we wish you a merry christmas...

just to update-

I'm so terrible about updating this lately-we have had a busy fall. Here are a few recent shots of the guys.

We've spent a lot of time this fall around the fire--the boys of course love it for the s'mores...

The boys actually went as pirates for Halloween (I'll try to post one of those soon), but this day we dressed up to go to the zoo. This picture of Andrew just makes me laugh.

happy fall

big week for Ethan

This week has already been filled with two big milestones for Ethan---turning 6 and starting "real" school. He has been so excited and it has been fun to watch him jump right in to Kindergarden with no problem. I thought I would be fine, but have to be honest that I was a bit emotional seeing him walk in that door. If pareting is just a series of gradually letting go, I feel like that was one of the first steps. The days up to this point seemed long, but looking back now the years seem short. OK, this sounds totally depressing....sorry. We are all looking forward to getting back into a routine and of course I still love shopping for school supplies. Nothing like the smell of a brand new Trapper Keeper (that's for all you 80's crowd).

heaven for little boys

So we have been spending some time at the Dillard's farm lately--as evidenced by the following video, the boys (especially Andrew as he is now going through a total tractor obsession) are in heaven. Open space to play, dirt, any number of huge utility vehicles and endless blackberries to pick. It really is fun to have them 2 hours away and the boys love to visit.

Father's Day 2009

The other way around---

Today Ethan starts laughing and says:

"Mommy, I'm just wondering in heaven if it might be the other way around. Junk food would be healthy and healthy food would be junk. THEN, when I say -Mommy can I have some carrots? You would say- "No way just have a pack of Skittles!".

Love it---he keeps me laughing (or as he would put it ---"mommy I'm going to crack up your brain".....

Getting caught up...

I've been really bad about keeping up with anything lately---no exception here. Here are a few pictures of our trip to TN a few weeks ago. Kev was out of town, so I bravely decided to drive the 11+hour trip to see my family in TN. Not sure I will be doing that again anytime soon--bathroom stops just aren't fun.

We did have a great time when we finally got there- I got to spend the weekend with Cindy and saw a couple concerts (Andy Gullahorn and Amos Lee- two great shows!). Mom and I even took the boys to Dollywood for the first time and they had a blast. Boy were we glad to get home and see Daddy!

Some new one of the guys...

SAN/PSP

I recently got to tag along with Kev for one of his many business trips- this time to Palm Springs (actually La Quinta). It was fun for me as I had never been to the Southern CA. One of the best parts was being able to visit our friends the Memmelaars-I was even able to have an afternoon shopping w/Rachel-so fun! We had a great time relaxing and taking in the beautiful landscape. Kevin has had the happy occasion to visit Mark several times over the past several months on business trips, and was excited to show me around the area with which he is now quite familiar. The Mexican food was fantastic, and the company even better. Can't wait to go back.

Andrew turns 2!!!

It is really hard to believe that our "little" guy has turned two! We were blessed to get to celebrate it with both sets of grandparents and had a great day. Andrew is a busy guy these days and loves tractors, choo-choos and FOOD--can't fill him up. Every morning begins with him in my bed and after about 5 minutes saying "mommy...num-num" (code for -get to it chic and fix my breakfast). We love you Andrew---Happy Birthday!!!!

Why did we do this???

So last week when it was supposed to be warming up, I thought it would be fun to take a picnic lunch to the park. After the hour of prep to leave and the stops to get food, we finally arrived to cold blustery wind which = two whining boys. It seems to be a recurring theme in my life that usually when I make the most effort it never works out quite like expected. We stayed about 15 minutes and after I had heard that this was "the worst trip to the park EVER" I gave up. Fortunately the weather has been great the past few days and we pare planning a redo tomorrow. I thought the pictures were funny anyway---what a picnic!

YUM!

Snow Days

just to update..

Nothing really noteworthy...just a few random pictures of the guys around the house and on a warm day outside last week (unlike this one where we are expecting 5 inches of snow tonight :) The guys were pretty excited about that possibility tonight. I will try to be better about posting-it's been pretty busy around here lately.