a day in pictures

So for the past few weeks, we've been having some trouble with the computer.  It got a little sick... then it got sicker... then it got a little bit better, but then it died.
Kyle revived it, but the process of reprogramming the computer has been a little lengthy and it's taken me a while to update.
In an attempt to be creative, I kept my camera with me almost all day yesterday.  It wasn't a very eventful day, but here's what we did.

Daddy was off to school by 9:00am and that's when these little ones started making trouble. Bridger likes to open all cupboards and drawers (and crawl inside).

Porter reading books on my bed first thing in the morning. These are some of his favorite jammas.  Pajamas are his favorite thing to wear these days, and the monster jammas are top dog in his mind.

When I headed back out to check on Briggs, I found that he had discovered the box of Ziplocs and tossed them all over the floor... along with measuring cups and spoons and anything else you might find in the drawers in my kitchen.

We played in the front room, both boys wrestling and tackling each other.

Sometimes Bridger fights fair and sometimes he doesn't...

Porter hopped up and headed to the window to watch some trucks pass. He likes to drive his truck along the windowsill imitating the cars and trucks that drive by. You may also note that he's wearing a hoodie... it was the only thing that would get him out of his monster jammas today. And, also good to note, the hood stayed up all day long... Porter made sure of it.

Bridger getting tired. He's sucking his thumb and grabbing a blanket, the universal sign for "I'm sleepy".

We headed outside for a while. Porter was excited to play with sticks and rocks and dirt, while Bridger wanted to eat sticks and rocks and dirt...

Once we headed back inside I started some laundry, and I'm proud to say that the pile of clean clothes is now larger than the dirty one.
After I pulled these out of the dryer and snapped a quick picture, I headed back over to reload the dryer. I rounded the corner in time to see this...

Bridger's little bum disappearing into the dryer. It doesn't take long for these boys to get into anything.
Once Daddy got home we headed to the grocery store. Porter loves to take rides in the car and for exactly this purpose.

Horses, cows, the church and trees are must-see items on every ride. Sometimes when Porter doesn't want to go on a ride, he can be easily convinced by telling him what we'll see on the way...
We got home, ate some yummy dinner of homemade pizza and a few homemade cookies for desert and put the boys to bed.
Kyle stayed up working on this...

His RC airplane that he got for Christmas and crashed on her maiden voyage.  We're hoping to fly her again this week.

And I headed to the garage for some one on one time with these...

Kyle got me these bag gloves for my birthday and my punching bag took quite the beating last night.
It wasn't until this morning that I realized that I'm in worse shape than the bag.
Nothing huge and noteworthy, but it was a good day.

peach yogurt

First bite went something like this...

Not too sure if he would forgive me after he shot me this look.

But he did forgive me, and he came back for more... and more, and more. 
Wouldn't have guessed it after that first take though, would you?

Lovely Rita, KitchenAid

I've been missing the beaters that belong to my handmixer for a few months now. I'm pretty sure the beaters got lost in the move. Or moves... one or the other. But one thing is for sure, they are lost.  So, with plans to make some rolls this past Sunday, we headed out to Walmart to buy replacement beaters.

Come to find out, you have to buy a completely new handmixer in order to get new beaters.  So I picked up another handmixer and put it in the cart.  I looked longingly at the KitchenAid mixers as we passed by (as I always do) and it was then that it happened.

Kyle turned to me. And he said in the most dreamiest of voices... something like, "I love you more than anything and nothing would make me happier than give you a KitchenAid." Or maybe it was more along the lines of, "I know you've wanted one of those for a while, and I was planning on getting you one fairly soon, why not now?"  Either way I know that I responded with something really high-pitched and giggly.

We headed to the kitchen outlet that we have in town to pick one out and Kyle asked me on the way what color I wanted. I was just tickled to be getting one... white would be fine if that's all they had.  But, he knows that I've looked at them online enough times that I know what colors I like.  Green apple, or boysenberry, or cornflower blue are all very lovely.  But again, I was getting a mixer, and that's all that mattered... color was low on the list.

We walked into the outlet, and it was love at first sight.

There she was... in all her tangerine glory.

I tried to talk myself into making a more conventional decision by choosing black, white, or silver... or even red because they would go with any kitchen style or color.  But for some reason, the tangerine was calling to me.

And so I took her home, and named her Rita.

And I sing a little of this everytime I use her.

And as it just so happens, she perfectly matches my new favorite cookbook.

Lovely Rita, KitchenAid, nothing can come between us.

watching trucks...

Both boys love cars and trucks of any kind. 
This particular morning they were both fascinated with the garbage truck as it passed up and down our street.

Proof evident that Porter is still bigger than Bridger. Not sure how long that will last, but he is for now.

And I love that the jammas don't match.  It was early enough that Porter was dressed, but Briggs was still in his jammas; military aircraft on top and doggies on the bottom.   

That's just how we roll sometimes.

Christmas... the condensed version

I don't even know how to begin a post about Christmas. Trying to document the entire celebration is overwhelming right now. But I'll give you the quick highlights.

I got off work early Christmas Eve morning and we headed to my parents home. We celebrated with our Mexican Fiesta on Christmas Eve and then we woke up, opened presents and headed to celebrate with Kyle's family.
Porter got a new bike from Santa which he loves, and has become really good at riding. It's so much more fun as Porter gets older. I enjoy watching him so much on Christmas morning. He opened his stocking to find some cars and Yogo's, and as far as he was concerned, Christmas ended right there. He didn't need anything else.But he did enjoy opening his gifts and he had two sets of grandparents who spoiled him pretty good.

And then there's this little guy.

Who didn't really notice anything new about the day except there was a lot of paper and ribbons on the ground to eat. Santa was nice to this boy too, as well as his grandparents, and somehow he seemed to end up with all the toys that the other kids wanted to play with as well.

A perfect holiday.

perfect.

This time of year always seems to come and go too quickly. Never leaving me time to adjust to the fact that it's Christmas-time until the big day has come and gone.
This year I wanted it to be perfect.
Every decoration in place.
The tree decorated and up through the end of January... cause it's always fresh-cut.
Presents wrapped and placed under the tree.
Singing the Christmas hymns at church.
A clean kitchen.
Another stocking made and ready for Bridger (thanks Brooke for the guilt-trip). Yummy treats to neighbors.
My visiting teaching done before the holidays.
Christmas cards out.
Family pictures taken.
The Grinch or Christmas Story playing 24-7 in the house.
And a surprise present for Kyle that he would know nothing about.
Sadly... none of these things happened. Not a single one.

Decorations got up about four days ago... some still begging to be put where they belong before being crammed back in storage for another year.
The tree was a fresh cut... I know because I helped Kyle chop it down. But the needles are falling at a great rate and I'm a little scared to turn on my lights. I'll be surprised if it makes it to New Year's.
Presents are so not wrapped... unless it counts that they are still in the bags they were purchased in.
Sang half of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" at church for Drew's farewell, but had to go out in the hall with Briggs and never got to return. Otherwise I've been working the all other Sunday's.
My kitchen has become one of my New Year's resolutions... cause that's when it will get done.
Bridger will have to use Porter's old stocking, and Briggs will get a new one next year. Otherwise Brooke would never let me live it down that Bridger had his first Christmas without a stocking.
Haven't met most of my neighbors and I haven't had time to them make treats. The really sad part is that people I don't even know on my street have dropped off goodies for us.
Visiting teaching will most likely end up being a quick phone call.
Christmas Cards got thrown off the to-do list weeks ago... along with family pictures.
I did watch the Grinch once, and half of a Christmas Story, but that's it.
And Kyle's gift is less of a mystery and more of a "I totally know what's in that big box that was delivered yesterday because you accidentally let it slip again" type of present.

But, even though it wasn't the perfect holiday season I had planned for, the Christmas spirit still found me.
*I sing the Christmas hymns I crave to my boys every night before they go to bed. My favorites being I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and The First Noel. And they sound pretty good with a little boy curled up in my lap while I rock back and forth.*We got to celebrate our tree decorating twice this year. One night we got the tree up, another night we decorated, and both were fantastic.
*My boys love the tree almost as much as I do. Porter loves to water it, and Bridger loves to try and eat it... and they both get mesmerized by the lights.
*My nativity that my Mom has carefully crafted over the past 9 years or so, is proudly displayed in my home. It may be the only decor up, but it's my favorite by far.
*Peter Breinholt Christmas music... need I say more.
*Porter helped decorate the tree this year. Needless to say, you can find where he decided all the ornaments belonged. There are five Christmas balls placed in the same spot, hooked onto the light strand instead of the tree... this is Porter's spot, and I haven't moved a single one. *My favorite part was as he was placing his ornaments on the tree, he dropped one and said, "Oh, Dawnet" (darn-it), and that was his new word for the day. Oh, and when picture time came, he wouldn't let go of that darn harmonica... he was laughing into it during the picture.*And I've come to grips with the fact that Kyle will never have a surprise for Christmas... it just isn't meant to be.
It never seems to end up the way I plan, but Christmas always seems to find me, and right in time too.
It's Christmas Eve's Eve, and tomorrow night is Fiesta... nothing could be more perfect.

It's practically here!

I love Christmas time. I just wasn't expecting it so soon! Thanksgiving came and went so quickly. We enjoyed a nice afternoon Thanksgiving meal with Jill and Kenny and Aiden; since Jill and I both had to work that night. It was a wonderful feast and we enjoyed every mouthful. Good company and good food made for a great day.

The day after Thanksgiving we headed out for our annual tree hunt. One of my favorite traditions. I love hunting for Christmas trees. This year, with our large living room and vaulted ceilings, we were able to get a bigger tree. Kyle told me as we headed out that we could probably get a larger tree than normal... and he picked this one out.
It has a beautiful shape to it and, well, it's enormous. Here is Porter standing next to it, ready to attack it with his bat. It really is that huge.

We celebrate a big night of decorating the tree and eating yummy food and watching every Christmas movie we own. We watched The Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas, and we would have watched A Christmas Story, but Porter wanted to watch "Cinch" twice... and who am I to argue?
And sadly the tree only got decorated with lights. Both boys were fascinated with the lights and wanted to play with them whether they were on or off the tree.
We were so exhausted from a long week of work and school that we all crashed a little early.
But it will get decorated, and Christmas will be here before we know it. It was a great night to start off the Christmas season.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but there are cockroaches here.

Hoards of them.

And I hate them.

A lot.

We bug bombed our house before we moved in, and before any boxes were moved into the house, I quickly swept/vacuumed/picked up every dead cockroach that was in my home due to the bug bomb (there were a lot, and it freaked me out a little bit).

Then I had Kyle dump boric acid around the perimeter of our house and under cabinets and big appliances to kill any strays that thought they could outsmart the bug bomb.

No joke... on a daily basis I have to sweep up at least 3 dead cockroaches. I've had to since we moved in. And I make sure that every morning I do my roach-walk around the house and find all those that died during the night and make sure that they have a proper burial. If there's anything that I'm a little OCD about, it's getting those cockroaches.

Yesterday I saw 2 that were still alive and had to skoosh them myself.

It's getting out of hand.

Yesterday it got too out of hand.

The boys got up early. About 7am yesterday to be exact. Most mornings they sleep in until 8:30 or 9:00 (I know... they're great kids).

So, my morning was thrown off a little bit.

I changed Porter and Bridger... taking note of two dead roaches in the front room that I would need to vacuum up (two dead roaches that weren't there yesterday when I did my rounds).

I got Porter some cereal and returned to the front room to find Bridger playing on the floor in the corner of the room.

And I saw him chewing.

My mind quickly flashed back to this mornings bug count, and there had been a roach right where Bridger was sitting.

That roach was gone.

And Bridger was chewing.

I ran over picked him up and reached in his mouth... couldn't quite feel anything in there but he started to gag. So I flipped him over on his belly and patted his back trying to get the darn thing out.

He coughed.

He swallowed.

He smiled.

And that was that.

I think it was a cheerio.

things that make me smile

*Porter watching bull-riding. He thinks it's awesome... and when he watches he shouts, "WOOOHHH" the entire time the rider is on the bull. It's one long drawn out "WOH" until he gets bucked off and Porter ends it with a "CRASH!"... one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

*Briggs loves his older brother. He chases him around the house, but for some reason, Porter is a little scared when Briggs takes chase. Porter starts to whimper and whine... and when Briggs finally catches him (because Porter is now frozen in place due to fear), Bridger breaks out in a full out chuckle... love it.

*UP!

*Porter has to jump over the cracks in the cement at Walmart. Not something that Kyle or I do, so I don't know where he gets it... but he's a little OCD about it. I first noticed it about a month or so ago and he still does it, every time. He has to jump over the cracks. Funny kid.

*Bridger sucks his thumb. He won't take a pacifier at all... loves that thumb. And he only sucks it when he's tired. Hand the boy a blanket, he'll take hold and shove his thumb into his mouth... in a few minutes he'll be asleep.

*Sweet Potato Fries from Costco. Bless you Kyle. Bless you and your ever-lovin-sweet-potato-fry-finding heart.

*Briggs desperately wants to eat or drink anything that you've got. I don't remember Porter being obsessed with our food, but Bridger sure is. From Porter's sippy cup full of milk or juice to my hamburger last night... he wants it.

*I tackled Porter last night and tickled him and in between laughing he shouted, "Daddy, Howp!" (help) When Daddy came to his rescue and then turned on him, tickling him as well, he shouted, "MomMom Howp!" So funny.

*Porter sitting in his chair eating spaghettios. Bridger sitting underneath the chair literally being showered with the remnants of what falls off the spoon on the way to Porter's mouth, and Briggs enjoying every spilled bite. (I had to scrub the drippings out of Bridger's hair afterward)

*Homemade Peanut Butter Bars... yummy.

*This sweet little red-head who has decided that he doesn't like his photo being taken.


*This little blue-eyed smiley boy.

*And a much bigger blue-eyed boy whose picture I forgot to take.

All make me grin a little bigger.

While our house is pretty darn perfect, it's been lacking a couple of things. Both of which we found this past weekend.
We headed up to visit Gramma and Papa M. and we found what we had been looking for, right in their backyard.

A garden gnome. One who is fond of suckers.And a bumblebee. One with a face as sweet as suckers.So, we packed them both up and took them home.

They make for pretty cute little lawn ornaments.