When wrestling goes bad...

Spencer and Evan were wrestling around in the basement the other night. Even though every time they do it I tell them to stop because someone is going to get hurt, they don't seem to care or believe me.

Tonight they believed me. Spencer headbutted Evan during the wrestling and gave Evan a bloody nose. I think it scared the wits out of both of them because Evan's nose is a bleeder! He has had a couple of bloody noses before and holy cow...the blood is like someone cut his whole nose off. He woke up with a ton of dried blood on his pillow one morning and it totally freaked me out. Another night when he was supposed to be sleeping he came walking downstairs with blood from his nose all over his PJ's and running down his leg (they were shorty PJ's). These incidents happened within a few weeks of each other so it of course started to freak me out that something was wrong with him and had me googling "bloody noses in children". Then he told me that they bled because he was picking them. Nice. He hasn't had one since - until the head butting from his brother.

Spencer felt bad and apologized to him and hugged him without even being prompted to do so. I guess I better get used to the rough housing with two wild little boys in my house.

"Scency broke one of my blood pressures!" (He meant blood vessels) How cute is he?

Gratitude

Send some rain, would You send some rain?

'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again

And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?

Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down

Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case...


We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain




Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time



Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .




We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread




Oh, the differences that often are between

What we want and what we really need




So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight





Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace


But Jesus, would You please . . .

I just wanted to post a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving along with these lyrics that seem to move me whenever I hear them. And YES, they are in fact from ANOTHER Nichole Nordeman song. I know you are all thinking...OK...she is needing an iTunes gift card for Christmas! Get some new songs, would ya?

Seriously though, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by so much of our family. I feel so blessed to be able to share this life with my family, my three amazing children and pretty much the greatest guy anyone could ask for. More than blessed...I feel humbled on a daily basis at these priceless gifts that I have been given. Honestly, I feel so lucky, it scares me sometimes. I often ask God why I get to live this way. What did I do to deserve this amazing bounty of happiness? I am forever grateful!

My hope and prayer is for you all to feel the same way. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful tree

The "thankful tree" has become a Thanksgiving time tradition in our home. We took a couple of tree branches from outside, taped them together, spray painted the finished product and stuck it into a flower pot. Voila' - thankful tree!

We are trying to instill gratitude in the kids. We use the tree to try and make them think and realize that they live a good life and they have much to be thankful for. This year, they both seemed to "get it" much more than they did last year.

We sat down and talked about what it meant to be thankful then I asked them what things in their lives they were thankful for. This year for the first time, Spencer grabbed some leaves and started writing - that was very cool! Spencer wrote that he is thankful for: toys, trees, food, wadr (water), air, frends (friends), hows (house), momy, dady and TV. Evan had to be coaxed a bit but came up with some good answers and then grew tired of it. Evan is thankful for: my house, my family, my Dad, dinosaurs and everything. I wish I had written down what they said last year. I think I kept the leaves somewhere thinking I would scrapbook them - Ha! I think it will be fun to compare how their answers change as they grow up and realize what things in their lives they hold most dear.

I love this tradition and hope that we continue to carry it on from year to year.

The view out our window

I don't know if I am ready for this. I can remember the day last spring when the last little pile of snow FINALLY melted. It seriously seems like it was a month ago - the summer went by that fast.

I don't know why it takes so much longer to get kids ready to go out in this weather. I knew where all the winter "gear" was. It was just so much of a process - at least it felt that way. I was a bit ahead of the game because I knew the boots that Spencer would wear this winter because he wore them with his Halloween costume - they were the only motorcycle boot-like shoe wear that we had and I wasn't planning on buying any to wear for one day. The funny part is that they are hand me downs from cousin Grant and they had been sitting on the shelf in the garage for quite a while. When I started banging them around to get the white baby powder off of them, acorns and bits of acorns were coming out of them. I was getting totally freaked out and the heebie jeebies while I just waited for a baby chipmunk or worse yet, some sort of carcass to fall out. Only acorns - thank God! The weird part was that they were only in the two pairs of boots that would actually fit Spencer. I think that those were the only ones that had nice warm fluffy padding in them - optimal for a nice chipmunk retreat. But, the fact that everyday Spencer is turning into me with regard to his "pickiness" about things and knowing that after seeing what came out of the boots I would be grossed out to stick my big toe into them - I didn't tell him. He asked eventually what all the acorns and bits of acorn were doing on the garage floor and I told him the truth. He opted to not wear the boots for trick or treating while looking toward the garage in disgust. I can't say that I blamed him. For the record, the boots are fine. I have even shoved my hand in them to check for lining damage and holes. There were literally only acorn parts and pieces in there - no poop, no torn off bits of fur from the boots. I think the chipmunk only used them for a nice warm storage space. But the fact that the chipmunk could have pooped or peed in there was enough to turn Spencer against them. So today when faced with inches of snow and the necessity for boots, I wasn't sure how things would go. While putting them on he asked me if they were the boots he wore with his Halloween costume. I told him that they were. He asked if the chipmunk put more acorns in them. I told him that he did not. He shoved the boots on and was out the door. I guess new fallen snow trumps potential excrement in the mind of a young boy.

Secretly, I like the snow during this time of the year. From right before Thanksgiving until January 1st, the snow falling outside the window fills me with a comfy feeling of peace. It gets me in the holiday spirit. I would much rather have snow on the ground for Christmas then to have no snow at all - it just feels all wrong. As soon as the holidays are over though....it can go away until the next November!

Because they are pretty much the same thing...

I was asking Spencer the other day what he was going to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas.

Spencer: XBOX 360.

Mom: (Stunned) What?

Spencer: I am going to ask Santa for an XBOX 360.

Mom: Santa is not going to bring you an XBOX 360.

Spencer: Why?

Mom: Because I am going to tell him that we already have a Wii and one game system is enough.

Spencer: Then, Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker.

Seriously, is there a support group for this?

"I'm like a chocoholic, but for booze."

(My all time favorite fake quote from "The Onion" - this just made me think of it. I am demented. Or maybe just over-tired.)

"Hi! My name is Jennifer. I am a photoaholic."

Trent is at the play. Hailey is sleeping. The boys are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I am sorting pictures. A lot of pictures.

The boxes have been on my scrapbook table for months. I figured since next weekend I am going on a weekend long scrapbook fest, I better get my stuff organized. Part of getting organized requires actually being able to see what is buried on the table. So the sorting began.

The scary part is that this mass of photos encompasses five months of time. March to August. I was actually pretty impressed that it was five months. I think the first five weeks of Spencer's life yielded this kind of crop of photos. I am obsessed.

Just getting them to this point restores my internal feng shui. I don't think I can legitimately call myself a scrapbooker anymore since I can count on one hand the times in the last year that I sat down and scrapbooked. Two. I will keep at it the best I can, but my hopes of ever being caught up are quite dashed at this point. I bought some cheap insert (GASP!!!!) photo books that I can just put the photos in for the time being so that we can at least look at them. That will be the next project now that the photos are sorted. I have a long road ahead of me, but I will get there.

And then the next box will arrive.

Spencer's drawing

Spencer came home from school with this picture he colored in his Friday folder. I just laughed and hung it right up on the slider. It is kind of hard to see in this post, but there is a stick figure guy pushing something across the lawn.

On the back he wrote "My Dad mowing."

His teacher probably thought he was crazy and wondered what was with the "S" in the middle of the lawn in the picture. Little did she know that the kid was dead on the money!

The best photo I could get of our lawn featuring Daddy's artistic handy-mowing skills!

So a firefighter, a Harley guy and a cheerleader walk into this bar...

Dear Goo, Voov and Wee,

Yesterday was Halloween, and what a Halloween it was! First, I have to say that you all were so cute in your costumes I could hardly stand it. Every time I would look at one of you I would just smile. I know that all moms probably think that their kids are the cutest, but they are wrong -because you three have that title in a hands down tie! (Sorry Moms, but this is a letter to my kids, so I can say whatever I want!)

It was a whirlwind of a day that started out with Evan's class party. I was the organizer of the party and took my organizer duties so seriously that when I found out that one of the crafts planned had been accidentally duplicated - Gasp! - I managed to come up with a whole new craft on the fly and run to the store to get the supplies for the craft and still have time to do some dishes before the party started. It was a lot of fun to watch you enjoying the crafts and playing the games with your little friends. Four year olds are tricky. They are right on the verge of still playing by themselves and starting to interact with their peers. I liked getting a glimpse of your days in the classroom and how you interact. I love your teacher and am so glad that things worked out the way they did and you are able to have her this year.

Spencer's party was held in the afternoon. I wasn't the planner for his but did get assigned to bring a snack/craft which was popcorn filled plastic gloves - ghostly, creepy hands! You played your "cool guy" costume to its fullest. You are Mr. Social and all over and checking out what everyone is doing. So many moms were asking you to pose for pictures with their kids. I just stand back and think to myself that you must get that from your Dad because I was SO not like that in school. This was the first time that I have been to your classroom this year and I loved seeing your desk and locker. I am so happy that you enjoy school.

You got to visit all of your Grandparents and show them your costumes. I know that they all love to see you guys and this is a special thing because a lot of kids don't live near their relatives. We trick or treated with some of your friends for the first time this year. That was a new experience for us. We just stood back and watched how excited you were and listened to your happy shrieks and shrills as you guys and your buddies ran from house to house filling up your pumpkins with candy. Evan was hilarious because he was singing songs at the top of his lungs from house to house "I just got a giant Hershey bar in my bag......". We walked until your legs could walk no more and then came back to relieve Grama and Grampa of their candy passing out duties. You guys like that almost as much as trick or treating - you like to see the kids in costume come to the door. Spencer even called out a cheater who came to our house twice. You are a smart and observant kid. When eight o' clock struck you guys dove into your bags full of candy. Evan spread his all over the dining room table, then quickly into a bowl he could guard better after Hailey started to pillage it. Spencer took his out one by one and sorted it all into piles of likeness. Daddy told me that he used to do the very same thing. After filling up with candy you all got into your jammies and watched a bit of a Halloween movie and then went off to bed with sweet Halloween dreams and freshly brushed teeth.

It was a busy, chaotic, crazy, entertaining, full, amazing and fun day! I can't wait to do it all again next year!


Love, Mom

Blog note: I know this is a very photo heavy post, but there were so many pictures of them in costume that I LOVED! You are actually lucky that I didn't post them all!


Evan in his "Fighter Fighter" costume. I LOVE how he says that instead of "Firefighter". He has been talking about being a fighter fighter since the summer.

While I was taking his picture, a cat walked up to us. How perfect is that? Fire fighters get cats down from trees all the time right? Well, they do on kids TV shows!

Thanks Cousin Grant for the cool Harley jacket! Spencer loved his "cool motorcycle guy" look!

Daddy's little pride and joy. I am positive that this little girl in this costume is what caused the Spartans to get that winning field goal today! What else could it be?

I had to post this picture of our little angel who climbed up onto the dining room table this morning to get into her Halloween candy! She is such a naughty monkey! She should have dressed up as Curious George!