Fall Fun

I LOVE FALL!

By far my favorite season of the year.  Summer winds down from it's hot crazy mess and the cool nights, cooler mornings and amazing colors that last at least a month down here are a sight for color starved eyes.

With it comes all the extra school fun - fall festival, our first season of soccer (so much fun!), Halloween-which I am not a particular fan of but I know it's a special time for the kids, and finally the lead up to preps for the holidays.

I wish I had about 24 hours a day extra this time of year.  I have so many good intentions and ideas, with about 1/4 the time to actually act upon them.  But I've learned that I'm better off living each day as it's best than trying to worry I won't get it all done (looooong way I've come right there people).

So rather than try and blog about all the amazing days we've recently had, I'll let pictures speak a thousand words.  And...if I get the video uploaded, you can enjoy a rendition of "Great Big God" performed by ALL the Briarwood Kindergarten Classes.  OM Gosh they were cuuuuute.

Life is Good.

Up For Air

Exhale.  Big Exhale.

The past two months have been a whirlwind.  April and May are always really busy in our lives.  It's the start of the spring/summer and the weather is amazing.  Cory usually has a bit of a travel break with work so we can work in our annual vacation and it's always the special time Dad visits for his annual trip for the Birmingham Botanical Garden Plant Sale where we brace the crowds and find great deals for my gardening habit.

This year we got the bonus visit from Aunt Clare - which was so awesome, for both of us.  She well deserved a weekend away and I loved having her here for the first time in 5 years to see our home and life since the kids were born.  And the bonus, some much needed sister time and SHOPPING!

We also squeezed in a visit with the Eades on a quick trip to Jekyll Island for our vacation.  The boys were all about the "swamp trees" and although the pool's heater was turned off for the year so it was a bit chilly to brave, the hot tub proved a favorite spot as did Summer Waves water park.  It was so wonderful to see the Eades home and get to visit with all of them.  And downtown Brunswick reminded me of the unique old homes of my hometown minus the swamp trees.

In between we had April 27th...forever changing the face of the state of Alabama and honestly, although I want to devote a post in itself to that day/night, I just haven't been ready.  I spent most of the rest of that week in a fog and I think I had a glimpse of what people experience with PTSD.  Now, I am not so selfish as to expect sympathy for myself given that our lives did not change one red cent with the storms and in fact my memories of our personal situation that night are quite hilarious, which is what my post will likely be when I do write it.  However, I could not tear myself away from the constant local media coverage, which is still a regular mainstay of the daily news, as it should be.  As a result, I spent a lot of time living in the "what if" scenario that is so dangerous.  To hide from my thoughts, I buried myself in work and the school annual Teacher Appreciation event and Cory graciously picked up the slack in handling the majority of the household / cooking / kid taking care of jobs.  I really spent a lot of that time in a fog, I could not get motivated as much as I usually am and found myself taking a lot of respite time to just sit back and consider life.  I have never been more thankful for the moments I have - including the last two days at home with the kids treating pinkeye and the stomach bug the boys have had- thank you Reckitt-Benckiser- and Cory has probably never been more thankful for me to get my butt in gear and get back to "normal". 

And this past Sunday we celebrated with our 4th Annual Summer Kickoff Memorial Day Party.  Again it was so wonderful to have our friends join us at our place for swimming, visiting, food and fun.  We had the most incredible weather this year, 90's no humidity, perfect to get wet and the lake was up to the task the water warming up steadily throughout the month.  And our best friends, Adam and Crystal Schober brought it up a notch, hooking us up with an awesome water slide that the kids really enjoyed.  We had new friends and old friends join us, a few regulars that sadly couldn't make it, but once again, great memories were made.  Including Jack telling everyone that we were having the party to honor the soldiers who are protecting our toys and land from "Amwar Al-Malaki" who is a bad guy and doesn't have God in his heart.  I've already told Cory - no more Fox News when the kids are within earshot.

No story is better shared than with pictures.  So here's the annual slide show.  If you missed it, put it on the calendar next year because it's a given we'll be here.  And if you made it - thanks for coming, we are so glad you did!



and if you are wondering about that day after the party...I'm still in denial.

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

...there lived children that ate all healthy meals and snacks and never a HFCS product crossed their lips.  Yep, that's far, far, far, far, far away from our life.  But like any mom with more to do than I can possibly accomplish in say 50 years yet before they wake up tomorrow, I try. 

When they were babies I breastfed them, because I could and it felt right.  I made it about 6 months with each and pumped like a banshee to allow them to have it mixed with formula as long as possible.  I even made all their baby food from scratch.  That's right, no jars of Gerber for me.  I did it because I felt that if they tasted the real thing, they might be more apt to continue to like all the various vegetables and be less prone to adversity to textures, plus the SAVINGS!  I also love to cook, so since I already feel guilty that I don't spend time enough time with my kids, at least I was spending that time doing something good FOR them. 

That said, Jack is terribly adverse to textures, while Duke will try just about anything (some cajoling required).  Jack eats only raw carrots, Duke only cooked.  Jack loves apples, Duke can't stand them but both will devour applesauce.  Put a bratwurst in front of Duke, watch your fingers because he just keeps eating.  Jack will ask for peanut butter sandwiches every day of the week, for Duke it's yogurt.

Honestly they are both pretty balanced eaters, except over the past year you would have thought a serving of vegetables was the equivalent of a hamburger placed in front of a vegan.  I had all but given up that the only green item they would touch was edamame, simply because they like to "pop" them out of the shell until I saw a tweet about a month ago from @thatkristen. 

No secret, I love me some bloggers, particularly of the Mommy persuasion that are also saavy writers.  There are several I follow both on Google Reader for their blog content as well as Twitter, because they are SO.DARN.FUNNY!  I even have a twitter list I've named "4 Sanity Sake" because they are what keeps me sane on many a day surrounded by all things work, hunting, fishing, basically...men.  I know none of these women personally, but we share, well, life, and that's just fine by me.

So, back to the tweet.  Somewhere in mid November I caught a flash of a tweet where she had miraculously convinced her preschooler son that Luke got his Jedi powers by eating his vegetables.  Shortly there after there was this on her blog, Motherhood Uncensored.  I've always thought she was one smart cookie but that put her at certifiably BRILLIANT.  I mean the woman gave birth to her 4th child at home, and not on purpose and then wrote about it 5 DAYS LATER.  Oh, and that 4th kid, ya, that's the 4th UNDER 6.  Seriously she is amazing and now this is starting to become an obsessive post, so back to the vegetables.

At the same time I saw the tweet we were mid supper, the kids that is, daddy was gone and it was a night they ate at the kitchen island while I nibbled on leftovers.  Again, nary a broccoli touched when I so very casually came out with, "You know guys, those powers Yoda has, with the finger fire and all, he gets that from green food."  Being that my kids are slightly obsessed with everything Star Wars and Jack believes that Yoda is IT, I figured I'd take a shot.

"REALLY"  wide eyed and so naive they are at this age.

"Yep."

The rest is history.  In the last month I have been ASKED to make peas for dinner.  And last Friday, LIMA BEANS, that's right every last one of them in the veggie mix, GONE.

And since that time, we've had Chewbacca food, Obi Wan food, Droid food, Darth Vader food.  You name it, we'll eat it.  As long as the guys on Star Wars do, it's good enough for them.  Even at school Jack has started back on his green beans, telling his teacher in no uncertain terms that it's Yoda food and that's YUMMY!

So, enjoy tonights image from dinner "Grandma's" Chicken Nuggets and...notice anything missing?  Yep, the peas, ate 'em first.  And the faces - oh, that's the powers that the Yoda food gives you, to SCARE Mommy.  I have to do a little ducking and weaving behind the island, but worth every vitamin these two are scarfing down these days!

Kristen, this one's for YOU!

Christmas Traditions on The Ranch

I have been meaning to write several posts in the past few weeks, and those weeks FLEW by.  I cannot believe that we are only days away from Christmas! 

Now that the boys are getting a bit older and wiser, and because we were home for the holidays this year without any travel plans, I really focused this year on making sure we were creating some holiday traditions that would grow in our little family to be well remembered and cherished as the years pass.  Cory and I are very conscious of creating our family "identity" these days and there is no better time than at the holidays when he is not traveling as much and everyone is in a pretty joyful mood to capture that spirit.

When I was growing up we had an advent calendar.  It was a square piece of felt with a simple felt Christmas Tree and 25 pockets across the bottom.  Each year Mom hung it in the kitchen and filled the pockets with the 25 little ornaments that had velcro on the back and each day leading up to Christmas we took turns picking out of the pocket (you never knew which one you'd get!) and attaching them to the tree.  The last one though was always the same, Baby Jesus in the walnut shell.  Last year my mother sent us a wall advent calendar.  No tree, but 25 pockets to fill.  I wish I had thought of  just putting 25 ornaments and letting the boys put them on the tree, but I wasn't that brilliant so early in the year.  Instead we have our own elf, well one that actually requires some imagination as ours is too shy to actually see (that Elf on the Shelf guy kind of freaks me out!).  Our elf comes each night when we are sleeping and tucks away a new treat for that day.  This year we've had the usual chocolate kisses, chocolate gold coins, PEZ, and even some of the cereal that the reindeer (Corn Pops) and elves (Lucky Charms) eat.  Let me tell you, the prospect of a chocolate candy at 6am on a school day really jolts my kids out of bed.  We've never been out of the house faster all year long! 

The real fun of it though is their imaginations coming out.  Jack regularly goes to the fireplace (that's where the elf comes into the house, just like Santa) and tells the elf thank you, and occaissionally gives him suggestions on what might be a good treat for the next day.  And on a few occaissions when he hasn't particularly liked what the elf brought on a particular day, it's served as a learning lesson of how to be appreciative to receive something at all.  We even had a morning that the elf "forgot!" - the stinker was at a Christmas party the night before and was headed to our house very late (or early) the next day and since Mommy and Daddy were already up and having breakfast he didn't want to come in since he's so shy.  So Mommy told everyone to go back up to their room with Daddy while she turned off all the lights and put the dogs in the garage for 5 minutes while he snuck in.  WHEW!  That is one smart elf! 

I'm really excited for Saturday however, because we've been talking and looking at our nativity quite a bit and why there is a crib with no baby in it.  Pocket #25 will hold our Baby Jesus for the boys to lay in the manger.

And speaking of the true meaning of Christmas, we have been talking non stop about Christmas being the celebration of Jesus' birthday and that all the excitement is really for that big event.  A wonderful friend of mine from church, Mallory Carrington (who's dad was a former Packer by the way), gave me a fabulous way to tie in Santa's gift and Jesus' Birthday.  Each child receives 3 gifts from Santa, just as Jesus received 3 gifts from the wisemen.  I know some people don't participate in the Santa tradition at all as the topic was recently very eloquently discussed by one of my favorite bloggers Mom-101, but for us, we enjoy watching the kids believe in something they can't see just for the innocence and hope it creates in their heart.  Isn't that the basis for faith?  And I believe that someday as long as we continue to do our daily devotions and create a heart for Christ in our kids, they will not be confused but understand that there shouldn't be separation between the life they live between Sundays.

We've been doing all the other fun stuff, singing Christmas carols in the car - I LOVE my children for liking the Rat Pack over the regular versions, spotting Santa all over town (Duke is not so big a fan this year), the Polar Express train, ABC Family Christmas specials and even a great new one sent in by Grandma - a Christmas countdown!  They sent one home the first of the month from school, a picture of Santa Claus with the instructions to paste a cotton ball to his beard for each day to count down to Christmas.  The boys liked what Grandma sent to them better...and they don't look nearly as pretty four days before Christmas.

Fall Fun Begins

I love fall. Love it Love it Love it. (And really loved it last night when my Badgers pulled out an amazing victory against the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes!)

This weekend was our real first feel of fall. It's been in the 40s at night this week, the leaves are starting to turn and fall festivals are abundant.

We started off on Friday shaky with a phone call from daycare around 3:15 "Jack has a stomach bug" so early pickup and home we went. However it was apparent after a few hours that whatever it was, wasn't long lasting, and even more apparent as he finished off a big supper with no after effects. We also got a welcome phone call from Linda and Joe Grauwels, long time friends of my parents - you know, those friends that no matter what direction life takes, they will be there - and set some plans in motion to meet up on Saturday, since they are visiting Birmingham with relatives. And meet up we did. Duke and I picked up Linda in Chelsea and brought her to see the house and have lunch and visit. It was so wonderful to share a glimpse of our life here with someone from home.  It would have been better to get Jack to join us for the photo op, but I'll take what I can get.

Sunday brought a wonderful morning at church - gotta love having Pastor Chris deliver another wonderful message which closed with one of my most favorite verses, "Be very careful , then, how you live --not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

And for the afternoon, we wisely took the kids, along with Adam and Crystal, Elli and Noah to the Grand Ole' Pumpkin Patch for some fall fun.

Yes, that is Jack - NO FEAR on the bouncer slides.  Duke, feared, until he did it once, then ALL ABOUT IT!  But didn't catch him on film unfortunately!

We skipped the overpriced tractor and hay rides, since we can do that at home for free :) and I think the guys might consider the $25 helicopter rides next year, but there were bounce houses, a pettting zoo (ok, a few rabbits in a hutch, two pot bellied pigs, a couple puppies, some goats and a few ponies and cows which wanted nothing to do with any of us, and then - pony rides!   The last of which would have been better if either of my children had actually done it and my oldest not decided as we left our turn in line that he really wanted to go after all.   That's ok, I don't mind that feeling of having my heart ripped out as I have to tell my child, "I'm sorry baby, you missed your turn and we can't go back (because there are 30 more people in line)"...hopefully it will be one of those life lessons learned, right?  Let's just say, I'm at least lucky that we got a few photo opps prior to that episode - though side note - he did catch on pretty quick to the situation and what consequences he would face if he didn't get himself together, so Natalie I can admit to progress outside of the house too!  Plus, FINALLY a new family photo (not perfect but do-able) - only about a year overdue!

We capped off the day with a last minute decision for a campfire in the fire pit and roasting hot dogs and smore's with the Schobers while the kids ran around playing until dark (7pm here these days).   A perfect end to an "unplanned" weekend. 

Did I mention I LOVE fall?

A Little Late for Babies

I get lots of ideas for posts, just never time to post them.

About a week ago, this little fella made his way to our pond.  Not the bigger guy in the lower right but the smaller one in the upper part of the picture.  I think it's a baby goose, but this time of year?  In any case, he visited for several hours, snuggled up to the decoy who resides in our water to keep the anchor rope afloat for the water trampoline and gave us a little treat.

I just hope he found his momma. 

A New Zoo

Don't have a heart attack, it's true.  3 blogs in 6 days.  I may have a heart attack.  But there's too much good stuff going on and not enough time to call and chat with anyone.

As many of you know, Cory left last Tuesday (technically it was Tuesday, but in my bedroom it was Monday night at 2am), for a "work" trip to Wyoming with two salesmen from one of his biggest accounts for the hunting trip they earned for selling his many product lines this year.  Really, it's for work.  For me, it's 7 full days, including Labor Day weekend, plus the kids were out of daycare on Friday 1/2 day for Teacher Inservice and it's one of the two busiest times of the year for me at work with an upcoming buying show in Ft. Worth I have to prepare our people and systems for - ironically which he will be attending, after a 24 hour stay at home Wednesday this week, until next Monday night.  (Seriously, which one of you will be nominating me for Wife/Mom of the Year? - Kidding, I'm more of a "do" than "be")

So back to our weekend. 

I couldn't bear to think of a full weekend at the house with just me and the Younglings.  We did that just about all summer because with Cory's schedule each week (gone...), he really wanted to be home on the weekends and even if I didn't, I did want to spend them with the kids.  So this weekend it was all about them and me and anywhere we could be, other than home.

Friday, I picked them up at noon and we headed straight downtown to the McWane Science Center.  A tremendous place, with hands on exhibits, an indoor playground, mini aquarium and shark/ray touch tank (they are not brave enough just yet)  and right now special exhibit with Mr. Potato Head characters.  We even took in a feature at the IMAX Theather - Bugs!, which was probably not worth it for them since it was really a documentary type nature film, although I enjoyed the 45 minute seat and popcorn.  Well I did, after Duke calmed down from the theater going black and crying "I want to go Bye Bye!" about 20 times that first 5 minutes.

Overall - fabulous day for us, they are showing me how much they are growing up in these experiences by really paying attention, catching new ideas and behaving! 

Saturday, our first official "Stay Home" day of the weekend and I was blessed by them sleeping in until 8:30 - hooray!  We had to get to the grocery store, so we did a bit of that, stopped by Lowe's for some birdseed and a new pot of Russian Sage (I can't stand deadended summer plants, had to put something new in the garden) and of course called MiMi to wish her a Happy 65th Birthday!  (I know you are loving me telling the world that one mom!)

Sunday, Church Day, brought us to a morning of refreshment (they serve Starbucks at Church of the Highlands!) and an afternoon of guests.  "Aunt" Kay and boyfriend Dale joined us for the last of the lake days (it was a bit brisk in the water having dipped into the 50s the previous 2 nights) and we enjoyed cooking out with them and having some downtime.

And after all of this...somehow I had the energy to get the boys out the door by 8:30am today and on the way for the 75 mile drive to Montgomery with promises of elephants.  That's right, a "new zoo", complete with the elusive elephant that is always "sleeping" at the Birmingham Zoo.  It was just the right size for us, we enjoyed seeing the 3 African Elephants, playing in the playground, seeing an alligator up close-like 2 feet away!-having a cheetah and a jaguar walk right in front of our noses, feed the giraffes (Duke did too, while still holding on to me for dear life, after he was convinced the giraffe was nice and not going to eat his hand) and just have somewhere new to visit.  Again, angels the whole day and bonus - Duke stayed DRY the entire visit to the zoo.  So, looks like potty training is going to take a front and center activity in our house again - oh yea!...oh yuk.

In between all of this, I got some quality snuggle time with Jack (and Buzz and Woody) since our ritual was to put on a movie after supper and which Duke promptly zonked out during the first 30 minutes, we had plenty of opportunity for life lessons - which are much easier for me to work on with the boys when it's just them and me and not a lot of other people around to distract me from my goals - and even a bonus, I guess you could call it that.  Last night Duke wet through his pull-up and woke up at 5am - waaaaay too early for a start to the day I had planned, so downstairs he came, changed, and in bed with me (gee, darn!) for a few hours before I snuck into the shower.  I'm not a fan of co-sleeping, but on the rare occaission its necessary I am not complaining when I get to snuggle with my kids in bed, that is without them wriggling and giggling around.  I even got to bend another of our "rules", which I secretly love to do but know I have to be so very careful about, and let them have Cheerios in Mommy's bed while watching Dora on the tube so I could finish getting ready and pack the car. 

It was a busy weekend, and I'm EXHAUSTED, but overall I couldn't have enjoyed it more.  It is hard being a single mom a lot of the time and the thought of weekends alone, ugh.  But when we have times like this, it's all good.  The moments that we spend "together, alone" give me an opportunity and focus to really instill in them the values I'm trying so hard to put into their hearts and have fun at the same time.  With Cory gone so much, when he is home so much of my attention is focused on him, or him with the kids, that any other moments I can grab - I tend to grab for myself.  When it's me and the Younglings...well, it's all about them.

Long Week Almost Over

Unfortunately, our week of looking foward to a night away on Thursday for Mom & Dad, no kids, to Memphis for the George Strait-Reba-LeeAnn Womack concert (front row/backstage FREE) did not materialize.  We had our trusty "Aunt" Kay from Odyssey that was all set to take the kids after school to our place, stay the night and take them back for Friday school where we would pick them up, but with Jack starting out on Wednesday with a 101.5 temp, and then finding out from the doctor it wasn't an ear infection but a cold virus...pretty much sealed our fate to cancel.

Quite the bummer, but I prayed that Thursday morning we had a clear sign on what to do, and he woke up at 102, so that was pretty clear.  Fever means no school.

His fever finally broke yesterday afternoon, so he is on the mend and now we are just praying Duke doesn't fall prey to the same.  (Though he's looking to start another round of antibiotics for yet another sinus infection - at least I have to assume that's what all the green snot for the past 2 weeks is about). 

I stayed home on Wednesday with him (Cory got back that evening), then Daddy kept Jack on Thursday and Friday so I could be at work, on the assumption that while he is out of town this coming week it is likely I will be home with Duke. 

On our day home, we colored, read books, played quietly by ourself...actually a relatively quiet day.  Thursday apparently was 8 hours of TV (can't place blame, he had a lot of work to catch up on and 1 day won't cause the child to be a junkie).  But Friday...well they had some man time.

Daddy took Jack on an errand to pick up some samples at a local dealer and just happened to find the perfect kid's fishing pole and above is the result.  Pretty happy sick day for both of them.

What a Night!

Tonight was the highlight of my year as a auxiliary volunteer with Children's Hospital, the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The auxiliary puts on this very special event for the children of the hospital the first Friday of December.  The hospital's lobby Christmas Tree is officially lit, after Ms. Mary Ann Glazner performs a sing-a-long and Santa arrives on an antique firetruck at the end of her reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Santa visits with the patients in his chair in the lobby, the Big Top Clowns paint faces and celebrate with the kids and it's an all around wonderful way to kick off the holiday.  This year we also enjoyed performances by the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Birmingham and Christmas Carols by the Children's Idol contestents (CHS employees participate in a singing talent show & contest each spring at our Volunteer Banquet).

My week was a little stressful with some final details of the event getting shaken up a bit. I was informed yesterday that due to some miscommunication, the media coordinator from MYO had sent out a press release to all the Birmingham news, radio and print media that the event was open to the public!  Thankfully, the retraction they sent out on Wednesday seemed to have worked because we didn't have a mass of people arriving to meet Santa which would have been a logistical nightmare, not to mention possibly pose health risks to the patients who the program is for.  On top of it, Cory has been in Mississippi and Georgia since Monday and not expected home until tomorrow and so I had both boys in tow and at this age, no matter how much I prepare them, there is always the chance for some wildness to come out, which I definitely didn't need. 

Happily it all turned out fantastic!  The clowns were tremendous, Santa was jolly, the music was wonderful and the boys well behaved!  Although I wish we didn't have an audience of patients to host because that would mean good health for the kids, we did have a nearly full hospital so I am glad we were there for the patients and families to enjoy some holiday spirit. 

I even got a special blessing. 

While Mary Ann was playing the piano and singing carols with the Idols - Duke wandered over to her, fascinated by her playing.  He's always been drawn to music, and it was a special moment for me to watch this...

Mary Ann was so dear to involve them in her playing and I really enjoyed seeing them, especially Duke, be so fearless in trying something new.

Special thanks go out to Howard Holmes of CHS Volunteer Services who was my man on the scene for the event, Frank Hrabe his partner in crime at CHS and a dear friend of mine for years who I can count on to keep me sane, Mary Ann Glazner for her continued energy in bringing the program to the kids, the Big Top Clowns for keeping everyone joyous and happy, the MYO for making sure our concerns were addressed and playing wonderfully and being flexible, Leigh Douglas for lending me a special hand ;) and of course SANTA!

This is the way a great holiday season should always start!

A Country Halloween

While all our city friends are getting prepared today for a cold and rainy time trick or treating, we are counting the candy we scored last night at the annual Columbiana Monster Walk. For us country folk, since we can't really go door to door being that the doors are quite some distance from one another, the businesses of our county seat, Columbiana, hosts a trick or treating event each year. So after having a wonderful dress up day at school, we headed to downtown Colubmiana in balmy 70 degrees, though cloudy, to go door to door with our country neighbors the Schobers.

It was a blast, though the line around the town went pretty slow at times. Duke figured out pretty quickly that he could score quite a few suckers early on, and by midway through we heard one of his favorite lines over and over again "openit, openit, openit?"

And bonus of the evening, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner with the Schobers at our favorite Columbiana Eatery, Bernie's. Even had a sweet woman come to our table to compliment us on how well behaved our children were. Since I have not braved the kid dinner at a restaurant in nearly 6 months, this was a HUGE boost for me. Maybe we can try it again soon without Cory cringing at the thought.

Only Wish There Were More Time

We had an awesome weekend visit with my parents. It was packed busy, but we were able to enjoy doing some really fun 1st's with the kids and allow my parents to particpate in some specials times with the boys. And although the weather was more chilly than normal this time of year, we still were able to enjoy some outside events.



A mommy friend of mine, Leslie, was able to score us some free tickets Friday night to Boo at the Zoo, the Birmingham Zoo's annual Halloween event. I was still finishing up Jack's costume on Thursday night but pulled it all together and the boys were in my humble opinion - ADORABLE! It really was worth every yard of yellow felt I had to cut and glue to a straw hat and the 45 minutes of constant stirring as I dyed the clothes a RIT "golden yellow". And to top it off, Duke's little swagger made a memorable monkey.

Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat

Saturday, we planned an easy at home day, since we spent most of Friday antiquing and running around. Plus we had a big day planned for Sunday, 25 kids and their parents for a birthday bash for both boys. I still had race car cookies to bake and the cake to pick up and Cory had to setup the trailer for the hay ride. We burned some of the boys energy off that morning playing on the hay trailer and Mom enjoyed seeing the "power of Cars" and watching the movie that afternoon. They got to experience such exciting and memorable moments as Duke's new style of wearing Yaya's hat backwards and givin' "lovin" and Jack's excitement at showing how well he does on the potty (not one of Dad's most exciting memories of the trip I am sure!) I think just being around Jack and Duke that day wore Mom and Dad out!

We capped off the weekend with an amazing birthday party Sunday afternoon. And after about 10 days of clouds and rain, we couldn't have asked for a prettier fall day. It was still cool, upper 50s, but the sun was shining and it was just what every parent needed to get the kids out to the country for an afternoon of fresh air. We had a Cars Moonwalk, the playset, the kids bikes, a hayride, hot apple cider for the parents, sugar and icing to deocrate racecar cookies, and a Lightning McQueen and Mater Birthday Cake for the big moment - #3 for Jack and #2 for Duke. Jack is still talking about having all his friends come to his house to play and Duke hasn't stopped asking to "jump!".

The entire weekend sped by too fast. I know Jack and Duke were so happy to have Mimi and Yaya visit. It will be something they will always remember and will so be looking forward to seeing them soon again!

Lake Pics

Apparently I have a great memory, with the exception of things requested by my husband . So, for those of you that have been awaiting the pics of the lake that have not seen them on facebook...behold...Sterling Creek Lake!

This image was after the first full rain that took the lake level all the way up.

The following is a little more recent pic, taken closer to shore. For those of you coming to the party this Sunday - bring your suits - the water is GORGEOUS (Sterling Creek well named)!

Mother's Day

I think this says it all!

YaYa's Visit

After listening for the past 4 months of all the extras my Dad has been able to do to help my sisters in their daily lives since semi-retiring, I decided it was my turn and flew him down to Birmingham for 5 days to experience this phenomenon. I may claim swine flu status and move his flight home back about 2 weeks!

Since his arrival on Wednesday night, he's helped me complete this year's round of landscaping, stained two end tables that I've wanted done for at least 5 years, got a few holes drilled in my redwing crocks and spent an entire day at the zoo with me and the boys (drenching rain at the start and all!). It has been an absolutely fantastic time having him here...and he even gets to have his own "man cave" at night in our office which doubles as our guest suite. I don't think it could have resulted in any more perfect a trip (other than of course his staying over for about two weeks!)

Here are some photos of the weekend so far. Tomorrow we have church, followed by a little more landscaping and probably capped off by another cookout with the neighbors and some time in the lake, this time in the form of a leisurely dip rather than a sudden drenching (Dad got a bit too close to the edge of the dock while helping Cory put the new water trampoline in on Friday!).

It's not going to be easy putting him back on a plane on Monday. Hmmmm, Clare and Ali, maybe you need to start bribing me now. I've got LOTS of frequent flyer miles still saved up!

Heard Around the House

Once upon a time it was "Mommy help?"



Shortly thereafter, it became "Mommy do it?" (which was short lived because Mommy usually had more kid than hands around the house to "do it", whatever "it" was)



So eventually it turned to "Jack do it?" the result of which sometimes reverted back to "Mommy help?" or a very proud "I did it!"



These are the excited rantings of a 2 1/2 year old who has discovered that it is way more fun to try to do just about everything these days. Completely normal development stage. And although I do not toot my horn very often, I must say, I am slightly amazed at the level of patience even I've shown in allowing Jack to "do it".



So, some of the "I did it tasks"....

• taking off our pants and socks completely before bath


• zipping up our jacket (Mommy starts, Jack finishes)


• taking off our jacket


• spooning vegetables onto plates for dinner


• pumping soap out of the dispenser to wash hands


• opening the cereal boxes in the morning to help pour into bowls for the ride to school

And it's this last one that leads me to share this pic of the weekend. It is what happens when taking the cereal boxes out of the pantry, opening and handing them to Mommy to pour, moves to "Jack do it" (when Mommy is in with Duke changing a diaper). Thank goodness the box of Golden Grahams was only 1/8th full or we'd still be crunching crumbs!

Amazing how that patience thing grows as they do.

To the North Pole We Went!

That's right, didn't you know you can get there from Calera, Alabama, on a train? Well Geez! Get with the program! And it is incredibly convenient, being just 20 minutes from our house to the station.
So, last night, the four of us met up with Jack's friend Payton and her mom and dad, Leslie and Chris and we boarded the William Penn dining car on the Polar Express for a trip to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus! (That's visit #4 this season for those of you that are counting :)) Payton had taken the trip last year and had a great time and since we are always looking for special things to do during the holdiays to start some traditions down here, this seemed like a perfect chance!

We were all decked out in our pj's (except Daddy Scrooge) and at 5pm the whistle blew and we were off...it only takes 15 minutes from the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum to get there! And that's just enough time for the conductor to read aloud the entire book, by Chris Van Allsburg.

Just as the conductor finished, we were pulling into the North Pole and Santa's toyshop, where Santa, Mrs. Claus and their elves were waiting outside waving to all of us among all the Christmas lights and trees and toys in front of the toy shop! In just minutes, two elves entered the William Penn and handed everyone a single silver sleigh bell (you'll need to read the story for the significance if you haven't already). And coincidently, one of the elves even looks very much like Mommy's friend Clydene who clowns at Children's Hospital - isn't that amazing!

Next, the big man himself, SANTA, came on board and greeted all the children, coming up the aisle and stopping at each table to take pictures and even sign your copy of The Polar Express, if you had it handy. It was VERY EXCITING for little boys and girls to see Santa again and we wondered (out loud) if he was going to give out candy!

Instead, it was even BETTER than candy - a chocolate chip cookie and chocolate milk (which Duke inhaled by the way). Jack gobbled up his cookie (and ate Daddy's), stopping in between bites to comment, "Grandma Grandpa's House? Cookie?" He apparently recalls one of the previous visits with Santa this season with happy memories.

Today's first words when Jack woke up were "train?, Santa?, cookie?"...yikes! Well worth it, but I hope holiday memories fade fast in January or it's going to be a long road to Christmas 2009!

Family Thanksgiving

I'm a few days late, but I had 224 pictures to edit so cut me some slack ok? We had a fantastic time this holiday at Grandma and Grandpa's in Tennessee. It was probably the most fun weekend we have all had together that I can remember.

Maybe it's because with us now having kids I really get what it's all about or maybe it's because there were 7 cousins that were more than happy to wear out my two children for the four days. Either way, this one goes in the memory books under Best Holidays!

The food was amazing as always, and extra special, Great Grandma Aurel was able to be there (and had baked plenty of cookies well in advance!) We celebrated Cory's (38), Kevin's (15) and Duke's (1st) birthdays and even Santa joined in the fun with a suprise visit on Friday night to hear what all the kids wanted for Christmas (even had an advance gift for everyone!)

For us, we started off a little leary about the 3 1/2 hour drive, but the boys pulled through great. (We even went the entire trip home without the DVD player on except for the last 30 minutes - shocking, I know!) I was not so sure how the sleeping arrangements would work out...figured we'd have Jack in our bed all weekend rather than on his mattress on the floor of our room, but was wrong on that one too...little guy slept on it on his own all weekend without a hitch and little brother had his cozy spot in the pack n play in the closet.

Of course, we weren't in a "routine" but I was glad for it. It was nice to have some fun and spoils, even if it means that now Jack associates "Maama and Paapa's House" with as many cookies and gumdrops he asks for and getting to stay up after bath and run around the living room like a crazy kid. But he also grasped the concept of "snuggle with Mommy?" and I love that!

We enjoyed spending time with everyone, just playing, eating, talking and being with one another. The only change for next year...Grandma has to sit and let us girls take over the kitchen! (Even if it means at the loss of some amazing food, I think we'll be able to manage!)

Enjoy a few pictures of our time together.

I Know, It's SCARY!

I am blessed to get lots of compliments about how cute my kids are. And when Jack was a baby, it was always that he looked so much like Cory, but as he got older, more and more I heard, he looks JUST LIKE YOU! Then when Duke arrived, oh yes, "Duke is all Cory but Jack is all you".

Well folks I hate to disappoint. But they are BOTH all Cory. I have found proof...

Here's Cory at 6 mos I believe...all Duke, right?

And here's Cory at his 2nd Birthday...I KNOW!...How can that be the same kid??

So, still think Jack is all me...?