"It's the Holiday season..."

This year's Christmas celebrating was so much different than any we've had. We were able to spend most of our time at home-- highly recommend it. Christmas Eve was spent watching Christmas movies, making Santa cookies, eating a yummy dinner of Chicken a la King, and finishing the wrapping. We of course missed spending time with those we normally would have, but took the opportunity to start some of our own traditions. As life changes sometimes traditions have to change too.

A Child's Prayer

I put Will in time-out today and from the other room I heard him sadly say, "Dear Heavenly Father, I don't like time-out. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Firefighter Will

Will l.o.v.e.s.--loves, firefighters. He is constantly pretending to be one, calling himself "Firefighter Will." Needless to say, his favorite birthday present came from Aunt Keeley and Uncle Bryce.

 Thanks y'all for making this little boy SO happy!

Baylor's, Olivia's, and Will's Rocky River Party

3 Years Old



On Will's birthday, Patrick's parents, James and Kaden came up to wish him Happy Birthday, and have some pizza and cake with us.

Will had so much fun playing with his buddy Kaden.

2 Little Indians

Finger Paint

We made some edible finger paint. Keep in mind when I use the word "edible" it doesn't mean tasty. That didn't stop Jack though. He most definitely ate lots of it, and I didn't have to try and stop him. Will loved this activity. I loved it because clean up was so easy, and they had so much fun!

Just-A-Swingin'

Will's New Ride

Will got an early birthday present. We wanted him to be able to enjoy it for at least a couple weeks before it got too cold. It doesn't have any pedals. Kids just run with their legs and learn how to balance their weight so they don't become dependent on training wheels. It's pretty darn cute when Will starts gaining speed. He is still learning to balance, but he is determined to make it work.

Halloween Festivities

 Since Halloween fell on Sunday, we opted to just let the boys particpate in Trunk or Treat at the church on the 22nd. They had lots of fun. Will was one of the cutest farmer/cowboys ever and of course we got lots of compliments on our "Little Stinker."

The next weekend we made Santa Fe Soup and Mummy Dogs and carved our pumpkin. Jack was napping during the carving so I don't have any pictures of him "helping."

Tornado Warnings

What do you do when your kids are sleeping and the weatherman tells you a tornado could at any second drop on your house? Wake them up of course! Then shove them into a closet and pray they stay sleeping.

Don't let 'em fool ya

They go from this--

to this pretty quickly

Yup. No pants, cowboy boots, & Thomas The Train underoos.

Sista?

This morning, not even an hour after I'd made and fed the boys breakfast, Will came to me asking for a snack. I told him I'd just fed him. He replied that he would like chocolate milk and pretzels. I said, "Will, I just fed you breakfast not even an hour ago, and you already want a snack?" He said, "You said it, Sista."

In-between Sessions

We couldn't help but get outside and enjoy the lovely fall weather.

Boys Will Be Boys

  I was cleaning bathrooms at record speed when the thought came to me, "Will and Jack are playing so nicely together today." Realizing what I was thinking, I stopped cleaning to make sure they were both still breathing. That's when I found this:

Apparently, while I had been cleaning they had been "doing firefighter work" as Will put it. Then in one of my shinning moments as a  mother, I (now regretfully) said, "William, you are not a firefighter." He looked at me as if I'd just broken his heart and simply said,"Mommy?" I felt like dirt. I Immediately apologized for my comment and told him he was a terrific fireman but to stay out of my fireplace!! The harm was already done though. The styrofoam logs that we hadn't planned on using now we definitely couldn't because they were broken. There was also some nice charcoal-y colors smeared into the almost white carpet. Boys...

The Specialist

This kid

has perfected this face:

Matching Jammies

My favorite clothing item to buy the boys is definitely jammies. I'm not sure why. It could be because we don't leave the house much. Maybe it's because we wear them pretty much anytime we are at home. Or it could be because they have a calming effect on me. For example; clean kids + clean jammies = bedtime/nap time.

Jack's 1!

Jack turned the big one on the 13th. Since we had already had his party we just did a FHE focused on Jack with some whoopie pies for for our treat. I think it went over well. We all enjoyed looking at Jack's baby book and the pictures of him over the past year.

Jack is a sweet, cuddly, stinker baby but with a major temper. He likes doing gross things like playing in the potty, trying to get into the trash can, and he has pooed in the bath tub during his bath more times than I can remember. He loves his Daddy and big brother, and L-O-V-E-S his green blanket. He has chewed a few holes in it. He doesn't say much but can sign the words ball, more, milk, shoes, thank you, and eat. He loves reading books "Moo, Baa, La La La" is his favorite. His favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It." He loves playing with the neighbors dog, Dixie. And he has become friends with a cute little boy from church named Ryan who is just a couple months younger than him. They like to walk the halls together and play with each others toys and communicate with each other by growling. It's pretty cute!

We love, love, love having him as a part of our family. Will loves Jack and misses him when he's not around. He is generally happy and undeniably adorable! We love you Jack!

Jack's Party



Enjoying the main course



We had Jack's Party at Rocky River on Labor Day (kind of symbolic, don't cha think?). Nonna and Pa, Gran Gran and Papi, Uncle Bryce's family, Uncle James' family, Uncle Blake, Uncle Brett and Cassie, all helped us celebrate. We ate Prater's BBQ, hot dogs, Keeley's baked beans, oven-fried potatoes, grape salad, monkey munch,  and drank monkey juice. For desert we had Grandma Miller's fabulous chocolate cake and frosting all made by yours truly, Mommy Dearest.



Diggin' in



Puppy Love

We had a really fun time visiting with family and love that they love Jack, and came to celebrate this cute kids birthday with us.

Most Important Meal of the Day

Notice the maturity difference between an almost 1 year old and an almost 3 year old...remarkable!

Compassionate Service

What does a 2 1/2 year old do with his finger paints when his Mom turns away for 2 minutes to talk on the phone with a lady from church who is asking the Mom to bake a meal for a family that has a child at Vanderbilt??

Ohh, the injustice of it all...

Long Graveyard and Rocky River

Long Graveyard

Pretty Kyndal

I love Kyndal's look in the one on the bottom right...Umm, excuse you.

May and June

I should change the title of this post to "I hate the new way blogger moves pictures in a post!"  Can't figure it out and tired of trying...