Monkey Toes and Chicken Hair

Zoo Day with the Cousins!

2010-07-09T20:56:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I know I haven't updated this blog in.... oh, six months or so.... and maybe someday I'll do the backblogging (or not). But for now - today's zoo trip.

Crazy Cravings

2009-12-09T10:23:00.002-06:00

My MANY cravings this pregnancy have all centered around dairy products.... Early on I sent Matt to the store for 15 boxes of pudding in various flavors.... still have a few boxes in the pantry. About a week ago I was desperate for strawberry yogurt. Today.... it's spray cheese. I would LOVE a can to spray on my new snowflake shaped ritz crackers! Too bad it's waaaaaaaaay too much trouble to go to the store now that we live in the middle of Timbuktoo! I thought surely at some point I would crave ice cream like normal pregnant people..... but not so much.

With Gavin, I ate tons of some random greek/mediterranean salad dressing with goat cheese or something weird like that. And I LOVED Diet Pepsi which before I considered VILE!

My only real craving with Cayden was a Jamaican Patty of all things! The thought of the weird spicy meat in a fried flour shell with all the grease..... uggh, makes me ill now, but that day - best food on the planet!

Random Funny

2009-10-25T20:08:00.002-05:00

Lately Cayden has taken to whining and fussing. The other day he started in on his new talent to which Gavin replied (in a nasal, sarcastic tone)"Waaaa, Waaaaa, Waaaaa!" I wasn't able to stifle the laughter!!! That's my boy!

What I did on my Summer Vacation...

2009-08-18T16:13:00.003-05:00

In an attempt to catch the blog up to current happenings, I am doing slideshow representations of what we've been doing all summer. This is the trip we took to Houston in June. We spent the night in Dallas at the Great Wolf Lodge, then went on to Houston where we stayed with family. While there we went to Nasa and several different pools, played and played with cousins, and had tons of fun. On the way home, we spent the night with my friend, Susan, in Atoka. It's a different world down there in SE Oklahoma, so it's always an adventure. This time we met Dolly the deer and blew up Tanerite at their cabin! We had such a great time on every leg of the journey (other than the car rides!)

Random

2009-06-03T06:54:00.003-05:00

I tell Gavin to go get in his bed and he says, "No, I go get ON my bed!"

It's pretty pathetic when your TWO year old corrects your grammar!

Poor Frogs!

2009-05-28T22:04:00.004-05:00

It's not a good thing to be a frog anywhere near the vicinity of our house!

Tonight Cayden chased a frog out of the garage and across the yard. When he finally caught it, he proudly held it up for us to see. The frog was helplessly dangling between his thumb and forefinger. Giggling, Cayden says, "If I'm not mistaken, he's got a squeaker inside of him!"

Then Gavin got in on the action and chased down his own frog. We could hear the amazement in his voice as he shouted, "I got it!" He proudly held up his fistful of frog to show us, grinning from ear to ear. After telling him how lovely it was, yada yada.. we told him to put it down. Rather than a gentle release, Gavin threw it down on the ground like one would toss a bouncy ball!

Official Disclaimer: No frog was detrimentally harmed in the making of this memory!

JOY!

2009-05-28T21:59:00.002-05:00

My house is spotless! All of it - at the same time! It's awesome, but I'm exhausted. If only it would last for more than a couple of minutes! :)

We had some people from church out to the house tonight. It was a lot of fun getting to know them. I'm hoping to do that a lot more often. (also more incentive to keep the house picked up!)

My ONE domestic day a month..year... maybe.

2009-04-06T11:29:00.005-05:00

Today's feats:

9 dozen muffins - Sweet potato/Turkey (They are actually good! Hey, if you add enough sugar - you can make anything tasty!) and Banana bread muffins Don't panic, I'm not baking for the fun of it. (because I just don't do that) Gavin has recently become obsessed with "nussins" and will eat a dozen a day (not exaggerating!) so thought I'd try to slip in some nutrition if possible!

meal for neighbors - meatloaf, potatoes, salad

teaching - subjects/skills covered: literature, critical thinking, character (respect, generosity, kindness,and love), cooking, health, p.e., stay tuned for more throughout the day....

Laundry - at this point, just one measly load... I'm hoping to do more

gave the dog a bath and cleaned up her crate AGAIN grrrrr!

I am hoping to vacuum, but not feeling too motivated

Blog issues

2009-03-23T06:47:00.002-05:00

I keep trying to change my pictures on the side. The system automatically shrinks them to 150 somethings - making them tiny. However, SOMETIMES it shrinks them to 240ish somethings - making them just right..... Anyone know how to control this seemingly random feature?

In case you ever wondered.....

2009-03-23T05:55:00.002-05:00

Sick kid + fruit snacks = neon green vomit

(apparently water is the only thing Gavin is keeping down.)

Matt's (?) new toy

2009-03-22T17:29:00.001-05:00

In the last 24 hours...

2009-03-22T17:19:00.004-05:00

I've been puked on 3 times. (I know.... "That's nothing!" lol Many of you have been through worse!)

Gavin has only been able to keep down water and fruit snacks.

I've also spent waaaaay too much time figuring out facebook. But...

I talked to an old friend I haven't seen or talked to in years!

Random Funny

2009-03-20T07:44:00.002-05:00

I don't remember when exactly this happened, but it was within the last month...

Cayden announced that he had poured himself a big cup of rootbeer. After checking to make sure he had successfully avoided any rootbeer catastrophes, I asked if drank it all already. He said, "I probably drank about a quarter of it.......maybe a nickel."

Update

2009-02-17T07:16:00.004-06:00

Things with my Grandma have gotten much worse. Apparently Dr. Doom and Gloom is correct. We still do not have test results, but don't feel like we need them anymore. She has an extremely rare (literally a 1 in a million) rapidly degenerative brain disorder. From diagnosis, patients have on average 6 months to live. My grandma went into the hospital one month ago yesterday....and now we are looking at losing her in the next couple of weeks. I've been going out to see her and help care for her every weekend and will continue to do so as long as needed.

Obviously we are all having a difficult time with all this and could really use tons of prayers as we go through it. Now we are praying for God to take her quickly and peacefully, for her to experience the "peace that passes understanding" as she prepares to meet our Lord, and for comfort and strengh for the rest of us that are stuck on this earth without her.

It's amazing how death puts life into a whole new perspective. So much of what we scramble around trying to accomplish is so trivial and pointless. And the things that are really important to our eternity get lost in the shuffle. It's a difficult balance to find - living in this world, but not being OF this world.

Praying for a Miracle

2009-01-22T19:37:00.003-06:00

My precious grandma is very, very sick. 2 months ago she was fine. Then she had a diabetic episode and never really bounced back. Then right before Christmas, her big sister died suddenly. She has been grieving hard ever since. Three weeks ago she was staying with my mom, helping her recover from surgery. We both noticed that she didn't seem like herself at all. We contributed it to still getting her blood sugar lined out and the grief. About a week and a half ago, she started to quickly decline. So much so that she was brought up to ER last Friday night.

After a 5 day hospital stay, tons of tests - including a spinal tap, and 2 different specialists - it has been determined that there is nothing physically wrong with her. However something is definitely not right with her mentally. One specialist is "Dr. Doom and Gloom" and the other one has a more positive outlook on things. In 2 weeks we will get test results to tell us which dr is correct.

Please pray for my grandma and all of our family. She is scared, depressed and so frustrated. She has periods of very alert and "with it" cognitive functioning and other times she can't figure out how to get the words she knows in her head to come out of her mouth... plus tremors, disorientation, short term memory loss, etc. It is a very frightening time for all of us. As a family we are looking at 24/7 care for her and my grandpa.

We are all afraid that Dr Doom and Gloom is right.... and desperately praying for a miracle - that this really is just a manifestation of extreme stress and grief. Your prayers are greatly appreciated, especially because we are all in such a state of shock that prayer is not coming easily for us. I know the Holy Spirit is working overtime interceding on our behalf, because we are all a bunch of blubbering prayer idiots right now. :)

Thank you.

So much for relaxing!

2009-01-12T21:29:00.002-06:00

Meet our newest addition!

For months I've been obsessing about getting a big dog when we moved into our house. I've dealt with the local Lab rescue for a while....sure I was going to adopt an adult dog totally out of the puppy stages. We went to the shelter to LOOK at puppies, joking on the way about "ice in our veins." And well..... we left with a puppy. For a week, I've been questioning my sanity, but honestly, he's a great puppy. He doesn't jump on the kids or plow them down as they run. He lets them do anything to him without getting snippy. He already knows "sit" and a couple of other commands. House breaking is a work in progress.

I took him to our vet and there were many opinions as to his particular mix. Some said lab/chow (there are NO black spots on his tongue - I checked at the shelter), others said golden retriever/black lab. I also heard Newfoundland. In his litter of 5, 1 looked like a pure golden retriever, 1 looked like a black lab, and 3 looked like Bear. Who knows...whatever he is, he'll be BIG.

Backblogging: Christmas 2008

2009-01-12T18:24:00.006-06:00

Good Riddance 2008! We are praying for a relaxing 2009!

There's No Place Like Home!

2009-01-12T17:54:00.003-06:00

So this post is long overdue. Believe it or not, I just took pictures of the inside last night and only because the house was actually CLEAN! I ommitted pics of the boys' rooms. There was no way to get a good angle. When you want to come see the real thing - come on over. I can't promise the house will be clean - in fact, I guarantee it won't be - but come on over anyway!

I am so thankful for this place. It is so peaceful and calm here. Even when life is nuts, there is a serenity here that seems to just make it all ok. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Still Alive, But Just Barely

2008-12-06T08:13:00.003-06:00

Ok... long story short:

We started moving into the not yet cleaned house the day after Thanksgiving. Spent the first night here on that Saturday. Cayden threw up in the middle of that night(and has been fine since.) I started feeling awful on Wed. and am just now starting to feel back to normal. I think Gavin must feel yuck too because he's been cranky for days! So far Matt has escaped the bug. The house is still in complete choas. I'll get one area "done" and yet it somehow becomes a dumping ground for all the other areas we are trying to sort out.... can't wait until everything is settled in.

It's been a rough week or two (or 52) to say the least.

Seriously wondering if we will ever get a Christmas tree up or any shopping done!

House Update

2008-11-26T06:06:00.003-06:00

For those of you wondering....the final inspection is today at 9:30 am.

So that must mean the house is done right? I AM HOPING!!! The electricians finished at 7pm last night. The plumber left sometime after 9pm and is coming back at 7 this morning to finish up. Some other "picky details" (but HUGE to me!) are being finished today as well - patching holes in the walls, touching up the MANY poorly painted areas, a couple more doorknobs, etc.

So far this has been an incredibly difficult week (and it's only Wed.) I have barely seen my kids, had an emotional meltdown (long overdue if you ask me!), plus I still have so much of the place to clean since we chose not to spend $500 on a cleaning lady..... I'm still wondering if that might be worth every penny! blah blah blah....

Bottom line - clean or not, we are moving in this weekend/next week!!! I am sooooooooooo thankful that this is almost over!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Much Needed Rest

2008-11-20T06:44:00.003-06:00

So after a totally crappy day that included 2 futile attempts at getting the kids to nap, Gavin crashed at 6:30, I went to bed at 7:30, Cayden at 8:30, and Matt at 9:30.

Of course both kids were up before dawn, but it is totally worth it. I actually feel AWAKE!

We are down to the wire on the house stuff.... prayers are needed!! It should all be over by this time next week!

A Day in the Life of a House Building Housewife

2008-11-18T06:46:00.006-06:00

Yesterday's list of fun:

-Drove Matt's giant truck downtown to pick up our tile (With the boys and my mom, who graciously offered to sit in the truck with the kids while I dealt with details.)

-Tried to laugh (but really fumed) at the continual lack of communication between the various subcontracting parties, as the people at the tile company loaded HALF of my order onto the truck - the other half was lost in the tile abyss of their unorganized warehouse.

-3-4 phone calls to "tile/carpet lady" to straighten out mess AND to find out that the carpet we had chosen was not going to work out because of very different dye lots in the available pieces. So we had to choose a different carpet - right then - so that it would get here by Friday when they are scheduled to install. So, over the phone, with no sample in front of me I made a choice... I hope it is the right color!

-3 trips to Lowes, 2 trips to Home Depot, 1 to Locke Electrical Supply, 1 to Ace Harware - all to pick out a replacement fan for the master bedroom and get the correct dimmer switches that the electrician will need today. I couldn't find anything I loved, so I ended up with a very boring, very basic fan for the bedroom.... It was that or ostentatious, "Hello, I am Tropical" big leaf fan blades fan..... not exciting, but done.

-Grocery shopping during "rush hour" because our fridge and pantry were bare of essentials. All the lines were full of people so I waited in a fairly short self-check lane. When it was my turn to checkout, I was trying to hurry with my FULL cart of stuff, as a courtesy to the people behind me with a handful of items. Wouldn't you know it, my machine was a nazi. About every 5th item I had to wait for assistance. The only employee available to fix my blasted machine was in and out of the bathroom (I'm pretty sure she was puking).

-After a gourmet dinner of hotdogs (and 4 of the above mentioned trips to various home improvement stores) we went out to the house to find that we had a newly installed LEAKING toilet in the hall bathroom. Finding a wet-vac in the attic with a flashlight, while 2 tired boys run amuk in a house with open paint cans sitting on the floor is great fun.

Once it was all said and done, we finally got the kids to bed around 11.

Sadly, days like this have become the norm around here. We are all sooooo ready for this to be over!

So for those of you I haven't called, checked-in on, shown any friendliness to whatsoever - I'm sorry, but this is my life right now..... I'll do better when it's all over - I promise.

Dissatisfied Customer

2008-11-17T15:42:00.003-06:00

Remeber my $25 fan I was so excited about?

I got an email from Home Depot stating that there was a pricing discrepancy on the website and therefore my order had been cancelled. They were sorry for any inconvenience they had caused me.

I will be purchasing my replacement fan from LOWES!

The End is Near!

2008-11-11T23:08:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not making any political or religious references. hee hee

It looks like our house might actually get finished by Thanksgiving! That's the goal anyway. It's going to be tight, but we will hopefully pull it off. The alternative is paying a very large fine on our loan if it's not done by Dec. 1.

Prayers wouldn't hurt and would certainly be appreciated that this really happens ON TIME!

Ultimate Bargain!

2008-11-10T07:41:00.003-06:00

I consider myself a bargain shopper - a sucker for a sale. When I find a great deal on something, I feel as though I have won a battle over the free enterprise system. Today I scored a major victory!

We are currently buying ceiling fans and light fixtures for the new house. I couldn't find one I was happy with for the master bedroom so I was doing a little online shopping. I randomly came across this one on the Home Depot website...

Go ahead, guess how much it cost..... nope, guess again.....

Inlcuding tax (and FREE shipping) .....$25.25 - Seriously!

I don't know if this was a case of major overstock, a typing mistake, or just a gift from God, but I jumped on it.

Too bad I'm not content with the same fan in every room. :)

October Highlights

2008-11-06T07:11:00.007-06:00

We recently started watching the show on the Discovery Channel about the Iditarod. So these pictures are Cayden in his "musher" costume. He is reinacting a musher sleeping in his sled.

Fall is our favorite time of year. We typically go crazy around October - touring multiple pumpkin patches, fall festivals, doing lots of pumpkin carving, etc. This year we lacked the energy. The only Halloween-y activity we actually acomplished was the Storybook Forest. We enjoyed a cold, windy evening with our friends Alison and James and 3 of their 4 kids.

Gavin was a bear.

Cayden was a lion.

Jase and Cayden

It took me a while to figure out the right setting on my camera for the lighting we were dealing with. 90% of my pictures turned out blurry and weird. These were the only ones that were fairly recognizable.

After freezing our tails off at the Storybook Forest, we went to Pops. I had never been and thoroughly enjoyed taking in all the different types of drinks available. I chose a random diet cola - it was positively horrific! Cayden got a fruity flavored drink that was cleverly marketed as "Bug Barf!" (Next time he wants to try "Dog Drool.") We enjoyed some great conversation INSIDE and didn't leave until the employees were counting their cash and giving us ugly looks.

Bad Guy Candy

2008-11-06T06:42:00.003-06:00

Tuesday as we were leaving a store, I stopped to grab some candy from the big bowl of leftover Halloween goodies. Amongst the smarties and sweet tarts were little boxes of some unknown candy with pictures of Spiderman on them. Gavin was on my hip at the time so he leaned down to check out the candy too. He saw the little boxes and said, "Mmmm, ba di nanny!" After the second or two that it takes to translate Gavinese into English, I looked at him and said, "Did you just say Bad Guy Candy?" He grinned and replied matter-of-factly, "Yes!"

Cayden and I both thought that was hilarious. So of course, all the way home Cayden was getting Gavin to say it again and again, then laughing his high pitched, hysterical, "I'm pretending it's more funny than it really is" laugh over and over!

I didn't even know Gavin knew what a bad guy was. Apparently he picks up more from Cayden's constant chatter than I thought. Now, granted, Spiderman is not a bad guy. But he does look a little menacing - especially to the poor child who's Mama shelters him from such influences.

Latest Photo Shoot

2008-10-17T09:18:00.003-05:00

Among the whole house for sale, moving, building a house business - I've been neglecting my "capturing memories" duties. We FINALLY had family pictures made yesterday. These count for our Christmas card pic, Gavin's 2 year old pics, and Cayden's 5 year old pics. We've reached the point that getting a good picture of both kids is next to impossible (not to mention the fact that Matt had his eyes closed in 8 out of 10 pictues!) and Cayden is constantly making faces instead of smiling! It's a good time. But luckily we got several good ones.

Momuck, Big!

2008-10-09T20:52:00.003-05:00

That's Gavinese for "Big Pumpkin!"

The other day we dug all the seeds out of a pumpkin, then washed and baked them. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the gooey, slimy mess! (And when I say everyone, I mean the boys) ha.

An Excellent Use of Tape

2008-10-09T20:36:00.003-05:00

or NOT, but Cayden was quiet for a long time!

The floors

2008-10-02T09:39:00.003-05:00

Not that these are all that exciting, but I felt I should post pics considering how long it took to make them look like this!

September - in Review

2008-10-02T07:54:00.006-05:00

I FINALLY downloaded pictures from the camera. Here's a recap of September.

Gavin's 2nd Birthday Party

Nothing better than a bubble beard!

Our house - a month ago... looks different now

Fishing at our pond

Gavin's latest antics

acrobatics

Playing "Gick" (Skits - the dog) from "Martha Speaks"

Creative costuming begins

Cayden's original recipe: "Gemini 12 Gunk"

Ingredients: flour, baking soda, and milk

Incidentally, I don't recommend making this for actual human consumption.

Typical onery Cayden!

We'll Laugh About This Someday......I Hope!

2008-09-29T07:04:00.004-05:00

Our glue down, engineered hardwood floors were installed over several days last week (by a guy who normally installs nail down, sand and finish later hardwood.) This weekend, our job was to sweep and mop up all the dust and cover the floors with paper to avoid getting them messed up over the next several weeks. Sounds simple enough. Shouldn't take too long. Sadly, I am learning that if it sounds simple - it won't be!

After getting the layers of dust off the floor, we realized that there were glue residue spots all over the place. After various discussions with the installer (who agreed to clean it up right before we moved in) and our family floor rep (who said the spots wouldn't come up if they sat that long) we went to home depot to buy the magical adhesive remover wipes and got started on the clean up ourselves.

We got the opportunity to closely admire our 1500 sq ft of beautiful wood floors over 10+ hours.... on hands and knees..... using our thumbnails to scrape glue off multiple places on EVERY SINGLE 5" hickory plank !

Seriously? Can it really be this ridiculous? You know how they say "you'll be soooooo glad when the house building process is done and NEVER want to do it again......" Oh yeah, I'm there!

Matt did most of the work LATE Saturday night while I was on kid duty. Then Sunday my mom kept them and I helped finish up the scraping. Sunday afternoon the whole family went out to cover the floors with paper. The kids had a great time bouncing balls off the walls of wide open spaces! On the plus side.... the floors really are nice and they look great - now.

I have pictures..... I'll post them someday....maybe after I have gone to the store to buy much need essentials - like caffeine!

New Babysitter Initiation

2008-09-22T07:12:00.002-05:00

My cousin, Johnna, is a freshman at OC this year. In between her various activities, she babysits. We had her here on Saturday for the first time. Aparently Cayden gave her quite a verbal hazing. It's a good thing she's family - she has to like us in spite of our antics. The following are the more interesting/amusing snippets of conversations I heard about:

C: Sorry, but you didn't pass my babysitter test.
J: What?
C: Yeah, your a bad babysitter.
J: That's not very nice. Why would you say that?
C: You made me pick up my crackers off the floor.

(While playing "your mom let's you buy a dinosaur")
J: Dinosaur, are you hungry?
C: Don't you know anything? Dinosaurs don't talk!

And my personal favorite-
J: Pick up the cereal you dropped, but don't eat it.
C: You obviously don't know the rules of this house, because we do eat off the floor!

It makes me wonder what wacko things he says to Leighton and Emily when they babysit that I don't hear about.

Update

2008-09-19T23:12:00.003-05:00

Another week of house building down...... 12 + more to go.

We now have a FULL driveway, 2 porches and sidewalks, and textured walls. Next week the cabinet work and wood floor installation begin. I should really post pictures huh?........ That would take time......I'm sleepy....... some other time - sorry.

Oh, I also have to be picking out faucets for bathrooms. Any advice on brands?

Billy's Goats

2008-09-15T19:22:00.003-05:00

I was supposed to meet the tile guy, Billy, out at the house today so he could measure the areas to be tiled. I got the following message from him this afternoon:

"I'm not going to be able to make it today. I've got a family emergency at home. My wife bought some goats and I've got to go build them a pen."

That's a new one!

new post

2008-09-15T07:13:00.003-05:00

fyi - there is a new post below from Friday - I started it then, but finished it today - so it posted below the one I did on Sat.....

6 Random Facts

2008-09-13T10:10:00.004-05:00

Thank you sooooo much, Amy, for the tag! ;) Once again, I will be the spoiler and only tag others who (whom?) tag themselves.

1. My childhood dream was to be an astronaut. Then the Challenger exploded and changed my mind. I would still LOVE to go to the moon, but only with the guarantee that I would make it back alive!

2. I think flip flops are the best shoes ever.

3. I know it is environmentally unfriendly, but, I LOVE huge styrofoam cups with plastic lids and straws. For some reason, they just make drinks taste better.

4. I am in a state of "Limbo, blah" right now..... I'll be glad when we are settled into our house...... I think......

5. I have a wealth of trivial knowledge. Just don't ask me about current events, politics, or economics.

6. I love the Fall and Spring, hate winter, and like summer - except the 100+ degree days.

Things I know NOW

2008-09-12T15:58:00.005-05:00

It has been a long, exhausting week full of DIY and "house building decision" projects. I know all kinds of things, now, that would have been helpful to know 7 days ago.

What I Know About Staining Concrete:

(Last Saturday we went to the Stamp Store for information on how to stain concrete and to choose a color so that we could be prepared for the project for the NEXT weekend. Long story and lots of details short - we had to do it RIGHT THEN in order to have it done in between building stages for greatest ease.....blah, blah, blah)

1. Staining concrete is NOT a quick weekend project. I suppose it could be - if you are doing one room. I did 6!

2. It is certainly not a one person project! I sincerely thank all those who offered a lending hand and babysitting on the spur of the moment to facilitate my stupid floor project!

3. There is a huge learning curve to this project. I think now that it's all over, I have the process figured out. So I could easily tell anyone how to go about accomplishing staining concrete - but I won't be offering to help! :)

4. One really cannot emphasize enough the necessity of repeated, excessive mopping and scrubbing to remove dust, debris, and residue - both in preparation and after the staining.

5. One should also emphasize that there should be no preconceived notions of what the finished product should look like, because with concrete it's always a surprise from room to room.

6. On the plus side we did save a bunch of money by doing the staining ourselves instead of paying someone else or installing tile.

The finished product in our house can certainly be described as "full of character" (also read - full of flaws and "oops, what happened there?!") But I've decided that simple and easy to clean trumps looking perfect. Plus there will be rugs down in most of those areas anyway, right?

What I know about cement:

It costs an obscene amount of money (once you add in the materials for the forms and the labor involved). I am hoping for a big long driveway for the kids to ride bikes and scooters on, etc., but we are probably going to have to wait and see if there is money left in the budget for such luxuries.

What I know in general:

I'm done. DONE. I just want the house finished - I don't even care what it looks like anymore. I am tired of being in a tiny apartment that looks like a disaster zone if one load of laundry or one bin of toys is in the floor. I'm tired of the last minute trips to the land to meet some subcontractor that doesn't show up on time. I'm tired of the state of limbo I've been in for the last..... oh, 6 months. I'm fighting off the depression I can feel setting in - some days that works better than others.

I will be hiring people to do everything else to the house - no more DIY for me.

As much as I complain, I think I will really enjoy the lack of grout on my floors.

Happy Birthday, Gavin!

2008-09-04T03:06:00.008-05:00

My sweet baby turns 2 today! I can't believe how the time flies.

2006

2007

2008

What a blessing this precious boy has been to our family! Always smiling, easygoing, cuddley and sweet! I have had so much fun with him. (Amazing how much more relaxed a mom is the second time around.)

The following is a list of his current faves:

Color: boo (blue)

Drink: yeah yoo (water) and doos (juice aka Capri Sun)

Food: gookie (cake, cookies); gackoo (cracker)

Activity: me dah (I like to draw); me bush (I like to fish); walk, soos (I want to wear my shoes and walk)

Sport: oo baw (football)

Toy: baw (ball); gar (car)

Thing: Babby (his blanket)

Playmate: Nee Nee (Cayden)

Other things he says:

No, git, gackoo, me (No Cloe, get back. This is MY cracker!)

Geevey (Gavey - long a- Cayden's nickname for him)

boo da doo (EVERYTHING is a blue da doo - whatever that is)

Ohgay (ok)

Oh Yeah, uh huh!

uhuh uhuh - means one of 3 things depending on the context: I'd like a grape/chip please OR Please turn on the dvd player so I can watch a movie (in the car).

my (mine)

Precious anecdote:

Gavin got a teddybear that tells stories (I forget what it's called - TJ Bearington or something). Last night we were all standing around watching him listen to the bear talk. The first thing he did was introduce his family to his new friend! He looked at the bear and pointed to each of us in turn, "Mama, Daddy, Nee Nee" It was sooo sweet. Also, just now, he tried to feed his bear a bite of birthday cake.

Have you ever wondered...

2008-08-26T22:05:00.003-05:00

what would happen if an ostrich escaped from it's enclosure while you were enjoying a quiet morning at the zoo? Melanie, the kids, and I got an interesting education on the dangers of being a zookeeper today. We were walking along by the zebras and saw a scraggly looking man with a rake in each hand, wandering aimlessly in our general direction. I was feeling tad concerned about this man's sobriety and our general safety, when a zookeeper explained they were running a "code red drill." He asked us to back up behind the safety of a line of zoo vehicles. We got to watch them run the procedure for what to do if a potentially dangerous animal escapes. The zookeepers carried plywood shields and started to corral the stray "ostrich" back into his enclosure. The man posing as an ostrich was actually the keeper that deals with them daily. He was simulating the behaviors of a specific ostrich named "Sadie." The zookeeper we spoke with told us about the various "code red" animals, that includes otters of all things! He said that if the escaped animal was say, a lion, the zookeepers would actually have weapons prepared in case they had to shoot the animal. It was really wild to see these people with a piece of plywood as their defense, putting their lives on the line, creating a barracade between the animal and the zoo patrons. Who knew it was such a dangerous job? It was really cool thing to see - Melanie and I were really impressed, but the boys were bored!

Check out the ostrich costume.
Rakes taped to his legs, scraped on the ground with each step.
Ostrich feathers taped to each arm
It's hard to read, but the sign duct taped to his shirt reads, "Ostrich Sadie."
Successfully corralled

Ideas?

2008-08-23T15:35:00.002-05:00

I'm updating the blog - adding lists of cool websites for kids and for moms.

If you know of any good ones, let me know. Thanks

Random Question

2008-08-23T15:05:00.002-05:00

This question is inspired by the pictures in the post below.

Where is the "catch-all" place in your home?

As you can tell from those pics, mine is the kitchen table. In our old house, it was the kitchen cabinet right inside the door from the garage. I am soooo bad about dumping everything in an "I'll deal with it later" spot and then rarely going back to deal with it later!

First Day of "NOT School"

2008-08-23T14:42:00.004-05:00

I don't have any of those cute pics of my kid wearing his backpack and new outfit, ready to walk out the door for his big day. (I've been reading about everyone else's experiences, admiring those pics and feeling the gamut of mild butterflies to sheer terror FOR everyone else. All I know is - it's a good thing I'm homeschooling, because I would never survive those firsts!) But we did start Kindergarten this week. Although don't even bother using that word (or school, learning, etc) with Cayden because he adamantly refuses any of them. (Saying they make him think of having to leave home.) So the best I can come up with at this point is "NOT Kindergarten/School."

I had intended to start after Labor Day, but the mood struck me Wednesday to get going, so we did. We had all kinds of fun doing different things that day, but the highlight was our time spent as entomologists - capturing unsuspecting bugs and figuring out what they were. Outside our apartments are TONS of what we now know are boxelder bugs. We were able to catch the teeny baby ones (nymphs?), the medium sized one (big nymphs?), and the adult ones. It was really cool to see the whole life cycle at once! We drew pictures, did internet research, the works.... Cayden had a great time. Gavin did too - He's the champion bug finder of the family!

Interesting choice

2008-08-23T14:24:00.003-05:00

So, you are 5 years old with birthday money to spend - what is the one thing you simply can't live without?

Clearly, its a WETSUIT! (You know, for all those diving missions/shark encounters!)

That's right.... Cayden HAD to have a real wetsuit for his costume box and for swimming of course. Unfortunately we bought it and then the never-ending rain started. But being the oportunist that he is, Cayden decided that playing in the rain, wearing his wetsuit and rain boots, was the perfect way to test out his new gear. Luckily (ha) right outside our apartment door is an area that seems to collect water even under drought conditions, so he had the perfect place to splash.

It's official....

2008-08-15T06:29:00.002-05:00

The craziness of house selling is over today. We close at 11:00. I knew selling the house and moving would be a pain, but I didn't know what an emotional experience it would be. Last night the four of us went through the house for the last time. Amongst all the talk about the finality of the situation, Cayden started crying so then I started crying..... I think we are all going to miss the place - although I think we will mostly miss the great neighbors. I don't know how many times over the last week I've teared up about not having Melanie next door anymore. I'm also going to miss the sweet but slightly nutty, cat hating guy next door, his sweet wife and tiny dog. It's been a lot harder than I expected to leave. I'm sure it would be easier if our new house was actually done - or even CLOSE to being done.... whatever.... we're done!

The Latest in Astronaut Fashion.....

2008-08-12T15:35:00.001-05:00

Happy 5th Birthday, Cayden! (August 8)

2008-08-10T18:50:00.014-05:00

2003
2004 -1
2005-2
2006 -3

2007 -4

8-8-08 - 5 years old!

Stealing the idea from Amber, I decided to interview Cayden and do a birthday blog for him. In my mind, an interview is a simple question and answer session. In Cayden's mind it is an opportunity for a lengthy discorse on various topics. So the following interview contains direct quotes from the star of the day.

Favorites-

Color: "red, orange, green, silver, black, gray, oh, and red"
Food: "noodles and I guess that's pretty much it"
Drink: "Coke, Pepsi and Root Beer and Sprite pretty much"
TV show: "Land Before Times and every show that Gavin doesn't like and a few that Gavin does like" (Mommy note: He hasn't requested Land Before Time in AGES but he does like Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Curious George, Reading Rainbow, Mythbusters, Man VS Wild, Dirty Jobs, etc)
Movie: "I'd go with The Great Grand Canyon" (omnidome movie)
Book: "Hmm, well that's a really good question. Well I know I mostly like I Spy."
Sport: "Pretty much everything that I've played - even 'bolley ball'"
Game: "Pretty much everything that I've played. I don't keep track of everything I like."
Activity: "play Wii and Wii ski"
Place: "pump it up"
Song: "Well that's a very good question. Pretty much the song that goes...(random humming interspersed with a word here and there - truly his father's son!)
Toy: "Night-Night"

When I grow up, I want to be: "Hmm, someone who works at the bowling alley and plays hockey - which I don't know if I could do both, but I'd try my best."

Person I'd most like to be like: "Ya know, Logan"

Worst thing about being a kid: "getting in trouble, I guess"

Best thing about being a kid: "That's a really hard question. I like playing games, but I know I could do that at any age."

Happy Birthday, precious boy! We love you!

As if moving weren't stressful enough......

2008-08-10T18:23:00.002-05:00

add to that Cayden's "family birthday party" and 2 sick kids. Gavin - starting late Thursday - low fever, VERY fussy, bouts of inconsolible crying. Cayden - starting early Sunday morning - high fever and puking (but he swears he's NOT sick!).

Imagine 900 sq ft filled with boxes, sick kids, tired parents, stuff everywhere - yup that pretty much sums up the weekend. Thank you, Heather for bringing me the essentials of survival (you know - diet pepsi, ice, and non-dairy butter).

Anyway... life goes on. We are officially moved to the apartment now. Phone numbers are the same. We still have to clean up the house and get the pictures off the wall. We close Friday and then that chapter will be done - FINALLY

I have plans for a big "Happy Birthday, Cayden" post. That will have to come between unpacking boxes and playing "blast-off".

July highlights

2008-08-04T07:57:00.006-05:00

For the past month we have been completely consumed with packing and moving preparations as well as waiting patiently (ha) for contractors to actually do what they say they are going to do so that someday we may be able to move into our new house.

The kids have been into their usual craziness. Cayden is completely obsessed with space travel right now (sparked by a trip to the omniplex). This is one obsession that I have been encouraging and enjoying with him. He has gotten more history lessons about the people and events of history related to the "space race" than most high school kids. In typical Cayden fashion, he has wanted a spacesuit that is as authentic as a tired mom's imagination can come up with. He has gone through several variations over the last month, but all include multiple layers of winter pjs and his snow suit. He's even gone to the park (yes, in JULY) wearing said "spacesuit" toting a backpack (oxygen tank). I figured that he'd get hot and shed the layers...... I was wrong. He's quite the trooper when he's on a mission.

Gavin is talking a lot more these days. He says a lot of 2 word phrases: "boo guy" (Everyone is a "blue guy"); "boo wah-yoo" (All drinks are "blue water"); dut yuk (dirt, yuck); wa-yoo woo-woo-imagine barking noise ("Cloe's water"). In general, every color is blue. He points to everything, and says "Dah doo?" for me to label it for him. His newest word is appy ("happy") He can do perfect somersaults and loves jumping off curbs and over obstacles in his way. He loves to play baseball and golf as best he can and will try anything Cayden is doing. He is still giggly, cuddly, and smiley. He lets us know when he is frustrated though - clenching his fists and straining his arm and face muscles or just screaming. Even then, he is easy to reason with and settles fast. What a sweetie!

Gavin's First "Rice-Cream" Cone

Because now I know how....

2008-07-09T16:38:00.006-05:00

By the way, my speakers on my computer are broken, so I have no idea if any music is playing in the background with this slideshow. If so, please let me know - especially if it's inappropriate! :)

Backblogging: Our Atoka Trip - in MAY

2008-07-08T22:33:00.002-05:00

Ok, I know I just said I wasn't going to take time to figure this slide show thing out, but I did - because this was a lot more fun than cleaning my house! However, I'm not thrilled with the results. I used Picasa for this one. If you know of another to try, let me know please.

In early May the boys and I escaped the rigors of "house for sale" life and went to "Camp Ritter" in Atoka. My dear friend, Susan, was kind enough to entertain us for a few days. We had an absolute blast! There was so much to do without ever leaving the house - tons of ride-on toys, swingset/fort, sandbox, trampoline, huge areas to run, toys galore, cows, cats, guns - what more could a kid ask for!!

The kids got along great. Jonathan is 5 and Anna is 4 (there are 11.5 months apart!!) They are both awesome kids - totally different - and so much fun! Jonathan is quieter and calmer, very smart, polite and kind, a perfectionist, likes to do everything just right. (Your typical oldest child) Anna is a free spirit. She says what she's thinking and has a million ideas for fun. She wanted Cayden to be her friend and not Jonathan's. (Hmmmm sounds remarkably like my eldest!) Anna absolutely cracks me up! At one point she asked me, "Does your baby have rubber bands around his arms?"

Everytime we sat down to eat, the kids played a game called, "I'm allergic to..." Each of them would take turns naming something they were allergic to. It started out with things like penicillin, weeds, and cats and quickly went to things like, "I'm allergic to my brother/myself/my shirt," etc. It was pretty funny. Also at meal times, Jonathan and Anna always respectfully said the prayers while Cayden scowled, refused to hold hands, and tried to sneak bites of food while the prayers were being said - pretty much what he does at home too.

Susan and I had a chance to catch up. We've been friends since the second grade. We lose touch from time to time because life gets so hectic, but like all good friends, we are able to pick up right where we left off. She is an incredible person - always busy doing things for other people, playing with her kids, making dinner ON TIME, and still maintains a peaceful, calm presence that I envy greatly! :)

Thanks for having us Susan! We had sooooo much fun!

Gavin's learned the system!

2008-07-08T19:41:00.001-05:00

Tonight as I was making dinner, Gavin came up to me and said, "Gookie?" I said, "No cookie, we are about to have dinner." He turned around and ran in the other room calling, "Daddy?"

On another note, I realize I've now blogged 3 consecutive days! Don't pass out from the shock! I decided that detailed backblogging would have to wait as well as learning to use slide shows etc.... I'm behind the times..... oh well. Someday.....maybe. In the meantime, I can sit down for 5 minutes to record the silly day to day happenings before they get lost in the Mommy Fog that is my brain!

New Do's

2008-07-07T09:52:00.002-05:00

All three of the boys got haircuts last night. Cayden chose to go for a shorter summer do, but wants his long hair back for the winter to keep his head warm. Matt could not have been more thrilled to see Cayden's ears emerge from under the mop. Gavin' pretty much looks the same, just spiked for fun effect for the picture!

I Love it That......

2008-07-06T23:46:00.003-05:00

While watching Curious George, Cayden had to hide in the kitchen because he didn't want to see George get sprayed by a skunk.

Gavin generously watered our only houseplant with a cup full of Diet Pepsi. (I'm not really even sure how he managed to reach it.... or where the empty cup was discarded. The wood table on which the plant sat also got a good drenching - but no harm done.)

Another update

2008-07-01T22:36:00.003-05:00

So I found an apartment today!

I started out the day feeling way stressed about the situation. I talked to my mom and she said, "Well, I assume you've already prayed about it....." (mental headsmack) "Well, actually, no I haven't done that yet...." So I did - asking for clear signs leading me to the right place. I checked out 3 apartment complexes today and the last one was clearly IT. Thank you, God. (and Mom - for the nudge to "ask, seek, and knock!")

We will be living in the Warrington apartments on MacArthur between Memorial and 122nd. We are renting a 2 bed/2 bath and while it will be cozy, I think we can actually pull off living there without going crazy. :) always a plus. The pool will be open until sometime in October too! So come swim with us!!

One more square filled on the way to peaceful country living!

Quick Update

2008-07-01T06:32:00.004-05:00

So for those that don't know yet - we sold our house on Saturday. I should be thrilled - yet I'm a little sad...... I didn't actually WANT to move....yet. The couple that bought it (according to the earnest money check) aren't married - which should go over big with the neighbors. They probably have cats too. (Our neighbor HATES cats and takes joy in shooting them with paint gun pellets.)

So now begins the apartment hunt. Not surprisingly, not many are willing to rent for 3 months. So it's a little challenging. Plus I absolutely dread the idea of living in less than 1000 square feet with 2 active boys! Oh well. We will survive - and it could be soooooo much worse, so I should just stop complaining!

Our new house is finally starting to pick up the pace. Next week we should get a well, roof, windows, meet with the electrician, brick will be delivered, etc. Yea! it's finally moving along!! I really am going to post pictures of the progress someday - hopefully in slideshow form. I still haven't figured that one out yet. I also have tons of pics from our Atoka trip in MAY to post...... Unfortunately my children are not big fans of Mommy computer time. And I enjoy sleep too much to keep up with the pics.....

That's about it. More eventually!

A Cayden Funny

2008-06-26T12:42:00.003-05:00

Last night in Bible Class, we were putting on puppet shows with our little stick puppets from the Esther story. I was trying to get the kids to do the talking , retelling the story in their own words..... you know - showing that they COMPREHENDED what we'd been learning. During the "banquet scene" I was trying to foster a little improvised dialogue, so I asked "How's your steak?" A couple of the kids just looked at me funny, one or two said, "good." Cayden said, "Actually, it's a little overdone."

I just had to laugh!

Backblogging: The Wedding

2008-06-09T15:09:00.003-05:00

In retrospect, the wedding was fine and Cayden did a great job. As well as could be expected of any active 4 year old boy. Now I can laugh about the things that occured. I just hope we never have to do it again!!! :)

Picture, if you will, a lovely wedding processional. All the adults gracefully walking down the isle at the appropriate pace and spacing. Now it is time for the adorable little ring bearer in his tuxedo and wild surfer hair (can you believe I didn't take ONE picture?!) He gets to the beginning of the isle, waits for the cue to go and suddenly stops in his tracks, picks something up off the floor and insists his Mommy come get it. "No, just drop it and go!!!" I furiously whisper. But he continues to motion for me to come get this thing in his hand.... So I quickly sneak over and he proudly hands me a thumbtack. Beaming from his heroic act, Cayden proceeds to walk down the isle. When he reaches the end, he turns around and gives us all a big thumbs up! (Pretty hilarious, even then - but that was where my amusement stopped.) Now, the plan had been for the best man to take the rings and then usher Cayden to our seat - but he forgot to do that. As soon as the bride gets to the altar, they play a 4+ minute long song while everyone just stands there. Everyone that is, except Cayden. He sways, pretends to eat the rose on his tux, and then he opens fire on the audience with his "gun" (made with thumb and forefinger). He aims his gun around trying to decide who to shoot. Seeing his grandma and great-grandma both shaking their heads at making stern faces at him, he decides they are the perfect targets. He then unloads a clip on my aunt who is trying to entertain him with silly faces. (I was soooooooo furious with him!) FINALLY the song is over and the best man ushers Cayden to us.

The rest was fairly uneventful - just miserably hot and LONG!!!!!! I was struggling to behave appropriately, it must have taken every ounce of control his little four year old body possessed to do as well as he did.

When it rains, it pours...

2008-06-09T14:59:00.002-05:00

"All or nothing" pretty much sums up my existence ...... there is no happy medium..... :)

The Short version:
Rough night, rough morning, messy house, crabby kids, very short tempered Mama, desperate need for grocery shopping... Phone rings, it's the realtor - I have a showing at 1.... the first one since we lowered the price..... (Did I mention the backyard was flooded after last night's rain?) Frustration bubbles over yet again, this time tears and panic threaten to join it..... Thank You, Melanie for rescuing me! She took the kids, I cleaned like a mad woman.

As I was laying down for a much needed nap, the realtor calls again.... another showing at 4:30! Are you kidding me? Today?? So no nap, because I would probably just sleep through the alarm and pull a "Goldilocks" when the people come to see the house.... So I'm catching up on the blog instead. (Or at least attempting to make a dent in the backblogging that needs to be done!)

Leave it to MY son....

2008-05-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

Last night, during a quiet moment at my cousin's graduation ceremony (in a 99 degree gymnasium in Merrit, OK) Cayden dramatically states, "I hate graduations!"

He's going to be a ring bearer in a different cousin's wedding this Saturday........ needless to say, I'm a little nervous. I certainly hope he likes weddings more than graduations!

Random News

2008-05-06T06:38:00.002-05:00

We have a foundation! Yesterday evening we went to the land and got a close up look at cement trucks (3) and a mini excavator. It was very cool! I'm sure it was a safety violation for us to stand 10 feet away from the giant trucks and freshly poured cement, but we did it anyway! I just wish we hadn't left the camera in Matt's car. But hopefully there will be more cool equipment photo ops.

In other news, Gavin said his first "sentence" today. He said "Nee bo bah." Which, clearly, means "Cayden is playing baseball."

Also Gavin now pretends! He loves to play "fetch puppy" - we throw a soft ball for him, he crawls to fetch it, picks it up in his mouth, and brings it back to do it again. It's pretty cute.

Cayden is super-excited about going to visit my friend, Susan, in Atoka this week. Her kids are 5 and 4. The little boy has an arsenal of toy guns that Cayden can't wait to get his hands on! Susan's husband is a hunter, and they have tons of "animal statues" hanging on their walls and in their pharmacy. I was originally concerned about what Cayden would think when he found out that they shoot animals - a BIG no-no at our house. But once he found out that real guns and real bullets were used in hunting said animals, he was ready to join the ranks! It should be an interesting cultural education for us all. As Susan says, it's a whole other world in southeast Oklahoma. What's really amusing - last time we were there Cayden was 2 1/2. He found one of Jonathan's pretend rifles and brought it out to ask what it was. When I asked him what he thought it was, he decided it must be a guitar. He put the strap across his back and held the gun just like a guitar. I thought it was hilarious. Susan's husband was aghast that a little boy had no clue what a gun was! funny!

I'm very excited about our trip too. I had originally planned for us to be gone for a couple of days so as not to have to worry about keeping the house clean for showings. But clearly that is not going to be happening while we are gone ..... still no showings at this point..... whatever.

I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures to post next week!

House Update

2008-05-02T06:27:00.002-05:00

We closed on our construction loan yesterday! As I was signing papers (for 2 hours!) I had a brief moment of freak out - thinking "Holy Crap! we are really building a house!!" Oh, the reality of being a grown-up in my 30s - still not sure how I feel about that!

Anyway, we are supposed to pour a foundation today, provided last night's rain didn't soak the ground too much. We are very excited! It looks like we will be in our house by the end of November at the latest!

The house sale is not going as well. It's been on the market a week now and there have been NO showings. I quit keeping the house spotless about 2 days into the week, but it has stayed relatively clean and definitiely easier to maintain!! I trust that God has the details and timing of the sale already figured out, I just need to sit back and wait (without freaking out).

An Educational Day

2008-04-28T22:04:00.003-05:00

Today Cayden decided he wanted to build a rope ladder to attach to our tree in the back yard. He got a piece of paper and drew the plans, decided on the materials he would need (wood, poles, and some yarn), and thought about how to accomplish his goal. All that took about 2 minutes, then I was supposed to hop to it and start building - which of course didn't happen. However, I did call Matt at work to give him the heads up that Cayden was planning on building this all when Daddy got home..... So tonight, Matt helped Cayden measure and mark a piece of wood. Then he drilled, sawed and sanded the planks. I started the sanding, but wimped out after 3 planks...... so I took pictures instead (but I'm too lazy to get them off the camera right now). It was so fun to watch them together. They were both having a lot of fun. I'm guessing that instead of buying a fort/swingset like I was hoping, that the two of them will be building one instead. That's ok, that would be really awesome - just not a quick project for Little Miss Instant Gratification!

When we put the project away for the night, I asked Cayden if he realized that he'd just done "homeschool." He of course insisted that he had not, because anything else would be admitting he MIGHT not have been in control of the situation the entire time. :) But if this is what "school" could be like for us....projects that HE thinks of and plans on his own - that'd be cool! He's sooo smart - I think I might be in trouble!!! :)

Gavin also got an education today. He loves drawing and writing. (Unfortunately he doesn't understand the concept of PAPER and thinks anything is a blank canvas.) Anyway, today I gave him a pad of paper and a pencil and he worked on his drawings for probably 20 minutes straight. He flipped through the notebook, making sure to mark on almost every page. He drew straight lines and scribbles, circly lines and dots. He switched hands often, but always favored his left hand - he has finer, more controled movements with it. It was fun watching him. He was soooo intent and focus, calm and quiet - like he was in his own personal "happy place!" It was precious! Also interesting is the WAY he held the pencil, not in his fist or like one holds it when writing, but like one would hold chalk - grasped between the thumb and middle finger, with index finger held straight on top, pushing the pencil flat on the paper - way down at the tip of the pencil. I think I have a little artist on my hands and I LOVE it!!!

Oh, also a funny/sad Gavin moment today - He was wrestling around with Matt on the floor and he bit Matt's nipple. Matt yelled in pain and put Gavin down on the floor. I looked at him sternly and firmly said, "No Biting!" He dropped his little head and looked down at his hands with sad eyes and a frown. It was sooooooo sad and cute and funny all at the same time. I just wanted to grab him and hug him and make him laugh instead. He is simply so precious!

Random Funny

2008-04-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Cayden burst into song, singing the books of the Old Testament. The only section he seemed to remember went like this:

Hum, Hum, Habacca, Jethani, Tobacca

I don't think he knows why I laugh at his song. :)

New Words

2008-04-18T07:15:00.003-05:00

So I've decided that Gavin will only say new words if they are interesting and exciting. He has no desire to speak anything but gibberish in general - some of which CAN be decifered into actual English, but if the word seems unusual, he'll say it. In the last few days he's said "shelter" (very clearly), "excavator" (somewhat gibberish like) and "COOL!" (crystal clear). But he won't bother with words like, "raisin," "outside," "ride" or "bike." And the words he does say regularly are not clear to anyone but me.

oogk = book
eeng = swing
gack gack doo do = quack quack quack cock-a-doodle-do (which also means, "I want to get in the trampoline to run around and sing")
bee boo = step stool (his absolute favorite word!)
pop pop = poptart

Obviously he says more words than just those, but I can't think of them all right now.... He's a funny little monkey ("oo oo ah ah")!

Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack, Cock-a-doodle-do

2008-04-16T23:59:00.003-05:00

A Picture Review of the Past Month (or so)

2008-04-16T22:17:00.007-05:00

I've been terrible about keeping up with my blogging, but I have been taking pictures. Neither of the kids took naps today and both went to bed early, so I am taking advantage of a free evening to catch up on enjoyable activities instead of cleaning, organizing, fixing something, or anything else house related.

Here's what we've been up to:

Cayden's first door sign. According to him Gavin is NEVER allowed to come in his room.

Cayden conquers tree climbing!

The boys in their Easter outfits:

Cayden chose the fancy suit and tie look.

Gavin went the more casual route in trendy patchwork shorts and polo. (Of course it was freezing on Easter so we had to add the long sleeves.)
The fun cupcakes we made.

A serious case of bedhead!
Proof that we went to the circus:

Several times recently Gavin fell asleep in his bean bag in front of the tv! Too Cute!

In cleaning things out, I found my tanning bed sun glasses. Cayden was intrigued with them. I went in his room to check on him at naptime and this is what I found. Hilarious! I guess he's practicing for summer!

Cayden's literally been climbing the walls this week!

My New Nickname

2008-04-08T07:23:00.002-05:00

There is sooo much to say about the last several weeks and soo many pictures to post. I've been soo bogged down in getting this house ready to sell that I basically have done nothing besides eat, sleep, organize, pack, and clean for a ridiculous amount of time. You'd think the house would be done by now... not so. Anyway, there will be lots more to come eventually, but I just had to take a few minutes and post this absolutely hilarious Cayden moment.

Yesterday all day I was in total house selling mode - figuring, internet searching, thinking, totally preoccupied with my own stuff, fairly well ignoring the kids. Heather and the kids came over in the morning to play - so fun wasn't totally neglected. Then after nap, we ran over to Heather's to check out all that had been accomplished on their house (which is going on the market this week). Anyway...we had just gotten home, it was after 5:30, I was starving, I needed to figure out what to make for dinner and then cook it. The boys picked just that moment to become extra needy. Gavin was carrying around his blanket, whining, and making his "milk" noise. He refused to be distracted or pacified, even by the Wiggles. Cayden wanted me to read to him (he loves Junie B Jones books, which is great - but not at that moment). When I couldn't stop to read he thought of at least 3 other things he needed immediately. All of this going on at the same time got the best of me. I was irrational and immature, I admit, and I knew at that moment that I was setting a terrible example for the boys, but pressure had to be released somehow....so I started yelling. Originally it was just for shock value and to get their attention. But then I just kept on yelling - except my words kept getting all mixed up and I didn't even make any sense... it just felt better to yell. In response, Cayden got into a fighting stance, holding his arms out in front of him with his hands cupped like he was holding a ball and in a threatening tone he said, "STAND BACK EVIL QUEEN OR I'LL...." The rest was inaudible due to the giggle from him and the burst of laughter from me. Oh my word, he can be so hilarious - and it was soooo true - I was being an evil queen - "from the mouths of babes..." Luckily laughter can be the best medicine and the rest of the evening was fine.

The Past Two Weeks - Gavin

2008-03-27T10:10:00.004-05:00

My precious sweet Gavin... I thank God for him every day. What a cuddly, easy and eager to please, tenderhearted, amazing little angel!

His latests:

words are getting clearer
he says every word twice (Mama Mama, Daddy Daddy, Wah oo Wah oo (water), etc.)
he calls Cayden "Nee" which totally pisses Cayden off. ("Don't call me Nee! I like Bubba better!")
Today I showed Gavin his new animal magnets. He made the animal noise for each one as we got it out. He put it on the fridge carefully, making sure it was perfectly right side up. Then gave it an extra pat as if saying "there!" It was sooo cute. Then he kept pointing to the duck saying "yao, yao." It finally dawned on me what he was saying - yellow!!! The duck was yellow! I was rather impressed with the little guy. (funny - with Cayden I was checking multiple books to see if he was doing all those developmental milestones at the correct time. This time I am just so impressed anytime Gavin does something new, with no idea if its in line with development or not.)
He now has 6 teeth on top (molars appeared at the beginning of Feb) and 3 teeth on the bottom. One "side" tooth appeared last week (randomly, with NO advance "swelling" warning) and the next will be through any day. Plus his bottom two molars are sooooo swollen and should appear soon.
Gavin is obsessed with balls (typical male - ha) That's essentially the ONLY thing he cares to play with consistently. He even wants to hold one in each hand while falling asleep.
He's got a rather melodramatic streak. Even tiny little inconveniences can be a tragedy!
What a climber! He scales furniture in no time and devises ways to use everyday objects as stepstools.
Copycat copycat! He does everything Cayden does..... only when he does it, its cute and funny. :) (Cayden's on my "list" today, can you tell?) Yesterday Cayden whispered something in my ear and then Gavin climbed up in my lap, got his face really close to mine, leaned over to my ear and whispered gibberish. It was hilarious!

Ok, I'm going to have to stop and do something constructive now. There's tons more to say and pictures to post. I'll add more later.

A burst of independence

2008-03-11T23:17:00.004-05:00

Cayden has suddenly decided he is perfectly capable of making his own toast and spreading jelly or peanut butter on top of it, with out any assistance. He likes to pick times to exhibit his new skills when he knows I can't intervene - like when I'm getting Gavin to sleep. I'll be rocking Gavin in the living room and Cayden will disappear into the kitchen. I'll hear the step stool being scooted, bread being unwrapped, toaster lever pushed down, jelly or pb being opened, knife being selected, and then him talking to himself about how to spread or how much to get.

The first few times he did this, I went to help, giving him what I considered to be an ample amount of pb, then told him not to get anymore. Of course, in typical Cayden fashion, he decided HE knows better than I do and proceded to glob more onto the bread until the pb was about 1/4 inch thick! In reality, I'm thrilled he's taking the initiative to take care of himself and that he's finally eating pb/jelly toast/sandwiches like a normal American! I also think it's pretty hilarious - just wish he wasn't so insistent upon having everything his own way in spite of what anyone else might advise (I wonder where on earth he gets that from?! ) Cayden is actually a very good little pb spreader. He gets it nice and even and all the way to the crust without much overflow.

His independent streak has also led to him selecting his own "grown-up" type cup and going into the bathroom to fill it with water. I think he may have poured his own juice tonight as well, but I was too tired to get up out of my chair to find out, so I just said, "Great, whatever, just clean up your mess!"

(On another note: I don't miss the fish at all and I'm rather enjoying the extra space in my kitchen, not to mention the quiet that comes from not having a bunch of equipment constantly running!)

A fond farewell

2008-03-07T22:27:00.003-06:00

I sold the rest of our aquarium today. The lady is coming tomorrow (hopefully) to pick up 4 fish, 2 anemones, and 55 lbs of live rock. I'm a little sad to see them go, but not sad enough to keep them.

And so, we say good-bye to Fred and George, the clowns.
"Cal"iente, the flame angel
Blue and Ellie, the tangs
and the huge anemones.
Also, we bid adieu to the weekly (yeah, right!) water changes, green, brown and red algae, those infuriating aptasias, the nasty smell of fish food, water testing and panic management for imbalances, and most of all - worrying that something was going to die due to our lack of consistent maintenance.

I will miss the fish, but I will not miss caring for them. (That's why there are fish at the zoo - right? ha)

Gavin's First Popsicle

2008-03-03T22:51:00.003-06:00

He was so proud that he got to have a real popsicle and carry it around all by himself. It was too precious! Never mind all the sugary juice he spilled or the pieces of popsicle he dropped on the garage floor and tried to eat anyway. The excitement in his eyes was priceless!

Random Question

2008-02-27T17:40:00.003-06:00

I've decided to sporadically post a random question and see what kind of response I get.

Today's question: Which eating utensil do you run out in your silverware drawer first? (And if you are one of those people who always has the dishes done so that you never run out of anything - I'm sticking my tongue out at you now!)

My answer: table knives - due to the insane amount of peanut butter, jelly and dairy product free butter I spread each day

(Obviously there are very important things going on at my house today! ha)

We're all about Body Art!

2008-02-22T22:50:00.002-06:00

What started out as some innocent painting and stamping quickly turned into self expression in the form of body art. Leave it to boys.....!

Gavin takes his art very seriously.

Cayden has a more free-spirited approach.

Cayden's "tatoos"
I think Gavin was going for the Smurf look.

"Now get ready to get dirty!"

2008-02-22T22:33:00.005-06:00

"I'm Mike Rowe......and this is my job."

Start 'em young! (Aren't these HILARIOUS?!)

To my future daughters-in-law: You're welcome! (hee hee)

Here are the results of the small portion of floor we actually got clean:

Before (L) After (R)

Next step (after finishing the cleaning, of course) is to paint the grout with the cool grout paint pen I got at Lowe's. The bathroom should look brand spankin' new when we're done.

Cool Cleaning Discoveries Part 3

2008-02-22T16:59:00.003-06:00

So here is my ammended opinion.

If your kids are helping you, by all means use the "green" cleaners. They get the job done and won't hurt anyone. If the kids are not around, save yourself time and energy - Bust out the clorox, windex, CLR/Lime Away, etc!

Yea! I finally made it to "happy medium!"

BTW - I don't think Borax is all that great. But if you want to try it, I have a ton I'm willing to share.

Cool Cleaning Discoveries Part 2

2008-02-18T22:40:00.003-06:00

The master bathroom in our house is a scary place. It's Matt's job to clean that bathroom, and it very rarely gets done! We moved in to this house shortly before Cayden was born - the entire place was spotless. Then we had a baby who was ALWAYS attached to me and cleanliness was all downhill from there. So after months of wishing his bathroom was clean - Matt finally caved and used the most noxious substance around to knock out all the grime. Cleaning that bathroom has been his job ever since because I still have the same child (and now another) stuck to me like glue at all times. And during those precious few moments of silence each day, there is no way I'm going to clean!

Ok, long story to explain why I am trying out all these environmentally friendly cleaners...... If I'm using something that is not going to hurt the kids, I can clean when they are awake. And better yet, Cayden can HELP! (He enjoys putting on a pair of rubber gloves and pretending to be Mike Rowe, coming over to my house to help with a "Dirty Job.")

So all that said to actually say this: Vinegar and baking soda are my new best friends. I would take before and after pictures of the tile, grout, and faucets, but the befores would honestly be too embarrassing to post. But I can tell you that soaking a paper towel in vinegar and leaving it on a faucet for an hour works wonders on lime/calcium buildup. A baking soda/water paste is great for cleaning grout and just as a general scouring powder. The jury is still out on the borax powder for the shower, but it works wonders on my white kitchen sink - just like bleach, but not smelly. The only drawback to the whole "green" cleaners thing is that instead of my house smelling clean and chemically fresh - it smells like a pickle jar.

Cool Cleaning Discoveries

2008-02-18T09:41:00.004-06:00

I am slowing becoming a tree hugging, granola girl!!! (I'm not sure what I think about that right now, but there it is.....) Don't worry - at this point I'm not planning on going over the edge with all the "natural" stuff. That's a lot of work! Cancer causing substances and modern conveniences still have their place in my heart!

Anyway, I have been experimenting with cleaning products and have discovered the joys of vinegar and baking soda.

Vinegar disolves calcium/lime deposits. Baking soda is great for breaking up dirt and scouring. Mix them together and you have a cool, fizzy cleaner. I did some internet searching and now I'm going to try to find Borax to replace bleach! I'll let you know how that goes.

House Status

2008-02-16T10:43:00.002-06:00

New House:

We have blueprints!
Next steps - finalize contract with builder and secure financing/interest rate.

Current House:

A "keep the house picked up" plan is in place, functioning well - except for the kitchen, which I really am putting off for as long as possible
Deep cleaning really needs to take place! But if I do it now, I just have to do it again before we list the house - so is it really worth it? I'm thinking keeping it straight may be as good as it gets for now.

I may never understand boys!

2008-02-14T06:45:00.007-06:00

Cayden likes this show called Babar (about an elephant king and his family) that we get via "video on demand." I always read the episode description before letting him watch it because they are not all appropriate (in my very sheltering opinion). There is this one episode I have been refusing to let him watch in which Babar recounts the tale of his mother being shot and killed by a hunter in front of his very eyes, followed by a young elephants struggle to make it in the jungle alone. Sounds just peachy right? I told him I did not watch shows where animals got hurt (which is true, but NOW I also don't watch shows where the mommy dies leaving the poor babies all alone!). He said he'd just watch it by himself sometime.....

Well, he caught me at a time when I was on the phone and wanted a couple of minutes of peace, so "sometime" was yesterday. I left him by himself in my room to watch it, fully expecting him to emerge upset and needing to talk about the injustice of hunting, how sad it would be to be all alone, etc. I know that would have been my reaction! I did not, however, fully comprehend the difference between boys and girls until he came out of my room and asked me to help him make a pretend gun so he could shoot our pretend elephant!!!!! WHAT?! I don't think so!!!

I told him that I did not like guns, they were dangerous, and that we don't have even pretend guns in this house (except for the arsenal of water guns in the garage .....). But gave him several pieces of paper and the tape (which he requested as the needed materials - thank you, Mythbusters "paper crossbow" episode) and told him to stay in his room with his game so I could get Gavin to sleep. He worked for several minutes quietly in his room before coming to show me his creation - several pieces of paper folded up with LOTS of tape holding them all together.

He used one of my makeup brushes as a bullet, tucked inside a paper fold. He would hold it up over his head, fling it forward so that the "bullet" would launch from the "gun" and then bounce right off the elepant - which made him mad, he really wanted it to stick to the elephant. (He later decided that he was just shooting a "molded elephant" - yet another mythbusters thing. They make molds of everything with "balistics gel" so they can shoot it without hurting anything. I am actually thankful for that lesson from the wackos at mythbusters!) He really had fun and used his imagination a lot and no actual elephants were harmed in the process.

I'm really going to have to work on this...... I know boys are agressive by nature and will pretend anything is a gun.....whatever....... I don't get it, but I'm just going to have to go with the flow and pray that he will grow up to be an upstanding citizen rather than a menace to society. :)

This is the innocent victim.

This is the "Shot Gun Fire 100" from the front(?)
and back(?)
The "Shot Gun Fire 100" loaded and ready to fire.

House Update

2008-02-11T12:55:00.000-06:00

We had a meeting last week with our architect, builder, and framer to finalize our house plans! Wow how grown up does that sound?! (scary) We should have blueprints in hand at the end of this week!!! Then Matt will finalize the contract with the builder and take care of securing financing and a low interest rate. Then next step will be starting the actual building process - hopefully at the beginning of April!

This weekend the framer called to say he had driven by a house that was almost identical to the one we were building. So we drove by (actually - we parked on the side of the road directly in front of the house) and took pictures. So if next week we end up in jail for stalking complete strangers, you'll know why! ha. Anyway, we loved the way the house looked - which is always reassuring when you are about to take on such a major project. Here it is:

Our house will not have the rock accents or the second gable (with siding) on the right of center. It will be flipped and a few picky decorating details will be different, but essentially - this will be our house! YEAH. I'm excited! If you felt so inclined to drive by it - it's on May between Coffee Creek and Sorghum Mill on the right (east) side of the road.

Cabin Fever

2008-01-31T11:15:00.000-06:00

I don't think we've gone anywhere all week. I would have been motivated to go somewhere today, but it decided to snow. So here's how we manage to burn off excess energy when we are stuck inside.

Admitting you have a problem is the 1st step......

2008-01-30T23:25:00.000-06:00

So I was a little disappointed with tonight's episode of Lost. It was a rerun of last season's finale - the premiere is tomorrow. But it was good to get caught back up, I had forgotten a lot.

I've been thinking since my last post about all the shows I've been addicted to over the years and I thought I might make a list of them. TV has always been my "escape" from the real world. Anyway, I hope you enjoy a good chuckle. I know I am quite amused. :)

In approximate order of addiction:

Mr. Rogers
Annie (the movie)
Punky Brewster
Silver Spoons (Ricky Schroder was too cute!)
Alf
Valerie's Family/The Hogan Family (Again, more cute boys!)
The Facts of Life

Then there's a space of time in there that's kind of a blur (called High School)

Friends
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dawson's Creek (It's quite embarassing/painful to admit those 2, but what can I say, it's true!)

And the current shows I watch religiously (actually now that I have kids, its more like "regularly"):

Survivor
Lost
Grey's Anatomy

I also enjoy reruns of Dharma and Greg and Everybody Loves Raymond. I love my DVR!

How's that for totally RANDOM information. (Watch out, Melanie, you got me started, I may never stop! ha)

The Tag Stops Here!

2008-01-30T16:01:00.000-06:00

Ok, call me a party pooper if you want to, but I'm not gonna play! I will do the duty of posting random facts about myself, etc, etc... But I won't tag anyone else. If the few people I know with blogs want to play then - TAG, you can elect to be it!

5 Random Facts:

I don't like chain letters/emails or email forwards unless they are absolutely hilarious or are immediately applicable to my life. I especially HATE the ones that make you feel like a unloving person or horrible Christian if you don't pass them on.
Probably goes without saying after #1 - I tend to take on a lot of guilt about anything and everything, even if I don't need to.
I love TV and easily become "unhealthily" (is that a word?) addicted to certain shows. For example, I'm very excited about tonight's season premiere of LOST!
I am a bit obsessive. (ok maybe that's an understatement).... I have to completely research a topic/idea and know/think about tons of things about it before I back off a bit and realize I've been obsessing AGAIN! (This week its natural remedies for anxiety/depression/OCD. I've gone from thinking about radically changing the way I do everything TO not caring and wanting fast food TO somewhere close to the middle - planning to read a book specifically pertaining to nursing mothers and then go from there with my plans....... Are you tired yet? I know I am. Funny how trying to figure out a way to naturally control my obsessiveness has turned into an obsession! )
I can single-handedly eat a pan of Chocolate Chip Cookies in one day.

Ok so those aren't as much random facts as a look deep into my psyche. Thank you for my free therapy session.

5 Places I wat to visit again/visit:

Grand Cayman - I miss it - especially on days like today!
Camp Blue Haven
Italy - I'd go back to Rome and Vatican City
England/Ireland/Scotland
Cost Rica - I want to do the zipline through the rainforest canopy!

Ok, Melanie, I did 2 lists instead of one. I feel guilty of course, ha, but I consider my obligation fulfilled! :)

Still Alive and Kicking!

2008-01-27T08:52:00.000-06:00

So I don't have anything interesting to say. Just thought I should write SOMETHING since it has been so long since my last post. In short, here's what's been happening:

I had an awesome birthday. Mom took me shopping for shoes, I spent tons of Xmas money at Old Navy at their 1/2 of clearance price sale, had dinner and dessert at Cheesecake factory - and Gavin didn't react too much!

Gavin had his 15 mo appt - weighs 31lbs 4oz (125%) and is 32" (85%), got 3 shots. He has been vacillating between congested and runny nose all week, sneezing, teething, random 99.2 fever once a day for a couple of days...... I'm not sure what to make of it. We are supposed to have small group at our house tonight.....trying to decide if I should call for a change of venue.

Cayden has really turned into an angel lately. Most of the time he is kind, minds well, and is so stinking funny and creative. I can look past the 15 costume/outfit changes a day when I get a random hug and an, "I love you!"

The house plans are on the final draft.....next comes financing finalizing. Still a million house projects to accomplish.... they've kind of been backburnered for the time being.

Matt is getting into the thick of busy season and has a bunch of church finance work to do at the same time - good times.

That's about it. I'll try to post pics soon, assuming I've taken some recently - I really don't know! :)

Kid Update

2008-01-11T21:13:00.001-06:00

Cayden is quite a character. He never ceases to make me laugh. His latests - When Melanie was babysitting, she asked him to stop jumping off the couch, or he would have to take a time out. A few minutes later she heard a loud THUD and saw that he had jumped again (shocking). When she told him to take a time out he said, "But you didn't SEE me jump!" And this week anytime I've told him to do something he asks "Why." I've been answering "because" mainly because I'm to preoccupied with house projects to come up with logical reasons. His response - "Because is not an answer!" You gotta love it when your own words come back at you.

Gavin has been insanely fussy this week. I think some of it was due to the positively delicious dairy laden dessert I ate Monday night, but he also has 3 HUGE swollen areas on his gums where his molars are trying to come in.

We did have 3 major successes this week though - he ate (Actually ATE - which here means more than 1 bite) scrambled eggs, spaghetti noodles, and a Flinstones vitamin with 90% of his daily iron needs!!!!!! Hooray! Below are pics of the noodle meal - too funny! I'm just glad there was no sauce involved.

Here's a ranfom picture that has nothing to do with anything I've written - Gavin fell asleep in his new chair one morning (a week or so ago) while watching tv.
He loved being a big guy with a real fork. He ate almost his whole bowl of noodles. The rest went on his clothes, the floor, and to the dog.

The aftermath - maybe a bib next time, you think?

Another heartmelting moment

2008-01-09T07:06:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Cayden went back to "school" for the first time since the holidays. He cried when we got there and aparently was riddled with anxiety for about an hour before I picked him up. That evening Matt asked him, "So how does it feel, going to school just one day a week now?" Cayden replied, "It feels really good. I get to spend lots of time with Mama that way."

Thank you, God, for these sweet precious moments that make all the not-so-sweet moments worthwhile.

Pictures

2008-01-06T15:12:00.000-06:00

Ok so I've decided just to post a few pics as a way of updating about Christmas.

Gavin's favorite part about opening presents was the bow. He was really enthralled with the way it stuck to anything! He finally figured out the whole ripping the paper off the present on about the 3rd family celebration get-together thing. Now he gets really excited when he sees a present!

We found a way to keep G occupied. He LOVES this jump start computer program that is just kids singing. He will watch it for 20 solid minutes, but we get really sick of hearing it! So this worked out very well.

Here are the pics we had taken the weekend before Christmas. A little late for Christmas cards, but cute anyway.

Details Later, Maybe....

2008-01-02T00:40:00.000-06:00

We had a great, lowkey Christmas. Visited lots of family, played lots of games/toys, tried to get our house organized after mass Christmas decoration, wrapping paper chaos, etc.

We are in full swing of getting the house fixed up to sell and making plans for the new house. Fun, exciting, scary, way too detailed, and headache inducing all at once.

I downloaded tons of pics today...will post soon.

Lots to update about the kids too. Gavin is getting sooooooo big. When we were playing with his toys tonight, he was actually matching colors! I'm amazed.

Matt has to go back to work tomorrow for the first time in about 2 weeks. I hate that he has to work, but I'm soooo ready to get back to a routine with the kids. Cayden is in obvious need of the stability of non-holiday life!

Ok, off to bed now, as it's almost 1 am. I have to get back to my early morning wake up calls tomorrow!

Master of Disguises

2008-01-01T22:44:00.000-06:00

Cayden is the costume king. He takes dress-up to a whole new level with his "all or nothing" mentality. His meticulous attention to detail and insistence on perfection is both hilarious and irritating at the same time. Here are just SOME of his latest costume creations and dress-up adventures.

Here he is a real, live Oklahoma City Blazer Goalie (minus the homemade goalie pads because they just don't meet his criteria for authenticity). That's his cool new Blazers jersey with his last name on the back! It's awesome! Thanks Grampa Jim and Nonna!

I'm not sure what he's going for here, but he's wearing his "hot jammies" , Gavin's winter hat, cowboy boot houseshoes and "skeleton" gloves.

Here's a superhero costume consisting of shorts, tshirt, cowboy boot houseshoes (they are very versatile - ha), lifejacket, his football costume shoulder pads, black cape, bike helmet, and saftey goggles. Ready to save the world!
Here is our deep sea diver in action! Luckily we happen to have real diving gear lying around the house. ha.

Never a dull moment!

Amusing tidbit and Gavin update

2007-12-21T07:24:00.000-06:00

Aparently, Wednesday night at church, Cayden left Bible class - headed toward the bathroom. Chandler, the children's ed. deacon, was posted as usual in the hall to control any mass chaos situations and also assist with bathroom trips. He asked Cayden if he needed any help. Cayden said, "No, but I could use the company." Amused, Chandler followed him into the bathroom where Cayden determined he really did need help, because he was wearing his wrestling singlet underneath his clothes! (I did not think through that one very well before I allowed it - did I?). Anyway.... Chandler thought the whole thing was pretty funny and shared the story with us.

I took Gavin in to the dr yesterday to see if his ears were infected. He's been positively obnoxious and cranky the last few days. I knew there was a strong possiblity the problem was with his stomach - I had cheesecake and there was that whole bread ingredient switch I was unaware of. But thought I should check it out before Christmas. So, he's perfectly healthy....... his issue is soley his stomach. So none of that is the important part of the story. The real reason I said all that is to say that Gavin's iron level is up 2.5 points and is almost normal! yeah! So we keep it up with the vitamin and food supplements and check it again in a month or two.

Ok, that's pretty much it. As I likely won't update between now and then - have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Triumph!

2007-12-15T23:26:00.001-06:00

I can not possibly explain the joy that fills my soul today!

Gavin (who eats practically nothing) ate 3 bites of a PBJ sandwich today!

But the big news - Cayden (my precocious, obstinant, little turkey) told me, "I love you, too" for the first time tonight! I usually get an answer of "yeah" or no answer at all. I don't push this issue, so when he said those words of his own accord - I was elated.

That's all. It's the small stuff that makes it all worth while!

This just makes my day!

2007-12-14T17:26:00.000-06:00

Pictures

2007-12-14T16:35:00.000-06:00

So here's a picture recap of the last 2 months - I've been such a blog slacker, but hopefully this bring me back up to date.

November:
Playing in the leaves.

Here are the Home-made Hockey Goalie Pads that we worked on for several days. Cayden was involved in every step of the process and even used fabric paints to decorate them (with fire). This is the ONLY time he's worn them. I haven't even heard about them since this day! Pretty funny considering the fact that he was sure he couldn't survive another moment until he had hockey goalie pads
Gavin LOVES sitting in little chairs. He is always so proud of himself when he sneaks into Cayden's room to sit in his "sports chair."
Gavin has started making funny squinty eyed smiles for the camera.
One day I told Cayden to go get dressed for school in long sleeves and long pants. This is what he chose to wear. It met all the criteria and it technically matched. I had no good argument for why he shouldn't wear it - so he did. His teacher commented that he looked very patriotic.
December:

Matching Christmas jammies

I have NO idea what this is about, but it's pretty funny. Somehow they were both making similar wierd faces at the same time.

Gavin is officially obsessed with Blues Clues. He likes Steve WAY more than he likes Joe. (That's my boy! ha) He sings the songs, does the motions, carries around handy dandy notebooks and constantly asks for "coo-goos!" He loves this plastic drawer too. He will drag the drawer in front of the tv, ask for Blues Clues, and sit watching the show happily. He's getting to be a very silly kiddo!

A while back I sent around an email describing, in pictures, life with boys. The email had quite a few references to ceiling fan fiascos. This documents the first (likely of many) at our house. That is a spatula that randomly landed on the fan as it was being thrown (by Cayden) in a game of "Gavin, go get it." (aka fetch)
This was taken today. Not a great picture, I couldn't get them both to cooperate at the same time - shocking! But I thought it was really cute of Gavin. I love his little feet!

Thawing - just before the next storm

2007-12-14T14:58:00.000-06:00

I finally have my world back!!!

The ice storm knocked out our power for about 8 hours Sunday night and 6 hours on Monday. The house stayed perfectly comfortable, but the fish were getting pretty chilly - the tank's temp. dropped and I got a little panicky about them, but they survived. Our computer, however, did not fare as well. The power supply was fried (it was a little toasty to begin with). We had to order a new one, wait on it's delivery and install it. Luckily the hard drive was ok. I was about a second away from a panic attack when the screen read - system failure - thinking of alllllllll my pictures that I haven't backed up being gone. But it was human error. Now it's all good. AND we were finally prompted to buy an external hard drive - so my pictures are protected!

All in all, we fared just fine and I got tons of cool ice pictures.

Cayden loved ice skating in the backyard and can't wait for the projected snow fall.

Matt is using his Christmas vacation time to get the ball rolling on our house building. We are thinking we'll break ground in March. He's currently drawing up a contract with a building consultant and already has financing taken care of....... here we go! I'm not sure I'm ready for this. I'm excited but every time I think about all it means... I get a bit panicky. And I'm getting all sentimental, driving through the neighborhood thinking, I'm going to miss these paved roads, I'm going to miss my wonderful neighbors, This will be the last Christmas that we will live here..... etc, etc. I waver so much on this decision. I know I don't want to live in this house forever, but I'm not sure I'm ready for all this! Uhg....

Ok, I'm going to download all my pictures now and hopefully post a bunch of them soon.

Just wanted to let everyone know we are alive.

Yes, We are still alive..... Really!

2007-12-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

So..... I'm not doing such a great job of keeping my blog up to date..... But at this point, I am doing my best.... I refuse to let blog guilt get the best of me.....yet.

I have tons of pics to post and will do that eventually. However the continual state of disaster in my house, my obsessive search for the best deal on Christmas gifts for the kids, and my clueless search for who knows what for everyone else on my list have taken over my life.

Bottom line:

We had a great Thanksgiving.
We have our Christmas Tree and lights up. The "stockings and other decor" box is still patiently waiting in the attic.
Everyone is suffering from allergies to some degree, but generally we are all fine.
Both kids are doing silly things every day. Cayden's latest - we made goalie pads (an all out 2 day project, I was totally in cool mom/teacher mode.) He wore them once and got frustrated with the straps. I haven't heard a thing about goalie pads since. :) Today we piled all the couch cushions on the floor and it was the sea. Cayden dressed up in a sweatsuit (his wetsuit) and added a lifejacket, diving mask and snorkel, flippers and a net. He was a deep sea diver all day long! Gavin's latest - he LOVES sitting in his booster seat at the kitchen table. He uses his fork and spoon to scoot food all over the table and tosses bites on the floor for the dog. Occasionally he will eat a few bites himself. Anytime he hears music, he starts to sing, "E-I-E-I-E-I."
Matt and I have an ongoing conversation about when we are ACTUALLY going to build this house we've been talking about forever. It's starting to look like the answer is SOON!!! Like in the next couple of months soon! Which then leads to the question we've been avoiding at all costs - when are we going to sell our current house - and are we likely going to end up living in a rent house/apartment for a while? At this moment it looks like the house will go on the market around April/May! GULP! I absolutely dread that day!

So that's about it for now. I suppose I need to get back to cleaning. I'm pretty much sick of cleaning........I think I need a maid. Someday, I'll have a maid and a butler and sit on my tail eating chocolate chip cookies all day long! or not. never hurts to dream though :)

Wellbutrin for kids please!

2007-11-19T14:07:00.000-06:00

So do they make a wellbutrin for children? I'd volunteer to run investigational studies on it!!!

Talk about OCD!!!! Poor child he really can't help it, look at his mother!

So Cayden woke up this morning talking about how he desperately needed real goalie equipment to play hockey in. He then proceeded to give me a detailed description of all the reasons he really needed these hockey pads - TODAY. And could we please look online to find a place that sold them, and then go pick them up - TODAY. When I explained that there really weren't any places around here that sold that kind of equipment, and that our best bet was ebay, he then pleaded his case further. Finally I agreed to search the internet with him during Gavin's nap. Well we searched and searched. Aparently there are no "pretend" hockey uniforms to speak of and the real things are ridiculously expensive (for dress up clothes). Still convinced, however, Cayden asked if we could just buy some on ebay even though they were expensive, and would they be here after his naptime? So then I got to explain in detail the process of ebay, the us post office and mail delivery service. (The teaching opportunities abound, let me tell ya!) Included in all this talk is, of course, Christmas and how this would be an excellent thing to ask for ... yada yada...... Which resulted in teary, curled bottom lip, "but Christmas will take forever, and I need them today, because......." and the explainations go on and on. I then offered to duct tape some rolled up towels onto a pair of his sweat pants so that he could pretend he had goalie pads. The meltdown intensified. I guess that wasn't the solution he had in mind.

The kid is VERY determined and persuasive, logical, analytical, and has very organized thoughts. He even uses correct grammar - talking about how goalie pads would help him play very WELL! I know all of these qualities will serve him well as an adult. However, they really make MY days quite difficult. I mean there are only sooooo many ways to say "no, not right now, you could just pretend, maybe for christmas" etc.

I'm mentally exhausted. Now the hoop-jumping Santa tricks begin!

On another note, I peeled an apple for Gavin and handed it to him whole. The has been carrying his "bapple" around for ages and has pretty well eaten it all the way to the core!

Catching up AGAIN!

2007-11-14T21:03:00.000-06:00

Ok so, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post - again.

What have I been doing..... obsessing. What have I NOT been doing ..... housework and laundry.

Obsessive details:
I decided Matt and I would be getting each other La Z Boys for Christmas/Anniversary/Birthdays this year. I have been to Mathis Brothers 5 times, Factory Direct once, and Rooms Today 2 times in the last week. YES I said "week." We finally made a purchase and brought 2 new microfiber, funky sage green chairs home. The color was wierd and the chairs both had defects, so back we went. This time we got a cool brown/taupe color. Matt's chair is at home and mine will be coming in early next month. I'm excited. I never knew how much I would actually LOVE a big fat la z boy! We now have an insane amount of furniture in our living room - but that's ok. Someday we'll have a bigger house and actually have somewhere to put it all.

Another obsession was the fish tank. I decided to sell the aquarium. I was DONE - tired of the upkeep, tired of the nightly bargaining with Matt about who has to feed the fish, tired of worrying about murdering innocent fish because of my "water change" neglect. We did a major overhaul on the tank and got it sparkly clean and bright. I got several responses to my craigslist ad and suddenly got VERY sentimental....... I had second thoughts. Cayden is WAY more sentimental than I am and teared up every time we talked about selling the tank...... So I caved. We are keeping the tank...... for now. I reserve the right to change my mind - which I likely will next week when it's time to change the water again.

Today I completely cleaned out the garage by myself (oh, I mean with Gavin and Cayden's tremendous help). I'm exhausted. Tomorrow - the house. Unless I can think of something better to do! :)

I'm going to post a few pics from the last month or so in an attempt to recap without actually having to type. enjoy.

Here are Cayden, Emalee and Ethan Gould and Grace and Claire Davis cooperatively building a dam. We moms were very impressed that they all took part in building one thing.

Some enjoyed the mud more than others - requiring hosing off in the Davis' front yard.

At the pumpkin patch

Storybook Forest. (Cayden was a dinosaur and Gavin was a lion. I was Super Mom - except I forgot my cape! ha)

sweet wackos!

Funny Videos

2007-10-31T13:07:00.000-05:00

Just have to share the sweetest sound on earth - a baby laughing! (By the way - that's GAVIN snorting - not me!)

Here's Cowboy Cayden at the pumpkin patch, trying out his pretend spurs.