This is the life

M-I-C....See ya real soon

2009-11-06T06:23:00.002-07:00

We went down south (again) recently and made a trip to the big D. Disneyland, that is.

We can't thank Jilly Bean enough for the special, special day. You see, she's an old friend who brought along her friend, Patrick....the two of them walked us in for free. Yep, what would have cost us $97.00 each was absolutely free. $97.00!!!??? Good golly.

The two of them work for the mouse himself and just happened to be available to make our day.

Here we sit, on the big "C" in front of California Adventure, waiting for them.

These guys were so excited they must have asked me 12 times "when O' when is she coming mom". This was between the minutes of 9:01 and 9:04 a.m.

I should say that Dylan and Karly were super excited. Dawson didn't really have a clue what he was getting into. It was his first time visiting Mr. Mouse.

Awww Main Street is so awesome. It reminds me of the days I worked there. The many times I walked this street while I was 'working'. Thee best job ever. Cut much too short.

How precious is this? I'm not sure what caused him to sit on his knees before the castle, but I think it's so cute.

We asked someone to take our picture. We had to wait in line, for everyone wants their picture in this very spot. It's only 9:43 a.m. and Dawson is already yawning. Oh boy are we in trouble.

I'm sure glad the lady took TWO shots, maybe this one will be better....

Nope, the horses that pull the tourists down and around Main Street? They totally stole the attention of my two younger ones. Dylan, bless his heart, did awesome. Both times.

One of the first rides Karly wanted to go on was the carousel. It's always been a favorite of hers....

See? Just look at that smile. She still rides with the same glee spread about her face.

This guy? Not so much. He was not diggin' the carousel. I mean, really, those horses are just way too scary. And the ever so slow spinning? Too, too much.

It didn't take long though, and he was loving the pony ride. "Poor pitiful me" turned into "WEE, LOOK AT ME" real fast.

He was enthralled with the workings of the ride and didn't want to get off. It was his first time after all.

Dylan was riding dangerously. I'm surprised the button pusher lady didn't escort him off. Or lock him in that center part with the scary mirrors. Yikes.

You know, not everyone who works at Disneyland has a permanent smile affixed to their face with tons of patience just boiling over.

Jill and Patrick (remember them?) explained to us before leaving, that if you're ever visiting a Disney theme park and find yourself in a disappointing situation, just simply say to an employee.... "This is a very unpleasant Disney experience" and just see what happens. Keith and I never got up the nerve to actually do it....even though he totally could have. He waited in line for a Dole Whip (pineapple whipped ice cream) for over THIRTY MINUTES. Longer than we waited for ANY line for a ride. Apparently they were short staffed and the one gentleman who was working the stand wished he would have been working It's a Small World.

Anywho, back to the carousel. This might be one of his favorites too. Just look at him.

I can't say the same for Dawson here. Thunder Mountain? His favorite? Ummm, no.

He was crying really really hard. I tried to hold him super tight and soothe his terrified self, but it didn't do a whole lot of good.

This smile was before the "fast part". For very soon was his world turned upside down.

Disneyland wasn't so fun afterall.

This one LOVES Thunder Mountain. It wasn't long ago that his ride ended in tears too. Keifer says he takes after him. He was twelve before he enjoyed the crazy rides.

Tarzan's house

How cute is this? Oh my, how it made his day to actually MEET Woody! Yipee!! He said "he felt like he was in the movie"

A Bug's Life 4D show. Priceless. Especially the last part where the hornets sting your booty. Dylan and I have learned our lesson though. We won't let our fannies even come close to those benches at that time. Uh uh.

But this guy? He had no idea what was in store for him. Mwa ha ha ha.

I love the fact that you only have to wait a minute or two before the show. Just long enough to get some precious pictures of a girl and her momma.

And another one....

Yep, we had to do the carousel again at California Adventure. We HAD to....Karly said if we didn't she would throw herself down right there in the street screaming and kicking her arms while flailing her arms.

So...we said "O.k. okay, simmer down".

Dylan actually wanted to go on California Screamin'! You know, the super fast roller coaster with the loop?! Loop, meaning you go UPSIDE DOWN? That one. Here we are just before it took off. Upon take off, you go 0-60 in approximately 3 seconds. I'm pretty sure it was right about the three second mark that he was second guessing his decision.

While we did that, Keifer had to ride the carousel five or twelve more times. Poor guy. He got to go on Screamin' when we got off. He was high as a kite for an hour or so afterward.

Here we are. Braving the haw-ra-ble drops. Although I wasn't doing it here. I screamed. I screamed a lot.

We got to go on the newest ride, Toy Story and boy, was it a blast. We ALL wanted to go again. REAL bad. But when we got off, the line had lengthened to 45 minutes. We didn't want it that bad.

It was a hoot though. A 4D game/ride. You MUST try it if you ever find yourself in Paradise Pier.

Dylan tried the Autopia cars by himself! Granted, he only got a quarter of the way before he needed help, but he tried. Those gas pedals are extremely hard to push! I had a hard enough time myself.

Karly looked forward to Space Mountain the entire day. She had gone on it before when she was four (FOUR!!!) and loved it. It seems the Ghost Galaxy part? wasn't so much fun anymore. Hence the squeezed-shut-eyes and the hands-over-the-ears pose. It was way scarier due to the Halloween theme, I have to say.

I also have to say...

I H-A-T-E that ride. Always have, always will.

Dylan wasn't to crazy about it either. He SAYS that he liked it and wasn't that scared, but this picture certainly tells a different story. What do ya'll think?

This is a must have picture. I'm not sure why, I just like it....

Maybe it's because I like to compare them to one another. See how the kidlets have grown and how us, ahem, adults have changed.

Dawson is brewing in me tummy, just in case you thought I looked fat.

I also love how the flowers always look different. So purdy and vibrant at times.

An awesome Halloween firework show to end the night.

Another wunnerful day at the ~~dirtiest~~ happiest place on earth.

Thank you again Jill and Patrick!!! *We love you more'n our luggage.

*Any guesses on where that came from?

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T05:53:00.003-07:00

I'm not sure how we went from this.....

To this....

...but I'm pretty sure it happened when I blinked sometime.

Just in case anyone is wondering why on earth I would dress my baby girl up as Robin? Her brother was Batman and her daddy and I thought it would be cute. It so was.

Halloween 2009 was once again a blast....one of those times that will be locked in our memory bank for years and years. We had a party here at our house and everyone dressed up.

Yes, even me. As much as I despise it, I submitted. It was actually quite fun.

I especially liked the whole "wench" part. Keifer certainly enjoyed using that name for me throughout the night.

I'm fairly certain that he's the best lookin' pirate I've ever seen. Mmm hmm. Cap'n Jack Sparrow's got nothin' on him.

Please note the tattoo on my arm...Keith spent a long time finding them at the last minute, because he thought that I really needed them. Doesn't it just complete the look? You might spot another one here in a minute. Or five.

Two Jailbirds, a blood-squirtin' skeleton and a vampire fairy (I think)

I cracked up many times throughout the night when I looked at Wayde. Whether it was the fake sleeves, the too small costume that allowed his gut, er belly to show, the facial hair or tattoos, I'm not sure. Maybe it was all of the above? I especially liked his answer when asked about his much-too-snug-costume.

"One size fits all baby".

Is this perfect or what?

Adam and Theresa as Sandra D and Danny Zuko from Grease. The funnest(?) part of the night was watching everyone walk in. Nobody knew who was dressing as what. I will forever remember the way this man walked into my house. So classic.

Brandon as a Transformer, Lexi as a(nother) pirate and Caden as a puppy gog. How cute are they?

I didn't get any pictures of the Kurrles together, unfortunately. They were all characters from Cinderella. With Aubrey as Cinderella, herself, Donna as the fairy Godmother, Jason as Prince Charming and Katelyn as a wee little mouse.

I even invited some eight-legged friends to join us ;o)

I asked my lovely neighbors, the Brashers, to come over and judge our costume contest. Lexis won as best kid and Keifer and I scored as best couple. Thank you you guys! Yer awesome ;o)

Mmmm...mmm...mmm

The wig was quite uncomfortable, so it came off several times throughout the night. I thought he looked quite handsome wigless, he thought he was sporting the gay pirate look.

Hee hee hee ho ho ha ha ack pphh

John and Patsy even came! I almost didn't let them in though. A BSU fan? That is so not costume enough. I won't even say what John said Pat was. This picture cracks me up. Even though she looks as if she's on to him, she had no idea what he was doing. We laughed over it for quite some time. Good ol' Johnny.

Donna, bless her heart, put together five or six games for all of us.

She went to a LOT of work and we all had a LOT of fun.

Thank you Donna!

You're the bestest, bestest game planner-er

Ooooh, Danny starin' down Mr. Tough Guy.

Here she is! I found Miss Cinderelly! Isn't she a cutie pie?

And the fairy godmother. The one who made all of our dreams come true!

Everyone had so much fun, they're already talking about next year!

Hmmmm.....What O' what shall we be?

Life without Jesus…

2009-10-26T05:34:00.000-06:00

Ever heard of that kid song?

It's a favorite of mine.

Do you know why "Life without Jesus is like a doughnut?"

Life without Jesus is like a doughnut, 'cuz without him there's a hole in the middle of your heart.

Cora told me about these and I thought what fun it would be to make them with the kids. Not fun like this, or this, but really fun.

You simply take the cheap, cheap bisquits and cut out the center. I used a little white tip that I use to frost things and simply pushed and twisted until the center came out. You could use a cap from a two liter bottle too.

Fry them in some oil for a few seconds, and I mean it, just a few....that's all it takes and remove them.

Then toss them around in some cinnamon and sugar and voila, you've got a yummy treat. I even fried the little centers and made doughnut holes.

Mmmmm....between the five of us, we gobbled them up quick. And most of them were being gobbled right before dinner. I'm still not sure why I cooked them right before dinner, 'cuz that is so unlike me, but I did....and they were oh so good.

What kind of yummy recipes have you tried lately? Do share.

Flashback Friday

2009-10-23T06:34:00.001-06:00

In lieu of the holiday that lies right around the corner...I thought this was fitting

circa 2005

This was as close to a costume I was going to get. A couple'a ears and a bow tie with whiskers. I'm not one for dressing up....

Keifer, on the other hand...doesn't have that problem. I look at this picture of him and feel rather afraid. Afraid and attracted to him all at the same time.

Now that's scary. What you can't see here, or maybe you can, are the piercings he has on his lip and eyebrow. He pulled off the punk look quite well.

Karly? Is she not the cutest lil' thang you ever saw? And my little pumpkin? Oh, how I miss that age. Dylan's rockin' the ninja pose too.

Not sure why this picture looks so funny? Blurry and a bit distorted...why O' why?

Charlie

2009-10-22T05:36:00.000-06:00

There was a time that I would often come home to this....

My slippers all over the house. Charlie has always had some sorta fettish with stuffed things. Be it stuffed animals, purses, or slippers.

I got so tired of finding them throughout my house, or better yet, floating in his water dish, that I put them in this here Old Navy bag and hid them in the corner of my closet. In the very dark corner of my closet. Wrapped up very tightly. Since it was summertime and I didn't need said slippers, I thought I would put them up....because if I found one more lying around, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the little gremlin.

I'm pretty sure you know where I'm going with this....

No, you're eyes are not deceiving you. The cat actually drug the bag (for the fifth time) out to the t.v. room, where we all sat and watched a movie, and began digging inside with his nose to release the last slipper. The other five were strewn about my closet and room.

I finally got my camera so that I could capture said behavior.

Here's a little live footage.

Keifer should be ashamed. Although you may not be able to hear it very well. He said at one point in the video that Charlie "was going to kill himself by eating the plastic, which was fine with him". FINE WITH HIM? That is SO not nice.

And, I totally believe him. It would be fine with him if Charles just keeled over and died.

Oh the shame.

Pandora's Box?

2009-10-19T05:25:00.000-06:00

Shannon recently shared something with me. Something that is super swell, nifty, sensationally incredibilistic.

A little thing called Pandora Radio.

Ever heard of it?

If not, you must check it out. It's a free online radio. The super, nifty thing about it? It plays ONLY the kind of music you like. You simply type in an artist that you like and it will then play (on it's own) all kinds of music that is similar to that artist.

Give it a whirl. http://www.pandora.com/

Super.

Duper.

Cool.

A few more....

2009-10-16T06:48:00.000-06:00

I got a few more pics from our photo shoot.

Since I have to save them for holiday cards and such, I can't share them all, but here are a few...
Dawson was loving his tongue here. We just couldn't get rid of it.

Jenn really wanted to capture the boys playing as boys do, but they couldn't help but pose.

A momma and her piggy tailed girl....

This is kind of a fun one...one where she captured us goofing off. Probably laughing at how darned cold it was. I think Keifer might even be saying "It is way too cold to be doing this" Aren't those colors georgeous? My, my.

This is one of my favorites I think, it's just so her.

Thank you again Jenn, yer awesome!

A little sneak peek

2009-10-13T15:16:00.004-06:00

A friend of mine recently took our family pictures in a be-you-tee-ful park. Although it was freezing that day, and we had to drop our jackets in between shots, I'm hoping we will get some good pictures.

After seeing this....I'm sure we will. Look at the purdy colors!

She's teased me with this ONE. Only one ;o(

Hopefully I'll get the rest soon. Real soon. I can't wait to see 'em.

Try clicking on the photo to enlarge it.

Babies Galore

2009-10-11T05:41:00.000-06:00

It's been so long since we made our little jaunt to Oregon that these precious little babies are probably toddlers by now.

With my company and the birthday madness, these posts got left on the back burner. The way back there burner.

Several weeks ago, we journeyed west to the oh so wet and depressing state of Oregon. Sorry guys, I'm just keepin' it real.

While we were there, I got the most pleasant experience of hugging, kissing and smelling all of their new babies.

You know those questionnaires that ask you things like "your favorite smell"? Newborn babies, (with Johnson's baby lotion on, of course) would be my answer. It's got to be the best smell ever.

And, no, I do NOT want anymore children. Thank you.

This picture (above) is one that I took as little Rory laid on my lap. She was the youngest of the three and super precious.

Sister Heather and little Paige are so happy to have Rory apart of their family. Three girls for the Stiles' family. THREE GIRLS...wow.

This little guy was in my arms most of the time I was there. And I was SO thankful that Sister Shannon let me smother him. I just love smothering little babes. This is Carson James.

While I held her baby, she held Sister Ashely's baby girl, Joselyn.

Carson and Rory are only six days apart, but the difference in their weight is probably like 10 pounds. He's a moose. A healthy, stocky, precious lil' moose.

Joselyn has the cutest little personality. You know how sometimes you try and talk to babies and they look at you like you're Chewbacca? Not this girl.....She was a smiley one who absolutely loved it when you talked to her.

I got my baby fill for at least a little while.

But, I may need to make another trip soon. I'll need another fix here purdy quick.

Thank you ladies for allowing me to hold your little ones. And for allowing my nose (eeeewww) to be so close to them ;o)

Flashback Friday

2009-10-09T10:50:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I've flashed back.

We're goin' back to the dark ages today folks....

Here we have some of the Keeling girls. From top left Kathy and Sharon and on the bottom from left, Candy and Karen.

If I didn't know better, I would NEVER think these girls were sisters. Girls who came from the same two parents. I think they all look SO different. As adults I think they resemble a great deal...but as wee ones, not so much.

Silly 3D

2009-10-07T05:37:00.000-06:00

While our visitors visited, we visited the movie theatre one day. We had the very pleasant experience of watching the movie Up in 3D. It was a super cute movie. Pixar is 'da bomb.

I wanted a shot of the group with the groovy 3D glasses on. Upon seeing how Dawson posed in this photo, I thought everyone should look as hip...

Cute, eh?

What you see happening here with Dawson happened very often throughout our visit. The little guy's head is just too small and the glasses continually fell off, which is WHY he had them on upside down to begin with. They seemed to stay on a little better that way.

I'm pretty sure his complaining of a stiff neck the next day had something to do with it. Ever seen a little boy trying to keep glasses that are too big on their face?

Keifer? I'm just not sure what is up with him. He likes to be different, that much I know.

Nevertheless, it was a great movie. If you haven't seen it, you must. In 3D, if at all possible.

Dirty Mouth

2009-10-04T05:57:00.000-06:00

I don't remember my other children having dirty faces and mouths ALL the time.

This guy is always dirty. Always. Hulk anyone?

You can always tell what he has eaten. He can't pull any fast ones on us when it comes to food.

We will ALWAYS know if he's gotten into the treats. The evidence is right there, out in the open. For all to see.

Will his being four help this situation?

Birthday Bowling

2009-10-01T05:40:00.004-06:00

Dawson doesn't forget promises. When he was sick sometime back, Keith told him that when he got better, he would take him bowling. He has kindly reminded his father of that promise, made long ago, and it finally came to pass.

For his birthday, ALL he wanted was to eat cake and go bowling.

This was how he watched his ball proceed down the lane. And it took quite a while to make it's way.

These have got to be thee cutest shoes ever. I've always been fond of bowling shoes, but I've never seen them in such a small size. I had to refraim myself from taking them home. Not really.

It seems Karly was the best bowler. This guy tried and tried to keep up with her.

Mom, showing off her skills.

Standing so proudly with her six pound ball.

Ahem, moving right along.

Megan Jean, as beautiful as ever.

Here are a few of the scores, as you can see, I am NOT the best bowler. I think next time, I might try setting it on the ground and giving it a gentle push. It worked for Dawson and Karly. They BOTH beat me by the fifth round. I SO need the bumpers. Gutter balls are the pits.

Keifer, showing us his form. What form.

Cute Ma. Real cute.

One of my favorite parts of the bowling experience. Donning these beauties.

**I'd just like to add one thing...

When I left the house, my knickers, capri's, pedal pushers....or whatever else they are called looked fine with FLIP FLOPS. But, bowling shoes? Not so much.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs

2009-09-29T05:43:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, my sister was telling me about a project Craig started with their little ones. A bug collection.

So, when Meg arrived, she wanted to start one with my kids since they are so into catching creepy crawly things.

They spent several days hunting, catching and suffocating all things insect.

I guess one way to kill, but yet preserve the bug, is to put it in an airtight jar with a nail polish remover filled cotton ball. Here you can see it being done to a poor, poor honey bee.

Then, once they were good and dead, they, and by they, I mean Megan, removed them and assembled them on a piece of styrofoam. She spread out the wings and legs and pinned them.

I think the preying Mantis and the other big green bug were the best finds, if you don't count the moth. A moth we found one night as we relaxed on our patio. HUGE moth. When it opened it's wings it was a beautiful pinky purple. Meg killed it and got it pinned on our display board, but made the mistake of leaving it on the dining room table. A table that Charlie frequents often. Charlie, our cat who is very curious and super nosey. We noticed our beautiful moth missing and found him (the part that Charlie didn't eat) in the laundry room on the floor.

We were all disappointed. It was a BIG, beautiful bug.

In this particular picture, you can see the strange green thing (I have NO idea what it is) has a big whole in his head/back. It seems while they were trying to get the styrofoam ready, the Preying Mantis got hungry. It started eating this poor bug. We were all glad that they got them out before there was nothing left of him.

Memories are made of this. I know my kids will forever remember their time spent with this special little lady.

Thank you, my dear, for your willingness to spend so much time with them. For giving up yourself for their sake. For your care. It means a whole lot to me.

We miss you already!

The Birthday Bash

2009-09-27T13:15:00.001-06:00

This little boy is "fo yis ol" Can you name the movie? Jeffrey anyone?

He woke up on the morning of his birthday VERY excited. I gave him a big hug and told him that he was FOUR years old now! He said that no, he wasn't four yet. He couldn't be until AFTER his cake.

I explained that yes, he would have cake later, but that he was, indeed, four now. It turned into a ten minute cryfest (is that a word?) He just couldn't understand how he could be four without eating his cake first.

Since he had lots of presents sitting on the fireplace calling his name, we let him open one up after breakfast.

Here he is FINALLY willing to admit he was four. Megan and Mom had arrived the evening before, so we all got to enjoy his happy day.

While he napped, I made his cake. He chose Hulk this year...although, he would have been happy with anything. He changes his mind like wind changes direction...but we finally agreed on this.

I was really stressed out for a few days trying to decide on HOW I, a total lame drawer, was going to draw Hulk's face. I had intended to make a big head with the scary teeth and all, but ran out of time and ended up using these instead. It made my job OH so much easier. And, really? He could've cared less with what it looked like. As long as he got a Hulk cake, he was happy.

After dinner, he opened up several more presents. And Twister wasn't one of them. It just happened to be sitting on the table. I wonder why it was sitting there? Oh ya, cause things are often left out lying around the house until, ahem, someone puts them away.

SILLY FACES! A really swell magnetic toy. I love his eyes perched along the top, what a perfect expression to go along with the title huh?

Here, he was showing off a fun game that his daddy got him. I told him to give me a really mean Hulk face and this is what I got. It seems Keifer played along too. How cute is he?

On Saturday, we had a birthday party for both boys. A fun party filled with punch, cake, friends, jumpers, games, presents and yummy, yummy food. The bouncer and food was all thanks to our Nanny!

It was truly Christmas in September for these guys. Too, too many presents!

This bag was almost as big as him. How fun would it be to open a present that is almost as big as you? The Wayenbergs got him a full size (plastic) bowling game!

The presents took quite some time and then it was time for cake!

Since Dylan is getting "older" now, he didn't need a special character themed cake....he just wanted "one with dots along the bottom and confetti like" Another total easy one for me! Yay.

I'm SO glad he is "getting older" and doesn't expect any great thing ;o)

Here are several of us waiting to eat some of that yummy cake.

How precious is this little thang? I just love her to pieces. Katelyn Sue.

This kept the 15 or so kids very entertained. Entertained, indeed.

Even some of us adults ;o)

Megan captured this precious picture. What a shot Meg! In fact most of these pictures posted here are courtesy of Megan Jean, and I'm SO thankful that she took so many. I was running around crazy and didn't have a whole lot of time for picture taking. THANK YOU FEEF!

This is what I call the 'calm patio'. It was quite crazy in places, but this was one spot you could come for a moment of peace. I wasn't able to enjoy many of those moments.

It was so much fun. We were SO happy that our friends and loved ones were able to come and celebrate with us. SO happy to have Meg and Nanny here, too!

I still can't believe that another year has come and gone. That I have NINE and FOUR year old boys. It just doesn't seem possible.

Away for a bit

2009-09-22T06:53:00.001-06:00

With all the birthday madness and houseguests, I find it very hard to sit at my computer at all, let alone work on my blog.

I do have several posts brewing, but can't find any time to put them together.

Soon you will read all about a trip we recently took, birthday parties, visitors and much more...but you may not hear from me for awhile.

Just wanted to post a little something so I wouldn't get hounded by, ahem, 'anonymous' commenters who get antsy when I don't post every day. Anonymous commenters who don't post very often themselves ;o)

Another one down

2009-09-19T06:09:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I think it's a bummer to have both of my boys' birthdays in the same week, and other times, I thinks it's super cool. Dawson was actually due on Dylan's birthday, but he came a few days early.

Dylan's birthday is today. Nine. My firstborn is nine.

Here he is taking a bath and loving every minute of it.

I went through my pictures and picked out a few of my favorites. Since digital cameras were not the norm when he was a baby baby, I only have a few of the toddler stage. These were from our video camera that took still shots. Cheesy, but I'm SO thankful that I have them.

This face spells C-o-r-n-w-e-l-l all the way.

This has got to be one of my all time favorite pictures of him. I mean, come on....the under-roos with the famous Spidey move is priceless. He will SO love this in a few years.

A precious picture of a boy and his Papa. Oh how we miss our Papa.

We have a big day today. A birthday bash for both boys with lots of friends and family and cake presents and jumpers and....

Fun.

My not so baby

2009-09-16T05:59:00.001-06:00

Four years ago today we were enjoying the newest addition to our little family. Another boy.

Dawson Guy arrived bright and early weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces.

I fell in love with him very, very quickly and he's grown on me ever since.

I love having boys. I was rather afraid of them for most of my life because I had heard so many horror stories of what the little monsters could do.....but, I'm so happy to have them. They bring me a lot of joy. If I had ALL boys, I may not be able to say the same thing, but BECAUSE I was blessed with a little girl and get to enjoy both flavors, I can say it ;o)

He was so happy. Not as happy as his big brother (I'm pretty sure Dylan beats the all time record of happy babies) but happy, nonetheless.

And just because I didn't say "happy" enough in the last sentence....I'll say it one more time. Happy.

This may have been one of the only times he allowed me to adorn him in a hat.

Oh, maybe not. Here's another hat shot. Maybe I DID make him leave them on? Just as I made his sister leave her many, many bows on.

The hairless, toothless stage. Let's hope that he loves me as much as I loved him when I get there.

One of my favorite ages is right around the time they learn to walk. They are learning to take steps and balance and speak in a language that only you can understand. This was one of those stages.

Sporting the spiky do and trying to be brave enough to get messy. How come removing the guts of a pumpkin is SO hard for children, but smearing all things food across their face and through their hair is o.k? I've never understood that.

This picture makes me hurt from laughter. Something about that purple head piece and his facial expression. Hee hee hee ho ho ho

His 1.00 face painting. It's supposed to be Spiderman....whatever it is, I like it. Mostly because it was a dollar.

Dawson didn't really care that it only cost a dollar. What's a dollar to him? What's a hundred dollars to him? Someday he will wish he was this close to one of these. Thank you Papa.

Is there a saying for four year olds? You know like the Terrible Two's, Trying Threes? Was it the Fabulous Fours? Fantastic Fours?

Let's hope so ;o)

School Daze

2009-09-11T20:25:00.000-06:00

We started school this week and as usual, we are ALL excited. Even Dylan. Yes, even my non-school lover of a son has actually enjoyed these last few days. I'm quite surprised. I know the excitement will end very shortly. But, I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

The one thing I was not expecting this year was the over excitement of this little guy....

Technically, he still is only THREE years old (at least for a very few more days) I can't get over his drive to "do school" the entire day. I thought Karly was a school work-a-holic and she's got nothin' on this boy. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep him satisfied.

He's been working on Hooked on Phonics and wanting to do worksheets faster than I can print them out. I need to do some serious googling on preschool projects and crafts, although schooling the older two doesn't leave a whole lot of time for said activities. We all know how time consuming they can get.

I'm beginning to feel very overwhelmed and we're only three days in! Knowing how to manage my time, a schedule of some kind and keeping this little boy entertained is going to be quite a task.....

....and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Four leaf clovers

2009-09-08T05:58:00.000-06:00

One of the bloggers I follow wrote something recently that meant a lot to me. Whenever something touches me or causes me to see something in myself, I want to share it. What better place than right here on my blog?

I especially liked the part about her husband. I want to remember that for always.

In case you'd like to hop over and check her out. You may click here.

When I was younger, I was well-known in my small town as being an adept finder of four leaf clovers. Okay, fine, scratch that. No one in our town probably knew that about me, except my family. But if they would have, I'm sure they'd have been impressed. And I would have been well-known.

No fewer than twelve of the lucky plant life specimens were plucked by my young fingers during my formative years. Gingerly carried to a safe place and then pressed between pieces of clear packing tape to preserve them, four leaf clovers were like my middle name.

Recently when I was sitting in the grass at a local park, watching our Many (tan, sweaty) Small Children play, I had a flashback to my clover picking days. Whenever I'd be in the grass, be it watching my dad play softball or waiting for the bus or at a picnic, I'd undoubtedly look for four leaf clovers. And, more times than not it seemed, I'd come across one, even in the most weedy of areas.

As I was thinking about this the other day, I couldn't help but wonder if the area I grew up in was especially lucky to have had so many of the special little plants or what. Near as I could tell, other children hadn't come across bucketloads of four leaf clovers. So did the fact that I found so many of them have to do with an infestation of four leaf clovers in grassy areas near me?

And then it hit me. No, it probably had nothing to do with that.

I'm sure I found so many four leaf clovers during my childhood simply because I was always looking for them. Thinking back now, I doubt our backyard was any more infested with such special plants than was anyone else's. But, for reasons that escape me, I had an intense penchant for searching for four leaf clovers. I looked for them almost compulsively whenever I was in the grass. And, oftentimes, I found one, stuck tape all over it and saved it in a special notebook I had.

As I was realizing this the other day, that probably the only reason I found so many four leaf clovers was simply that I looked for them so often, another truth showed itself as a possible parallel:

Perhaps having a good life, one that we are satisfied or joyful in, is not measured by how much subjective good there actually is in our lives, but simply in if we look for satisfaction and joy.

For example, when I am full of a spirit of restoration and love, I can choose to look at my husband and see the good in him. I can focus my attention on the things I love about my husband and put blinders up to the small, irritating things that might otherwise irk me.

The converse is true, too. When I am feeling self-righteous and negative, I can look at that same husband and choose to see only his flaws. When I let his flaws fester in my mind, they seem to grow bigger and more irritating. The good that is in my husband is shoved to the side as I am first unwilling and, later, in fact unable to see it in him.

Nothing about my husband himself changed in these two scenarios. The difference was just in my outlook, in what I searched for.

The same, I'm finding, is true for my life. The situations in our lives are what they are. Being given a so-called bad lot in life should perhaps not be perceived as receiving a life sentence to suffer a joyless, unfulfilled existence. I want to assert that I think anyone can find peace in whatever their circumstances are, if only they will look for it.

We are currently in a season of change. Health, finances, housing, relationships, employment, hospitalizations and the like are fluid for us right now. Things are fluxing and evolving. This time has great bottled potential to be very stressful for me, as I deal with all these changes while still balancing parenting our young children, one of whom has serious health concerns.

But I think the great key to joy, peace and satisfaction in life is in what I look for. Of course, I don't always spend time in the grass searching for four leaf clovers. But when I do, and I press in to find what good can come from the fact that we are financially unstable, I find peace. When hatred surrounds me, if I cling to Jesus and let Him lift me out of the mire, I know a closeness to Him I otherwise wouldn't have. As Stellan endures hospitalizations and an unknown medical future, we can make the choice to look for joy in the fact that he has brought such purpose into our lives instead of being crippled by fear of losing him.

What hope it brings me to realize that, just like when I was a child, there are still four leaf clovers everywhere! All I need to do is look for them.

Babysittin’

2009-09-05T06:20:00.000-06:00

We are like, totally, her favorite babysitter.

Just look at that face. She couldn't be more happy.

Him, on the other hand? Not lookin' too happy. If you didn't know him, this picture might make you wonder if he was a grumpy one. Pictures deceive. They do, they do.

The careful one

2009-09-02T06:12:00.001-06:00

Some things really sink in. You wonder sometimes if kids really hear you when you speak to them. I'm sure most times, they don't. They need gentle reminders. Over and over.

Dawson definitely heard me this time.

As he was clearing the table the other night, he walked around the island very carefully. I noticed and asked him what he was doing. He looked at me very soberly and said that he needed to walk "real soft so he didn't get a hole in his nose"

I replied "A HOLE in your nose? WHAT do you mean??!!"

He meant this kind of "hole in his nose" Remember this? Apparently, he does.

It seems this picture and story of how it happened definitely made a lasting impression on him. He is sure to walk carefully while holding utensils. Any type of utensil.

Afro Boy

2009-08-30T06:19:00.000-06:00

There were times when my babies were little that I thought they'd never grow up. I can't believe I ever thought that.

This is Dawson a few years back. When he was toothless, chunky and oh so edible...

The kids were dressing up the other day and he came out with this wig on. I immediately thought of the photo from long ago and had to take his picture in the same chair.

Here he is at almost 4 years old (FOUR!!) and around six months old.

Sorry for the blurry picture. I didn't notice until he had run off and got lost in the costume bucket.....dressed in some other funky get up.

Why do they have to grow up so fast? Please can somebody answer that?

Blues Concert

2009-08-28T06:39:00.001-06:00

Dylan's piano teacher, Miss Juli, rocks. She recently put together a Blues concert/Chili feed for those of her students who wanted to participate. She hires a few of her friends as the back up band and her students get to play with them.

They all play some kind of 12-bar blues while the band tries to play along with them. They were able to rehearse for a few minutes earlier in the evening so the band knew what to expect. This first video is Dylan playing the blues.

Miss Juli rocked the beat a bit too...

This was Dylan's second and final song. A cute little diddy called Just Stompin'

Although he was a bit embarrassed, he did so good.

And, his favorite part? The bow.

Pianos n’ Things

2009-08-26T06:22:00.001-06:00

We've been looking for a piano for quite some time now. Dylan's been taking lessons for a couple of years and he's always used a keyboard. It was certainly better than nothing, but it was time.

Since we I am picky about colors and such, it's taken quite a while to find one (to our liking) in our price range. Keith and I have been looking and looking on Craig's List and finally found one!

It seems Charlie's pretty fond of it too.

Although, Charlie likes just about anything. Including stroller rides and being zipped into a very small animal carrier. He even plays the piano from time to time. He's a curious one.

I've always thought how neat it was to see my nieces and nephews sit at their piano multiple times throughout the day and play. Some of them play and play and play. That did NOT happen at our house with a keyboard. It just didn't. But, now that we have a piano right in the middle of our living area, it's happening! Especially my Karly. It calls her name and she sits and plays. Plays the songs that her brother has proudly taught her. She will be starting lessons here pretty soon too, and couldn't be more excited about it.