A Handsome Little Visitor

We were really blessed to get to see our sweet aunt/ sister-in-law, Casey and our adorable little cousin/ nephew, Jackson a week or so ago. Casey was in Levelland for a wedding and of course she brought the little guy along. We got to see them three separate times, though I only had my act together enough to get good pictures at one of these gatherings. And although Jackson is adorable in pictures, let's just say that he's even cuter in person. We could just eat him up and really hate that they live so far away! (near Boise, Idaho!)

Pinkie flew up for a chance to get to see Casey and Jackson as well as to celebrate Kolbe's birthday. And when she's in town, the boys insist that she sits in the back with them. Even if I'm the only other adult in the car.

We got together at Abby and Andy's for dinner, where the boys attempted to show Jackson all the cool features on the exersaucer.

Pinkie wanted desperately to get a picture of herself with all four grandsons. Here you go, Pinks. This was the best I could do. They're all four in it, right?!

The lack of affection that I experienced with my wild man, Kolbe, has long since been forgotten with Rudy in the picture. He's a kissing machine and will love on just about anyone in his path. In this case, we told him to give Jackson a hug and he went for the real deal.

See what I mean!?! So cute!

I love this picture for several reasons: First of all, the obvious-- Jackson's face is hysterical! The boys were trying to show him how to make the saucer bounce and I guess it caught him a little off guard. Secondly, though Rudy looks nothing like me, I love that he inherited my trademark protruding tongue when he's really focusing on something. And thirdly, doesn't this just say, "Boys" !?! I can see these same exact faces as they push Jackson down the street on a tricycle or something! I love it!

Probably one of my favorite pics of the whole year. Pinkie+John+the camera going off at just the right second= priceless!

Poor Jackson was getting sleepy. Sweet little thing.

We can't wait to see everyone again soon...in just a few weeks at my parents' house for Christmas!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 45

1. My sweet little boy, Kolbe, turned three this week. Three! Meaning we've officially kicked off his fourth year of life. Sounds strange.  Has it been that long? Or has it been longer!?! Sometimes it seems like both. Because really, the memories of his (dramatic) birth seem like yesterday. Yet, it's honestly hard to remember life before being a mother. I mean, I know it existed and Mark and I managed to not be bored to tears in some way or another, but really, what did we do before kids!?! Kolbe's little life as been such a fun journey of highs and lows and ups and downs. I wouldn't change a single thing about it. In fact, I'm so glad to have gone through everything we have with Kolbe. And glad he was our first. Talk about an initiation into motherhood! I think if I would have had Rudy first, I may not have truly known what it would require to be the mom I want to be. (You know, the whole major self-sacrifice thing.) Kolbe is such a bright, fun, fascinating, energetic, spunky, sweet little boy. The hilarious things he says keep us in stitches daily and his fun, carefree attitude helps remind us that there's so much to enjoy about life. Such as being his mama. It's one of the best things to ever happen to me.

2. Speaking of the years flying by, where has 2010 gone!?! Someone once told me that the older you get, the faster the time goes. I think he must be right. 'Cause right now it feels like last Christmas was so recently and here we are with this Christmas right around the corner. But somehow, the days often seem to take so long. Like the ones where I look at my watch and think, oh come on, bed time! Yet hundreds of days have passed since the year began and still it feels like it just started. Part of wanting to start this whole three-thought-Thursday thing was not wanting to miss anything from this life as a mother. Wanting to be able to keep track of all that really goes on. So in years to come, when I find our house a quieter, a little less rambunctious...a little more lonely...I'll be able to look back and re-live such a precious time. I guess I don't have to wait till then, though. Maybe if I read back through all of my posts from the passing year, I'll be able to see and fully appreciate all that has gone on this year. And not just dwell on how fast it is going by.

3. Of all the new things our home has seen in 2010, the start of my little business has been one of the biggest. At least for me. Most of the males in the house could really care less. 'Cause other than running to the post office, they're pretty much un-aware that it even goes on. I didn't know what to think when starting up the shop. Would I even sell anything? And originally my hopes were that maybe I'd sell something once a week. Or twice on a good week. I had not idea that it would quickly grow into once a day. Which on one hand is super exciting. I love it! But on the other, I feel like I've reached the point where this is as big as I want it to get for now. I promised myself in the beginning that the only way I was going to do this was if I could keep operations to just nap time, and right now I'm about at my max. Each nap time is filled with a list of custom orders or things to make for the shop and while the competitive, business-minded side of me is thinking Great! Do more! The mama side of me is thinking any more than this will infringe on either my mama time or my family time (when Mark gets home). And I really don't want to compromise that. I'll gladly push it to the back of my mind in exchange for time to bake cookies with the boys. Or go drive around with Mark and the kids. But overall, just really exciting to see this actually turn in to something fun, profitable, and challenging for me.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 44

1. By a rare and somewhat absurd stroke of good fortune, as of Sunday we have a sweet 42" HDTV living in our family room. Yes, us. People that would never in a million years think if owning something like that at this point in our lives. Don't get me wrong. We've dreamed about it while gazing at our old school box-style 27 incher, but it was always a "maybe someday we'll be able to get a fancy TV" kind of thing. I don't think I'm exactly at liberty to disclose how we happened upon such an item, but I'll divulge before too long. Yes, it cost us nothing. And no, we didn't do anything illegal to obtain it. Let's just say a far-to-kind-someone-we-know thought it might look good in our house. Though we certainly feel completely unworthy. I keep glancing over at it and thinking what is that sweet TV doing in the poor-folk's house!?! A totally huge surprise, not expecting it, what-just-happened kind of addition to our week.

2. Did any of you make pumpkin seeds this past weekend after carving your jack-o-lanterns? Growing up, my mom always used to make us a batch while we worked on our pumpkins. I remember a few years when I was really little, thinking they were nasty. Then the older I got, the better they tasted. Kind of like Corn Nuts. I'm not sure what was going on, but I didn't make them last year. This year, I had to revive the tradition. You just can't go wrong with crispy, crunchy, salty, and buttery all in one. Yuuuummmm! The recipe we use is pretty simple:

• boil a quart of water
• add an eigth cup of salt and the cleaned pumpkin seeds
• allow to boil for 10 minutes stirring occassionally
• drain the water and add 2 tbs of melted butter
• spread seeds out on a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt (we use Lowrey's Seasoning Salt too)
• place in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, flipping half way through.
• Watch carefully! Seeds may need a few more minutes or a few less. You know they're done when they're a crispy golden brownish color.
• Enjoy!

If you haven't tried it out, do! They're so good!

3. And lastly, I really haven't had much to whine about with motherhood lately. But alas, a new dilemma has arrive. This past week, our dear sweet RudyRoo figured out how to climb out of his crib. We knew the day was coming but I was just hoping and praying that it wouldn't be till he was at least two. Here we are- twenty months old- and he has it figured out. And the fact that we're so shocked about it just encourages him all the more. Of course we all know that this is dangerous and we can't just let him sleep in his crib and tumble out at night, right? Especially since I've seen him do it will my own two eyes and it's no graceful fall. So a few nights ago I took the front railings off of his crib, turning it in to a toddler bed. And now I'm back to having to sit inside their room or outside the door in order to keep monkeys from escaping. And yes, Kolbe still gets out of bed every.single.night. But he knows what's going on. When we say, "Go get back in bed," he knows that we mean business. Rudy, I'm sure, will figure this out too. But right now, he thinks this is some game. Some adventure where he has free reign of the house. Why stay in bed when there's so much to explore!?! In the dark! And just to think...potty training: round 2 is just around the corner!

Halloween 2010

Here's our Halloween 2010 in pictures! (ok, and some comments too...I can't help myself!)

Working on the pumpkin! Isn't that face just too cute? Where did our baby go!?!

Kolbe was actually into it this year...for about three minutes.

And it was decided that he looked just like Kolbe in pumpkin form.

Easier to tell in the dark!

Kolbe dressed as his patron saint, St. Maximillian Kolbe.

Trick or Treat! Rudy was a candy corn!

Trying to get a picture of the cousins together is like trying to re-create the parting of the Red Sea. Plus, my camera was on some weird setting and I didn't realize it. So much for the photo op! Kinsey and Shelby were adorable in their puppy costumes. Though Kinsey was obviously distraught over the whole situation.



Professional Candy Taster

Our godson, John Hefferly is Fuddrucker's new poster child: World's Greatest Hamburger!

And his dog-brother, Wayne Dog made a great hot dog

Yes, he's sweeter than all of the candy combined!

Stopping by G-ma's house! (my camera died right after this shot so no pics of going to Ben and Erin's or the meltdown that occurred afterward)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! : )

Fall Fun 2010: Part 1

My favorite season is here! I love fall! A while back I did a little series of posts about all of the summer fun we were having. Well the fun has managed to carry over into fall. Maybe I love fall so much because it tends to be kind of a crafty time of year. Lots of "projects" and adventures. We've been busy exploring the ever-changing outdoors and exciting elements of autumn. The boys have been pumpkin crazy ever since we went to the grocery store at the beginning of October and saw the massive display they were setting up out front. We've brought home the cheapy "pie" pumpkins on more than one occassion so I decided that I'd let the boys create their very own masterpieces and paint the pumpkins. Eventually I think they'll get the point that you're supposed to paint a face on the pumpkin, but for now, they were just thrilled to get to go hog wild and do as they pleased.

 Oh, the excitement!

And in true Rudy fashion, he had to taste-test the paint. Goof ball.

 Don't disturb the little Picasso!

Rudy had to be immediately transported to the sink. This picture is after his scrubbin' but lets just say that more paint ended up on his body than his pumpkin. And he was quite obviously pleased.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 43

1. This has been a good week, thus far. Don't know why, just has been. Positive attitude makes a difference, I suppose. I've spent the past few days frantically trying to get the boys' Halloween costumes ready. In a matter of two days I've made three costumes. Yes, I still have just two kids. And no dog either. You see, I planned on Rudy being a cute little clown. And spent a whole nap time creating an adorable clown costume out of the most annoying fabric in the world to sew with: satin. If you haven't tried sewing with it, don't. What a pain! Never again. (of course you know that's probably a lie...) But near the end of constructing the suit, I started to realize that it was way too big. Since they were both asleep, I couldn't tell for sure, but as soon as they awoke I realized that not only was it too big for Rudy, it was too big for Kolbe too. Apparently the size two is for a four-year-old. With patterns, it's usually the opposite. I'm typically a size six and in patterns I wear like a 14 or something. It's weird. Guess the same sizing doesn't hold true for babies. So I abandoned the clown suit...and considering the fabric, my arm didn't have to be twisted very hard. Maybe I'll return to it next year if the boys have grown a bit. Desperate to pull something together quickly, I pulled out some felt that I had on hand and opted for a candy corn suit for Rudy. Seriously, it took about 20 minutes to make. I think it's adorable. Mark think it looks like a dress. We'll both be lucky to keep the hat on Rudy's head for more than five minutes. So all of that was on Tuesday. Yesterday was much more successful. Time to make Kolbe's Maximillian Kolbe costume. Mark and I decided some time before Kolbe was born that one year for Halloween we'd dress him as his patron saint. Figuring we better do it before he has the mind to tell us he'd much rather be Superman, we decided to go for it this year. And the sentimental side of me couldn't help but relate back to my own childhood. I was a nun for Halloween the year I was two. Crazy Catholics. Let's just say that Kolb's outfit came out exactly how I pictured it in my mind. Priceless! Hopefully I'll have pics of both of them up this weekend.

2. Mark and I got a much needed date night this past weekend. Determined to not do what we normal do on a date night...which is dinner and a movie...we decided have our friends Ben and Erin come along and convinced ourselves to go to a new place on 82nd called The Funky Door. Shortly after arriving (like as soon as we walked in), we realized that we were fish out of water in this place. 'Swanky wine bar' would be a good explanation. We stayed and split between the four of us a nice bottle of wine and a yummy gouda cheese fondue with croutons and chicken. The atmosphere was, indeed, cool and sophisticated, and I'd totally go back. Just a little more prepared. And possibly with someone else footing the bill! After we transferred somewhere a little less up-scale (you know, where less cultured folk like us fit in) and headed to Fox and Hound where my brother is the doorman. There we pigged out on more typical fare: chicken strips, fries, and nachos. Mark then got his anticipated phone call from his co-worker, Sixtus, who had previously been at a wedding, and we headed to our final destination, a new bar called Nick's. This was my first chance to meet Sixtus and his wife though I hear about him day in and day out. He's the PA that Mark works with and is from Cameroon. The six of us spend a couple of hours just chatting and listing to Sixtus's fascinating stories. One thing that made the night unique was that neither of the two other couples with us has children and therefore, we didn't spend the entire night talking about the kids. A la our typical date night. And while I love my children dearly and talk about them all the time, I must admit that it was a breath of fresh air to just have normal adult conversation. With adults! Now if we could just arrange for that to happen, say once a month, we'd be set.

3. I think I've created a monster. And his name is Kolbe.
This kid is saying the craziest things! And the scary part is, they all seem to be direct reflections of me. Like he's a parrot. For example:
Kolbe: Mama, read me this book.
Me: Excuse me?
Kolbe: Please.
Me: Ok, just a second. Let me finish tying RuRu's shoes.
Kolbe: Mammmmmma! Listen to me. Listen to my words. I. want. you. to. read. me. this. book!

See!?! A monster! Or this:
Me: Kolb, eat those meatballs.
Kolbe: What this is? I not like meatballs.
Me: Well, they're not meatballs. They're called Buzz Lightyear bites.
Kolbe: Buzz Lightyear bites? I like Buzz Lightyear bites.
(proceeds to eat the entire rest of his meal...quickly)
Kolbe: RuRu, oooo needs to eat urs Buzz Lightyear bites. They good for oooo. And taste mmm mmmm.

Scary to think he's that easily influence by me. Lord, I hope I'm doing right by him.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 42

1. First of all, could this really be week forty-two!?! Sheesh. Only ten weeks left in this year.  Has it not flown by?

So only ten weeks left means that it's got to fall. Or at least you'd think. But most of the days around here have still be up in the eighties. I got my hopes up when the weatherman forecasted sixties for yesterday and today, but yesterday was way above that. We'll see about today. I don't mind eighties. Really, that's my kind of weather. The only frustrating part is the variation from morning to afternoon. When we wake up (which is always way too early in my opinion) it's cold. Like long sleeves, pants, and a jacket kind of cold. Close-toed shoes too. But by three in the afternoon, both boys are stripped down to undies/diaper and I'm cranking up all the fans. Speaking of clothes, I just don't know what we're going to do about little Kolbe. The summer time is by far the easiest season to dress him. He can slip in to the size eighteen month shorts and get away with it just fine. Then winter rolls around and pants are required. He's by no means tall, but, at just weeks away from turning three, he definitely needs the length of a 2T. And the waist of an eighteen-month-old. With shorts, the length is not an issue. With pants, it's our biggest problem. When I pull 2Ts on to him, they literally fall down to his knees. Like I can fit my whole fist in there with his tiny waist. The only thing we've found to work are the pants with the adjustable pull tabs on the inside. Old Navy makes them as does Carter's. We stretch that elastic as far as it can go and button it down into place to create the perfect fit. Poor little fella. He's got his grandma Pinkie's genes.

2 Most of our mornings lately have been spent doing this:

And afternoons too. It's the boys new favorite activity. Other than The Wheels on the Bus, of course. But usually a good ploy to divert their attention from their favorite DVD. The little bike that Rudy is on was a hand-me-down from one of my old co-workers who owns three adorable little grandsons that aren't so little anymore. It was Kolbe's until his other grandma, G-ma, bought him the Texas Tech bike from our local grocery store. When Mark's brother and sister-in-law were in town we all went there for breakfast, and when the boys spied the bike, she decided they just had to have one. Actually, she decided they just had to have two, but Mark and I talked her down to one by convincing her we already had a very capable one at home. So Kolb cruises on the larger, Texas Tech model (he's known how to pedal for almost a year now) and Rudy scoots around on the old guy. Fred Flintstone style. They absolutely love going up and down the street on the sidewalk. And of course crossing the road to ride on the other side is always the highlight. Kolbe chooses to remind me that "I looked both ways, Mama. Now I can go." It's a fun way to get some of their energy out, pass some time, and get in a little walking for myself.  Next thing  I know they're going to be riding real bikes. The kinds that require helmets. Gees, they're growing up fast.

3. This week was Mark's second official week of being on-call. "On call" is hospital speak for "human torture." You know, it wouldn't be that bad if their group of doctors took a typical call schedule. Like each person is on call one or two nights a week. But no.
No, no.
Not Mark's group.
They've decided that each doctor should take a full week of call. Seven straight days of responding to each and every patient that comes in to the hospital that has a complaint even remotely connected to the head, neck, or back. Which means essentially no sleep at all, considering most accidents relating to these areas are from people doing shenanigans in the wee hours of the night or morning. And on top of that, they continue to carry on their regular surgery and clinic schedule as if they aren't on call. I don't know about you, but I think I'd take my chances on paralysis and opt out of the emergency surgery if I knew the person that was operating on me was running on little to no sleep.
Anyway, Mark was completely wiped out on Monday when he came home from work for a bit around five in the evening, and even more annoyed when he got called an hour or so later telling him he needed to come back in. The sky had been threatening rain all day but had never managed to produce anything, so Mark was pleasantly surprised to see this as he left the house to head back to the hospital:

Of course he immediately called me and told me to take the boys out front to see it. By far the brightest, most beautiful double rainbow I've ever seen. I think I could have stood there and stared at it for hours. Just a little reminder of God's presence in the gleaming as well as the not-so-sunshiney parts of lives.