Then there were 3!!

Yep, that's right everyone....on December 23rd I had a little inkling that something was going on with me. I was right. After taking a test and waiting those two heart-stopping minutes....the result was a big, blue +!!! I couldn't believe it. We were pretty shocked at first, but are slowly adjusting to the idea of another little one running around. The boys are super excited about getting anew baby brother or sister...although they are quite vocal about wanting a sister! Ian says we need a girl in this family and I have to agree with him. I'm hoping for a girl this time, but will be happy no matter what! The baby is due at the end of August, sometime around the 31st. With Trevor and my birthdays alrready in that month, it'll make it a very busy time for us! We are very happy though and can't wait to see this little one in the summer! Will keep you posted on our growth and progress!

Christmas is in the Air!

Ok, this is just for fun! I really love Christmas, the sounds, sights, smells, etc... I love watching my children's faces' light up on Christmas and they really make the holiday for me. I borrowed this from my Aunt Becky and thought I'd give it a turn too.

KNOW YOUR FRIENDS CHRISTMAS STYLE....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
*wrapping paper mostly...the kids love to rip and tear! I do use gift bags for bigger, bulker stuff, or things that are odd-shaped.

2. Real or artificial tree?
*I'd love to always have a real tree, but they're really messy and can be dangerous. So, I put up my artificials...big one in the living room, little one in the kids' bedroom.

3. When do you put up the tree?
*Just depends on my mood usually....this year we put it up on the morning after Thanksgiving. We usually do it somewhere around Thanksgiving...either right before or right after.

4. When do you take the tree down?
*Not until after January 6....last year it was the end of January before I finally got it all down and packed away!

5. Do you like eggnog?
*I LOVE eggnog! Especially if it's made right!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
*My first Cabbage Patch doll named Amelinda Babbett...I loved that doll and took her with me everywhere, even carried her around in a baby carrier at Disneyland!

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
*No, I don't but I did have one that got broken in one of our moves.:-(

8. Hardest person to buy for?
*My husband, because if he wants something he buys it for himself during the year.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
*definitely my kids...they're easy to please!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
*I can't really think of one that I thought was bad....although...my Mom likes to do things like scavenger hunts for presents at Christmas time and one year she wrapped up a brick with a clue on it and that's what i opened. I was pretty disappointed until she explained that i had to hunt down my gift...ended up with a new bike, so I wasn't upset about that brick anymore! hahaha

11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
*Either...I'm really bad about remember to send out cards.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
*A Christmas Story---it's actually my all-time favorite movie out of all those movies out there!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
*Whenever I happen to have money for it....sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
*Only if it was really good and I already had one like it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
*My mother-in-laws fudge...it's amazing and better than any other I've ever had!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
* Colored, a Christmas tree is the only thing that can get away with being that gaudy and still be beautiful!

17. Favorite Christmas song?
*Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and the 12 Days of Christmas

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
*Travel and stay at home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
*Yep, sure can! Donner, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher, Blitzen, and of course...Rudolph! (his girlfriend's name is Clarice too!)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
*Angel on the tree in boys' room, Santa Claus on the big tree

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
*depends on which family we're with on those days....usually open presents on Christmas Eve with the in-laws, and presents at home on Christmas morning and presents in the afternoon with my family.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
*People lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas...it's about more than presents and Santa Claus!

23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
*No, the more stuff on there the better.

24. What do/did you leave for Santa?
*Cookies and milk.

YOUR TURN!

I wish each and every one of you a very happy and safe Christmas season! God Bless!

No Power....No problemo!

Well, finally, the sun is shining outside and the lights are back on inside! As many of you know, a nasty little storm system blew through our area a week ago and wreaked all kinds of havoc in it's path. We were fooled at first, thought to ourselves..."it's only raining, why be worried?". About 2 hours after that...off went the power. Good thing we had filled up about 25 bottles of water (boy am I glad I save those pop bottles for recycling!). I proceeded to cover all the windows with blankets in hopes of sealing in a little heat. Luckily we have a little gas heater on our back porch (it's actually a utility room) and it definitely worked overtime for the next 6 days trying to keep us warm. We boxed up all the food from the fridge and stored it in the garage where it was as cold as a meat locker, and dragged out the camp stove and BBQ grill. Had to get a little creative with meals and we ate by candlelight for several nights. Our families were worried about the boys...how will be keep them entertained without lights and TV and all those other things they were used to having? It was no problem whatsoever! We colored pictures by candlelight (which Ian loved!), played dressup in halloween costumes, played cards, made art projects with glitter, glue, and all that fun stuff, played a little pool, and resorted to the portable DVD player when nighttime set in. We got such a kick out of watching the kids play pool. Ian is getting pretty good, even if he likes to setup his own shots, and he was giving his little brother some "lessons" on proper pool playing techniques. During this long 6 days I liked to refer to my home as the "bat cave" and Ian said we were camping at home in our "blanket fort". It was so dark in here that the kids walked around with flashlights all the time even with the dozens of candles burning everywhere. All in all, we know that we can rough it now if needed and we got to spend some real quality time together as a family! I'm happy to say that we have some good memories to carry on of our time in the bat cave!



Trev really liked this black reaper gown

Boy, it was so dark...this is without the flash (and it's the afternoon!)

Ian gives Trevor a lesson on how to hold your cue


Hmmmm, think he was paying attention?? lol

Who needs a cue when you have little hands!

The boys kick back for "movie time"
Can you tell he's playing possum?? hah

All I Want for Christmas Is...

Well, I know what Santa can bring Ian and I for Christmas this year...Guitar Hero! It is alot of fun and I think it's good for kids to try too. It really helps their coordination and can help teach them rhythm. Well, Uncle Zac really likes this game too and has all the games and an extra guitar that he lends us from time to time. We have little "jam" sessions and Ian is getting really good. His favorite song is "Mississippi Queen" and we catch him singing it to himself from time to time. Super cute and pretty cool I think. I know that my children have inherited a love for music. They both want guitars for Christmas and Trevor's favorite video to watch over anything else is a concert of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Oh boy, does he love Stevie! Here's a few pictures of Ian jamming out...he really got into it after a bit!

What a tree!!!

Ok, so, I almost forgot that I had my camera with me on thanksgiving Day. These are the only pictures that I snapped that day. My batteries where almost dead so some of them are a little blurry (it didn't want to focus right). We spent Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Alices' house and the kids got to help Bailey decorate the tree. This is quite an event at Auntie Alices' as it takes two days to put it together and to get it decorated. It's enormous (13ft!!) and absolutely beautiful when it's all done! Pretty crazy when you can put the angel on from the second story! Anyway, poor Bailey was stuck on the ladder, but she had some wonderful helpers on the ground. Here's a few of them working on Aunt Alices' Christmas tree!


I think Ian really liked all the different ornaments

My beautiful niece, Bailey

Trevor was helping at the bottom

and so was Ian

looks like she's concentrating hard

The finished product...how beautiful

Leaves, Leaves, and ......more Leaves!!!!

I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, so I'm playing catch up again. Unfortunately the boys have been trading colds & other bugs back and forth for the past couple of weeks and we don't take many pictures when they're not feeling well. A few weeks ago, my best friend Jenifer and her little girl Shirley came to play with us. Since it was a really nice day, we went out in the backyard and made big leaf piles for the kids to play in. It seems like we have an endless supply of leaves here and the kids had a blast. Shirley wasn't too sure about the scratchy leaves and was content to watch the boys wrestling around in them. Ian and Trevor took turns burying each other and Trevor really wanted to "swim" in them. Kids and their imaginations are the best entertainment! So, here's a few pics from that day......enjoy!

Trevor was trying to get Shirley to play in the leaves with him...she just wanted to slide!

Oh, what fun they were having!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy belated Halloween everyone! We had a good time this year on Halloween. For the first time, I'm a homeroom Mom and Trevor and I made a trip to ian's school for parties and a parade. Ian asked me beforehand to dress up as a nurse....so, I did. Dragged out my old uniforms and found one of my stethoscopes. He was sooooo happy to see me dressed up when we came to the school party. Several of the kids in his class thought I was a doctor and kept asking me to listen to their hearts. lol Ian was dressed as the "bad" Spiderman and he really plays the part when he's in costume. He was posing up and down the road during the parade at school and he wouldn't answer to his name. I had to call him, Mr.Venom! haha Trevor wore his little "wisdom suit" that Auntie Alice got in San Francisco's Chinatown for them. He wasn't too thrilled with dressing up and did not want to take any pictures. That afternoon we loaded up and headed to the Carthage Square and made our trip around looting all the businesses of their candy. It's a tradition in Carthage for the businesses and it seems like every kid in town is there for the 2 hours that they do it. Trevor for the first time was actually saying "trick or treat" to all the people that were there. The boys really got a kick out of seeing all of the different costumes there were and there were some really neat and inventive ones! The highlight of the day for them was getting to go back to their Nanny's office on the square and help hand out candy. They loved it! Trevor was so excited about helping that he was jumping up and down and hollering "come see me guys" to the kids walking around the square. I think they enjoyed that more than the actual trick or treating we did. Finally, several hours, several bags of candy, and two sugar filled kids later, we called it quits and made our way home . It was a good time and we can't wait til' next year to do it all again!

Ian strikes a pose before the parade


Mr. Venom and our lil' Chinaman

Trevor was not happy about taking pictures as you can see

still not happy............

Finally happy and smiling!


Trev loved giving candy to the babies
What good little helpers Nanny had!

"COME AND SEE ME GUYS!!!!"

Pumpkin Carvin' Time!

Well, it's been awhile since I posted anything....computers can really be a pain when they don't work! So, anyway, I'm playing catch-up now and thought i'd share the pictures from the kids' pumpkin carvings. We decided to carve a pumpkin for each of them this year and they loved getting to scoop out the "guts". Ian and Donovan got to draw the face on one and the other was for Trevor and me. We had a great time and we look forward to this tradition every year with the kids.


Ian hard at work on his masterpiece:-)


He was so happy to have his own pumpkin!

Ewwwwwww!!!!! pumpkin guts!!!!!

Our completed jack o' lanterns.....how fun it was!

Okay, this is just a quick little note because I am sooooo proud of my kiddo! Ian came home from school yesterday with a Certificate for Student of the Month! The school gives these awards to students who display good character and show academic growth & achievement. I am so proud of him. They had a big assembly at the school yesterday and he had to go in front of the school and have his picture taken for his award. He also came home yesterday and read me a short little book that he had made. It made me all teary-eyed............my baby is growing up too fast for me! It's amazing though to see and hear all the new things that he is learning and doing in school. Parent-Teacher conferences are this week and I can't wait to see what his teacher has to say!

Our lil' Superhero

It seems like only yesterday that we were bringing home our baby boy. Time flies when you're having fun and it's definitely sped by for us! Ian is 5 1/2 now and is quite the kid. He has an imagination a mile wide and let me tell you, he uses it all of the time! It's a wonderful thing to watch your children playing and Ian never ceases to make me laugh with his stories. His imagination is very active and he loves to tell stories to anyone that will listen. He also has a thing for superheroes. We have a closet with many different costumes and you never can tell which one he will have on or who he will be that day. Spiderman is an all-time favorite of his. Ian is also the "take a picture of me doing this" kid and he loves to strike a pose or make a face for the camera. He loves to be the one doing the picture taking too. He keeps me busy, on my toes, and definitely helps bring out the inner child in me. We have a great time and he has enriched our lives so much. Love you, Bubby!



an attempt at funny faces #1...lol

Me & my little man

Never goes far without his light sabers!

It's Spidey-time!!!

told me he could climb the walls like this too! :-)

Cheeessseeee!!!!!

Isn't he handsome!

Karate-Vader?? lol