Moments With My Boys

Tea for Two...

2012-01-29T15:28:00.000-08:00

...or four.

This past weekend we went to see my sister and her family. Mamaw had decided that Saturday morning there would be a tea party for Grace (and Austin and Adam, if they chose to participate.) I wondered if my boys would do it since tea party can sometimes be seen as "girly." However, these boys never cease to amaze me with what they will do for Grace. The not only sat at the tea party, they actually participated. They ate the dainty snacks (cookies cut in quarters, and M&M's)--although what boy would turn down that type of snack? I think they thoroughly enjoyed their time having "tea" with Grace and Mamaw....

I was saying this tea is the weakest tea they will ever have...it was actually water :)
After the wonderful tea, Austin and Grace took to the dance floor.

It didn't last long, but they were seen dancing. Might I just say how cute that is.

Adam's 3rd Tooth

2012-01-21T07:09:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break, Adam was really working on a tooth that was loose. The first week that they were back at school, Adam came home one day and said, "Guess what?" Then he smiled with a hole where a tooth should be.

Mike told me that at recess he was sitting on the porch (it's not really a porch, but I'm not sure what else to call it--it's a covered cement slab outside the gym door) and he was working and working on that tooth. He worked on it until it was out! He showed his teacher and she sent him to the nurse.

The nurse put the tooth in a very cute container to take home.

He has 2 more loose teeth. I wonder if he will try to lose them at school to get more of these containers...

Allie

2012-01-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

Our boys have been asking for a pet for some time. I kept putting them off saying that we would not have time to train the pet with Mike and I both working.

In the fall a lady came to our door asking if we would like a gray kitten. She was adorable! But, she had not been fixed, she was not trained. I said, "no."

Over Christmas break someone I know had found a gray cat that had apparently been dumped in the neighborhood that my parents live in. They were looking for a home for her. We decided to give her a try.

Her last owners did a great job of training her. She is a gentle cat. She is very special cat (She has 6 toes on her front paws).

We named her Allie. If Mike and I would have ever had a girl, her name would have been Allison. We were talking with the boys and we thought, she was apparently dumped, I often think of Alley cats as being dumped and homeless--it has a double meaning for us.

The boys (and Mike and I) have fallen in love with the kitty. The boys have been trying to read her "Bad Kitty" books. What's funny is they get a short way in and she will leave. Almost as if to say, "I'm not a bad kitty!"

She has been a great addition to our family.

A New Cousin

2012-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

Austin and Adam are very excited to announce that...

they have a new cousin.

Glen Matthew was born on December 30, 2011. 8 lbs 13oz and 21 inches long.

Welcome to the family Glen. These boys sure have a lot to teach you!

The Fort

2011-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

We have been on Christmas break for almost 2 weeks now. Mike had decided before break, that he would really like to build a for with/for the boys. Now, knowing Mike, I knew that he was not talking about the kind with blankets and chairs. Nor was he talking about attaching box es together and cutting windows. They would be too...weak, too...ordinary, too...temporary.

When Mike builds a fort he starts with craft sticks, and builds a model
es together and cutting windows. They would be too...weak, too...ordinary, too...temporary.

When Mike builds a fort he starts with craft sticks, and builds a model.

Once he has his ideas mapped out, he heads to the hardware store.

He got 2 willing boys to help him. Austin was able to tighten screws. Adam was pulling off stickers, and doing other odd jobs.

Austin was asked to get the camera at one point. Of course...

He had to have a little fun while walking to the fort site. :)

This is the beginning of the first level. (Mike does not tend to build 1 level play things. Just remembering our tree house at our old house)

Mike is putting in interesting windows, hinges, etc. I will be sure to post finished pictures.

We were coming home from my sister's today, Mike said, "I can't wait to work on the fort again." Sometimes I wonder who this is really for...Mike or the boys :)

The Funny Things They Say

2011-12-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

When my boys are talking, sometimes the things they say are SO close to what they want to say.

The other day, Adam was looking at some recycling. He was telling me about the arrows, and what they mean. He said, "They mean 'Reproduce, Reuse, Recycle.'" Adam, you are so close...it is actually, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. :)

Recently, when Austin was with my two year old niece, he was making some comment about her bottom. The comment ended with "big bottom." He got a funny look on his face and looked at me and pointedly said, "I don't know how to talk to women." Austin, you will learn how to talk to women, just remember to NEVER tell them they have a big bottom. :)

Events This Week

2011-12-18T08:11:00.000-08:00

December tends to be a busy month. With Christmas this months and many different events that accompany it, the days can fill before we know it.

Last Sunday, the boys were in the church Christmas play. Austin was a Bethlehem Kid, and Adam was a Shepherd Kid. The "teams" did not get along well, but they realized that Jesus was born so we could have peace on earth. In the end the kids became friends.

In Adam's Sunday School class there are several girls, but only 4 boys. The director of the play decided it would be really cute to have those 4 boys be in something of a "Barber Shop Quartet"

She went as far as to add the hats. They had about 2 lines to sing as a quartet. I thought they did a magnificent job.

It's not the clearest picture, but aren't they cute?

This is the whole group. There were about 50 children in all. Austin is in the group on the right. He is in the middle row, second from the right. Adam is in the group on the left. He is on the right hand side (He is actually looking to the side.) It was a great performance. They practiced a lot, put a lot of work into and the play turn out beautifully.

Friday they had a Christmas school sing-a-long. The whole school got together, sang some Christmas carols. They also had the violin students come up to play some songs.

I couldn't be there, but Mike got video for me and still pictures for my blog :) Austin is second from the right.

Then the Waterman singers got up to sing some songs.

Austin is on the right hand side--just down from the boy in yellow. They sang some of the same songs they did a week earlier at Barnes and Noble. But, they did such a great job. I am really proud of Austin and the groups he is in this year.

Several weeks ago, a neighbor brought over an invitation to a Mexican Festival of Las Posadas (meaning "the Inns") So, Friday night the boys attended this party. They actually dressed as Shepard's and went to several houses and sang:

Who will offer a place to sleep
for the weary pilgrims
they are so tired from their walk
on these long and dusty roads

They were denied at the first 3 houses, but at the 4th house (the house where they started) they were at first denied, then they realized it was Mary and Joseph, they let them in. They had cookies and empanadas (it reminded me of deep fried cheese tacos--they didn't taste bad, but I'm not sure how healthy they were). Then the children went tot he basement and made pine cone bird feeders, then they had 2 pinatas to break. They had so much fun! I do hope they do this again next year.

Saturday, we went to my parents church where they had a walk through Bethlehem. It was interesting to watch the boys. Austin went ahead, then came back with us, then went ahead, then came back. I'm sure he saw everything several times. Adam would stop at each "station" and ask questions: "How will we know which stable the baby will be in?" "How does the potter make the pots?" "Why does the potter need warm water?" "What does the Hebrew scroll say?"
I have to say, some of his questions were pretty impressive. Then we went in for cookies and fellowship. The boys would go in and out. When I asked what they were doing out in the cold the replied they were hanging out by the fire. When I thought later about that response, I thought I wonder if that is what the kids of that time did. Instead of hanging out at a shoppe, they might hang out by the fire by the Inn (or something of the sort) :)

We have had a busy week, but it has been filled with wonderful Christmas activities. I hope the boys are enjoying them as much as I did.

Austin's Concert

2011-12-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

Austin has joined the Waterman Singers this year. It is a group of 3rd and 4th graders that get together about once a week, sing, practice, and have an overall good time.

Yesterday, they had their Holiday Concert at the local Barnes and Noble. Our school was having a "Barnes and Noble Night," so this just added to the fun.

Austin is on the far right (with his hands in his pockets).

They did a great job singing! They had really fun songs. All the kids seemed to enjoy singing, and the audience enjoyed hearing their beautiful music.

As they were singing I looked at Austin. I couldn't believe how grown up he looked!

My little boy is not so little anymore.

Adam Graduated

2011-12-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

I got this news a few months ago. It officially happened the end of October, and it has taken me this long to post this wonderful news!

ADAM HAS GRADUATED!!--from speech.

Adam had some speech issues as a young child. When Austin entered 1st grade, I was talking to his teacher about this "problem." She said, "Amy, have him evaluated for speech." She told me that her son had to do speech, she would bring her magazines to school once a week. She got to catch up on her reading while he was in speech. I started the process immediately!

I started writing the words that he said incorrectly, and how he pronounced them. About 4 months later, he entered into speech.

This was actually a fun time for him. Adam had not entered into school yet. So, we scheduled the day and time. That morning was busy, but Adam loved it. First we packed his lunch, then went to the library (he didn't want to miss story time), headed to school--Adam went to speech, I went to volunteer in Austin's class. Then we went to eat lunch with Austin.

The next year he was in Kindergarten. By that time there were only a few sounds that needed work--rather than the pages of sounds that he started with.

Adam loved his time with his speech teachers (they changed once he went to Kindergarten), they are both lovely ladies, and fun to work with. In fact, he would talk about the fun things he did with them. One time I heard Austin say, "I wish I could go to speech." Adam told him, "Just mix up some sounds..." I told him that he did not need to do that! We had a discussion afterward about that!

The funny part about him having speech in school: His teacher would have about 2 students to work with at one time. That way they could play games, it just made it more fun. When I would ask Adam how speech went, he would be sure to give me an update on the sounds that the other student was working on, and how they were doing as well.

He no longer needs to go. His speech is great! I am so impressed with these ladies that have worked with him over the years.

Signs

2011-11-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we went to Mike's brother's house in Erie, Pa. On the way there, we decided to stop for lunch, we pulled off interstate and we waited at a light. Adam looked out his window and said, "Wow! Look at all those signs!" We all acknowledged the signs. Then Adam said, "Really, I can't believe all those signs!" "Do you see all those signs?" "That is a lot of signs!" I was starting to laugh at this, so I handed Adam the camera, so he could record all the signs that he saw.

He was quite pleased with the picture! (Really there are a lot of signs, but probably would not have taken as much notice, if Adam had not pointed it out!)

Musical Fun

2011-11-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

We are preparing for a Christmas musical at our church. The lady that is leading the musical has a lot of great ideas how to make the practices fun.

The other Sunday we were to go to a local caverns to sing some of the songs in their "choir room." The morning of this event we were getting ready to leave for church (we went to the caverns directly from the church) so we had to pack everything up to be ready to go. Adam comes out of his room and says, "I'm going to pack my hat to take to the caverns...in case it is sunny." We had a nice lesson on caves and caverns before church! :) --We all had a great time at the caverns!

Last weekend, this same lady was brave enough to have all the children from 2nd-5th grade for a lock in at the church. Saturday morning I think I counted about 25 children. I'm not sure they all stayed for night, but I know she had a pretty good number of children. They had the children in their sleeping bags (and asleep, I believe) by 11:00. Not bad for a lock in! They boys really enjoyed this event. (Mike and I enjoyed a night out as well!)

It is amazing how the musicals come together. Diane has a knack for taking about 50 children and turning out a beautiful performance. I can't wait to see the production.

Austin's Math

2011-10-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Austin is in 4th grade. In math they are going over their multiplication facts. To make this mundane chore more fun, his teacher is having them "build" a sundae. For each fact family that they have memorized 100% they get that assigned topping. Fun, right?

Well, Austin had another way of thinking about it. He came home and said, "I already know this one, that one and that one. But, I don't need to learn this one or that one, because I don't like those toppings."

My mind flashed forward to when he is 20 something. Austin sitting somewhere and trying to do a math problem and not being able to do it---because he did not like that sundae topping.

I looked at him and said, "You WILL learn all the fact families, whether you like the topping or not. You can just say "no, thank you" when it comes to topping your sundae. But, you will know every single one of those facts."

Oh, to think like a 10 year old boy!

Weather Changes

2011-10-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, the weather was cool in the morning but got nice by afternoon. I remember at least one day I told the boys they could wear a short sleeve shirt and long pants to school.

How the weather changes! This morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground.

The boys were up and ready to play in the snow before it was light outside! Once they got outside they were out for about 2 hours. They tried the hills in our new neighborhood, met a neighborhood boy that lives (somewhere) nearby.

Adam insisted on wearing this hat that covers his nose as well. However, it shifted and I think it was crooked on his face the entire time he was out.

The boys enjoyed their time outside, but I enjoyed the quiet of the house, seeing the boys play and...

...the beauty of the snow.

***The leaves have not fallen off all the trees yet. We have had one large branch break off of a tree in our back yard, due to the fact that leaves hold more snow and make it heavier on the branches. This is really weather I would expect in January or February--definitely not October. I'm going to make a pot of soup and enjoy the warm indoors.

When Adam cooks...

2011-10-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

...it is not a simple matter of putting ingredients in a bowl, mixing, pouring in a pan and baking. That would be WAY to easy!

I have a sourdough bread that I make. I feed the starter one day, that night make the dough, let it rise over night, put into loaves the next morning, then bake around supper time. This recipe is really hard to mess up (I have done it though, but it was my fault. I forgot the salt...)

Friday while we were at work and school, I fed the starter. Friday evening Adam help me make the dough. Saturday morning I showed him how the dough had risen and needed to be punched down. Then he asked, "Why? Why do you have to punch it down and let it rise again?" Well, to be honest about it, I didn't know. I just knew that is what you did when you baked bread and never questioned the theory behind it. I told him I would find out.

After he punched it down, I told him to flour his hands because the dough might be a little sticky. "What does the flour do?" I explained that the flour makes it so the dough won't stick to your hands. "How?" "Really, I do not know. I will have to find out for you." We got the dough in the pans then I was on my mission to find out this information.

I called my sister and her husband and they answered my questions. I knew that he had been interested in one chef who explained the chemistry behind baking, plus they have a good all around knowledge. :)

Last night we went to a harvest party and I was retelling my bread baking experience with Adam. She told me, "And that is why he is going to be getting paid a lot someday." If nothing else, I am learning the chemistry behind baking.

I do have to admit, his bread looks beautiful. I can't wait to try it!

Fall Flowers

2011-10-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Having a new house, I am getting to see what flowers and other plants are planted around this house. We have this beautiful flower garden, that is shared with our neighbor.

It has some lovely mums in bloom right now.

I I just want to make sure that Diane (our neighbor lady) knows that, in the past I have favored flowers that thrive on neglect. I will try to do my part to try with this flower bed, but really...

...It's best if they want neglect.

How Austin Feels

2011-10-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Austin has always been a child who wants to express himself through notes. When he was little (even before Kindergarten) he would tell me what he needed to tell Mike and we would write notes and put them in his mailbox at work. Sometimes the notes were lovely (I love Daddy because...) other times they were (I am so mad at Adam...) I'm sure Mike loved getting the first example, not so sure about the second!

As I was unpacking a box this morning, I found something that Austin made for Mike.

The bottom says, "What a Awsome great Dad I have." I'm not sure how he did the "#1 Dad" but it is engraved in the wood.

The other Sunday Austin wanted to know when Father's day was. I told him it is always in June, in fact sometimes it is the same day as his birthday. (in those cases Austin's birthday often overrides Father's Day. That is what happens when you become a parent.) Austin wanted to make a card for Mike. I thought is was really cute, so for memory sake, I'm going to type it in.

Dear Dad, (This is a late father's day card)
Your the best dad I ever had.
You let me go places I'm begging for (and I thank you.)
you let me go out to Klines ice cream.
And other fun stuff.
I gave you a gift.
You might not like it but just try it out and see if you like it.

**Side note**Mike is the ONLY father that Austin has ever had (just to be clear!). Secondly, I had to chuckle about the "begging" really it is just that he asks to check out new places (stores, etc.) begging makes it sound so much worse than it really it! Lastly, I love how he wrote in parenthesis "and I thank you".

I love how Austin expresses himself on paper (or wood). We do save some of these things and like to look back and see how he has grown and changed.

Hello

2011-10-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

Several days ago I did a post saying goodbye to the house we just moved from. I decided that to follow that up, I should say, "Hello" to our new home.

We are looking forward to many good years here. We look forward to the memories that we will have here, and the boys milestones that will happen. We feel very blessed to have this home.

The Mural Room

2011-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant with Austin, Mike decided he wanted to know if the baby was a boy or girl. He wanted to paint a special room for the baby. We found out that Austin was going to be a boy. It didn't take long for Mike to start sketching out his ideas.

Mike worked really hard on this room. I remember being on complete bed rest in May and as I would be heading towards the bathroom, I would peek in to see how the progress was coming. I was always pleased.

Recently, Adam had started to ask if he could have the room painted. I could not bring myself to paint over the hard work that Mike put into the beautiful walls.

Some of the pictures were resembling different parts of our lives (or a a life of someone in the family)
A pick up truck. My Dad has a pick up truck (but what little boys doesn't love pick ups?)

playground equipment.
A big truck. I think this is suppose to represent the truck that Mike drove at the ice company through his College years.

A fun race car.
The sun :)
Mike's dad had a motorcycle.
Tornado slide
swings
slide
Mike's mom's first car was a VW bug (The door has her initials SJG --maiden)
Who doesn't love a hot air balloon
My Dad was driving a dump truck at the time (the door has his initials GEK)
Sand box
Slide

School bus that says Harrisonburg City Schools (the system that Mike works in)
Fun helicopter
Playground equipment

I loved this room for 10 years. The boys have out grown the mural, but now I have the pictures to remember this wonderful room by. I am glad that my baby boys had this fun room to stay in while they were little.

Adam's Thoughts

2011-09-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

The other day we were headed to church. The boys were in the back seat, unusually quiet. All of the sudden Adam pipes up and asks, "Where do ticks go in winter?"

I have to honestly say that I have never, ever thought of this question. But that is exactly how his mind works.

*************************************
The other week I had to take Adam to piano lessons. That is usually Mike's "job". During the lesson he started to ask questions about how the piano worked, and what it looked like inside. His piano teacher is a wonderful lady, who promised that if he did his lesson she would open the piano for him. She followed through. He loved seeing the works and when she played, he was fascinated at the works moving.

He loves to see how things work, and I'm glad Diane is willing to work with him in this way.
*************************************
One evening this week, I walked down the street to get our mail. Adam was riding his bike with me. He was, of course, a step or two ahead of me. He stopped and was looking at a rock wall in the front of the house across the street. He had found some cocoons hanging on the rocks. One caterpillar was in a J, 2 had hatched, and 2 were in their cocoons. He was so excited about this. He wanted to do an experiment. He took something fluffy, and tried to tickle the one in a J.

This was very much "up his alley." This is just an example of how Adam's mind works.

Good-bye house

2011-09-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

Mike and I bought our first home right before we got married 12 years ago. In the past 12 years we have had lots of memories form in this house. It served us well, but it was time to move on...

This was our living room. I remember bringing Austin home from the hospital and asking Mike, "what do we do with a baby?" Then when we brought Adam home at 2 days old, I asked Mike, "What do you do with a 2 day old baby?" I had barely held Austin at that point, I really did not know!

The hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom. What beautiful floors!

Austin's room.

This was the first time he was able to make choices like wall color. Orange would not have been my choice, but he liked it.

This was Adam's room.

This room was the nursery.

Mike drew and painted all the pictures.

Adam had been asking to repaint the room recently. I could not bring myself to do this

I loved this room. I will do a longer post on this room later.

Basement rec room. (Where we had our guest "room")

This was a great room to play in for the boys (Mike included). It was a great place for Mike and I to watch movies after the boys were in bed. Our "in home" date nights.

Our dining room.

Our kitchen. I prepared many meals in this kitchen. Some were GREAT, some were...not so great.

It was a nice kitchen.

Mike installed these cabinets for me when Adam was a few months old. They looked really close to the ones that were installed already. It was great to have the extra space.

We added this sign for the new owners.

We have many great" memories in this home. It was a wonderful home to start our family in. Now it is time to say, "Good-Bye." It is time for this house to be a great home for a new young family.

Catching Up

2011-09-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted. There has been quite a bit going on. I thought I would take time today to just say a few things that are in progress at our house.

Three weeks ago, Mike started back for work week. I had applied to several positions in the City school system. I hadn't heard anything. I had interviewed for one position, but did not get that position. I had decided that it was likely that I would work at the preschool again. Maybe, since that is only a part-time job, I could pick up some hours doing something else. I was thinking that I was ready to go back to work full-time.

Wednesday of that week I had breakfast with a lady from church. I had agreed to help with the Christmas program activities. We met in order to go over some details. While at breakfast, I got a phone call. It was from the City school board office. They were calling to offer me a position. (I had still been watching the job board and had not seen this one posted.) They wanted me to work as a preschool assistant. (that is actually what I was hoping for!) Of course, I accepted the position. I asked them when they wanted me to start working. He said he would check and call me back. He called me back at 9:30 and said, "Could you be there at 10?" "Sure!" I called my dad right away and asked, "Do you have any plans today? I just got a job and I need you to keep the boys until 3. Oh, and do you have plans the rest of the week? No? How about hanging out with some boys?"

That Sunday, the day before school started, Adam did not feel well. He was running a fever before church and complained of a stomach ache. He felt so bad that he could not walk upright, in fact he laid on the couch all curled up. I started to worry that it could be very serious. After church I went home to find him feeling better. However, that evening his fever went to 103.3! I was quite concerned. I called the "on call" pediatrician, I told him the symptoms. He said that there was something going around to give him fever reducer, and if the fever did not go down, take him to the ER. I was so glad to see his temp go to 101! He missed the first day of 2nd grade. Then Tuesday, I was having some trouble keeping his temp down. I took him to the Dr. I was thankful that I was able to see the Dr. that I talked to on Sunday evening. He came in the room to find Adam asleep on the table. The Dr. said, "I remember talking to you on Sunday evening. I have read what you told the nurse. I had in my mind what I was going to find when I came in this room. He is much sicker looking than I thought he would be!" He ran several tests (really I don't think he even told me all that he was testing for He m--he didn't want me to worry)Everything came back fine. He just had a REALLY bad virus! Adam missed the next day of school, then things started to turn around. He started school on Thursday.

School is going well for all of us. It has been an adjustment. In addition to all of these changes, we are trying to get things moved from one house to another. We were lucky enough to get early possession of the place, so moving and cleaning are in full gear. It is a busy time.

Puddle

2011-08-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I was taking a few things out to the car. I noticed puddles on the carport and the cooler temperatures. I remembered it had rained last night and was thankful for that. As I was putting my things in the car, Austin came out and said, "Mom, you've got to see this!" My first thought was that he'd found some amazing worm or something. But, when I got to him, he showed me this puddle.

He said, "doesn't it look like a persons face?" Honestly, yes it does! I had not taken time to notice it, but Austin took time to enjoy the puddles and see that this one has an eye, nose, mouth, and even some crazy bangs. He even said that this "person" has a big collar."

I'm so glad that sometimes my boys make me slow down and see things in a different way!

Summer Fun

2011-08-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

The other day, I checked my e-mail and found a message from a girl in our Sunday School class asking anyone in our class if they were interested in swimming (they were watching their neighbors house and had pool privileges). We said we were interested, and got ready to swim.

We had so much fun. The diving board was close to a ladder, so Adam was able to jump and swim to the ladder. Another thing he did was have a floaty just beyond his jump range and he would swim to that. Both boys played and played!

Several hours after we got to the pool, I started to think, "Maybe I should start thinking about supper." I decided that I would start to clean up toys and gather my things, supper needed to be made, and I knew the boys were getting hungry. When I mentioned that I was getting ready to head out, Rebecca said, "Why not stay, eat with us." They boys were eager to agree that this was a good idea. "Okay, we will stay."

I was truly amazed how she pulled a meal together in such a short time, really no time at all! After we ate, I'm not sure how Jay found out that Austin loved military things, but he went and got his things.

Austin put on his maroon beret, and his dog tags. Jay even taught him the proper way to salute. He loved his camo, and saw all of his patches. Jay showed him pictures of different places he went. He talked about staying in a tent, etc.

They live on a cul-de-sac, and it was a beautiful evening. We decided that it was a great time to go play and ride bikes. Jay and Mike were able to instruct the boys how to ride a 3 wheeler down the hill, brake and turn. They would spin out. I just hope they never try this once they get their driver's license.

Then they decided they would play street hockey.

My boys have never played hockey before, but had a wonderful time. Sometimes, there was not a ball available, so they would take an apple that had fallen from the neighbors tree and use that.

Yes, it did get messy at times, but they had fun!

As we were leaving, Adam was saying how tired he was. We came home and it wasn't long until I was asking where Adam was. He had put himself to bed! I guess swimming and playing hard will do that to a little boy.)

**********************
Since we are getting ready to move, I am trying to clean out my freezers. This evening, Adam happened to look in the freezer and found some bread that I had stuck in there for them to feed the ducks. Adam got very excited, and asked Mike if it would be a good night to feed the ducks. They decided that it was not only a good night to do that, but it was a great night to ride their bikes to do this. This is a favorite activity for the boys, but riding bikes to do it makes it so much better!

One thing I love about the relaxed schedule. We can visit with friends and do random fun things at a drop of the hat. School will be starting soon, so we have to enjoy these times while we can.

I Almost Used This...

2011-08-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

...for my August header. It is a wonderful picture. I love the expressions on my boys faces. I even got permission from the photographer. However, I decided against it.

Here is my reasoning: When I started this blog I named it Moments With My Boys and there is something that I like about getting a picture of my boys in a random moment, or in a seasonal activity, to use for my header. I have the above picture hanging on my wall. I enjoy it every day. However, this past weekend, when we went to Riven Rock to play on a hot Sunday afternoon, I got this picture...

In this picture, I can see the fun the boys are having--being soggy, loving the water, and enjoying their cousins.

As much as I love both pictures, one belongs on my wall, and one belongs on my blog.

House Saga

2011-07-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

The spring when Mike and I were engaged, we found a home that was a very reasonable price. We bought this home and said, "This will be our starter home." We have been in our "starter" home for 12 years now. At times, I thought this starter home had become our "forever" home.

However, I do love to look at homes. I love to look on the internet and see what local houses are for sale. I did not think that we were at a place to buy right now, but I enjoyed looking to see what was out there, and dreaming about one day...

Recently, I was going through a neighborhood, and I saw a house for sale. I knew this house. I used to babysit the children that grew up in that house. I decided for "old times sake" I would go home and look it up.

I went home and looked it up immediately. The price was out of my "price range" (especially since we were not looking). I found it fun to watch, and look, but I was not serious.

I did find it hard at times to be in our "starter home." We had run out of space! There was one day last week that I needed to get something out of Adam's closet. I pulled one thing, and an avalanche came tumbling down on me. I sat there in this huge mess, and cried! (We needed a larger home!)

I don't exactly remember how this happened, but on Saturday Mike and I looked at the house on line. I was very excited about the possibility of having a bigger home. Mike wondered about this or that (you can't tell everything from pictures). Mike and I decided to schedule a showing for Sunday afternoon. As we talked more on Saturday evening Mike got more excited, I gained more concerns. We decided that we would go through with the showing for practice (for when we were ready to actually buy). When we were on our way, Mike quoted a number and said, "that is the top number I will offer for this house." However, we were not going to buy so there was no worry there.

We didn't want to make the boys excited about this since we were sure we were not going to buy this house. We told my parents that we wanted to go on a date since had a gift card. Mom said she would pick the boys up after work, so we had time to go eat, then went to the showing.

Once in the house, we both fell in love with this house!! As we talked, we were told that the price was coming down very close to what we said our offer would be. We left and said, we need to buy this house.

We went to get the boys and disclosed to Mom and Dad what we had done. We wanted their opinion on this property. Soon I was on the phone asking if we could see the house again. We were told to "come on over."

We took the boys and they loved the house as well! They chose their rooms. They were very excited.

Monday I went to the bank to see what our numbers looked like. I gave them the worst possible situation. They worked the numbers and we thought this is not the best situation, but we can make it work.

Tuesday, the realtor came over to tell us what our house was worth. Later that day, we were given the amount. I knew of someone who was looking for a house to buy in that price range. I called her and told her what I knew. She was very excited, so was her husband.

I couldn't believe how things were going, things seemed so perfect. Almost unbelievable, too perfect! I just kept praying that whatever happened that it would be the Lord's will, not mine.

We invited the people I knew over to see the house. They seemed to think that it was perfect! They went home and contacted their realtor.

Wednesday, we went to the Real Estate office and put a contract on the house we wanted. However, we made it contingent on the sale of our home.

Thursday, our realtor came over to take pictures for the listing of our current home. He put a key box out for showings, and put a sign in the yard. He left our home by 9 am.

Around 11 we got a call that an offer had been made. We went back and forth a few times. By 3 pm we had come to an agreement. Mike and I were soon at the office again to sign papers for the contract on our house.

The house that we are buying (if all goes well) is only about 1 mile from our home. It is in the same school district, however the home is a little more than double the size of our home now.

Mike and I feel that this truly must be God's will. It is truly amazing how the numbers lined up. The buyer was right there. Their numbers lined up. So far, everything has gone so smoothly!

Old Radio

2011-07-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

When we first moved into our house, Mike bought me a radio to have in the kitchen. This radio was small, had little "power," but it also had a tape player.

This little radio worked well for many years, but then I upgraded to another radio. (one that has a CD player!) The knobs were starting to come off and the door to the tape player was broken.

I decided it was time to get rid of the radio. Mike had one more thing to do with the radio before we got rid of it. He let the boys...

...totally destroy it! They had so much fun!

I'm glad that Mike sees fun activities in things that I claim as junk!

8 Years

2011-07-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

8 years ago, on July 25th...

~It had been a very normal, hot July day!

~We had hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for supper. (We had that frequently at the end of my pregnancy. I was too tired to think of any other meal!)

~My friend, who was going to be in the delivery room with my, called me on her way home from work. I told her, "Only 3 contractions all day. Not today!"

~We went to Mamaw and Papaw's. I began to get frustrated at the "Braxton Hicks" I was having.

~Went to Wal-Mart, on the way to the car, I had to stop and grab a post during one of my "Braxton Hicks."

~About an hour and a half later I decided since these silly "Braxton Hicks" were coming 2 minutes apart, maybe I should get them checked out.

~I could not contact anyone. My friend was not answering her phone, Mom was in the garage and could not hear their phone, the mid-wives office did not transfer their phones. We finally got ahold of Mom, took Austin to the hospital with us and she met us there. I finally got ahold of my friend, all I had to say was, "GET HERE NOW!" (she didn't want to miss it, but I was already at 9cm!)

~My mid-wife was at a movie, when they finally paged her STAT! she came--with only about 20 minutes to spare.

~Adam joined our family only 50 minutes after going to the hospital.

Not to be outdone, Adam wanted to make his own birthday cake, just like Austin. It has been really hot here, so we decided to do a NO bake cake.

It is ice cream sandwiches, with a pudding type filling, and cool whip on top.

We had to add M&M's to make it colorful! I think it is beautiful!

Happy Birthday, Adam! You are a sweet boy, a creative thinker, and always keep me on my toes. You add so much fun to our family. I feel so blessed to have you as a son!

Enrichment Week

2011-07-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

There is a fun week that our school system offers every year. It is the Enrichment Week. They offer many types of classes for the children to choose from.

This year Adam chose drama. The play they were doing was about aliens coming to earth.

They were able to paint this space ship.

They were able to create different space ships out of boxes, tubes, etc. Using their imaginations and recyclables. This is the ship that Adam helped with.

They painted a frame to have their costumed picture in.

There is my cute little yellow alien!

Austin did a class called Flora and Fauna. They took a field trip every day. They looked at bugs, animals, mosses, and other interesting things about the environment. On Monday they went to Riven Rock. Tuesday and Wednesday they hiked 2 different trails in the Shenandoah National Park. Thursday they went to Luray and went Canoeing. Friday was a short day, so they went to the EMU science lab.

All the children went to see the play that drama had to present. When I went to see what Austin's class had been up to I saw him doing this...

I got a closer look and discovered that the EMU science lab had given each child an Owl Pellet to dissect. I was just glad his teachers gave him a Ziploc bag to bring it home in!!

Quick Trip to Erie

2011-07-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a quick trip to Erie, PA. Mike's brother ad his family live there. It had been 2 years since we were up there, so we fit in a quick trip this summer.

We got there about 9 pm on Thursday. Friday, while Chris (Mike's brother) was at work, we had the boys picture taken for a Christmas gift for Grandma (and Grandpa), went to the pool and relaxed a bit at the house.

After supper, Cheri got a cake out in order to celebrate the boys birthdays.

Here is a better view of the cake.

Saturday, we packed up and went to the Lake. The boys had a great time.

They used this small shovel to dig plenty of holes. They, also, tried to catch fish with it. (Uh, Papaw, you may need to take my boys fishing!)

They dug holes,

and more holes!

Adam worked really hard on a really BIG hole. Big enough, in fact, that...

...he could crawl in!

Later, he dug an even bigger one and he...

...again crawled in. He wanted to be buried up to his neck. Wish granted!

Then the boys worked on this one together. They were retaining walls around it. It was too close to the water to really work, but I wasn't about to tell them that! I loved to see them working so well together!

In the picnic area, at the Lake, they had a climbing structure.

Adam loved it! he climbed to the top, so I had to get a picture.

Then to put it into perspective I had to get a picture of the whole thing! It is mainly ropes that you climb on. Kind of like a big spider web.

Austin enjoyed it as well.

That evening, for the boys birthday presents, Chris and Cheri took the boys to an amusement park near their house.

Mike is in the back and Adam is in the middle.

Austin was brave and rode in the front!

They had so many rides to choose from! But, they even took time to ride the Sky lift. A nice calm ride that took you over the park.

This is Austin and Seth.

Mike and Adam.

They rode the swings--Adam and Seth, getting buckled in.

Austin and Vaughn waiting for it to start.

Then they went on this ride. It went back and forth, when it went up to the top at each side it would turn. All the boys loved it! (I was just glad no one got sick!!)

We got back to the house late, and the boys went to bed--happy, thrilled from the day, and TOTALLY exhausted!

What a fun time!

Dressing For Church

2011-07-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

It is always interesting to see what our Sunday mornings are going to be like. I have got Austin figured out at this point. He likes to dress "Handsome" to church. Adam used to just put on whatever I would lay out for him. However, I think that might be changing.

I took this picture the other Sunday. It tickled me! Austin is wearing a long sleeve shirt-it was suppose to be 90 that day--but he needed to be handsome. His shirt is not tucked in, his vest is too small. In order for his pants to look like they fit he wears them entirely too low on his hips--Sorry, Austin, this suit is going in the box for Adam to wear in fall!! You have grown out of it!! Then with this handsome suit he wears---sneakers! Not what I would put with a suit, but I'm not a 10 year old boys either.

Adam has decided he wants to wear handsome clothes as well. But, for him that means a vest. He does not fix his collar, and does not tuck in his shirt either. Oh, well!

I guess they look fine for 2 little boys going to church. At least they are showing an opinion in what they wear to church. :)

July 11

2011-07-11T18:26:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrated the boys birthdays. The boys have their birthdays 5 weeks apart, so we often celebrate them together. This year we decided to celebrate at the water park. Each boy was able to invite 1 friend to take to the water park. Austin is turning 10, so his friend was invited to spend the night. (One of the advantages of turning 10 at our house)

Austin invited Bryse and Adam invited Joshua. Both boys go to our church, but Adam and Joshua were in class together at school last year.

After playing at the water park, we had a snack at the car. (that is why the boys look like they are chewing--they actually are :) It was good to have something to eat. The boys were hungry!

Happy Birthday Austin and Adam! I know this celebration is not on your actual birthdays, but I hope you enjoyed your special celebration. You both have added so much to my life in the past almost 8 and 10 years. I love you both very much.

Stats

2011-07-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

The boys went to the Dr. today for their annual well child appt. I am recording the information here, because if I know myself, otherwise it will get lost and never be recorded. Their poor baby books have been so neglected! At least if I blog it, I have it for future reference.

Adam: 50 lbs
48 inches

Austin: 71 lbs
50 1/2 inches

The Dr. was talking to Adam (since he tends to be my "picker" eater. He said, "You have to eat so that you can grow taller than your brother, are you going to let him get ahead of you?" I had to laugh because it seems that the boys are so competitive anyhow, now he is making growth a competitive "sport." I guess that is okay, maybe it will help Adam to eat better :)

Floors

2011-07-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

There have been some requests that I post pictures of the floors that we had done.

Looking into the dining room.

Looking down the hallway.

Looking into the living room.

I love how easy they are to clean. I am so glad we had them done.

Austin's Camp

2011-07-03T18:01:00.001-07:00

Austin went to 1/2 week camp last week. Friday we went to pick him up and see a program about what they got to do.

One of the first parts was meeting Grandpa Ed.He was the fireside speaker. He told stories of animals and related them to Bible stories. It seemed like the kids were really able to relate to him.

Austin was in Hickory cabin. After I dropped him off, I called my sister, who had worked at camp for several years. When she heard this, she said, "Oh, he is in the heat box." Then I realized there really is no shade at that cabin. I bet it did get hot. However, Austin did not complain. I don't think they were in the cabin that much during the day anyhow. Here is Austin with his counselors, Ben and Barrett.

On the way to the car Mike and the boys found this cool caterpillar. They picked up the rock he was on and put it in the car. Awesome pet, right? Well, we ended up stopping at my parents house so we gently put him my one of their bushes. We wish him the best :) (Sorry, Mom, I know you hate caterpillars. We had to give him a chance to get away.)

Catching Up

2011-07-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot going on here, I thought I would try to take a minute to catch up on some of the things we have been doing.

Last Monday, we started to have our hardwood floors done. We moved in with my parents for a week, while the work was being done. Monday, the 20th, was also Austin's 10th birthday! We have a tradition that on their birthday's the boys can choose what to eat for a meal. Austin wanted breakfast for lunch. So I made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit for lunch (I have to say, it was a good choice!)

Mike took the boys to the mall and let them do....

This bouncy ride.

They have seen this at the mall where my sister lives, but they have never done it. They were pretty excited that they finally got to do this!

I mentioned in a prior post that Austin made his own birthday cake this year. It was chocolate cake, with chocolate icing, with sprinkles and chocolate chips. Sounds like something a 10 year old would like, right?

Mamaw's birthday was the next day, so instead of having 2 cakes, she celebrated with Austin's cake. I think she will make a cake she enjoys in July :)

The week were at my parents house, we went cherry picking. The boys loved it! I didn't expect them to, but they surprised me! Even more, Austin wanted to help pit the cherries, and he enjoyed that as well!

The floors were finished on Thursday, so Friday we came and opened windows grabbed a few things and went camping for the weekend. We had a wonderful time playing in the creek, swimming and swinging on the mountain swing.

When we came home we were ready to get our house in order. It will be nice to have things back in their place. It was hard not being home for week while the floors were being done, but I am sure that I will say it was all worth it--once everything is back in it's place.

Those Tiny Things

2011-07-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today we were running some errands, and he was talking about how eye Dr's should do eye examines with a microscopic robot that goes into your eye and sees things the way you do. (Clever, huh? Not sure that I want to be the first to have that done. But, he is thinking!)

I got kind of tickled because every time he said microscopic it came out microSPOTic. So, I would break the word down into syllables micro-scop-ic. He would say micro-SPOT-ic. Then he said, "I just can't get that to come out right."

I know he does not say it correctly, but I think it's cute!

10 Years Ago Today

2011-06-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today:
~ I had just been released of 6 1/2 weeks of complete bed rest (meaning I could ONLY get up to use the bathroom!).

~I thought that once I had my baby, we would be at the end of this long road. Little did I know the road was longer than I thought (at least it was longer than I thought till we were able to bring our baby home).

~I was trying to get the house in order, since I had not done any house cleaning for 6 1/2 weeks. I would wash a few dishes and need to go rest. It really is amazing how tired you get doing the simplest things after such a time of doing nothing!

~I remember Mike called his brother to wish him a Happy Birthday. I was laying on the couch timing contractions and he told his brother it would be a few more days (I laughed inside :)

~I remember Mom had us over for supper to celebrate Lana's birthday. We had enchiladas (YUM)

Today...

I have a fine young man who is interested in baking his own birthday cake.

Austin, you add so much fun to our family. You have very creative ideas, and enjoy learning new things (like cooking). I have been blessed to have you as my son!

Summer Fun

2011-06-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Adam went to an end of the year party at his teacher's house. They had a fun sprinkler out at their house for the children to play in. I decided that if I could find a sprinkler like that, I would buy one for the boys to play in this summer. I found it this evening.

It wasn't really hot today, but the boys had a fun time playing in the sprinkler for a short time. They really enjoyed it, and I think it will be great for when it does get really hot!

A couple of weeks ago my sister had a yard sale at her house. I was selling just a couple of things. When her boys saw one of the items we were selling, they said they wanted it. It worked out well because she had one item that I had my eye on.

Several years ago, for Christmas, Carol had bought her boys a table that had 4 interchangeable tops. It has ping-pong, pool, air hockey, and foosball. I thought what fun! One day we should get something like that for our basement. Well, as it turned out that yard sale day we did. We did a trade, our item, for this table.

It worked out great because since we have been working on the floors, there have been times that we needed the boys to play downstairs--out of the way. This kept them entertained nicely. Every now and then, they would come upstairs and ask Mike to change the table top.

What a wonderful trade!

Floors

2011-06-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

We have been working hard, trying to get the floors ready to be done next week. We have ripped up carpet and padding. We have moved some stuff to the basement for storage for a week. The living room is all out of sorts, but that is a minor price to pay for the nice floors that will be coming.

I started pulling carpet in the hallway and found...
I remembered what at this spot. The boys were pretty young, I'd say 1 &3 or 2&4. I had been out somewhere. The boys were under Mike's watchful eye. When I came home I found Mike totally engrossed in some news story and the boys were quietly in the closet getting my food coloring and dripping it on the floor. We were able to get it pretty much out of the carpet, but apparently not out of the padding. Then I found...

It went down to the wood! I really hope that when the floor man comes he can sand it out! If not we have a great story to tell about our green and red spots on the floor.

The boys have been a great help getting the floors ready. They are very excited and eager to help pull up tack stripping (Mike likes this job as well). Which I appreciate since I do not like to do that. I would much rather get staples up!

Austin hard at work.

Adam getting the job done!

(Interesting thing about this picture~ I saw Austin sitting in this exact position the other day, not that that in itself is extraordinary, but while having our walls painted, I noticed that my dad sits that way as well when working close to the floor. They are a bit like their papaw, even how they are positioned while working :)

Thanks boys! I appreciate all the hard work you have done to get the floors ready.

Awards

2011-06-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Friday I was cleaning out the boys backpacks and found a few awards. I thought I might share.

Austin had an award for Music Achievement. I have to say that I am very proud of Austin. He has worked really hard, practiced a lot, and made a lot of progress with his violin. I hope he will take it again next year!

Next I went to Adam's back pack and found...

I had to laugh at this! Lunchbox on a leash...having the most fun playing with his lunchbox outside.

I have several Carabiner clips. After Adam forgetting his lunchbox several times, I started clipping the lunchbox to his backpack. It worked well. I guess I never imagined how much entertainment it could provide at recess time. :)

Bio--What?

2011-06-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

The other day we were driving down the road and saw a Honda Pilot just like the one we drive--same color and everything. I pointed this out to the boys. Adam piped up and said it is a Bionicle. I was totally confused, until Mike explained to him that bionicles were a type of Lego. he was looking fot he word biological.

He had the right idea...

Church Campout

2011-06-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our church camp out weekend. Austin had initially thought of going to a one day camp in town. So, the rest of us decided that we would just go for Saturday. However, Friday night Austin said, "I really want to go with you all." I made some quick calls and we thought, "okay we are going as a family, but still for one day."

Saturday morning we got to the camp ground. I was barely out of the vehicle before the boys were asking for the containers I brought to catch critter in the creek. And the boys were off. Mike and I sat and had a lovely morning talking with people in our Sunday School class. The boys would come and show us there latest find (crayfish, tad poles, etc.)

We would see them come and get their bikes and they might yell in passing where they were headed. (I love this age where you really don't need to worry about the boys--we would go look for them if we had not heard from them in an hour or so, but they were always having fun and totally safe.)

After lunch and HUGE storm came in. The camp director rang bell and we all headed for the tabernacle. We barely made it before the storm came. The camp director came and told us he heard major storm, hail, and winds up to 60 mph. I didn't see the hail, but I can believe the rest!

After that passed, the boys were ready to head to the pool!

Adam is the small figure ahead of Mike. :) They got to the pool around 2 and we stayed there until a little before 5. Supper was at 5, so we wanted to have time to dry off a bit, and get ready. By 5:45 Austin was asking when the pool would open again. I don't know how many times I had to tell him, "Sorry, it is not 7 yet."

The boys were there waiting when the pool did open! Austin was most often at the diving board. He taught himself how to dive, and do flips off the board. Adam stayed near the shallow end. I did have to remind him a few times that he needed to be more shallow. I knew they would both be very tired after all the swimming they did!

The church had planned a luau by the pool for Saturday evening--complete with grass skirts and leis! They were going to play a movie outdoors and have sno-cones once it started to get dark. We were ready to leave before this all started. However, we owned the movie that they were going to show. We told the boys that we would watch the movie on Sunday (since there was no church service at the church building), and we would go to 7-11 and get slurpees instead of the sno-cones.

They thought that sounded fair. We had a great weekend at the campground, and at home!

No Turning Back Now!

2011-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school. I have known that they were having a lot of parties and extras this week.

When we got home from school Adam seemed a bit listless. He even declined when I asked if he wanted to go to the pool. After some time he told me his tummy hurt. I thought, "Well, of course, you have probably eaten more junk in parties today. It's no wonder!" A little while later Austin came to me and told me that Adam had gotten sick.

I went to see what was going on. He had thrown up---on the couch, my shoe, and the carpet.
In the past I would have started working to clean up the carpet right away. Not today! We have the floor man coming the week of June 20 to do our hardwood floors. Mike got a knife and cut the carpet away. That was easy clean up!

Then we decided to see what it looked like underneath. It really is a shame that this beautiful wood was covered by that nasty carpet all those years!

I have a hard time imagining how things are going to look when we decide to change something. I have always liked the idea of hard wood, but could not visualize how it would look or if I would regret it. I don't think I will.

THERE IS NO TURNING BACK NOW!

It All Started With An Idea...

2011-06-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

A while ago, my sisters and I were talking. We decided that it was time that we have a new family picture taken. The last one we had done was at my younger sisters wedding almost 3 years ago. Since then, the boys have grown, and we have added Grace to our family. Mom agreed that it would be fine to do that. She said she would contact her friend (the husband of Adam's piano teacher) and see if he would be interested in doing this for us.

Last Thursday I happened to be talking to Lana and she mentioned that they were coming into town for the weekend one reason was the family picture. WHAT?? I had not heard that it was scheduled. We talked about what colors we should wear, who had what shirts, could we share if they didn't look right together, trying to pull together the details over the phone.

Saturday evening came and we went to their house. We had a fantastic photo shoot! Then the boys wanted to go see the sheep they have in a field behind their house. The sheep would not come, but they offered to take the boys up the hill to the pond, and they would give them 4 wheeler rides up on the hill.

We went up the hill and soon my dad had Fotch out on the water. You say who is Fotch? Well, Fotch is a row boat that my dad got and fixed up, painted and now stores it by their pond. They boys each got a boat ride on this special boat.

As they were having their 4 wheeler rides and boat rides Ruel went up to the hanger. Ruel is a pilot for an airline. However, he also has his own hanger, landing strip and a couple of planes. He was at the hanger tinkering with one of the planes. We went up and were talking and then he asked if anyone wanted a plane ride? I think all the boys thought, "Are you kidding, YES!!"

Adam was the first one to have the ride. Diane made sure that he was in and secure. Then...

Off they went! As they went by for take off I looked for him and all I could see was this tiny head looking out the window. They did a nice size loop and came in for a landing.

Adam was so excited when he got off the plane! He came to me and asked, "Mommy did you miss me?" I replied that I knew he would have a great time in the plane, but I always miss him when he is not with me.

Then Austin went. He did the same loop.

I'm just really impressed how mature he looks in this after the plane ride picture.

The cousins went on their rides, then Ruel asked Mike if he would like a ride, since their was a bit of daylight left. I heard that Mike first said no, but soon retracted that and said, "Yea." He hopped right in.

He got several cool pictures while in the air. This is a picture of the pond.

It was such an awesome experience for the boys.

It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

Ruel and Diane go to my church. Sunday morning Ruel was leading singing. As he got up to sing they boys looked at me and said, "He is the best photographer EVER!" and they haven't even seen the pictures yet.

It Only Took 4 Years

2011-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

On May 4, 2007 Austin was jumping on the trampoline at my parents house. The next thing I knew he was standing next to me, very proud to show me the tooth he just lost. (please note, at this point he had not had any loose teeth.) Somehow, and I'm still not clear on this, the tooth got in the netting and it was pulled out.

Today, 4 years and almost a month later, that tooth has finally broken through. He has been without that tooth for so long, I wonder how long it will take for me to get used to a tooth being there.

Fancy Drinks

2011-06-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

The other day Adam did something he was not suppose to do. This ended up with him being punished. He told me over and over how sorry he was--in hopes that it would lessen his sentence. (Although, I do think he learned his lesson and did feel truely remorseful)

He was helping me set the table for supper as I was gathering and preparing the last few thing for the meal. I knew he had been coming and going out of the kitchen, but did not pay much attention as to what he was getting or doing.

When I got to the table I found...

...a "Fancy Drink." Adam wanted to show me how sorry he was so he made me this "fancy drink" so I could see how truly sorry he was. I love the idea, however I find the Santa straw and the strawberry seem like conflicting seasons.

Note: Adam I know you are truly sorry, and I know now that you have learned your lesson. I had to follow through with your sentence because otherwise you would think anything you were punished you could just make me a fancy drink and be off the hook. I love you and I'm sure one day you will thank me for standing firm.

May Day 2011

2011-05-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was May Day at the boys school.

They always start off with the 4th graders (that is the last grade at our school) being introduced as they come in. Then they wrap the May Pole (I remember doing this as a 6th grader at the same school!)

Each grade learns a dance. The 4th graders do their dance then they go over to their teachers who are sitting on the side lines. Once the students are with their teachers, they are able to do the dances that the younger grades are doing (only on the side lines).

The third graders then go up to their dance. They were doing a dance called the Woka Woka (the spelling may not be correct, but that is how it sounded). It was a new dance. I tried to get some pictures of Austin doing the dance, however he was not in the front. So nothing really turned out.

Soon it was time for the first graders to go up and do their dance. They were also doing a new dance. They did a Russian dance called the Troyka (again, not sure of the spelling). They did the dance in a group of 3.

Adam is on the left. His best friend, Desirae is in the middle, and another friend, Jamil, is on the right.

After Kindergarten does their dance, the parents and teachers are invited to come down to the field and do singing in the rain with all the children. I had to get a picture of Austin doing this song. I waited until almost the last verse. He had is thumbs up, shoulders back, bottom out, tongue out, he just needed to add eyes closed.

It is such a fun time. The kids enjoy the dancing, I enjoy watching, and it is nice that they get out 1 hour early-since I take them home after the program.

Zoo Field Trip

2011-05-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

At the school that my boys attend, 1st graders get to take a field trip to the D.C. zoo.

Yesterday, was our zoo day! I was able to go with Adam. We were at school by 6:40 a.m. and were soon loaded onto a bus. I thought, earlier in the week, that we might have rain. We did not have any rain, but it was HOT!

The pandas thought it was hot!

The lions thought it was hot!

And the tiger thought it was hot!

I was just glad they decided to rest were we could still see them.

We were able to go into some air conditioned buildings and still see animals. We saw this pretty little bird in the bird house.

As we were going from one place to another, we passed a small pond. There were several ducks on this pond with lots of little ducks. Even though we can see baby ducks here, they are always cute!

We went by an exhibit of a Wattled Crane. He just happened to be walking by the edge. It was great to get an up close look at him.

We went into the reptile house. They had all kinds of snakes, and creepy things. They also had some pretty neat looking lizards (I'm sure I would not think they were so neat if they were loose, however there was a nice piece of glass between us.)

I loved the coloring on this lizard.

This one was just huge!

They also had turtles. These turtles had really long necks. Some of the children I had thought they looked like snake necks.

These were just an amazing size.

Adam wanted to fly by a lot of these exhibits, because he was hot and tired. He had to slow down because there were 4 other children and 2 adults that he needed to wait on. However, by waiting he was able to see some of the cool animals that he would have missed otherwise.

We knew the children were extremely hot. So the other mom and I agreed that we would try to find something to cool them down a bit. They had an ice cream vending machine, but it was $3.50 or so for each ice cream bar. We decided maybe getting water and letting them stand in a mister for a little would work. We found a water vending machine but, again, it was $3.00 for each bottle of water. As I walked away from the machine telling the other mom what the price was, a lady was walking by me (and was pulling a wagon) and heard me telling her this. She asked if I would like some free water. She said that she had been pulling water bottles around in wagon and she would be happy to get rid of it. Every got a nice cold drink of water. Then they went and stood in a mister. We all seemed much happier then. I don't know who that lady was, but she a blessing to our group!

I decided when we got on the bus that Adam and I needed to have a picture taken together.

I did it myself. It's not perfect, but that's okay!

The bus driver gave a quick driving tour of D.C. He took us by the Washington Monument, we saw the White House from distance, the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Adam was asleep on my lap before the tour started. We may just have to go to D.C. again to be able to see these things when he is awake.

It was an exhausting day, but we had a wonderful time!

Daddy Pulled The Trigger

2011-05-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe I should backup a bit and explain the story.

Austin has had a loose tooth for some time. Last night it had gotten to the point that he was uncomfortable eating. It really needed to come out. He decided that maybe it would be a good idea to shoot the tooth out with a Nerf gun (as we have done before). He got the floss and a gun. I tied the floss to a dart and the other end to his tooth. He stood with the gun in his hand, we could hear him trying to talk himself into pulling the trigger. then he would back out, and in a bit try again. Mike told him to close his eyes, count to 3 and pull the trigger. He closed his eyes, counted to 3, and Mike walked by and pulled the trigger for him. The tooth came out!

He was very happy to be able to eat the rest of his dinner without the trouble of a loose tooth.
Austin had to call Mamaw and Papaw and tell of his latest adventure. He started the conversation with "Well, this is kind of exciting..." After that call he had to call my nephew, Eamon, and tell him the latest news!

He tried really hard to get a picture of the tooth. They didn't really turn out, but this gives a fair idea.

All City Strings Festival

2011-05-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Austin was able to participate in the All City Strings Festival. They had students from all 5 Elementary Schools, 2 Middle Schools, and 1 High School. The students got together after school and practiced some songs.

They had several fiddle songs, so their teachers gave them bandannas to wear for the program--to make them look more country.

The songs were really beautiful! I was very impressed what the group sounded like.

I am so very proud of the progress that Austin has made in violin this year. In October when he started he knew nothing! Now he is playing in programs like this!

(Note: I have a new to me camera. I was trying to change something on the camera and it went to video. I was happy that I could get stills again. However, as a result of me messing with the camera, the pictures did not turn out great. At least we have something to remember the night.)

One Of My Favorite Things About Spring

2011-05-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Spring is my favorite season. There are so many things to love about this season. The weather starts getting warmer, school will soon come to en end (which means a more relaxed schedule for the summer), and things are in bloom. One of my favorite things I love that blooms at our house, is my clematis.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

All In The Name Of Science

2011-05-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, for Mother's day, Adam gave me some bath salts (with a coupon for a 1 hour bath). I have not had a chance to use the salts yet. (A 1 hour bath does not come that easily when you have so much to do)

This week for homework Adam read a book called Greg's Microscope. He really enjoyed this book. It was about a boy who's Father got him a microscope, however he did not buy the prepared slides. So Greg had to make his own. He took all kinds of items around the house and made slides.

This got the boys to thinking. They decided to get out the microscope that we have. I was trying to clean and they would come asking for salt, a drop or two of mint tea, milk (I gave them dry milk), then they wanted a fly. They were fortunate in that there has been a fly in our house for a few days that has been driving me CRAZY!! Austin needed it for science, he got it! (Thank You Science!) They came out and informed me that they were creating acid. (YIKES). Then Adam came and asked if he could have a little bit of the bath salts that he gave me last Sunday. Of course, I agreed--he could have some. However, when I saw the bag that had the salts later, it was almost empty. I guess they went to science--that is a good cause, right?

CrAzY hAiR dAy

2011-05-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today, at the boy's school, was crazy hair day. Last night before bed, the boys talked of their plans and what they were going to do with their hair. They came up with some pretty creative ideas.

This morning, I had no problem with them getting ready for school (the only condition in which they could do their crazy hair).

Austin took some color spray (temporary, thank goodness!). First he was going to do part red and part white, then he decided to go all white.
Adam decided that he did not want to do colors, like he had talked about last night. He decided that he wanted to wear a wig.

Austin was outside spraying his hair and he walked by a window and saw Adam. At first glance he thought it was me. (due to the curly hair) My only comment to that was that I hope my hair is not that out of control. If it is, maybe it is time to go get my hair styled differently!! The boys got a real kick out of the fact that Austin mistook Adam for me!

We went outside to get some pictures. Of course, with crazy hair day we need a picture of the boys being...

...CrAzY!

Spring Recital

2011-05-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

Adam has been taking piano lessons this year. He was not able to go to the winter recital, due to us all being sick. However, Tuesday was the spring recital.

Adam wanted to wear clothes that were "just right." He picked out one of Mike's ties that had a keyboard and music notes on it. We built an outfit around that.

He was about to leave the house without his music. He insisted that he did not need it. I grabbed the music and we went for the recital. He even told my mom that he might even do the recital blindfolded.

When he was going up on stage I handed him the books, and he reluctantly took them.

He played his first piece, one that he has had memorized for some time. He did a great job!

His teacher had, apparently, been talking to all the children about what it means to be a composer. Some of the children wanted to compose their own music for the recital. Adam chose to compose a song called Dreamland. He started to play it correctly, then lost his place (note: he is still not looking at his music!), so he made up something. I guess the good thing is that since he is the composer, no one could tell him it was wrong.

Adam's third and final song was Our God Is An Awesome God. He did not have this one memorized, but he was trying. He got a fairly good start then lost where he was. He played some filler music, and ended it on the right note.

As I listened to him play, the mother in me wanted to run on stage, pull the music and show him where he was. But, I didn't.

Adam never seemed phased by this at all! He sat with us and after a few of the other students played, he lay on the chairs and fell asleep.

For a first recital, and the situation he was in, I think he handled it with grace!

Creativity & Construction

2011-05-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today in church, Austin took a notebook that we had packed in the "church bag" and started to draw. I have to say, Mike and I were very impressed by what he did!

He drew a creature from some game that they play. (that is not the part that impressed us) We were impressed by the way he did shadowing on the creature, and how he drew the shadow on the ground. I was never very good at that type of thing, so the fact that he is doing this so young just blows me away! (I claim that he gets that ability from Mike!)

After lunch, Mike decided that he was going to work on the shelves for the basement. When the boys and I got home he was really working at the shelves.

The boys soon decided that they wanted to work on a project as well.

Austin hammered nails, Adam filed. And then they switched.

Adam made something to hang his clothes on. Mike hung it in his room this afternoon.

Mike made a second shelving unit. I have to say, I love how these shelves are organizing our basement!

All 3 of my boys never cease to amaze me with their creativity and abilities.

Talent Show

2011-04-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Our school does a talent show every spring. This year the boys decided that they wanted to participate.

Adam played the piano.

Adam was the first act. He played come see the parade.

Austin played the violin with his violin class.

He the one in the middle, with the hat :)

They played Twinkle and Beautiful Skies. Austin almost did not do it. He was afraid that he was going to get embarrassed, but once he got there and his friends got their violins out he changed his mind.

They did a great job, and I was very proud of our boys.

Baseball Fieldtrip

2011-04-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

Adam's class went on a field trip today. I was so glad that I was able to go.

One of the students in Adam's class, has a father who is the baseball coach at one of our local Universities.

First, we walked from the school to the baseball field. We ate our packed lunches in the bleachers. Then it was time to play!

The baseball and softball players had all kinds of games planned for the kids.

They were able to hit balls into nets,

they played kick ball and were able to run the bases,

they hit the ball off a tee and tried to get it over the fence (Adam did get it over the fence--HOME RUN!),

they played a game were they rolled balls to each other and the other tried to catch it, there was also a game where they threw water balloons to each other.

Everyone had so much fun! The kids were very tired walking home. In fact, Adam went to bed early and fell asleep right away!

Adam was very excited on the way home from school--they had such a fun day! (He added that they didn't learn anything, however I think it was so much fun, he forgot about the learning part from earlier in the day!) :)

That Is One Way To Play

2011-04-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Adam is taking piano. I have been very pleased to see how his songs have progressed over this past year.

This week he is learning about rests.

The first time he was playing the song that required him to "rest" he looked at his book and said, "I need a shoe!" I could not figure out why on earth he would need a shoe. He got one (note, 1 and only 1 shoe). He put it on his right foot (always his right foot). He played his song. Soon I figured out that his piano teacher taught him a rest was about as long as it takes to stomp your foot.

I guess he needs to stomp with shoes on! It's okay with me, if it helps him to learn his music! I'll just be sure to keep a shoe near the piano.

Easter Eggs

2011-04-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

At Easter time there are lots of fun activities to do, that we don't do any other time of year. At Easter Mom makes Paska (a Russian Easter bread), we have egg hunts to attend, and we color eggs.

We colored eggs this morning with boys (my boys and Carol's 2 boys). Eamon (being almost 13) didn't seem too sure that coloring eggs was a "cool" thing to do. However, once I got all the stuff out, he soon changed his tune.

We tried something new this year. We added a bit of oil to certain colors and it made some of the eggs have a marbled look.

I was really impressed with the colors that came out. The boys did a great job.

Now, I wonder what I will do with all the hard boiled eggs I have.

Even When I'm Not Looking

2011-04-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

This evening Mike and I had a fundraiser dinner to go to. We were going to leave our boys at a friends house and get a babysitter together. I fixed dinner for the boys and put it on the table. I was working in the kitchen, and I looked over to find my boys holding hands and praying. I was very touched and told the boys that I was proud of them for remembering to pray. Adam looked at me pointedly and told me, "we always pray before we eat."

I was also very touched that they were choosing to hold hands!

Ducks

2011-04-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Adam was feeling a little down, due to the fact that Austin was going to a sleep over for the 2nd weekend in a row. I decided we need to have an "Adam evening." I told Adam that he could choose what activities we would do that evening. Adam was not really sure what he wanted to do.

After supper, I was doing the dishes and I was trying to come up with a fun activity to do with him that would be special. Then I thought of some bread pieces I have the freezer. I had been saving them to make bread pudding, but decided that feeding the duck would be more important.

We got the bread out of the freezer to thaw while I finished the dishes. Then got our things together, and headed out to feed the ducks. Adam enjoyed watching the ducks rush to the pieces of bread we was throwing out to them. Some of the ducks were almost fighting over the pieces.

It was a simple activity, but it was fun and special for a night when Adam needed something special.

Thought For The Day

2011-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last evening, Adam was looking very thoughtful, then asked, "Why do they call W Double U? Wouldn't it make more sense to call it Double V?

I have to say he has a point!

Boxes

2011-04-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

Since we found the snake in our basement, we decided it was time to clean things out! While do so, we found (or created) some empty boxes. These boxes were odd shapes, dilapidated, or just not right for storage. Mike took them to the back yard to let the boys play with them. The boys had a great time stacking,

being in,

being under,

crawling through,

or just whatever!

They enjoyed the boxes, until it rained that afternoon. Until we realized it was raining the boxes were soaked. But, they provided a great morning of fun!

Sunday Surprise

2011-04-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

This week we are on Spring Break! It has been rather cold considering it was the end of March. Cold enough, in fact, that Sunday we woke up to have snow on the ground. It wasn't a lot of snow, but enough that...

Adam could form a snow bunny. The bunny even has a carrot (the stick going cross ways). The one thing that I thought I wanted to do while on spring break was to paint the upstairs bathroom. It is in need of a new coat. Sunday after supper, I went to the basement to take inventory of the supplies we have and what might work. Mike came down to look at what I had found. He left, I was following, but was soon frozen with fear when I saw this in our storage room...

My legs felt weak, I didn't think I could move. Yet, thinking back I think my toes were only a few inches from this creepy critter. I told Mike he needed to get it out of the house, I wanted it gone, I wanted it dead. He got something to pick it up with, and said he needed a cake topper. I went upstairs, stood in my kitchen and thought, "cake topper, do I have a cake topper? What is a cake topper? What can I use instead of a cake topper?..." Mike came by and saw me standing there. He said, "I'm really surprised your not moving faster." I thought about a bowl that would work. I don't use it often, the sides are high, etc. I went to get that bowl, but Mike in the mean time saw my bread bowl. He told me that was the one he wanted. I hesitated because I make bread in that bowl, but thought if it gets rid of the snake, okay.

Mike took the snake outside while he looked the kind up on his ipod, he was having trouble finding it, so I got my "ipod" (aka: the world book) and found it was a garter snake. Mike gently took the snake to the field at the end of our road and let it free. I would not have been so kind!

I started to look for new houses that evening. Mike said, "we are not moving!" So, I told him we HAD to get an exterminator in if we were not moving. He wasn't fond of this, but finally agreed. The exterminator came on Wednesday. He looked around. He found something. I saw him deftly put it in his pocket. I asked what that was. He replied, "oh, a dead snake." What?? How creepy! Then, of course, Austin had to see it. His response was, "COOL" (Sorry Austin, this is anything but cool!)

He sprayed the house, put stuff in my flower beds, and said we should be good for a year.

So, over this spring break we are now cleaning the basement!

Oh, when I went to bake bread the other day, I just could not use THAT bowl! I had to find another.

Super Saturday

2011-03-31T05:51:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, we got a call from my sisters husband. He said he was going Rock Hounding, he wondered if Mike and the boys would like to go along. The unanimous answer was "YES!!" Apparently, Rock hounding is when you meet a group, and go to a certain location. Then you are free to break rocks, and take the rocks home. (Doesn't this sound like the perfect activity for 2 little boys?)

We gathered goggles, gloves, and tools for breaking the rocks. Excitement was in the air!

The boys had a great time!

I feared they would come home filthy! I even sent an extra pair of clothes, and shoes for each boy (including Mike!) Surprisingly, they were quite clean.

They say they would like to do it again!

A video to show Adam in action! (You can't see it, but Mike is holding onto Adam's shirt. He was completely safe!)

Matt admitted after the trip that he was a little hesitant about the boys being there. He feared that their attention would not hold to the activity (little does he know how my boys love to dig). However, the only problem they had was at lunch the boys wanted to eat their dessert first.

I think it was a quiet ride home!

What a super Saturday!

Like Father, Like Son

2011-03-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Once a year, our school has an event with EMU (a local University). We go and set up a silent auction and they set up a fun night for our school. They have informational booths, fun games, and a rock climbing wall (for adults and older students).

I was working with the silent auction, when Mike came up to me and handed me his wallet, phone and other things in his pockets. He said, "Austin and I are going to climb the wall." It didn't hit me until that time, that Austin was now considered an "older student."(meaning you had to be in 3rd or 4th grade). So I left my stand to go watch this event.

Austin got a little ways up, and decided it was time to go down. Mike got up further (far enough to ring the bell at least--maybe about 1/2 way up the wall) and decided he would come down as well.

Austin was very excited that he was able to do this! I think it was a great experience to do this with Dad!

Pictures I Love!

2011-03-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I still have some pictures around the house of the boys from when they were little. There are a few that I just love, and can bear to think of taking down yet.

This picture was taken just before Christmas in 2004. Nothing really special about it, I just love it. I have it on my dresser mirror and enjoy seeing it everyday.

This one was taken October 31, 2004. I was at Church helping with the Hallelujah party set up. Mike just grabbed the camera and took a picture of the boys in the leaves. It is still on the entertainment center.

Mike went out with the boys and bought them sunglasses. When the came home he, again, grabbed the camera and told the boys to make muscles with their sunglasses on. How cute is that?

Now, Mike is known for taking multiple pictures of the same thing, because at least one is bound to turn out, right? So, the took some more, continuing to tell the boys to make muscles, and came up with...

I love how Austin is looking at Adam like, "What are you doing?" I love how Adam looks like, I just don't care! I have these on my refrigerator. However, these are also on Mike's school webpage. Only difference is, he somehow made them flip back and forth so it looks like the boys are moving.

So Austin's Children Know...

2011-03-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Austin yesterday, as he was doing some chores. We were talking about how much money he makes for doing chores, and how much I made for doing chores as a child.

Austin said, "When I have children, I am going to pay them $100 per chore." I thought, "Wow!! He is going to have to have some great job! I may want to work for him. Then I started calculating how much I would make for just doing everyday things..." He interrupted my thinking by saying, "No, maybe I will just pay them $2 per chore..."

I have to say that still isn't bad! Dishes, laundry, cleaning, bathroom,....the list goes on and on and on.

He FINALLY Did It!!

2011-03-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of summers we have gone for bike rides, but Adam always had his training wheels.

NOT ANY MORE!!

Today was the day. Mike took off the extra wheels, and Adam took to riding his bike like a pro...well, sort of. There were times that he ran into the curb, or had to catch himself from falling. But, he was a great sport about it. He went up and down the street for quite a while this afternoon.

I know his bike is way to small for him, but I think it comforted him knowing that he was able to put his feet down. When he is comfortable, we will move to the bigger bike.

I have to say, this feels like one major achievement!

Breakfast

2011-03-05T04:08:00.000-08:00

Last summer the boys did an enrichment program done through our school system. Austin chose to do "Chef in the Making." One of the activities for this program was to paint and decorate a serving tray. Up to this point Austin has been using it in his room to try to organize things.

Wednesday was my birthday. After school on Tuesday, Austin said he had the perfect present for me. He went to his room and got the tray that he had made last summer. He told me he wanted to make me breakfast in bed. I told him that was very sweet but he would have to do this on a weekend. I reminded him that the rest of the week he had to get ready for school, and some days I needed to get ready for work. He agreed, the weekend would be best.

Since he had a few days to think about this, he decided it would be a good idea to write down what I wanted for breakfast.

This morning he was up bright and early. He got Mike up to help him with the temperature of the griddle and cutting the bread.

I could hear them working out in the kitchen.

Then my breakfast was delivered right to me.

He did a good job. It was very tasty!

There's Always A Surprise...

2011-03-04T16:22:00.001-08:00

...when Adam comes home from piano lessons.

Several weeks ago the boys came home with a story about lambs in the basement. How they got to hold and pet the soft baby lambs.

Last week, Adam came home with a great story. Apparently, the electricity went out part way through the lesson. Adam said they were burning candles in hopes that it would give him enough light to play by. It didn't work that well. So, they moved to the "store" so Adam could spend some of his points. I have been told that they were shining a key chain flashlight so that Adam could try to find what he wanted to buy. That was an exciting day!

Naturally, with all these exciting things happening at piano, yesterday when they walked in the door I asked, "What happened at piano today?" Adam was so very proud to have bought a brand new...

LUNCHBOX with his points. He was eager to show me all of the wonderful features of this treasure.

Not only is this a lunch box, but it is also a lunch box with a ...

SANDWICH BOX that goes in the SANDWICH COMPARTMENT!! Does it get any better than that?? Adam was very happy to have his lunch packed in this today!

On a side note, I think Adam really did enjoy the lesson where the electricity went out. The reason I think this is due to the fact that Mike told me Adam asked to have the lights turned out so he could play a song in the dark.

What could be the surprise next week?

Science Rules!

2011-02-21T10:19:00.001-08:00

My boys have become fond of Bill Nye the Science Guy. I'm not sure where they see this show, but I have to admit, the times I have seen it, it is pretty interesting.

Yesterday, before church, Austin started to ask for various things. When I questioned him a little more, I found out that he wanted to do an experiment that he had seen on the show. He needed a battery, 2 paperclips, and a light bulb. I found the battery and the paperclips. Then Mike and I discovered we had some little light bulbs that we were going to get rid of. We decided a science experiment would be great for the them. The boys and Mike put the supplies together.

Then they touched the wires at the right place and...

the light bulb was glowing!

The boys would do this and say, "Science Rules!" But, at one time we had to take it from Adam because the held the light on so long the battery started to get warm.

Austin thought it would be great to have these in our bedrooms in case we needed to get up at night, then we would be able to see. (I'm thinking there are easier ways to be able to see, but anyhow...)

At lunch I had to tell the boys to stop playing with this and to eat, so Mike took the battery. I found him tinkering with it then. I had to remind him it was lunch time. (oh, my boys!)

The boys enjoyed their science experiment, and I loved seeing them enjoy science.

Adam's Ponderings

2011-02-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

This morning at breakfast, Adam asked some question that I really didn't know how to answer.

Adam: What is skin made of?

Me: I don't know how God makes skin, but it's really cool isn't it?

Adam: What do you think is in there that makes it change shape? (As he is pulling at the skin on his knuckles)

Me: (giving up) I really don't know.

He makes me think...

Tidbits Of Our Weekend

2011-02-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Friday the boys decided would be a good night to have their "boys night out." I decided to go out to my parents while the boys were away.

The boys were home when I got back. I opened the door to find...

These beautiful roses on the table. It had 3 cards that the guys made for me. What a nice surprise.

Saturday Mike and I went out for lunch. My parents kept the boys. When we went back to pick up the boys, Mom told me a funny story. Adam was very tired. She knew that we had plans at church that evening, so she was encouraging him to rest. As she was doing this, Adam informed her that he liked to sleep upside down. I'm sure she was quite confused until he explained that it meant he slept on his tummy.

After we got home on Saturday, Adam went to his room and had a nap. Austin went to his room I think to clean it up. Now, several weeks ago, Austin decided he wanted an alarm clock/radio in his room. We found one at a thrift store, but when we got it home we didn't think that the radio dial worked. Initially, when he was talking about this, I wondered what kind of music he would be listening to. But on Saturday, he came out of room to inform me that he got the radio to work. He was very excited. I was curious to what station he had it on. I went to his room to find his radio set to BBN (Bible Broadcasting Network) They were quoting scripture and singing hymns. It made my station seem to be on the wild side (really it is not!) However, now he likes to listen to 5 minutes of BBN before he turns out the lights at night.

My boys never cease to amaze me!

It's Good...I Think

2011-02-10T11:00:00.001-08:00

The other evening I had a class to go to for work. Mike was in charge for the evening.

Often, when I don't put the boys to bed, I will ask Mike what they wanted to pray about. That evening it turned out that when it was Austin's turn to pray he said, "Thank you that Mommy had a class to go to." Mike thought this sounded odd, so he asked, "what do you mean?" Austin explained, "Since Mommy was at her class, you got to take care of us."

My first thought was, "I'm glad they enjoy their time with their daddy." My second thought was, "But what does that say about the days I take care of them?"

Shoes

2011-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

This morning, as we were getting ready for church, Adam asked if he could wear sandals. I told him that February weather is not the right time to wear sandals. He explained his side, "we are going to church, and in the Bible people wore sandals." I said something to the effect of, "you put a lot of thought into that, but it is too cold here." Then he said, "AND...they wear sandals in heaven."

First of all, How does he know what they wear in heaven? And secondly, I was hoping we could go barefoot in heaven.

Little Lambs

2011-02-03T16:39:00.001-08:00

Adam had piano lessons today. He was working with his teacher, and he heard bleating. Adam asked, "What was that?" His teacher told him that those were her lambs, after his lesson he could go see them. I can only imagine the excitement and eagerness that Adam felt!

My mom had told me a little bit about these lambs. There were 2 mother sheep that had triplets. They each accepted 2 of their babies, and shunned the third. Having the big heart that Diane has, she has now basically become "mama" to these 2 lambs.

I have heard that these lambs were named girl names. Only to find out that they are in fact...boys.

Both lambs are doing fine. They get bottle fed and lots of love (I'm sure).

Adam told me that she has a wooden fence in her basement to keep the lambs from going all over the place.

They commented on how cute the lambs were.

They got to hold a lamb, and said it was really soft.

What a great surprise,

go to a piano lesson and get to hold a baby lamb.

Thanks for the great experience, Diane!

This Is Fun!

2011-01-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Adam was practicing piano. After he finished one of his songs, he giggled, then said, "Hey! That was fun!"

I am so glad that he is finding enjoyment in his piano lessons.

Adam's Questions

2011-01-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last night was one of those nights when I get Adam to bed, and I just plop on the couch and am ready to not think for just a little!

Here are just a few of the questions he asked:

~What does the edge of the universe look like?

~Why did God make it so that snake poison hurts people?

~Why didn't God make the poison to just hurt other animals?

~Why did God make meat eaters?

I find it difficult to answer the, "Why did God..." questions. Sometimes we just don't know why, we just know he did!

The Moon

2011-01-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

I love talking to the boys in the car.

Last night we had supper at my parents house. As we were coming home Adam I were talking about the moon. It was really beautiful. Adam noticed that it was almost (if not completely) full moon. Then he asked, "Is the moon waxing or waning?" My response was, "Uhhh, not sure, let's ask Daddy when we get home" (he was in the other car).

I am sure that I knew nothing of the moon waxing or waning when I was in 1st grade!

The answer is: The moon was fully waxed, so it will start waning tonight. Who knew!!

Sick

2011-01-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Last night I was feeling very bad! I had a little fever, sore throat, cough, and congested. Really, all the symptoms that anyone in their right mind would stay away from. However, I had 3 great "Dr.'s" in the house that gave me some interesting advice. (Please note: I did take some of their advice and I feel better today.)

Austin informed that I may have asthma. Due to the fact that I did go to Glen's Fair Price once. (That is a local store. It has very interesting and hard to find items. It, also, it known to be quite dusty. My mother has a hard time going there, It makes her aggravates her asthma.)

Adam brought me a drink and said that I should drink it so it would "clear it away." (He was right about drinking. Always good to do when sick)

Mike picked up Subway for supper, and told me rest. (That was music to my ears.)

They may not have their PhD, but they got me to feeling better. :)

The Hairdryer

2011-01-13T09:25:00.001-08:00

Adam was sick and stayed home from school one day last week. I had called my mom the evening before and she said she was off work, I should bring him to their house so I could work that morning.

Mom had told me that she was planning to defrost her freezer, but Adam would not be a problem.

I dropped him off, and went to work. When I went to get him, he seemed to be feeling better. Mom was getting ready to take care of the freezer. So she got out the hairdryer, and Adam is instantly drawn to her. There is new box--what is it, and how does it work (I really think he gets that from my dad!!)

I have seen this hairdryer my entire life. Mom has always used this to defrost her freezer. However, I have never seen it dry hair. That is until..

Adam had to try it out! After more than 35 years, it still works! I had to capture this moment on camera.

He Wants To Be...

2011-01-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have a book for each of my boys, where I fill in information about each year of school. It has a place for the child to write their name (so you can see their handwriting improvement over the years) and what their favorite subject is, if they do after school activities, and what they want to be when they grow up (among other things).

I was working on this the other day with the boys. I asked Adam, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" He replied, "I want to be a law changer, to make war against the law."

I thought, that sounds like a wonderful thing, unlikely (since other countries probably would not have this law), but wonderful.

I wonder how I can make this work so their is no fighting between brothers...

Our Christmas Break

2011-01-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

We had a nice break from school. We actually got 2 extra days, due to snow. Over the break Austin wanted to learn how to crochet. I was more than happy and eager to teach him.

He made 2 bookmarks and gave them to Grandma and Aunt Cheri for Christmas. He knew that they were both avid readers.

Grandpa is famous for getting the grandsons some sort of interesting flashlight each year. This year he said, "no flashlights." Only because he got them...

...headlights.

The boys went in a dark hallway and turned their lights on. But they not only shone in white. The also went...

...Red!

Austin liked to put it over one eye. I'm not sure if he was trying to be a cyclops, a robot, a combination of the two, or something totally different. He had fun with it whatever he was pretending.

We were excited to snow at Grandma and Grandpa's. However, we did not pack our snow gear. That did not stop the boys. Especially Austin.

He was very happy to go a shovel. As he is doing here, in the middle of their back yard. He had a great time!

We had a wonderful Christmas break from school and work. However, we are finding that it is nice to be back on our regular schedule.

Kiser Christmas

2010-12-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

We had our Kiser Christmas on December 11 this year. It worked out that Matt, Lana, and Grace could be here that weekend, and Mom was off work. I like having it on another day than right at Christmas--it spreads out Christmas, and makes the season a little more relaxing.

Mom did something different. Last year she went to the after-Christmas sales and found some stockings. She bought one for each grandchild. She hung them, and filled them with "treasures."
Adam was digging in his stocking for his surprises.

Austin had his laid out beside him.

It was fun to do the gifts this way.

A week or so prior to our Christmas. Mike and Dad took a trip to Roanoke. They stopped at the Toy's R Us there. Dad found a large Lego set, and decided he would get that for the boys to have something new and fun to do at their house.

After the gifts were opened ALL (including Matt and Mike) the boys went to the back room and worked on the building of the Lego. I love this picture of them all working together!

It was a wonderful Christmas!

Adam's Drawing

2010-12-23T05:46:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I babysat for a friend. As a "Thank you" she gave my boys a travel Bible Activity set. We still have it, and pull it out from time to time.

The other night Adam was working on the activity pad. It has pictures to color, cross words, and different games to play.

Adam found a page with dots. He decided to not do the suggested game, but a draw a picture.

He did the bottom first. 3 crosses. He wrote, "Jesus died on the cross."

Above that is the tomb-rolling away the stone.

The top is when hey find the tomb is empty!

I was impressed with his creativity and expression of the story through his pictures!

I Would Have Never Thought Of It!

2010-12-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

The boys are on break from school for Christmas. While there is no school, they are able to do fun and different things that I might otherwise say "no" to.

The other night Mike came up with the idea to let the boys sleep on the sledding inter tubes. I figured, "well, sure, there is no reason not to. If they don't sleep well, they can have a nap tomorrow."

We cleared room for the inter tubes in Austin's room.

We got the inter tubes ready. The boys were asking to go to bed at 7:30! (At the time I didn't think about how they would be ready to get up at 5:30)

It was a fun, out of the ordinary thing to do-that I would have never thought of!

Gingerbread House

2010-12-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

We got a note home from school, shortly before Christmas break, the first graders were making Gingerbread houses. I love that Adam's teacher is willing to take this on with 20 first graders, I'm not sure I would want to do this at home.

We donated a few supplies, but another teacher donated all the candy and decorations. (the main reason I would not want to do this at home)

They were to make a pattern at place on the house. Every child did this with ease :)

I did find it interesting that some children covered their houses with candy, but Adam chose to leave his a little more sparse.

It was a fun activity. One I'm glad that I didn't have to lead at home. I am so thankful for those brave teachers that are willing to take on such projects.

Christmas Lights

2010-12-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening we went to look at Christmas lights. We decided that we would rate the lights on a scale of 1-10. As we drove along we would hear the boys say, "that is a 2, there is an 8..."

Then we saw this house, we all decided it was a 10!

They had lights, blinking lights, then I opened my window to take the picture and found they also had music.

But not only did they had blinking lights and music. The lights blinked to the beat of the music.

Very impressive!

Austin's Tooth Saga...

2010-12-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

Austin has had a loose tooth. This is not his first loose tooth. For some reason, he was very uneasy about loosing this tooth. I would suggest, let's try this, or let's try that. He did not care for any of my suggestions. I figured, at some point the tooth will fall out, and that will be that.

Last evening, we were brushing his teeth (I was making suggestions of how we could get this tooth out). As we were brushing something touched his tooth just the right way, and *POOF* it was out! Austin was excited, and I was relieved.

Austin decided to write the "Tooth Fairy" a note and tell her about this adventure. The note is a follows:

As he was writing the note I started to think-"Oh, the The Tooth Fairy should probably respond. What will that note say? I think I have the right amount of money. If I don't will I have to call the neighbors to see if they can break a 5? Should I have them write the note so that Austin won't recognize my handwriting?..." Honestly, I think he knows it is me, but we still have fun with it.

After he finally fell asleep I sat down and wrote the following:

Austin found the note at 5:30 this morning. He came to my bedside and said, "listen to this note..." and proceeded to read it to me. At that point I really did wonder why I wrote so m things down, I just wanted to go back to sleep!

Austin has his 2 front teeth, but now he is missing the tooth on both sides.

He has become very fond of a had that Mike got him. It is the kind of hat that Elmer Fudd wears.

Austin and I have jokingly said that his name should be changed to Elmer Bunny (1/2 Elmer Fudd, 1/2 Bugs Bunny)

After Austin lost his tooth, I was tucking the boys in bed. Adam mentions to me that he "is bored and would love to have a tooth to wiggle" I reassured him that he has plenty more teeth to loose and I'm sure one would be wiggly before long.

He Has Patience

2010-12-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

Our boys love to snuggle. Austin loves to start the day with a snuggle. Adam will every now and then, but not as often. One rule at our house is: We DO NOT snuggle before 6 am. Mainly due to the fact that I want to sleep until at least 6 am.

Last night, I was asleep. I heard little feet come to the side of my bed. I peeked to see who it was. There stood Adam. I pointedly asked,"What?" Adam said he wanted to snuggle. I looked at the clock and realized it was just after 3 am. I told him, "It is not 6." I closed my eyes. I thought he was going back to bed, but I heard Adam doing something with my alarm clock. I asked what he was doing and he said he was fixing it. I thought he meant he was making sure that the time on my clock was the same time he had on his clock, as to not miss any snuggle time. Then I heard more movement. I peeked again, to find him sitting on the floor by my bedside looking at my clock. I asked, "What on earth are you doing?" Adam very calmly said, "Waiting for 6."

If that is not patience, I don't know what is!

For A Change Of Pace

2010-12-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Today we got snow! School was called off due to the snow we were expected to (and did)get.

We met with the cousins at my parents house and the boys went sledding. While they were out, I decided we would make soft pretzels for a yummy snack and something different to do.

The boys made lots of different shapes. Some tried to make the traditional pretzel shape, but we also had the Virginia Tech logo, a man, and a pizza.

We all enjoyed the snack. And the nice thing was: it was easy, without too much clean up! I think we might have to do this again!

Christmas in Reverse

2010-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is the Christmas season!

In September, Mike and I were contacted to see if we would like to help with activities as the children would practice for the Christmas musical. It sounded like fun, so we agreed.

The musical was called Christmas in Reverse. It was a new way to look at the Christmas story. Rather than just looking at Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and wise men, it showed WHY Jesus came to earth.

That means that we had to go all the way back to Genesis and look at Adam and Eve. It talked about how people were so sinful, then there was...

Noah. (that is Adam peeking out of the Ark window. He played Noah's son, Japheth.)

Then the played talked about the prophets (Austin was Malachi). Austin, also, played one of the wise men who came to the manger.

The play was full of fun songs and a really great message.

The director of the play had a "Thank you" gift for our family. I let the boys open it. They were very excited to see it was a treasure chest pinata. They were super excited to find that it was already filled!

They started to break into the pinata and I heard Adam say, "Look out candy, here we come!" I just had to laugh!

When it was all said and done, things were not as neat and orderly as it had started. The boys had so much fun with the pinata.

We are so glad that we were able to participate in this activity. We are thankful that the boys could have this experience of being in a church play.

What a fun evening. What a meaningful musical!

Jar Gifts

2010-12-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

Austin went to Kingdom Kid's yesterday. Kingdom Kid's is the children's group at our church. They meet about once a month and do some sort of fun activity. Yesterday's project was to make jar gifts.

Austin came home and had a jar for cran-raisin cookies, and one for bean soup. I was very excited about both, but particularly about the soup. I thought what a wonderful supper on a cold winter day!
I decided to look at the directions to see if I had all the ingredients that I might need in order to make the soup. That is when I found...

...that I had the directions for sugar cookies.

I had a good laugh, and asked the leaders for the soup directions. I really don't think it would work to use those directions!

Spirit Day

2010-12-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Austin came home from school, earlier this week, very excited about spirit day. I remembered as a child we would have spirit week: Hat Day, This Day and That Day-fun days! Austin explained to me that it was a blue and white day. (those are the school colors for the High School) Then it sparked a vague recollection. First I will say that I am not a sports fan! However, I did hear somewhere that the High School was playing in some big game this weekend.

I went on a search for blue and white. Austin did not have anything! Then he told me that he could wear a Blue Streaks shirt. Well, that is fine, however, I did not have a blue streaks shirt for them, and I was not about to buy one.

Then I got creative! I was folding laundry on Wednesday, and saw a plain white t-shirt. The wheels in my mind started moving. White T-shirt, blue sharpie, Mike's art minor! I think I have it!

Mike took the school logo and put it on the front of 2 shirts.

On the back they wrote: GO BLUE STREAKS! Austin wrote his own, Mike did Adam's.

It made me very happy to see my boys so eager to support the Streaks, as I was a Streak in High School.

I'm sure no one else has a shirt just like theirs, I am anxious to hear the comments they had today on their shirts.

Hero's Dinner

2010-12-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

The school my boys go to has a wonderful event they do every year. They send invitations to all the children to give to their hero. This invitation invites them to come to school and have dinner with the student that invited them. The school provides the bagel sandwiches from one of the local bagel shops, and people gladly donate a bag of chips, a drink, or a dessert.

My boys wanted to invite their cousins, Eamon and Shannon, as their heros. They, also, invited Mamaw. She was my hero for being there with the boys as I was helping with the dinner.

It is always a fun evening!

Adam's Field Trip

2010-12-02T11:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Adam's grade level went on a field trip to the Frontier Culture Museum. The parents did not have to pack lunches for the children-it was provided (I love days like this!) When I went to get him from school, I was so eager to hear about this trip. He came out of the school and we had the following conversation.

Me: "How was your trip today?"

Adam: "Oh, it was great! Guess What!?! I was the only kid in my class to drink Mello Yello for lunch!"

Me: "Okay, What else. Tell me about he houses, the people you talked too, the animals..."

Adam: "Oh, yea. We fed the hens cat food and threw grass in for the pigs to eat. But, can you believe I was the only one to drink Mello Yello?

Me :*sigh*

Later, we were driving home from play practice at church. I was explaining to the boys that when we got home it was time to get into pajamas and brush teeth, they were headed straight to bed. Adam informed me, "I had Mello Yello for lunch I have lots of energy, I think I can stay up for a while." To which I replied, "No, that has worn off and you will be going to bed." (I saw him yawning at practice. And I am sure he was asleep within minutes of the light going out!)

After thinking about it, I remembered that when Austin went on this trip he came home only talking about chamber pots. At least that is history related, right?

Another Use For Bedsheets

2010-11-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

I had a problem!

We have a huge Maple tree in our back yard. I have raked the leaves, then the boys would play in them. In the end you couldn't tell that I raked them. We do have the service where the city comes and vacuums the leaves into a big truck, but they have to be by the curb (which is in front of the house!), we had talked about mowing over all the leaves (but we just recently put all the bikes in the shed-with the mower-it would be quite the pain to do that). It really was quite the conundrum!

I decided yesterday I was going to rake it, fill trash cans with leaves and walk them to the curb. I started this, and the boys came home from school, so they started to help me. Mike soon came out with a bedsheet! Once I realized what he was doing my thought was --BRILLIANT!

I would help Mike and Austin fill the bedsheet with leaves and they would carry it to the road. While they did this, I pulled the piles back together. It worked great!

It was very cute, the sheet would be filled and and they would be pulling the corners up I would hear one or the other say, "this is a lot" or "this load is big." I think a comment was made almost every time!

I love how Mike can see a use for something that I never would have imagined. It certainly keeps thing interesting!

November 21st

2010-11-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

Today is November 21st. At supper, I told Mike that I should do a post on this day. He wondered what happened today that was "blog worthy." It wasn't necessarily today, but things that have happened in the past on this day, that makes it a bit special.

On November 21, 1998 Mike and I had been hanging out some time. Mike had come over to my parents house, I think we watched a movie. My parents had gone to visit my aunt (it was her birthday). Mike was getting ready to leave and he kissed me. It was at that point that we started dating.

Now, we fast forward to November 21st, 2002. I found out that I was pregnant with Adam that day. For supper I fixed meatballs and rice (ironically, the same meal that I fixed when I found out I was pregnant with Austin--I had not made it since). Austin, for some reason, fell asleep right before supper. We let him sleep. I asked Mike if he remembered the last time I made that meal. He didn't. I told him it was when we found out we were going to have Austin. He understood what I was saying. We were both thrilled!

Today, however, nothing that monumental happened.

Although, I was happy to have this very handsome boy help me rake the leaves. (after they were all raked up he couldn't resist--he ran through all the piles and had a great time!)

I, also, had this cute one help me to make a pumpkin log.

November 21st will always be a special day to me. My life changed dramatically on this date in 1998 and 2002. I wouldn't change it for anything!

Just to Prove My Point

2010-11-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

In my last post I wrote about how Adam sees treasure in things that I would classify as junk. Just to prove my point I decided I had to take a minute to write about what happened this morning.

Actually, I started yesterday. As we were walking home from school, Austin found a frame from one of the political signs that people put in the yards. He decided that this really was a keeper! I cannot tell you how many things it was on the way home, or how many different noises. :) I thought, well tomorrow is trash day, I will slip it in the trash and no one will miss it.

This morning, Adam started to take the trash down to the road. Austin said he would do the recycling. Austin took the recycling box down as I was putting 2 more cans out to be picked up. Austin came in the house, but Adam did not. I asked Austin if he took the extra cans down that I placed outside the door. He said, "no, Adam is creating something." In just a few minutes, Adam came in and said I had to come see what he created.

It is a bell. I can guarantee you that no one else in the neighborhood has a dinner bell like this one!