Wrapping up 2010

As 2010 draws to a close I find myself wanting to wrap it all up. I want to have every 2010 crumb swept off the kitchen floor. I want to have all the 2010 laundry spotted, washed, dried, and put away. I want to have every 2010 dish clean and put away. But, alas, it's not possible (it's already after 11pm on the 31st) to accomplish all of this. So, I'll get up tomorrow morning and sweep some more crumbs and do some more laundry and put away some dishes, and that will be that.

David has been on vacation from work this week and we have accomplished some good things. Most of the Christmas decorations are down and put away. It always makes me a little sad to put all the twinkly lights and glittery decorations away. This is (maybe?) a little known fact which I had to share with Seth. He was mid-tantrum while Dave was packing away the beloved Christmas train so I had to share with him that it wouldn't be special if it was out all year. And, truth be told, I think it helped me a little to say the words out loud to someone else. Plus, I really do like when it's all put away and the house looks less cluttered.

And today we hung shelves and pictures in our bathroom and bedroom. We got new bedroom furniture. Eleven months ago. So, today we finally unpacked the box that has been hiding behind the door and hung those shelves. Okay, it hasn't been there the whole 11 months. I spray painted the shelves to match the new comforter and I know I didn't do that last January, as I remember doing it outside.

But, blogging hasn't been much of a priority this week, so I never shared our Christmas pictures. So, here's a very brief recap: Christmas Eve at my parents' house with my sister and her family. Christmas morning at home with just the five of us, then my parents came by so the boys could show them their gifts. Christmas evening back at my parents' house with extended family. Seth, opening a new truck - love his expression!

Luke REALLY wanted a miguitar. I have no idea what the "mi" is about. I thought for awhile it was his way of saying "my guitar." But, he refers to other things as "my" this or that (the moon, specifically, is "my moon"), but the guitar is more of one word - miguitar. Odd, but too cute to be corrected really.

And Max, checking out a new sippy cup, Colts burp cloths (he loves his burp cloths) and a loud spinning top toy that Seth picked out for him.

And, finally, I'm not a resolutions type of person. It's just one more thing for me to fall short of finishing or accomplishing. But, I've been hearing about picking one word to be your theme for the next year. I've been thinking about this and I narrowed it down to two words. One seemed like too much of a stretch for me (that sounds wimpy but it's really just funny). The other I think I like, but I'm going to try it out for a few days before I share it. Knowing the word, I am cracking up as I type this. Of course, it's also almost midnight and I'm exhausted (no, 'exhausted' is not the word!), but exhaustion does make things funnier. On that note, Happy New Year!

7 months

My sweet baby boy was seven months old on the 21st. That night we were all in the older boys' room getting them settled into bed and I looked up and Max was on his hands and knees. I wanted to run over and shove him down, but I know I need to let him grow up. It's just so hard sometimes!

Max definitely knows when he wants something and will gladly let you know if you're not getting it for him fast enough. He loves sweet potatoes and most of the fruits he has tried. He chews on anything that comes close to his mouth. And he recently started reaching out for us while he cries the most pathetic cry. Mostly he's a very pleasant baby. He likes to roll all around on the floor. He loves to watch his brothers play. And when he smiles, that smile takes over his whole face - squinted eyes, wrinkled nose, huge toothless mouth wide open - it's the best!

Jolly jolly

One of my favorite holiday outings is to the Children's Museum. I think it's a favorite of the boys' too. Dave's employer is a sponsor of the Museum's Jolly Days so one night each year the Museum stays open late and all the employees and their families can come and play. Most of the regular attractions are open, plus the big slide and pretend ice fishing, etc. It's a lot of fun to be there "after hours," as it's a much small crowd, plus the added bonus of Daddy going with us! Max's first carousel ride, on a horse. I took all three boys a few weeks ago but Max had to ride in my arms while I stood that day so that I could keep track of Seth and Luke too.

Seth pretending to drive a race car. When Seth grows up he wants to be a member of a pit crew. He wanted to be a driver but he changed his mind because he doesn't want to crash. And no, I did not suggest that it was too dangerous!

Luke - ice fisherman.

Going down the big slide. It's tough to tell, but Dave and Luke are on the left and Seth is on the right, clearly winning this time. They got to go down the slide four times. I even slid with Luke one of the times. It was pretty fun.

It was snowing and all the Christmas lights were beautiful. This picture really doesn't do it justice! Sorry.

This was the same weekend we rode the train. The boys were exhausted. After we put the boys in bed I found out Seth's school was on a delay the next morning, which means he doesn't go since he's only half day. I was so happy for that extra day of rest (probably moreso for his teacher than for him!).

All Aboard!

On Friday the 10th, after David brought the boys' favorite fast food home for their dinner, we told them we were going on an adventure. We had them put on their pajamas and slippers, grab blankets, and we hit the road. First stop, Grammy and Grampy's to drop Max off for a few hours. Not sure who gets more spoiled, the baby or the grandparents, but I think everyone loves when there is just one child to love on all evening.

And away we went. Off to ride... The train station was a little more than an hour from our house. Of course, it was already dark outside, Seth had his program the night before, and I think the boys were just a little tired. An hour long car ride about did them in. I think Luke was nearly asleep when we got there.

Here they are waiting in the train station. We told them on the way where we were going. But they immediately started asking questions about the movie and I was suddenly worried that the train ride couldn't compare and there would be great disappointment.

Getting ready to board the train. Mom and the boys. I feel the need to say that I had on a gray coat and dark jeans. I fear it looks a little like I was also wearing pajamas. I was not. There were adults who were. Not judging, just saying, I was not one of those parents! Thank you for allowing me that brief public service announcement!

Here is Luke, not long after we got going. I think he was noticing some Christmas lights. Or maybe the flashing train warning signs on the side of the road (?).

This was one of the events we needed our cookies for. They passed out some cookies, but between the lighting and the train's movement, and my terrible vision, I couldn't even read if they were okay for Luke. I did eat one later, but ours were better anyway. Although Seth didn't seem to think so. He insisted he only liked one color of the icing (but it was all the same icing, just food colored, not flavored). Anyway. We all got hot chocolate too, but all of those pictures seem to be of my hands balancing multiple white styrofoam cups.

They stamped tickets with the boys' initials for them. Pretty cool!

Seth looked at the book for awhile. They tell you that you must have the book. I envisioned the story being read, with great enthusiasm, over the loud speaker. Not so much. We could've lived without the book entirely, but Seth enjoyed looking at it and I enjoy looking at Seth looking at books so it was all alright.

This picture is supposed to show you all that the train did a little swaying back and forth. This will be important later.

The North Pole. Two little boys scoping out the North Pole. Santa emerged and then rode the train for a little while.

An uncharacteristically sheepish Luke. He wasn't so sure about Santa. Since then he has informed me that he doesn't want Santa to bring him presents. I asked why not. He said, "I just don't love toys." I'm wondering if the whole guy coming down the chimney thing is bothering him a bit.

This was plenty close for Luke, and that's fine with me. I'm not the biggest fan of Santa and the whole notion of it. I mean let's review - he delegates ALL of his work and yet still gets all of teh credit, takes really really long vacations after the holidays, likely will never grow up, and lacks all fashion sense.

And this, I was desperately hoping this was the look of a little boy who had had SO much excitement that he just couldn't stay awake for a moment more. Instead it was the look of a little boy who got very sick to his stomach (remember the swaying ornaments?), but did his very best to hide it. Until he threw up in the car on the way home. I kept asking and asking, 'are you sure you're okay?' and 'is your belly okay?' And he kept answering, 'I'm fine.' At one point I said, "Are you going to get sick?" He answered, "No." And that was true, he just left out the part that he had already gotten sick! He didn't confess until the next morning that he started feeling crummy on the train. So, I didn't want him to sleep in his room (also Luke's room) and further contaminate Luke if he had the stomach flu. But we have a large L-shaped couch so he slept on one end and I slept on the other end and we left the Christmas tree on all night. I've always wanted to sleep by the tree but have never been able to justify giving up the good night of sleep I would get in my bed. So, this was a good excuse. And he never got sick again, thankfully! Poor baby. Also, thankfully, he still talks about the train ride with great enthusiasm.

On the way home, Luke said, "Daddy, Wukey is tired." Then about 30 seconds later, "Daddy! Wukey is still tired!" So funny.

So, it was a good time, but not one we will probably repeat too soon, mostly because Seth apparently doesn't handle trains so well. Guess we won't be planning a cross-country via Amtrak vacation anytime soon!

An Open Letter...

Dear Fellow Mall Patrons,

I am aware it is Christmastime. I am aware the mall is very crowded. Thank you , however, for affirming my deep deep desire to NOT go to the mall this holiday season. There were two items, two small items, that required a "quick" trip. Hence, I went shopping this morning. Not Saturday afternoon during peak mall time, but Friday morning.

And yes, my very old double stroller is a monstrosity. Trust me though, you would rather my 2 year old have a big ride than be roaming free at the mall. As such, I would like to let you know that the smile I flashed when you all walked in front of me, thinking I could really stop the stroller on a dime, was fake and plastered on my face. The stroller is old. The stroller is heavy. There was an infant carrier, with an infant. There was a two year old, a very strong two year old, clearly in the front of the stroller. Both were actually very well-behaved. Well, except for the brief incident where Luke got stuck half in and half out trying to slither under the tray in the front, but it was resolved quickly. Unfortunately, if I met you at the end of my whirlwind trip, I might have sighed loudly. I apologize for that.

Now, I will go and have a cup of hot cocoa and attempt to unfreeze the painful fake smile from my face.

Seriously,
Cara

Sweet shepherd boy and a cookie maker

Seth's school Christmas program was last Thursday night. They were all dressed as shepherds. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures during the program. No big deal really, since I turned my camera on after the big performance and it was dead. Thankfully, Grammy was there with her camera to save the day!
Seth did a great job - he looked like he knew the words and motions and was participating. He had been singing one of the songs at home. A lot. So much that Luke had learned it too, just listening to Seth. I thought we might've been in trouble Thursday morning when Seth asked Luke, "Luke, are you going to be quiet tonight and listen to me sing?" Luke's response? "Yes, but I want to be a rockstar like Seth." Hmmm. But, when it was time, Luke headed to the upstairs viewing area with Grammy, Grampy and Aunt G, Uncle Matt, and his cousins. They allege that he was well-behaved.

After the program, Seth was cracking me up! He was a social butterfly! He was running around, calling everyone by name and telling them goodbye. He hugged one little girl, that I hadn't even heard of, and told her he would miss her. (Uh, you have school the next morning!) But, it was really fun to see him "in his element."

Thursday morning the boys and I made sugar cookies. We had events coming up Friday night and Sunday night for which we needed "safe" Luke treats. We used store bought dough, but we still had to flour them, roll them out and cut them out. That was all we (I) could handle on Thursday. Then Friday morning while Seth was at school, Luke and I finished them off with icing and sprinkles.
Luke very much enjoyed cleaning up the plate of extra sprinkles. He was also generous with the sprinkles on the cookies. Not sure if you can tell, but this one has so many sprinkles that the icing is actually oozing off of the cookie. I really had to let go and realize that Luke was loving every minute of this mess and (1) not care that the cookies were less than perfect, and (2) not care that this was going to a massive mess to clean up in the end!

But, they turned out okay and Luke loved them. Seth wasn't much of a fan, but he's a ridiculously picky eater anyway! More to come on our fun Friday and Sunday events soon...

i love pictures...

Shutterfly has a great offer to receive some free cards just by sharing my past/current experiences with their company. So, I'd like to tell you about how easy and fun it is to make special photo memories into gifts and cards. If you are my mom or dad, stop reading. Otherwise, read on...

I love to take pictures, I love to scrapbook, and I love to give pictures as gifts, especially to grandparents. It has become a tradition for us that some of the grandparents receive a calendar each year. This year I am using Shutterfly for our calendars. I absolutely fell in love with a really feminine calendar - different backgrounds for each month - many in florals and pastel colors. We all know I don't have too much girliness in my life, so I jumped on this and started loading pictures and making my calendar. Then it dawned on me that perhaps Grampy wouldn't think a pastel, flowered calendar was so great for his desk at work. So, after I finished the first one for Grammy, I saved the calendar again and just went in and changed all the backgrounds to more basic/masculine choices. It was really easy and both calendars still have all the same pictures. Here's a link that will take you to all of the calendar styles.


Last year, after I made the calendar, I also made a simple photobook for one of the other Grandmas. It was easy to use the pictures already uploaded for the calendar and just pick out some of our very favorites. Here's a link to the snapbooks. They are small, spiralbound, and I imagine fit perfectly in her purse so she can show it off at church on Sunday mornings. I try to include a lot of the sillier pictures that you don't necessarily print and hand out, but in a book with lots of pictures, they are fun to include.


And finally, Christmas cards. I love making our Christmas cards. Unfortunately, I do not always love taking the posed family photo. So, this year I think I am going to choose a layout (yes, I should probably get on this!) that allows me to use 4 or 5 photos, then I can use one picture of each of the 3 boys individually and then just pick one or two of my favorite pictures of all 3 of them from this last year. It seems so much easier to get a good picture when you're not really trying! I especially love that Shutterfly has a tab for "religious cards," after all that is why we celebrate Christmas, so it's important to me that Christ be a part of my card!

So, there you have it - fun and easy gifts, courtesy of Shutterfly. Now, I just need to go and complete all of mine!

Seven years later

Once upon a time there was a banker named David, whose banker friend invited him to church. First (?), because it was a great church, and second, because there was "a girl" there that the friend thought David should meet.

That girl was away at grad school. Bummer for that girl. But there was a girl named Cara, who was also going to school, but was here in town.

After some shameless flirting (the debate will continue to rage as to who started said shameless flirting), Cara caught David's eye [or maybe the other way around; no wait, I'm writing the blog - David was completely smitten with Cara].

David's friend and his friend's wife set up a dinner outing with people at church, complete with a designated meeting place to meet and ride together to the other side of town for dinner. Cara showed up at the designated meeting place. So did David, his friend and his friend's wife. Oddly (or rather schemedly - yeah, it's not a word, but it conveys my meaning anyway), everyone else met at the restaurant, where Cara headed to the table and buried herself among some friends so as to not have to sit by David and look too "date-y" and have too many people gossip about them.

Good effort Cara. Eventually David worked up the nerve to ask Cara out on a real date - lunch at a much frumpier place than Cara would normally dine. Little did David know, Cara would've been just as happy with a slice of pizza from the food court. Thanks to law school finals, Cara and David didn't have another date for a few weeks - Christmas at the Zoo and dinner out. David alleges that he knew then that Cara was the girl for him. Cara took a little more convincing [her thought process at that time: I'm nearly done with law school. I don't have time for this nonsense.]

But David was persistent. One year to the day after their first frumpy lunch date, David proposed to Cara downtown at the canal, complete with twinkly Christmas lights and mind numbing cold temperatures.

In the next year, Cara wrote a big ugly all-consuming paper for law school, graduated law school, spent weeks at bar review, got kidnapped from bar review by her mom and sister to shop for a wedding dress, spent a week living in a hotel w/a fridge stocked full of her favorite study foods(courtesy of David - still one of the best gifts ever) to study non-stop for the bar, took the bar, passed the bar, planned a wedding, got married, and gleefully honeymooned in Cancun!

And never, never, ever, did Cara imagine that this is what life would look like 7 years later - attorney turned stay at home mom to three (!) little boys, with a wonderfully loving and supportive husband who works so hard to let her be at home (even though Cara is quite sure an attorney's salary was more what he had in mind, rather than a gluestick waving, cookie baking, minivan driving mama). But that's what this whole marriage thing is about, right? Compromise, change, growing together, and most of all - a whole lotta love!

Thank you, David, for 7 wonderful years of marriage, 3 fantastic little boys, and the promise of the rest of our lives together. I love you!