the pool, the name, the 3-D sonogram..the baby was almost here..There was a problem. She was in her 8th month, bleeding bad. She went to a VA hospital in California, her husband is over seas in the military, serving our country..They did some tests, said it was ok, sent her home...she kept bleeding through the weekend, they told her it was normal, not to worry...a couple days go by, she's in pain, still bleeding, she goes back to the hospital, waits and waits, it's a VA hospital, she's waiting her turn, military. It gets so bad, she runs up and screams...they admit her..it's to late..they lost the baby and she almost bled to death..She was all alone, her husband across the ocean, her family here..If only they would of not mistaken her condition a few days ago, he would of been born alive, it was a terrible mistake the hospital made and it cost a life...a new life..a dream, gone..a family gone...

Scott told that she had lost the baby last week but I hadn't seen Johnny until he came to work this week. I went out and hugged him and told him how sorry I was..that's when he told me the story I just told you but in more detail and Scott had left out some of the story cause he knew my heart would break.. and it did...The hospital kept the dead baby wrapped in blankets for the Mother to hold while her husband got permission to fly back to meet his dead first born son. I lost it...He was explaining how they'd kept the body on ice at night..I was in utter disbelief, my heart just sank deep into my chest, broken...Johnny and his wife also flew out to meet their first born Grandson..He said he was beautiful, they had a funeral, his name was Connor..He was buried 14 days after he died due to the husband's long travel time, to get permission, all the red-tape, legal stuff he had to go through while he's over serving our country, and also the autopsy..His daughter came back with her parents, so she wouldn't have to be alone...She was helping her Dad with the pools this week, to take her mind off of the death..He actually dropped her off at our "real" house's pool and came over to do our "rental" house's pool, as he knew Boden would be here and he didn't want her to see our baby...Let me tell you, I've never cried so hard in my life after he left, I kept picturing this tiny little baby, remembering how our babies looked when they were born, I was an emotional wreck, the rest of the day. I kept picturing Johnny's face as he told me, the gleam gone. Here this poor Mommy lost her baby and I have three...Why are some people so blessed and some have to experience such devastation? It's so unfair that it takes someone else's pain to make you realize how blessed you truly are. Why is that? God, will you just tell me why?

Emotions... Relief...I've had a lot of stomach pain lately, I've doubled over in pain, drank peptomismo like it's water...I've been throwing up my lunches..My body just didn't seem right..I was really worried..I went into the doctor, did some blood work, got some medicine...waited for the results the next day...Waiting for a phone call..I've been so blessed to of found the best, the kindest doctor, the kind that you want to model yourself after, a true one of a kind gem, I was looking forward to his phone call, as he's so reassuring, when your health is in his hands..his expertise, his gift is needed...phone call...all ok, just thought it might be my ulcers acting up again..and gee, why wouldn't they be with the emotional high and lows I've experienced lately...New medicine, take time for myself, relax (which I have a hard time doing)...I'll be ok, no worries...Relief...

Emotions.., Joy...going from one extreme to the other...pure joy, as Boden's first tooth came in and he was up on all four's, rocking, getting ready to crawl this week...Not only did I feel joyful, but thankful, blessed, and amazed at how selfish I've been lately..Your emotions mixed with experiences can change you, is that why we have them?....My have changed, for the better..I needed that push, I felt it hard, it will last in my heart forever... God, I'm sorry I haven't been as in touch as I should be with you lately, Thank you for the wake up call, I'm listening now, I get it...I promise to get back on track, I pray for your guidance..I now know that you give us these emotions to teach us lessons and make us more Godly, a better person..and that is truely what I want to be...

Two peas in a pod....

2009-02-18T02:36:00.000-08:00

We have...drumroll.ddrrrrr..TILE!!!

2009-02-15T11:24:00.001-08:00

Floor tile, that is...they came and measured for our counter tops this week..!!! After much agonizing I did switch granites to the new latest and greatest straight from Dallas, I LOVED what I had...but decided to mix it up a bit..why not!!! Gee, after all this time let's make it seem like a new house!!!

I changed the tile in the hallways to this brown tumbled limestone...see how dirty it is!!! This is why I go and mop every week..I just can't stand it!!! But by Monday night it's trashed again but it makes for a great night sleep on Sundays!!

I also put the brown limestone down the curved hallway where the powder room is and around in a circle in the kitchen where we put the kitchen table..just to pull it all together....

PART of the cabinets, hey better than completely empty like before!!! Now, they have all the finish work on the cabinets, trim, counter tops, back splash tile, toy room wood floor,...hhmm..seems like I'm forgetting some things but..the good news is that we are moving back in the week we get back from Spring Break!!! Praise!!! They said they weren't going to be completely done, but I don't care, it's been 6 long months and I just can't stand it anymore...maybe cause it's mixed with Spring fever a little bit..maybe because I make numerous trips back and forth, just recently wrapping paper for a kid bday party..It will be SO nice, a luxury in fact, to have ALL things under ONE roof!!! Praise again!!!.

He's FIVE....

2009-02-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Our big boy is now five...what a magical age..it seems like overnight, he's turned into this young boy...He is now using his "age" as an excuse, such as, "Mom, I'm five now, I really need to stay up a little later than my brother"...We'll see about that...
His party turned out to be so much fun, what a perfect place for a 5 year old boy...well, and a few girls...The place where we had the party is limited due to the room size and not to mention, the more people, the more "accidents"..so it was cute, that Brandt rattled off his own guest list as well as exactly what we'd be serving and what the cake should look like...it's actually more fun the older they get as it take out a lot of the "guessing" part for Mommy...Basically the rooms are filled with giant size blow-up slides and jumping "tents" with all kinds of activities inside...Everyone had a ball..
Star wars was the theme which was picked of course by Brandt, the cake was Darth Vader, which I wasn't sure what it would taste like with black frosting...and gee, was I pleasantly surprised, it was yummier I think than our wedding cake, well, maybe a close second...one perk of living in a small town, yummy to die for fantastic cake all for $40 bucks..and of course I polished off the rest of it this am at breakfast....with the left over pizza..
Everything pretty much turned out as expected except one little girl got excited when it was time to blow out the candles, and well, she beat Brandt to it...THAT did NOT go over well with the birthday boy AND the party favors included a "light-source"..when I purchased had no idea that it "lit" up..so some of them weren't tested in the store, so some lit up and some didn't ...opps..all in all Brandt's dream came true with a fantastic turn out of his favorite friends there to help him celebrate and a butt load of Star Wars figurines line our floors...Happy birthday, sweet one...I hope you have a fantastic year.....

Happy Birthday, my love

2009-02-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

I just want to tell you my sweet love that I remember everything on that magical day, five years ago when you were born today. A true miracle in modern times. I remember the first time I saw your tiny precious face..how everyone tries to prepare you about how overwhelming a birth is, and yet there are no words on this earth to describe the feelings that overtakes your mind and body. I remember how I would just stare at each of your new features forever, just to memorize how you looked to me...I'd spend hours just looking at how beautiful and real you were, the days would just pass by, I didn't care, cause I had you, you were finally here, and healthy... I feel so blessed to of been given such a wonderful son. I remember when your eyes learned how to focus, we gazed into each other's eyes as a son and Mother, it was mesmerizing to me. That single moment seemed to last for long minutes... I felt like you looked through into my soul and it was then.. that, you knew all of who I am, and what I need to exist...I think about that memory often and how I had never experienced that feeling ever in my life. Since you've become my son, a part of my soul has become alive and only has love for you and your brothers...You make me a better person. I want to show you the world and teach you all I know and love, my child. You Brandt are a part of me and you always will hold my soul...I'm passionate about you and love every ounce of who you are. I love you as deep as all the beautiful oceans that God has given this earth and I thank him everyday for you being who you are. You are special to me dear one, as it's you, my first born, who taught me how to love as a Mother does. Happy birthday, son....

I wear my sunglasses....

2009-01-27T12:25:00.001-08:00

I was having a total crappy stay at home Mommy day this morning...by noon, I had changed my clothes three times, first time poop all over my pants and shirt..not my poop of course but Boden's..THEN I had him spit-up down my shirt..THAT always feels so good, not to mention slimy...THEN the 3rd time...you guessed it more POOP!! I'm not sure WHAT is going on, but if he has another ear infection, I'm turning my Mommy badge in and moving to the Bahamas...kidding, but it's so frustrating to listen to a baby fuss ALL day long and no matter what I do..it just doesn't seem to do the trick...I think maybe he caught some bug that has decided to crawl up his little cute butt and just poop constantly...NOT real fun for Mommy..so getting so old...UNTIL...you put the sunglasses on...I was laughing so hard I almost pooped MY pants...I was R-O-L-L-I-N-'...but that lasted about a mere 5 minutes until he pooped his pants again, Fun..Over...now time to get the big kids from school, oh joy, I hope they aren't all rev ed up..not in the mood for loudness tonight...I think I need a drink, no make that a vacation, somewhere where I can lay on the beach and have someone wait on ME for a change...where they only serve fruity cold drinks, they don't even have to have food, only drinks would be GREAT!! I just might never come back!! kidding..I'm all talk as you know...wish me luck to make it until bedtime!! I need it!!!

Valentine photo session

2009-01-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

Today it's cold...ick..where did our 80 degree days go? I've become such a weenie and I'm not afraid to admit it..I thought I'd get a head start on pics for our valentine cards this year, I thought my make shift valentine setting turned out pretty ok...

Saw these shirts and HAD to get them..they are ALL Mama's boys and I hope it always stays that way...with Brandt, no question, Barrett, ify, and Boden..to young to tell, but he's pretty attached to Mama right now that is for sure....

Barrett, he looks like he's holding back a poo-poo..but he is just so funny when he is asked to smile for a picture, he does much better with the candid shots I think....

Brandt, always has that winning pose...did you notice their haircuts? Aaahh...Daddy's doin..I asked if he wouldn't mind taking them in for a cut after school this week, I was tired of the shag look...and this is what I get!!! A total buzz cut..I didn't talk to him all night..Brandt cried and didn't want to go to school the next day, but after much reassuring that it WILL grow back and that the 60's buzz cut IS back in style, they are all ok with it..I told them they match Boden now and they thought that was pretty cool. That will be the last time I ask Daddy for a favor that has to do with haircuts!!

A view of Heaven right from our own bed...

2009-01-25T12:38:00.001-08:00

Have I ever told you how beautiful our neighborhood is? This is the view that we are so fortunate to see every morning, sunny mornings, that is...The boys LOVE to watch the sunrise and we usually do it as a whole family.... How lucky are we to witness such a beautiful site every morning..The Texas hill country really is a remarkable place to live..

It never seems to be the same and it never seems to get old...Lucky...

Future Rock Star

2009-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

Boden has mastered a milestone...he's sitting up!!! Both Brandt and Barrett sat up at 7 months, so Boden is a little ahead of schedule compared to them, so I'm wondering if this is foreshadowing what lies ahead ? early crawler or walker? we'll see...You know what a pj freak I am with myself and the kids..Love these!!! He truly is my little rocker...

He's still a little wobbly but very proud of himself, that's for sure...It's helped his reflux immensely, so that has been a relief!! I had one of those great Mommy days yesterday, when it's like someone handed your kids the "How to say the cutest things that melt your Mommy's heart" book...We were on the way to swimming lessons, driving past a very nice neighborhood, when Barrett blurted out.."Mommy, I see a castle!!"..so dang cute, I just can't stand it!!! There were several moments like that yesterday, but I can only recall that particular one due to my Mommy mush brain, which is getting somewhat better with the luxury of more sleep these days, getting better, not perfect I said. Before I wouldn't of even remembered THAT one..Days like yesterday make all the poopy blow outs, the loud wrestling, the crying and whining, seem like I truly was put here to be the best Mommy I can possibly be...I do cherish the times that I can take them to their activities, to make their lunch, to teach them how to tell time (Brandt's latest)...and to be there every second of the day that they need me...

Movin along....

2009-01-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

An update on our home: The faux painters finished up last week. This week they are starting to lay the tile, which they are estimating to take a month or so...We have a 5 piece patterned tile, which takes a lot longer to install..and I've decided to change things up a bit in our hallways, I'm doing this brown tile that looks like brick (but really it's not) so that is taking longer..AND in Scott's area, in the octagon shaped "pool table" room, which functions as Brandt's "train room" until the kids are old enough to start enjoying pool, or ping-pong, or whatever they are into at the time....I'm having them cut each tile into an octagon shape to mimic the shape of the room...sorry, guys, it's the designer in me...I know they just want to cower when they see me drive up!!

After living in the house for almost 2 years, and building it ourselves, we had a "wish we would of" list..never DREAMING we'd actually USE this list...But we are adding some details that we overlooked or now that we know how we live in the house, we might as well change it while it's all torn apart..So we are adding some lighting fixtures, a cook top in Scott's bar, different tile, different island, this hand painted wainscoating...etc...just some fun things to make it seem like we really wanted these changes instead of them being required!!!..So I'm pretty excited about the new details..It's getting really old though, I'm so tired of wasting time running back and forth from our "real" house to the rental...., forgot the lint brush, Boden's next size in his clothes, the tax file...on and on...You know how when you go on vacation and you just can't wait to get home...it's THAT feeling times 100!!! There is nothing better than a house that has truly been made into your home....

Fun Friday

2009-01-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

We are having a cold snap, which I think most of the country is...so yesterday I stocked up on new coloring books, paints, inside stuff, etc...but THAT just lasted the morning!!! So we headed to a fairly new place that is close to us..and boy I should of checked it out sooner...it was so fun, and what a great way to burn off some energy, stay warm, AND get out of the house....They had a "mini" bowling alley where the bowling balls aren't very heavy and then there are bumper pads down the entire lane!!! Barrett was a natural, which didn't surprise us, since he is the athlete in the family. Very kid friendly with the bumpers, well, and Mommy friendly too..I've never bowled so well!!

And here is Brandt..at the train table, surprise, surprise...I don't even think he left that spot!!! Check out the nappy little boy's hair in the background..hello, a brush would be nice!!! And that's NOT static electricity..pure nap head!

Boden was thrilled to get out of the house and had a great time watching his brothers run around like wild Indians..We had a big celebration this week in our house...as Boden FINALLY slept through the night!!! It took 6 months!!! So a HUGE deal for us...I can't even remember what it's like to lay down at night and not get up until the sun does...I'm wondering if the tiredness and haggard look with bags under my eyes will slowly start disappearing?

Which side of the toast would you rather be?

2009-01-07T18:47:00.001-08:00

This is how a kid's dinner should look...non-stick pan, still sprayed with Pam..just in case, I'm a paranoid cook, perfect temperature letting the pan warm up so the sandwich sizzles when placed into position, cheese melted just right, oohey, gooey cheese, "not hot Mommy" as Barrett says"just warmed up"....then this is what happens...when...when...when..
You're multi-tasking, on FACEBOOK..and just happen to forget you're cookin'.....ok, you all said FB would be addicting but come on!!!! And no I didn't make the kids eat it..

Some Christmas highlights...

2008-12-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

In a way, this Christmas was the best one I've had (I guess I should say as an adult...) The boys were oh so excited, that feeling that my completed family is all with me and healthy on such a special morning....All 7 of our stocking were filled (two cats) and presents galore! We were able to continue our traditions that our little family is making, our book tree (kid's little tree by their rooms full of books on Christmas morning), hot chocolate and little quiches while we open presents, we opened one at a time so we could savor every moment that Christmas morning brings....we are truly blessed in lots of ways. .

All of us gathered around the tree...

I got this for awesome foot stool for Scott to go in his guy's room...the kids were using it to spin around and do tricks..imagine that....I also surprised Scott with a deer mount...is that what you call them? It's one of those heads of a deer that has been mounted, then hung on the wall...it was a special one where the rack was turned backwards, I guess it's rare, so he was just so excited..I never in my wildest dreams, being the city gal I am, thought that I'd have a deer attached to my wall in my house!!! But, I guess living in Texas for almost 4 years has certainly got to me!!! And the scary thing is, I'm really excited for it to get hung!!!

Barrett, he's my handful, or should I say handfuls!! He has the most energy of any little kid I know, with the mix of a class clown, he'll do anything for a laugh...Not sure if this is a good combination or not, ...it will be interesting to see where this takes him in life.....

All my everythings Christmas morning...by the tree.....

This is Barrett's favorite gift...Daddy picked them out...Scott insisted on "helping" Santa pick out the gifts this year...it was a ton of fun shopping for them together..and fun to see what he picked for the kids...I will say he was very successful as the kids LOVED everything Daddy picked out, oh, I mean Santa.

Scott also wanted to throw in one of his Christmas family's traditions which is to fry fresh oysters..He went to a speciality store in town, got the supplies he needed..it was pretty impressive...the kids helped him get the meat out of the shell, which they had a ball, they turned out super duper delicious...for sure we'll make it a part of our future Christmases .

Brandt putting out the reindeer seed, aka: deer food (another new tradition)...AND while I was stuffing the stockings I walked past the front door, when I heard a very strange sound from outside, it wasn't Santa either...as I looked out I saw some type of animal eating the deer food the kids had just put out...Scott was even unsure what type of animal it was but it was either, a fox or a coyote, a fox ,I'd hope.....it was amazing, he was just about 10 feet away from where we were standing, inside of course...I took pictures, but they didn't really turn out in the dim light.. It was perfect as he was wondering how we were going to make it look like the reindeer ate the food, needless to say, we didn't have to worry about it...

Santa had requested brownies instead of cookies this year....All in all, it was such a fun family holiday...next year will be even more fun, I expect..and we will be in our "real" house, as the boys call it..for THAT I'm already excited for next year!!! It was strange having a holiday in "the lady's house" (boys call it once again)...but we made the best of it...and it worked!!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

'Twas the night before Christmas....

2008-12-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, there were THREE little boy creatures roaming and running ALL through the house and making alot of noise from the excitement....Merry Christmas, blogging world , and to all a Good night!!

Cookies for Chester

2008-12-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

Who is Chester do you ask? He's the pet raccoon that lives at Jenn's house..I'm not really sure what happened to the cookies, but they turned out HORRIBLE!!! and I had tripled the recipe..I think I used oleo (like Crisco) but I was suppose to use margarine..at least this is what I think happened, but it might have to do with the fact that I'm usually interrupted a million times from little kids while I'm trying hard to concentrate on reading the recipe..I seem to always lose my spot and can't remember what the last ingredient was I put in?...does that happen to you???Anyway, it was a great way to past a few hours with the boys as they love to help..and we put the whole entire bunch out in the yard, thinking Chester would love them for Christmas..Jenn, you better watch out..I think Chester is going to move to our house!! They were all gone the next day..but I guess the abundant deer we have roaming the neighborhood could of got a hold of them too..Maybe they both did..a little wild animal xmas party..so glad I could supply the treats!!!

Well, I did mention that the boys like to help..Actually Brandt is getting to be a big help, he rolled the balls and used the fork to make the "tracks" as he called it..and let's just say with Barrett, maybe next Christmas..his "help" will be a little more welcomed..he balls looked more like turds, gee..can you pick the one that Barrett did??? hhhhmmmm????

Pj party....

2008-12-24T08:55:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we had our annual Mommy/Kid Christmas party...this year with a twist...after everyone of course had a new cute holiday outfit lined up..one of our girlfriends that was feeling bloated and not wanting to dress up decided we should change it to a pj party or lounge wear for the attire...I was highly disappointed at first as I had missed two VERY fun ADULT traditional parties ( a chili party and a casino party) the weekend before as I was puking up my guts in ever parking lot I could find in San Antonio..flu bug from the kids I guess..my stomach was concave for a few days..(not anymore thanks to the zillion xmas cookies I've had)...But much to my dismay, it was a blast just being able to be to comfy..it might have to be a tradition?..it was chaos at it's best,..but such a fun time for all...Lots of the kids in jammies, many showing their "goods"....Barrett hit the jackpot with his dinosaurs gifts..he was so excited...
Tami and I by the tree..where's my glass of wine? no worries, just takin' a break...

Brandt got this science kit and he was in heaven..he bugged me constantly the next day to open it up..the first thing we had to do was the volcano!! Thanks Megan, he loves it!!! It's always so fun to get with this bunch, such wonderful girls that fill my soul.....

Fit for a Queen....

2008-12-21T14:39:00.001-08:00

I've been looking for awhile for some chairs for our living room, and wouldn't you know it, while I was out Christmas shopping, I found these...for me...LOVE them..I really need 4 but my idea is to have 2 of them in different fabric..but now I'm thinking maybe use the same fabric that is on these..but mix it up, maybe but the brown on the body and the flowers on the top piece??? I don't know yet, I still have time to think and order the other two, as their really isn't a spot for them in our rental house anyway...They are tall!!! Which will look great in the living room, as the ceilings are very highand detailed...The boys call them "Mommy's Queen chairs"..which we do know I am the Queen, a very nice, but still a Queen...only because I'm way out numbered with boy things in my household....

Lock up your daughters....

2008-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

I just got to tell you if you feel sorry for me cause you think I wish I had a daughter...please don't..well, deep down I really do, but don't tell my husband that..and IF I wasn't so old, I would for sure want another baby...and I will add that Boden has only slept through the night ONE time in his 5 months on this earth..he did actually have a 2 week stretch of 8-4 am, but that is long gone...AND yes, I'm walking around half the time in a zombie state, grumpy, forgetful, grumpy and I might add grumpy...I STILL would love another..THAT is how much I'm love with this little guy...I guess he's making it pretty sweet as he knows it's the last...

They have THE cutest little clothes and things for boys these days...!! This "Lock up your daughters"..is my absolute fav and he's got this little bib that says, "Chicks dig me" that was a big hit at the big boy's Christmas program!!!...And I'm a sucker for anything skull..as you already know..and just look at his pants with "rock stars" on them!!!

Then we got the guitar playing blankie, and the boyz rock bib!!! that is metallic...he's probably going to kill me when he looks back at these photos someday..but Mama sure is happy dressing him....oh, and it's highly acceptable for boys to have rhinestones on their clothing these days too..

We went out for dinner last night, where we decided to sit outside, it got a little chilly...Scott was holding him, and his height while sitting on your lap is eye level..we'll all of a sudden I look over as he's turning red and screaming his head off, he had reached out, helped himself to a little bit of corn bread while we weren't looking..as he was crying and spitting it out all over, I realized what had happened..well, normally that wouldn't be that bad as he IS 5 months and food is right around the corner, but this particular restaurant makes their cornbread with jalapenos!!! I think his taste buds have now fully awakened!!!
After we got it all together..we ended up having a great family night and we all tucked in early last night..it was so nice to relax and not have to rush to the next Christmas function..we're looking forward to lots of family time this week and lots of relaxing too...well, as much relaxing as you can get with three kiddos ages 4 and under!!!

BBBbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrr.RRRR.....little bundle.

2008-12-16T11:48:00.001-08:00

We've had some chilly days in the Hill country and today was no exception...We do the hats, mittens, heavy coats, ..and all..but thank goodness it's only for a day or two and then we'll have a nice 70 degree day..it's kind of fun having a little cold snap as it makes it more "Christmasey"..but I will say I've become a little spoiled with the weather down here compared to Kansas..I do miss the snow, but only for a thought or two..or maybe a picture or two.This is little Boden all bundled up on the way to take the big boys to school today....He's suddenly lost his "newbornish" look and has turned into a baby!!! I must say, I was a little sad this morning taking out his 0-3 months clothes out of his closet, as I decided to do a little organizing between the wrapping party I was having with myself....He was wondering what was up with all the layering!!! I got lots of comments about this little # today.. I guess you just don't see things like this down here...I had saved it from our Kansas winters where we used it daily .....Our little bundle..growing so fast... so fun...

Our piano playing cat...

2008-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

The house we are renting has a rather grand entryway with a beautiful piano..When we first moved in..I heard the piano playing all of a sudden...ALL the kids were next to me as well as Scott..and I thought..what the H....is this place haunted?? Does she have it set on one of those timers that the piano will play by itself.. at a certain time, THAT will drive me crazy...I tiptoed out into the hall..and you guessed it... There's Bella, playing the piano..she's actually pretty good...I'm kidding..but she LOVES it..she must like hearing herself play..just more entertainment around our household..maybe I should give her lessons?

Mrs. Peacock

2008-12-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

Get it..Mrs. Peacock..like in the "Clue" game...that's me..I LOVE Peacocks...I think they are just the most beautiful bird and I love the colors, they are all my favorites..My girlfriend, Kimber, sent me this beautiful Peacock ornament last year for Christmas , I thought how perfect,..A Peacock Christmas tree!! This will be the theme for my "good tree",( meaning Mommy's tree)...and how perfect for this year..as the rental house, is oh so boring..NO color on the walls, which to me is like white sheets..which is fine..but if you know me, I'm more of a colorful person...Anyway..so here it is..my Peacock themed tree...Oh, excuse me..yes, she does have a BLUE mirror on the wall in the background..I'm sorry to say that's not ours..(thank goodness!!)...Turquoise, limeish green, bronzey, silver, and a hint of purple...
It all came together...More beautifully than I expected...Did I tell you that we have talked about getting some peacocks for our property?..I need to check into it first..make sure they won't peek my kids to death or give them any diseases..but how cool would that be to have little baby Peacocks waddling around...I could save their feathers for my decorating needs!!! Scott even agreed to it..I think because I've been asking for another kitty and well, he's not really a cat guy..or at least he wants us to think that...
I stuck Peacock feathers in the tree all over..for some "height"...

I thought I was being so utterly original..and literally screamed in delight when I found these ornaments but was a little disappointed that it wasn't as a unique,creative idea as I had thought!!!

I still need to make my bows, but keep forgetting my bow maker when I go over to the house...but it will be complete before xmas..I still have 9 days to go....

More Cheer...

2008-12-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Another tradition that the boys look forward to each year is their little playmate, Morgan's gingerbread party. Her birthday is right around Christmas so it's extra special for her..Their Mommy is a great hostess and a wonderful friend and it's always such a joy playing at her house...Barrett and Morgan
Brandt and Morgan

Barrett...making his gingerbread house...yes, he double dips...

Brandt is getting pretty good at this...actually Mommy had Boden in her arms this time , so I couldn't help like last time..but I see he's got it much under control...What wonderful friends we've been blessed with and it's such a great time to spend time with them and personally wish them all a Merry Christmas...

Santa...

2008-12-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Last week was a fun filled busy with a-kid-party-week... This is one time of the year that there is no such thing as "over scheduling", to us...I think it's so fun to take the time to see friends and neighbors that we don't get to see often enough..and the kids are just bursting with energy and excitement that the season brings, that it's so nice to have a party to burn off some of that energy!!...This was one of our favorites on Sunday. Our friends Marlynne and Amy host this wonderful party for the whole family. Everyone brings a plate of cookies and a toy (your child's age) which is donated to a local charity..Then always at 2:30 sharp, Santa comes to visit...and the kids go crazy with excitement..it's a great tradition that our kids look forward to each year and boy does it bet waiting in the long lines to see Santa..

AAaaahh...let me think about that....

2008-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

Santa come to our neighborhood this past weekend..Oh, should I mention we had a 85 degree day this week, pure heaven, AND we had a light dusting of snow the VERY next day...which the boys were freaking out how cool they thought it was..it was so cute watching their excitement...

Brandt has asked for Star Wars characters and the Star Wars movie...I have no idea how he knows about Star Wars..the only thing I can think of is that one of the "coolest" boys in the class LOVES Star Wars, so if Jaden thinks it's cool, then he does too...

Barrett asked Santa for a "Transformer shooter"..I have no idea what that is but I used my best educated guess when shopping and just got a transformer that shoots stuff, duh Mommy..

I was pretty proud that between the two big boys they only asked for three things, awhh, how sweet and polite is that..Boden was just amazed at the wrapper on the candy cane...

Our giggly..little peanut...

2008-12-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

I'm just posting this for all the girls that come up to me and ask "How is it with three"..We'll after watching this video, this may be your deciding factor..and for my friends that don't think they are ready for kids yet, WHAT are you waiting for...This little guy is pure joyment for our family and gosh, do we love this little guy...He's almost 5 months in this video....

Let the season begin....

2008-12-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

We started with many of the holiday activities that we have on the calendar...The kids and I went to our country club and made gingerbread houses..it's so nice not to have to clean up the mess. It's so fun watching what design they come up with each year as it improves greatly as each year goes by...Poor Barrett, he looks ok in this picture, but he started the morning with getting sick all over the kitchen..we thought he just drank "old" milk that he tends to hoard under his covers..but as the day progressed and their were several complaints of an "icky" tummy it was official that he does have some kind of flu bug as the poor kitchen floor got it again late this afternoon....
We've been working on our tree as we are way behind this year as we had to moved into our rental house while the repairs are being done to our "real" home..The kids seem to be settled but it's a little weird putting up our tree in someone else's home..actually it's kind of creepy..I just put all of our unpacked boxes in the garage as I feel like they will be there when the holidays are over, and we need to have some very good fun to make up for the hard aches we had this Fall....

I'm just way behind on everything which I guess happens when you throw a 3rd child into the mix PLUS an unexpected move AND the I've spent so much "extra" time with our rental..the 3 of the 4 potties didn't work, the heater doesn't work, more than 1/2 the ceiling light bulbs were out, a leak from the well, the carpets had so much dog hair on them that it seems like she shaved her dog in the house!!!, really there are more things, but you get the drift...and I do so apologize for not being for being a not so frequent blogger or commenter...we decided not to move the computer to the temporary house so as now the access isn't readily available..but I'll try to make up for it soon..I really haven't forgotten about you..

A time of of many blessings...

2008-11-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving..It's such a great time to sit back and reflect on how great our blessings truly are, there are just to many to mention, but of course the main one: our little boys...We all have so much to be thankful for..it's so fulfilling to teach our kids to be thankful for the littlest things, for them to pray before they eat, for Brandt to sing God bless America to me every morning (he really does, the entire song!!)..and know that they truly feel lucky, thankful and blessed...

Feets and Toes

2008-11-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Forget the toys..Boden is much more interested in sucking on his toes...You know the saying, "insert foot into mouth"..well, Boden does this literally..never fails..he'll pull off one sock and just go to town...gee to be that flexible again..not that I use to suck on my toes or anything..but I remember as a kid putting my foot behind my head and such..gee..the memories And boy does he think it's funny...
Notice spit up all over his guitar outfit..daily occurrence with us..we have switched his formula which has worked WONDERS on him, no more icky tummy, but we now call him peanut butter butt..you guessed it..his poopys have turned to heated peanut butter, I know it's sick..but the nickname is way cute..

Our 4th month old thumb sucker

2008-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Today is exciting for us as we are on the count down for the fact that we soon will have a kitchen..not ours, were renting it of course, you just never realize how much you function in the kitchen/hearth area, until it's gone..but 4 more days for cupboards too!!! Goodbye hallway that we've been "living" in, goodbye sharing the refrigerator in the garage with the cat's litter boxes, Goodbye all sleeping in the same area, goodbye food in the laundry room, goodbye tripping over the train table! Yippee..Some of our good friends invited us over for dinner tonight and I told her to save whatever gets cooked on the stove for me..I can just see the steam rising...I'm having MAJOR withdrawals..I've already got our menu planned out for the next month!!! First item of business: Lasagna in the oven..watch out!!Boden turned 4 months on the 14th..We started rice cereal..he loved it!! It was like he has been eating forever..no problem..I remember with the big boys, we tried it, waited, tried it, waited, until they finally got the hang of it...not the case with our little thumb sucker..I'm just thrilled that he sucks him thumb..it's just the cutest thing ever..neither one of the big boys did this, so it's very welcomed with me, as the hunt for a pacifier is history in our household...
Every time he took a bite, he'd smile...
This is Mr. "will you take my picture"..of course, this Mommy won't pass up that opportunity!!!

Oh, where oh where is Barrett in these pictures...one guess...outside..he's always helping Daddy picking up rocks and sticks, working in his cactus garden, or cutting tree limbs..Brandt is usually inside with me..he started helping this week with folding laundry..he's pretty darn good, better than Daddy actually!!

I'm trying to stay on target with Boden's scrapbook, Brandt was inside "helping" me..The "glasses" are actually the letter "g"...too cute...

A shark attack in a sea of pirates....

2008-11-11T07:40:00.001-08:00

I know it's been a million years since Halloween but I'm getting requests from some friends and family to see pics of the boys on Halloween, so here you go...It's been wild at our house..Due to our water damage, which turns out to be a lot more extensive than we originally thought, we are having to rent a house until the construction is finished..it's been very upsetting watching them tear our dream house down to the studs, including all of our cabinets that I spent weeks and weeks designing every detail inside and out, it's pretty much half of our house including the kitchen, which has been a challenge..on top of all that Boden has been showing some signs of difficulty with eating and we are praying it's just due to his reflux..we're keeping a close watch on the little guy...My Texas BFF Tami's parents, have a yearly Halloween party .she's always invited us every year and have never made it...it turned out to be such a blast as the kids trick-or-treated in golf carts (they live in a golf community). Tami's parents love to entertain so it was quite the ordeal..the kids had a ball..as did the parents..it was so nice having such yummy food when we've been eating anything you can imagine out of the microwave..that's what you do when suddently your kitchen has vanished!!!
Before we attended the Halloween celebration we took some pics..Boden was only in his costume for 10 minutes and then he was done...

The boys were pirates, complete with earrings and eye patches, OH, and dont forget the magic swords...

Brandt just loved dressing up....

Barrett on the other hand...AAARRRHHH!!! We got plenty of use out of the costumes this year with several kid Halloween parties...They washed up pretty well, but we had to make due with Barrett's hat as we lost his somewhere..but the headband was cute too..and the eyepatch lasted a mere 3 minutes with him before it snapped...

Our little shark...Our family seriously laughed for a half an hour when we put this on him..it was so stinkin' cute and hilarious...His look: are you kidding me???

He did finally manage to smile a couple of times...but he was so over being the laughing stock of the family...

The costume had a shark tail and fin too...The cutest shark ever!!!

Despite all of our misfortune with the house, we had a great Halloween..some days are very hard but we are hoping once we get settled in our rental things will run a little more smoothly in our household..I promised Scott I'd cook every day for 2 months..did I really say that??? and me, Ms. Restaurant queen, I'm so over eating out with 3 little kids.. It's amazing how much I miss cooking for my family..it's been 9 long weeks already..the pots and pans are dusty but will be up and running in a couple of weeks...thank you to my wonderful friends for bringing us meals and inviting us over for dinner, gee..maybe I should just get rid of my kitchen all together..kidding...