Mothers Day

This Mother's Day was the best ever. It really was just amazing. I woke up to my husband making french toast (and even the huge treat of him having cleaned up ALL the mess from it too! I am married to a gem, folks!)

While Bill finished up breakfast, Little Dude brought me coffee and informed me I had to lay on the couch and read.

Which I did. And it was amazing. Little Dude kept coming up and hugging me and saying:

"Thanks Mom, Happy Mother's Day" ALL DAY. It was amazing hear that tiny voice saying those word, oh my heart swelled with pride and love and gratefulness.

He's going to be a mighty fine husband to a lucky lucky lady someday. 

Then, as though that wasn't already the best day ever, my sweet little redheaded JR came running up to me and my coffee with a handful of clover flowers for me and told me:

"Happy Mother's Day! I love you!" He is just the sweetest, isn't he? And what is even better, is that he picked those flowers the DAY BEFORE while Bill mowed the lawn. He had asked Bill where he could hide them, and Bill had told him to put them in the pantry downstairs. JR was quite convinced I would see them there, and told Bill that wouldn't work. Since Bill didn't see or hear anything else about the flowers, he had assumed that JR had dropped/forgotten/left them outside.

But no. JR, all on his own, had hidden them in the picnic cooler, and went, as soon as he got out of bed, to go get them and hand them to me, all perfectly wilted in the most wonderful way, in a little plastic cup.

Oh my heart. Those were the best flowers I have ever gotten. I kept them on my counter until this morning, when I finally had to give them up for dead. But don't worry, I got plenty of photos of them (though still on my camera, ha!)

He's going to be a mighty fine husband to a lucky lucky lady someday, too. 

And Champ had no idea what was going on, but was super excited to be in on the hugging and was content to follow his brothers around as they got me things (like more coffee! When did Little Dude become a Big Dude?) And blankets (though I have to admit, I started sweating, but couldn't resist the NEXT blanket JR and Champ slowly dragged to the couch for me. They were on a mission all day to fluff me up in the couch.)

And my sweet husband? THE BEST EVER. He cleaned the house, sat with the on the couch and read next to me, and later indulged me on a walk up to the park and around back to the local coffee shop. (I may have a slight addiction to coffee...) We all played at the park, and napped in the hammock, and watched the kids play in our yard and watched the clouds float by. He said:

"I hope this is what Heaven is like". Oh my heart. I am so lucky and blessed to have these four amazing men in my life. I know I say it every year, but this really was the best Mother's Day ever.

A wonderful husband, three healthy amazing loving boys, and one super sweet beautiful girl in Ind*a. I am one crazy blessed and lucky Mom, indeed.

And We Are OFF!

So much has been going on lately, that I have really just found no time or energy to get on my own blog and update. But, I know that I need to keep up some of this stuff because I'll want to reflect and look through photos later! Here is what is currently going on in our world:

Little Dude is loving school. He is obsessed with Ninjago and reading The Magic Tree House series. He is also loving soccer, so we will probably be signing up for the spring season here soon. He is really into Egyptian stuff right now and we went to the art museum to learn more-he was totally in his element talking to the art guide there! It was so cute, as soon as I get my camera back from my father in law I will share photos. He is growing into such a little man and I try to remember every little hug now, as I am noticing that his head now reaches my chest...he is just growing up so quickly!

JR is loving preschool and comes home talking about all his friends. He is obsessed with Scooby Doo and Batman and I have gotten him more obsessed with reading by finding every single book possible on both subjects. He is also really enjoying soccer, though I absolutely hate his coach this yer, so we will be looking for a different group if we can't get a different coach in the spring. Let's just say the coach is horrible for little kids. Simply horrible. Enough said.

Champ is starting to talk and often walks around speaking gibberish all day. I love it. Lately at bedtime he runs around giving out HUGE hugs and patting us all on the back. Cutest hugs ever! The other night we were eating soup and I let him have some of the liquid from my bowl-he slurped it and said "ahhh" after. THAT was so cute! Bill and I couldn't stop laughing.

I am still watching HOss, and he is quite a joy. He and Champ have tons of fun playing together.

As for our Princess, we FINALLY have our homestudy OFF to be reviewed/approved for India! YIPPIEEE!!! I am anxious to hear back, BUT I have been told it will be 4 weeks til the review is done, at the soonest. -And please pray that is the soonest I REALLY want to have this all done for the Show Hope Dec. deadline for adoption grant money. Anyways, from this point, I am working on getting grant applicaitons ready to send off as soon as we get the homestudy back (approved!) and then from there, we start all the immigration stuff for our little Princess. If things keep going on track, and we get grant money in a timely fashion (or win the lottery....haha) then MAYBE we might have our Princess home by this summer. And wouldn't that just be the BIGGEST blessing ever to have her here before her 3rd birthday? Oh I am hoping so much!

As for Bill and Me, we just got back from my brother in law's wedding at the beach. It was so nice to catch up with so many of our friends, some that now live far away and we miss very much! We did all kinds of fun side trips with the kids to see the Wright Brothers Memorial and the Aquarium, and it was just so a wonderful week with all our family, but I will be glad when I have finally cleaned all the sand out of my car! I think I am finally caught up on laundry.

So, for now, I am working as much as I can to save extra money for our Princess to come home, and starting on all the grant stuff. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers-we could use some help to find the ways to afford everything we have to do to get her here to us!

Overall, life is amazing and wonderful and we are just so very very blessed to have each other and our amazing kids.

My little scientists, Champ and JR, at Marbles Kid's Museum

Nesting And Adoption

In the big scheme of things, we are still super early in our adoption process, much to my annoyance. BUT, we have also gotten A LOT done, much to my joy.

The entire homestudy process has been huge to get through and as of now we are still waiting for my boss to send in his reference, and or our social worker to finish typing everything up, THEN we are ready to apply for grants.

I'm praying so hard we can make the Show Hope grant deadline this month, but if not, then we will be ready for the next one in Oct. And there are tons of little grants I want to apply for as well, so those will keep me busy if we miss Show Hope.

My greatest hope IS in the Show Hope one-they could end up giving us a large enough amount to fund everything we need that our savings isn't going to be able to cover-how amazing would that be? And getting that big chunk so soon would enable us to speed through the final steps, with our dossier, our passports, travel flights, and the huge contract fees and the huge government fees for Visas, official documents (a birth certificate with OUR last name, yay!) and other such very important things that are all due in big chunks and can't be financed.

I am hoping and praying so hard that God will keep her safe until we can get to her. A couple of children in her orphanage have died from simple (here) illnesses and a part of me is so scared she will catch something, like just a cold, or heat exhaustion, too.  I know, it is silly, but still, I probably have such fears just because I can't be there to hold her and take care of her.

I'm so scared she will die before she has a parent to kiss her goodnight and hug her tight.

When I had learned about another little girl's death from the orphanage, and this little girl I happen to know was in the process of being adopted by such a wonderful family, it just increased my fear. I want our little Princess to know that there are people out there working hard to bring her to our family, that we want HER and love her so very much.

But, on a more positive note, I have been doing a tiny bit of "nesting". It makes the long waits between any feedback from our agency (and like now we are just in stand still waiting on a reference letter and the report to be finished...sigh) So, while there is little to do, I have been searching out cute things for her bedroom. I found these:

I was so super excited to find them in dark haired/dark skinned versions as well. I got them on zulily.com, so the prices were fantastic. I also got a few other similar photos of dark haired little princesses in various fairy tale settings. They are 8 by 11, so they will be perfect to frame and hang around her room, maybe over her little bed or over the reading area.  Since she and Champ will share a room until they get older, I also found some similar ones of little boys with puppies, playing in mud, and reading a story, and a cute subway tile looking one like this top one that says "Our Dream Came True, All Wrapped In Blue" with a little rocket ship on it.

I have them saved as favorites on etsy, so when I have the money saved I'll scoop those up and start working on the shared room space layout, with a little boy side and a little girl side. I'm excited to bring that to life in the next year, but I did promise Bill I wouldn't buy anything else until we get our official referral.

Sigh, that will be hard :)

AND in great news, I found an Indian grocery store near us and had a great conversation about classic recipes and ingredients and how to use them. He is also ordering a cookbook for me in English, since all of his on the shelves were not. I'm super excited and thankful for his help! He also told me about a clothing store that was in the same shopping area that has traditional Indian outfits-I had SO much fun looking at the little outfits and bangles and bindis....And I as so thankful the lady there was so kind to explain to me how the bindi worked, how it should be placed and what it meant-along with the bangles. They also did ear and nose piercing there, so that would be super fun to take our daughter, if she wants, and let her pick out a traditional looking earring to put in her ears. They were much more ornate than the simple studs you get at the mall, and I just loved them. They also had some wedding outfits and the lovely shades of red, the head dresses...wow, they were just STUNNING.

I can see going back there a lot! Though the prices were high enough I will probably only be able to get one or two a year as she grows, but certainly not much more expensive than a Disney Store costume and accessories, so it will certainly be something we get for her to dress up in and one for special holidays, like the Festival of Lights I want to start celebrating as a family.

And I am excited to have found such close resources right here, so now I don't feel as stressed to save up money to buy outfits for her when we travel over (though I certainly will buy some things for her) At least now though, I know I can always get new gowns for her as she grows and as I have the extra money to splurge. And we can now hunt down her favorite colors and let her pick things out as well. I am excited about the thought of picking out bangles and dresses and traditional meal ingredients with my daughter at these stores someday.

So, those are my little nesting things, and the excitement and thoughts they give me keeps me trucking on along through the massive grant paper work, adoption paper work, careful budgeting and other such tedious tasks we must accomplish to bring her home to us.

So worth it, but I do wish I could win just a portion of the lottery and just pay everything right this minute.

I can't wait to say I have three sons AND a daughter!

Thor, Flash Storm, Ant Man and Wasp

The only non-blurry photo I have of the elusive Iron Man

Apparently, I missed out on a lot of fun growing up without any boys or male playmates. Even in school I always had girl friends and never really felt comfortable around boys; thus I missed out on some of the coolest stuff ever.

Like super heroes. Who knew there were so many? With so many skills? There is even a girl named WASP who seems infinitely cooler than Super Girl (or even Bat Girl...remember the Alicia Sliverstone movie? *shudder*)

Anyways, super heroes are ALL the rage at our house right now. On a minute to minute breakdown through the day I take on a slew of super hero identities to match whatever theme the boys are on-they are Batman and Robin? I'm obviously Bat Mom (with the ever present Champ playing the part of Bat Baby). The boys are Thor and Ant Man? I am obviously Wasp, who, with the help of Baby Wasp, stings bad guys to death, flies around and can shrink to fit in tiny places-no bad guys can escape the wrath of Wasp and baby Wasp.

And yes, there actually is an ANT MAN-I too had thought the boys made him up until we saw the Avengers cartoon. I'm telling you, I lived a sheltered life of tea parties and My Little Pony.

I have to say, I am a little sad to see JR skipping the Thomas the Train and Sesame Street stage-he is up to whatever Little Dude is up to, so now that Little Dude is "waaaaaaay to oooooooollllllddddd for Elmooooooo" (direct quote, by the way, given exclusively to me when I asked if they would like to watch said show...) it seems that all kinds of bad guy hunting must take place.

Luckily, firefighters are still a huge hit here, since they are "life like super hereos" (again, direct quote from my eldest....) So, when whatever I try to entertain with bombs, an impromptu trip to visit our favorite living super hereos can get even the worst rainy day blues to go away.

It is super cool to see all the pretend play and super hero stuff. And now that Disney bought Marvel (or has the license rights for awhile)I have been having fun pricing super hero gear for the boys' birthdays! Yay! I am also super excited to see what costumes Disney has for super hereos around Halloween-score!

I, of course, will be a princess again, since I am, after all, the princess of all my men.

And now, back to being Iron Man Mom, as I can hear two Iron Man-s (Men?) still running around upstairs with Iron Man Dad and Iron Man Baby just started to cry for food. The secret life of a super hero. Now you know.

Our First Rides

I never had a bike growing up, partly because living in the mountains off a steep driveway and even steeper yard didn't really provide a great place to learn, and partly because back then my parents just didn't have the money.

I did finally get one when I went to college, and trust me to say that I thought I would never live down the embarrassment of crashing into a light pole on the corner of Western.

After that, I just got up earlier and walked to class from my apartment.

Anywho. Bill and I were super excited for Christmas this year because THIS year, we were getting JR a little bike, and Little Dude (who already is quite a champ at his bike) wanted a scooter. Since we live in such a wonderful area, there is a fantastic park just down the street from us in our neighborhood, along with 4 or 5 other park choices right within a short drive from the house-so needless to say, there are TONS of places the boys can safely ride their bikes. We are all loving it.

Here is Little Dude getting geared up to take his scooter up to the park for the first time. His first trip was more of a slow walk/push/sorta scoot ride; he has since gotten much better and faster, much to my pregnant dismay, since I now must keep up with him and help keep JR steady on his bike.

Here is JR with all his safety gear on, taking HIS bike for the first time up to the park. He got a hang of the pedals about halfway there, thank goodness. Though we kept a hand on him the whole time, it was tons easier to give him pushes as needed once he wasn't pedaling against us...

We made it to the park! Our Little Dude, growing much too quickly.

Our JR, quickly catching up with his brother and also getting too big too quickly.

My Princess Buddy

I'm really bummed.

But at the same time, excited.

You see, this week is my last week caring for Miss Emily. I've had her to play with and be girly with and just sit in amazement together as the boys perform yet another set of super hero feats and show us how they are defeating the bad guys.....

Needless to say, she has been SO FUN.

And Friday is my last day with her. I'm super sad about it.

But then, Monday will be super nice, because I won't have to get up at 6:30 to get ready for her arrival-I could even just stay in my pj's til after breakfast, since the only people seeing me will be the boys.

Or even stay in them all day, if I wanted.

And grocery shopping will be much simpler with two than with three. And if I go while Little Dude is in school, then I'll be shopping with ONE-wow. THAT will actually be super amazing.

And I'm looking forward to spending some great one on one time with JR while Little Dude is in preschool. JR has never had that, so I am super happy I get a good month (or hopefully two) to spend Tues. and Thurs. doing just what JR wants to do, reading the books he wants to read, and making the lunch he wants to eat instead of having to find the balance for three.

It is going to be super awesome.

But gosh, I am really going to miss having a little princess around.

(JR, Little Dude, and Emily this past Halloween at my house)

Living With Boys

I grew up in a house of girls.

The majority of my childhood my dad was off traveling for work, so we really only saw him on Saturdays and Sundays before he would be taking off again for the next week.

So yes, it was 4 women, and thus there were lots of Barbie play, tea parties, dress up, and makeup demos. I would even play with all my baby dolls and pretend they were my daughters and take them for grand walks in the woods and tea parties under the huge pine tree with my sisters.

I didn't even have any cousins or neighbors nearby, so beyond interacting with boys at school (which, of course, could give you cooties until late middle school/high school) I had NO idea what kind of play my boys would do.

They have quickly informed me though, about how BOYS play, much to my dismay.

You see, there are no quiet tea parties going on in our play kitchen. NOOOOO.

Instead, they are building bombs to get bad buys, poisoning food to get bad guys, and cooking stuff they declare to be better than the veggies I try to stuff in them on a daily occurrence. Usually all this cooking goes on with quite a LOUD fan fare; the results usually have food thrown about everywhere, the play table turned topsey turvy, and an impromptu battle against bad guys takes place involving the poor play cupcakes.

Occasionally they will take the baby doll we have on a ride in the grocery cart, but usually the baby gets covered in items they pick up around the playroom, like the play food, blankets, baskets, and trains, and when they are done, she is usually tossed into the play oven.

I am a bit worried about their future parenting techniques.

Needless to say, I am a bit out of water with boy stuff. Most of what they play makes me cringe and I often find myself repeating:

Calm Down!
Slow Down!
Be Careful!
Be Gentle!!
Don't Throw THAT!
Don't Jump On Your Brother!
NOT IN FRONT OF THE STAIRS!!!

Those are pretty much all the phrases I need to get through my day.

Lately, their new game is "wreaking ball".

What, may you ask, is wreaking ball?

It is when one guy stands braced in the doorway and the other one RUNS at him AS FAST AS HE CAN and attempts to knock down the guy in the doorway.

The first time they played it a few nights ago, I didn't quite realize what they were doing, because all I caught were glimpses of them as they ran by the kitchen, and then I would hear hysterical laughter, so I figured all was good.

Parenting mistake number one-o-one: I should have remembered that just as equally dangerous as silence is hysterical laughter.

Later, when Bill got home he saw what they were doing and thought it was fantastic, and when I asked for more details on why he thought them running down the hall was so great, he pulled me out to the living room to show me the impact moment.

It was quite lucky Bill was there because I just about lost it.

I mean, really, THAT is a GAME? And they kept taking turns and doing it over and over and over....and over.

I was certain someone was going to get seriously injured and wanted to put a stop to it; however, Bill reminded me to step back and let them be; they are boys.

Which, I trust my husband with, since he and his brother were, apparently, just like these guys.

And they WERE having fun. And taking turns. And Sharing. And getting energy out.

It was just giving me a heartattack to watch, because, after all, it was a lot of WORK and PAIN to get those guys into this world, so I certainly don't want them to break each other.

So I had to go to something a bit more calm, like washing dishes.

Little Help

Well, time just keeps flying and we have been super busy lately. Somehow, there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done-and no matter what I choose to focus on, I end up with guilt because I'm neglecting something else.

I somewhat caught up on work I had been putting off by staying up after everyone else was asleep. Even though I was tired, it was pretty relaxing to enjoy the quiet, with only the sound of the keyboard clicking way.

Today I will focus on trying to clean the house, but with three little kids I doubt I will make much progress. We might just end up reading books all day.

As the kids get bigger, they get more and more independent. They want to do everything for themselves, and it is very bittersweet for me. Especially with JR, because he is starting the "independence thing" so much sooner than Little Dude, simply because he mimics everything his brother does. Sigh.

Lately, Little Dude has wanted to help with everything-last week when we went to Marbles to play, Little Dude insisted on paying. He clutched his play money in his hands the whole car ride to the kid's museum, and once there the young man checking our membership was sweet enough to play along, and was clever enough to give back Little Dude's play money as "change" for his tickets. Little Dude was so proud-as was I. My son took his brother, Emily and me to Marbles! Even if he didn't actually pay, the simple act of wanting to do something nice for us so badly was just so terribly sweet.

So, without further ado, here is my little helper, "helping" to build our deck (which we are almost done with-and might finish this weekend-squeal!!):



My little boys are rapidly becoming little men; I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Boys, Monster Trucks, and a Lack of Butterflies

We went to see a Monster truck. The boys (and Bill) were super excited to meet Bigfoot. I was more excited about the food tent that indicated I might be able to get coffee, since it was really chilly and I'm addicted to coffee.
Anyways, the food tent didn't pan out, as they only had soda; however, Little Dude had SO MUCH fun talking to Bigfoot's driver that it was well worth standing around listening to boys of all ages talk car/truck/monster truck gears/parts/stuff.

The boys even got autographed photos of Bigfoot from the driver and Little Dude carried his around everywhere with him for a solid two days. Now it sits on his dresser where he can see it from his bed. So adorable, even though I still don't know anything about cars. Er, I mean Monster Trucks. My three year old keeps reminding me its not just a car, it's a MONSTER TRUCK!

Is it wrong to claim girl-y status or should I really try to learn all this car/truck talk? I'm a little nervous now about my future with three car/truck loving men. I was getting a strong urge to chase butterflies when gear shifts and transmission talk started.....

Little Dude loved that the wheel is bigger than he is!
JR did NOT like the Bigfoot driver getting down to talk to him; JR is coming for me here. While I probably should have been scooping him up in a hug, since he was upset, I couldn't resist getting a photo first. JR did accept an autographed photo, too, so I think the driver got a few cool points as long as he didn't try to talk to JR down low. In any case, the driver got huge cool points from Bill and me; he was great talking to all the kids and answering three year old questions.

Now Bill is talking about taking the boys to a Monster Truck Rally. Oh my, help me now. Where did those butterflies go?

Life And Science Museum of Durham, NC

We went to yet another museum this week-this time we made the trip to Durham to visit the Life and Science Museum-IT IS AWESOME. Well worth the drive and everyone with kids of ANY age should take them.

There was a super cool train ride-much better than the one at Pullen Park, if you have ever been there, and an amazing dinosaur walk that had all the little boys going crazy. Little Dude, Linus, and JR were SO excited about the dinosaurs. The best part was the fossil digging at the end of the trail-I could see spending many hours there.

The museum was so huge we didn't even get to see everything-they have a mini zoo there with native animals and a barn yard-that was a HUGE hit. The butterfly house was 100 times bigger than the one at the Science Museum in Raleigh-and we didn't even get to see all of it because the outdoor air one was closed for the cold weather. Emily LOVED that; the boys loved chasing each other.

They even had a butterfly gift shop-ohhhh, I could see spending too much money there!

So, needless to say, it was AWESOME. They have a whole indoor part too, with weather, space, BUGS-ewww!-and a music room. I can't even tell you everything that was there.

We will be back for sure-and the great thing is that kids under 3 are free and parking is free, SO the 12.50 for me and 9.50 for Little Dude to get in and wander around for a few hours was well WELL worth it. Also, the museum is DEAD in the afternoons, so it was just us and my wonderful bloggy friend Abby, her son, and a handful of other people.

My suggestion though, if you don't live in Durham, make sure you head home by 4, because traffic SUCKS getting back to Raleigh from there. We left around 4:30, and I ended up SITTING for a good 20 minutes around Miami/Page Road, which made our almost hour drive home even longer-ugh. So, lesson learned here; I will have to be more diligent about leaving early.

Overall, I liked this one better than Marbles; however, it is a long drive from my part of town, so I would probably go to Marbles more often. Marbles is awesome for little kids, but for preschool and school age ones, I would choose the Durham museum as the best. Everyone should go check it out at least once.

*This is my opinion, I was not compensated to give this review or share my thoughts, I just wanted to let everyone know how cool it was *

Dr. Seuss and Reading is Fundamental

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday! I adore Dr. Seuss books, and LOVE reading them with all the children I ever cared for, and now my own!

Did you know that Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, couldn't find a publisher for his first story, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street because people thought they were too silly, even for children? He went through 20 or 30 publishers before finally finding one that would print his story. Good thing he never gave up, eh?

And what better day to celebrate Read Across America than on Dr. Seuss' birthday! So, today guys, get the books out, snuggle with your kids, and share with them a world where there are no limits, no boundaries, and anything can happen.

Share a book.

When to do Bunk Beds

My youngest will be 2 in June, and even though the boys have their own rooms now, I would like to give birth to or adopt a third child of our own someday in the future.

So, we are thinking of going ahead and moving the boys into one room, and letting them share bunk beds.

But I am wondering, when is a good age for sleeping on the top bunk? Little Dude will be 4 in September, and he climbs REALLY well-he can climb all the playground equipment with the best of the monkeys.

So I think he is ready, but I am a little worried about JR trying to climb up and getting stuck or falling off the ladder.

Are there certain types of bunk beds that have easier ladders, or brands that anyone can suggest for withstanding the play and sleep of two preschoolers? Does anyone even have suggestions on how to make this transition?

Should we have the bunk beds for a bit, with Little Dude on the bottom, before we move JR into the room and Little Dude to the top? Or should Little Dude always be on the top?

Any thoughts or advice?

Raising Two

Right now, my life is pretty busy.

We have a toddler who eats us out of house and home. Seriously. See his shirt?


Really though, JR eats everything in sight. I think he'd eat the baseboards if he thought we'd let him. The other day I was sweeping up food from the kitchen floor (You now know my kitchen floor has food on it. Yes, it often DOES) and he GRABBED something and ATE IT. It happen faster than I could think. How gross. (Mental note I need to clean the floor more regularly).

What else keeps me on my toes?

My adorable Prince Charming. (You can't see his shirt in this photo, but it does, in fact say, Prince Charming, so it is officially true.)


Little Dude gets braver and bigger by the minute and amazes me more and more with his worldly observations. Like yesterday, after I lectured him forever about how he shouldn't treat his toys badly because there are hungry, starving, cold people out there, he innocently asked me, "Momma, why don't we let them live here, then they can be warm, eat all the food and they can pick up my toys!"

So wise for 3.

Parenting is the best job in the world, and when it is done well, it is also one of the hardest in the world and I am glad for every minute, even the gross ones.

s

Tiny Talk

My son, Little Dude, LOVES his gummy vitamins, so when he noticed Bill and I had LARGER gummy vitamins, he was intrigued. He used every skill he had to try to convince us that he needed one of our BIG gummies.

When he realized he had lost the quest, the conversation got interesting:

Him: "When I grow up, I'm going to eat BIG vitamins."

Us: "That's right, Sweetie, then you'll be big and strong."

Him: "And I'm going to say BAD words. Oh Yeeeaaa."

Us: "Uhhh..."


Needless to say, we tried not to laugh, because he was so serious about it.

I've decided there isn't much cuter (or more fun) to be around then an imaginative 3 year old.

Playing Santa

*Disclaimer: Don't let your Santa loving kids read this*




OK, kids away from the computer?




I have to share....








I LOVED being Santa this year.

This was our third Christmas with children, but every year before we just put the "Santa" presents out, because, well, a 3 month old just doesn't care or know.

But THIS year, with a three year old...oh my gosh, the excitement was just overflowing our house. And Little Dudes little neighbor friends were all very excited this year, as well, so they had many discussions over Santa coming down their chimneys.

And there was something so odd, and nostalgic about being Santa with my husband while my sister played lookout for any waking boys. It made me think back on past Christmases, when my sisters and I would await Santa, not knowing our parents were frantically cutting, wrapping, and putting in batteries. I wanted to take a photo SO badly, but Bill wouldn't let me. He said the kids would find it-which, seeing how good Little Dude already is with my computer-Bill is probably right.

So I took photo of Bill setting up the coffee maker after we were all done, so that in the early am we would be able to function.

And the morning of Christmas, Little Dude got up and while he was in the potty I snuck down to get my sister up while Bill got JR, and we adults sat back, drank coffee and watched the magic we had created through huge three year old eyes.

It was just amazing.

Priceless

Come back! Get out of there! WHAT are you doing? WHY are you wet? Is that...good God, NO!

NO!!! Give that back to your brother! DON'T BITE your brother!! GET IN THE CORNER!

Those are some the things I heard my husband telling our sons this morning, as he gave me some "mommy free time" to catch up on work.

Having Bill home for the WHOLE week is just amazing and wonderful and way better than winning the lottery.

But the best part?

Having him realize that all those days we would talk on the phone, and he'd ask what I had done for the day-only to have me go "Ummmm, let me see, surely something..ummm...I guess nothing so far" -I was in fact doing something.

Yea, that is priceless.

Spelling G-I-F-T-S

With Christmas fast approaching, I am actually pretty done shopping. The are only a few small items still left to buy, which makes me so happy because as much as I love shopping, I really hate the mall crowds and craziness at Christmas.

But with all the kid's gifts (esp. the cool ones from Santa) hidden around the house in various places, it is hard for Bill and I to not talk about them. We discuss how to wrap them (one is big and we are still trying to figure out how to do that one) or even just sharing our general excitement for the boys to open them, or even go back and forth on how much should be wrapped before Christmas and how much should just show up Christmas day.

We have been getting around our discussions by spelling everything they might give away the gift or location or even S-A-N-T-A, so the kids generally just ignore us.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday morning Little Dude was fixing breakfast with us, and he started spelling.

He said something like "The milk is so yummy D-i-o-e-y".

It took us a second to figure out what he was doing, and it didn't really hit us until he said, "I want some more please, P-e-y-r-d-i".

Oh my. Good thing he can't spell yet.

Mr. Gilly is a Trashman

My oldest son is obsessed with the trash men that come every Tuesday. He LOVES trash trucks, helping me put things in the trash, finding items he thinks should go in the trash, and waiting for the trash truck to come.

So, when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, I wasn't very surprised when he passionately declared he wanted to be Mr.Gilly, the trash man character from his favorite book, Trashy Town.

But where do you find a trash man costume? Those aren't exactly on store racks, so I had to get a little creative. Oh, and I had to make Little Dude's outfit green, because, well Waste Management (who picks up our home trash) is green.

Well, after digging around our house and doing some creative moves, this is the costume I came up with:

He is in his pj bottoms, but he will wear real pants on Halloween. JR was excited to get in the picture, too.
I made the "safety vest" out of an old towel.
Added the writing to a green shirt I found in his closet.
And put "Trash Man" on his vest, just to help out everyone that meets him. He will also be carrying a small garbage bag of paper, some black gloves and his baseball cap (Mr Gilly wears one in the book) to help complete the ensemble. Pretty cool, eh?

I'm Not Wearing Shoes To A Mom Mixer

I am so glad I am a mom now. Not just because I really enjoy "mom stuff", but there are SO many ways to find other moms, mix, mingle, and learn tips, all without having to travel.

Yea, the Internet is quite amazing. Gosh, I blog and have a whole set of mom friends I have never met, but all of whom are special to me for the friendships we have.

I have no idea how my mom stayed sane as a stay at home mom to three girls out in the middle of no where. We grew up deep in the mountains of NC, and we had the outdoors to entertain us-mom didn't do playdates, craft dates, or mom meet ups, mostly because it took almost half an hour just to get down the mountain, let alone get to someone else's house.

I honestly don't think I would be as good of a mom if I didn't get to leave the house and go to playdates and meet ups with other moms.

And on that note, I am SUPER excited to be part of the Logitech Mom Mixer going on in Dallas today. And no, I am not in Dallas, I will be here, at my kitchen table, with my laptop and webcam. Getting to mix and mingle with all kinds of other great moms and the amazing Maria Baily, of Mom Select, Newbaby.com and Mom.tv, who put together the event-all while I feed my kids lunch.

How cool is that? Hopefully the kids will be happy with their lunches and let me participate without too many interruptions. But if not? That's OK, because after all, I'm Mom first, and being a mom is the whole reason I got invited.

I'll give you guys the scoop on the mixer, and if you'll also be a part of it, let me know so we can "mingle"!

Buzz, Zorg and Jessie

Today, Little Dude woke up with one thing on his mind: Toy Story 2. As in the Disney cartoon.

And so he greeted me this morning by explaining that HE was Buzz Lightyear, and that I was Jessie. Oh, and JR was Zorg.

Everything we did today, I had to call him Buzz, and he called me Jessie. He had his Buzz Lightyear shirt on (which we found at Target a few weeks ago), and I HAD to wear my straw hat, because, you know, Jessie is a COWGIRL and NEEDS a hat! Or so Little Dude explained. So, I wore my straw hat all day, and played with Little Dude Buzz and JR Zorg.

Even when I took my cold/cough medicine (because, yes, I am getting sick again and feel like a nice cow girl patty at the moment) I had to say "yeee haaaww" after I took it. Because, you know, that's what Jessie does.

Meanwhile, JR Zorg insisted on wearing one of our hardhats, which Little Dude Buzz highly approved of as a Zorg space helmet. We went on a short wagon ride with both of our construction hats space helmets, and that just had to be a sight, because I was hacking up a lung and the kids were laughing hysterically.

We went and voted for the school board seats, and Little Dude Buzz explained to the voting man that I was Jessie (which lead to me explaining why my son was saying my name was Jessie when I was trying to vote as Miche). The guy just gave me a blank stare; obviously he doesn't have kids.

Then we went and checked out our church preschool for Little Dude Buzz and got a baptism date and Godparents on file for JR Zorg. Yes, I know he is over a year old, but we have been in Alabama for the past year, so cut me some slack.

After that, the Toy Story 2 troupe and I went to the library where we proceeded to have a mini fit over the fact that ALL the Disney books on Toy Story were checked out. Then Little Dude Buzz saw some Diego (that animal rescue character) books, and all was well with the world.

Now it is only 9pm, and I am about to die from my cough, and even though I really need to work and catch up on some items, I'm going to bed with the hopes that I can just play catch up during nap time tomorrow.