Finally, Stockings!!

I have been waiting several years to be able to hang stockings on a mantle. Our new home has a beautiful wood burning fireplace that makes the perfect spot for these Christmas icons. Due to my procrastination, we do not have cute stockings with our names on them. I quickly found out that the boys don't care what they look like. They are just thrilled to get presents and candy our of their "socks". So, you might wonder why they are already getting presents and candy...I mentioned procrastination earlier. I love the idea of advent calendars, but I put off getting one until it was too late. I kept waiting for them to go on sale, but instead most of them sold out or would have arrived too late. So, I put a little toy or piece of candy in the stockings each night and the boys get to get in their "socks" after we eat supper. Christmas is so much fun! I hope to find us some stockings that we can personalize and an advent calendar during the after Christmas sales! That means Baby G better hurry up so I can be recovered by then! Maybe it will be her first shopping trip!

Thanksgiving 2008

Unfortunately, I do not have my pictures from our T-giving this year. I will post them as soon as I get my memory card. My sister and nephew flew in from California on Monday and spent the entire week in the good 'ole town of Carthage. Gavin and Gunner had a great time chasing their big cousin around and I had a great time catching up with Jen. She had to get up early her first morning here to go to the doctor with me, but we were rewarded with massages afterward. We left the kiddos with Mimi and Papa so we had a pretty relaxing day! We spent Thanksgiving day at my parents house. It was such blessing as we not only had Jen and Gabe celebrating with us, but we also had my aunt's family from Iowa City. It has been many years since we have spent T-giving with them. While the kids were napping, most of the guys and teens enjoyed a movie while the women searched through the Black Friday adds. Jen and I then ventured to St. Louis on Friday to try a little shopping. Probably not the best thing for me to do as I became pretty sore. It was fun but I had to take several breaks! The boys and I said our good-byes when we returned Friday night and headed home to pack for our trip to Marshall on Saturday. Again, probably not the best idea for me to travel that far in the car, but Clint did all the driving and I laid down in the back seat. Thank goodness for our van! We were able to visit Clint's grandma Thelma, Lance, Amy, and Cael, (Clint's brother, wife, and son) and his sister Maria. Of course, the boys got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, and Xena (dog), too! The boys enjoyed seeing the new mount of Grandpa's very large buck he got last year. Thanks to everyone who made our Thanksgiving wonderful and gave Gavin and Gunner some extra-special attention!

Photo Memories

Ok, so I'm going to throw out a little survey here! I know there are several moms who check our blog, so I'm needing some suggestions! Digital cameras are great! I love being able to take pictures and view them immediately so that I can retake the picture if need be or I can just take hundreds of them and delete the ones I don't care for. I came to realize long ago that although this is great, I now just have literally thousands of pictures on disks or memory cards and do not have hard copies of them. I just made myself create a Halloween photo book from this year so that I would be able to actually view and share the pictures I took. I am also working on one for each of the boy's birthdays, but it takes a lot of time. I obviously post tons of them on the blog, but I don't think you can actually save all the posts to anything. I love the idea of scrapbooking but don't have the time or money to put into it. What do you do with your pictures? Do you print your digitals and put them in an album? Do you just keep them on CDs? Let me know! Remember, you can post anonomously so I won't know who you are! :-) I have a few other questions that I will be asking our audience in the near future!

A Great Thursday!

I got these two outfits last winter at the Monster Sale at TCP. I thought Gavin looked really cute and grown up in the half zip sweatshirt, so I tried desperately to get a picture of him. The only way he would stand still was to try to open the bathroom door. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I take what I can get. Gunner thought this was cool and wanted to do it, too!

What time is it? (Revised)

So, most nights when it starts getting late Clint will ask Gavin "what time is it?" Gavin's usual response is "bath time!". Last night Gavin was playing with Clint's watch upstairs when he asked him if it was bath time. Gavin looked at the watch and said "No, it's only 9:00." Clint looked at the watch and wouldn't you know it was exactly 9:00. He asked him again and Gavin looked at the watch and had the same response. Clint thought this was pretty cool and had to bring the watch down and tell me. I looked at it, now reading 9:02, and asked Gavin the time and he again said 9:00 again. It was obviously just a big coincidence but definitely something odd for us to remember!

PS I haven't boycotted posting pictures, I just haven't been very good at taking them these past couple of weeks!

Watching What You Say!

Our little Gavin has become quite the little talker these days! There have been several days that I have had to call Clint at work to tell him some of the funny things Gavin has said. Our favorite is when he proclaims that something is "ridiculous"! The other night Clint told him to go clean up the toy room before bath time. Gavin walked into to the room and said, " This a mess! This ridiculous!" Clint asked who made the mess..."Mimi made a mess. This ridiculous! This digusting!" Of course, it's always someone else who made the mess! Something a little less appropriate that he now playfully says to Gunner is...."Move out the way 'Butt Butt Man'!" Yes, his new nickname for Gunner is "Butt Butt Man". He rarely says it, but it has been said. I guess I am to blame for this one as I call his rear his butt butt sometimes, but he came up with the name on his own. We think it is really funny to hear him say this but I do try to tell him not to call Gunner names. I have also caught him counting in Spanish recently. Clint put some field corn on our deck to put on the squirrel feeder and Gavin starting picking them up one-by-one and counting them in Spanish. The first time he did it, he said the numbers exactly right up to seven. Now, he just randomly says them. He loves to say the words "help me" in Spanish as well. He tried to get down from his booster seat one morning and got stuck. I was in the kitchen getting a wash cloth, so he called out to me..."help mommy, ayudame!" This is all coming from his favorite shows, Dora and Diego. These cute and quirky sayings help me get through the day with his spunky, everything-revolves-around-me 2-year-old personality.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER

by Erma Bombeck (Written after she found out she was dying from cancer)
--I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
--I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
--I would have talked less and listened more.
--I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
--I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
--I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
--I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
--I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
--I would have sat on the lawn! With my grass stains.
--I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
--I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
--Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
--When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's'; more 'I'm sorry's.'
--But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
--Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.
--Instead; let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.
--Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally. I hope you have a blessed day.

Fresh Air

We have been blessed with some beautiful weather this past week! I am so upset that I didn't get my camera out as we took advantage of the weather playing outside and going to different parks. Today was still a mild 60 degrees, but it is supposed to start dropping tonight. It stormed pretty bad last night so the ground was really wet, but the boys were bound and determined to get outside. I had planned on having a lazy day inside as Gunner had a bad day yesterday. He had to basically get recircumcised and then did a face plant on the concrete after. Oh, and he STILL has a bit of an ear infection on top of that! I kept the boys in their pjs and just put on their rain boots, hoodies, and good ear-flap hats. Mommy looked really silly, too!



It is so cute when they actually play TOGETHER!



A good shot of Gunner's boo-boo's!

This is our squirrel feeder. The boys love putting corn on it and watching how long it takes the squirrels to come and eat it.