Here Comes 2010

Aaron made these glasses with my mom...aren't they cute? Next year (ha ha) I'll re-visit our Christmas at home, but for now a simple "Happy New Year" will do! :)

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

On the brink of our Christmas snow storm, I'm thinking of my many blessings. 2009 has been such a great year for our family. Our kids are at the most amazing ages--not too old to hate being with us, and not too little to make outings a burden. We've taken lots of bike rides, spent many hours boating, and enjoyed playing with and raising our puppy. My parents made several trips out here to visit us this year, including this week of Christmas. We're blessed with good friends that come and stay with us, see us at our worst, and come back for more visits. :) Friendly neighbors, friends through church, and a close-knit extended family all contribute to the feeling that we're well-loved.

School is out for Christmas break, which means we're half-way through this school year. I just don't know how that can be possible. Braylen admitted to us that he "likes" a girl at school. I'll call her "E." He says she's his girlfriend. YIKES!!!! A few weeks ago he came to me and asked, "Mom, do you think I should tell E that I like her?" Wow, I didn't think I'd be answering questions like that EVER. One day he's my baby boy and the next day he's asking me for advice about girls. At least that's how fast it's seemed to me. I encouraged him to be E's friend, not make it anything more than that. I guess he didn't take my advice. Not the first time, I'm sure. I'm just thrilled he's telling me all about it. So, now Braylen's girlfriend is E, and his buddy Jake has a girlfriend too. Welcome to the new world of 10 year old boys.

Aaron's been a sweet blessing to me during this Christmas season. He really likes to sing Christmas carols. His favorites are "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Silent Night," "Jingle Bells," and "Away in a Manger." Derek and I heard him singing last night and realized we've never heard him sing to himself around the house like that. It is sweet to hear. While snuggling with him before bed, we sang "Silent Night" together. When we got to the part that says "Mother and Child," Aaron said--"Hey, mother and child" while pointing to me and to himself. I took a picture in my mind in that moment with him.

Finally, Aaron's given me some more funnies this week. While tucking him in last night he said, "I sure like these leather sheets." Umm, he meant flannel sheets. :)

Aaron's bedtime music tells of a story about people returning to Judah. He heard that tonight and said, "Aunt Sarena went back to Judah tonight Mom." Umm, his aunt's plane couldn't land at our airport and needed to fly back to...Denver. Not Judah. So I ask him, "Do you mean Denver?" He says, "Oh yeah, Denver." :)

Merry CHRISTmas!

December Highlights

This Christmas season we're enjoying all the SNOW! Two snow days last week found us baking Christmas goodies and watching Christmas movies. In jammies of course. :) Blowing snow drifted over our furnace pipe and we woke up to a freezing cold house Wednesday morning. Thank goodness for a fireplace and for repairmen who came over first thing that day. Derek snowplowed and shoveled for almost 5 hours that day...what a blessing to be able to help others like that. An elderly couple I didn't know came up to us at the movie theater and thanked Derek for his hard work. Seeing their gratefulness really blessed my spirit.

Kings of the Hill

There's nothing like playing in the snow with Daddy. All the boys, Derek, and Ginger played on a huge snow pile out front. The kids are still tunneling their way through that mountain. I know snow causes adults a lot of headaches, but none of that matters when I see the kids having fun in it! The backyard has snow forts and tunnels too, although with the high snow drifts I've had to watch the dog a bit more closely. She likes to perch herself on the tallest hill and peer over the fence. Yikes! Thankfully she hasn't jumped ship...yet.

Friday night our kids spent the evening with their cousins while Derek and I went Christmas shopping. Thanks to a great brother and sister-in-law, I can officially say we're all done shopping now! Saturday the boys spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house sleeping around the Christmas tree, roasting hot dogs in the fireplace and watching a Christmas movie. Derek and I went to our small group Christmas party and stayed out past midnight! How fun that was for us old folks! ;) If you ever have the chance to play a game called "Things" I highly recommend it!

Aaron's gift from preschool--the bag says To: My Family, and he drew 5 smiley faces

Aaron's all smiles at his program

Lots of fun activities going on at school this week. Aaron's highlight was his Christmas program today. Hard to believe it was our last one...one of many lasts we're experiencing this year. Aaron said his favorite songs were "Jingle Bells" and "Over the Hills" (also known as Go Tell it on the Mountain.) :) Our pastor spoke during the program for a few minutes, and when he asked the kids some questions my little Aaron was the first one to put his hand up in the air. A HUGE difference from last year at this time. He's really coming out of his shell, affirming our decision to give him an extra year at home before putting him in the public school system. For that, I'm very thankful.

Finally, we made our annual visit to see Santa this afternoon. Braylen blushed when I told him to go tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas (a real football helmet.) Later I told him I wouldn't make him do that next year. Another little boy of mine growing up. Aaron sat on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a stamp book. That's his #1 wish this year! Kind of crazy, but a friend told me today about a 3rd grade boy who's asking for a nutcracker. That shows me Aaron's request isn't all that wacky. :) Kaleb's visit with Santa went like this:

Kaleb: I want an Eagles hat, Eagles pants, Eagles socks, Eagles shoes, and Eagles underwear.

Santa: Okay, I'll see what I can do about that.

Kaleb: Oh, and an Eagles jersey and helmet too.

Santa: Anything else?

Kaleb: A Nintendo DSi, Wii games....Santa, you know what I did last night?

Santa: What?

Kaleb: YOU tell ME!

Ha ha ha! Poor Santa--he had to be pretty quick on his feet. You never know what Kaleb's going to say....

Here Comes Christmas

"Ready or not, here I come!" ~Last week I heard my boys shout that out in our family room while playing hide and seek. I think it also applies to the Christmas season! I might not feel ready, but Christmas is coming anyway. So, Aaron and I made a day of it and decorated the house on Friday. We started at 8:30 am and ended at 3 pm when school let out. What a great helper he was for me. I tried not to think of what it'll be like next year when my little boo is in school all day...

After the big birthday celebration last week, I put my Christmas music in the van and started playing it. Aaron heard this line from a song: "Soon the bells will start..." He piped up from the back seat and indignantly said, "Bells?!! I don't hear any bells!" I think of him every time I hear that now. :)

Yesterday I broke the news to Derek that it was the day to take pictures of the kids for our Christmas card. For the past few years I've done it myself, but this year I needed his help. How was I going to get 3 kids and a very active German Shepherd to pose for a picture? I had envisioned a great outdoor shot with the kids laughing and playing around Ginger, all dressed up in red and green. Candid shots of my kids just being themselves. Complete with our puppy.

Well. Freezing cold temps and single-digit windchills killed my dream.

So, we sat the kids down by the fireplace and brought Ginger over to sit with them. Too small of a space to romp around in with such a big dog. If our card had audio embedded in the photo, you'd hear things like this:
"Boys, your job is to look at the camera and smile, NOT at what Ginger is doing."
"Aaron, I can't see you--scoot forward."
"Braylen, DON'T MOVE"
"Braylen, smile nice, NOT like that."
"Ginger--SIT! STAY!"
"Aggghhhhh!!!!!!!"

Amazingly enough, we got several usable shots from our very high-stressed photo shoot. For those of you who will receive a card from us, now you know the rest of the story. :)

You know what you should never do after a photo shoot like that? Put ornaments on your tree. Letting my kids decorate the tree is ALWAYS a madhouse. This year it was even worse, thanks to our crazy picture-taking fiasco. Aaron cries because he doesn't have many ornaments. Well, Braylen is twice his age--what can I do? Kaleb just wants to play with his ornaments. He whines when I tell him they're supposed to be hung on the tree. Braylen bosses them both around, telling them where they can (mostly can't) hang their ornaments. I just want to toss the ornament totes in the air and walk away from the whole mess. Isn't this supposed to be a festive time? Remembering when they made their ornaments, or who they received them from? Nope. It's complete and utter chaos. When they are done and banished to the basement, I look at our sorry tree with clumps of ornaments hung on the bottom half. I sit on the couch and shake my head and think, "Maybe next year will be better." But then I think, "Someday I will miss this."

To wrap up our fun day yesterday, we had supper by candlelight. You want to know what our elegant meal was? Little smokies (complete with football toothpicks to skewer them with), cheese and crackers, and apples with fruit dip. Alvin and the Chipmunks were singing Christmas songs in the background, and all I could do was look at my husband...and laugh. :) Ready or not, Christmas, here I come!

Gr8 to be 8

A pile of presents,

a favorite toy gun,

a BRAND new bike,

a football cake,

all add up to one happy Kaleb!

As busy as life is around here these days, Kaleb sure did have fun turning 8! He opened one present before school--an Eagles shirt that he could wear all day long. After school he told me, "When I was working on my math today, I just kept looking down at my shirt." :) I wonder if he got any math done? It was tough to convince him to take that shirt off at bedtime. Daddy picked the boys up after school, and we enjoyed a visit from Kaleb's cousins as he opened up the rest of his birthday gifts. Aaron took special care this year to give Kaleb "extra" presents. Like a package of gift tags hidden in another gift. And a small gift bag filled with more gift tags and a gingerbread man bookmark. :) He also put a bow on each present and made his own gift tags...Aaron sure did make Kaleb's packages that much more special. Some of the ways I made the day special for him: red balloons tied to the mailbox, birthday message written on the bathroom mirror, gifts picked out with great care, favorite meatball supper, and chocolate cake to top it all off. Birthdays aren't just for the child. They're for the mother too. :)

November 30th is an eclectic day of sorts. I have halloween candy on my counter, turkey placemats on my table, birthday decorations in my living room, and Christmas music playing on the radio. But if I allow myself to go back 8 years, all the clutter clears away and I can see us holding our new baby, Kaleb Matthew. All 9 pounds, 10 ounces of him! Red skin, blond hair, with a candy cane hat on his head. I wondered how I would be a mother to two little boys. Would I have enough love for both of them? Funny thing, it all worked out one day at a time. And it still is. :)

Happy Birthday Kaleb. You bring your parents such delight! You're a patient brother, placed in the middle, able to play the role of little brother at times and big brother at other times. You say the funniest things without trying to be funny. We love you gr8-ly. :)

Thankful for Much

Today was such a super day...a day of giving thanks while enjoying yummy food with my family. How can it get any better than that? The past 2 years we've had sicknesses surrounding Thanksgiving, so I'm especially grateful for good health this year! We celebrated Kaleb's birthday with his grandparents/aunts/uncle/cousins today, which enriched this day even more for me. Our son Kaleb is such a blessing to us. God knit him together in such neat ways--I see so many things in him that are different from his brothers. He brings great joy to this mommy's heart. :)

Kaleb with his wii-Jesus shirt :)

Things we learned about Kaleb today:

He's thankful for his life

His dream job is to be president

If he had $1 million dollars for a day, he'd like to buy the Philadelphia Eagles

He'd like to talk to 3 people from Bible times if he could: Caleb, Matthew, and Luke

His favorite thing to do in his free time: play flag football

His favorite food is a toss-up between: spaghetti, meatloaf, meatballs, chinese, and little smokies--this boy likes to eat meat!

His least favorite food? Chicken fettucine

Funnies from Kaleb this past week:

When Derek got a deer, Kaleb asked, "Is it a doe or a duck?" (he meant a buck)

When asked what he'd like for his birthday, he replied, "Umm, a credit card would be nice!"

At our fellowship dinner at church, Kaleb filled his plate with...ham and a dinner roll. And a small tub of butter. That's it. But when he went up for dessert? He came back with 4 different things on a very full plate!

At supper last night, Kaleb cleared his plate and finished dessert. He looked at me and said, "More?" I asked him, "More of what?" He said, "Of whatever you're going to give to me!"

Funnies from Aaron:

For whatever reason, Aaron's latched onto Star Wars lately. He called Luke Skywalker "Blue Skywalker" for a while because Luke has a blue light saber. :)

He draws out Yoda's name like this: eeee-yo-da

if you look real hard, you'll see Aaron's Yoda sticker he's so proud of!

We discuss over and over how the "wemperwere" (emperor) died and how "dark vader" died, who killed "obi-kenobi-one" (obi-one-kenobi), and why Anakin is a kid in movie #4 yet an adult in movies 1-3! Such a lot for him to take in, but I try to explain it anyway. I'm so thankful for a dad and brother who loved Star Wars so I could grow up and be able to explain the story line to my son!

a wolf and a webelo this year...I sure love my cub scouts :)

As Time Goes By

Can you believe this is our Ginger?

I recently looked at pictures of when we brought her home.
I hardly recognized her.
She is 7 and 1/2 months old and she is not done growing.
Between raising 3 growing boys and one growing dog, I wonder why my food budget can't grow too!

This week I've watched my husband take a week off from work to deer hunt with his buddies and his dad. He visits land owners ahead of time to obtain hunting permission. He stocks up on ammo and camo. :) He completely renovates the garage to turn it into a meat processing center. I wash sheets and towels, make up extra beds, and of course--cook extra food. I also take on the boys and all their comings and goings by myself. Not to mention scraping the frost off my windshield in the morning since I can't park in my garage...

It is quite exhausting.

But through all the extra work, I've seen my husband have so much fun. I've gotten some down time from the kids when they join the hunters in the garage at night. I even got to go out to breakfast with JUST Derek when the kids were all in school. We also took a day and went shopping for Kaleb's upcoming birthday, among other things. :) I used to wish that Derek had a hobby he could enjoy...and here we are.

flowers from my sweetie before this week began--he's learned a thing or two about a happy wife=happy life :)

Lots of things coming up in the next week or 2. Might be a while before I post again. Cub Scouts cake auction on Monday, Thanksgiving of course, a road trip to move our friends out here, and Kaleb's 8th birthday. Plus our dog needs 2 teeth pulled. Under general anesthetic. Good grief. Friends' birthday parties, small group activities, and extra school happenings...

Even still, I am thankful for all of my blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Here and There

Here we are in the middle of November already! Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.

Due to some grounding, our boys spent a few days earlier this month without their screens: tv, video games, computers, etc. They couldn't play with friends either. Or eat any of their Halloween candy. Why does this kind of punishment end up punishing the parents too? However, after the first day, I kind of enjoyed the no screens rule. Braylen found his kids cookbook and picked out a recipe. We went to the store and he bought his own tube of biscuits to make monkey bread! (he insisted he pay for it himself.) I'm sure the cashier thought I was a nutcase when my 10 year old pulled out his wallet to buy the biscuits and a pack of gum. A Friday off from school, grounded, and yet--we had a great day.

the finished product :)

Braylen and Kaleb put on an amazing show for us last week at their school programs! Kaleb sang his way through the holidays from January through December. He even had a speaking part for a patriotic holiday--Veteran's Day. Kaleb LOVES anything related to Washington DC, presidents, and American History. His teacher unknowingly picked a perfect part for him. He did such a good job at the microphone. :)

waiting for his cue, and tucking his lower lip under his teeth while he waits--cutie pie

Braylen sang his way through the decades, beginning with music from the 1900's. My favorites were "Blue Suede Shoes" from the 50's, "I Wanna Hold your Hand" from the 60's, "Lean on Me" from the 70's, and "We Built This City" from the 80's! For weeks I've been listening to Braylen sing these oldies around the house and it's been lots of fun to hear! It surprised me to hear my son singing Elvis and Beatles songs at first. Especially since he knew more words to them than I did! It humbled me to see the kids on stage dressed 80's style. Did we really look like that? It also took me back...music has a way of doing that. The girls were so cute in their leg warmers and big hair. The boys looked like little studs in their rolled-up jeans and spiked hair. Braylen did a great job with his speaking part too. He spoke of music videos and MTV transforming the music industry. In the car on the way to the program, Braylen put the accent on the word industry like this--inDUStry, rather than INdustry. Cute. :) During his program though, he said it correctly.

jeans with a tight-roll, polo shirt with collar sticking up, and spiked hair! 80's boy!

Aaron earned a reward last week--a new set of Lego's. He's my only son who really enjoys Lego's, and I have fun helping him put them together. I'm not surprised he's such a Lego's fan. He's always enjoyed puzzles, stringing beads--anything that involves fine motor skills. I like to think that means he might be blessed with a patient spirit. :)



Our good friends Shawn & Rebekah showed up Nov. 12th to kick off deer season around here. Our house immediately goes from normal, everyday life to anything but normal! People coming and going, a 2 year old to keep track of and a 4 month old to snuggle with, garage transforming into meat processing central, dog going wild at the new smells... It's enough to keep my head spinning. Derek hunted with his dad, his friend Shawn, and Shawn's dad and brother. That's a lot of deer! My boys love watching them come home with their bounty. I'm glad they like it. I like to stay inside with Rebekah and watch a good chick flick. :) This adventure will last until the end of this week, so we have much more fun ahead of us. I'm thankful for a husband who keeps the mess outside. My kitchen is NOT used for any of his processing or clean up. Thank goodness! I did find a red leaf on the floor inside tonight--then I realized it wasn't a leaf... Oh well. Our freezer will be full and when I mix the meat with beef nobody will know the difference.

Derek on a recent turkey hunt with Braylen and Aaron.

Kaleb stayed home and had a breakfast date with me!

Derek and Shawn in the field

Aaron learned all about tendons and ligaments, and how they affect movement...backstraps and tenderloins...Derek loved every minute of it with Aaron, and Aaron had lots of questions for Daddy!

As I wrap this up, I have one thought from Aaron. Tonight he said, "Is a person a boy or a girl?" What a reminder to me that my kids are just that--kids. I'd like to enjoy them more and fuss over them less. As the song says, "Just let them be little..."

Kaleb working on his math homework with a smile :)

Lunches With Aaron

This is my third (and last) year of daily one-on-one lunches with Aaron. My older 2 are in school, and my husband can't come home for lunch. So Aaron and I are on our own. When all 3 of my boys were little, I used to wish for these days I'm enjoying now. They are pretty great. Yesterday I swirled some ketchup and mustard together to dip a corn dog in and Aaron said it looked like a seashell. He demanded (cutely) that I take a picture of it! Hooray for digital cameras. :) Every now and then Aaron and I go out to lunch "just because." Today was one of those days.

While driving away from preschool today, Aaron asked if we could go out to lunch. Of course I said yes, and then I asked him where he'd like to go. He replied, "King Burger!" Otherwise known as Burger King. :) While we were eating our hamburgers, Aaron pointed to the sesame seeds on his bun and said, "What are these things? Are they hamburger seeds?" Hee hee. :)

Aaron is quite a talker. He has many thoughts running through his mind at any given moment. When I actually listen to what he has to say I come away thinking, "This kid is so much smarter than I give him credit for." He pays attention to everything. Like one day he heard a song on the radio (which was turned down low and just background noise). It has this phrase: "Impossible is not a word; it's just a reason for someone not to try." Aaron says, "Impossible is too a word!" Anyway, one of the things he said at lunch today was that we need to buy a bluegill TV. Hmm. He adamantly said he heard Daddy and I talking about a bluegill TV and that we were thinking of buying one. Now, we DO need a new TV at our house. But I'm quite certain there's no such thing as a bluegill TV. I finally figured out he meant blu-ray player. This is how our conversation spiraled from there:

A: what's a blu-ray player?
M: it plays movies, and looks clearer than dvds.
A: grampy needs that. his eye-sees (eyesight) is having problems. his ears are having problems too. he's just having problems all over!
M: ooookay, but we're not getting a blu-ray player. dvds are fine with us.

That was my lunch with Aaron today. I'm sure my dad is glad to know Aaron thinks his vision and hearing are failing. :) Still, I loved our conversations and his chattiness. I will miss this next year. Good thing I'll be able to take him out of school now and then for some more lunch dates. Many times they are the highlight of my day.

Fall Fun

pretty leaves in our own backyard

All 3 kids still went trick-or-treating this year...but not all 3 kids went with me. Braylen's entering that phase where he'd rather be with his friends than his family. I think this phase might last a while. Like for the rest of time. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm happy to see him growing up. I'm happy to see he has some good friends. But part of me wants to hold on to those days when I was all he wanted or needed.

Originally, my 10 year old son wanted to trick-or-treat as a member of The Beatles. I was wondering how to turn him into a Beatle. Then he saved me from that task and told me he just wanted to be a hunter. How easy! Now, what goes with a hunter? A deer and a turkey of course! Aaron volunteered to be the deer. Kaleb said he'd be the turkey, and then he said no way. He went as a football player. Oh well--it was easy! :) We had a beautiful night for trick-or-treating, and I realized Ginger needs a costume next year. This year I'm sure she'd just try to eat it.

Halloween 2009

our little deer

wearing real antlers from one of Daddy's bucks!

We built our house in a new neighborhood 6 and 1/2 years ago. Therefore, we've never needed to rake leaves. Well, this year we finally had enough leaves on the ground to rake! I know, someday soon we'll wish we didn't. But this year we had fun with the leaves! The boys even fought over our one pitiful looking rake. I felt pretty silly telling them to take turns with a chore!

proud of their leaf pile

This past weekend Braylen brought his classroom hamsters home. To bad he forgot to bring their food. :) I diced up some carrots and apples Friday night and they gobbled it right up! The boys loved playing with Smokey and Midnight. Saturday morning I found them in their room, letting the hamsters run through a maze they'd built with colored duplo blocks. Braylen even covered the carpet with paper towels. I can't believe how much entertainment 2 small rodents could bring to our house. Then again, I loved my hamster when I was growing up. Nothing made them laugh more than watching those hamsters run around the house in their ball. We had some sad fellas on Monday morning, when Smokey and Midnight returned to the 4th grade classroom.

Braylen with Smokey

All smiles as they wait for me to tell them they can play!

The cage is taped because Smokey escaped at school and was missing for 3 days. He's quite a Houdini!

To wrap up this post I have to say "Happy First Date Night Anniversary" to my husband. 15 years ago today, we went out on our first date. 15 years! How can that be possible? Last week at a coffee shop the girl behind the counter saw my high school sweatshirt and asked me if I had kids at the high school. Aggghhh! Whatever happened to the days where people like that thought I was a high school student?! I told her my husband works there, and my kids are in elementary school. I wanted to say, "Do I LOOK like I have high school kids??" But I'm afraid of what her answer would be! :)

10 Days!

One good thing about living out of state from my parents: their visits! Since all 3 boys' camping trips, October flew by with my parents here to enjoy it with us. They saw Braylen's last flag football game and Kaleb march in a parade with the Cub Scouts. We went to the pancake feed at the firestation and canned 53 quarts of applesauce with my sister-in-law and mom-in-law. The boys took turns waking Grammy and Grampy up every morning, and Aaron demonstrated his super-fast lock-picking abilities. Poor Grammy was never safe in the bathroom. My dad took the boys out for one-on-one lunch dates. They sure loved leaving school to eat someplace fun with Grampy. One rainy morning, I had my parents all to myself for breakfast. We went to a small cafe and I felt like we had all the time in the world. It was so relaxing. Aaron's still obsessed with watching my mom knit. We even took him to a yarn shop with us--he insisted on coming along!

Lots of times I wish my parents lived close to us. How amazing it would be to hang out with them on a Saturday. To help them with yard work, order a pizza for supper, or call up my mom and ask her to go to the mall with me. Everyday things like that. But when they were here this month I realized something. We do all of those things and MORE when they're here. It may be crammed into 10 days at a time, but our moments together are special. The boys wouldn't snuggle in bed with them if they lived in town. ;)

The day before they left, we had the chance to something really neat together. Kaleb will turn 8 in November. For his birthday, Derek's mom and dad chose to send him to a college football game! The game happened to fall while my mom and dad were here, so my dad got to come along! Derek and I sat with Kaleb and my dad in the most amazing seats: row 10 on the 45 yard line. What a treat! Braylen sat with his aunt, uncle, and grandpa in one of the end zones. All 8 of us had a great time in honor of Kaleb's upcoming 8th birthday! My mom spent her day with Aaron. That was a gift to me. :) He's not quite ready to sit through a college game. They had a great time at a craft fair finding pottery for Aaron, among other fun times. :) This was my mom's chance to get creamed playing the Wii. Nobody beats Aaron at Wii Jeep!

The next day they packed up to go home. 10 days flew by, and yet, I feel like we savored each one. Knowing we'll see them at Christmas helps ease the pain of goodbye. And knowing our hearts are knit together despite the miles between us. So here we are, on Halloween, ready for some fun with our boys! Aaron's SO excited! He's been asking "how many days till Halloween?" since September! Costume pictures next time...

A Time For Laughter

Since this is Wednesday, I've been on the go all day. Supper preparation's calling my name. Patches need sewn on 2 Awana vests. I wonder what games we'll play in T&T tonight? Being the game leader, I should figure that out. Soon. But I've had 2 weeks of funnies from my kids that are piling up in my brain. I don't think they will last much longer. I'm also 2 weeks behind in blogging about our lives, but that will have to wait for another day... Right now I'm taking time for laughter. :)

In random order, here we go:
One day Aaron said to me, "I'm so glad we have a German Shepherd. So much money for a lot of fun. You like a pet more than money, right Mom?" Looking at my checkbook, yes--I must like a pet more than money!

After a yummy supper of enchiladas, Braylen (my 10 year old!) said, "Those were really good iguanas Mom!" Ha! Later that night, he said, "What did we have for supper? What are they called? Iguanas?" The word "enchilada" never did stick in his brain.

Volunteering in my sons' classrooms has it's perks. Like the time I went to Braylen's class and saw he was wearing a completely different outfit than the one he'd worn to school. Hmmm. Now I know he was wearing shorts underneath his pants and stuffing his long sleeve shirts in his backpack once he gets to school. Not anymore! If he wants to live to see another day... :)

One night while making supper, I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt so tired! I said, "Wow, I just don't have any get-up-and-go tonight!" Braylen said, "Mom, you're like Grandpa's Dodge Avenger. He says it doesn't have that either." I don't think I've ever been compared to a car before.

My dad is a lifelong fireman. My husband is a policeman. Anyone who knows anything about firemen and policemen, knows that they have an intense rivalry. When my parents visited us last week, my husband said this to my dad: "You know why we have policemen, don't you? Because even firefighters need heros." Hardy-har-har! :)

A couple summers ago, our church had a pirate theme for Sunday School. So when we were leaving Awana last week, Aaron tells me he sees a pirate. I was very distracted navigating through the crowds of people--imagine that--so I simply agreed with him. I assumed he saw a leftover pirate decoration. Well, imagine my surprise (and horror) when I looked up and saw a man with a patch over his eye, picking up his child from Awana! I had agreed with Aaron (out loud) that he'd seen a pirate! But it was someone's dad! Aagghh! Or should I say, "Arrrg!" :)

Aaron rides in the car with me every month to drop off our bills. The other day we were making our way to one of our drop-off points, and Aaron was trying to guess which place we were going. He says, "I know! We're going to the big blue can!" The what? Oh yeah--the blue mailbox at the post office. :)

A craft fair came to town. My mom planned to take Aaron, since the two of them were on their own for the day. The rest of us had a very fun place to go--more about that in a later post. Anyway, I wasn't sure my 5 year old son would like going to a craft fair with his grammy. So the night before the big day, I told him what he'd be doing. Immediately he says, "Oh good! Will they make things with mud?" What? Then he tells me about a cartoon he saw one time, and I figured out he was talking about making pottery. Well, there's NEVER been a working potter's wheel at this craft fair. When I tell him that, he insists one will be there. As it turns out, the little bugger was RIGHT! He saw a man working at a potter's wheel, and he even got his very own piece of pottery. A small little pot just big enough for one dandelion. :) For free. Did God smile upon him or what?!

Finally, just 2 little word mix-ups:
Aaron says "petuna" and "tulop" for tulip.
He says "re-raser" for eraser. :)

Okay, time to get back to my Wednesday Rush! But it felt so good to sit down for a bit! :)

The First Shall Be Last

10/10-10/11/2009
Braylen's turn to go camping with Dad! Being our oldest son, we thought Braylen needed his camping trip to be a bit more adventurous than his brothers' trips were. Derek planned to take him to a faraway campsite in the forest. He looked up the 4-wheel trails and planned a fun trip. What he didn't plan for was an early October snow and bronchitis! Plans changed, but the trip was still a success. Thank goodness for our family's cabin, which happens to be surrounded with some pretty neat 4-wheeling trails. Derek, being the trooper that he is, took his antibiotics and cough drops and forged ahead with this trip.

We woke up to snow--Ginger's first time seeing it! She was mesmerized!

Kaleb plopped down in the snow to build a fort.

Aaron and I built a snowman. This is how it looked 2 days after the snow fell.

Strangely enough, there wasn't any snow at the cabin. Plenty cold though! Derek let Braylen drive the 4-wheeler around the property for a while. He went through every dip and mud hole he could find! Once on the trail, his confidence wavered a bit. I think the ruts on the trail had something to do with that. Braylen drove off the trail 5 or 6 times. Derek brought tow ropes along for that very reason! Amazingly, he didn't need to use them. He was able to drive Braylen's 4-wheeler back onto the trail every time. :)

Aren't they cute?

Back at "camp," Derek took the opportunity to talk with Braylen about growing up; changes that lie ahead, friendships (including the g word--girls), and making his faith his own. He used several role-play situations and Dr. Dobson's book, "Preparing for Adolescence." They enjoyed going through the workbook together. Derek and I are trying to learn how to be intentional parents. To address issues important to us instead of hoping our kids will catch on somehow. This trip was all about being intentional with Braylen. When my two guys came back home, I asked Braylen what his favorite part of his trip was. With a big smile on his face, he replied, "Just being with Daddy."

I have to say, Derek did a FANTASTIC job taking pictures during his 3 camping trips with our boys. What a guy! :)

Girls Only

My husband loves to hunt. We have very good friends that come and stay with us every year during deer season. Derek gets to hunt with his hunting buddy, and I enjoy time with my dear friend! We also get together for turkey season, and deer season's choice in January. I really do like to see my husband enjoy his hobby. Well. It was time for me to enjoy a little getaway of my own.

My mom-in-law, sister-in-law, and I loaded up and left town for a visit to my other sister-in-law's house. She just happens to live in beautiful Colorado Springs--yay! This trip has been "in the works" for 21 months. We'd schedule it, and then a tragedy would occur. A literal tragedy. This happened twice. Because of that, I really didn't think this trip would happen. Praise God, no disaster happened this time! Away we went!

I love being with these girls

First thing we did in the Springs was visit a massage therapist where the 4 of us had hour-long massages...heavenly. The crease on my forehead from the pillow lasted all evening! I was glad The Elephant Bar was kind of dark inside--that's where we ate supper. Very yummy. Being a girls' weekend, we stayed up late to talk. Of course I loved it. :)

On Saturday we shopped here and there and enjoyed lunch at Panera. What a treat to do things that I wanted to do instead of what my kids wanted to do. I intentionally did some shopping for my husband on this trip. He rarely tells me he needs something--unless it's hunting-related. :) He does have a thing for gloves and boots though...

We grabbed a quick supper at Chick-Fil-A and then saw the movie "Love Happens." Cute movie, kind of sad at times, but still good. When I think of us sitting in that movie theater, I'll always remember my sis-in-law passing all of her candy down the row--Whoppers, Reese's Pieces, Twizzlers, M&M's, etc... You'd think we hadn't eaten all weekend! Hee hee! Her boyfriend came along with us to the movie, so afterwards we visited his new place. Very nice--it even has a Colorado yard of rocks and a little patch of grass. :)

Sunday we went to church and out for lunch at Jason's Deli. I enjoyed not rushing out of there right away, even though it meant a late night for us to get home. The time goes so fast, as it always does, but that must mean we had fun!



My husband took Friday off so I could get away, and he made the most of his day off with our little Aaron. They enjoyed lunch at McDonalds and went 4-wheeling while Braylen and Kaleb were in school. Lucky Aaron! They picked some gourds and pumpkins from a friend's house during their 4-wheeling time. It was like visiting a private pumpkin patch. :) I told Derek ahead of time that Aaron's word for gourds is "orgs." Too cute. My boys had great "Daddy time" with their amazing daddy. They played games, played in the yard, repaired a picnic table, and deep-cleaned our family room. I never worried how things would go, I didn't leave instructions--only medicine doses in case they were needed. They weren't needed. My dog was VERY happy to see me when I got home, which made me feel good. She's such a Daddy's doggy that I was surprised to see she loves me too! :)

Braylen playing chess with Daddy--I don't even know how to play!

Monday morning brought me back to reality, but I was refreshed and ready to be home again. It couldn't have been a better trip!

The Little Things

Ginger is 6 months old already

Nobody takes my frisbee!

2 weeks of our life have gone by and all I've blogged about are camping trips and sicknesses. There's a song out there with this line: "So you fall into bed when you run out of hours; and you wonder if anything worth doing--got done?" That is me every single night. I run and I run and I run all day long. On Wednesday I don't think I stopped at all.

This paragraph is just for me--you may skip it if you'd like. But someday I will forget what my life is like right now, and this will remind me. :) Wednesday went like this: wake up and shower, wake up boys, let dog out and feed dog, sign planners, pack snacks and water bottles, pack lunches, pack show & tell, pack snack for entire preschool class, serve breakfast, brew coffee for myself on my way out the door, realize I have no time for my breakfast, call dog in, she ignores me, take everyone to their schools, meet with a good friend for half an hour--an oasis in my day, run all over town paying bills and running errands, pick up preschooler, feed him (and me) lunch, make menu for the week and make Walmart list, sort coupons, go to Walmart with my preschooler, unload groceries at home, put the dog in the car and go pick up my 2 big kids from school, come home and pull all plants out of garden before this weekend's big weather change, make and serve supper, leave late to pick up son's friend for Awana, go to Awana and lead games, get everyone home, put kids to bed, stay up till 11:00 making pumpkin muffins for my preschooler's snack, fall into bed asleep before I hit the pillow....my life.

Making pumpkin muffins was the LAST thing I wanted to do Wednesday night. But since this is Aaron's week to bring the snacks for his preschool class, his 3 picks were Go-gurt, rice krispie squares, and muffins. He'd already brought the 2 easy snacks. I could have told him no muffins. I could have bought boxes of granola bars or fruit snacks for Thursday's snack instead. But I'd promised him his muffins. Since I only have one tray of mini-muffin cups, I could only do 12 muffins at a time. That's why it took me 2 hours to make these muffins. I even bagged them up in little Halloween treat bags. But you know what? I was in his class on Thursday when he passed out his snack to everyone. He was so proud of those muffin bags. He came over to me and said, "Thank you for making my muffins Mommy." He gave me a big hug and kiss. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying. Such a little thing--muffins--and I didn't even want to make them. But I'm so glad I did...

A quote from my mothering calendar really spoke to me this week.

"The great doing of little things makes the great life."

It's the little things that add up to make a really big difference. At least that's the lesson I'm learning these days.

Funnies from Aaron this week:

"I had chocolate-hot in preschool today!" (hot chocolate)

ta-pato soup (potato soup)

"Can we go to Walmart today? I want to buy my very own big jar of salt." (Aaron loves salt!)

Enjoying our last bit of mild weather before the snow falls