I Can Help

I was just walking down the stairs to get a video for the kids to watch while I attempt to get a shower. A followed me down saying, "I can help you if you can't reach it." I assured him I should be able to get it, so he said, "Well, if you were a baby and I was...say...16, then maybe I could reach it for you." Not sure how to argue with that logic :)

Merry Christmas!!

O Come All Ye Faithful
JOYFUL and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us ADORE Him,
Christ the Lord!!

You know you have boys when...

We were playing with the boys' nativity set. I was telling them the story of Christmas and we were acting it out with the little figures. Then somehow the story ended with the angels playing tackle football!

Holiday Projects

We have started the tradition of making "Gingerbread" Houses with Gramma and Aunt L. This is a kid's version... we just use Half and Half containers, icing for glue and graham crackers for the gingerbread. The boys loved it and actually ended up with more candy on their houses than in their mouths! That in itself was a success. C is my candy monster. He often looks up on top of the fridge where the finished projects are on display and says "See it. See candy house," or "oh-dee" which means "hold it". It was also fun to see how much A has grown up over the year. His house this year sported a chimney, two doors and a snowman with a Hershey kiss hat. It was fun to see him being purposeful and creative with his house. Next year, we'll have three houses! Can't wait to meet our new Baby Girl Cousin!!!

Our next holiday project was Cinnamon Ornaments (we used recipe #1) to give as gifts to A's classmates and teachers. They were so easy, so fun, and SO MESSY! Not a project for a neat freak, but a perfect project for a 1 and 3 year old. So fun! Kept them occupied for about an hour on a cold, snowy day! And they turned out pretty cute. After they dried, we tied a red ribbon on them and wrote A's name and 2010 on the back.

Cleveland Christmas

Our yearly trek to Cleveland for the holidays was so much fun. The boys are at a much easier age, so I didn't feel frazzled chasing them around all evening and was actual able to have a little bit of adult conversation! The boys had the time of their lives. They love everyone up there and are always so sad when our time with that family is over.

The infamous MG and the amazing fort she built for them. This thing ended up taking up half of Gramma's front room. It also occupied them for nearly 4 hours! Oh, how they love their sweet cousin.

Conservatory Train Display

Nine years ago today, it was 65 degrees and sunny out. The skies were blue, and 150 of our closest friends and family were standing behind us as we promised to love each other through good and bad, rich and poor, sickness and health. The last nine years have brought all of these things, and our promise is even more real today than ever.

Happy Anniversary, P. We've come a long way. Sometimes the road is bumpy, sometimes it is smooth. There have been sections of the road that have been easy, and other parts were so incredibly steep. And sometimes it's so foggy we can barely see the path we are standing on, much less the road ahead. I love you, and there's no one else I'd rather walk through life with.

Happy Birthday, C

I am still just so much in awe that C is two already! And at the same time, I'm so in awe that it's only been two years. C, we love you so much. You are a boy of extremes. There is no middle ground for you. You are one of the happiest kids I know. Always have a smile on your face. Every grocery store worker or person passing on the street comments on how happy you are. Your joy is contagious. Your new passion is singing, which you do with every ounce of your being. Whether it's Jingle Bells or Take Me Out to the Ball Game, you sing loud and full of joy. Even as I'm typing this, you are sitting on my lap singing "Our God is greater... Our God is stronger... God you are higher than any other!" Your face is staring at me upside down and you are giggling and giving me hugs. Makes it hard to type, but it's a momma's dream come true.

I love you, sweet boy. Don't grow up too quickly!

I can't believe I never posted this story! Usually, I stick to stories about the boys because they tend to be the funniest, but this still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

A few weeks ago, P went to a business meeting to meet a man someone else had recommended he talk to for networking purposes. He was honest about his position in life right now. He talked about how he isn't motivated by money and would rather do something he is passionate about. He communicated how he doesn't love sales, but would do it if it was for the right company/product. After about 5 min of conversations like this, the man just stared at P with a confused look and said, "Well, I don't think this job is the right match for you." P was now equally confused. He mentioned their connection and why he was there, and the man said, "Oh, I am sorry. I am interviewing three people today for a sales job!" I still wonder what that many must have been thinking for the first 5 min!

Andrew Peterson - Dancing in the Minefields (Official Video)

This is the song he opened his concert with. Enjoy!

What a Weekend!

Friday Night: We walked over to the Old Town Square to enjoy the lighting of the HUGE Christmas tree. We missed the "Big Moment" where the lit the tree, but our kids didn't know the difference. The whole scene was very much out of a movie. So beautiful and nostalgic.

Saturday Morning: Up early (always!) and out the door. A quick stop at the market (can't go a week without Dennis's apples!) and then off to the train display downtown. This is the 65th anniversary of this event. It's a free Christmas train display, and they even hand out free cookies :) The boys love it, and it will be a part of our family's Christmas traditions.

Then off to Grandad's house for a delicious brunch. Homemade pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs... yum! It never ceases to amaze me how much my kids can eat when they enjoy something. I guarantee both C and A ate more than I did! They had a blast with Grandad, too. Building towers, crawling in "bear caves" and wrestling. So fun!

After naps, the boys got to play in the snow! It was so fun to see them full of pure joy. Especially C who was so young last year that he doesn't really remember the snow. Nothing quite like seeing someone experience their first snow!

Sunday: Cookie Making Marathon! One of my favorite holiday traditions. I posted pics below. It was great time with my family. Then we got a phone call in the afternoon offering us free tickets to Andrew Peterson's Christmas Concert. We LOVE his music! He's relatively undiscovered, but we've loved listening to him since he opened for Caedmon's Call at Miami University in the fall of my freshman year... within the first few months of dating. Now that is more than 13 years ago! Anyway, the concert was AWESOME! A special thanks to my parents for taking on the last minute babysitting role so we could head out to the concert. What a great, great weekend.

Ready to Run

C loves to run (don't all boys!?!). When he's getting ready to take off, instead of "On your marks, get set, go!", he is CONVINCED that it is "Uncle Mark... set... go!" It makes me laugh every time!

Super Girl Button

The other morning, A told me when he grew up he wanted to be a girl like me. I explained that he would always be a boy because that's how God created him. He thought about it for a minute and then said, "But if I can find the Super Girl Button then I can push it and I can become a girl". Haha! Where does he come up with these things?!

Picture Update!

Christmas Cookie Making Marathon! One of my favorite Christmas traditions! This year, the A and my nephew were able to help a little, which was really fun. C tried to help but got super sad when he realized he couldn't eat all of the cookies. Maybe next year!

Decorating the Christmas tree with Nonno.

C thought this was so fun! He loved that the star went on top. Later, he was carrying around a Christmas Troll dressed in a Santa suit. He was telling the troll all about the tree and how he and his brother got to help Nonno put the star on the top.

"Star big. Up. Nonno, A, C."

Enjoying our first snow of the season! They had so much fun! A was so excited when he woke up and saw it snowing that he wanted to call everyone he could think of to tell them about the snow. I had to convince him to wait a little because most people were still asleep at 6:30 am!

He is just about the cutest kid in the world! He loved the snow! It was so fun to see him really experience it for the first time.

What a goof ball! He is such an funny boy. I don't know many one-year-olds that tell jokes and ham it up in front of anyone who will watch.

A Thanksgiving craft from school. Written on the leaves are the things A is thankful for. In this order: 1 - Joey Votto 2- MG (P's cousin!) 3- E (his friend!) 4- C 5- Daddy. I had to convince him that maybe Mommy should make it on there somewhere, too.

One more thing...

I'm taking the boys to a gymnastics class this afternoon. A wants to know why he can't wear his bathing suit because when he saw girls doing gymnastics they were in their bathing suits. I tried to explain that it's a leotard and only girls wear them. Then he tried to convince me that I need to wear my bathing suit because I'm a girl and I'm going with them to their class!

It has been so long since I posted that I can't even remember half of what's been going on. Here's a brief update.

-Christmas season is here. I am almost done Christmas shopping already! Kind of nice to have things checked off my list, but also makes for a long December. I feel like Christmas should be here, but it's still three weeks away.

-A had a Christmas Store after school today. He was able to pick out a few gifts on his own: one for C and one for each of his Grandmas. It was pretty cute, and he actually did a great job. I did have to convince him to put back the penguin keychain and pick something different for C, but other than that, he picked out pretty decent job of selecting gifts. Be excited, Grandmas!

-A has a Christmas Program coming up at school. I can't wait! I'm sure it will be very entertaining! He has a "part" that he has to memorize. It's two lines long, and he says it in a group, but he's excited about it. He's also been teaching C some of the carols they are going to sing. It's so cute to hear C singing Jingle Bells.

-C is almost 2! I can't believe it. He got his first big-boy hair cut... kind of. I basically just cut around his ears, cut the mullet off the back and trimmed his bangs out of his eyes. It took a pack of Smarties to bribe him to sit still for the few brief minutes that I had, but it turned out pretty cute. I'll post a picture soon...I hope.

-P and I got to spend a weekend with out the kids! It was great! We stayed downtown, ate some delicious meals, did some window shopping and just enjoyed uninterrupted conversation. It was great! Long overdue. Thanks Grandma and Nonno for watching the kids for us!!!

-Some great Holiday events coming up. Look forward to posts about: The Annual Cookie Making Marathon, Gingerbread Houses, Trains Downtown, trip to Cleveland, and possibly A's first Ice Skating Attempt.

This post is mostly meant for me... a few weeks from now...or maybe a few minutes from now when I'm having a bad day.

I realized this week that I truly have the BEST job. I love what I do. The boys are at such fun stages. They are more independent and love to play. I doesn't even matter what they are playing. They just love to play.

They wake up happy and full of energy... maybe too much energy for 5:45 am, but at least they love life.

A is about the most inquisitive child I have ever met. Like his daddy, he knows a little bit about everything. He can correctly identify a robin, a maple tree, rhyming words and a waxing gibbous moon (which most adults can't do!) He knows when you skip words in a book. He loves his little brother and spends a lot of time at school telling his teachers all about C. And he loves to tell stories. Man is that little kid a talker. Someday he's going to end up in journalism or PR. I'm calling it now. He just loves life and wants to share that with everyone he meets.... yes... everyone.

C is at such a fun age. The kid has the CUTEST smile in the world, especially when he's pretending to be shy. He has learned early how to break hearts and constantly has strangers gushing over him. He thinks he is so much older than he is, which is simultaneously dangerous and adorable. He jumps off our stairs, our couch... okay, pretty much anything. And he loves to sing. He'll randomly break out into "Take me out to the ball game" or the goodbye song that A learned at school. And he's amazingly independent. He's wanted to do everything by himself since he was four months old. He's always fed himself with a spoon... mommy's not allowed to help. He refills his own water, puts his own jacket on and tries so hard to zip it up.

And I love the flexibility in our schedule. I love that we can drop whatever we are doing to help a friend or if someone calls last minute to hang out, we are pretty much able to say yes.

I love my job. And I love my kids.

-We are battling sickness yet again. C has some nasty stomach bug. I'll spare you the details, but it's been three straight days of not venturing too far from the house for fear of the mess that could come at any moment. Poor kiddo is doing a little better each day, but still far from being well. He was actually playing today, but he is so drained and isn't eating much. So far no one else has gotten this bug, and I'm praying that continues because...

-This coming weekend P and I are going to be kid-free! My sweet, sweet parents have volunteered to watch the boys for the weekend so we can get away for the first time in 3 1/2 years. We aren't venturing far. Actually, we'll just be downtown Cincy, but we'll be staying in a hotel overlooking Fountain Square. But there's so much to do downtown that we never get to do. I am so excited!

-Despite his sickness, C is amazingly cute. He has two new favorite phrases. "Almost" as in "C, it's time for naps." "Almost" or "C, are you finished eating that?" "Almost" His other favorite is "Can't see" as in "Mommy, can't see candy!" "Yes, I know. I hid the Halloween candy on purpose. That's why you can't see it." or "Mommy, can't see skid steer loader." "I know... we passed the construction site two miles ago."

-A has had a rough few days. He NEEDS to be outside running around a LOT. But with C being sick, we can't venture too far. Despite his stir-craziness, he's spent a lot of time playing by himself over the past few days, which is not one of his strengths. It was fun to see him dump his entire bucket of train tracks out and build a huge track by himself. It even looped under the couch leg and had two bridges. I was pretty impressed.

That's about it for us. Kind of a slow weekend. Not much to report.

• I know you have all been waiting anxiously to find out if our strategy worked for the time change.... and the answer is.... kind of. On that blissful Sunday morning when the entire country enjoys an extra hour of sleep, A slept until 7:15! It was amazing! Of course, it would have been a lot more exciting if C hadn't been awake at 5:30. Since then, we've settled on 5:45 as our standard wake up time. Not exactly my favorite time, but definitely better than the 4:30 I had anticipated.

• The boys and I made pine cone bird feeders... twice. I know, it's not super creative... pretty standard as far as fall crafts. BUT, both boys can do it by themselves, it's fun to do with friends, it's easy and it gives them something to look forward to as they check to see if birds have come to eat. I have actually realized that these cute little bird feeders are torturous for the birds. The poor chickadees that populate our yard come, check out the feeders and try to get some seed. But this is not easy as the pine cone moves and they don't hover in midair as hummingbirds do. They have to eat fast and then take a rest. Luckily, the boys spilled enough birdseed in the process of making them that the birds could enjoy a winter-long feast just eating off the ground.

-Once a month I have to lose something really important, like my car keys. This gives me the motivation I need to clean my entire house from top to bottom. Organized pots and pans cupboards. Dusted every shelf in our house. Sorted through toy boxes. Literally every inch of our house got cleaned yesterday. Oh, and I found my keys... in a pile of leaves outside.

-I used to love the fall time change. It meant an extra hour of sleep! Who wouldn't love that? But now, I dread it. Seriously D-R-E-A-D it. My kids are earlybirds. C gets up around 6... if we are lucky. Sometimes earlier. For those of you not so good at math, that would put us at at 5am wake up every day once the time changes! Ugh! That doesn't even count as morning in my mind. So this year, we are thinking ahead. We are prepping for the time change. We've been putting the kids to bed a little later each night for the past few weeks and trying to eat meals a little later, too. I am really hoping this will prevent my kids getting up at 4:30 am on the day of the time change. It's made for a few long days. A has even been taking naps a few times a week because he's been so tired. But, I am hopeful that it will work. We'll see.

Happy Birthday, Daddy

The boys made some cards for Daddy's birthday. After they were finished drawing, I wrote word for word what they told me they wanted to say to Daddy. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I am excited to give you your present. I like when we go to the park at Bell Tower and play on the swings. And I like to play hide-and-seek with you. I love you!

Love, Baby Bear A

(Yep... he signed his card Baby Bear. Not sure why, but he insisted. Made P laugh out loud when he read it.)

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I like to play with Mr. Mister and Mr. Newton (his cousins). I like to rock it out. I like to sing, "Old Ball Game". (meaning "Take me out to the ball game.") I love you! Love, C

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Joey Votto and the Cowboy.

Will Lift My Eyes

Bebo Norman

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing
Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring
Is all of me

‘Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
The Lover I need to save me
‘Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
So hold me now

P is out of town this weekend, so I am playing the role of single mom, a role I am very thankful to only play temporarily. Tonight, I was putting the boys to bed, and right after reading a book, my phone rang. It was a call I HAD to take, so I told the boys I would be right back and ran downstairs to answer it.

When I came back up, I found the boys cuddled under a blanket reading stories out of their Bible to each other. C was pointing out pictures that he knew and A was telling the stories to C that matched with the pictures. Scenes like this don't happen too often in our house. It's much more likely that I will walk in on them wrestling or playing tackle football. To see them share such a quiet, loving moment together...it absolutely melted my heart. I think the image of them sitting like that has been laser-engraved onto my heart and I pray that I will never forget it.

A friend of mine has recently adopted two kids from Ethiopia, bringing her total to five sweet children. She has also partnered with an organization called Children's Hopechest and is trying to find sponsors for the children in an orphanage about an hour south of Ethiopia's capitol.

We have chosen to sponsor a child, and since my friend is traveling over to the orphanage in about a month, we are getting a care package together to send to the little girl, Hana, that we are sponsoring. Yesterday, A and I were talking about Hana and thinking of things we could send to her. He drew her a picture, and then at dinner, he prayed that Hana would have a mommy and daddy. It was so sweet and precious to see him start to show compassion for others. Then he suggested that we put a mommy and daddy in the care package for her. How innocent and sweet children are! Their world is so uncomplicated.

I think this is part of what Jesus meant when He said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." I am so challenged to be like a child. They don't let logic or human restraint stop them from asking for huge things and expecting them to happen. They just trust that their Parent will solve their problems.

Volleyball

A few weeks ago, we took the boys to a volleyball game at our local high school. I used to coach the Varsity and JV teams for 5 years before the kids were born, and the final group of girls I coached are now seniors. The team is playing so well this year, and it was fun to see the girls again and cheer them on.

Ever since that game, one of A's favorite things to do is play volleyball. He is such a visual person and soaked in every detail of the game. He knows how to hold his hands when he passes the ball, and he even knows how to put his thumbs together the right way. It's pretty impressive how he notices every little detail.

But as much fun as playing volleyball is, his favorite part (and C's too) is the huddle. After pretty much every play, C yells out, "Mo huddle Momma." Then the boys run to me, put their hands in the middle and stare at me with expectant eyes. It is my job as the "coach" to put together a motivational speech such as "you are doing a great job and working together as a team." A spends the entire speech nodding his head at me as though he is hanging on every word I say.. These huddles are always ended by the command "Warriors on 3." Then the boys count "1 - 2 - 3" and scream "Warriors" as they lift their hands in the air. Then they return to their positions ready to play some more. It cracks me up every time. I think A's serious face as he soaks in my words and C's screaming "Mo huddle momma" are my two favorite parts and make me laugh the most.

Advice for K and L

Dear Aunt L and Uncle K,

I think you are having a baby boy and you should name him Carson Palmer.

Love,
A

KY Wool Fest

We joined P's family down in Falmouth, KY for the KY Wool Fest. It got off to a rocky start when the last 5 miles took us 1 1/2 hours! I think we probably would have turned around and drove home if our sweet C wasn't in the back seat asking every two minutes if he could see the sheep yet. The boys were amazingly patient as we sat and waited. We even got out and walked a little ways and then waited for P to catch up to us with the car. Once we made it into the Festival, the boys had a blast. There were animals to pet, Festival-type food to eat and a pony ride! A laughed a huge belly laugh the entire time he was riding the pony. You can kind of tell from the picture below. It was just pure joy. And of course C, our animal lover, loved seeing all of the animals.

Museum

This morning, P and his dad took the boys to the museum. They had a blast, and I had 3+ hours to clean and scrub my house! I mean deep clean... even moving beds and dusting underneath. It feels so good to have a clean house. I know it won't last, but it makes me feel more relaxed without all the clutter and dust everywhere.

Here are a few pics from the museum.

Rain and a Parade

Last week, we had our first rainfall in a long time. The boys were going a little stircrazy, so we put on our boots and raincoats and went out to splash in the puddles. It was a blast! C was so excited to splash and would run from one puddle to the next screaming "mo pudduh momma". Of course, this is the only pic I got of them. Not sure what the funny faces are all about, but its a pretty cute pic.

This weekend was homecoming weekend, so we met up with some of our neighbors and walked up to see the homecoming parade. A was a little leery at first because he hates loud noises. But it turns out he loved the parade once he realized they throw candy into the crowd. The screeches the kids let out were similar to Christmas morning... pure, unadulterated joy. Of course there were some tears when A found out he couldn't have candy for breakfast the next morning. I know... I'm a mean mom :)

The boys and their friend E picking candy up from the streets.

Our sweet neighbors, Baby M and Baby T.

C showing off his loot. This is only about half of what the boys accumulated. They got more candy than they got on all the past halloweens combined!

Mr. J and our big boy pulling the little kids in the wagon.

Some of our favorite friends: E, C, A and J

The Bengals vs. The Redhawks

It's fall, which means it's the season for football. After watching a few minutes of the Bengals game last weekend, A decided he'd rather play than watch. Here are the oh, so beautiful outfits that they donned to the park. They each needed jerseys (C's is a as close as we could come), helmets (again, the younger brother had to settle for a football hat instead), footballs and gloves because A noticed that the receivers all wore gloves when they were catching the ball. So in temperatures reaching near 90, my kids wore gardening gloves and winter gloves to the park to play. I have to say it's pretty adorable to hear a 1 1/2 year old say "hut, hut, hike".

Prophetic?

Yesterday, A was saying the "star light, star bright" rhyme. At the end, I asked him what he was going to wish for.

A- I'm wishing for a house.
Me- A house? But we have one. Don't you like ours?
A- Yea, but I'm wishing for a NEW house.
Me- You want a new house?
A- Not a new house, just a new color.
Me- What color house are you wishing for?
A- Purple.

I hope he's not prophetic!

I love fall! It's my favorite season of the year. It's taken me years to realize that because my love for the season was always overshadowed by the dread of school starting as a student and a teacher. But now that neither homework nor lesson plans are in my near future, I have realized how much I love fall. The weather, the clothing, the food!

We've been baking and cooking like crazy. Made some zucchini bread and pumpkin soup this week. On the docket for this weekend: cinnamon apple bread, granola, another batch of zucchini bread and...well, that list just got cut short because C just woke up from his 3 hour nap after only ONE hour. Grrrr... yesterday he didn't nap at all! Oh man, I am not ready for him to be nap-free.

Oh, well. There's the update for now. I think we're going to head to the park this afternoon with Aunt K.

One quick story while C entertains himself in the crib: A helped me bake zucchini bread this week. He asked if he could taste the cinnamon, so I told him a little taste would be alright. He dumped out a good two tablespoons of cinnamon in his hand and before I could stop him shoved it all in his mouth! He learned a very valuable life lesson: Some things in life (for example cinnamon) are wonderful in small doses but are horrible if we have too much.

Have a great weekend!

NC Pics... A little Late

Thanks, mom, for reminding me that I hadn't posted pics from our NC trip this summer. I must have forgotten in the aftermath of the trip as I was dealing with the whole identity theft issue. So, without further delay, here are some pics from our super fun trip this summer. I didn't get too many because my camera kept fogging up from the humidity. Here are some of the better shots I got.