Happy New Year

We hang at home for New Year's. Going out just isn't for us right now. Evan has been asking me for a week if I was going to get apple cider. He's been pretty excited about watching the ball drop.

We are all in pajamas (I have new ones I bought today). The boys are playing Wii. We'll eat yummy stuff like meatballs and veggies. Then we'll watch tv.

Sounds pretty perfect to me.

It has been a blessed year. Here's looking forward to the future!


Eric and Evan playing Wii.


Hudson watching Dad play.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Part 2...or Part 3?

My mom with her four grandsons. The two on each end are Logan and Hunter (my sister's boys), and the two in the middle are my rascals.


What's better than a couple of Christmas kisses?!

Christmas - a little bit at a time

Eric downloaded his photos to our Picasa website. That means I can upload them to the blog. I'll do a few at a time over the next few days. It will give me something to blog about.


Evan and Hudson in their Christmas sweaters at my mom's house on Christmas Eve right before church.


Decent shot of my crazy monkeys.


Logan and Hunter with the boys after church. By this point, the boys were itching to get into their pj's so we could get to opening presents. However, the adults didn't get all the pictures we needed before church, so we made the kids endure a 10-minute photo session! Evil!

In other news, I took Hudson to the doctor again today because he is barking like a seal. He'll be on a nebulizer treatment every night for the next three weeks. Fun stuff.

Today was not nearly as exciting as yesterday. We did, however, play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Oh my goodness it was fun! The boys and I played about five rounds of the game. I always wanted this game as a kid. It's just as great as I always imagined!

We put it away so the kids could get ready for bed, and Hudson threw a royal fit. The child screamed at the top of his lungs that he wanted to play Hippo. Ugh. Tomorrow, kid, tomorrow.

X-Ray

Hudson had to get an X-ray today. He is prone to colds and congestion, so the allergist wanted him to get an x-ray to see if his adenoids are enlarged or inflamed or in the wrong spot...who knows.

I got him in at 10:15 this morning. All was going well until the technician told me we needed to take off his sweater (because it had buttons on it) and put him in a little gown. Hudson did not like the gown, and it made him very anxious.


See?

Luckily, Hudson did not resist. I was with him the entire time, and the technician was great. We got the picture in two takes. Hudson came out of it with four Iron Man stickers.


I was so proud of him.

Then we took off to the zoo. Thank you annual pass. We spent nearly two hours there.

Then we went to McDonald's. Thank you, Mom for a giftcard. The kids played there for a good hour.


Taking a break from running around with Brother.

Then we came home, and the kids convinced me to let them ride their bikes...even though it was raining! I caved and figured, why not? I sat in the garage and read my Nook while they rode around the cul de sac getting wet.

After a yummy dinner of pork tenderloin and winter vegetables, we snuggled up to watch Rudolph's Happy New Year, and now we are all snug in bed. Or at least three of us are. I'll be heading there shortly.

Things

Today Evan and I did some fun things. We took Hudson to daycare. Evan would have stayed if his friend Nicholas had been there, but he wasn't, so Evan came home with me.

I changed back into my pajama bottoms (I wore my pj top to drop off Hudson...I couldn't be bothered putting a real shirt on) and climbed back into bed. I read my Nook, and Evan played Nintendo. After a while Evan said, "Mom, is it really 11 o' clock?" I lifted my head to peer at the clock. Sure enough, it was 11. Hmmm, where does the time go when you are snuggling with your baby?!

We did a little cleaning. Nothing strenuous, mind you. Evan picked up trash, and I cleared the kitchen of dirty dishes.

We may have gotten back into bed at that point.

At 1:30 we decided we were hungry, so we went to Me N Ed's for some shared pizza. I actually got dressed to do this. The pizza was mighty tasty. Evan and I split a personal size pizza. He ate two slices, and I ate two slices and a bite of a third.

We went to the grocery store for a few vegetables. Then we came back home. We may or may not have gotten back in bed.

I painted my toenails green. Thank you, Mom! I love the color! Did you plan for the color to match my new perfect amazing wonderful pajamas? I'm sure you planned it that way.


Sorry to anyone who is grossed out by toes, but I just love the new color. I don't know that I'd wear it on my fingers, but toes, definitely! And aren't these pajamas the most comfortable looking things ever?

Evan and I played a little catch. Then we went to get Hudson. The two monkeys convinced me that it was okay to ride bikes around the cul de sac in the dark. Eric came home. We had dinner. We watched football. The kids went to bed.

And I took a bubble bath BY MYSELF! Oh the glory of it! I felt sort of lonely!

I will leave you with a few Christmas pictures. I know, it's two days after Christmas, and I have yet to get the holiday posts done. That's because the pictures are all on Eric's camera. I can't get to them until he downloads them. Maybe I'll post a Christmas review in February.


Santa left a note for the kids!


Stockings are stuffed!


Santa must have thought the two crazy children living in my house were good this year!

Until I get the rest of the photos, these will have to do.

Girlfriends

A few months ago Eric asked Hudson if he had a girlfriend, expecting him to say Brooke, who is a 3-year-old girl who goes to the same daycare. Hudson said that yes, he does have a girlfriend...Ashley! She is the 16-year-old daughter of the daycare provider!

That gave us a good chuckle. Hudson has no age boundaries!

A few days ago Evan suddenly announces to me that Hudson broke up with Ashley! He was very serious as he said it. "Ashley wasn't sharing, so Hudson broke up with her."

I just about died laughing.

"I didn't break up with my girlfriend, though," Evan said.

"Who is your girlfriend?" I asked.

"Greven."

"Does Greven know she is your girlfriend?" I asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

With the utmost respect, Evan answered, "Because I don't want to embarrass her!"

Awww! What a sweet little boy!

With a few more questions, I found out that other kids know Greven is Evan's girlfriend, but she is clueless!

Evan asked me if this was the right thing to do in not telling her. I told Evan while he is in first grade, it is absolutely the right way to handle it. However, when he gets older, I suspect he may want to let the girlfriend in on the secret!

Three Days Before Christmas

But really it feels like two days before Christmas because we start the celebration on the 24th. I love Christmas Eve!

Anyhow, we are having another low key morning.

I exercised on the elliptical, cleaned the kitchen, got the crock pot started for chili this evening, and have been reading blogs. Reading blogs is probably one of my favorite things to do besides watch tv. TV is awful right now. Nothing new in the DVR, so I'm blog stalking.

Here are a few photos from the morning.


Steady rain has brought out puddles and slimy things. All to the delight of two little boys. Evan is using knitting needles to dig in the puddle. Luckily, I don't knit.


I love how the house smells when something has been cooking in the crock pot all day. I would have taken the lid off, but I didn't want the chili to lose heat. You'll have to trust me. It looks and smells heavenly.


My children are obsessed with Egg Nog, which is known as "Christmas Milk" around here. I think it must be laced with crack. The kids won't quit asking for it. I like how it smells, but I won't drink it.


Time to hide head in shame. This is my next project as soon as I post this. Hopefully I'll get this room under control. I'll post updates if I make progress.

Vacation Days

After a leisurely start to the morning, the boys and I headed out to finish Christmas shopping for Eric. We shopped at three different stores as well as dealing with one horrific parking lot.

I don't mind driving anywhere, but I HATE parking. I'm just not good at it, and it makes me panic. I'm also not an aggressive driver, so having to hunt and attack for a parking spot is awful for me. After circling the lot for 20 minutes (EVERY spot was filled), a lady motioned to me that she was leaving. Thank you, Jesus! I didn't care that the spot was quite far from the store. Didn't matter. I just made sure that I hung onto the kids for dear life as we navigated our way through the cars. Ugh!

The boys did such a great job with the shopping that I treated them to a Jamba Juice and a haircut. They love getting their hair cut.


Hudson getting his hair chopped. I think this kid's hair is on steroids. It grows like weeds. Evan's grows at a more manageable pace.


Hudson has such pretty hair. I imagine this is what Eric's hair looked like when he was little!

Hudson's hair didn't always look so great. I had serious doubts about his hair when he was born. He looked like a baby monkey with his hair poking up in all directions! Shoot. I was going to post a picture of him as a baby, but I can't get to the server where his baby pictures are stored. You'll just have to take my word for it, his hair was strange.

Maybe I thought it was more strange because Evan came out with the most perfect head of soft straight black hair that you've ever seen. I spent hours rubbing my hand over his perfect wisps of hair. Hudson? The wisps stood up in the air. I didn't know what to think!


Enjoying the lollipop that goes along with a haircut.

Sorry, no photos of Evan. I mean to, but then I forgot.

Just had to mention, I made a roasted pork tenderloin for dinner that was delicious! It was a Weight Watcher recipe. Oh my it was so good!

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree is one of my favorite books by Shel Silverstein. It's all about a tree who does nothing but give, give, give to a little boy. And the boy never appreciates the tree for giving him shade, or a branch to swing upon, or fruit to eat. The boy grows up to be a man and still doesn't recognize all the tree gives to him.

It's a rather sad, but lesson-filled, story.

Today we had to cut down our Giving Tree.


We have had a whole lot of rain, and it has caused the ground to be super duper soggy. We woke up this morning to find our beloved climbing tree leaning precariously towards the house.

Evan has been climbing this tree for about three years. He and the little neighbor girl from down the street managed to climb way into the tallest branches last summer and take pictures of brand new baby birds in their nest. They also love foraging for pine cones which they throw down like discovered treasure.

Eric bought it as his first Christmas tree 11 years ago. Once Christmas was over, he planted the tree outside in the side yard. And now we have to cut it down.

It makes me sad.


Midway through the tree branch cutting process. Eric had to go buy a chainsaw just to do this. As if we really wanted to spend money on a chainsaw at Christmas time. Better that than a deductible, however, if the tree crashed into the house.


The end result for now. We ran out of dry weather, light, and energy. We'll have to see what the next few days of storms does to the ground. At least if the tree falls, it should fall clear of the house.

Not the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Great Day

My mom treated me, my sister, and the four grandsons to a movie this afternoon. We saw Yogi Bear. Yogi turned out to be a pretty cute movie. Much better than "How Do You Know?" that I saw yesterday. That movie was BORING.


The boys settling in before the movie started.

Hudson did alright for it being his second time at the movie theater. He stayed quiet until he ran out of candy. Then he was thirsty. Then he was restless. However, I didn't have to leave the theater with him, so we'll call it a successful day.

Then my mom and sister took the boys home for a slumber party! Yay! That gave Eric and me a chance to go out to dinner and do our Christmas shopping. We had bought a grand total of two things before tonight. And now we are done except for stocking stuffers. It was really weird purchasing so much at one time.

I stole all of the photos of the kids off of my sister's facebook page. Looks like they are having a good time at Grandma's house.


They made a giant snowman cookie.


They did a little hard labor. (Grandma made them clear the sidewalk of leaves so Santa could come visit!)


They played.


Grandma gave them an early Christmas present.

A night without children can sometimes be the best gift of all! So nice to just be a couple every now and then.

Excited

Tonight Evan looked at the clock and made the comment, "Wow, time sure seems to be moving fast. I guess God is excited for Christmas to come!"

I thought it was cute that he thought God was speeding up time so Christmas could get here faster.

Is God Real?

Evan asked us if God was real tonight. He wanted to know if it was real or just a pretend story. We assured him that God was real, but I wanted to know the reason for the question.

He said he just wondered because he's never seen God before because He's in heaven. I told Evan that he was right about God being in heaven, and it is a little hard to understand.

Then Evan asked, "What about this tricky thing, Mom? God can be in heaven, but he could also be at a lake at the same time." Um, yep, He sure can.

I told Evan that God is like a super hero with super powers, but even better and stronger and more powerful.

I found his questions to be very real, thoughtful and sweet. I didn't mind at all that he was questioning the "realness" of God. It gave us a good few minutes to talk as a family about God's love.

I told him that even though we don't see God in person, we see signs of him such as our love for our family.

Then we talked about Christmas lights.

Such is the mind of a 6-year-old boy.

I 4

Hudson wants to be four. Everyday after I pick him up from Linda's, he tells me, "I four now."

I have to deliver the sad news that, no, you aren't quite four yet.

I think he wants to be four because we told him he could go to school when he was four.

Oh little man, you don't want to grow up too quickly.