Yes, I Still Embarrass Easily

We were sitting with my friend Johnna and her husband, Mark, at the boys' soccer game the other night. Aiden points to Mark and says "Is it just me, or is he bald?" Mark takes his baldness in stride and jokes around with Aiden. Just then someone they know walked up to them to say hi. He happened to be follically challenged himself. In his usual LOUD voice Aiden says "Look now there are TWO bald guys!".

During Mass, there is about a 20 minute period where they take the kids that are preschool through grade 4 out for their own little lesson on the homily. Noah and Aiden like to go to this. When they get back to their seats Noah informs me that Aiden was talking to much today. Really, that is nothing new. What embarrassed me is what Noah told me next. They kids went around the room and had to say what they are praying for. When it was Aiden's turn, he says "I'm praying for boobs." No, that wasn't a typo for books. My 5 year old son is praying for boobs. I'm sure all men pray for boobs at some point in their lives.....I just didn't think Aiden would be starting so soon.

Random Thoughts

You have GOT to be kidding me. I just typed up a whole blog post, hit 'publish', and got some wierd error message. It said to hit 'back' and try again. Yeah, I did that and there was nothing there but my title! What??? I have to start over? Heck, I don't even remember what all I said anymore, that's why I titled it Random Thoughts. Here goes nothing.

Aiden started indoor soccer last week. They spend about a half an hour doing various drills teaching them the basics of soccer. Aiden hangs on the coachs' every work and does everything he says. It is so stinkin' cute to see him standing there with his one foot up on the ball. Then they split up the last 15 minutes and scrimmage. Aiden scored a goal last week and he scored 3 today!!! He's a speedy little devil and has got some good moves. I almost feel bad for some of the little 3 year olds. We may have another soccer star on our hands.

So, the phone rings and it's 911 calling us to see if we are ok or if we really have an emergency. Todd asked the boys if anyone had been on the phone and Drew said he didn't see anyone on the phone. (The 3 boys had been playing downstairs). Todd apologized and hung up. Aiden then admitted that he called by singing "I called 911...." I don't remember how the lyrics go to that song but hearing him singing that made me go from being mortified and embarrassed to laughing my butt off. Seriously, there has to be a parenting book out there somewhere that applies to Aiden. I'm completely clueless on how to parent him anymore. Nothing works with him. I remember when he was 2 and we jokingly talked about having a velcro wall to stick him too just to keep him out of trouble. I think we need to revisit that.

Noahs' room turned out so cute!! I just love all the added touches we gave it. It had been 10 years since the boys' rooms had been painted so it was time. After hitting a few snags with the project (and kind of expensive ones at that, why am I not surprised?) we decided to take a few weeks off before tackling Aidens' room. I'm ok with that. Seeing as how we had planned on doing the boys' rooms last summer, it's obvious we don't always stick with our plans. :)

Noah is down to just a cough, Drew was still running a fever and had a headache today, and then tonight, just when I thought we were heading to a good spot, Aiden started complaining that his head hurt really bad and he didn't feel good. I gave him Tylenol and he promptly fell asleep, even with the lights and TV on. NOT a good sign. We all know Aiden is never motionless unless he doesn't feel well. I hope it's not a long night.

I'm ready to bury into my bed myself. Between taking care of what seems like a neverending week of sick kids, doing a bedroom remodel and tackling other projects around the house (because I love to overextend myself), working on volunteer stuff for school, and worry, worry, worry...........I'm just plain exhausted. Here's to a MUCH better week ahead!!!

Cosmo & Gizmo

I'm kind of missing these little guys. We enjoyed our little houseguests over Christmas break. They were cuddly little balls of fluff.

Maybe we'll see them again over Easter break?

December

Whew what a whirlwind month December was! I do have to say it was one the best Decembers I had in ages. I was determined to make this a meaningful Christmas and a stressless Christmas. I feel like I succeeded. I didn't pick up the camera as much but I think not having a computer to put them on had some to do with it too. But now I have a working laptop thanks to awesome Christmas sales and Christmas money so I have my pictures back, my itunes, and everything else I couldn't access the past month. Whoooeeee!

I decided to take the lazy way out and post the whole month at once so I can start fresh in 2011. I only have a handful of Christmas memories here but still a lot of pictures.

This is what our Christmas tree looked like when we let the boys decorate. Clumps of ornaments here, bare spots there, but they are so proud of it and I was proud of myself for not fixing any of it. Jack must have liked it too because he was found perching about halfway up the tree.

I love this picture of Aiden and Drew. Aiden just climbed right up on him and they were being so cute together.

In this one, one of them tooted, and of course they were dying laughing. Life with boys right??

The annual boat club Christmas party. Here they are waiting patiently for Santa to call their name. No, the boy next to Noah does not have a fungus growing on his face. They had face painting and he wanted camouflage.

Love the expression on Aidens' face. I can just hear him now "Serwiously, I was good this year"

Noah slyly looking at his gift, wondering what was inside.

Drew was slightly embarrassed at having to sit on Santa's lap but I told him that was the only way he'd get his gift. Oh, the torture.

Aiden smiling sweetly.

We didn't get hardly any picture of Drew and Noahs' xmas program. We could barely see either one from our seats. We did get some good video though. We were able to get some cute pictures of the preschool program. Only about half of the kids are in this picture. After this song, the rest came out dressed as all parts of the nativity. This was taken during the first song, right before Aiden covered his face with his hand and started crying. As he pulled his hand away, he had blood gushing out of his nose and all over his hand. Thank goodness for Dad, who leapt right up there, got him out and we took him to the bathroom to clean him up. Luckily it was one that stopped pretty quickly (his tend to last awhile) and we snuck him back in by the end of the song. Wonder how many people will get to see the bloody reenactment on their video.

One of my favorite pictures of Christmas. A few days before, I walked into the living room and found all 3 of them snuggled up on the floor doing their Night Before Christmas I Spy book together. So sweet.

Christmas Eve at my parents' house.

The reindeer tracks as seen from our living room window.

The Grandkids....next year there will be one more in the mix!

Aiden and Ty so excited to open their gifts.

Noah

Drew

The icy trees the day we went sled riding.

(These next pictures are borrowed from my sister in law---she captured much better sledding pictures than me)

Sled riding was perfect that day. It was warm enough to not freeze, but cold enough that the snow wasn't melting. The kids had a ball and we had this hill to ourselves.

This is my beautiful niece. She couldn't possibly be any cuter, could she?

Aiden, Drew, Noah, and Ty heading down on the toboggan.

My Drewdles posing for his Aunt Beth.

Noah in his 'genie' pose.

Drew 'snowboarding' down the hill on a sled.

My favorite picture of Aiden, completely captures his free spirit.

Looking forward to a new year. 2010 was good to us in so many ways, I hope 2011 does the same. Looking forward to many new adventures with my boys!

Taking Back Christmas

I've "written" this post in my head so many times over the past month. It always sounds good until I sit down and then I'm speechless. But I feel it so much in my heart, I've got to write about it.

I haven't enjoyed Christmas the past few years. Yes, I said it. I've been a Grinch. I've stressed and stressed, tried to cram too much in, tried too hard to find all the "perfect" gifts, and probably made Christmas less fun for my family. This year I was bound and determined to take Christmas back. Take it back to the time where it was magical to me, where I could enjoy it, revel in it, find meaning in it.

I remember Christmas Eve at my Grandparents house, sitting on the landing at the top of the stairs with my cousins. We'd be looking out the windows just watching for a glimpse of Santa's sleigh. THAT was magic!

Sleeping in my brothers' bunk beds with him so we could talk about Christmas morning and wake up together the next day to peek out in the living room before waking mom and dad. Magic.

Going downtown to the old JCPenney store building to see Santa, Christmas programs at school, live nativities, Christmas carols, making handmade ornaments, giving to others, baking cookies, the list goes on. I want my kids to grow up and look back at their childhood Christmases with fondness and love.

I've made some changes this year. I hope everyone is ok with them. I'm spending less, buying less and focusing on things more important than gifts. Honestly sometimes I wish gifts weren't even in the equation. We do not want for much, our kids have too much, our house is full in every aspect of the word. My kids aren't even asking for much this year, they don't want anything. The focus is on the other aspects of the season.

Do you know what? It's working. With the exception of a few things breaking down around the house, I've been calm, relaxed, and loving this Christmas season. My family is too. We are slowing down and savoring time together. Christmas movies, hot chocolate, game nights, decorating, family and friends, GIVING, taking time to appreciate the beauty of it all. Amazingly my Christmas shopping is almost done, cards are in the mail. The rest will get done in due time, I will NOT stress over it. I'm going to enjoy all of the fun things we have planned this month. It will all fly by as it always does but this time I will be taking it all in and not be stressing over all the non-important stuff. We are so incredibly blessed. Todd and I have seen things this year that reiterate that over and over to us. We try so hard not to take what we have for granted. We have love, laughter, and health in our lives. What more do we need? There are too many people out there lacking in all 3 of those things. I want my kids to know and appreciate what they have. I want them to see the true meaning of Christmas.....Jesus' birth, giving to those less fortunate, and of course Santa. I know the Santa days are dwindling for us. I want to keep that alive as long as possible also.

I hope everyone else can enjoy this Christmas season also. Find the beauty, find the magic, spend time with family and friends, go to Church, focus on others, listen to Christmas music, watch the classic movies of the season, enjoy the lights, anything that puts you in the Spirit.

What makes Christmas "magical" for you?

It Was Just A Matter Of Time.......

Really, do you expect anything less from our house?

Drews' Photo Shoot

Drew has been having fun with my camera lately, just enjoying taking pictures of everything. I loved some of his shots and just had to share. I did NOT edit, crop, or do anything to his photos, they are straight from the camera so I was impressed with his skills.

This is from Geography night----just had to show his project that he did with 2 friends.

He spent 2 days doing photo shoots of Jack. He didn't mind as it meant getting to spend alot of time outside, which is his favorite thing.

I kept looking at these photos thinking how cool that he got a shot of a squirrel up there, but now I'm thinking it's just the tree. I'll have to ask him. What do you think?

I just love this one. I don't know what it is, but I think it is so cool.

This one just makes me laugh.

One of the last living roses on Noah's rosebush.

Jack

Oh, to be a cat, especially my cat.

The Boys' School Pictures

Alternately titled..."Cutest Boys Ever".

Wow, I was blown away by their school pictures this year. I usually get the cheapest package, mostly to get the class picture for a keepsake for them. I hate ordering pictures before you see them and let's face it, school pictures aren't always the best. I'm kind of regretting it this year though. They turned out super adorable of all 3 boys. They just look too grown up. I know, I know, I say that every year. I'm just finally coming to terms with the fact that my boys aren't so little anymore. But they are definitely turning into handsome young men!

Aiden Pre-K 4

Noah 3rd Grade

Drew 6th Grade

Love these boys. They just melt my heart every day.

Why There's No Place Like Home

Life gets crazy sometimes and you get so caught up in your kids' schedules, your family, housework, school, etc that sometimes you forget to make time for yourself. I need that time, even if it's an hour here or there. Having that time to be "me" helps me to be a more patient mom and wife. Us girls took an overnighter to St Louis this past weekend and I think everyone agreed it was much needed. (although poor Johnna had a migraine all day Sunday....no fun for her!) We ate a lot of yummy food (Chipotle and PF Changs to name a couple), laughed a lot, shopped a lot and loved that extra hour of sleep from Daylight Savings Time. As much as I look forward to these special times with my girlfriends and as much fun as I always have, it always feels good to get back home.

Sometimes you don't know how much you are loved and appreciated until you leave. I got a lot of hugs and kisses from Todd and my boys last night and enjoyed hearing about their busy weekend. Right before bedtime, Aiden cuddled up with me on the couch and told me he missed me. Then he whispered in my ear "My heart belongs to you." Oh my goodness, I thought I'd cry. I know that kid is head over heels in love with me and hearing his sweet voice whisper that in my ear made me melt.

Today the boys didn't have any school so I was looking forward to a relaxing morning with them before I went to work. I woke up to a sweet little face (Aiden's) peering down at me on the bed saying "Hi Princess". Drew then made me coffee in bed and cooked me and the boys pancakes for breakfast! And if that wasn't enough he went out back and swept all of the leaves off of the deck and rake all of the one side of the backyard. He is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful. I have 3 amazing boys and an amazing hubby. While it was good to get a break from them and have some much needed girl time, there's no place like home. My boys, Todd, our comfy bed, our cat, our home. It's good to be home.

After raking leaves the boys had a blast playing in them. They also had "leaf tag" so some of the raking needs to be redone. I also had to vacuum leaf fragments off of the carpet. But it was worth it. It's a gorgeous day, we're home relaxing, and I caught the joy on their faces. I love being home.

Halloween Weekend

Our Halloween weekend was a busy one! Friday night we met Matt, Beth, and kiddos at the mall for some trick or treating. I also took Drew, Noah and Aiden through the Haunted House. That was pretty funny. Let's just say we know who the real chickens in the family are (and it's not me!) After that we all came back to our house to hang out.

Saturday night we headed to a party given by one of the familys at school. They have one every year and it's a blast. They have a haunted trail, hay rides, bonfire, games for the kids, etc. The boys love being able to run around with their school friends and we enjoy hanging out with the parents.

Before the party, we bought this.....................
We've been saving money for years to replace our van. We know we can't afford car payments so we've had to save for the last couple of trade ins. I'm proud to say we havent had a car payment since 1997! It can be done. Anyway, we knew we wanted a KIA and have kept in touch with the dealership waiting for the time to be right financially and the right deal to come along. We were going to start looking hard next week after we flipped our house that we had bought with Todd's brother. That was going to be the boost we needed to finally trade. Saturday though, the dealership called, said they had what we wanted and it was the last day of the month, they were trying to beat Chevy in sales for the month and they could make us a deal. By golly, they did. We got a 2009 Kia Sorento with only 16,000 miles on it for an affordable price. So we did it!

After church Sunday we came home and carved these......... Aiden wanted to paint his white to be a ghost pumpkin--pretty creative I must say! Noahs' is the one above that (those are pumpkin tears!) and Drew's is to the left. He liked that he was big enough to carve on his own this year.


Daddys' the man when it comes to carving. Aiden helped scoop seeds.

Drew drew his face on before he started carving. Drew drew sounds funny doesn't it?

Hey, even mom got in the picture for once (thanks Drew) I spent what felt like days pulling pulp off of seeds to roast them. I was craving them. They were taking too long to roast so Todd turned up the stove to 400 degrees and they got a little burnt darn it! All that work. Oh well, I'm still eating them.....I read about all of the health benefits and I need all the help I can get!

Soon it was time to dress up and do some trick or treating. First stop, Grandma and Grandpa Klausers house. Too bad Darth wouldn't wear his mask. He's too cute to be a bad guy.

Six of my favorite people in the world.....soon to be seven with another nephew set to arrive at the end of March!! Seriously the cutest Ariel ever. Pikachu almost looks like an extra grandkid

My boys.

We hit some of the familys' houses and then came home for supper. We then walked around our neighborhood with the boys. There were tons of kids out that night. Funny thing is, most of them don't even live in our neighborhood. People come and park to go through our neighborhood. That's just funny to me but it sure does make it more fun.

When the boys were tired of trick or treating, we headed home to put warm PJ's on an watch some TV cuddled on the couch. Aiden had a blast sitting by the front door waiting to hand out candy to the kids.