Missing Him

Shawn has been in Fort Wayne on business this week. He generally talks to the boys on the phone as they are headed to bed. The following occured after Luke talked to Shawn as he was climbing into bed.

Luke: Mommy, I can't remember what Daddy looks like.
Me: Oh, Luke, yes you can, you're just being silly.
Luke: No Mommy, really, I'm serious, it's kind of like he's a stranger.

Guess we're all ready for him to come home.

Now I Understand

I have always been confused by people continually have babies, when they don't seem to like/want the ones they've got, but no longer. My favorite age starts at about 9-10 months and lasts for about a year. Babies at this age are generally happy with moments of screaming. Keep them fed and dry and you get smiles and coos all day. After this stage you enter two, and then (in my opinion the worst age ever) 3. I hate three. Everything is a fight with Ronin. He is generally screaming with moments of happy.

So, no matter the illogicality of it, I get it. If you keep on having children, you'll keep on having a happy, smiley baby. But, then they grow up.... Thankfully 3 does end, and kindergarten isn't far off. And so far, school has been wonderful for Luke. But really, who would you rather hang out with today?

OR

Lucky me doesn't have to choose, I get both!

First Day!

I realize I'm not the first mom to do this, but it didn't make it any easier. But, I did it! He's at school now. And without any tears! For those who know Luke, you know that is HUGE. GINORMOUS. GARGANTUAN. ENORMOUS. We can't even leave friends houses without tears. But, he just walked right into the building, without me, without knowing for sure where he was going, just did it like he'd done it a thousand times before. I'm really proud of him, and myself for not losing it until he was in the building, but mostly him. I'm not sure what to do with us now. I think I'll just be looking at the clock until I can go pick him up. He wanted so bad to ride the bus, but I figured he'd have a panic attack when it came down to actually doing it. I told him if there were no tears today, he could ride tomorrow. I thought that was a pretty safe promise, but I guess he's going to ride the bus tomorrow. This all seems to be happening very fast. When did this

turn into this?

I guess it's true that the days go slow, but the years fly by. I'm sure one day very soon, I will look forward to my 3 hours with two, but for today I'm missing the third.

Costumes and Cake

We had a busy Saturday yesterday. Shawn worked in the morning while I watched a friends' kids so she could go over to the church and decorate for the Christmas party that was last night. I knew we had to run to the fabric store when Shawn got home so we could find something that would work as a costume for a Lamanite for that night's performance of the Book of Mormon's nativity story. So in anticipation of the running around, I got on the ball early and made a cake to bring to the party early that morning, so that job was done and out of the way.

We had a fun morning playing with friends, doing laundry, and eating lunch and then we had a successful trip to Joann's.

Enter Samuel.......



I realize all the ladies are very jealous and the men are wondering how they can get their hands on such finery. I can help you all, but I do have a small consultation fee.

Shawn then had to go to a surprise birthday party for an employee while I got the rest of us ready to go party. Upon my exit of the from the bathroom, I found a surprise waiting for me in the kitchen.


Enter my eldest..............

Livid doesn't even begin to describe me. I was so mad all I could do was cry. I cut up the half of the cake that wasn't destroyed, added cookies to the plate and called it good.

We made it to the church, dinner was tasty, Shawn did a fabulous job as a prophet, and for the highlight of the evening.....

.......enter Santa.














We had a nice evening with friends. Luke and Ronin were quite upset that Daddy got to wear a costume and they didn't and since I haven't updated in forever here is a picture of the boys in their costumes for Halloween.



Life continues to be good to us. We're blessed to be where we are, but in the middle of the holiday season, I find myself wishing we were closer to some family.

I'm looking forward to a fun day on Friday, I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm sure Shawn has something great planned for my birthday, aren't you? I'm not very excited to turn 29, but not nearly as unexcited as I'll be next year, I'm sure.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

So, I realize I am a mother of boys, but maybe one day I'll have a girl or two, and I know girls, and I have nieces! It's ok that I want these right? I mean, they're beautiful, and I want them. Wish me luck.


Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

In Celebration of the Day...

... I would like to officially announce our own day of labor around February 24th.

A post about our summer activities is coming soon. In even better news, preschool starts in about 2 weeks! I apologize for the brevity of the post, but I'm supposed to be working on a talk.

More to come, stay tuned.

Baby steps

I was raised in a home where everything had a "correct" way of being done. Making beds, cleaning toilets, folding laundry--everything. My mom's house is immaculate. If you wanted to, you could eat off the floor. Some things have stuck with me since I've left my parent's house. Shawn can't touch the clothes since he can't fold right (he's pretty torn up about it). Unfortunately, the compulsive cleaning gene didn't transfer to me. But one way I see my upbringing in my life is my cooking. I need a recipe. If I don't have one, I don't make it. (I follow a recipe for hard boiled eggs). If I don't have have an ingredient, I don't make it. I don't like to substitute things, it causes me stress.

I didn't plan dinner for tonight, not a rare occurrence, especially when I know Shawn won't be home to eat with us. But, there's always something we can eat. Tonight I thought waffles would be good. So, I get out my Krusteaz, and remember I don't have vegetable oil. It's okay. I can use apple sauce! Huge step for me. So, I open the fridge to find we don't have apple sauce either. I do see apple butter. Now, most, or all, would move on, not me. I take out the apple butter, and think and worry and stress about the outcome of waffles that don't have oil in them. But, I'm hungry, the boys are hungry, and I already told Luke that's what we're having and if you're smart you don't change plans on the 4 year old. So I do it. I use apple butter instead. The world is still spinning, and the waffles were still waffles. And tasty.