eight

January 29, 2012

Yesterday Luke turned eight years old.

Eight years ago little did I know what this little boy would add to our family and how he would change our lives.  He is an amazingly wonderful son whose personality hasn't wavered once since he was born, you get what you get with Luke that is for sure.  He challenges me as a mother which of course can be frustrating but it also makes me work harder at doing a better job for him.  He is such a blessing to have in our family and it was so much fun celebrating him yesterday with the family. Oh what this kid does to my heart!

Luke wanted a green and Halo (the video game) party for his family birthday party.  My Halo ideas fell through so it was basically a green party, but still a cute party!  He came downstairs in the morning surprised to see everything all set up.  We let him open one make that two presents before we left for church.

For lunch it was all of Luke's favorites. Subway sandwiches, deviled eggs (made by Grammy), fried pickles (from Uncle Matt), cheetos and many more things. Each of the boys have asked me to make them a candy gram for their birthday's, since Cody's and Ryan's birthdays fall over holidays with plenty of candy already I decided to make them a combined one for Luke's birthday. The boys were so excited to get it and laughed hysterically but weren't too happy with their new nicknames that came from it, but it was all in fun.

Being the mother of THREE MUSKATEERS makes me the only CHICKLET in the house.  I am married to a BIG HUNK named HEATH who makes ZERO mistakes  I have a son Cody who is kind of a DUM DUM, another son Luke who is a little bit on the CHUNKY, and my youngest son Ryan who is a complete GOOBERS.  I have to deal with things like MOUNDS of Lego's on the floor, SNICKERS about poop and their WHATCHMACALLITS, constant TWIX  being played on each other and a bunch of SOUR PATCH KIDS when someone doesn't get the high SKOR on their video games. U-No I wouldn't change one thing about my life though, I still get lots of KISSES, we KRACKLE each other up, and have a WHOPPER of a good time together. I guess we were just MENTOS to be. I love you boys!

Luke is such an easy kid to shop for, he has so many interests and loves so many things.  He specifically had requested a robe because he wanted something to keep him cozy in the mornings and at night when we were reading books.  None of the guys in my family wear robes, so this seemed kind of funny to me but we made sure to find a cool one for him and he loves it.  He also got some more cologne and hair products because he is my stylin kid, he also got a book that the librarian had read that he just had to have, a new dragon, video game, watch, figurines, Ninjago guys, Pokemon cards and so much more plus even money to go shopping with. One of Luke's favorite places to go when he's ready for a rest is to curl up on Papa's lap where he knows he will get a nice long back scratch, that's exactly what he did in the middle of his party, so sweet. Luke also got a stuffed Leopard gecko from the girls that he named H.D. (Huge Desert) which he loves.  Luke is obsessed with anything gecko and loves his little pet so much, he doesn't have a problem with reminding us all on a daily basis that it's HIS pet.  For Christmas Matt made the boys their own tether ball pole and Luke requested that Desert have his own too, this is the only gecko I know that has a tether ball pole in his cage, he is one very loved lizard that is for sure just like Luke is one very loved boy. 

thirty-seven

Not only was yesterday Heath's thirty seventh birthday

 but it was also National Peanut Butter Day

 a perfect combination the two go hand in hand

After work and presents we headed  to T.G.I. Fridays, Heath's pick for dinner.  The boys did exceptionally well out at dinner and were hilarious to listen too.  You would of thought it was their first time ever eating out at a restaurant. Luke made the comment that this is the best food that he's eaten in years (geez thanks).  Cody thought he was in heaven.  The boys were sharing bites of soup, and fries dipped in honey mustard sauce and tastes of chicken strips, it was like they really did love each other.  It was a fun evening spent celebrating our sweet, easy going, game loving, sports watching, fishing, hunting, hard working, funny, loveable man! 

two days

 saturday was

a very excited boy-his first basketball game-our favorite player #2-no shots or points but a very proud momma-heath working because of the rain-running errands-our saturday cleaning-a visit from brooke and ricky-pizza and salad dinner-brownies and ice cream dessert-hanging out-watching old videos of the kids-laughing-tucking the boys into bed

sunday was

waffles, eggs, and bacon breakfast-luke telling jokes in the truck-church with a visiting priest and a great message-picking up a red box movie-italian subs and fries lunch-lots of playing video games-codys card magic tricks-naps on the couch-phone calls-a little outing to the dump-a happy dog and wet kids-warm baths-a dolphins tale movie-tucking the boys into bed

the arrival

the much anticipated day of our first snow finally came yesterday

it was the first snow of our winter and of two thousand and twelve

it looked so pretty and peaceful covering everything

the kids couldn't wait to head outside after school

of course with their friends and two dogs

i wish I could say everyone was all smiles 

but this is real life

so there was fighting, complaining, whining and grumpiness

on my part too

the kids did put that all behind them and have some fun

even with being completely soaked and ice cold

they really are pretty sweet

another reason for my not so perfect day was this

every morning it is a fight packing a lunch for luke

if he had his choice he would eat a pickle and a bag of cheetos everyday

there are so many things he won't eat including sandwiches and cheese

yesterday i packed him a banana with a message on it

just for fun mabye it would make his day

(side note: the banana was nice and fresh in the morning) 

how could I not laugh when his lunch was returned

with this note for me

this kid of mine

what am I going to do with him

that's what friends are for

As I sit in my quiet house

working on the computer and eating sugar cookie bars

with the snow falling outside

I hear a noise and look out my window

to see this...

such great friends

 even though they did say I have round two.

can you meet me at the fence?

This little corner of the fence is the only piece of our property that we share with the neighbors and by neighbors I mean Jason, Amanda and the girls.  The meetings at this fence take place almost daily if not multiple times in a day come rain or shine.  Each of the meetings is either because you are in need of something or because you are fulfilling their need.  Almost everything has been passed over this fence at one time or another including  money, magazines, xbox games and controllers, books, coupons, clothes (usually the ones that Ash has borrowed from Ryan), tools, movies, fingernail polishes and remover, sandwich bags, aluminum foil,  pool keys, freshly baked cookies, brownies, cupcakes, muffins and candy, (some of the best meetings), food anything from canned olives, beans, corns, tomatoes, soups, to fresh fruit or vegetables (like potatoes when you are trying to make potato soup for dinner and realize you  don't have any), salsa, oil, sugar, milk, bbq sauce, crisco, dressings, home made jellies and my all time favorite a food processor.
We laugh thinking about what our other neighbors must think seeing these items being passed over the corner of the fence at all times of the day.  I know that it makes me smile knowing how lucky I am to have such great neighbors who we can also call friends and it doesn't hurt that they always have everything that I need too.

january's jabberings

Heath made it home late Sunday night so this has been our first normal week of 2012.

It's taken some adjusting to get back into a routine but I think we have managed at least a little bit.

I told Heath to take lots of pictures when he was back home but I think he took just four or five.

Here he is with his brothers who as you can tell love pictures just about as much as Heath, it's a good thing that I wasn't there. Heath's the youngest, Jeff (in the red) is the oldest and Brent is the middle brother.

It won't be too long until we see Heath's family again because we have started planning our trip to Disneyland with them over spring break (this was a surprise to the boys for Christmas).

I didn't really make any new resolutions this year but am trying to focus more on two things:

Completing projects that have been in the works for years now, I know my friends and family are tired of hearing me talk about getting them finished so this is the year (I promise).

Also balancing, just trying to find a good balance in my life between being a mom and wife and still leaving time for myself, this seems to be a constant struggle and I want to find some peace with it.

This week we celebrated my sister's 39th birthday twice.

Once at a Greek restaurant with the whole family and then again for a dinner with some of the family before Tucker's basketball game.  This is the last year of her thirties so she deserves to be celebrated lots, she's pretty special.  It was fun with all of us there to support Tucker, especially since this is his Senior year. Usually I curse the team and they always lose with me being there but this game was different and they won and Tucker had a great game (even if he didn't give a shout out to his Aunt in the stands when he scored all of his points).

Cody started basketball practices this week also.  He hasn't shown that much interest in any sports in the past so we were excited that this is something that he wanted to do and seems to enjoy. I love it because it's a game I can actually understand and it's an indoor sport, so it's a win-win for me.

Ryan's week started off with an incident that we like to call 'going to church' a little inside joke with the family and thankfully it ended with him having a great school day on Friday since we had a little issue this week of him wanting to play instead of doing any of his seat work (which didn't work out to well for him).

Luke's days have been filled with friends birthday parties, today makes his fourth one of January, hopefully they slow down because I can't afford all the presents.  I already have a birthday to plan for two special boys in the family, a big 8 and 37  my boys will be soon.

Enough of my jabberings on the start of our 2012.

our guest

We have made it seven days so far without Heath, two more to go.

Arnie's surgery went great, most of the cancer was removed and he still has his voice both huge blessings.  Now onto radiation to take care of the rest so we still need your prayers for a full recovery. 

My mom invited herself over to be with the boys and I for a few days while Heath's been gone.

After we got a few things worked out, like this wasn't a mini-vacation for her, we had a wonderful visit!

I love my mom and her and I just get each other so well, we are so much alike.

Not only did we stay up watching movies, talking, laughing and running errands together but

we also got her set up on Pinterest and found our new favorite thing FaceTime.

Thanks for being here mom, the boys and I loved it.

Does this make me a bad mom?

Okay so Cody was needing some overalls to wear for a school play about the railroads.

Well, he doesn't have any overalls and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on overalls

that he would wear one time and never to be looked at again.

So when I was at Old Navy today shopping with Amanda I just happened to find a pair on clearance

for $4.02.  That's a good deal right? 

So does it really matter that they were from the girls section?

Shhh, he doesn't know so we need to keep this a secret until after the play in February.
I hope he doesn't read this post.

two thousand and twelve

Our New Years was a little different this year, it was the first time in thirteen years that Heath and I didn't spend it together.  Instead Heath was on a plane headed back home to Mississippi for an unexpected trip, once we found out this week that his dad has throat cancer.  Heath of course wanted to be there for the surgery and to spend time with his family so I was happy that he could go, he needed to be there.  We just ask for all of your prayers for both a successful surgery and rounds of radiation so Arnie can make a full recovery.

We love you Arnie! 

 The boys and I brought in the New Year at 7pm by watching a movie, eating popcorn and having root beer floats. I love the feel of a new year and the excitement it brings with all of the possibilities of things to do and accomplish, a fresh start for everything.  I pray that this year will be another year full of blessings and thankful days spent with my family and loved ones.  Happy New Years!

{PS} I'm loving my new banner, don't you?