So Thankful!

Well, it's Cyber Monday and so far, I haven't done any on-line shopping. That doesn't mean I won't, mind you. I am working on November photos and reflecting on the great Thanksgiving(s) that our family just had. Here's how it played out: Our friends the McIntires invited us over for Thanksgiving day, we brought a couple of side dishes and a pumpkin cheesecake. YUM! The food was great and the company was even better. My parents ended up coming down last minute because my dad made a entryway piece for us and they wanted to drive it down. Adam's mom and John came over, too, so it was The McIntires, their cousins and kids, us and our parents! It seems like our family took over! :) It was 85 degrees outside, so there was some playing outside and the kids made pine cone crafts. On Friday, we had Nick and Andrea over for a very fried fish fry. Adam just had to go and get a deep fryer for Black Friday. :) We made hush puppies, crinkle potatoes, onion rings and fish that Adam had caught. YIKES, heart attack! But it was fun, we played kuub and Mexican Train. Mom and I went grocery shopping for a few things for our second Thanksgiving and a mirror for my entryway. Then on Saturday we went over to Barbara and Jim Brooks' house for a Mottet family Thanksgiving. Once again, the food was awesome and we had a great time with great people! So much to be thankful for!

The Phantom Poop

Today was a fun day!  They boys spent the night at Grandma Deb and Grandpa John's house last night and Adam and I got to go on a great date night with two other couples. The church we go to had a fair today and so we loaded up the boys and went.  We met the McIntires over there.  Spencer did a great job at all the stations and Elliott ran around terrorizing everyone's balloons! :) I think he succeeded in popping two kids' balloon animals...crazy kid!  When we got home, Elliott was exhausted and off to bed he went. Spencer and I played a few board games and put up Halloween decorations (finally) while Dad watched football.  When Elliott got up we went out to play in the backyard. Elliott eventually got a dirty diaper, so I took him in to change him. All afternoon, I smelled poop. I looked my clothes over a few times to make sure I didn't get any on me, and I don't know how many times I gave my hands a good scrubbing. Then, Adam said he smelled poop also and he thought that it might be coming from Spencer. Maybe he didn't wipe well enough? No, that wasn't it...we were both smelling it, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from! Well, all evening, same story, poop smell, no evidence of poop anywhere.  Finally when Adam was reading Spencer his bedtime story he figured it out.  The smell was radiating off of Minnie, our dachshund poodle mix, who thinks she is our little princess child.  Evidently she had rolled in some poop outside. Adam proceeded to give her a stern talking-to as he gave her a bath. Mystery solved. Yuck!

Slacker Mom

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted last...I really haven't made this a priority and kind of gave up on it for a while. I hope to remedy that right here and now! I have a lot of important things to say about my sweet, precious boys. That is, they are sweet and precious SOME of the time! :)

Spencer has just started kindergarten two, almost three weeks ago. So far it is going great! The first day of school he was a bit nervous, but he did great! One thing we decided was Adam or I will drive him to school in the mornings and we were going to let him ride the bus home. The school will provide busing to us because we live across a major parkway from the school. We didn't want him to be bused in the morning because ALL the elementary kids go together and I wasn't quite sure about sending him on the bus with the older kids quite yet. However, since the kindergarten gets out one hour before the rest of the school, the bus ride home is only kindergartners! Well, needless to say, he LOVES the bus! In fact, the first day of school he jumped off the bus, I ask him how he liked it and he replied, (shouted) "I love the bus! You don't even have to wear a seat belt!"

Spencer has been coming home happy and totally hyper from being dead tired.  He is going to bed pretty well, we have been implementing family exercise nights and go on bike rides, walks, roller skating or something active each night, so he has been ready for bed at 8:00! :) He hasn't really complained too much about getting up at 6:30, although, the second day of school he was almost crying telling me that he wanted to switch schools and go to a school that started later. He also reported to me that in school he raised his hand when the teacher asked for questions and he asked why school started so early.  I haven't really heard any complaints in the morning since then, so he must be adjusting all right.  We are really pleased with the work that he is bringing home, it's completed, and done neatly and with his name on it!  GO SPENCER! :)

Elliott is 15 months now, and his is a little spitfire!  He is not happy when Spencer leaves for school in the mornings! But, once we wave good bye (if Adam takes him) I ask him if he wants to play with toys and that seems to help him forget his sadness.  Man, he is a little daredevil who likes to test his limits!  Yesterday he got his first time-out for not listening. When we are all in our master bathroom downstairs getting ready, he loves to turn on the water in the jacuzzi. That seems to be so much fun for him!  It's really annoying to us.  We tell him no, time and time again, but he still goes back to it.  Well, yesterday, I told him no, looked at him right in the eye, and told him if he did it again, he'd get a time-out.  He did it again.  I said "Okay, Elliott has a time- out." I put him in the corner and he sat for about a minute.  He got up, I looked at him again and said, "No more water or you'll get another time out." IT WORKED!  Let's see how long this lasts! :)

I can tell Elliott likes his one on one time with Mom and Dad, playing toys without Big Brother getting mad at him, (what Spencer doesn't know can't hurt him, right?) reading books, and in general, getting doted on.  But he sure does like it when Spencer comes home from the bus!  We wait by the window when its around 2:00 and when we see the bus come around the corner, he runs to the door and points. Sometimes he yells, "buh-thuh!" Then I open the door, Elliott runs out and Spencer rhops down the bus steps and just as excitedly, he runs to the house and greets us! That is such an awesome moment in my day! :)

Then, Spencer comes in, we look through his backpack, and get right to playing...and then the boys get to doing what they do best lately, getting on each others' nerves.  They love each other, but they can get into it as well.  I think I have blogged enough tonight, I think I will save that for later!

Happy Halloween!

Wow, it has been quite a while since I have blogged! So much has happened and life is pretty fun and full. Most recently, last night was Halloween. Both boys were pirates, and they made a great pair! We ended up going over to the McIntire's house and trick-or-treating around their neighborhood. We met the McIntires because Spencer and their daughter, Bronwyn, were "best friends" in Pre-K at Primrose last year. Since then, we have gotten to know the whole family, the kids are still best friends and we love doing things together. Trick-or-treating was a blast and the kids got TONS of candy. (Adam was very pleased) Afterwards, we went to the McIntire's new house, which is on a couple of acres and had a hot dog/marshmellow roast! Needless to say we were all sacked out as soon as we got home! What fun!

Why is it so hard?

Last night was my first night back at the Activity Center at Life Time. I worked from 4-9 pm. Adam was home, but we still had my mother-in-law come in and baby-sit the boys. The plan is for her to come over every Tuesday afternoon, spend the night, and watch the boys on Wednesday while I work 9 am-1 pm. I can also take the boys with me on Wednesday if she just wants one on one time or needs to do something else. This is a big help, plus, she gets to be involved in the boys' life a lot more than maybe she normally would. Anyway, I got home last night and Adam just seemed so exhausted and said "It was really diffucult" When I asked why, he just said that he was not the mom, and he doesn't have boobs. Hmmm. Interesting.

Today when dinner was over and I knew Elliott was fed and should be napping, I handed Elliott over to Adam and said he needed someone to cuddle with. Adam said sure (he was watching TV and it wasn't inconvienient for him) I got Spencer started with a coloring project, and thought now I have some time to sit down and do our August budget. But, alas, Elliott was not going right to sleep and of course Adam handed him to me saying "he's hungry" (Adam's response everytime Elliott fusses, no matter if he's just eaten or not) So, budget is not getting done tonight. Spencer made some great pictures, Elliott had a great night, and both the boys are bathed and in bed. I do, however, still hear Spencer singing to himself upstairs! :)

Update 8/18

Okay, so I haven't been too good at blogging, but, hope to be better once "school" starts. Spencer is starting preschool at Weekday Learning Center on September 1st. He will be going Tuesday and Thursday. I am working at Lifetime on Monday and Wednesday during the day and will start on Tuesday nights around the middle of September. Elliott is continuing to grow and show more interest in things. He is particularly enthralled with his toys hanging from his bouncy seat. We call them his "friends" It is cute! He is also getting very curious about his hands. Spencer continues to be a great big brother, but he still gets in Elliott's face a bit too close and loud for Elliott sometimes. Now, off to start the HUGE to do list around the house. It is such a pit because we had my 30th birthday party last Saturday and we had company and I worked and Adam's back is still hurt pretty bad. The house will eventually be clean (maybe)

My First Blog!!!

Well, this is exciting!!! I am officially blogging! We shall see how well I keep up with it! Now, I have got to do a few other things on my to-do list today, birthday party invitations - check! Create blog - check! Send out magnets, uh... Thank you notes, uh... Make lasagna, uh... Work on July pictures...uh, boy, I think I have been a slacker today! I had better get going!