Keepin' it real

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year (again). I may do it again someday, but for now I'm taking a break from that ritual. However, I still took pictures of the boys by the Christmas tree. It's a great opportunity to get the two of them sitting by each other. So, if I had gotten Christmas photo cards with the boys on it, I would have probably used this picture:

Or, maybe even this one, with a little cropping:

Or, if I decided to use a picture of the four of us, I would maybe have used this one:


(OK, maybe I wouldn't have used that one...I probably would have tried for a few more options, but I still like the picture) Anyway, if you're like me, you send out the best looking picture. As I scrolled through what I had, I decided that while my boys are adorable in the previous pictures, it doesn't necessarily show their true personalities. At our house, it's more like this:

And this:

Or this:

I have to say that this next one is one of my favorites, simply because it shows just how much Micah loves his big brother.

Now this one's pretty good:

But this one's a little scary:

And all I can say about this is that Ethan, well, he's 5.

"Cheese" can only be said with a goofy look:

And, quite frankly, this one just looks too posed:

However, I think my little guys are pretty cute, whether they are sitting calmly or trying to be silly for mom. Which one would be your Christmas card pick?

Chicago

Jason and I took off the Friday after Thanksgiving for a weekend away. His parents generously took care of the kids so we could have a chance to go away...something that we haven't done together in about 5 years!

We spent Friday wandering around downtown Chicago. Our main mission was to go to the Lego Store for a Christmas present for Ethan (shhh...don't tell!). Since it was "black Friday", there were TONS of people on the Magnificent Mile. I haven't seen that many people, well, ever. It was just the two of us, so it was relatively easy to manuever through the crowds (plus it was a great excuse to hold my husband's hand!). We enjoyed sightseeing, people watching, and just plain wandering around without having to worry about naps and meal times. It was great to dine out and stay in the wondeful hotel room that our brother-in-law got us a niftly little deal on (you know I love my deals!).

Saturday morning we went to a wonderful bagel place. Let me tell you, fresh bagels, toasted, with a little honey butter and a cup of hot chocolate was a lovely way to start the day. I could get used to that part of city life! We then spent a few hours just wandering and enjoying being together. We walked the streets, the parks, Navy Pier, and more streets until we finally had to go back to the hotel room to warm up.

After we thawed, we hopped in the car again and headed to the next city so we could get ready for Suzanne's wedding (the real reason for the weekend away!). We enjoyed the lovely ceremony and had fun hanging out at the reception. We finally took pictures there, so you get to see us all dressed up instead of bundled up!

It was a wonderful trip...full of lots of fun, rest, and time away with my awesome husband!

Gingerbread Houses

Jason was out of town last week, and the days fell on my two days off from work, so I was the sole entertainer in the household for the whole day. No aunts or grandparents to step in while I went off to work! No daddy in the evening as a fresh playmate!

One of the fun parts of my job is the programs that I get to participate in. But, even better than that is when there are leftovers from the programs that I can snag and take home for my boys. This time Jason's days away fell a few days after a Gingerbread program. I grabbed extra supplies and saved them in a container for a fun task that would fill a few hours...OK, I was optimistically hoping for a 1/2 hour. The boys were excited when I showed them all the supplies--really, what kid wouldn't be excited when their mother sets a bag of candy and a pile of frosting in front of them! So, they went to work...

The "Gingerbread" houses were milk cartons (from a school...thoroughly rinsed and sprayed with air freshener) that had graham crackers stuck to them. We used frosting from a container and it was plenty thick for making the candy stick.

I sat back and took pictures (though I helped with the spreading of frosting). The boys happily covered the house with candy, candy canes, mints, Smarties, M&M's, gumdrops, colorful marshmallows, and gingerbread men cookies. They used Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal for the roof.

I was really surprised that they didn't even eat that much of the candy! They were so happy sticking the candy on the house that I think they forgot how much they like to eat it.

Ethan loves to use the camera, so I gave it to him to take pictures of the finished houses while I cleaned up Micah. He takes a lot of...shall I say "artistic" shots!

This was really fun and I think it would be easy to do on my 0wn without grabbing supplies from work. Really, I would gladly buy numerous bags of candy...just for the houses.

How it is at our house

This is what Ethan said to Jason regarding why Micah was crying:

"I tried to give him a piggy back ride but I didn't know I couldn't do it"

Muffled laughter coming from the mother in the other room.

Learning

We knew Ethan was learning "popcorn words" at school over the last few weeks. These are words that "pop up" all the time...the, and, I, is, or (among others). This evening he told us about school and that he wrote about what he likes to eat. Jason asked him how to spell eat (because, quite frankly, we didn't think he could spell). He replies "e-a-t". While this is awesome, I think my days of spelling things so my kids don't understand are g-o-n-e. So, we asked Ethan to write his sentence for us so we could see how he writes. Check it out!


Translation: I like to eat pumpkin pie and turkey. Those vowels will get you every time! :) But, he sounded it all out and wrote what he heard. He also make the "e" on the word "like" dotted...because it's a silent "e". Of course. I'm not sure who's learning more in school, him or us.

Halloween '08

I know Halloween seems like it was a while ago already, but when I look at the candy still left in the boys' buckets...it seems like we just went trick-or-treating yesterday! The weather was absolutely perfect this year, so it was fun to wander the neighborhood. Ethan quickly caught on to the fact that we got to more houses if he moved faster. Micah loved choosing candy out of the huge bowls that were offered to him. They had a great time, and this mom is eating way too much candy lately!

Ethan decided that he wanted to be a baseball player, so his costume was easy since we could put him in the Tigers jersey that he loves to wear! Micah loves Mickey Mouse, so when I was given the opportunity to borrow this costume, I jumped right on it!

My kiddos got sillier as the night went on. Hmmm...I wonder why that was?

This was one of the few pictures where he actually smiled instead of giving me serious baseball player faces. A photo happy mom apparently cramps the style of this baseball player.

Our nephew, Colin, stopped by to get in on the fun. His monkey costume was so cute!

I remember sorting through my "loot" after I finished trick-or-treating. Tons of fun to do the same with my kids!

I don't think Micah has ever seen this much candy. He couldn't even carry his bucket by the end of the night! We had to hand it to him at the door when he said "trick-or-treat". We decided when the bucket is too heavy to carry then it's time to head home!

October 2008

For some reason, when I haven't blogged for a while, I feel like I have to justify my absence. I don't know why that is, but I am who I am. I'm still here, I still regularly check other blogs. I just haven't paid attention to mine! I have pictures I want to post, but honestly, all of my pictures from the month of October are still on my camera. I've been too lazy to upload them. Someday soon, I'll do a picture montage post.

Also, I've made a conscious effort to simply use my computer less during the day. You see, I was getting distracted by the computer and not focusing on my kids when I should have been. I'm working on a balance...a little "me" time on the computer mixed in with the time I spend with my kiddos. I haven't reached a balance yet, but frankly am OK with the scales tipping toward tons of time with my family and not as much time on the computer.

Things were busy in the month of October in our household. Jason spent a lot of time getting settled into the routine of his new job. He did an overnight out of town, a little mini color tour if you will. He didn't have much time for relaxing in his hotel, or a solid night's sleep without kiddos, since the building alarms went off at 6 am. But, he didn't need the wake-up call that he scheduled! His highlight for the month was finally receiving his company car. He has a pretty snazzy set of wheels, but I'm a little biased. I'm going to try and convince him to take a picture by it, but since he's not one for posing, we'll see how successful I am in that!

I spent a lot of time preparing for an Amazing Race fundraiser for the GEMS group at church. Basically, it was an event where teams competed against each other to complete tasks and solve clues. The first team done with everything won! One great example would be that each team had to purchase a container of ice cream...and then we made them eat it...but we didn't really give them spoons...at least not enough for the whole team. Some teams had small containers, but others didn't think they would have to eat it so the got 1/2 gallons. We had a riot that night, but it was a lot of work! I'm already brainstorming clues for next year. The problem with a fun and successful fundraiser is that you set a standard to live up to for the next year! I have to put my thinking cap on!

The boys had a riot on Halloween (OK, mom and dad did too). Micah quickly caught on to what happened when you said "trick or treat" at the front door of all the houses. Both of their faces were funny when the were allowed to choose whatever they wanted from the candy dish. I found that it can be a "problem" to have cute kids...people put extra candy in their buckets. I love candy. I'm like a child. I've been regularly raiding their buckets. I totally lack self-control when it comes to candy. One of these days I'm going to eat it until I'm sick (like I kind of did on Halloween after the kids went to bed!). I'm ready for the candy to be gone...but then I'll miss it!

Since I don't have any pictures for this post (like I said, too lazy to upload), I'll leave you with this link...proof that my family is around and still smiling! Scroll down the link for family pictures, extended family pictures, and pictures of my two sons!

Jason's List

Jason's to-do list for today (as made by his loving wife):

1. Try to get washing machine running
2. Fix plug in bathroom sink
3. Call to cancel washing machine service

Check, check, and check. Whew. I am one happy wife...I even did a few small loads of laundry just to be sure everything was working well. It is!

To-do list

Today was one of those days where I made myself a to-do list. I've made a few of them lately, and I've actually stuck with them and gotten a lot accomplished. I had high hopes for my list today since it didn't have too many lofty goals...and most of the goals could be reasonably accomplished in the morning or in my living room while I watched over kiddos (Mondays I add my nephew, Colin, to the group). Anyway, the list had typical items on it. Colin gets around really well, so I try to be a good aunt and vacuum before he comes. There's also the other household items...here's a glimpse of my list:

1. Vacuum living room
2. Vacuum kitchen
   
3. Sort laundry
4. Wash & dry laundry
5. Fold laundry
6. Wash dishes
   
7. Empty dishwasher
8. Plan supper
   
9. Change sheets
10. Dust living room
    

Like I said, not an unreasonable list. Here's what got added midway through the list when I went downstairs to move laundry from the washer to the dryer:

• Unplug washer because there's a nasty "electric smell" permeating the basement
• Search basement for evidence of smoke (none noted, thankfully)
• Leave message for Jason on cell phone
  
• Wring laundry out by hand
• Put 1/2 load of laundry in dryer (I'm not very good at wringing it out by hand)
• Cart sweaters upstairs with drying rack to drip dry in the bathtub
• Partially bail out washing machine by hand
• Notice that water is pooling around drain rather than going down drain
• Call Jason
• Notice I unplugged the sump pump instead of the washing machine
  
• Plug in sump pump and smile because the water went down the drain
• Unplug washing machine for real
  
• Tell Jason the whole wonderful story
• Mop up water around the drain
  
• Wring out remaining laundry
• More bailing
• Call repair company

I did not finish my to-do list today. I'm not making one tomorrow. Scratch that. I'm making a to-do list for Jason tomorrow. :)

31 years, 31 things

In two weeks it will be Jason's 31st birthday. In preparation for that day, I thought I would blog 31 things that I love about my husband. Just a small glimpse into the many reasons why I love this guy so much.

1. The way he smiles at me when I walk into a room.
2. The silly things he does to make the boys laugh.
3. How he's not afraid to chase dreams.
4. The silly things he does to make me laugh.
5. That he only complains a little when I rearrange things and he can't find anything.
6. I love that he calls me during the day just to say "hi".
7. The cute dimple on his chin.
8. He lets me put my cold feet on him to warm them up. We're talking often here. My feet are cold from about October to March.
9. He is always willing to lend a helping hand.
10. He's willing to listen to God's direction for our life.
11. How he'll get up and bring me a snack when I'm too lazy to get one myself.
12. He give's me an "A-" on the stuff I bake so that I'll make it again to try for an "A" even though we both know it was an "A" the first time. (Well, most of the time it is!)
13. I love that he is totally supportive of my crazy coupon addiction.
14. How he shaves and leaves a goatee just to make me laugh.
15. How he loads the dishwasher totally wrong and then only shakes his head when I rearrange things. Really, in my head there is a wrong way to load a dishwasher.
16. All the crazy facts he knows. I'm talking some really random stuff.
17. That he helps me not stress about the little things.
18. The fact that he is ticklish only a few times a year. Really, he can will himself to not be ticklish the rest of the time. I only wish I had that kind of willpower.
19. That he takes over the housework sometimes when he can tell I need a break.
20. How his sports team loyalties are rubbing off on Ethan.
21. I love that he lets me just talk whenever I can't stop talking.
22. That he knows my weaknesses and loves me anyway.
23. He makes sure I get "me time" when I really need it.
24. He's quite handy...he can fix just about anything.
25. That he hates it when I drive when we go somewhere together.
26. How he regularly irons his clothes without complaining.
27. He still flirts with me...just go back to my post in July where he tossed me into the lake fully clothed. Flirting at its finest!
28. How he can get me to believe almost anything he says. I'll ask him a question about something and he can "sell" me on a totally off-the-wall answer. Either he's good at sales, or I need to think a little more!
29. That he could eat a turkey dinner with all the trimmings every night.
30. That he spends time praying with me and reading the Bible with me.
31. That I know he still means it when he tells me he loves me.

I don't think I tell him enough what an incredible guy he is, so I thought this would be a great way to do it!

To-do

Is is bad when I have to add "post on blog" to my to-do list? The posts are so spontaneous that way. Sigh. I'm working my way down the list, but I have a few things I must do before spending a while with my blog. So, I promise, more than this measly post will follow. Soon...really.

Speech explosion

Micah has reached the 2-year-old stage where his vocabulary increases exponentially each day. There are times in the day where he jabbers nonstop. He did this before, but then we couldn't understand a lot of what he said. Now, we're able to understand more each day as his words become more clear. Jason and I, as well as our family members, find ourselves laughing at the words and expressions come out of his mouth. Enjoy some of the highlights!

• He now says "Micah" instead of his previous version, "me-ah". He also says "E-tan" instead of his earlier version, "E-T".
• My mom was telling me that Micah sat and listened the other day as Ethan described his day at school. Ethan talked about how one of the boys in his class had pushed him and had also pushed some of the other kids. Micah's response..."thas not vry nice E-tan".
• Jason likes to ask Micah if he is his buddy. Micah always tells him "I not your buddy, I mommy's buddy". He'll say he's Jason's friend, though.
• He has taken to telling me that most everything he eats is "de-wish-us". He also described something to my mom the other day and told her it was "dangerous". The big words crack me up!
• Last night Jason was teasing Micah about something. Micah told him "knock it off, daddy". I managed to not laugh out loud.
• Jason was gone for business last week. We watched him leave on the airplane. The whole week, if you asked Micah where Jason was, he would tell you "daddy on airpwane". I tried to tell him that Jason landed, but he just couldn't grasp that!
• This summer, Ethan was being an antagonist (as brothers can be). Micah wasn't going to stand for it, so he looked at Ethan, pointed his little finger at him, and said with a force only a 2-year-old can muster "E-NOUGH". Hmmmm...I wonder where he heard that before?
• One of my favorite things to hear him say lately is "I have no idea". Coming from him, being clueless is absolutely adorable!

My funny boy

Ethan cracks me up this week. Here's why...

On Thursday, the second day of school, I asked him what his favorite part of school is. He told me "gym class". I responded with "You haven't even had gym class yet!". His response... "I know it will be my favorite when I have it".

On Friday I asked him what he played at recess. My five-year-old-going-on-twelve-year-old told me "We played chase the girls." The mother who can't help but act like a mother said "Did the girls want to be chased?" Thankfully, it didn't seem like they minded.

Today I told Jason that while I was at work, I would love it if he and Ethan cleaned his bedroom. It was already picked up, it just needed a little TLC. Jason told Ethan that they should get started cleaning his room. Ethan's response... "Dad, if I pay you, will you clean my room?" Smart kid. I asked Jason to check how much he was willing to pay. It could have been worth doing myself. He was willing to pay $2.00--not enough to get me to do it, but I bet someday Micah will!

First Day of Kindergarten

Ethan had a wonderful first day today. He was so excited when he woke up this morning. We managed to be ready early, so I had plenty of time for pictures!

Getting all decked out in his new backpack and shoes.

Micah had to get a backpack ready, too.

He is very excited about his new school shoes, so he insisted I take a picture of them.

I don't like to think about how old he looks in this picture. This is not a pose...this is simply my boy.

Finally at school (where mom was allowed to accompany him to his door). His teacher showed him where to put his backpack, and he was off to play with his friends. I realized that I may have entered the stage where I have to get hugs and kisses at home. Once he spotted his buddies from preschool, he didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore!

Overall it was a great day!

Musings of a mother

Here I am, once again, on the eve of another school year. I'm not as emotional as I was last year; I really think I'm doing well considering Ethan's going to Kindergarten. I mean, the child is going to school every day. And he's taking the bus home. Without me. On his own. Have I ever mentioned that I never rode the bus to school? That I always walked? That this whole "boarding the bus and riding around with the bus driver as the only adult" thing is totally foreign to me? I know. Kids do this all the time. I just never did. Ethan will love it...he's already realized that he's getting a bad deal because he only rides the bus home (we live too close to school, so we don't qualify for a bus ride on the way there). Check off one more thing that I have to learn to do through my kids.

Wow. Small bus tangent there.

We went to his school tonight for an open house. They also welcomed us to the school community with a "new family" dinner. The friendliness and care of the staff and parents reaffirmed for me our decision to send him to this school. It's a great place, one that I think we'll love a lot.

The teacher sent home the first newsletter with us. By the time I read through that whole thing, I was about brain dead. Did you know you can buy extra insurance for your child for while they are at school? I'm not sure what all it covers...

Also, because of the world we live in, there is a form for everything (and often a check to go along with it). We can get Ethan white milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, or even orange juice. We have to send in information about any medication that he takes...even if it's just at home. He needs to have a bus tag on his backpack so they know where to send him. Emergency numbers...people allowed to pick him up if there is severe weather...signing off on field trips...allowing his picture to be used in publications when appropriate. Wow. I know it's all necessary, and I'm not really trying to complain, but it's a lot to keep track of!

I asked him tonight if he wanted me to walk him around the school to the door where his teacher will be waiting. I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes at me. He told me I didn't need to walk with him; that he could do it himself. Then he looked at me, sighed, and said "well, maybe just on the first day". We'll see what he wants in the morning.

Once again, I'll send my boy off with a prayer, a smile, and maybe a few tears. I love that he's growing up and learning so much. I also love that there are times when he still slips his hand in mine.

Miscellaneous

I was going through my pictures and found some really cute ones that I meant to post, but didn't. So, you get a whole bunch of random thoughts in one post. But hey, at least the randomness comes with pictures!

Micah with Charlie at the cottage. He thinks he's pretty big when he's the one "holding" Charlie.

I think he loves his cousin. Charlie is trying to figure out why Aunt Janna is snapping so many pictures.

I think we need to be in an advertisement for the Chrysler Stow-n-Go seating. This is just one great use when the seat is up!

I think poor Colin is wondering why everyone thinks this is so funny.

Really, are they adorable, or what? We didn't even plan the color coordination!

After everyone else cleared out of the back of the van, Micah decided it was a good time to make and important phone call.

There were a lot of issues to discuss, but nothing too serious.


Sometimes you just have a lot to say.

Oh, I better go. I think I have a new voice mail.

We went blueberry picking with Jason's parents a few weeks ago. The morning began with a wonderful breakfast and then we went off to scope out the blueberry fields. The one we chose had incredible berries. They were huge and sweet! My favorite!

They had cute buckets for the little kids. It was nice to have something that Micah could manage!

Ethan is actually great at picking blueberries. He had quite a few in his bucket!

Micah didn't quite understand that we only wanted the BLUE blueberries, so we had to sort out the green ones from his bucket.

This was a very common sight while we picked...at least with me and the boys. I have to point fingers and say Jason ate the most, though.

I think that's all my random thoughts for now. I'll have more soon!

A fun jar activity

I probably won't have pictures of all of our Fun Jar activities, but I thought I would try to get at least get pictures for a few of them. Our first draw was "Run through the sprinkler". Thankfully, it was a warm and sunny day, so it was a great pick! (I have to add that it was a well-timed draw because we were reaching the "it's one hour before daddy comes home" meltdown time of day. Hence the draw from the jar).

When he wasn't playing in the water with a stick, Ethan was trying to see how high he could jump over the sprinkler.

Micah just giggled and ran as fast as he could. The water was cold!

Doesn't he look like a macho man?

I love this picture, especially the drop of water on his chin. Don't you just love that little face?