Please Stay Small...

...and cute, and sweet, and funny - forever. I love the way you two play together. You both make me laugh so much during the day. Just like now. Climbing up into a bookshelf giggling because you have to fold in half to fit. I am giggling too. You guys come up with some funny things to do. I love you both so much.

Abou that...

weird picture of the aloe plant. I am still not very good at using my camera. I just now figured out what aperture meant. Oh, so much to learn. Here is what I think: I am just going to use my point and shoot camera for the everyday snapshots of the boys. Meanwhile I will study my "nice" camera's manual, and use it whenever I am trying to be professional-ha ha, OR whenever I get better at it. I have been using my new camera in the wrong "mode" ever since I got it, bummer. The aloe picture was taken by someone who actually knows how to take pictures. I wanted to post it for comparison reasons. Basically to see how ignorant I am about photography.

Organizing

So, I'm in this crazy organizing frenzy. As I was working on Ben's closet, making some serious headway, the boys decided to make it their "hide out." I think that was my sign to take a break and just play with them for a little bit. Why is it so hard to just play with them more often? They are growing so fast. Isn't it more important to invest in them and than to dust the mantel? I am such a task oriented person that I find it hard to put the everyday "housework" to the side and just focus more one these wonderful little boys that God has bless me with. I just don't want to look back and say "Ya know, my house was clean when you boys were small...and...I spent a lot of time making sure your closets were in order...and...I wish that I would have had my priorities straight...if I had known that the time I had with you two was so short, I would have done things differently." A friend of mine says it right when she tells me that I have to look at things from an eternal perspective. As parents we are investing in our children's souls, and we shouldn't set our eyes on the things of this world. Don't get me wrong, we still need clean underwear, but there is a delicate balance. Somehow my scale tends to tilt toward the "task" side. Every so often I have this reality check, and then I think to myself, "I have to make sure I do more with my children than I do with the world, or the house." I guess that's the long and drawn out point I am trying to make. More Family, less everything else.

26

UUUGGGHHH! I'm 26 now. Ya know, I really don't feel 26. I feel like I am still 16, just with more of lifes experiences. Aaron surprised me with this cake. Isn't that sweet?

First Hunt

This was Christian's very first hunting trip. Aaron took him on a dove hunt, and also invited a friend. The weather was terrible and only one dove came into the field. It was a good experience and Christian had an absolute blast. Thankfully he doesn't know the difference between a good hunt and a bad hunt.

Check out the ear muffs! Aaron suggested these to protect Christian's ears from the gun shot. Good thinking, honey. That never even crossed my mind. Christian was absolutely freaking out at the thought of putting theme on his head. I mean REALLY upset about it. Of course Ben loved them, and especially loved that he couldn't hear anything when he had them on. That was just too cool for him. So after Christian saw Ben having so much fun with them he had a change of heart. As you can see from the pictures, he had no problem with it.

PS Mode vs IP Mode

Experiment...

I'll explain later....

Growing Up

They LOVED Aunt Jackie's IPOD

Ben looks like a little man in this picture.

Sportsman Lake

Mr. Cool

Bryson "showed up" Uncle Aaron in this last caption

Like Father Like Son

Bound & Determined to master the mokey bars.

Aaron and I had to take care of some business in his hometown one Saturday and we decided to go to this lake to let the kids run rampid. Uncle Josh, Bryson and Skylar met us up there and they all played together. Christian and Ben love their cousins dearly. The boys played on the playground, fed the ducks, threw rocks in the lake....just all kinds of fun kid stuff. They had paddle boats but it had been raining on and off the whole time and knowing our luck we would get all the way across the lake and it would come a torrential downpour.

Girls Trip

My Mom swept me off my tired feet and took me to the beach. She treated me to a FREEEEEE stay at a hotel on the beach AND a Spa Day, plus food and some AMAZING Cole Haan shoes. We stayed here and went to this spa. I'm posting the links because I didn't take pictures of them. It was really a huge treat. I've never been to a spa before so Mom made sure that we got our massages in the same room so I wouldn't be nervous if they decide to do something weird. Words cannot describe how good it felt to wind down, and let that women work all the stress out of my body. Oh, and my face was REALLY swollen when she finished. Something about toxins being released. That part was kinda strange. We soaked in the hot tub before our massage and did the steam room afterward (which was super hot) to get the full effect of the luxuries. We ate at some really amazing restaurants. Our favorites consisted of The Marlin Grill, Wild Olives, and Cafe 30-A. It was fun to order different entrees and share. One day we spent 6hrs. shopping! 6 hrs!!!! Now try doing that with two toddlers and a husband! I haven't went shopping that long in....well, never! It was great to just spend time with Mom. Just the two of us. Without distractions of the everyday. She needed a getaway as well. She has a hectic work and travel schedule. Alright! I'm done gushing about it all! Just writing this entry has got me smiling from ear to ear. So while she and I did this, my very sweet Dad volunteered to keep the kids Thursday-by himself, all day long while Aaron worked. Now keep in mind this is the same guys that can't handle changing a poop diaper. Actually, I don't think he has changed a poop diaper in all his life. He assured me that he had no problem taking Ben outside and squirting him down with the water hose if need be. Oh, can you just picture it! When the time came he suffered through it, and didn't break out the hose (thanks Dad, and I know Ben thanks you too). Friday was better for him. Aaron was there to help. It's so cute to think of those two playing house together. A few things happened while the women were away: the dishwasher broke, the grill broke, my Dyson broke, the lawnmower was fixed, and the ventilation fan that never worked before has decided to start working, and it sounds like a helicopter is about to land while your doing your business - not cool. I was impressed at how tidy the house was upon our return, but was informed that it had only just been picked up because Dad broke one of Christians toy frogs that was full of a trillion tiny little beads that are now scatted about the house in every crack and crevice. They has to pick up so they could vacuum. No complaints here, though. I'm thrilled they vacuumed, and they were willing to play house while the women were away. Mom, Thank-You for spoiling me absolutely rotten (it sure is sweet to be the only child). Dad, thanks for playing my part for a few days and changing a poop diaper. Aaron, thanks for letting me do this with Mom and not complaining a single ounce. I love you all! So............um...........when can we do it again?

Aunt Jackie Visit

I refer to Jackie and Natalie as "Aunt" because I am an only child and we all grew up together so they are the closest thing to a sister that I have. Just a tid bit of information just in case you are curious. So we are visiting with "Aunt" Jackie and Ryan and we went to the park today. No playground, but who needs a playground when there's DUCKS!!! Everywhere ducks! The boys had so much fun chasing them. We finally cam across a white duck that would let the boys pet her. She was so gentle. While I was wrapped up in that sweet moment The God Father Duck came out of nowhere and bit me on the leg. Look, this was not a nibble-it was a bonafide duck bit. It left a bruise. I am an over exaggerator anyways, so of course I yelled, and then yelled at the duck. Everyone within hearing distance was gawking at me freaking out over this duck. It was a little awkward and I felt like a wimp. For the rest of the time I was a somewhat duck shy,but Christian assured me that the other ducks were "nice ducks." He was really concerned about it, and kissed my boo boo. It was role reversal, and I was three years old again.

Aunt Natalie Visit

I gathered up the boys and went to visit a good friend who is expecting her first baby in December. The boys call her "Aunt Natalie." I'm always so nervous visiting my friends that don't yet have children. I feel like in some small way it scares the heck out of them when out family comes in and explodes all over their house. Luckily they didn't break anything (I did) and they somewhat behaved themselves. The boys are still talking about her two little dogs (Hank and Tag). Which they should, they terrorized them the whole time we were there. Just yesterday Christian was in the backseat asking "Where's Hanks Tag, Momma?"

Natalie, thanks for putting up with us for a couple of days. We enjoyed our time. I hope we didn't wear you out too much.

Christian is 3

My Little Man is 3 Years OLD!!!! We had a Fire Truck Birthday Party. Notice on the invitations that I didn't put the date, AND I misspelled my son's name. Could you tell that I was in a hurry? Maybe I will laugh about it in years to come. You can tell from the pictures that we all had a really great time. Naturally the firetruck was a hit. Our neighbor is the fire cheif so he pulled a favor for us and brought the firetruck to our house. Christian loved everything about his party. It was great to watch him have so much fun.