In just over 7 hours...

My little baby turns five years old.

Wow. Just wow. How and when did this happen? When did he change from that little baby in my arms into this little man?

I feel like I have missed so much and haven't been the mom I should be a lot of the time. He makes me want to be a better mother. He is an awesome big brother who does so much to help me take care of the little ones, even though he is still one himself...

I just can't believe Rory is 5!

Man I am sappy tonight. Here are a few pictures of my little guy as he has grown over the past 5 years...

ONE DAY OLD




ONE YEAR OLD

TWO YEARS OLD


THREE YEARS OLD


FOUR YEARS OLD


FIVE YEARS OLD

Just an old story that came up...

Carl and I were talking and remembered this; it happened last August (2007), but is still just as funny! I copied it from the board I posted on at the time:

Funny story from dinner tonight

---

Ok, So I have a funny story to tell from dinner this evening. Not all of you are going to think this is as funny as Carl and I did, but some of you totally will, so here we go:

So tonight I made chicken spaghetti for dinner. It is a favorite around here, and it actually gets the kids to eat meat and some veggies that are not favorites.

Rory has some slight allergies and this humidity doesn't help much. . . so his frequent sniffles and occasional sneezes are something we don't pay much attention to. . .

Well tonight at dinner he sneezed a few times while Carl and I were talking. . . a few minutes later he sniffles and says "mama do you see the noodle in my nose?" Mind you he is 3 and his noodles do get everywhere.

So I glance over, no noodle on his face, just a ton of sauce, so I responded "No honey, I don't see any noodles."

I go back to eating and he says "No, mama! I mean this one"

I look up at him and see that HE IS POINTING TO A FULL LENGTH NOODLE ON THE TABLE THAT HAS NO SAUCE ON IT!!!!!!!! It turns out there was a noodle in his nose; he had sneezed an entire noodle out of his nose!

I about fell out of my chair laughing, it took Carl another 30 seconds to get it! He was just looking at me like I was a lunatic before it clicked... Both of us laughed about it and then had to try to explain why it happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saving the TaTas...

Today Carl and I fasted in memory of those who have died from breast cancer, in support of those who are dealing with breast cancer, and for those who have dealt with it. We both have felt the effect of breast cancer in our families. His mother passed from breast cancer when he was young, my mother has been in remission for a while now, and other cancers have touched both of our families.

Every time I began to feel a little hunger, I began to think about what I would do if I were in the place that these women and their families are in. I spent my day praying often for the families.

I titled this blog after a mom who has terminal breast cancer that they "thought" was cured. Please read her blog and pray for her: http://jennjewkes.blogspot.com/

The Aftermath...

It rained. I think that might be what Carl really wanted for Christmas, because he took off bright and early to go kayaking. Who knows when I will see him again. I figure he might hide until the water comes down, and the aftermath of the holiday is already taken care of ;)

Yesterday I did well with getting everything separated into the different recycling bins and trash cans... I made a turkey, with all the side to go with it... but I didn't get around to cleaning up much, just putting the food away.

Needless to say this will be a day of cleaning and headaches... Here is what I am off to tackle today:

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that the day has treated you all well!

Today was an awesome event filled day for our family that ranged from chaotic to peaceful...

Santa did make an arrival last night, leaving goodies for all the boys and a few things in stockings for mom and dad.


Rory got a guitar that was hidden behind a sleigh; Arden got drums and a sled; Canyon got a percussion table that he can sit up behind, and a sled that we can strap him into and pull him around.

I'm not quite sure what Santa was thinking on a few accounts.
#1. It was almost 65 degrees here today and there is no sign of snow in sight.
#2. Dad works from home and the house is loud enough.
#3. I'm out of beer and this means a LOT of noise.

Pretty soon the boys grew tired of opening presents and took a break to play... another to eat, then another to eat... amazing isn't it? It took us until 3 or 4 and well after lunch to finish unwrapping everything.


Highlights of the day included the quilts made by MamaAnn, all the dinosaur stuff, and I think the best thing (besides Rory's guitar) was the globe from Grammy and DadDad and the desk from PaPa.

After supper, we decided that the boys could watch a DVD in our room and then go to bed.

As the movie (Kung Foo Panda) ended, I turned to see if Arden needed to use the potty before going to sleep... here is what I found:


It really was a big day for all the boys, and for us too! I passed out about 5 minutes after we put the boys to bed!

Thank you everyone, they honestly do love everything they got!

Christmas Eve

What does Christmas Eve mean to you? Do you remember it as a child? I hadn't really thought about the anticipation and excitement until this year. Rory really gets it, Arden was old enough to be excited and understand what was happening, and it was Canyon's first Christmas.

Our Christmas Eve was a night (whole day actually) filled with anticipation, excitement, and love. It was really cool!

Mom decided that there would be no naps today. Aren't I nice? The boys thought so! (Believe it or not it wasn't b/c I wanted to be nice. It was a calculated plot to make sure that Rory actually went to sleep and stayed in bed, Arden too.)

At 5, we ate dinner with our neighbors, who really have become a part of our family. There are times that I think I would go nuts without the love and support that Deb offers us.


Then we tracked Santa on the computer to see where he was, and at 7, it was time to go to Christmas Eve Service. Which was the first service our boys have sat through... it was... well... long for the boys, but absolutely beautiful for me. Our minister has an amazing voice that I hadn't heard before, and the church members are all so loving and accepting. It was nice to spend Christmas Eve there remembering what the holiday truly is about.

Christmas Eve also means that the boys get to open one present, specifically picked by mama, but from MamaAnn. This is Canyon's first present,


and the boys were excited to open them:



What was it you ask?


Matching footie PJs for Christmas! Thank You MamaAnn! We know they were hard to find!

Aren't they adorable?


After this, it was time for everyone to go to bed and wait until daylight to see if Santa actually came...

Santa Claus, Popcorn Balls, and Critter Holes...

That was our morning! We had a blast this morning. We got up early to head to the park to go see Santa Claus.

Santa must have had a late night, because he was 45 minutes late in arriving to the park to meet and greet the crowd of children waiting to take their photos and sit on his lap...

The boys passed the time well. We found Santa's mail box and deposited our letters...





While we were waiting, Rory and Arden climbed on the rock fixtures, ran around, and met other children. It was really fun for all of us...


Canyon hung out with his dad:


A nice elf even handed out popcorn balls to the kids:



I think that the "critter holes" Rory found were more of a hit than the old man himself!


But here is Jolly Old Saint Nick in all his glory, with my 3 beautiful boys.

Mommy Wants to Kiss Santa Claus...

Underneath the Christmas Tree...

Can you blame me? Look at this Jolly Ole Elf! He is just totally kissable (and sitting on his own I might add):




By the way, how on earth does one sleep under a Christmas Tree?

Holiday Photos!

I took a few, I'm not overly please with any, but I figured, what the heck.

What Else?

So today was one of those days.

It started with Carl needing to have a quiet house so the boys and I were going to run around and do some things. So on the way to the bank, my phone starts power cycling.

No big deal, it is new, under warranty, and I had a few questions about it anyhow, so why not go by and ask right? I run by the house, grab a snack for the boys and get my other phone to transfer the info from and go. I needed to go to the discount store next door to get cinnamon for Rory to make decorations, it will all work out perfectly and we will be home in an hour...

Or so I thought.

We go in to the cell phone store, and it is looking good, no one is in there, no lines, quick and easy...

Nope, didn't quite happen that way. It took 3 hours.

My old phone is FRIED, nothing is recoverable from it. The new phone is a Friday at 5 model, and is crappy. Arden had a melt down, the baby has his first poop in 5 days (which went EVERYWHERE), and then Arden pooped, and then I had to get a loaner phone while mine is sent back in.

Then we had to go to the store next door still, that took a while b/c Arden was refusing to walk, and throwing a fit... we were completely melted down freaking out by the time we got home.

Ugh, whoever said having 3 kids was easy, is full of it.

Shhhhh... I Have a Secret

I got Rory a pass for the local nature center for his birthday!! Today was absolutely beautiful and we are expecting rain (YEY) over the next week or so, and that meant we had to go today if we were going to go this week.

We used his pass today (but he didn't know that, lol) to go and see the Christmas display, which really was just Camels. Their names were Blue and Glory. (I'm not sure which one this is).


The hit of the day ended up being Oscar the Otter and the not camels. Oscar and his girl friend (Olive?) came out to visit us and kept posing and flirting with the boys:


And here are a few otters that I brought home with me...




Here are 2 more shots, we had a blast!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

We went tree hunting today, Mama Ann helped us pick out the perfect tree...

Here are some previews; we aren't decorating until Carl gets home from Cali. (Canyon slept the whole time, so no pics of him with his first tree just yet.)

The Holidays are coming...

And that means presents for little boys and girls...

We got our first international custom Lil' Hucker order this past month.

I packed this guy up and shipped him overseas this morning:

Cold December Nights...

The temperatures have dropped, the snow is falling, and the frost is showing up in the mornings... that means it is December!

Cold weather means hot meals! I made chili (a staple at our house) with my first attempt at skillet corn bread! Not too shabby for a vegan meal!