Dear Jesus...

I was in Brayden's room tonight putting him to bed. We spent a few minutes reading (Dooby Dooby Moo) and then we said prayers. I started him off by saying, "Dear Jesus, thank you for..." And Brayden picked right up with, "Dram-ma's house. And... (here he mumbled a little and I'm not sure what he said). And Mal-Nart." I was trying so hard not to giggle. I mean, my kid is thankful for Grandma's house and WAL-MART?! Is it really THAT great of a place? It must be to him because he'll all the time ask if we can go there. Actually, he'll ask if we can go to Grandma's and we'll say not right now, then he follows up with asking if we can go to Wal-Mart. I guess it's just the whole idea of getting out of the house... Anyway - it was just so cute that (of course) I had to scrap it.

On the Flip Side

I've been meaning and meaning and meaning to get my rearend over here and blog about everything that's happened. I'm going to try to do it in sections so that I don't miss anything.

HALLOWEEN
We went down to Fletcher for Halloween because we had a church visit scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 2. Not to mention we *had* to do something on Saturday for my birthday (more about that in a minute). I put off getting the boys' costumes this year because I really didn't want to spend money on them. I mean, Mom & Dad were going to be in Hawaii and I wasn't even totally sure we'd be doing anything, so I wasn't going to go all out... Well, it got closer to Halloween, and we realized we were going to go to Fletcher. I decided that I had better get the kids SOMETHING to wear. I didn't want to be a bad mom. Haha. So one night while putting Brayden to bed, we read "The Cat in the Hat." Well of course you can see where my mind went from there. A can of blue hair spray, two red shirts & two pairs of red sweats later and voila! Thing One and Thing Two. Cheapest Halloween costume a mother could make - I'm sure of it. I think the entire getup was under $15 - and I get to use the red shirts & pants the rest of the winter! They were really cute - even if we didn't technically go trick or treating. (But fear not! Brayden got PLENTY of candy at the harvest carnival. He knows how to work the scene.)



MY BIRTHDAY
So on Saturday, Erin, John & I got up and got all ready and then went and dropped the boys off at Hannah's house and then picked up Alan & Jen. We all enjoyed a nice jaunt over to Lawton in the minivan. It's so very nice to have a vehicle that seats so many and still feels like there's plenty of room to spare. I'm looking forward to taking it on road trips. Anyway... We went to eat at Chili's and had a pretty good time. Our waiter was kind of slow and obviously cared less than an iota that it was my birthday. *sigh* I was pretty disappointed about that, but oh, well. So after that we went to Wal-Mart because, as everyone knows, you can't go "to town" and not stop by Wal-Mart - it's like some sort of unspoken policy to small town life. As soon as we walked in the door, Mom called to wish me a happy birthday. They were having a great time! I'm so happy that they got to go on that trip. We finished up shopping (actually, we were getting groceries so that I could fix everyone supper!) and headed home. We picked up the boys and then went back to Mom & Dad's. Alan & Jen ran to their house and grabbed the Playstation and Guitar Hero. We spent the rest of the night goofing off. All in all it was a pretty good day.



JOHN'S NEW OBSESSION
While we were in Fletcher, Alan gave me my birthday present of two tickets to see Twilight during opening week. Of course, everyone (Erin, Alan & Jen) are going with. Well, Alan somehow got sucked in to the obsession of reading the books - he was finishing up the fourth one while we were there... And it ended up that John got bit by the vampire bug, too. He had seen the trailers and had already determined that he wanted to see the movie - but I guess the books were too much to resist. He's had them for 2 weeks now and is almost done with the second one. That's pretty hefty reading for someone who has a job and two or three other full time hobbies. I'm actually pretty excited that he's reading the books... It makes for better post-movie conversations. However, me and my big mouth keep upsetting him. I'm horrid at being a plot spoiler. Or even a plot hinter. I give too much away unintentionally, so I am now forbidden to even MENTION the books in his presence.



THE BOYS
Brayden & Tyler just keep on growing up on me. Tyler keeps picking up new words (mo-mo: Nemo; sues eee: excuse me) and he LOVES to sing with, dance with and watch the TV. He likes to sing along with the "Jack's Big Music Show" theme song. It's very cute to watch. He's still our little cuddle bug. But he's also as onery as the day is long. He likes to throw things and his favorite game is hitting Daddy and watching him fall down. He likes to wear shoes (Brayden's especially) and HATES to be in trouble (you should see his bottom lip!!). He is Brayden's shadow and tries to do anything and everything Brayden does. He's started really liking books, but will only hold still for one.

Brayden is growing like a weed. I think he'd fit 5T now if I had enough to put on him; 4T still works, though. He's started using the potty on his own. We have a sticker chart for him which he loves. It all began one night last week when I was doing stuff on my computer... I heard the toilet flush and knew John was in our bedroom, so that only left one other suspect. Sure enough - a second later he comes bolting out of the bathroom yelling, "I deh eet! I go pee!" And that's how it started. We are no where near potty trained, though. He's still in diapers most of the time, but will go to the bathroom about 4/10 times all by himself. If I can remember to ask him, it's about 6/10 times. He's also learning new words and phrases every day. He's a little sponge!!! The other night we were driving into town and he goes, "MOMMY! I see stars! I nee a telescope." Huh? What's that? My kid knows what a telescope is?!?! The the next day he's watching Little Einsteins and yells, "MOMMY! Look! Is a pyramid!" Sure enough. Where is he getting these things?!?! He also is very opinionated and lets us know what we can and cannot do. It's funny how bossy he is (not funny haha, funny roll-your-eyes-and-sigh).



Oh...and one more thing... Brayden AND Tyler (!!!!) spent two nights at Grandma & Pa Pa's house all by themselves!! That's the first time that Tyler's every stayed somewhere overnight without Mommy. Huge milestone. And it was a very, VERY nice two nights for Mommy & Daddy. I actually got to sleep in as late as I wanted and didn't have to worry that something/someone wasn't being taken care of ('cause John's a big boy and can fend for himself for the most part). So for the first time in almost three years, I had a childless night. As great as it was, I wouldn't want to do it too often.... I missed my little boys tremendously.

I almost forgot my biggest news.... Thanks to anyone who read my last blog and actually went and voted for my layout in that contest! I actually was one of the ten winners, and I get an AWESOME prize. It should be here Nov. 20th!! I'm super excited and happy. What a great belated birthday present!!!!

My 30th Bday is Sat...Will you do me a favor????

My THIRTITH birthday is Saturday (11/1)... With buying the new minivan, we've kind of had to tighten our belts to get the tags/title/tax paid which means that I'm not really getting a big birthday. (But I DID get a van, so....)

I just entered a digital scrapbooking contest to win a Bamboo Fun - which is a tablet thing that I can use to write on my scrapbook pages and stuff... You guys have NO idea how much I want to win this! I was going to get one for my birthday, but... well, see above... If you guys could help me WIN this, then I'd still get my bday present AND not have the financial stress!!

Just click here:



I WOULD BE EVER SO GRATEFUL!!! If you wanna post my link on your blog or anything, that'd be awesome.

VOTING ENDS TOMORROW (10/31), SO PLEASE DO IT NOW. Thanks so much!!

here's what it looks like:

Pumpkin Patch

So we FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch... we've driven by it a million times, but never had the camera, and I didn't want to "waste" the stop. Well, Mom & Dad were here Saturday because they were flying out of OKC early Sunday morning to go to Hawaii... So when they got here, we all piled into the new minivan and went to the patch. I think they had fun doing that, too.

There was a little train thing for the boys to ride (which they loved), a few small games (like a beanbag throw), and wagons to put the pumpkins (or kids) in. I think they had a great time running around, picking up pumpkins, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I'm sure this is going to become a yearly thing...

Here's the scrapbook page of the outing...

Lori Dabbles in Politics

I've never been too into politics, in fact, I used to CRINGE whenever my dad would change the radio station to Rush Limbaugh (side note, my sister even dubbed that station as "the voices" as in, "Dad, please turn off the voices!!"). But lately I find myself turning to AM talk radio every time we're in the car. The way our economy is going, the moral direction our country is headed... it just all gives me a major sense of unrest. I am scared for our country. Not because of what is happening now, but what I feel may happen next Tuesday. I am scared out of my mind that Obama is going to win this election and starting on Wednesday we will become France or worse (a socialist country). I can't believe how some of my friends, who are devout Christians, say they are voting for Obama. The reasons they give are beyond ludicrous in my mind - they have no FOUNDATION!! They say, "Well, I feel that any politician who has drawn our generation into politics the way he has will be good for our country and the way it's viewed by other countries." Um... but what about his stance on abortion, the redistribution of wealth, taxes, healthcare and so many other things? I could ramble on and on and on and on, but I'm not going to. I just want you to really think about the implications of voting for a man who has blatently said that he bemoans the fact that the supreme court has not "overcome" The Constitution of the United States of America. Please... think about the next four years not just focus on this man's age, race and smooth talking.

What happens when I Wordle??

get your own: http://wordle.net/

Brayden & The Sooners

Yesterday we were in our car and headed to Norman. On the way there, Brayden didn't have a paci, so he was more talkative than he usually is in the car. He let us know that we were going to "Mornan" and told us about everything he was seeing out his window. We finally got into town and he pointed at the National Weather Service building and said it was a house. We told him that it wasn't, but instead of confusing him, we just told him it was OU and that's where all the football players were. He got excited and started talking about football and "Too-ners." We asked him if he was going to play football... this is kind of how the following conversation went:

Us: Are you going to play football?
B: Football.
Us: For the Sooners?
B: Tooners.
Us: Well you need to get big, first! (sub conversation begins between John & me)
(Brayden mumbles some stuff to himself for a while with a few coherent words here and there then all of the sudden)
B: I play football. I help the Tooners.

John and I decided that we needed to document this day. Our 2 year old son already has visions of grandeur and has made the statement that he will someday play football for the OU Sooners.

Brayden & Tyler

I haven't written much about the boys lately...

Brayden is growing like a weed - he's so tall and skinny, but he eats more than I do. This does not bode well for the future. He's picking up new words every day; yesterday we taught him how to say, "Texas sinks" with his longhorns down. :D


Admit it, you love it. We caught him saying, "Maybe..." yesterday too. It's funny how many things you learn you say too much when your toddler starts talking. A few of our not-so-favorites are, "Stop that now!" and "Do you HEAR me?" but the cute one is, "Um.... how 'bout..." He's so creative with things and has a little too much energy. I think he has a hard time focusing on what we want him to do, but I'm hoping it's just a stage. He's definitely in the terrible twos - tantrums abound in our house. We're trying to work on the difference between "want" and "need." That seems to have finally sunk in. But now we're working on asking for things the right way instead of demanding them. So his sentence goes like this, "Um...may...I...have...some...paci........pweese." (It's not a question, it's a statement - always. And it's always "some" never "a" or "the.") He has really figured out that he can pick and choose what he wants now, too. He lets us know every day that he has an opinion (and a very STRONG one at that). Oh, and when you ask him where he lives, he says, "Camp Fire" (we tried to teach him to say Camp Sooner, but he kind of got confused).

Tyler is a horse of a different color. He's fairly laid back, but is an instigator. Seriously. He will walk into a room all giggles and smiles, saunter up to Brayden and then shove him as hard as he can. All this is fun to him until Brayden retaliates. Of course, Brayden is close to twice Tyler's size... He's such a sweet, cute little guy that I find it hard to take Brayden's side in the fight. I mostly just let them go at it - I want Tyler to learn that he shouldn't dish it out if he can't take it. He's talking more and more every day, too! His favorite thing to do is sit around and tell himself "Gink ewww, elkum." He LOVES the Little Einsteins... He's Rocket's biggest fan. He does the pat, pat, pat, and puts his little arms up and then (sometimes) says "baa-ffff" (blast off!), but always says, "GOOOOOOO!" (when they say, "Here we GO!"). He's so funny when he watches anything on TV - he'll either stand right under the TV and stare up at it...



...or he'll lie flat on his back right under the TV (and stare up at it). It's too funny. He's also been on a major drinking kick. It seems as though he's CONSTANTLY thirsty. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear "ooose" from him in one day. We're working on getting him to say please, but Brayden usually says it for him. He's drinking a big sippy of chocolate milk as I type. We've discovered that Tyler is a great soccer player. He actually understands that he can't touch the ball with his hands, and he has great kicking reflexes. It's really cute how he follows through with his kicks and tries to do crossover kicks (like Daddy). He's just so skinking adoreable!!!

I guess that's about all for now... I need to go start fixing lunch for my two little bottomless pits (and their daddy, too). I'll share more later!

Happy Birthday, Troy

Sort of a Catch Up?

I've talked about it before, but I've got a digital scrapbooking website that I use to do get almost all of my supplies and some other fun (ScrapGirls.com). Well, for about the last two weeks they've been holding me hostage. I'm not really joking, either!! haha! They've been having 'events' over there that involve games, chats, layout contests, and PRIZES!! Now, with things the way they are, any type of prize is a good prize... But the other day when I saw a game (aptly called "Needle in a Haystack") that was offering a $25 gift certificate as the prize, well, I couldn't pass that up. And it was NOT an easy game. They gave us this sheet of thumbnails and then you had to figure out where that thumbnail could be found in the boutique like the second image:



So anyway - this was NOT an easy task, but I couldn't possibly pass up $25 because I really wanted to be able to take advantage of the boutique sale that's going on right now (22.4% off everything!). So I stuck with it for a few too many hours, but I WON!! And on top of all of that, on Saturday, I got the daily newsletter and one of my layouts was in it!! I've been published!!!!! It's been a good week for me!

Here's the layout that was in the newsletter:



It's so much fun when you find a hobby to be involved with. It really helps me stay sane - but it's also nice knowing that I'm doing something productive for the boys. Speaking of hobbies, though - be looking for an upcoming blog on John's newfound obsession. haha

Is it really....

Is it really already the MIDDLE of October?!??! Oh my goodness where does time go? The boys are getting bigger every day: Tyler's talking more; Brayden's is in the throws of the terrible twos... But it's getting more and more fun to watch them play and interact with each other. Just tonight, Tyler was playing shadow to Brayden's antics. At a few points, I was absolutely SURE someone was going to get hurt, but thankfully that never happened. Brayden is just so much bigger than Tyler - not only because of age, but because he's a 75th percentile kid and Tyler's a less than 10th percentile boy. We call him Itty Bitty Ty. He just had his 18 month check up at the pediatrian the other day... The ped was a little concerned with Tyler's weight. But I'm not - I mean, look at the HUGE family he comes from (tongue in cheek). My dad's high school letter jacket fit me when I was in 7th grade... I'm not sure my grandma EVER weighed more than 110 lbs.

Speaking of my boys, though... I'm trying to blog while watching them take a bath... My laptop has already been sprayed by splashes and now Brayden's busy trying to pour water on the floor when I'm not staring him in the eye. So I guess I'd better go before we all get fried. I need to get some more pictures posted and some new layouts done... Maybe tonight after the boys go to bed???

The Big 12 and Middle East Politics

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today and I laughed like crazy. Like her, the Middle East makes much more sense to me now after putting it in "Big 12" perspective....

TEXAS: Iran. Somewhat of a controlling power in the region but it will all come crashing down because they have a highly functioning retard as a leader.

KANSAS: Kuwait. Tons of riches and unrealized potential, but still vulnerable to Iran.

NEBRASKA: Iraq. A wealth of history but the country as a whole is going in the tank and they will kill themselves off before it's all over.

OKLAHOMA: Saudi Arabia. A proud kingdom, once torn up by fighting but known for historic past and prosperous future, surrounded by Iran and Iraq, with fanatics in Al-Qaeda (see below) who'll stop at nothing to bring them down.

MISSOURI: Syria. Evil schemers who will stoop to whatever level they need to win. No real history to speak of but thinks they are the cradle of civilization.

OKLAHOMA STATE: Al Qaeda. No real country, just a movement of fanatics who live to destroy the hope of those more fortunate. No other goal in life than to bring down the House of Saudi Arabia. Terrorizing that country in the late 90's and early 2000 years is the crowning achievement in their history. Signing day was a major setback to the movement. They are fanatically loyal to their new leader.

KANSAS STATE: Palestinian territories. No one really cares or worries about them unless they can be of some use (i.e. winning a battle once in a while against Iran that causes a bit of shake up in rankings)

IOWA STATE: Qatar. Where is Qatar? Is it in our area?

TEXAS A&M: Afghanistan. Not much going for it other than the crazy commoners.

BAYLOR: Israel. None of the others understand why they're in the area. Just leave them alone. What did they ever do to you?

COLORADO: Morocco. Not really part of the Middle East. Has other things to do than fight (or play football). Rumor is you can always go there for a good time.

TEXAS TECH: Libya. Has a charismatic leader in a land of nothingness who will rattle his sword but knows he doesn't have a whole heck of a lot to back it up. Pulls the occasional sneak-attack and cries "Victory!"

Wanted: Pizza Thief

I said I'd do a layout with Tyler's pizza thieving... so here it is!!! I actually did this as part of a challenge on ScrapGirls.com. I need to get some pics off our camera and do some updating here. We've had John's birthday at my parents' and then at Tulsa (which included a trip to the State Fair and a get-together with a BTB girl). Lots to post!!! But this will have to be it for right now.

Pizza Monster

My boys are definately just like me when it comes to an unheard of love for pizza. They both started eating pizza before a year old, and to this day, it's one of the very few meals that Tyler will not throw on the ground. Brayden will ask for it almost every day ("I need pizza!"), too. On Mondays, our local Mazzios has a carryout special - one large one topping pizza for $6.99. Well, that's about as much as cooking a meal from scratch would be, so we will order a pizza on Mondays quite often. ANYWAY - last night we got the pizza and the boys ate theirs while John and I polished off the rest (less one piece). I got the boys from their chairs for bathtime after all was said and done - but John and I didn't pick up our 'mess' in the living room... Well, I got Tyler out of the tub, diapered and dressed and set him loose while I took care of Brayden. I thought John was still in the living room.... I come in about 5 minutes later and this is what I found. Guess Tyler wasn't done eating.


He had crawled up onto the coffee table all by himself to get that last piece of pizza.


He has problems biting the crust, so he eats it this way...


I love my little pizza monsters.

FIREPROOF

John and I just got back from our date day... After church today the youth group offered free babysitting for people in the church to be able to go see Fireproof. We had 125 people go (the church reserved a private showing for their members/guests)! It was a great turn out.

So right after church, John & I went to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings (we were in and OUT within 30 minutes!!!!) and then headed to the theater. We were the first ones there - we didn't plan on lunch being so quick - so we just sat and played some quiz games on his iPod. So the movie finally got going...

If you haven't heard of Fireproof yet, here's a link to the official movie site: http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/



Here's my official review:

The acting starts off a bit like Facing the Giants - a little "B" class (although, John and I both thought that Kirk Cameron's acting in the movie was phenomenal), but it quickly fades into the background because of the strength of the story. The story was very powerful and true to life. There was quite a bit of "preaching" in it, but none of it felt inappropriate. In fact, it was very refreshing and eye-opening, even to those who feel that their relationship isn't struggling. It opened some great discussion doors and makes you realize that no matter how much you're putting into your marrige, there's probably more you can do. I think my favorite part was comparing dating and marriage to education... When you're dating and wooing each other by learning what they like, dislike and prefer, you're working on your high school degree. When you get married, the rest of your life is spent learning more about your spouse - getting your college degree, Masters and a Doctrate. I really think that every married couple could really benefit from watching this movie - Beliver or not. Marriage is something that constantly takes your energy, effort and work - and love. It must be rekindled daily. And with the divorce rate in our society, the most important message of this movie is so important - in a fire you don't leave your partner behind. (And just because something is fireproof doesn't mean that it won't be tested by fire.)

Whew!!!!

So... after about 2 hours of slight edits, uploads and previews, I FINALLY got a new look on my blog. I'm still not happy with the seams, but I'm giving up and calling it good.

I've been semi-busy today other than that. I've been doing laundry, dishes, and trying to keep the boys entertained. I put the Cars tent up in Brayden's room earlier. They thought that was great. But of course it quickly led to screaming and tears from one or both boys. So we had lunch, and then laid down for naps. Which worked for Tyler, but not for Brayden. So we have one 2 1/2 year old who hasn't had a nap today. Not fun. But one bonus of him staying up - everything in the house (toys, juice cups, trash, etc) got picked up by Brayden... Of course, it's all inside the tent.

We're all sporting our OU gear and waiting for the game to start (against TCU). Brayden got a quick lesson on the Razorbacks earlier today... Arkansas was playing Texas. It's funny to listen to him try to say new words. But - the REAL news - USC AND Florida (Miami) losing this week!!! As long as we win against TCU there's a really good chance that we'll wind up in the number one slot. I told John that knowing the way the polls operate, USC will remain in the top ten even though they have a loss. We hate the stupid pollsters, it's NEVER fair to non-Pac 10 conferences. And here's another conundrum for you, though - why is no one throwing out Sam Bradford's name for Heisman? Not that I know THAT much about all this gunk, but it just seems kind of weird to me. One of these days John and I are going to drive 20 minutes down the road and actually go to an OU football game. Well, he's been to two, but I've not been to any since we moved here... Which by the way, next month begins our FOURTH year of being here at Camp Sooner. Wow. Where does the time go????

A long day without batteries.

So this morning, I'm lying in bed ever so peaceful. I had just had a dream which wasn't too bad and was able to convince my mind of the "real" outcome as I was beginning to wake up. I could hear big trucks driving up & down our driveway and then remembered that the electric company was to be here today to install the 3-Phase lines for the camp. I woke John to let him know what was going on (he could sleep through a tornado), and he semi-reluctantly got out of bed. Good thing, too. Just as he stepped out of the bathroom there was a knock on our front door. They were coming to let us know that we were very soon going to be powerless. This wouldn't be a big deal at all if it weren't for a few factors. One: The boys were still in bed (it was 7:30 am), and they both sleep with fans. No electricity means their fans would be shut off. That equals two little boys being ripped out of dreamland. Two: We're on a well. No electricity means no water. But they said the job should only take roughly three hours. So no biggie.

Tyler woke up first. He had some cereal. Then he had some more cereal - which wound up on the floor. Then he ran around the house like a crazy person. 8:30 rolls around and Brayden's still not up. So I decide to go make sure he's okay. I wind up cuddled next to him in his twin bed and let him finish up his sleeping. Until Tyler wandered in and crawled in bed too... Well, more aptly, crawled ON Brayden. We finally all make it out of Brayden's bed and head for the living room. Of course the first thing Brayden does is try to turn on the lights. We try to tell him that the lights aren't working right now. He looks at us with raised eyebrows and says, "Need batteries?" Well, sort of. So he goes around the house trying to turn on different things and informing us each time that it "Needs new batteries." This is all fun and then the novelty of it wore off. We read books, rolled around on the floor, listened to Daddy's iPod, watched Backyardigans on the laptop and had fishes a few too many times.

SIX HOURS LATER... we have power again. Whew. That morning seemed to last FOR-EV-ER. But we're now one step closer to having the HVAC units installed at the dining hall!!!!!

My cooking...

So I've never considered myself a GREAT cook or totally health conscious, but dang. I'm feeling very, VERY... um... inferior right now. On my mommy boards one girl just asked about menus for the week. Now, it must be said that most weeks I make a few more 'fancy' meals, but they are NEVER anything like what these people make and I am left wondering what is wrong with me. I know I'm a picky eater, and so I usually cater to my own preferences, but I don't see how you can have these (what I would call) fancy meals every night of the week. Am I that lazy? Or are they really easy meals and I'm just uncultured?? I grew up in a home where my mom fixed homemade meals 7 days a week, but we never had anything that I'd consider gourmet. But it was always FANTASTIC. There have only been a handful of meals that my mom's made in 30 years that I thought were inedible (to me at least, everyone else liked it). And so it brings me around to think - why do I berate myself for feeding my kids the foods that they enjoy eating even if it's not "creamy tomato sauce with orzo, steamed broccoli and chicken sprinkled w/ herbs, cooked in olive oil, green onions, & garlic in skillet" (no offense Lindsay, that's just an example)??

I guess I'm open to some new (EASY) recipes....

Well, I'm off to put some chicken nuggets and fries into the oven. Haha.

Where the Wild Things Are

Don't know if you've noticed, but off to the right there, I have a little sidebar thing that has artwork from classic children's books. The one today caught my eye. Brayden and I have been reading "Where the Wild Things Are" every night for almost a month now. He asks for it every time he goes to bed. I love hearing him read along with me (finish the sentences). But probably the funniest thing is on the second page - where Max was making mischief of one kind.... and another. Max is running down the stairs with some sort of fork thing in his hand and he's chasing the dog... Brayden always says, "Gonna git in tuble!" It's so cute that he knows that Max is being bad. So I'll say, "Yeah, he's going to get in tuble." Which he follows up with, "Gonna git a 'pankin!" He's always so adamant that Max needs that spanking for being bad. He won't let me turn the page until I agree that Max needs to be spanked. So anyway... I just thought it was fun to see this picture of the Wild Things. Makes me want to roar my terrible roar, gnash my terrible teeth, rooooooolll my terrible eyes, and show my terrible claws. hehe.

What's your kid's favorite book of the month???

Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

I thought I should maybe share Tyler's favorite book, too... I got this from the library the other day. I've seen these Pigeon books at Sams and always thought they were sooo funny. I actually got this for Brayden, but Tyler's the one who loves it - which is kind of strange because he NEVER sits still for books. But if you've never picked up any of these Pigeon books, I highly suggest you do!! They're right up there with The Stinky Cheese Man in my opinion (but geared more toward the little mind).

A day of rest... Wait, what's that?

Sundays are always a very "off" day in our house. Why? Because it's the only day of the week that we actually have to be on a schedule in the morning. (Excluding summer camp.) This morning started off ooooooh so wonderfully, too. The alarm goes off, and after grunts and groans issuing from both sides of the bed, I realize I hear Brayden in his room. But his light's not on. Never a good sign. So I jump up, run in there and... yep... the diaper is off and there's poopoo all over the bed (again). What in the WORLD will it take to get this kid to learn that we DO NOT take off diapers?!?! Sigh. So I stripped down the bed, threw the sheets in the wash - with the delay timer set so we could get showers - and then helped Daddy get the boys their breakfast. While we were trying to wrangle the boys into the kitchen, I caught Brayden by the arm and asked him if he knew why he got a spankin' a little while ago. Here's the conversation:

Me: Brayden? Look at me. Hey. I'm trying to talk to you. Look at - okay. Do you know why you got in trouble?
B: In tuble.
Me: Yes, trouble. Why were you in trouble?
B: Hey - look!
Me: No, look at me.
B: Whas that? A car-pit cleaner?
Me: yes, that's the carpet cleaner, but we're talking and I need you to listen to me. You took your diaper off again, and that's a no-no. Especially because it had stinky poo in it.
B: Stinky poo?
Me: Yes. And stinky poo is yucky. Right?
B: (Makes grunting noise) Stinky poo. Right. Go (grunts again), like that?
Me (trying not to laugh): Yes, that's how you go stinky poo, but it's supposed to stay in your diaper. Only Mommy or Daddy get to change your diaper.
B: Hey - whas that?!
Me - gives up and feeds the kid breakfast.

...but we made it to church on time. :D

Fall is sorta here and other thoughts

I've been kind of random lately. I feel like my thoughts (and feelings) are all over the place. I wake up in the morning and it's cool outside and I'm blissfully happy and content. Then, as the day wears on, the sun bears down and my soul is dragging. I hate the heat. Kind of weird, then, that I have a job that requires the most of me in the summer, huh? I think I would love it somewhere north - but not so north that it'd be COLD all the time. I'm a very mild-on-the-cool-end climate kind of gal. Fall has always been my favorite time of year. With the holidays approaching including, but not limited to, my birthday, and the smells that greet you in kitchens, ahhhhhh what more could you ask for???

I got to put the boys in their windbreakers this morning as we headed out the door to go to Forest Hill's youth group's fundraiser garage sale (wow, what a mouthful), and I was SOOOOO happy. They look so cute in jackets. Of course by the time we left the garage sale, it was too hot for the extra layer, so they were stripped of their adorable additions. Thankfully they are still cute even without the extra padding. ;)

I would love to converse with you some more about how much I love the cool and how I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks and months, but my laptop battery is letting me know it's about to die, and I'm no where near my plug. I will try to get a scrapbook page together, though to show you my feelings. .... until next time

"I need a paci!"

A line I hear much too often in this house... Brayden is now 31.5 months old and he (still) *needs* his paci. He sounds like some sort of adict - "Brayden do you want some milk?" Response: "NO! I NEED to find a paci." Well... we got back from Fletcher on Monday and Tuesday afternoon I couldn't find Brayden's paci. It was nap time, and I was freaking out. He does NOT go to sleep well without it. So I calmly went into his room and told him that it was nap time. He said, "I need a paci." I proceeded to tell him that I couldn't find it. I told him it was gone. He looks at me with pitifully wide eyes and asked if it was far, far away. Yes, I told him. It was gone far away. He looks at me and then cups his little hands around his mouth and yells, "Come back, paci!!" (I about laughed out loud at this, but I didn't want to make fun of his plight.) I told him that I thought the paci was too far away to hear him - it was probably lost for good. He sighed a tremendous sigh and looks at me forlornly - "Far, far away?" he asked again. Yes, my love... it's gone. He sighed again. I asked him if he thought he could take a nap without it. He seemed to think about that for a second and then said, "I need juice." So I got him a cup and that was that. Three hours later I had to go wake him up from his nap - without his paci. This could be the start of a great thing.

I LOVE FACEBOOK

When Facebook first started, it was only for students...and of course by that point I was no longer one. So I joined the myspace movement. I really loved being able to find my long lost friends, but it soon got very annoying to me. About that time, Facebook opened their doors to the public. And I have visited every day - many times a day - since. I have most of the same friends I have on myspace, but I find Facebook so much more user friendly and CLEANER, so I can actually keep up with what my friends are doing.

Fast forward to last week.... Kay found one of our old BFFs who hasn't really been so much the "forever" part in about 5 years. But we've all now caught up via Facebook and have spent the last few days laughing our heads off recalling the "old days" in the dorm. I can't even tell you how much fun it is to just sit and remember all those crazy moments we shared. And it's amazing to think how far we've all come since then. I'm so thankful for technology that allows us to network with long lost friends, acquaintances and perhaps some foes. And it's also fun to send a darling husband a free gift - even if he is sitting just on the other side of the room. ;)

Time for a new Layout...

I've been doing a lot lately, but I've been submitting them to magazines for publication (gasp!). None have been accepted yet, but they don't like you posting them in public forums. Want to keep stuff fresh, KWIM? Anyway... here's one I did today that I wanted to post.



Last week we went to Grandma & Grandpa Ritz' for a couple of days. We had a BLAST. We ate all sorts of good food (Olive Garden, Marketplace, Razorback Pizza, Hunan Village...) and had lots of good shopping/visiting time. Not to mention all the Olympics we watched. We also had a couple of birthday parties and one open house. It was just chalk full of things. But anytime we were just at Grandma's the boys were playing outside. They would wake up and instead of eating, they'd go outside. It was raining, but they played outside. It was naptime, but they played outside. They made "chocolate milk" in the dirt (just add water). They played with the cars, the bikes and the ramp. Brayden went "swimming" in the hot tub (don't worry, it wasn't hot). Tyler got to run around naked (thanks to his Grandma Laura). I really think they had more fun than any of the rest of us combined. I was sure they wouldn't want to leave. But when we got home, Brayden ran into the living room screaming, "We're home! This Brayden home!" It's so nice to know that even at that age they appreciate what we've created out of this house... It really is good to be home (even if I was wrought with chigger bites - but that's a story for another day).

Church and Stuff...

So when we moved here, we thought we'd be going to a certain church... but the preacher they had there had a few doctrinal issues that we just couldn't jive with. So we went to this other church. It was a TON smaller, but it felt like home. Now, three years and two kids later, we are considering a move. The first church has a new minster, youth minister and direction. The second church hasn't grown (in fact, I think it's shrunk) and has no youth programming. Honestly, our boys are the only kids under 5 in the church. And the next closest to them is about 7 - and then the next ones are teens. All of this has built up to us wanting (read: needing) to rethink our membership at said churches.

We went to the first church again today. Loved it. Love the nursery, love the new youth minister & his wife (with whom we had lunch and talked all things camp), the preacher and his message... It just feels like it's what we need to do to minister to our family. I just feel so guilty pulling the "new blood" out of second church. We're the only young couple there - and we're scared that if we leave, if another couple would come, they'd end up with the same feelings as we have. But a friend once told me that our family comes first and we have to do what's best for our spiritual health and that of our children. SO.... If anyone has any wisdom on the subject, I'd love to hear it.

I just wanna say...

Thhhhhha Wonder Pets Saaaaave the Skunk.


and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, God has blessed you dearly.

6 Random Things (in a not so random order)

My bestest friend Eskai tagged me for this. *Sigh* I guess I gotta do it. (hehe)

Here are 6 random things about me.
1. When I was one, I lived in Joplin, MO - and we had a DOG! For anyone that knows my mom, this is probably a shocker. We actually had dogs until I was about 14ish. But they were always outdoor dogs except for this one. His name was Fritz - and I would torture the poor thing - I put booties on his little paws.
2. When I was two, we moved to Arkansas - we moved from there when I was 4. I can still find that house when I'm in town (even if it takes me a few minutes...). I actually just drove by it last week with Erin while we were in Siloam. I think it's really kind of weird that I have an obsession with going to look at the places where I used to live even though I can't really remember it.
3. Oh, but I DO remember something... We had a closet that had two clothes bars in it... and they were one in front of the other, but one was about a foot higher. I used to pretend they were parallel uneven bars and swing on them. I always want to be a gymnast.
4. But that wasn't to be because when I was in 4th grade (hehe, I'm on #4) I was in gymnastics, but Matt Harrell pushed me on the monkey bars, and I had to be in a cast for a few weeks... long enough that Mom pulled me out of gymnastics classes. I never got back in them either. And all this happened one week before we started bars.
5. It took me 5 years to get through college. I could've finished in 4... but my boss wouldn't let me. I was signed up for 23 hours the spring semester of my 4th year and got hired at CIY. Gary told me that there was no way I'd be able to do the job and carry that load, so he made me half it and graduate a year later. I'm glad I graduated when I did, though - I got to walk with all my friends.
6. I've lived in 6 places since I left home for college: the OCC dorms, Duenweg (the cheap apartments), Joplin (the duplex), Webb City (the Seinfeld apts), 404 N Joplin (our house), and Pink, OK (the camp).


Now... I'm off to tag my friends: ROBYN, CINDI, TIFFANIE, ALLIE... and I can't find a 5th or 6th... sorry...


Rules of Engagement:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Brayden's (finally) Speaking in Sentences!

Okay, so he's been using simple sentences, "No, Mommy!" for a while now... But just this past week, he's started using his sentences to actually talk. Tonight, he and Tyler were eating dinner and Brayden started using his weight to scoot the highchair closer to Tyler's chair... John came in and moved him back and Brayden goes, "OH NO! Come back, Tyler!" Shortly after that, I took the boys to the bathroom for bath time. Brayden runs into the bathroom, looks at the tub and exclaims, "Bubbles! Bubbles! Oh, I like bubbles!" He's just growing up so quickly.

The other really cute thing he's been doing lately? Trying to do cartwheels. But they are more like rolling on the floor. He starts out like he's going to do a somersault, but then he kind of rolls off to the side and rolls along the floor - then he pops up and cheers for himself. Do you think someone's been watching the Olympics? Oh, he also shows us now how to swim - he did the butterfly in the pool(but he still won't put his face in the water - he just does it with his arms).

Tyler's learning new words every day, too. He's figured out eyes, nose, ears, stuck, on, off and maybe some more, but John's got sand volleyball going in the background and he's reprimanding me for not watching with him. I guess it's pretty awesome.

B-I-N-G...Oh, MAN!!!!!

It's always humorous to me (okay, maybe in theory, but I'm never laughing about it) how I can always manage to get *this* close to things and then... nada. I would say I never win anything, but I've had a few lucky streaks lately. I am addicted to Scrapgirls.com - it's my digital scrapbooking haven. I don't post a whole lot, nor do I chat, but I read a lot of stuff, and I LOVE to browse the gallery and post my own pages. Anyway... they play lots of games on the site - games where they give away good prizes (aka FREE STUFF). Of course anyone who knows ANYTHING about me knows how competitive I am. I can't stand to lose. Proabably its because anything I chose to participate in, I feel that I can win - I kind of cheat that way - I don't try to do things like play Halo 3 on XBox because I would for definitely sure lose BIG time. Golf is another one of those things (John's convinced I should just give it a try, but I know myself, I know I don't have the patience to be good, so I'll just be content saying, "I can't play" rather than, "I really stink."). ANYWAY (again), it's BINGO time on the SG web boards. You pick 25 words out of 75 - they call 5 words a day, first to 15 wins. I'm at 12. And the girl calling the words has obviously gone into hiding. She's nowhere to be found. She's boycotting, I guess. :D Just kidding... But seriously - I've been stalking the boards since 8:30 this morning just WAITING for her to call those last 3 words I need so I can win and get it over with!!!

I'll keep you posted.

...4 hours later:
I WON!!!!! Okay, I'm officially a dork, I'm so excited.

OU, Toddlers and Teenagers

Tyler has learned to say, "OU!" He has been able to make both sounds individually, but tonight we taught him to put them together - with enthusiasm. :D Oh yes, we brainwash our boys with Sooner Spirit. But after all, football season approacheth and what kind of parents would we be if we did not train up our children in the way they should go??? I mean, really, if I'm going to be the mom of two Heisman winners, I've got to start them young.

Oh.... I also need to share about my teenage toddler. You might be saying, HUH?? But I will explain. Brayden has hit this stage where everything he does is an unbeliveably good impression of a brooding teenager. He slams doors, he rolls his eyes and says, "Mmmaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmmm!" he goes to bed late and then sleeps in, he gets huffy when he doesn't get his way, and he doesn't want anything to do with anything anyone wants him to have anything to do with (yeah, try to say that 5 times fast). BUT... he and Tyler have learned to hug each other. I need to get the camera out for this because it really is too sweet not to share with the entire world (or those few who actually read my blog, I guess). So it's not all bad. In fact, it's not even mostly bad. And if I'm going to be honest, I can't say it's bad at all or then I'd have to shame myself because Brayden really is just a mini version of me. I mean, where do you think he learned to say, "You hear me?!?!" and "Come here NOW!" :D Thank goodness Tyler is like Daddy.

As Promised...

Okay, here's the zoo page... I still can't believe that Brayden got to pet a kangaroo!!!!!

Hum...

I really wanted to just type some stuff in my blog without having to have a scrapbook page to add. So... I was thinking about what happened today... And it brought to mind, my cousin, Shawna called today. She was telling me about my aunt's 60th birthday party that's coming up. She also reminded me (as if I needed reminding) that I've got a "big one" coming up too (I'll be 30!). And our conversation kind of just went on until she brought up a topic that we had discussed way back in October... She has some good friends who lost a daughter to cancer in November and was wanting some advice from someone who'd been through a similar situation to weigh in on how to best deal with the siblings. It's weird to have to drudge up all those feelings from 15+ years ago. She asked me an odd question, though - if I had felt some resentment toward Troy & my parents during the entire thing - if I felt like I was being, not really neglected, but getting the short end of the stick when it came to my parents. I didn't even have to hesitate when saying, "Yes. Without a doubt, yes." It took me until college to actually start dealing with some of those issues and to this day, I still harbor some of the emotions that I felt during my eighth grade year after Troy died. But I realized something today as I was talking to Shawna. That if I KNEW that one of my two boys was going to die within the next year, I wouldn't hesitate to spend as much time with them as possible. I would take them everywhere with me, I would sleep with them, I would cuddle them every waking moment - I'd smother them.

But then I thought about something else....

We are not promised tomorrow. They aren't promised tomorrow. So why am I not taking advantage of every moment with them now? What if I didn't have tomorrow with them? Or worse, what if I DO, but I don't take advantage of it and 18 years go by and I've never truely taken advantage of them. As crazy as they drive me sometimes, and as much as I just want some "me" time or that extra 30 minutes of sleep... I need to make sure that I don't miss the time I have with my kids.

Camping Out

So Rhonda, Nikolas and Andrea came to visit this weekend. Brayden & Nikolas had a TON of fun playing (or WRESTLING) together. Saturday night, I decided they could sleep together, so I got out Brayden's Cars tent and sleeping bag. I don't know how much sleeping went on actually, but they had a great time.



We also went to the Little River Zoo, but I haven't had time to scrap that yet, so you'll just have to wait.

I Love Thee...

I found a really neat quote today while working on scrapbook pages... I wanted to use it to do a page for John, but I couldn't find any good, recent pictures of him by himself. Somehow I'm always complaining that there aren't any pictures of me, and have consequently given my camera to people lately to make sure I'm in some pics, but now I realize I don't have too many of John either. So - note to self - take more pictures of the hubby. Anyway... I gave up on the idea of doing a page of John when I found a picture of John & Brayden from Thanksgiving 2006. I just jumped in from there. This is what I wound up with:



But let me tell you WHY I really wanted to do a page about how much I love my wonderful husband... It's because he loves me. :D He's taken the last few days to make my life a little easier, which has been an immense relief to me. He's cleaned and more importantly, decluttered my kitchen, he's done the dishes for the last 3 meals, and he vacuumed the entire house. And he's done all of this with a broken finger!! I think some of it was cabin fever, but it was still ultimately to help me out. He's a great husband and helper for me. I love my John.

Words and more words...

I realized today that I am a very bad mom when it comes to the boys' baby books. There are PAGES and PAGES of nothing in there. So I thought that I need to try to write some stuff here just so I'll have it SOMEWHERE. You know??? John and I were laughing this morning about some of Brayden's sentences. Our current favorite is:

"Let Brayden help you."

Mostly in reference to using scissors or the phone or something else he knows he shouldn't be 'helping' with.

Tyler's words to date:
No
Da-Dee
Mom-ma
Gam-ma
Pa-Pa
Thain-ku
joose
din (drink)
done
ball
baf (bath)
go (more like where'd it go?)
yeah
ummmm!
oooe (shoe)
eeee (eat)

And yesterday, he tried to sing along with the Little Einsteins theme - I even think he said something like 'Einsteins.' Imagine that!!!

I think there are more, but I can't think of them right now, so I'll come back and edit if I remember them.

That's all - I just wanted to get that all written down.

Mommy's a Guitar Hero & Brayden Wipes Out

John & I had some vacation money left, so we went out and got Aerosmith's Guitar Hero... We could've used it for something more responsible, but it was VACATION money - and this game is something that's allowed us to extend the feeling of vacation into our every day lives. Besides, it's too much fun!! Of course I only play on "easy" because I don't want to get frustrated... (In other words, I'm basically a cheater, cause I *could* play medium, I'd just stink at it. Know your limits, I say.) I had a really good game one day and I pulled a John and took a screen shot with our camera (he does that when he has really good Halo games - I always thought he was a cheeseball). And to further the insanity, I'm scrapping it.



One more thing... Tonight John decided that he was going to watch a really (REALLY) stupid show called "Wipe Out." I'd kind of boycotted myself from watching it because it seriously looked that dumb and I didn't want to give the powers that be the satelite feeding letting them know that someone was watching - thus encouraging them to make more stupid television. But I digress - John was watching it and was really getting a kick out of it. Must be a guy thing because Brayden joined right in. After about 5 minutes of watching these dumb Wipe Out stunts, he starts turning everying in the living room into an obstacle course (including, but not limited to, John's legs). He was jumping from couch to coffee table and then rolling off onto the floor... he was creeping to the edge of the cushions and then springing onto John's legs... John realized that the show was obviously a bad influence on a very daring child, so he turned it off. And Brayden yelled, "No Daddy! Why-Out!" He's going to be a daredevil, I'm just sure of it.

Thank you!

I've been meaning to come on here and post this for a while now... Tyler is talking in sentences!! Well, if you count "Thank you." It sounds more like gich-eeew most of the time, but sometimes it comes out very clear. He's also learned how to jump, he runs when you say "ready, set, GO!" and he's sleeping through the night (most of the time - finally!).

We cut his hair the other day... It was getting kind of out of hand. But I still didn't really want to do it. His curls were just too cute. Not to mention that I absolutely LOVED running my hands through his hair. Now that it's all gone, he just doesn't really look like my little baby anymore. But seeing as how everyone thought he was my baby girl (even in blue), I guess I needed to do it for him.

Brayden has been showing us lately just how stubborn he is... He is fighting sleeping by himself. He goes down for the evening around 8:30 or 9 and doesn't give up the crying until around 12 and even then, it's only for about 20 minute increments. The other night, he cried off and on until close to 3 am. And then he woke up around 5 and started in again. It's not fun at all. We've tried everything - drinks, paci, stuffed animals, flash lights, lying with him for a few minutes, singing, the "just put them back in bed" technique, ignoring, stern voices, and even a swift pat on the rear... but he just WILL NOT give up. Every time you leave the room, he's at the door within seconds. I actually think it's kind of facinating that he has that kind of "stick-to-it-iveness." But it makes for VERY long nights for Mommy & Daddy.

I think I'll come back later and add a few posts above this one to include vacation stuff since I'm not really in the mood to sit here and recount it all right now (I'm super tired). If anyone has any tips on getting a very willful toddler to bed, be my guest to share. :D

Here're a few scrapbook pages to get you through until next time:






This one is actually a picture from quite some time ago, but since I was talking about Brayden and his onerery-ness...

Two words at once!!

Tyler said a two word sentence this week!!! On Saturday he said, "Water Pa Pa!" And then last night he said, "Ni-ni Da-dee" He's growing up so quickly!! Brayden is gone to Grandma & Pa Pa's this week, so Tyler and I have been alone together. Although with camp going on, it's not like we've had a lot of free time. Pretty much if we're alone, it's because it's nap time. But it's nice to be able to focus solely on him and his needs for a few days. Here's my latest Tyler scrap... it's a picture from a few months ago, but I just got it done and fell in love with the outcome.



Speaking of speaking in sentences... Brayden has just taken off with talking. I called this morning to check on him and he got on the phone and talked my ear off for about 10 minutes. It was a lot of gibberish, but that's the longest he's ever stayed on the phone in conversation. He told me about the thunder ("I her it! Dun-der! I her it!") and got excited about something and blabbered on incoherently about whatever it was for quite a while! We miss having him around. I noticed when we were at my mom's that he's now taller than the bar... when we were there for Erin's graduation in May, he could still walk under it. So obviously he's had a major growth spurt in the last month. Here's what else Brayden's been up to:



Well, I just heard the washer stop, so I need to go put the clothes in the dryer. I wish I had more time to write some stuff, I'd like to talk about camp, about some stresses I've been feeling, about frustrations with some people... but I promised myself that when the laundry was done, I would go to bed so I could be on top of my game tomorrow. I was a little short tempered today... and I really don't want to be that person again tomorrow.

DONE!

...with the first session of camp. Servant's Camp was yesterday and today. We had 42 people here total. That's a really good sized group. They got a lot of stuff done. Billy & Joy took the time to actually try and think of all the little things that needed to be done that we maybe hadn't thought of. Fantastic to have such servant hearted people around. I don't know that we tell them that enough.

Brayden and Tyler are having a blast being able to be out of the house so much. Brooklyn (from Ada) "babysat" for me all morning so I could get registrations and whatnot done. That was such a huge help. Now it's after lunch, the boys are down for naps, and I'm going to have the luxury of taking a shower. It's kind of weird when that tends to be the highlight of your day. :D I find myself wishing all day that I could have the time to pop in the shower, but then when I get that time, it always seems like there's something else to do... laundry, dishes, surfing the internet uninterrupted. hehe.

I put the boys in matching outfits today. I need to get the camera out and take a pic. If I do, I'll probably end up scrapping it. I have kind of made this goal of scrapbooking a page a day. I have so many pictures from Brayden's 2nd year of life (so 13 months and older) that I haven't had a chance to do much with since that's about when Tyler was born. I got most of Tyler's pages done because I wanted to have them for his first birthday... I'm trying to get caught up, though, because it's a lot easier to journal on pages that are fresh in your mind. Anyhoo... the shower is calling my name. I can hear it.

something a little older and something new

Tyler turned 14 months old today. Growing like a weed! He's not as big as Brayden was, but he's big for him (if that makes sense). He's always been my little peanut. I'm still 100% convinced that they didn't weigh him right when he was born. But whatever. He's such a sweetheart. He loves to blow kisses to people and tonight he gave Billy a real kiss goodnight (on the cheek of course). I was surprised that he did it!

Today I did something I've never done before... I took both boys to the mall all by myself. We went to Old Navy and Children's Place and then played in the play zone. THEN - I took them to Chick-fil-A for lunch and managed to do it all without going crazy or even a little crazy at all. They were both really good. It was hard when I had to hold one and push the other in the stroller - the cheapie strollers were NOT made for someone to push with one hand. But I can't fit the bigger one in my trunk (oh where is that minivan when you need it!?!?!?). But all in all, it was a good enough trip that I may actually do it again sometime. However - I'm still not going to brave grocery shopping with them by myself. That's just nuts.

Well... I'm not feeling real great... I think maybe I'm just really tired. And I have a few things to do before actually making it to bed. I think I may just skip it all and take a nice long bath or shower and then hit the sack, though. I may go see how things are going with the Servants kids first... John's down there, and I don't want him to be all weirded out if he comes home, and I'm already in bed.

Momma's Boy

I scrapbooked the picture of Tyler and me that I took yesterday...

Playing Quietly

I had a few free minutes... Brayden is napping, and Tyler is playing by himself. He's been doing that a lot more over the last few weeks. Used to be that Brayden was the only one who'd play alone. I think he actually spoiled me because he liked to play by himself from about 9 months old. He'd sit in his room and play for hours. Very uncharacteristic for babies that old. But then there's my mommy's boy Tyler. He really needs people around. He does not like to be alone. But, he's started to change. He will play by himself for 20-30 minutes or with Brayden for an hour or so (or until he gets hurt or stuck in the toy box). He's growing up so quickly!! He tried to say "diaper" today. It was actually almost understandable! It's so weird to me for him to be talking since Brayden didn't talk until 2. Anyway - I got a few pictures of Tyler while he was playing...

Seriously.

I was sitting on the couch last night scrapbooking (again) and thought to myself that I needed to blog something... but again, I didn't. I guess I just tell myself that my scrapbooking kind of covers the blog aspect?

ANYWAY... I just saw a friend's blogger site and she's started blogging letters to her two little girls. I thought it was a fantastic idea, but I'd never keep up with it. Sigh. I wish I could. I need to get out of this pity party, though.

Brayden has now started talking in almost complete sentences. It's kind of happened gradually,so I haven't noticed it quite as much as John. But since he's not in the house all day, he keeps commenting on how many more things Brayden is saying these days. Like last night, they were taking a shower and B goes, "It's raining!" He's started liking "The Very Best Nest" book for bedtime - mainly because there's a big bell in it and he gets to go "bong! bong! bong!" really loud and with motions... He's very into the whole sound effect thing right now. He'll tell you there's a bug and then he'll shake his hands and say, "buzz buzz" (like he's trying to show you what the bug does). He also does airplanes, trains, trucks (big trucks!) and anything that makes loud noises, like thunder or growling animals. He's become obsessed with chocolate milk. The neighbor's dog is Chocolate, so he's started calling him Chocolate Milk.

Tyler is our little ham. He's started figuring out that he can make people laugh and he loves to do things to bring out that response. He's a generally happy baby, but when he gets mad about something, his fit is pretty intense. He's been learning from Brayden, though, so what less could you expect?

I'm cracked up because both of my boys are pizza freaks. I fixed them a Tony's the other night and I really believe it was the first meal EVER that neither of them dropped any on the floor. Speaking of dropping on the floor... meal times are like a warzone in the kitchen. I sometimes think these boys are actually having food fights just to spite me.

We had a great Memorial Day on Monday. We grilled out for supper and then Brayden got to play with the hose. That was the end of the great day. When we had to turn off the water, you would have thought we told Brayden that he could never have another cup of juice for the rest of his life. The fit lasted for 2 hours. Seriously. I'm not kidding at all. I tried everything to get him to calm down; he'd have none of it. I ended up just turning off his lights and closing his door and letting him just cry it out. He fell asleep by the door - he had pulled his pillow and blanket off of his bed and made a little nest right by the crack. He woke up fine the next morning... Here's some pictures:

I meant to...

Over the last week or two things have kept happening, and I say to myself, "I need to get on and blog about this before I forget it." And I really MEANT to... but I haven't done it. And I forgot what all those little things were. Time goes by so quickly and my days seem like just one constant run of naps and "no"s. But then there are some shining moments that I want to hold on to forever. I'm going to do my best to catch up on some of these...

Brayden
Brayden has recently discovered bugs - and has a weird fear of them. He freaks out. Seriously. And it's turned into anything that he doesn't like, it's a "bug." So last week he was staying with Grandma & Pa Pa and had the leftovers from his lunch in a take-home box. Unfortunately, a piece of Grandma's lettuce got in with his fries. So when he opened the box, he freaked out and yelled, "EW! Yucky bug!" Funny kid.

He's started talking in sentences and sings along with any music. Somewhere he learned "Happy Birthday" and will pretend that things are candles just so he can sing the song and blow out the candle. He is still obsessed with Backyardigans and will sing along with almost any of their songs - and sometimes says the words along with the episode. His memory amazes me.

His favorite book is "Go, Dog. Go!" and will not go to bed without it. However, I can start on the "now it is night" page and read to the end and that seems to satisfy him. I do that when we've read 2-3 other books and he STILL wants to finish up with "Go, Dog."

He and Tyler are the ultimate Steve McQueen duo. They've learned how to escape the house if no one's paying attention (like if I'm in the bathroom or on the phone). They will knock down the gate and go out the front door. Luckily, they haven't made it much further than that, but it still scares me to death that they are that brave. And defiant.

Tyler
Tyler has learned to spin around in circles. It's too cute to watch him "dance." He also loves the Backyardigans - just like brother.

He has said quite a few words - which is weird for me because B didn't talk until almost 2! He's said: mama, daddy, pa pa, light, milk, and most recently: da-den (Brayden). I think it's amazing how he tries so hard to talk. He'll mimic a lot of stuff. Although his favorite thing to mimic, though, is sneezing. So cute.

His hair is so red and all curly in the back. Everyone keeps saying we need to cut it because he looks like a girl. And even though I swore I'd never be one of "those" parents, I am. I can't bring myself to chop off his cute hair. I'm so scared his curls will be gone forever if I do.

Well, my battery is about to die on the laptop... typical for me... So I'm going to go. If I think of more later, though, I'll jot it down. Well, I'll MEAN to.

In the meantime, though - here's my latest scrap of the boys:

Erin's Graduation

The boys and I headed down to Fletcher for Erin's graduation this weekend. Grandma & Grandpa were there too. I wish John could've come, but he had to work on the bathhouse - plus we had a few volunteers come out to help. We had a good time, though. Here's what I did for Erin:



...and here's what all Brayden was up to while we were there...

10 Worries

Sometimes I just wish I could just *snap* and fix whatever it is I'm worrying about. I'm a total worry-wart. Seriously. I worry about EVERYTHING. I can't sleep at night because I think of things to worry about. Like if there's not something I'm concerned with, I rack my brain trying to come up with something to concern myself with. I'm not joking. Deep down I have a peaceful sense in God that everything will be okay, but I find myself thinking through countless scenarios of "what-ifs" and "yeah, buts" until I just drift off to sleep. (And even then I DREAM about junk.) I don't really know why this happens or why I let myself do this. I've tried convincing myself that worrying doesn't really help, but I find some sense of security in it - like if I think through every situation and come up with every possible outcome for every single stress in my life, then I won't be too shocked when it happens. Or I just like to be pessimistic? I dunno.

So to cap this all off, I'm going to try to list my top 10 worries/concerns and then focus on one week for the next ten weeks... Pray about it, be proactive about it, talk with John about it and have him help me let go of this gripping paranoia.

1. Finances - obviously a big one. I make a joke about the "money munchkin" tonight who told me the other day to not waste money on microwaveable popcorn. But then John came back at me with the fact that I don't listen to that money munchkin when I really should... So I'm going to try to be better about our budget and getting out of debt so we don't have this huge black cloud hanging over our heads for the rest of our life.
2. Work - I just don't make the time to get done what I need to, and I make all sorts of excuses not to. Then I freak out because I have "so much to do."
3. Being a good Mommy - I just need to focus more on spending meaningful time with the boys.
4. My relationship with God.
5. Erin - I just worry about her all day long...
6. My health/fitness (really, need I say more?)
7. Losing one or both of the boys or John. I seriously freak out about this more than I should.
8. My relationship with John - just making the time to talk about things other than work and the kids and really keeping "us" in good shape.
9. How others view me - I am so insecure and paranoid that no one likes me. I go home from meetings, church, family gatherings just absolutely convinced that I'm a mess and said all the wrong things and no one really enjoyed my company. I don't know how such an outwardly, seemingly confident person is so insecure, but I really am. And I'd really like to work on my self-image and thus change how I view other people viewing me.
10. Various little things that are totally within my control - like cleaning the house instead of playing xbox, or finding my keys, or writing thank you cards for Tyler's birthday, or forgetting to send that check to Courtney. I have so many things that just come down to laziness and at the end of the day I feel so dang guilty for it all that I just worry and worry that I'm not the person I want to be or should be and then my brain goes to how much I'm unhappy with myself... I just need to get my butt in gear so that I don't have the little things to worry about and can focus on the bigger things that might actually matter.

Whew. I feel better. For now.

Freaking Kid. Seriously.

"Um.... Cheese-berger."
"You want a cheeseburger? Okay, I'm getting you a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger."
"Yes."
"Okay."

5 minutes later at the table.

"Cheese-berger!"
"Yes, that's your cheeseburger. Eat it."
"No way."
"Brayden, seriously. You need to eat."
"No way!"
"Okay, fine. Ty-Ty will eat it."
"NO WAY! (and crying ensues)"
*sigh* "Okay, here's your burger."
"CHEESE BERGER!"
"Yes. EAT IT."
"No. No WAY!" (as he wraps it back up, and total melt down follows.)

John takes the screaming child outside... He's met by a grandma who says, "Aww... Little guy giving you trouble?"
John: "Every day."


PS - the wrapped up cheeseburger is still sitting in the car. Uneaten.

When at eleventy-hundredth you don't succeed...

So I've been trying to keep this blog/journal for 4 years now. I stink at it. I'll have my days where I'm really good at getting on here and writing something, but then MONTHS. I don't know why I don't make myself do it more. My mom has been keeping a DAILY journal since 1977. Seriously. She has 30 books of journaling. I can think of any day in my life and go find out what she had to say about that day. Usually it's just composed of "Today, I..." but how neat is it to be able to know that in October of 1977, she went to KFC for lunch and spent $1.50 total. Or being able to go back to the '80's and read about every day of my brother's life.

So I'm going to try (again) to pick it back up.

Tyler's First Birthday

Well, it's been a year. We woke up this morning to Tyler making a lot of noise. At 7:30. AM. Go figure. Guess he wanted to get an early start on the day. I don't think Aunt Erin liked it very much - but she had earplugs in. So I got Tyler out of the pack-n-play and put him in bed with John and me. He just wanted to play mountain climber. Typical. We were supposed to be leaving for Silver Dollar City at 9, so I went ahead and got up to get ready. We found out later that Tyler was everyone else's alarm clock, too... Mom and Dad (and Brayden) were in the adjoining room and could hear him, so they all got up. We went down to the hospitality room to see what they had for breakfast. It was packed with all the teens for young Christians weekend. Had some donuts and took a few back for Mom and Brayden. Finally we all got ready and got the diaper bag ready to go. We had PLANNED for the Young Clan to go with us at 9, but they weren't even up yet.
So we took off for The City. It was a little chilly out, and kind of looked like rain, but we were all being optimistic that the weather would get better. It didn't. I think the stupid weather fairy was out to get us (again). But we had a pretty good day anyway. Tyler tried to ride some of the smaller rides, but he didn't like them!! I was really surprised because he's usually such a thrill seeker. Brayden LOVED everything and couldn't stand to leave. He especially loved the spinning teacups. I wanted him to ride the mini-rollercoaster, but it started raining so they shut it down. =(
We just kind of stuck it out through the rain... We rode the train (Tyler and Brayden gave the "bandits" some money), rode the Shoot-out (Tyler actually really liked that), and sat and listened to the Pickers (Brayden fell asleep; Tyler sang along & clapped). I think it would have been a lot more fun had the weather been drier and warmer, but it was still a neat thing to spend the day with the "whole" family. As we were getting ready to leave, Pure Heart was getting ready to sing on the Main Square stage. There was NO ONE there listening, so I thought the boys might like to go dance to their music. We all headed over there and Tyler started to CRAWL UP ON STAGE. So the girls picked him up and started singing to him!!! It was just too cute. They got especially excited when we told them it was his birthday. It was the perfect end to the day.



I cannot believe that he's one year old already. He's 20 lbs and 30" long. So he's really tall and very skinny. He still has red hair, and we can't go ANYWHERE without people commenting on it. It's also really long and curly in the back, so sometimes he gets mistaken for a girl. His eyes are a very dark brownish green. He is attached to me for about 90% of the time. He can't stand to be away from me for too long. He's already trying to talk and we *think* we've heard him say Mama, Dada, PawPaw, love you (vvv-eeeew), and again (giiiiii). He loves to play with Brayden, but he's VERY violent. He likes to hit and thinks it's very funny. He obeys a LOT better than Brayden did, but generally he only listens to me - when John tells him no, he just laughs. He's a pretty good humored baby as long as there are people around. He's been a great addition to our family, and we can't imagine life without him.