More Christmas Lovin'

mmmm...that extra jolt of espresso..does 2 tired parents some good!
Beautiful sight from my kitchen counter....

Christmas Eve snack..cookies & milk

and frozen blueberries

my little decorating elf, Santa mut have enjoyed the most sprinkly cookies by the sprinkle master himself!

the only decent photo we have of the boys before Parker got "overheated" and needed to strip down:)

A white Christmas indeed! We enjoyed so much snuggling up with our matching Christmas jammied little boys..watching paper fly across the room and exclamations and shrieks of each gift being opened, it was great. Although next year I have decided to get up before the kids and start that caffeine line stat. I suppose 6:30 am is satisfactory for a 4 and 15month old to arise for Christmas morning festivities, however, I didn't wake up really until my much later around noontime jolt of espresso...thank you Krups!

In closing this year, I am most thankful for my two little espresso's, the little bursts of enegry they are, supply me with enough wonder and thrills to fill my tank in all reality. I am looking forward to what 2010 holds for us, so many things to learn and love and experience....

Christmas Lovin

Our little Christmasy house...

Christmas hugs from a special friend, Brianna

Brotherly love...Big brother gives a lift to

little brother...

My favorite things of Christmas time..."lovin" of the season. Lights, hugs, and cookies!

It amazes me how much love these little boys have inside their little hearts so young.

Their hugs are infectious, real, and full of umph! Their hugs are from the heart

and I love to watch them spreading their Christmas cheer to one another and special people in their lives. I shall post more of my Christmas favorites later...most appropriately with a glass of milk to compliment them...

Trimming the Tree Trauma

Parker's placement of ornaments...

Mommy's redistribution of ornaments...

It's that time of year...the trimming of the tree. Each year, I look forward to more and more having help from a little Christmas elf that becomes more and more capable as he grows and matures. My job has always been to open each Hallmark ornament box, find a hook, find a spot on the tree and then balance it out with some other colors...all alone..So this year when Parker was old enough to handle hooks and was actually excited to help me I was ecstatic! One request for "puppy chow" was already handed in by the mister, so I thought..ah ha, what a great tradition to start. I'll make puppy chow and enjoy munching along with my little munchkin while we happily trim this sparkly tree! Little did I realize my expectations were so unreal. Of course I figured it would be a challenge to unwrap the ornaments fast enough for an impatient toddler, while keeping a 1 yr. old out of the tree. Jack was already fussy all day, growing teeth seems to take precedence these days over anything else. Dad was already on the job of assembling the greenery and soon discovered a section of the pre -lit green was not so pre- lit after all! I was at his beckon call to be of assistance and on kid duty since we both were being used for jungle gyms by both boys as we sat on the floor in the midst of this tree. Parker soon figured it would make for a fun game to play "basketball" with the tree, tossing a small ball in the branches and watching it tumble down, conveniently landing right in Dad's way. I'm fairly sure I saw some steam exiting Tim's ears....but then, finally, after rigging a butter knife into the fuse (while the tree was electrically illuminated of course) Parker threw one last toss into the tree and bam, the lights were fixed! Freakishly weird, it worked whatever he did and Jack trounced off with the butter knife in his mouth. I quickly confiscated it and thought, well this is most likely the most difficult part of the night, that's over. Meanwhile I managed to melt up my gooey ingredients for my new tradition of puppy chow and unwrap a few ornaments for Parker to put up. He licks the bowl and then decides to play in it, dumping glasses of water, napkins and such..you name it, he dumped it!I proceed on to getting things in order for the tree. Tim finishes giving Jack his night time bottle and puts him in his bed. Shortly after I hear him crying and something seems not quite right. Sure enough, he had thrown up all over his bed. I dash to the bathtub with pukey baby, wash, then dry, then turn loose to find a diaper. Meanwhile Parker is mastering the hose on the vacuum to vacuum up pine needles off the carpet when I hear from his little voice over the noise of the vacuum "Mommy! Jack is peeing on the carpet!" ..."Yes!" I exclaim.."this just makes the evening so festively wonderful! "

Unfathomable that all of this went down in just a span of one hour...but, the tree is done. And then RE DONE by Mommy. Notice Parker's ornaments seem to "hover" around the center of the tree, around his height.:) If there ever was a Griswold Christmas reality show, our family would take the prize!

My Moments of Thanksgiving

This is what I am most thankful for..captured in black and white, images that seem to stop time...

Dreams in the Kitchen

Cooking with Mommy....

ahhh..I always envisioned the day I would share the kitchen with my girls. We'd put our little pink, ruffled aprons on and our pony tails would be swishing around as we laughed and stirred our yummy goodies. We'd giggle and dance around the kitchen and enjoy the aroma of our sweet creations bubbling up in the oven.....and then....oh...wait..

yes, God gave me not one, but TWO little BOYS! A baker and kitchen utensil lover self that I am, I know in my heart of hearts that I must prevail in my dreams of having kitchen time with my kiddos, whatever gender/species they may be...Now I realize I may have to set aside the dream of the pink, ruffled apron wrapped around my young lad, but still, a Mom's gotta have her fun. I have decided, yes, I have boys, but what better tool can a Mama give to her boys than a way around the kitchen! Someday, they may knock a lady flat off her chair with their culinary skills, what lady wouldn't want that?! So I have made it a point to invest not only in their future, and the satisfaction of having my "dream" fulfilled, but to invest in the future of their perhaps lady that wears pink, or ruffles or...leather it may be. I may not see a little pony tail bobbin' on top of that kitchen chair he's standing on ramming that mixer into the sides of my stainless steel bowl, but I see those little "ham sandwiches" happily dancing from side to side, a chocolate mustache so wide it could be the new Pringles logo on the can, and a happy tune humming above the speed of the mixer motor. Nothing is more sweet to me.....

Birthday Boys

It's exciting to me to reflect and compare each birthday and now with 2 sweet boys. I love noticing their similarities just from their milestone pictures and their differences. Each year, more growth, more knowledge obtained, tasks mastered. A little more water sprinkled in their gardens. I love birthdays, love taking a moment to celebrate and reflect on what the last year has taught us and what we have learned. And of course, I love the cake! Parker 4..Mommy...well 30
Parker 3

Parker 2

Parker 2

Jack 1

Jack 1

Parker 1

Brothers, Pumpkins & Skeletons...

Look Mom, it's my first Twix bar and I totally know what to do with it!

What a variety of animals, anatomical frames and westerners!


Cousin photo op, and this is how it's done..

"Here kids, you all sit here and smile at the camera...."

yeah right...

Are these not the cutest set of bones you'de ever seen?!

I'm off to school little brother, here's your kiss for the day

......and your squeeze:)

my knees will never quite be the same again...next year Mommy's gonna have to sit this one out!

there's something so very funny about a horse's "arse"
isn't there, Jack?!

My pumpkins and me!