No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk??

The first self help book I ever read was Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff by Richard Carlson. I learned to let a lot of things roll off my back and keep going without fretting too much.
This week we spilled a total of six glasses of milk (and one of water) at mealtime. Somehow everything I learned about small stuff left my brain as I became more uptight with each spill. Could it be because milk is outrageously expensive at $3.00 a gallon? Could it be because I washed way too many place mats and pot holders this week? Could it be because cleaning up milk messes makes my kitchen rags forever smell rotten? I wish I felt justified in using one of these as a worthy excuse but I know that this is small stuff.
Now that I have come to this conclusion I am ready to stop 'sweating' and enjoy the Christmas holiday! Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Trav and the boys built a snowman. This was not Frosty because ours had a carrot nose.

While they were finishing off the snowman Isaac spotted our tiny evergreen tree and said, "Hey look at our Christmas tree! It's the 'sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow'."

Isaac's Reindeer

Sometimes my boys surprise me by showing me or telling me things that I didn't teach them. This is one of those things. I'm not sure who to attribute the idea of the reindeer to but when I asked Isaac he said, "My brain told me." I think it's fun.

Lump of Coal

Yesterday was an exceptionally warm day in Columbus so I sent my boys outside to play. When Theron came in his shoes were really muddy. I said, "Oh, Theron you got mud all over your shoes." He nervously looked at me and asked, "Is Santa going to put coal in my stocking?"

My Boys

My friend Aubrey is so strong. I read this post from her blog today. I wanted to trap each of my boys (Trav too) and keep them with me forever. Sometimes I hug them and don't let go. When they start to push away, I just say, "It's not my fault. Sometimes I get stuck to boys that I love." It brings out the giggles in them (yep...Trav too). Aubrey thank you for inspiring me today. I am so grateful for my boys, Travis, Isaac, Theron, and Charlie.

Surgeon Schmergeon

Isaac had the following conversation with grandma on the phone:
“Can I talk to grandpa?”
“He’s not here. He’s at work. Today is a special day for him. He is learning about CPR. Do you know about CPR?”
“Yeah, CTR. Choose the Right.”
“No, this is CPR. It’s something you do for someone who isn’t breathing. You push on their chest and breath into their mouth. The nurses and doctors do it for patients at the hospital sometimes. Maybe you can ask your dad about it.”
“Oh, my dad doesn’t know about CPR. He’s just a bone doctor.”

A bit of Christmas Cheer

Our boys LuV Christmas. They were beyond excited to get out the Christmas decorations. There were several gasps as they pulled everything out of the bins, sometimes indicating that they remembered something from last year and sometimes indicating that they had just discovered the most aMaZiNg thing ever. Ours is a collection that comes from many different people and places. Although, it's quite a hodgepodge each decoration holds some sort of memory of the person who gave it to us or the events surrounding the Christmas we collected it. I remember the starched angels on the mantel on top of angel hair, the Rudolph mugs, and the frosted glass nativity sheet my mom always displayed at Christmas time. It feels good to remember how exciting it was to celebrate Christmas and to see our boys' eyes light up at every house decorated with lights or Christmas tree in the corner.

Let It Snow

On many of the cold windy days in Ohio (and there are many) I miss Arizona. Today is an exception.

Isaac, Theron, Charlie, and I had a great time playing out in the snow. It wasn't good for packing so we mostly just threw dusty snow at each other. Charlie wasn't too keen on his snow clothes but was happy while being held.

Isaac has grown out of everything lately, including his snow boots. I covered his running shoes with grocery bags and strapped them on with rubber bands. He said, "Mom, I'll be embarrassed when everyone sees me." I told him that everyone would just think he had the greatest invention. That worked. "Everyone" turned out to be no one anyway.

To watch the video turn the music off by clicking the pause button on the player at the bottom of the page.

Guess Who 101

To watch this "Oh so cute" video of #2 (Theron) explaining how to play the Guess Who game turn off music at the bottom of the page by clicking on the pause button.

Lean on Me

We had an enjoyable holiday week. Trav's parents came to visit, along with Quinn, Tiffany, and Clarissa. We ate the usual Thanksgiving food. We had some friends join us for the fun, which made the meal even better. We played games (my personal favorite activity), watched videos and just hung around. Somehow amidst all the fun and relaxation we managed only to snap one photo. This is it. Isaac and Theron slept on our bedroom floor for the week. We found them like this one night when we went to bed. I wonder who fell asleep first? This would be an odd question if the next picture didn't exist. A couple of years ago we left the boys on our bed to watch a video. Upon returning, we found Isaac sacked out right on top of poor little one year old Theron, who continued his struggle to watch the movie under all twenty-four pounds of an exhausted brother.

I'm Thankful for...

...mess-makers...

...hard workers...

...good health and strength...
...and a super-hero dad.

Charlie chuckles

Don't forget to turn off the music at the bottom by pushing the pause button.

Gobble Gobble

When we moved here I started a preschool co-op. This week I taught. Theron and his buddies made Thankful Turkeys to welcome in the Thanksgiving holiday. If you are dieing to make one you just need an orange, pipe cleaners, toothpicks, googly eyes, and fruit loops. The boys had fun and we worked on our math skills by sorting out the different colors and counting the loops as they slide down the picks.

Mr. Jack-o-lantern

Our pumpkins have officially had it. Travis helped them to find a new home in our garden. Yep! If you couldn't tell they are spent. As I watched him hauling them to the garden I couldn't help remembering Halloween 2000. My roommate, Kimberly, put a pumpkin on our balcony in W35 at the Elms. It stayed there (against the wishes of the her other five roommates) until our spring cleaning check...in April!! By that time it was a nasty molded thawing pile of two inch high pumpkin. Pretty gross...kind of funny.

Mmm

I dedicate this post to Laura and Britt D.

We ate Liverwurst and Hot Chocolate for dinner tonight.

I recommend Sugardale Deli Shoppe BRAUNSCHWEIGER found at Walmart if a German deli is not within reasonable driving distance.

Busy Deer

Isaac and Theron went hunting with Travis. I asked the boys if they saw any deer. Isaac said, "No, the deer are on their own schedule." ...no wonder...

Thankful Chain

The boys are stoaked for the holidays. They have been asking mulitple times a day if today is Thanksgiving. (No.) Christmas? (No.) Tomorrow? (mmm..No.) We value our sanity so we made a thankful chain for family home evening this week. Each link of the chain has something that we are thankful for on it. There is one chain for each day until Thankgiving. Today (lucky me) we are thankful for me. We have already been thankful for dad, Isaac, and a job and have many more great things and people on each link. We have been so blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

Confessions of a blogger

Laura tagged me. I am playing along because I miss her and because it was fun to read her tag. I am supposed to tell 6 facts or habits about me. You can decide for yourself if these are facts or habits. So read up and then check out my tags to see if you are it!

1. I'd really rather stay home. My first inclination when invited to do something is to say "no". I have come a long way since marrying Travis and becoming a mommy. I have learned that it's usually best to go if I want to stay sane. My kids can't stand to be cooped up for too long.
2. I think about my childhood daily. It feels like a separate life from the one I live now. I'm still puzzled at the disconnect. That makes me think about it even more.
3. I play "survival of the fittest" with eggs. My mom taught me to crack eggs. Rather than cracking an egg on the counter top or a bowl or pan she taught me to crack them against each other. When I do this, only one egg cracks...the stronger egg. This egg is then cracked against the next egg and the one that doesn't crack is now the strongest. The strongest egg has a designated place in the carton to wait for it's next face off. The last egg left in the carton is the winner. I have done this with every egg carton I have ever had in my refrigerator. It's fulfilling. Try it.
4. I really enjoy a gloomy, cloudy, wet, and rainy day.
5. I crack my knuckles. I wish I didn't.
6. I am not a "doer" but I want to be. A doer is someone who attends to things in a prompt way to keep from having a to-do list hanging over their head. Trav's dad, Randy, is a doer. This week in my attempts to become one I cleaned out and got rid of a bunch of my boys' toys, sorted my kids clothes to weed out those that are too small, moved all of our summer stuff out of the garage so my boy Trav can park in it, am in the middle of painting a dresser, and have done a decent job of keeping our house tidy.

I tag:

1. Britt D.
2. Danika
3. Rob
   
4. Quinn
5. Meshan
6. Kimberly (hint: start by creating a blog)
   

Woe is me!!

Poor Charlie!! All four of his top front teeth are poking through at the same time. What a trooper!

Spoonfuls of Stories

I finished this book today for the second time. It's called "Everybody Needs a Rock" by Byrd Baylor with pictures by Peter Parnall. I thought it was pretty cute. It's especially great if you only have...mmm...say...seven minutes to read. Yep! It's a children's book and I found it in our Cheerios box. I really connected with it because I find "special" rocks in the bottom of my washing machine nearly every time I do the laundry. In this book you will discover the key to finding a good rock and that's important because..."Everybody Needs A Rock". My favorite rule is number 6:

• "The size must be perfect. It has to feel easy in your hand when you close your fingers over it. I has to feel jumpy in your pocket when you run. Some people touch a rock a thousand times a day. There aren't many things that feel as good as a rock-- if the rock is perfect."

Meet Charlie

Just for the record...he WAS strapped in.


Oh and if you're having trouble with the sound...turn to music off at the bottom of the page by clicking on the pause button.

Look out Casper the Friendly Ghost...

...'cause here comes Theron the Rainbow ghost. No matter what we tried to convince him to dress as for Halloween he insisted on being a ghost "with all the colors". We're pretty sure that most people in the neighborhood just thought he was some sort of scary clown.

Trick-or-Treat!!

Abra Kadabra!!

Isaac wanted to be a witch because Emery was going to be a witch. He was stoked to learn that male witches are wizards. He "dist-appeared" Theron every chance he got (much to Theron's dismay).