ONE SWEET LITTLE HOUSE

I worked up enough courage to buy (of course BUY, I wasn't even going to attempt to make one of those puppies) the boys a Gingerbread House to decorate. The house looked so cute on the box and I thought that it would be something that we all could have a little fun with. So why the hesitation? Well.... because I know myself and how I get sortof twitchy when these things don't turn out exactly they way they are supposed to. I NEED. TO. RELAX! In my defense, I am getting so much better. My blood pressure no longer spikes when they mix up the Play-dough colors, when they splash out of the tub or when they're wearing mismatching jammies. But I am still having a hard time doing crafty projects. So, I did my very best to step back (take lots of photos) and let them loose! Ours may not have turned out exactly like the one on the box, but we think it is just as SWEET!!











And if that wasn't enough to get us in the holiday spirit, then it started to snow! Oh my, the boys were so excited at the big, white fluffy flakes dancing in the wind outside our patio door. It was just a dusting, but they didn't care. Dylan marched me over to the window at least a dozen times, pointing and announcing, "SNOW!"

SUCKERS & SKIDLOADERS & SNOWMOBILES

& Golf Carts & Lawnmowers & BIG piles of Gravel and Dirt and..............

The list of reasons why Chase and Dylan love going to Daddy's work are endless. These are a few things they got into on our Saturday morning trip to Daddy's office, which is basically just a big barn filled with BIG machines.... A.K.A. heaven for little boys.







Yeah, I think he is a tad too young to be driving a golf cart too. My husband thinks otherwise. (Brave soul!)



On the ride back home we got stuck waiting for this LOOOOONG train to go by. But guess what we learned while we waited.... Dylan can count to TEN (then he skiped to sixteen I think) but TEN! He was watching the cars and counting them as the passed, all by himself. So, YES I took a photo to document the moment!


When we got home the kids found this weird green bug in the driveway and had the most fun watching him crawl around.


Watch your feet.... there he goes............

Right between Chase's legs.
Sorry for the photo overload. Saturday was such a gift of a day, sunny and warm and just perfect! We had to get out and enjoy this last little bit of nice weather.

DECKING THE HALLS

We have been getting ready for the holidays around here and it is..... "beginning to look a lot like Christmas....." minus the fluffy, white stuff. But I am pretty okay with that! Can you believe that Dave was putting up Christmas lights on the outside of the house with a t-shirt on? That NEVER happens. Usually it is freezing and icy which gives me heart failure when he gets up on the slippery roof. We did the outside of the house last weekend and did most of the inside yesterday. We got lots of "help" from the little guys!



Karate Kid holds the lights for dad. (Not sure why, but he insists on sporting this headband all the time.)


Dylan yells at Dad to get off the roof. He wasn't liking him up there much more than Mom.



Yesterday, Chase helped me assemble the tree.

I tried to quit early, but he told me that we have to build it all the way up to there!




"Mom, send that one to Grandma Pamma!"

"Mom, I think we need my Crane to put all these ornaments on!"



Dylan was only interested in the fun part - putting the ornaments on!

And getting the star on was a group effort!


Most of my branches looked like this at the end of the day. A bunch of ornaments clustered on about 5 branches. Mommy had to do some redistributing after the boys went off to bed.

THANKFUL

I love Thanksgiving. How could you not??? Good FOOD, friends and family, spirits & laughter..... and the opportunity to sit back and reflect on what we are thankful for.
-My amazing husband and darling stinkers (of course)
-Family & Friends
-Our freedom
-Our happiness & health
-Our good fortunes and humor
-And the zillion other things that we take for granted every day but can't live without like.... TIVO ;)
-Oh, and I am super thankful that I didn't have to cook for Thanksgiving (I think everyone else is thankful for that too - HA!)

Dave's cousin Mark and his wife Wendy put together a wonderful meal! We all had a great time. Chase and Dylan love getting together with their "cousins" Evan and Ethan and amazingly they played great together all day long.


Dylan spent most of the day right here terrorizing the poor dog!




This is the best we could do for a "group" photo.

Awwwww - one last HUG goodbye!

A ROKENBOK WORLD

We've had a take-over in our home. Dave pulled out all this Rokenbok stuff from our crawl space. It has been there for years, laying in wait. It was handed down from a friend of Dave's and we have been waiting for just the right time to pull it all out. I am not entirely certain that now is the "right" time, since the boys spend more time fighting over it than playing with it, but....... uh, who am I kidding, now is as good a time as any. They will probably always fight over this stuff - because it is just that COOL! These are some really, really neat toys. The set comes with a million pieces (grrr) that you can use to build all these cool things and all of the cars, trucks and trains work via remote control. However, I am starting to feel a little inadequate as a parent. No one told me I would need an engineering degree to "get" my kids toys. I am just now barely able to put the Thomas tracks in any sort of cool configuration and we are moving right along to bigger and better (BUT WAY MORE COMPLICATED) things!




We have pretty much spent every spare minute this entire week down in the basement playing with all these good toys.

A couple last photos from our big night out tonight. We took my in-laws out to Ruth Chris (MMMmmmmm) for Jackie's birthday dinner. I love a good dinner out, (without the boys) when I actually get to taste my food!


And I couldn't resit snapping a few photos of this cool light in the foyer. Yup, I was the wierdo standing in the middle of the busy entryway of a swanky restaurant trying to get the perfect photo of the light fixture.



Oh, and you may have noticed a new "look" around here. I unsuccessfully tried to change up my header and for some reason the photo up is either way too big or too small. I am working on trying to figure out how to fix that. But I pretty much tapped out my limited knowledge on blog configuration. Anyway, the photos are all from our recent photo shoot with Carrianne. There were soo, sooo many good ones to choose from! She always does such a wonderful job. She even got Chase to smile for her. Miracle worker - right?

ADORABLE

This is not MY word for Dylan (Grandma Pamma tossed it around a lot during her visit) but the more I think about it, it does seem to really suite him. He is indeed adorable... so stinkin' adorable that I still want to gobble him right up. I have decided that this overwhelming urge must be some sort of unconscious attempt to preserve him forever at this age. For instance, my heart will likely shatter to pieces when he stops saying "hoot-ball" (football) or "mus-mix" (music), when he stops asking me to sing "Rock da Baby" (Rock-a-bye-Baby) before bed or when he stops insisting that I carry him everywhere. (My back will be thrilled even if my heart is broken.) I know...... they get bigger, that is just what they do. *sniff, sniff*

Besides the utter adorableness, you may also noticed a big red/blue goose egg bump on Dylan's forehead. It happened yesterday at breakfast. Against my better judgement I caved and let Dylan join his big brother and friends up in the McDonald's playland thingy. You know the big giant plastic (GERM INFESTED) play structures that have a maze of tubes for climbing and sliding. At what age did you start letting your kids go up in those things?? I KNOW Chase was closer to three before I let him loose in one of those things. Barely two is apparently too young. Anyway, he really, really wanted to go up there with his brother and friends and there were no other kids in there at the time and I rationalized that Chase and Clare (my friend's daughter who is 5) would keep an eye on him. Things were going fine-ish, I think, given my limited glimpses of kids whizzing around as I tried to keep tabs on Dylan, until they all congregated at the top of the slide. Dylan tends to waffle at the top of big slides and apparently Chase couldn't be bothered to wait, so he just shoved him out of the way. Dylan came down head first, sobbing, with a big boo-boo on his head. I was furious with Chase. We have had major sibling rivalry issues lately. Given any little opportunity Chase is pushing, poking, teasing or stealing toys from Dylan. I am not sure why I thought being inside the McDonald's playland would be any different. Any suggestions on handling Chase's angst towards his little bro?

A LITTLE TEXTURE

I have seen this done but never attempted it.... until now!
My friend/photograher/photoshop guru Carrianne inspired me when she posted some sneak peeks from our recent photo shoot and one had a cool texture mask on it. (The photos she posted are outstanding - click the bolded, purple link above if you wanna see, and I am beyond excited to get my hands on the disc with all the others!!!!) Anyway, because I have nothing better to do on a Friday night and I love a challenge that involves dabbling around in photoshop, I thought I would give it a try. While I still have NO frickin' clue what I am doing, I think the results turned out pretty O.K. for my first crack at it.




Just a couple straggler photos from our Chicago trip last week. Can you believe that I haven't uploaded a single photo in an entire week? This has got to be some sort of record for me ;)

CONFESSIONS OF A WORKING/STAY AT HOME MOM

Are we due for a gripe session? Yeah, it seems like it has been a good long while since I posted a whiny, self-loathing rant for you all to suffer through. I guess you can consider yourself warned.

So, you may have noticed that my recent posts are laden with photos and lacking in dialog. I am struggling with what to write about. I have plenty to say/share/complain about, but where to start?

I suppose I could share with you that I was near tears as I rushed out of work (TOO EARLY) yesterday in an attempt to get to Dylan's parent-teacher conference at his school. All the while, knowing that I wasn't going to make it on time. That I felt like a giant failure of a parent when I rushed in the room and his teacher clucked her tongue and said, "We only have 5 MINUTES left now!" I tried to make light of it and muttered, "Better late than never," followed by a nervous little laugh while she launched into the long list of all the (MANY) areas that Dylan is (APPARENTLY) lacking in. For example: he doesn't know all of his colors, he isn't speaking in full sentences, he isn't exhibiting enough "Self-Help" skills because perhaps Mom is babying him too much at home, etc. (HE IS BARELY TWO!!!!) I managed a faint smile and mumbled a "Thank you....(I think)" and scurried out the door while the next (ON TIME) Mommy was waiting for her glowing review of her brilliant child. Feeling like even more of a failure, I rushed into Dylan's room, swooped him up in my arms (I should probably be letting him walk himself - right?) and then dashed off to collect Chase from his room. Chase was happy and playing until he caught sight of me and noticed that Daddy wasn't with me. His face fell and his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
"Where is Daddy?" he whispered to the floor. This is what happens anytime there is a change of plans and I end up doing Pick-Up instead of Dave. I broke the news to Chase that Daddy got last minute tickets to the Blackhawks game that he couldn't pass up with some friends. I encouraged him to go knowing that I would have to do the parent-teacher conference alone and then face an infuriated/VERY disappointed Chase. Why did I do that again???? So, I suffered through the entire ride home with two screaming children. Chase: screaming about wanting his Daddy and NOT his Mommy. Dylan: screaming because he was hungry and Mommy neglected to bring snacks (Daddy always remembers.) By now I am feeling like a BIG. GIANT. FAILURE! And I didn't even mention the pile of work that continues to grow on my desk at work or my inability to accomplish anything between my bouts of illness or my children's bouts of illness or the other 1,567 things that come between me and getting any work done at work.

For years I have tauted that working part-time is the ideal arrangement for mommy's with young children and how much I have loved, LOVED, LOOOOOVED this arrangement. But lately, I am not so sure. Sometimes I think that this attempt to keep one foot firmly planted on both sides of the fence is wearing me down. I am (UNSUCCESSFULLY) trying to simultaneously be a productive employee in the corporate world and a stay at home mom/wife and everything that that entails (ie. volunteering at their school, planning play dates, doing enriching activities, attending all their little school functions, cooking, cleaning) all while trying to maintain a shard of my own identity. Do you think that is just too many balls to be juggling? Am I setting myself up for failure? Is it unrealistic, unfair, or just plain 'ol idiotic to try to have it all? Or really, should I stop complaining and start counting all my blessings? Yeah, I think so too! So many people have such bigger issues to tackle on a daily basis. My piddly problems seem pretty insignificant when you consider the hardships of a single parent, for example. But, sometimes I just have to get the ick out there and off my chest. Tomorrow I will pick myself back up and keep right on juggling, because that is what we do!

WHAT A WEEK!!

Monday:
Chase came home from school looking like this:

After much reluctance we finally extracted the story out of him. He was bored at school and rubbed his head on the carpet until a perfect circular rug-burn formed right in the center of his forehead. Lovely!

Tuesday:
Daddy took Chase to a Bulls game. Chase thought that was pretty fun stuff.

Note the new shirt. They won and we now have a new lucky shirt for when the Bulls play!

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jim flew in from Idaho! The boys were beyond excited to see them. Grandma brought those cool lollipops. (Mommy wasn't too thrilled about adding more candy to this house. It is a long story, but Chase thinks these fancy suckers can only come from Grandma Pamma.) They were in town for the lumber conference in Chicago, so they had to spend the first few days of their trip down there. Soooo......

Thursday:
Chase and I hopped aboard a train and headed to the big city.


We met up with Grandma Pamma and visited the Field Museum. This is Sue the T-Rex:


Chase was beyond excited to meet her, can't you tell?



He's got the WHOLE WORLD in his hands!

Chase riding in the taxi cab.


After the museum (Chase only lasted an hour!) we met up with Grandpa Jim at his conference for lunch.




Then we did a little shopping and sight-seeing in the big city. We had a great time and it was beautiful day.





We even found Santa's mailbox at Macy's. Chase wrote him a letter with his requests. After much contemplation he decided on trucks! (Big shocker - right!)

Grandma Pam even showed us the super sneaky way to get to top of the "HanCop" building. Chase loved the view but not getting his photo taken.



Finally, we boarded a train for the ride home. What a day!!!

HALLOWEEN RECAP

The boys had a little party at school on Friday. I took an early (EARLY) lunch and ran over there for a little bit to take part in the festivities! Then I rushed back for the party at work and then I rushed home for the party with our playgroup after work. PHEW!!!




Dylan was doing a little pre-trick-or-treating sampling. Then it was time to get the costumes back on.

Chase went as a GLADIATOR!! Yes, I made him wear tights under his costume (dress) and NO he was NOT happy about it. Here is his best gladiator face:


"Good evenin' folks, ready for a ride on the Chooo-Choo Train?"
Is he the cutest lil' engineer you have ever seen? Yup, thought so ;)


And we are about ready to brave the cold temps in hot pursuit of CANDY!

Dylan first tries to smuggle his blankie along for the ride.




Dylan was thrilled with every piece of candy he got, here is saying "Wook, Dada! Chocwhit!!!!"

We only made it around one block, it was REALLY cold out there! Then we headed home so Chase could assume his post for the rest of the night.

He took his "job" very seriously. He parked himself right inside our front door and handed out candy to all the kids. And when he wasn't handing out candy, he was complaining that no one was coming to the door. It was a long night. Fun, but looong. And I have to admit that I am glad it is over. All that we have left to do is polish off the candy. Most of which I am selflessly shoving in my mouth, sparing my little guys the sugar and cavities. How is that for rationalization!?!?

LET THE FUN BEGIN

Is everyone ready for Halloween?
We are pretty much ready to go at my house. Got two humungo bags of candy from Costco the other day and believe-it or-not, most of it is even still with us! I am just hoping that lasts us the night. We usually get lots and lots of Trick-or-Treaters.

We have our costumes ready to go.
I pulled some stuff out of our costume box digging for the last couple touches for my outfit and Chase thought he would try out a couple different looks.
What do you think???

Elvis! He was NOT loving this one after we got it on. The wig made his eyes itch. I am not sure how that is possible but he yanked that get-up off before I could even get a good photo off. Oh well! This photo works, I like that he even has the Elvis lip thing going.


I call this one "C-Diddy!" And I think he actually liked it (the outfit, not the name. He kept rolling his eyes at me when I called him that!) He seems oddly at home in a backwards hat, gold chains and aviator glasses.

Hey, where are you going C-Diddy!?!?! Anywhere away from the camera. He is a little maxed out on the photo taking today after our morning photography session with our friend Carrianne. He was a rock-star though, and surprised me by doing so good with all the photo taking. Dylan was a whole different story! He has been a touch of a whiner lately. Here he is yanking on my shirt and begging for cookies. This is a pretty typical scenero lately.


Are you sick of leaf tossing photos yet? Oh good! Cause I have a few more to post. This should be the end of them though. Sadly, most of the leaves are gone with the wind.




Bummer his eyes are closed, but I love this photo anyway!



Showing his affection or inflicting pain???
Yeah, I thought it looked more like the pain one too.
Gotta love big brothers!!!

CELEBRATING TWO

I owe you some photos from our big 2 Year Old celebration. (Like you have all been waiting patiently by your computers for me to post them, right???? HA, HA, HA) Anyway, Dylan really enjoyed his birthday, of course he did, he is TWO, and doesn't know any better!
When he woke up, I rushed in to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
He responded hopefully with, "Balloons?"
"Ahhhh, errrrr..... not yet Buddy, but we will get you some!"

Quick, distract him with something shiny!


Chase was way more excited about the present than Dylan. You can't see it in this photo, but Dylan is still clutching the wrapping paper excitedly pointing to all the "La-Bugs" & "Ca-pillars."


So after we ate breakfast and opened just one present (the stackable Birthday Cake, a cool product from my work), we made a trip to Jewel with Balloons right at the top of our mile long grocery list.

Unfortunately, the weather was cruddy, so we opted to check out this new indoor playground place called The Tree House. The boys had a ball running around in there, they both cried when we had to leave. :(






This one just cracks me up everytime I look at it. Those short little legs are trying so hard to climb up there! Thank goodness for a helping hand from Dad.





Those guys were THIRSTY after all that running around. Thank goodness they have tables and refreshments available.


The sadness of leaving the Tree House was soon forgotten when we got home and the boys remembered that we had CAKE to eat!!





AND PRESENTS to open!!! Look at big brother being oh-so helpful.




Then, we had a small family celebration on Saturday evening. It was a Pirate Party complete with a treasure hunt all over the house. The kids (Art too) had fun running around looking for treasure (Goody Bags and candy.)





We all had a great time and are currently in some sort of diabetic coma from excessive sugar consumption. :)

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY.......

...... we were in the hospital, just getting acquainted. (Please pretend you don't see my double chin in that picture -k?) I can't hardly stand that you are growing up so fast, too fast. You are, and will probably always be, my baby and you are truly such a blessing to us all.

Here is a look back at your birth story. I did some digging and found what I wrote in my journal shortly after your arrival. Here goes : (edited slightly for entertainment value)

I was VERY nervous about having a second baby. I just remembered how overwhelmed I felt after Chase was born, and how much work it was. How was I possibly going to take care of an infant and keep Chase entertained and out of trouble at the same time? In my mind, these are two full-time jobs and it didn't seem fathomable that I could do them both at the same time.

The night before I was scheduled to go in for delivery, I was excited, nervous and even a bit sad. I was feeling nostalgic for our little family of three. I watched Chase as he was getting ready for bed and felt pity for him. His whole entire world was going to be turned upside down. I couldn't stop the tears from leaking out as I hugged and kissed him goodnight.

He asked, “What’s wrong, Mommy??”

“Mommy is just going to miss you, that's all.”

And it is true, I was going to miss him and not just for the four days that I would be hospitalized. I knew that our relationship would be forever changed and I couldn't help but already miss the way things used to be. I reminded myself that millions of kids around the world have survived the arrival of a sibling, and most are probably even better off for it!

I tried to force myself to sleep, knowing that solid sleep would be a luxury for the next couple months. The funny thing about trying to force yourself to sleep though is that it never works. My mind was too busy flitting, flying, worrying, stewing, imagining, and wondering to settle into any sort of deep sleep.

I jumped out of bed when the alarm went off (again, I was nowhere near sleep) and was ready to face this exciting and wonderful day. I would finally be meeting my little guy, face to face. We already intimately knew each other, but I can't wait to meet him and SEE him! And I also can't wait for the kicking, jabbing and heartburn to stop!

I just remember that I couldn't stop gushing about how much better this whole process was the second time around. With a scheduled c-section planned, we went in 6 days before my due date (YAHOOOO) checked in at 8:30 and had you swaddled and in our arms less than two hours later. The delivery went smoothly, well.... it went smoothly after they finally got the epidural in, yikes! That was the hardest part about the whole experience. They wheeled me into the deliver room and Daddy sat up by me and held my hand and had the biggest smile on his face while the doctors worked their magic. Finally, after lots of tugging and pulling I heard a cry! The sweetest sound a mommy can hear. And I remember them commenting on how BIG you were. (9 lb, 9 oz.) They assured me that you were healthy and breathing and doing just fine. The nurses whisked you off to get all cleaned up while they fixed me up, but first brought you by for a quick kiss and nuzzle from Mom. I was giddy and happy and totally unphased by the whole stomach getting cut open thing! I was in such a good mood and couldn't wait to get my hands on you. While I was resting in recovery, Daddy kept darting back and forth, from me to you, from you to me, keeping me updated on your progress. Finally, after what seems like FOREVER, they brought you to me and from that moment, when I laid eyes on you, I was in love. You were such a precious little thing. I held you and nursed you and couldn't take my eyes off you.

I have to include my notes from your first meeting with your brother. It was such a memorable experience!

After a few hours of bonding, Daddy went home to get Chase so he could bring him to meet you. Chase was obviously really anxious to meet his new baby brother. I was just hoping that he wouldn't be crushed that we didn't name you “Bucky Truck” which is what he had been telling everyone for the past three months that we were going to name OUR baby. When Chase and Daddy arrive, I notice that Chase has a huge wet spot on the front of his pants. Chase had an accident on the ride over. So, the big introduction I had imagined gets lost in the shuffle of everyone trying to figure out how they are going to get Chase's pants dry.

Chase suddenly remembers the whole purpose to the trip and walks over to my hospital bed. He peeks up to get his first look at you. I tip you towards him a little to give him a better angel. His curiosity is peeked now, and he wants an even better look. So he starts climbing up to say hello and I couldn’t help but scream “NO!” and shove him off. I didn’t want my half naked three year old climbing on me; I had JUST had a c-section and he was covered in pee. Instantly, I could see the hurt on his little face. “Don’t push him away,” my husband calls out from the bathroom. They were all trying to use the hand dryer on his wet pants. At that moment, I understood that my motherly duties would forever be divided. I wanted to jump off the bed and hug Chase, apologize to him, and calmly explain that he couldn’t climb on mommy right now. But, I also wanted to protect my fresh, new little bundle from his germy big brother. Poor Chase! Once things settled down and he got cleaned up. He did get to hold you for the first time and he beamed with pride and excitement.

We were all very excited, and still are to have you in our life. Happy 2nd Birthday Buddy!!

9 WHOLE YEARS

For 9 years I have been putting up with him, AND for 9 years he has been putting up with ME.... can you believe it???? Strange thing is, after all this time, we both seem to genuinely enjoy putting up with each other. Hee, hee. So, here's to a lifetime of putting up with each other and LOVIN' every minute of it!
Happy Anniversary HONEY :)
I love you and thank you for 9 of the best years.

A*MAZE*D and *CORN*FUSED

On Sunday, we headed north to the Richardson Corn Maze.
We made it about 1/354th of the way through. (We have two kids with us and running around in the corn is exciting for only a SHORT period of time.) Besides, there was all sorts of other cool things they wanted to check out (ziplining, chickens, hay rides, etc.) Chase insisted we climb to the top of the viewing tower. It was so windy that the whole thing was swaying (YIKES) causing me to get a little light headed and panicky as Chase was darting all over the top of the tower like it was NO BIG DEAL!!! I took a couple photos (below, bottom, right) but you still can't really tell what it is supposed to be. I think we are looking at the State of Illinois with President Lincoln inside. You don't see it either, do you?



Do you see our fearless leader up there leading the way? Thank goodness we had him with us! Without his insightful directions, we may still be wandering around in the corn field!! *wink*wink* He was pretty sure that it was HIS keen navigation skills that got us all out safely.

Cuddling on the Hay Ride!!

FALL SUNSHINE!

It is about time we got some sunshine in these parts. It has been so cold and rainy that we haven't had an opportunity to get out much and enjoy fall. Yesterday was much, much better and we LOVED every minute of it!!!

I took a zillion pictures! Here are a few to share :)
(You know me well enough by now to know that a "few" really means a TON, right?)











We finished up our chores and headed to the park for some "play time," which is really just a ploy to get them there so I can take lots of photos!











Who says playgrounds are just for kids? Well, just don't tell my husband!



After the park, Chase I went to a Birthday party for one of his classmates. It was so fun! It was a Thomas themed party and we met at the train station, rode down about 4 stops, walked a block to the Oberweis, had ice cream and then got back on the train for the ride home. The kids were sooooo excited about the train ride. It was really, really a cute idea!

Opps, and one LAST one of Dylan eating cereal. I just love this picture and had to squeeze it in. Sorry! Gosh, I seem to be loading up on the pictures lately. I am getting much better aquainted with my new lens and am REALLY liking it. Most of these pictures are SOOC (straight out of camera, meaning no editing necessary - YAHOOO!) with the exception of the one below. I had to do some major color correcting to get the dingy yellow out of the shot.

Check out his one bright red cheek. I think we might be going through another round of teething or something. Does teething ever end???

THE POSSE

Let me introduce you to Dylan's Posse. From left to right we have Bear, Doggy, Lambie, Polar Bear, Bear and Bear. (Creative, huh?) Oh, and last but definitely NOT LEAST are Dylan's two "bankies" (not pictured as Dylan was probably dragging them around with him picking up every morsel of dirt and germ in his path at the time this photo was taken.) These are ALL of Dylan's bed buddies. Or what started out as his bed buddies, but lately seem to be more like his ALL DAY/EVERY WHERE buddies. He now insists on traveling with his entire posse. When I go to greet him every morning he smiles and hands me one bear after another until my arms are full to the brim of stuffed fluff, then he throws up his arms and wants me to pick him up too. So we travel around that way a lot. Me holding Dylan with his entire troop sandwiched between us!

How did this happen.... again??? I vowed to not make the same mistake twice. When Chase was Dylan's age he became very, VERY attached to his Buddy blanket. Still is actually. I tried to buy a replica.... just to have a taxi spare... but he never bought it. So, with Dylan I was going to be one step ahead. I had two blankets for him to befriend, so that we could use either-or. But oh no, my plan totally backfired, now he has to have BOTH "bankies." Ekkk. Which makes getting those blankets in the washing machine nearly impossible. Doing so is like planning some sort of elaborate covert operation. And all the animals add an extra wrench in things! If we don't get all of them rounded up before bedtime, he is one unhappy camper. On the bright side, he has lots of "friends" to keep him entertained. I often hear him in the evening and in the morning over the monitor happily chatting with his animals. Anything to buy me a couple extra minutes with my head in contact with my pillow. :)

WELCOME FALL

With the fall-like (actually more winter-like) weather upon us, we had a rather productive weekend prepping for winter and putting summer to bed. *sniff, sniff* I LOVE fall, I do. But..... I am going to miss the joys of summer. Good thing these seasons seem to fly by. It will be back again before we know it! That is one thing I LOVE about living where we live. We get to look forward to and enjoy all the different seasons. Here is a recap of our busy weekend.

For starters, we had an unexpected House Guest, meet Share Bear.

Share Bear belongs to Chase's Pre-school class and he gets sent home with each kid for a few days. He brings his own journal with him. We are to include him in our family for a few days and journal his experiences. I, of course, plan to include lots of photos on our pages ;)

Chase decided he wanted to get an early start on the pumpkin carving this year. (I have a feeling we will be carving a number of pumpkins before Halloween officially hits.)

"Pumpkin goop is really GRO-OSS!!" Chase - Age: 4 1/2
Side note: There is that Bear's Jersey again. They didn't even play this weekend and he insists on wearing it. **smile**
Another side note: Chase picked out the template we used for the pumpkin.... scary -right?




We (well, with the exception of Dylan and I) did lots of work in the yard pulling out all the shriveled up annuals and dead perennials. This is serious work!! Those boys were FILTHY when they finished up.




In the process of yanking out plants, Chase uncovered this little guy, "Foggy" as Dylan was calling him.


That poor thing was terrified, wouldn't YOU be too!!! Don't worry, we let him go before he got injured.

So, let's see..... what else has been going on.
I have been FLYING! Many of you have heard me talk about the FLY LADY, take a peek at her site. I am sure most of you are WAYYYYY better about staying organized, de-cluttered, clean, and on-top-of-things than I. But IF you might need help in any of those areas, call upon the Fly Lady. **I will warn you, much of the content on her site is super corny.*** But, it is seriously helping me feel a little more together. And I need all the help I can get. A friend recommended me this site after seeing the crazed and desperate look in my eyes when I was at the end of my rope do to the CHAOS in my house. (Thanks again Michelle!) My kitchen sink (bathrooms too) have never been so clean, I have been keeping up on the laundry, and I even started to meal plan (what a concept!) in an effort to make the weeks a little less crazy. We will see how it goes.

Also, I spent a good part of the weekend blog-stalking the NieNie Dialogues. Hers is a heart-breaking story of true love, family, loss and hope. It is better reading than any Fiction novel you could pick up. If you have some time to delve in, I would recommend starting at the beginning and working your way to the present.

Oh, and unfortunately I spent the other part of my weekend with my hand in here.

DAVE, not I, fell victim to one of Costco's evil marketing schemes: those dang free samples. So, of course, we HAD to bring home a tub of these little addictive beauties. But seriously, has Paula Dean ever steered you wrong? I think not. All I can say is MMMMmmmmmm.

In our house, Sunday means FOOTBALL!

So, this is what happens when cartoons aren't priority viewing on the big TV. Aren't they cute?? Don't worry, moments after this photo was taken elbows started flying again. From this angle I can really see how desperately in need of a HAIRCUT the boys are. Mentally adding that to this weeks To Do list.

I finalized the boys Halloween costumes. So maybe we will put the whole outfit on come Halloween! ;)

Chase creating "artwork" for his door. He is in obvious need of some private/personal space.

Pheww... sorry about that, there are a LOT of photos in here. I have also been futzing with the new lens I got trying to work out the kinks. Ya know, cameras are kinda complicated!

AN APPLE A DAY

I HEART fall for more reasons that I can count. But hovering near the top of my list has got to be the deliciously, sweet, crisp, heavenly taste of APPLES in the FALL! I always forget how glorious apples are this time of year, the Honeycrisp ones especially. It has to be the combination of the cooler air and the warm sun. Whatever the case, the boys are enjoying them too.



Dylan loves apples, but I don't think he likes the taste of the apple skin. Here he is trying to savour every last bit of apple goodness without eating the skin. He must, however, like the look of the skin because he rejects the skinless apples on his plate and sneaks the apples off my plate.

And you will just have to take my word for it. Chase was REALLY, HONESTLY enjoying his apples too.... until I busted out the camera. From that point on, this was the best I could get. This is my cooperative little guy at his best! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG

A whole year down and 170 posts later, here I am. Sorta the same but yet... different. Different in how I look at things around me, different in how I am always composing the next post in my head, different in how I spend my free time (mostly blogging!) Here is my very first post. I tried to take a "One Year Later" picture to include of Dylan and I and this was the best I could get. Oh my gosh, has he changed!!!

So,what was gained by the past year of blogging? Unlike Julie in the movie Julie and Julia, I really didn't have any sort of goal in mind, I didn't accomplish anything, I certainly didn't cook my way through an entire cookbook. **That would have been DISASTROUS!** But I did manage to capture an entire year of memories and photos, I found a voice inside me that I didn't even know I had, I stumbled upon dozens of other blogs that were enlightening and funny, that made me laugh and cry (mostly laugh!) I have received dozens of comments from all over the country, from people I know and don't know, full of kind words and encouragement. I feel a little less alone at times and more connected to the loyal people in my life that read every single silly word I type on here. I think I have even made some progress in my writing & photography skills. * There is STILL a LONNNNGGGG way to go!*

Some day I hope to convert my blog to a book (there are websites that allow you to download all your posts & pictures and they make them into a book for you- cool!) so that the boys can look back on this year and read about our life. Wait, yikes! I better put an explanation note in here:

To the future Chase and Dylan: I want you to know that I love you both sooo much that sometimes it physically makes my heart ache just to look at you. This blog may not always reflect those warm, fuzzy, lovey feelings. I really am doing the best I can for both of you and I hope you know that even if some of the posts included in here are a bit negative/angry/frantic/resentful, please know that at the end of each and every day (even the tough ones) you still fill my heart with love and joy. HUGS - Mommy

Okay, hopefully that will help. I am not sure how they will receive all this later in life, hopefully with a little more appreciation than mortification, but who knows!!! Hee hee.

And I wanted to sincerely thank those of you who have following along. THANK YOU!

Oh, and maybe now is as gooda time as any to answer a few questions that I have been asked about blogging:

1. Anyone can start a blog - it is so easy. Simply click on the button on the very top right hand corner of my blog that says Create Blog. It is FREE and is EASY to do.

2. To leave comments (I LOVE COMMENTS - so please feel free to leave a few words when you visit!) Click on the link under each post that says (# COMMENTS) You can read any comments that have already been left and then also leave one of your own. There are a couple options to choose from. You can either log-in to leave a comment if you want to create a Blogger profile. If you don't want to do that - just click on leave the comment Anonymously. Be sure to sign your name though, so I know it is from YOU!

3. I hope that helps clear up some confusion on the world of blogging. If you have any other questions, leave a comment (now that you are a pro) and I will try to help. I am no blogging expert but would be happy to share what I have learned.