What to do....

Setting: (Ben has gotten into my jewelry box for the millionth time. He enters the living room with my gold earing in his hand, all while smiling.)

Me: Ben, did you get that out of my jewelry box?

Ben: Yeah (serious lack of mannerisms here)

Me: Are you aloud to get things out of my jewelry box?

Ben: No (still no manners, and still maintaining a devilish smile)

Me: Ben, what happens when you disobey?

Ben: Spanking. (...and still grinning)

Me: That's right, Ben. I'm going to have to spank you for this.

Ben: (turns around, and drops his pants) Spank me, Mommy.

Me: (One nice smack on the leg, and I even left a mark. I look over to see Daddy covering his face and his body is shaking - obviously totally cracked up. I was really trying to hold back a laugh myself)

Ben: (Turns back around and gives me a hug after I help him pull his pants up) I love you Mommy. (Smiles)

Me: (Where did I go wrong, Lord?)

DOES ANY OF THIS MAKE SENSE!!!!!

So, I am trying to figure out other means of discipline for this child...timeout, take away favorite toys, nose in the corner.....??????? Um....I could take away the one thing he cherishes most of all, FOOD! How's that for parenting; "I'm sorry honey, but you have been a bad boy today. No food for you! " Followed by an evil laugh.

Any suggestions people!!!????

Christian Talk

Christian: Mom, I have an idea.
Me: What's your idea, Christian?
Christian: Me, and Bim, and Mommy, and Daddy, and Lulu, and Mr. David...go camping...build a tent out of sticks...trees...fire...marshmallows...and ride tractors.
Me: Hmmmm, well that sound like fun, man.
Christian: Yep. (nods his head) (and then he says it all over again)

Chrisitan: Mom, you make lunch, okay?
Me: I'm making dinner, sweetie. You've already had lunch today.
Christian: You making Pizza?
Me: No, I'm going to make Chicken Pot Pie.
Christian: Mmmmm, I love pie, Mommy. Mmmmm, that yummy. I love pie.
Me: It's not the same pie you are thinking of. This pie has chicken and vegetables in it.
Chrsitain: Hmm, I live Chicken Pie, Mommy. Thank you for making pie, Mommy.
Mommy, thank-you for taking me to the sign shop today.
(I ALWAYS take him with me to the sign shop-this is nothing new)
Me: Your welcome, sweetie.

Christmas Morning

I would love to write something really profound right now. However, I'm really short on time, and it was all I could do to get these pictures posted in mid JANUARY!

Abe the Babe

So here is our new pup. He is a "Great Pyrenees" and very different from any dog I have ever had. Very stubborn, and not real interested in pleasing his master....yet. He is getting better. I have had a really hard time training him. In the past I've owned Labradors and they were all so easy to train. Nope, not Abe. Different bread means different all the way around I guess. I have googled training methods for this breed, and come to find out the same rules don't apply. Apparently they are very "different" from other dogs. Hmmmm, not what I was hoping for... I don't want to give up on him. He has so much potential. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have.

Sunshine Morning

Neh Neh and Bim

One for the scrapbook:

Christian calls Ben - "Bim"
Ben calls Christian - "Neh Neh" --- obviously, that sounds nothing like "Christian"

"Bim" is my little hitter. He gets mad a his brother and SMACK! I often hear Christian at the other end of the house saying "Bim! DON'T HIT ME!" followed with screaming. I've never had trouble with Christian hitting. The general rule at our house is that you can only hit Daddy. This may seem strange, but Aaron really likes to play fight with them, and he lets them hit him as hard as they possibly can. I wonder how long it will be before their punches really start to hurt. I suppose we will switch to boxing gloves then.

Christian is getting to be so mature. He helps me cook, and it's actually helpful. He takes his dishes to the sink, after asking to be excused from the table. He still prefers his hands over his fork-we're working on that. This little kid can even buckle himself up in his car seat (thanks to Poppy). He and Ben carry on conversations all the time. Christian can understand Ben better than I can. Maybe it's a second child thing but Ben doesn't put a lot of effort into enunciating his words. He has his own little language that is very hard to understand. He talks constantly, but it's just gibberish. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not. I have been warned by many that the second child can sometimes speak slower or develop proper speech patterns a little later than the first. Time will tell.

Our Boys

Thanksgiving

I loved this tree

The boys really liked shooting, especially Christian. He unloaded every time he got his hands on the gun. Poor little Ben got his finger pinched and was done with the whole thing.

This is just the adults shooting. My first time with a 357, and I actually liked it. Aaron insisted that I shoot it, but I wasn't going near the 30 ought 6. <---is that how you say it??

Chipmunk Cheeks

Making a "fire"

Bashful

Ben Kisses

We did things a little different for Thanksgiving this year. We went to my Dad's hunting camp. It was nice to get away from the business of our lives here lately. Dad's house doesn't have a television, internet, cell phone signal, or running water. Just kidding about the running water part! It was fun to walk around and take some pictures and disconnect from the world. It was relaxing. Christian went deer hunting for the first time, and he did really well. They didn't shoot anything, but he was pretty quiet for the most part. The boys got to see Daddy (for lack of better words) gut and skin a dear. It didn't bother him as much as it did me.

Annihilation

So, we are about to leave to go out of town and I'm helping Aaron pack up the car when I notice a vibrant pink color out of the corner of my eye. My roses are blooming? Huh? I don't understand how roses work but they bloom in the fall also, or at least mine do. Is that normal? You have to understand that I have never taken care of these bushes. They were here when we bought the house, and it seems like every little old lady that comes over stops by my roses and begins to tell me that I need to prune them, throw fish guts on them, water them, and so and and so forth. I have still failed at doing any of these things. These poor roses have always kept on blooming in spite of me. Anyways, I was really drawn to the color BECAUSE it's winter and everything is dead. Even the rose bush looks dead, aside from these blooms. I took a couple of pictures because I wanted to remember how pretty they were, because they may be dead before next year comes. Oh, and the annihilation came shortly afterwards. My boys noticed Mommy's sudden interest in them and they too became interested. After I took my pictures they took a baseball bat and golf club to them. I had my back turned while this took place, and turned to see all of these "vibrant" little pink pedals scattered about the dead grass. It was kind of sad...

WARNING...

Blog overload! It's been a while since I have posted anything, and there are a ton of things that have taken place in the last month. Here are some highlights below. I still have more to go...maybe another night.

Halloween

My Little Firemen! How cute!!!! I didn't think we were going to be able to go trick-or-treating this year because they had been under the weather BUT they woke up Halloween morning bright eyed and bushy tailed. I didn't have a costume for them so we made a run to our local Wal-Mart. I found these costumes and they were really for an 8 year old little boy. I decided to buy them anyways and altered them MAJORLY. They turned out pretty good, though, and the boys loved to waltz around in them. Christian kept calling his ax a "hook" -strange... They still were them around the house.
They were really good about saying "Thank You" after they got their candy. We went to a friends house for our traditional Halloween party, then we just went around our neighborhood. I love our neighborhood. Every is so good to the kids.

Baby Shower

This is my good friend, Natalie. We grew up together and I had the honor, with some other friends, of throwing her a baby shower. This is her first pregnancy and I am thrilled to say that her butt is FINALLY bigger than mine. He He.. Just kidding Natalie. Those of you that don't know her need to be informed that she has always been fit and trim and I have totally been jealous of how easy it is for her to stay that way. She is an adorable pregnant women, and I love her dearly. These pictures aren't very good, but I was a little preoccupied with the event itself. Congratulation again Natalie, you are going to make an excellent Mommy.

Happy Birthday Mom

This is Mom's Birthday. She came to the house, and I think the boys were more excited about it all then she was. Don't worry, I won't reveal your age, Mom.

Game

I can't remember the name of this game, because I had never heard of it before this day. Maybe it was called...Man on the Mountain...or....Monkey in the Middle...I don't know...basically the person in the middle was like a "King" and you are suppose to overpower him to get his spot. They had a lot of fun playing it, because it involved lots of wrestling. Thank you Momma Beth for letting us rough house in he middle of your house. Thankfully nothing was broken.

Bowling Party

This is Bryson's Birthday Party, at the bowling alley. This is also their first encounter with a real bowling ball...very fun!