39 Months

The sunny days mean that we are capable of being outside more and that means mommy tends to be on the computer less. :) Not that it's any warmer outside yet! We've finally decided to go and play in the backyard again. This has been difficult since the roof over the back porch is collapsing, but since it seems to be holding, we're taking our chances running underneath it to get to the backyard. Thomas is loving playing baseball and soccer. Joshua has rediscovered the swing set and climbing structure. Drama continues to play a role in our household. The boys have discovered that if we ask them to do something, they can just flop to the ground and say, "It's too hard." While Dan and I find it comical and the boys go to great lengths to prove how difficult it is to get off the ground, we are making headway and the boys are realizing (slowly) that it's a losing battle.

What's going on with the house you ask? Well...nothing. Quite literally nothing. We put in our initial offer 2 weeks ago. A week ago they asked all the people who had made offers to make their highest offer. We did so and submitted it a week ago. We have not heard back yet. Even the seller (who is having to work through a bank because the house was foreclosed on) is having a difficult time communicating with the bank. We are expecting to hear back Monday or Tuesday, but are currently losing patience.

The boys turned 39 months in January. Because of utter exhaustion, I've been slow to take pictures, but finally got one tonight just to capture them this month.

Ice Skating

Today was a special day for the boys. Ba (aunt Kim) and daddy took them ice skating while I took pictures from the sidelines. The Butterfields met up with us and even Emma (15 months) skated too! The beginning was extremely rough as they just fell between the legs of whoever was skating with them, but towards the end, they were actually getting it. Hooray!!! At the end of an hour they were definitely done, but after some ice cream they were begging to go again. Next time we won't return our skates so quickly. The boys are already ready to go again.

We have been looking at houses with some intensity lately. We do go through these phases where we look at houses, and then back off. We DID find one that we really really like. Well, I really really like it, Dan says it's about 80%. Then again, Dan wasn't with me when I viewed about 20 houses, the majority of them smoke-filled or needing a complete remodel. We're looking at it again this afternoon and then will decide whether or not to make an offer. Such a big decision!

Busy Boys

They are certainly busy boys! This is Guard weekend, so we are left to our own devices. We certainly filled up today with activities to keep nice and busy. A quick stop to the post office led to an even quicker stop at the library. The boys' favorite part of the day was the "poop store" meaning Petco. Unfortunately the animals that earned that store it's name (the ferrets) were all gone until tomorrow. We did enjoy the fish (except Thomas found all the "sick" and "resting" ones). Then a nice leisurely trip to Joanne's where we spent way too much money stocking up on poster paint, glitter glue, and more since we haven't been there in months and need to do some crafts!!!! A short stop at the grocery store and we headed home. This apparently was enough for the boys, after lunch they completely crashed and we all enjoyed a peaceful naptime. HOORAY! Nap times are rare anymore, so we treasure these days! After nap, daddy was home, so we got packed up again and went to greatma's 83rd birthday party. Unfortunately we had to miss grandma Nancy's birthday party scheduled for the same day and time. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of the boys with their grandma and greatma!

A Little Slice of Heaven

A nice quiet day at home. It doesn't happen very often that the boys entertain themselves fairly well while being cooped up inside. This morning, my sister-in-law Angie stopped by to drop off some girl clothes. I now have the dresser filled with newborn/preemie clothes, a bin of 0-3 month clothes and a bin of 3-6 month clothes. HOORAY! Gotta love a family that just passes around clothes for babies! The boys played with cousin Kierra while Angie and I sorted clothes. After Angie left, the boys claimed to be tired so we watched a movie, I definitely needed some rest time! After the movie, I convinced the boys to put on snow gear and go outside. Once outside, Thomas enjoyed shoveling and Joshua enjoyed sticking his face into the snow to eat it. We discovered that if I tossed them up on the snow in the front yard (about 8 feet high) they could climb to the front and have a huge slide down to the sidewalk. The boys thought this was amazing and once even tried to do it head-first before I nixed that! We went inside to warm up just as daddy got home. I had a little slice of heaven when Dan took the boys to a birthday party allowing me to get some much needed rest. Sorry to miss your birthday party Kim...but I DID get a shower all by myself for the first time in literally months! HOORAY! The boys came home and fell both fell asleep while drinking their milk before bedtime. NICE! A quick transfer to their beds and the routine was easily done! HOORAY! Tomorrow we will attempt grocery shopping...wish me luck!

Happy New Year

Boy are we excited to see 2009 roll around. This will be a great year for us! New Years Eve was a lot of fun too. Some of our best friends from Endicott came over to celebrate the night, Katie and Steve. We played pinochle while the kids ran around with each other. Thomas fell in love with Zoe (who is 6) and little Ben (who is 2) loved all of our fire trucks. The kids all lasted until about 10:00 PM, amazing sine the boys refused to take a nap that day! And we adults managed to last until 2 AM! WOW! It's only because we just don't get time together anymore and cherish the moments we get. The girls continued the running streak from pinochle and Dan showed his super powers in Balderdash. Can't wait for next year!!!

Joshua's Insight

Josh made Dan and I cry just a few nights ago and I wanted to write it down so we didn't forget it. I was putting away clothes and Dan was chatting with them on our bed. Dan was quizzing them to see if he knew the family tree, "Who's MY daddy?" and all the way up to great-grandparents. Joshua asked, "Where is Grandpa Lyle?" Dan repeated the question to clarify and Josh said, "Is Grandpa Lyle with Grandpa Don?" Grandpa Lyle is the boys only living great-grandfather, grandpa Don passed away just before the boys were conceived, but his pictures are up throughout the house and when the boys were little they would tell me that they could see him in a specific corner of the house and that he was here with us. It's very touching. Anyway, Dan explained to Josh that Grandpa Don is with Grandma Dolly in heaven. Josh said, "I like Grandma Dolly, we played the piano together." This happened once about a month before she passed away on a random stop to her apartment. It surprised us so much that he remembered. It shouldn't have. The minute Grandma Dolly passed away, Josh looked at Dan and said, "Bye bye Grandma Dolly." And a few minutes later we got the call. He's always been so insightful, but we are so proud of him for remembering not only the great grandparents he's met, but also those he has not met (in person).
Josh with great grandpa Lyle.


















The boys with great grandma Dolly.

Finally Out of the House

It's about time! The sun was shining, we had plans, it was time to get out of the house! Dad came over this morning and used the snow blower to clean up the driveway and parking spots. Then the boys and I TOOK OFF! First we met some of my highschool friends (whom I have actually known since I was 2 or 3 years old) and had lunch. It was so great to get together with lifelong friends and just sit and chat...of course it helps that our friends Korry and Suzy have 5 year old twins to keep the boys busy! :) After lunch we ran to Home Depot to look for screws for the changing table (long story short---when we took it apart, we managed to lose the screws...ugh). Home Depot didn't have any matches, so they sent us to Fasteners. This place is GREAT! They not only had a match, but the other guys working could see that my boys were losing it so close to naptime and offered them a cookie. The boys were happy from then on out! :) After securing the screws I promised the boys that if we COULD get to Northwest Seed and Pet, we WOULD. Last time I said this, the plows were in front of us creating huge berms, so we had to go home. This time, I attempted and succeeded! HOORAY! The boys were in hog heaven with a pig running around the store, seeing the alligator, and petting the doggies and kitties. It made me feel like a good mom because they were just SO happy! We then ran home and dad took my van and got me snow tires. Thanks dad! It was a great day! You forget how much you take for granted the ability to just leave the house and do errands until it's gone. We had a fantastic day!