Boring Winter Day

It's cold and rainy and gross out today so we are stuck inside. David and Levi were playing so well together that I decided to make them a fort. We put the couches together facing each other and took off the cushions. I put a fitted sheet over the top for a roof and VIOLA! They were amazed. They really got in to it and made a pretend fire over which they prepared dinner and roasted marshmallows.
Thank you mom for doing this with Steve and I when we were little so I could pass this fun on to my kids!

Mini Golf

Who says you can't play miniature golf in the winter?

We found an indoor miniature golf place in Ocean City that we tried out. It was really fun. The boys are finally getting old enough to do fun things like this without making me completely crazy!

I want my gum!

Yes, Levi is long since past the age of overturning trash cans. I was shocked to see this sight when I walked into the kitchen. When I asked him why he dumped the trash he said "I want my gum" I looked at him quizzically and then...his eyes brightened and he reached into the middle of this mess and picked up the piece of gum that he had been chewing. EEEEEWWWW! Apparently he thought he was done chewing it and threw it away but then changed his mind! Tasty!!

Christmas Checklist

1. Nativity...check

2. Christmas train around the tree...check
3. Caramel corn...check
4. Chocolate covered marshmallow pops...check
5. Peanut clusters...check
6. Teacher's gifts...check

7. School Party complete with a second grade rendition of "The Twelve Days of Chirstmas"...check
8. Presents wrapped and hidden...check

It's Christmas Eve and we are ready and stress free! We wish you all a Blessed Christmas with family and friends!!

Christmas Fun

The boys and I decorated a ginger bread house this year. We made a huge mess and the boys ate more candy than they put on the house but we had a great time!
Now...how to keep them from eating it?

The Problem with Phonics

Until today I never really considered the possible downside of teaching a child to interpret the English launguage by using phonics. Now I know!

David sat in Church with me today because he loves to watch the band play. The electric guitar is his new favorite. Anyway, toward the end of the sermon he was getting a bit antsy as most 5 year olds do. He picked up a pen and started writing on my sermon notes. He asked me how to spell "fart". Like any good mother I refused to tell him. So, being the determined little bugger that he is he did it on his own. He went fffffffffffffffffffffff and then wrote F. He proceded to write the whole word and then proudly showed it to me. A couple of minutes later he is tugging on me and says "mom, how do you spell stink." Again I would not tell him as we are in the midst of a sermon. He sounded it all out and came up with S-D-I-N-K. I was quite proud of him but really, couldn't he have picked some more appropriate words...at least for church?

I wanted to take a picture of the paper but I accidentally left it at church when I showed a friend his handy work.

The best toys

After a visit to Uncle Karl and Aunt Steph's house the boys have declared that they would like to move in with them! Apparently Uncle Karl has better "toys" and is WAY more fun than us!

Thank you for a great time as always Uncle Karl and Aunt Steph!

Sunday Bonding?

Is this what Sunday afternoons look like at everyone's house or is it just us?

Poor Kem is trying to teach our boys the fine art of watching football and "resting" after church on Sundays. Clearly, they are not exactly getting the whole concept.

Happy Birthday David!

Okay, so David's birthday was the 13th but I am having a hard time figuring out when to fit blogging into my day.


David wanted Chocolate Cake with Chocolate icing and sprinkles in rows for his celebration at preschool so that was what he got. He also insisted on wearing this shirt because it is green (his most favorite color). It suits him perfectly...it says "been there, wrecked that" and has a wrecking ball on it!

Here is Levi digging into David's cake at preschool

Yep, chocolate cupcakes for his after dinner celebration because the kids ate every last bite of the cake!

David scoped out a marble set at the toy store. He was so excited to see it for his present. Actually he picked out a simpler version but have you ever sent your husband to the store and told him to by the more simple of two items. Obviously he is going to come home with the one with all the bells and whistles instead which was the case here. It took Kem at least an hour to assemble it and he didn't finish until after the kids were asleep.

The boys were so excited about it that they woke up at 5 am the next morning and quietly went downstairs to play with it.

Happy Birthday David...we love you big time!!

We can't wait for Grammie to get here this weekend so we can celebrate some more.

scrapbooking and other exciting things!

I haven't been taking pictures of the kids recently. Do you go ever go through phases like that where you just have so many pictures and you know you'll never get them all organized and in the scrapbook so you just stop for a while? I definitely do. My cropping table became every one's dumping ground so I cleaned it off and set it up so I can actually get something done again. I was so overwhelmed with all the pics and papers I had that I just let them stay neatly stacked on my shelf. Yesterday I was at a crop for most of the day. Although I didn't get any pages done I did get pictures matched with papers so when I have time I can just pull out a folder and go. I did a page once I got home last night which was so fast and easy. I am excited to be scrapbooking again after a lengthy hiatus.

You may think that since I haven't been blogging that my house might be clean but no such luck! I have also been taking care of our new grass that Kem planted. I had to mow to mulch the leaves so they wouldn't kill it. I also had to spread manure compost on it. That was a barrel of fun!!

Now that David and Levi are in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have started volunteering in the Library at Eric's school. I LOVE it! Suddenly I want to be a school librarian!