Happy New Year!!!!

Well, I fell off the face of the...blog for a couple of weeks but I'm back!! We are finally relaxing and taking full advantage of our family time together! We rushed home to Ohio one day after Ben finished comps for my cousin's BEAUTIFUL wedding, ran around like chickens with our heads cut off for the next week and then drove home this past Sunday for some peace and quiet. So far we've grocery shopped (Whoo-hoo!) and gone to the Brookfield Zoo where we renewed our membership (thank you Great Grandma Frazier!!!), played, played some more, relaxed....
I'll have some Christmas pictures to post soon but honestly, I'm too lazy to download them at the moment:) Hey, at least I'm honest! I was just on facebook reading people's comments about the New Year and how everyone's glad for a new year to begin because maybe this was a tough year for some people. It was a tough year for us in many ways and to be honest again, I am very thankful for a fresh new year. This past year was challenging, draining, stressful but full of growth. I have been trying to think of a New Year's resolution but can't come up with anything yet! For now I'm just going to enjoy my family, my FINALLY relaxed husband and two beautiful, growing-too-fast little boys....

Conversation with Samuel yesterday:

S: Why aren't you eating, mommy?
M: Because I finished my lunch and my tummy is full.
S: Why is your tummy full?
M: Because I ate my lunch!
S: Why did you eat your lunch?
M: Because I was hungry.
S: Why were you hungry?
M: Because it was lunchtime.
S: Why was it lunchtime?
M: Because it just was!

And this conversation was happening while sleep-deprived mommy was struggling to stay awake at the table while the WORLD'S SLOWEST EATER finished his lunch! Why was I sleep deprived, you ask? Because Z has been terribly ill this week! He was so cranky on Sunday and I just thought he was grumpy until he woke up from nap and didn't want to do anything but lie in my arms. And then he got a fever that lasted for the next 4 1/2 days ranging from 100-104! He stopped eating, sleeping and pretty much cried ALL night long for the next 3 nights. I was finally able to get him into the dr. on Tuesday and he had some 'gitis virus that caused white sores in his throat and some severely swollen glands in his neck. Poor, poor baby. He lost 1 1/2 pounds and his buddha belly:(
The good new is that he is finally on the mend! Last night was his (and my) first full night's sleep since Saturday! I am just praying with all my might that no one else gets it, especially Ben, who is currently taking the 4th of 6 comprehensive exams. My poor hubby has had a grueling week (or several months) also and is so tired but we are counting down the days. 4 1/2 days left until break!!! Family time! Freedom! Rejuvenation! Let it come...

Wordless Wednesday...

Pictures and Silly boys!

I just came from cooking with pretend food with the boys. They were making some very gross, er, interesting combinations such as a special drink with strawberries, lemons, chocolate and the secret ingredient that all special drinks need.....hamburger! Well, needless to say, I'm not quite sure that the boys are ready to take over dinner duty yet:)

I embarked on the hair cutting journey with Samuel and Zakkai yesterday. Their hair grows WAY too fast for my liking! So I usually put them in their booster seat and put in a movie that they rarely get to see. I started with Zakkai and put him in front of a farm animal movie that held his attention for all of 2 minutes of the hair cut...ahem, that's beside the point! When some baby chicks flashed up on the screen, Zakkai gasped and said, very excitedly, "Chicken Nuggets!!" Well, little one, you have no idea.. He's a funny boy, though. He jabbers constantly and picks up A LOT of words/phrases from Samuel (good or bad?) He says a lot of things in a sing-songy voice. So a one syllable word can have about three syllables! I love how he says tree. He sing-songs "tre-ee" and believe me, he LOVES our tree!

Samuel is getting VERY imaginative! There's this dinosaur in a display case at Target (have I mentioned that I love that store?!) that, if you push a button, stomps and roars, etc. So Samuel must've had dinosaurs on the brain because later in the day as I was making dinner, he comes flying around the corner with eyes as big as saucers and exclaimed, "Mommy! There's a dinosaur in the kitchen! And it's eating our food!!" I came to discover later, through a friend's questioning, that it was a small, red dinosaur because everyone knows that the best dinosaurs are small red ones!

And last night at dinner, Zakkai was having trouble eating his pizza for some reason and Samuel was very worried about him (You okay, buddy?) and kept inspecting his pizza to make sure it didn't have hard bites. So he takes a big gulp of water and said, "Mommy, I just took a BIG drink of water to make my back feel better because it had pizza in it.." Ben and I just looked at each other, not even sure how to respond to that quaint bit of 3 year old logic! Our silly boy:)

And last but not least, the boys and I also embarked on a photo shoot yesterday, after the haircuts. It was a lot of fun and I am sharing a sneak preview with you! We also had to take a family picture for something so I included of those, too. I happen to like my family:)

Our little man

Before hair cut!

Tagged!

I got tagged....before Thanksgiving (oops!) and got so busy getting ready to travel that I forgot to do it! Shame on me! I am supposed to:


1. Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer


2. Choose the 4th picture


3. Explain the picture


4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

This is my sister Danielle and her daughter Jasmine holding Samuel, who was 3 weeks old. We had made our first trip home to Ohio to introduce our little son to our families! Danielle was in town at the same time and it was so nice for her to meet him!

Alright, I did it! The only problem is....I don't have 4 people to tag because either they've already been tagged or they don't have a blog.... The only person I can think of to tag is:

Emily Shipley!! Oh, aren't you lucky!!

Thanksgiving, Tantrums and Trees!

Zakkai being silly in the car! If you look closely, you can see his eye:)

A Zakkai-tantrum

Checkin' out the new Christmas lights....naked

"Helping" decorate the tree and get ornaments out

The real tree decorator:)

Well, we're back from our crazy-busy Thanksgiving and more tired than ever! I envy those who feel refreshed after that "break!" The boys had a great time staying with their Auntie K and Uncle Tim. They didn't want to leave!! We had a lot of fun staying at their new house, even though Ben had to study most of the time:(

The boys are busy-bees! Zakkai is into EVERYTHING and I have to keep my eagle mommy-eye on him. He throws tantrums now over the smallest little things. He gently throws himself to the ground and works himself up to screaming and tears and it goes on...and on....and on...and sometimes he might even stop in the middle to smile or laugh but then remembers what he was supposed to be doing and cries again:) I know I've learned a lot as a parent because it doesn't stress me out, in fact I think it's funny because it's so ridiculous! I don't show him that, of course! He is definitely coming up on TWO.

Samuel's still my train-crazy boy. He has his eye on some new trains these days that he wants to add to his insane collection. When we get toy catalogs in the mail, he really enjoys studying them while he eats breakfast at the table. He was VERY excited to decorate our little Christmas tree last night! The boys helping haul up our bins from the basement and "helped" pull out and break, er, hand us the ornaments. They love the lights that I decorated the windows with so much that they can't stay away! I was trying to get them dressed this morning and they came running out naked and climbed in the wagon to gawk over the lights;) I think celebrating with them will be a lot of fun this year. Not just with the presents (because most everyone I know is poor anyways!) and the decorations but also with traditions and teaching them about baby Jesus and spending a lot of time together as a family.

I'm So Thankful

So Samuel and I were talking about Thanksgiving on the way home from church on Sunday and I was trying to explain what the holiday is for. We ended up saying things that we're thankful for. On Samuel's list was signs, meat, Thomas, his legs and food. Good list! But it also started me thinking about what I am thankful for. So here is a partial list of what I am thankful for:

• God: So thankful to know God, who loves me and whom I can talk to anytime..
• My sweet family:A loving husband who works hard and two boys who fill me with joy
• My mom: my mother and friend whom I can also pick up the phone and call anytime
• My grandma: who loves me and finds such joy in her family
• My Family
• Friends: What would life be like without friends to share in the sorrows, the joys and the everydayness of life?!
• Health: I am so thankful that we don't have any serious health problems
• A warm home
• Food:I take for granted what I have when there are many people esp in other countries who don't have nearly as much as I do
• My brother-in-law: who put his life on the line for 15 months for you and for me and for all the other soldiers
• Laughter: I love to laugh with Ben, with friends and family.
• Chocolate: Chocolate does a woman good...
• Cheaper Gas Prices: I'm thankful we can travel home for Thanksgiving;)
• Christmas Break: A time of renewal for my family and teaches our boys to celebrate Jesus' birth.

I know I have much, much more to be thankful for! It's good to think about these things; to focus on all of the blessings in our life instead of all the worries and anxieties or the hardships. What are you thankful for this year?

Conversations with Samuel

Today we dropped daddy off at the airport for a weekend trip to Boston for a conference. We didn't tell Samuel until last night at dinner because we were worried about his reaction (still hasn't quite recovered from Turkey...). He seemed okay, just wanted to talk about it. I overheard Ben and Samuel talking last night as they are looking at the map we have in the hallway...
B: Samuel, see this? This is Boston. That's where daddy will be for 3 days and 3 nights. What
letter does Boston start with?
S: "B!"
B: "And here, see this? This is C*****, where we live! What letter does this start with?"
S: "C"
Insert a few more rumblings and then Samuel comes running into the bedroom where I am
getting Zakkai dressed.
S: "Mommy! Daddy is going to Bostom and it starts with a B!"

Fast forward to this afternoon as we're driving away from dropping daddy off. We are having a running discourse on what daddy is doing and the whole process of flying:
Mommy: "And daddy is going to stand in line and get all checked in, hand them his ticket..etc,
etc. The plane will take off and he will fly to Boston and he will call us when he gets to his
hotel!"
There is silence for a few minutes as Samuel digests this information...
Samuel: "And daddy will be in Bostom and then I am going to get on an airpwane and buckle
myself in and fwy to Turkey!"
Mommy: "You are?! Wow!"
Samuel: "Yeah, but I'm not gonna fwy on a big airpwane cause big airpwanes might make me
cwy. I'm gonna fwy on a small airpwane."
Mommy:"Oh, I see. Maybe we can all fly on an airplane together sometimes."
Samuel: "Well, maybe Zakkai and Samuel can fwy on a small airpwane since we're small wittle people and you an' daddy can fwy on a big airpwane cause you're big people!"
Mommy: "Oh, you think so?"
Samuel: "Yeah. Zakkai, you wanna fwy on a small airpwane?"
Zakkai: "small air-pane"
Samuel: "Zakkai says he wants to fwy on a small airpwane, too!"

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

One Year Ago

Cardboard Testimony

I saw this on another blog and it really touched me. I am amazed at how God works in all of our lives, in so many different situations and all at the same time! He's amazing! I think my cardboard testimony would be "Wounded and Fragile"/"Healed and Strengthened by HIM!" What would yours be?










http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Bedtime...

My sweet little angels have become hellions at bedtime. (Nice opening line, huh?) You cannot imagine how much I am wishing for a third bedroom right now! Last night was the WORST it's ever been! I am so thankful they are buddies...but not at night! They were awake for 2 hours after we put them in bed last night, giggling, jumping on their beds, sneaking out of bed (okay, that was Samuel, not Zakkai)...we must've gone in there 549 times!! We have tried every trick in the book, that we know about, to nip this in the bud and it's not working! Help!! Any suggestions??? We're going to revert back to separate bedtimes for a little while to see if that helps because we're getting frustrated! (us, frustrated? No.....)

WANTED

Wanted: The Leader: Sneaky-Eyed Samuel
For: Sneaking out of bed and jumping in laundry
Description: The leader of the pack; he's big-stuff and
easily lures young innocent brothers into his schemes! He's
blond haired, blue-eyed and looks a lot like his daddy! About
39 inches tall and 32lbs, he's tall and slim. He's quick and looks
innocent and he's hard to catch in the act! So be on the look
out for a giraffe-lovin', finger suckin', giggly, sneaky criminal!
Reward: Some cuddles and some silliness!

Wanted: The Accomplice: Bbbbad to the bones-brother
For: Giraffee-stealing
Description: He's a slippery little man with blond hair and
big innocent-looking blue eyes. Don't let him fool you! He's
about 34 inches tall and under 30lbs but he's fast and strong!
He's known for his sneaky moves like coloring on the walls,
playing with daddy's guitar and stealing toys. He's considered
armed and dangerous! He's armed with an ornery grin and eyes
full of mischief and can very easily melt your heart. Beware! He's
a dangerous one and we need to catch him!
Reward: A hug and slobbery kiss!

My boys

My Samuel. You are such a bright little boy. Always figuring out ways to get what you want and getting cleverer by the day! You are going to be so much like your daddy. We think you will do great in school because you just soak up the things we teach you! But it might be hard to keep you challenged because that's what happens when you're so smart! You also happen to be incredibly funny:) You make me laugh especially at dinner time and when we spend one on one time together. You are always looking at me or at daddy to see what our reaction is to the funny thing you are saying. Always making up silly words that make no sense and using your crazy 3 year old logic!

I love to hear you teach Zakkai how to talk and say words. You are going to be a teacher like daddy maybe:) Although I wish you would only teach Zakkai good things instead of ornery things, too! You are a good big brother and SO happy to have a playmate. Always take good care of your little brother!

You might be a big boy of 3 years old but you still L-O-V-E your giraffees! There is nothing that can bring a smile to your face and melt your heart quicker than the sound or sight of your precious "Best fwiends!" And when I peek in on you at night time, you are always cuddled up close to your buddies, looking so peaceful and happy. Oh the life of a three year old!
You have a wonderful laugh that makes me smile and such beautiful blue eyes that I love to look into. I love to stroke your soft cheek and kiss your spiky blond hair. And I love that you still have that calic that you were born with on the right side of your forehead. It's a stubborn little calic, just like you!! I was quizzing you the other day on what my name was and your name was and how old you were while we were driving and you, very decidedly, told me your name was "Schmuwic!" just like daddy calls you:) (Schmulic) You don't like it when anyone calls you "Sam", you insist on your full name. And that's fine with me, sweet Samuel, because we LOVE your name! You are a bright, sweet, sensitive and very stubborn little boy and I wouldn't trade you for the world! I love you, Samuel Benjamin.

And you, my crazy sweet little Zakkai! You captured my heart even before you were born and have held it captive since! I love, love, love your orneryness and your spunk! You do everything with such a great big smile that it is IMPOSSIBLE for me not to smile back! Even when you're doing something you shouldn't! I definitely should be harder on you sometimes but man, it's so hard to get stern with you when you are so full of joy!

You have been loud from the minute you were born, which drives your daddy crazy! But now you don't scream nearly as much as you used to and you are talking so well! It's so fun to hear Samuel teaching you how to say words. I love that you have named yourself now. I love to hear you ask for things now. "Peaz have cwacker Kai!" We used to call you "Baby Kai" when you were little and before Samuel could say your name and now you call yourself "Kai." So sweet.
You can't stay angry very long. You try to give me little scowls and grumpy looks when things aren't going your way but it doesn't last long because all I have to do is smile at you or imitate you and immediately the sunshine is out again!

You are very persistent and it's hard to get you to stop doing thing like, closing the doors!!! I'm sure that quality will come in handy someday but for now it just drives us crazy!! You are so sweet and love to snuggle and be with mommy. You are so obsessed with your blankies or "rays" as you call them and it's amazing how fast the sight or touch of your blankies can comfort you. I have always wondered how such a tiny finger can make you happy, but it does!
You are beautiful and I love your chubbiness, your bright, happy, blue, blue eyes and soft blond hair. You are special and unique and bring joy to our lives. I love you, Zakkai Nathaniel.

"Happy Birfday" and "Bubberfwies"

"Happy Birfday, Gwamma!!" I meant to post this on Friday but time got away from me with a little sick one in the house. These little monkeys and their mommy and daddy love you SO MUCH!!! We wish you the happiest birthday ever with a new year full of love, hope, joy and many blessings!!

Zakkai is still sick but recovering. He isn't sleeping well because his cough keeps him up (and me, too!) but I'm hoping he'll be feeling better soon. He was just next to me coloring on a mini doodle-pro that we have and he held up his lovely baby-scribbles with pure joy on his face and said, "Bubberfwy!!" I looked and exclaimed over his lovely creation and said, "Oh! Is that a butterfly?" He said happily again, "Bubberfwy!!!" It will be all too soon that he will start saying words correctly so I am going to enjoy and write down these precious little things!

Speaking of precious things, I keep notebooks for the boys in which I write all of their milestones,cute sayings and precious memories because I know that while fresh in my mind now, someday these small little things will grow fuzzy and dim and then I will be able to look back and read over these tiny things, only precious to a mother, and smile. (and probably cry, too!) So I try to remember throughout the week the things my boys do. For instance, a friend from housegroup brought snack this past thursday night and she made a trip to Chinatown to bring some special Chinese cakes. Ben let the boys try a piece on Friday and told Samuel it was called a "Chinese Moon Cake" and Samuel said, "Can I have anovver piece of Chinese Moose Cake?" It's those things I write down and treasure:)

We just outside for a few minutes and saw our first snowflakes! It is FREEZING outside and feels even colder since 4 days ago it was 70 degrees! Ah, the joys of midwest weather:) We were lucky to have some extra summer-like weather in November! And now....here comes the winter! (groan)

Thoughts of Mine

My Zakkai-baby has been sick since Wed night with croup! We had a very scary night with him and he was so exhausted from being up in the night that he took a 4 1/2 hour nap yesterday! I feel physical pain when one of my boys is sick or gets hurt. I HATE to see them suffer. Half the time when they are sick there is nothing I can really do for them except to offer my presence, comfort and mommy-love. I remember when I was young and I would get sick, all I wanted was my mom. Just her presence was enough to comfort me.

There was a brief day or two or maybe only a few moments in the past couple of weeks where I thought Samuel just might be getting over his Thomas obsession. I was wrong. It is now fully renewed. Thomas comes with us EVERYWHERE and people now expect that they are going to see Samuel +Thomas. We have Thomas underwear, some Thomas clothing, Thomas cups, Thomas trains (x's a bazillion), Thomas movies, had a Thomas birthday cake, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas! And yet, he wants more. Honestly we have barely bought him any of it (except for the undies and cups!); most have been gifts. He now wants Thomas pj's and a train table to drive trains on (that's another story!). I am so amazed at how many other people out there have Thomas-obsessed children, too! What IS it about this little blue engine that draws the adoration and loyalty from these small child-hearts? When I figure it out, I'll let you know....

I will say this next part with much thought and caution. As a matter of fact, I don't want to post it at all, except, IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I have been so upset in the past couple of weeks, but mostly this week, at how very disrespectful people have been to each other over this election. Even Christians! People who are supposed to be loving with their lives as well as their words. I personally feel that who you choose to vote for and why you chose to do it, is a private matter. Politics gets so personal with people and it is so easy for someone to feel attacked in this area. I have just been sickened over the gloating and the biting and the unChrist-like love coming from this nation. I know it is happening everywhere and not just in my own neighborhood, where the next President just happens to reside. Please, please be careful what you say and how you say it! We have Someone that we're supposed to be shining for.

And to end on a lighter note: I LOVE our new breakfast for dinner tradition! Have I already told you that? It works out so well (most of the time). Ben gives the boys baths and gets them in their jammies while I finish cooking whatever yummy, breakfasty treat we'll be devouring. This past Saturday was probably our favorite so far: crepes! We had slightly sweetened crepes with banana cream filling and topped with fruit and also regular crepes filled with eggs and sausage. SO good, so good, you see!! It's fun to come up with new ideas of what to have. And it's also nice that we're all in our pj's and ready for bed by the time dinner is done! I do need some more ideas, though, so please enlighten me with your favorite special breafast recipes!!

Wordless Wednesday!

This is the result of blueberry oatmeal and a "special drink" that also had blueberries in it!

Our Weekend!

We Cried

We Laughed
We played

We were silly

Yesterday was the LOOOOOOOOONGEST day ever! The boys were so messed up! They woke up just after 6am and I was so confused when I looked at the clock and couldn't figure out why they were up so EARLY until....it penetrated my poor confused brain, that the time changed! So the boys were off their schedule all day (as I'm sure every other child was!). They ate at weird times, slept at weird times, played at weird times....But we had lots of fun. We built a tent/fort just like my sisters and I used to do growing up!! We did an art project and made masks and had lots of "sprinkles" to clean up off the floor, we played trains, read books.....and still the day did not end!

Today they were up even earlier! At 5:30am, I heard the first murmurings coming across the monitor. Why, oh why!! Today was long but so beautiful outside! Samuel and Zakkai were so funny today so there was lots of laughter AND to make the day even better, they consumed a huge quantity of vegetables today!! I will mark this day down in history....just in case it doesn't happen again. Veggies for lunch and veggies for dinner! It's a kind of day I strive for all too often! Ah, the food-battles...

Zakkai has discovered that he likes dipping sauces such as ketchup and pizza sauce! Sometimes, he just wants the sauce and not the dippee:) He's getting a little pickier though as he ages, unfortunately. He won't touch a lot of bread, grilled cheese (no child but mine!), certain cereals....drives me crazy! But another thing that is really developing in him that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is compassion. He was very upset when I was cutting Samuel's hair last week and Samuel was screaming (that's another story!) and kept trying to pull my hand away and make me stop and kept looking up into Samuel's face and crying with him. And when he has heard Samuel cry at all in the past few days, he listens intently and gets a worried look on his face and says, "Sad. Samel cwy." He wants to be close to Samuel and feels his pain with him. It's so endearing to see how much he loves his "Samel."

And Samuel is up to his regular funny stuff! His logic cracks us up! His nose has been running since his cold a couple of weeks ago and he wipes it constantly and carries around a "soft cwoff" (a burb cloth) everywhere he goes. Tonight we were getting the boys ready for bed and Samuel ran into our room buck naked and said (as he ran by),

"My nose is running, my nose is running!" Ben chased him into the corner and I said,

"Oh no! You'd better go catch it!" (okay, silly joke, I know!) So Ben said,

"Where is your nose running to?" And Samuel said,

"My nose is running to the cwoff!!"(cloth) We laughed and laughed! He surprises us when he makes such a quick comeback!

And Samuel is really into asking "why" questions these days. "Why is the rain wet?" "Why is thunderstorm coming?" "Why does this (name of food) have this color in it?" "Why? Why? Why?" And it's funny because only recently I was thinking about how he never asked or answered why questions! As you can see they are not easy questions either! We come up with the best answers we can or just say...because! Being a parent makes you realize how not smart you are! It's a very humbling experience!

My last memory of the day is hearing my little boy giggle and giggle with pure joy in their hearts. Samuel won a bouncy ball from his prize bucket tonight and those two had a BLAST throwing and trying to catch this little ball! I LOVE the sounds of their childish-baby laughter!

Tiggers Trick or Treating!

Daddy helps the Tiggers get some candy..

Mommy holds her ornery tiggers

Our friend Luka the Lion

Last night, as a last minute decision, we decided to take our Tiggers trick or treating! It was their very first time (and mine, too!) and they had a blast! There is a street here that purposely has trick or treating for little kids and almost everyone decorates their house, dresses up and sits on their front porch to hand out candy to the bumblebees, lions, ladybugs and tiggers:) We got a lot of smiles and exclamations over the "two little tiggers!" One lady who was handing out candy, exclaimed in her british accent, "Oh, a tigger! Oh, double tiggers!!"

The boys were so happy about their candy! They each had a bucket which Samuel would silently hand out to the candy-giver. Zakkai just hung on to his bucket for dear life and looked totally confused about what we were doing! He did spy his very favorite piece of candy in his bucket though, which was a blue sucker! He tried several times to eat it through the wrapper:) Finally on the way home the boys each got to choose A piece of candy. Samuel chose a snickers and Zakkai chose...the blue sucker, of course! They were very happy, albeit messy, little Tiggers!!

Wordless Wednesday!!

Here's a picture that requires few words.............

Not Me, Mondays!!

I saw this clever idea on another blog (http://www.mycharmingkids.net/)...or two....I wish I could claim it as my own idea...but I can't. So here it goes....

I was definitely not grumpy this past weekend. I did not say that I don't like Saturdays and then escape the house all on my own during naptime. I didn't drive through terrible traffic and wander around JoAnn Fabrics all alone. I definitely didn't enjoy getting out by myself. You can bet I did not sneak a piece of my son's caramel apple when he wasn't looking after church yesterday. And this morning I assuredly did not hit the snooze button and skip my morning workout. I was not at all cold this morning when I headed out with the boys to an appt. We were not almost late as usual since I am always perfectly on time. I did not come back and make my children a healthy lunch of grilled cheese (there were veggies, too!) and get irked when Zakkai did not throw his on the floor. I definitely did not eat a few small bites of the unwanted grilled cheese. I didn't hold my precious sons in my arms and rock with them and read them a story and it sure wasn't a story that I picked because I wanted to hear it more than they did...
I did not sigh with relief when my sweet angels were tucked into their respective beds for a nap and I am not wasting my limited quiet time of the day messing around on the computer instead of cleaning or doing something productive...I am not sitting here wishing I had some chocolate to nibble on as I am not fighting to keep my eyes open....I am not!

Two Little Tiggers....

Two little orange and black Tiggers
soft and furry,
crawling in a hurry,
Two little orange and black Tiggers.
They stop to stare in the mirror
and smile from ear to ear
Two little orange and black Tiggers.
They wrestle and fight,
with their toddler might,
Two little orange and black Tiggers.
Ferocious little faces
and fat soft places,
Two little orange and black Tiggers.
I wouldn't trade them in for money
cause they are my own sweet little honey (s)
Two little orange and black Tiggers.

My Little Buckeyes:)

We may not live in Columbus anymore but we try to instill the buckeye pride in our sons! They, of course, have no idea what in the world we're talking about when we tell them to say, "Go, Bucks!!" but they humored me on Saturday by posing for pictures....sort of:)
Here's our little spunkmeister wearing my boots that I dug out from my shoe box (and have had for like 8 years!) He is so funny and makes us laugh all the time! He had the biggest smile on his face when we took his picture!
Here's my little helper! My sweet Samuel wants to help me do EVERYTHING! He dusts, he sweeps, he cooks and washes dishes. Because of his recent interest in helping, I promised him we'd make cookies together and we finally did yesterday. I specifically bought red sugar so he could decorate the cookies in his most favorite color (since everything has to be red these days!!) He was a good helper and the cookies are good, too!
My heart swells at moments like this when I can capture my babies on camera without them noticing. They are so very precious to me. I love everything about them: from their soft blond hair and big blue eyes to their sweet little toes:) From their sweet high pitched voices and their baby laughter to their unique personalities. I never imagined I would be blessed with two precious children...and boys to boot! The quiet moments when I can watch them, enjoy them and memorize them don't happen very often (usually when they are sleeping) but I store these precious times in my heart to pull out later and think over the incredibly precious, sweet, innocent, amazing gifts God has graciously blessed me with. Thank you, Lord!

A 3 year old's logic is frankly, hilarious! We love to listen to Samuel talk about or explain things. Often, they make no sense! Especially when we ask him "Why?" questions...but he's fun to listen to:)

We were driving to the store yesterday and he was noticing the changing leaves on the trees. He decided then that he could look at the red trees (b/c it's his FAV color!), I could look at the yellow trees (my Fav), Daddy got the green trees (again, fav color) and Zakkai could have the orange trees (the leftovers:) So after we run through all of those colors, he says:

"Who's favorite color is blue?

Me: "Mugga's favorite color is blue."

Samuel: "Who's favorite color is purple?"

Me: "Charity and Grandma's favorite color is purple."

Samuel: "Well, who's favorite color is pink?!" I rack my brain but cannot think of anyone.

Me: "I don't know who's favorite color is pink, Samuel. Who do you think likes pink?" He thinks

seriously for a minute and then says,

"Papa's favorite color is pink!!" I lost it and laughed the rest of the way to the store. If you have ever seen Papa, who is a hard workin', Plain City man, you would know that pink is NOT is favorite color! All I could think about was that pink clashes with his reddish beard!

Papa and Samuel

Mommy moments...

I have a bonified medical condition called....mommy-brain. And I'm not the only one out there that has it either (as scary as that is!) I find myself forgetting how to spell or say the simplest words and I always was a great speller(!!!), I cannot remember ANYTHING anymore: I forget to call or email people, forget about remembering appointments and I'm lucky I can remember my children's names! I have to make lists for everything, including lists to remember my lists!! Never in my life have I been so good about marking things on my calendar: Birthdays? Appts? Events?
Being a mother is, at times, very humbling. Your child could have a screaming tantrum in a store (been there, done that), could say something personal very loudly in public (done that, too!) or you could experience what I experienced today. I have no idea where little boys pick up their nasty habits. Really, I have NO idea because I have no brothers and never thought I'd be a "boy-mom!" So, Samuel has picked up the habit of spitting lately and he when he wakes up and is waiting for me to come in, he spits on the floor and on the bookshelf at the end of the bed....I have stepped in it! He spits out on the playground. It's disgusting!! And today, we were visiting a friend and just before we walked out of her door, he SPIT on her floor!!! Right on the rug! I was SO mortified! I made him apologize and gave him a very long, stern lecture and warning of punishment when we got back downstairs. I mean, spitting on someone else's floor??!! I am so thankful to still have her friendship! Boys!
And before I think too much of these nasty boy-things, I will tell you some cute things the boys have been up to. Zakkai has started to count. He surprised me the other day by chiming in when we were counting with Samuel and beating us to the number 4! You forget that he's listening sometimes:) I already mentioned how much he is talking and one of my favorite words that he says is "monkey" because he says, "bonkey-me". It makes me laugh everytime!
Samuel's imagination has been growing! We make up stories together now and the other night made up one about a bear. We asked Samuel to choose the bear's name. After much thought and deliberation, he chose "Fred." So then a minute into the story, we get to Fred bear's little brother and we have to choose a name for him too. It didn't take long for Samuel to decide that Fred Bear's little brother would be called..."Hoteywater......" Yes, I am not exactly sure where that name came from but we had quite a grand story with Fred and Hoteywater:) He also makes up words randomly and when asked what they mean, comes up with the most elaborate meanings you've ever heard! For example, the other day he came up with the word "chibidibadoo" which (according to this 3 year old) means "that the construction vehicles are resting and they aren't working and they go in the parking lot and ..." Wow, we'll all have some big vocabulary here soon! Too bad no one else will understand us:)
Samuel is also really wants to help me these days. He wants to wash the dishes (yes!) and help cook. He made rice last night and chose our dinner veggie and actually ate all of his dinner (praise, the Lord!!) I must take full advantage of this phase before it leaves! I keep telling him that we'll make cookies together. Maybe that's a good activity for a fall weekend;)

Playing, sickness, the lake and breakfast for dinner:)

Boys playing at Museum of Science and Industry
Driving the John Deere together
Me and My boys (yes, I know that's not proper grammar!)
Buddies
Breakfast for Dinner
The boys are recovering from being sick this past week. They caught the same cold that about 1.2 billion of the population had! We, if you read my last post, had a few rough days but the boys are doing much better. We went to the Museum on Thursday with a friend and the boys had a blast! They spent most of their time in the Idea Factory, a place set aside for young children to explore different things like balls in water, air, etc. And of course, we made a run through the "train room" which is Samuel's favorite room, as I have been informed.
The weather was so beautiful this weekend so we walked down to the lake with the boys. They have so much fun looking for boats, bird and planes and just walking.
We had our second installment of our newest family tradition:Breakfast for Dinner! We, once again, ate dinner (or breakfast:) in our pj's, which Samuel thinks is GREAT fun! How silly to have us mommy and daddy in their pajamas, too! This week we had eggs, maple sausage links, watermelon, apples and creamy pumpkin filled biscuits. Mmmmm... It was really good! It's fun to prepare it and actually look forward to dinner, knowing I won't be getting any fights from the boys about eating. I KNOW there are many other moms out there who experience the food-fights with their kids. I wish, oh how I WISH, I could get through one whole day with no complaining about food! I am storing up this information to remind myself and the boys when they are teenagers and I won't be able to get them to stop eating!!

My DAY....

****Warning: The following story is not for the faint-at-heart (or those who want to throw up when they hear anything about bodily functions)****


Let's talk about Heidi's day yesterday and how it was the greatest day ever.....or NOT! Here is a little glimpse into THE DAY from.....

6:45am Wake up and TRY to get awake enough to exercise
7:15am Drag myself out of bed and do a little exercise (I think) and shower
8:00amish Get cranky, sick children up and dressed and find out toilet isn't flushing well.
8:30am Take sick children downstairs to write about toilet problem in janitor's notebook and proceed back upstairs to have a fight with Child #1 over food (which is become increasingly more often...GRRRR) because the muffins are brown.
9:00-11am Putter around getting out baby clothes that i'm letting a friend borrow, realize they have stains (from WHAT??), wipe snotty noses, try to clean out stains, stop Samuel from antagonizing Zakkai, wipe some more noses, break up another fight and wipe some more snot
11am Begin battle with Samuel over putting on shoes so we can go wash the baby clothes. Samuel proceeds to have a meltdown, sobbing and wiping his red, endlessly dripping nose
11:12am Mommy is SUPER frustrated over the neverending battle
11:20am Finally make it downstairs with: two sick children, one crying, and a gigantic bag of laundry, only to find that the laundry room has been taken over by the lady who uses ALL 9 washers and ALL 10 dryers
11:23am Drag two tired, sick, drippy children and one large unwashed bag of laundry and one frustrated mommy back upstairs
11:30am Strap boys in booster seats and answer knock at door which is Ivan coming to fix the toilet which may or may not be plugged up with a necklace that mommy accidentally flushed 2 weeks ago.....
11:35am Feed boys lunch (thankfully they are quiet at this point)
12:00pm Toilet is still being fixed and children are still eating
12:45pm Children are drugged and sleeping; toilet is fixed. Spend next hour sweeping and mopping for bible study.
2:45pm Child #2 wakes up screaming
2:50pm Discover that Child #2 has had diarrhea and has a VERY sore bottom
3:00pm Deposit sick child into bath tub
3:10pm Carry #2 into room and dry off/dress and go to wake up Child #1
3:15pm Discover that Child #1 also has had diarrhea ALL over his bed
3:18pm Deposit sick child into bath tub
3:45pm Drag two sick but clean children and an even LARGER bag of laundry down stairs....
3:47pm Receive phone call from husband, who after hearing short version about day, offers to make dinner (bless you!)
5:45pm Come home after multiple laundry trips and a visit to the playground only to discover.....that husband forgot about dinner and house group is coming in barely over an hour.....

And after a few other small incidents (which didn't seem quite so small after a trying day)
6:55pm Lay children down to sleep.
7:15pm Lead part of the teaching for house group
10:35pm Fall into a deep, deep sleep:)

And now you know that I am FAR from perfect and that our family on occasion has horrible, no-good, very bad rotten days.....but we're doing much better today!!:) (And I can even smile about yesterday....a little)

"Now know AC, know!" That's what Zakkai sings over and over again when we sing the "ABC's!" He is quite a talker now. He knows how to tell us what he wants and how to ask for help. It has definitely helped in the screaming department (although we still get to enjoy screaming episodes on occasion) and he has the cutest little voice:) One funny thing we've noticed is that he has started saying, "Mommy what? Mommy what?" We think it's because everytime the boys call for me, I say, "What?" So now Zakkai just answers for me!

Samuel has been napping less and less and it frightens me terribly! He has always been a great napper and doesn't fight at all with going down but in the past week he stays awake until close to the end of naptime and then when I go to wake him up at 3pm, he's asleep! Drives me crazy! I am SOOOOOOOOOOO not ready to give up naptime. I need that rest time, too! (so I can do things like posting on my blog:) Even if he doesn't sleep everyday, I will still make him go rest because otherwise I just may lose whatever sanity I have left! He is growing so quickly and becomes more adult-like each week. He is very logical when talking to Ben or I, is very helpful with pointing out all the crazy, forbidden things Zakkai does (which is a lot), and enjoys spending lots of time on more bigger boy activities like painting, playing with the small legos, lincoln logs, learning to write his name, learning to read! I think this year will be so fun with him now that we can reason with him and he is getting so independent. But my mother heart is also so sad to see that my baby isn't a baby anymore. Each year that goes by his legs grow a little longer, his desire to cuddle grows a little less and he needs a little less help with things but for now, I kiss those still-baby soft cheeks as often as I can (even as he wipes them off!), steal hugs and enjoy his sweet high pitched voice. He'll always be my baby:)

Samuel~age 2 1/2 weeks

The other day my stomach was hurting so bad and Samuel climbed up on the couch where I was resting for a minute and he said, "Mommy, does your tummy hurt?" I told him, "Yes" it did and then he said, "Mommy, I'm gonna pway for you wight now. Dear Lord Jesus, please help mommy's tummy feel better. Amen!" Then he leans over and peers into my face and says, "Mommy, is it all better yet?!" How could I tell him anything but yes! And you know what? Within a few minutes, it really did feel better! God must love the prayers of sweet children.

Apple Dumplings and Family Traditions

Last night I made some made-from-scratch old fashioned apple dumplings. Can we say YUM??!!! I found the recipe on line and immediately decided they looked worth trying. Forget the store bought pie crust (which is a cuss word to say around my mom!), these were made with our secret family pie crust recipe. And these apple dumplings are baked in a rich cinnamon, vanilla sauce. Oh, I am drooling now! They were so rich that we had to split one. We either need to give some away or we'll come home really fat at Thanksgiving!

And now for family traditions! I grew up with lots of family traditions like: apple picking each fall, shopping at ungodly hours the morning after Thanksgiving, cutting down our own Christmas tree, etc. I really treasure family traditions and would like to have some to pass down to our children. A simple tradition that we are starting is once a week we are having breakfast for dinner! I think it'll be on Saturday night each week and tonight is the first night! We are having Country Sausage, Cheddar and Apple Bake (sounded interesting to me!), Fruit and either Apple bread or a cinnamon swirl bread. The point is to have fun and create a fun memory for our children and maybe even a tradition that they'll want to pass on. Maybe we'll even have our dinner in our pjs:) I'll let you know how it turns out! What family traditions do you have?

A Day of Firsts

Today was a day of some firsts. Today Zakkai said, "Sayuel!" (Samuel) for the first time. I thought he said, "Mule" a few months ago but maybe I was mistaken:) Anyways, Samuel was ECSTATIC!! His face lit up and he said, "Mommy, I just love when Zakkai says my name!" And Zakkai proceeded to say it about 18 more times....

And today Zakkai started giving kisses!! Real kisses. I was playing with the boys and layed down on the ground and he bent over and started kissing my face:) Of course that led to Samuel competing for kisses but a mommy can never have too many kisses from her angels!

And we also met to play with a new friend and her son for the first time. It was a wonderful visit and now the boys have a new friend! They behaved very well except for a strange lapse in their manners when they gobbled up their snack like a couple of wild animals but I guess that could have something to do with the fact that they simultaneously decided to refuse dinner last night......just a guess!

I know I posted these pictures earlier this summer but I just wanted to show you again what BUDDIES these two boys are. They spend every waking moment together and now Samuel has started speaking for them collectively and calling them "these guys." "Mommy, these guys don't like soup." or "Mommy, these guys need a snack." or "These guys need to go outside.." These guys copy off everything the other one does. Sometimes that's a good thing....and sometimes it's not! I'm so glad they are buddies though. It's something I prayed for when Zakkai was in my tummy and I'm so thankful that they have a built in buddy for life!

Things I have learned about my family this week

I may have been married for 5 1/2 years to my wonderful husband and mother to two of the sweetest, cutest boys in the world (my maybe biased opinion) for over 3 years now but I still learn new things about them weekly! For instance:

Ben: His favorite fruit is apples (and this is major since he has no favorites of anything!!!)
His favorite kitchen gadget is: the apple slicer:)
He really REALLY wants to go to Germany

Samuel: His recently discovered FAVORITE color is: RED
He speaks Turkish (this morning he said "Kaboo" which he informed me is Turkish for
"Turkish":)
His new favorite cereal is "Oh's", a long time childhood favorite of mine!

Zakkai: He LOVES to drive cars and is very good at making car noises
He is getting very good at communicating! "Pleath, book" "Pleath, Ray" "Have cici"
(cookie)
He is our family clown! He loves to make silly and disgruntled faces to make us laugh!
If his nap is cut short for some reason, he wakes up VERY grumpy and it takes awhile for him to snap out of it (that just might come from my side of the family:)

My life is full of such joy because of my three men! I am so looking forward to discovering new things about them for the rest of my life! And here are a few things maybe you didn't know about me!

Heidi: My FAVORITE color is yellow (it's a happy color, full of joy and sunshine)
Someday I would like to get good enough to sell quilts as a business
I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to go to Europe! (did I mention REALLY??)
Someday I would like to write a book

Apple Picking!

Samuel and daddy pick apples
Zakkai and his "heawy" bag

My Three Men

Today we nearly got eaten alive at the apple orchard. Oh yes, I am not kidding! I think the mosquitos almost carried Zakkai away until we caught him just in time! It must have been the heavy bag of apples that weighted him to the ground:)

We have been anxiously awaiting apple-picking season for a year now! We found a wonderful apple orchard tucked away in Indiana last year (yes, even good things come from Indiana). We had so much fun last year. Samuel picked rotten apples off the ground and put them in his own special bag and we threw them each out everytime he turned around (shhh..) and then....before we got in our car and headed home, we bought two lonely donuts to split between us all on the drive. Only two...sigh. We broke the cinnamon sugary crusted apple cinnamon doughnut in half and raised a morsel to our mouths only to be blown away by the moistness, the flavor, the incredible melt-in-your mouth texture. Hurriedly we crammed the doughnuts in our mouths, only stopping to share a small bite with Samuel (I know! You are thinking what selfish parents we are!!) We didn't think the frosted pumpkin doughnut could be as good until....we got our first taste of the orange colored delicassy. Oh my, who knew that doughnuts could be so good?!!

And so....for one very long year, we have been anxiously awaiting apple-picking season. Oh yes, we love the apples and everything that you can make with them: apple butter, applesauce, apple pancakes, apple cake, apple muffins, and don't forget the apple pie! But even through all the pleasures we get out of these yummy apple-licous treats.......we cannnot forget those doughnuts.....