Overheard at my house 2.16.11

Overheard at my house this evening....

Logan: Momma, I want a bwodder.
Me: Oh you do?
Logan: Yeah, wet's go to da baby store and get a boy baby someday.

Oh sweet Logan, if it was only that easy!!! Life is good.

Dentist 1.26.11

It was time for the dentist again and Logan did great! The last time we were there he did really well and this time it was smooth sailing. No cavities!!! However as Logan was getting examined, the dentist decided that he was "tongue tied". Mike and I had thought he was for years, but our peditrician always said that it was no problem. Well, Logan has a big gap in between the bottom of his two front teeth and apparently it's due to his being tongue tied and the gap will never go away unless he gets snipped. So, we will be going to a specialist. We were told that he won't have to be put under so that's good. We'll see how that goes. As for today, we were cavitiy free so it was a great day! Life is good.

Sunrise 1.26.11

As much as I hate getting Logan up so early in the mornings, there are some days where our drive is just beautiful. Today was one of those days. This was what we were treated to as we headed to the dentist. I made the appointment so early so Logan wouldn't miss preschool. It was a beautiful sunrise. Life is good.

Norman's True Love 1.24.11

As much as I know how much Norman loves us all, he really only has one true love. Sally. Oh sweet Sally. She is hands down his favorite toy. She's his first choice when he needs something in his mouth to help him greet people. She's the one he picks when he wants to play tug of war or fetch. And she's most definitely the one he goes to when he wants to cuddle. Sally is well loved and no matter how many times she's washed, she never goes back to that pretty blue she was, but that doesn't matter to Norm. She's had many surgeries and yet Norman's love is unyielding. It really is a testament to true love. Life is good.

Brett and Norman 1.17.11

That little Brett takes after my own heart. Today we invited Karen, Craig, and Brett over for some lunch and a playdate. While Logan and Craig tore through the house having a grand old time playing transformers, Brett was very happy to give his attention to Norman, or as we likes to say, "Ooof, ooof." Brett definitely has a soft spot in his heart for dogs. Every time he comes over he picks up this one picture I have of Norman and walks around the house saying, "ooof, ooof." It's so sweet. Brett you're welcome to come over anytime and love on Norman. Goodness knows Norm would be in heaven. ;o) Life is good.

Snow in the New Year 1.9.11

He soooo wants to go outside eventhough it's only 7:15 am.
Getting all the snow gear on.

Have I mentioned how much Norm loves the snow???

Sledding.

Snowangels.

After hearing that we were suppose to get the worst winter in 40 years, I was not surprised to wake up this morning to find snow everywhere. As much as I hate driving in it, I'm learning to enjoy it while I can. Last year we didn't see a lick of it and I didn't like that one bit. So today we headed out for the afternoon to play until we were either exhausted or freezing or both. What fun we have in the snow. Life is good.

The Conductor 12.30.10

Eventhough it had snowed a lot and it the roads around our area were pretty treacherous, my dear friend Donna came down for dinner and play time anyway. Bless her little heart. When I texted her and told her how bad the roads were, she replied, "I'm not scared of the snow!" So much better than me. Anyway, for some reason I didn't take any pictures of Logan, Wyatt, or Josey playing, but as always, Donna had some great hand-me-downs of Wyatt's to pass onto Logan, one of which was this fantastic train hat. I just love it. So after they left (with some help from me and the neighbors because they got stuck in the snow), Logan put the hat on to watch a little Dinosaur Train. Too cute. Life is good.

Let it Snow 12.30.10

Snow Fun.
Ummm, Norm, that used to be our snowman's arm.

I think he would stayed out sledding all afternoon if I had let him.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Snow buddies.

It snowed!!!! Woohoo! Last night it snowed/hailed and we were greeted this morning to a wonderland of white. It was cold, it was sunny, we had the day off. It was a perfect. So, out we headed. We played in the backyard, made a snowman, of which Norman proceeded to pull his arms off and eat them, slid down the slide with all ice on it (sure makes you go faster), then it was out to the front of the house to test out Logan's new sled that he got for Christmas. Our driveway and front yard has a bit of a slope, perfect for sled testing. What a great way to be winding down our Christmas vacation. Life is good.

Gingerbread House vs. Momma 12.28.10

Doesn't that look so pretty...I know ours will turn out exactly like that.
Because the frosting wasn't really holding the house together very well, every time Logan would try to stick a candy on, the whole roof would cave in...good times.

Notice the lack of frosting on the roof. I was thrilled just to get that much to stay on.

Pretty plain, but it was finally holding. SUCCESS!!!!!

Logan and I didn't get around to making our gingerbread house this year until after the holidays, but no worries. It's still a fun project to do. Well, at least I thought so. This year we got the kind of kit that has you make your own frosting. I did not like this so much. The making itself wasn't that big a deal, however I'm pretty sure I messed it up. For the life of me, I couldn't get that darn frosting to stick to the gingerbread. It stuck to my fingers and the bag and the knife and the table and the candy and my camera and the dog, but it refused to stick to the dang gingerbread. As Logan is cataloging the candy and deciding which he should try and which should go on the house, I am quietly uttering every curse word I could think of. I even found myself getting red in the face and all hot and sweaty. This was not suppose to be going this way. Our house was suppose to look like the one on the box dangit. (I'm getting all hot under the collar just thinking about it now.) I mean, come on! This is suppose to be a children's activity, how can I be having so much trouble with this. So, after much fretting on my part, I took a step back and realized I was missing the whole point. Logan didn't care that the frosting wasn't sticking. Logan had no preconcieved ideas about what our house was "suppose" to look like. So, I took a cue from my little man and just let it all go. (Oh and I also added a bit more water to the frosting mix which helped a wee bit.) And we ended up having a great time, laughing, eating, creating, it was all good. It was definitely an interesting gingerbread house. I look forward to what next year's house has to bring us. Good lordy! Life is good, even when things don't go quite the way you had planned.

Merry Christmas 12.25.10

Santa was here!
One of the first presents Logan opened was this new stocking cap I got him. So cute!

The "How to Train your Dragon" guys I was talking about. I got the picture, after the hug. ;o)

One of Logan's new favorite things, Lego Hero Factory.

I love this picture because the the mess surrounding Logan...oh, sweet Christmas morning.

After we got home from Mick and Cheryl's, we headed to bed immediately because we knew that Santa wouldn't come unless we were asleep. So it was off to dream of sugar-plums dancing in our heads. As the sun rose in the morning, I awoke to find a 5 year old little boy asleep beside me. It seems as if sometime in the night he had wandered into my room. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't shaking me awake at the break of dawn...instead it was me laying there queitly willing him to wake up so we could begin our morning extravaganza. He finally woke up about 8am and had totally forgotten it was Christmas. I turned to him and said, "Merry Christmas Logan." And he said, "Yup, only 2 more days!" So then I reminded him that it was actually Christmas TODAY, and bless his little heart, he says, "Oh, let's go see if Santa had all our cookies and milk!" I loved that his first thought wasn't about the gifts. But then after we checked (and yes, Santa had devoured the goodies we left for him), it was time to open some gifts. We had a lovely morning, opening, oooohing and aaaaaahing, and checking out all our new goodies until it was time to go meet Mike. At one point in the morning as Logan is opening and I'm furiously trying to capture every.possible.moment. with either my camera or video camera, Logan says to me (as he's just opened some "How to Train Your Dragon" toys and I'm asking him to hold them up and smile), "Momma, no." And he walks over to me to give me the biggest hug ever. Thanks for the reminder Logan that sometimes I need to set the camera down and just enjoy the moment. Life is good on this beautiful Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve Part I 12.24.10

Logan
Reise

Heidi, Cheryl, and Marvin

Cheryl

Emily

It's Christmas Eve, so it's off to Mick and Cheryl's. Every year they host our whole gang (there were 30 of us this year), and what a marvelous job they do. Great food, great company, and a great evening. I always have a great time on Christmas Eve, but there was something just right about the night this year. It just felt like everyone was at their best. There was a lot of laughter, very few tears, and so much visiting...perfect. Logan especially got a good laugh out of Brandi's husband, when he told Logan that his name was Kelly and Logan goes, "But dat's a girl's name." I loved it especially because Kelly had been ribbing me all night. Way to go Logan!! The kids got some very nice gifts and the adult exchange was a roaring success, although Marvin and Mick really got the short end of the stick. I think almost every gift they chose got stolen from them at some point or another. It was a fabulous evening and I left feeling just plain happy. Thanks to everyone for such a fun night. As we left, Logan (falling asleep in the back of the car) says, "Mom, wet's go to Mick and Cheryl's all da time. It's fun there." I couldn't have said it better myself buddy. Life is good.

Christmas Eve Part II 12.24.10

Cherish, new little Aubrey, Brandi, Zaylor, Kelly, and Emily
Katie, Reise, and Shaun (congratulations on your engagement guys!)

Hey, who are those good lookin' kids??? :o)

Our family picture...I think it looks really good, except the glare by Jeff's head.

And I love this picture of Mom and Grandma...so great that they're both laughing!

Every year it's so nice to take some family pictures to document how we've all changed over the year. This year was no exception. Unfortunately, I didn't get everyone, but I was able to get some good pictures of some of my lovely family members. This always happens at the end of the night and I so appreciate everyone's patience, especially everyone with little one's who are getting restless, tired, and a little bit bored standing still for a photo opportunity. So thank you to my wonderful family for being so agreeable. You're a great bunch! Life is good.

Christmas Cocktails 12.24.10

Scott the bartender.
Karen and I with our yummy beverages.

Logan and Craig...I couldn't believe Logan didn't want his warm chocolate with little marshmellows...oh well.

Brett enjoying his Christmas snack. :o)

As Logan was taking random pictures, and I was attempting to take sweet, posed pictures in front of the tree, I got a call from Karen asking if Logan and I would like to come over for some Christmas cocktails before we all headed to our families for Christmas Eve. Ummmm, I'm pretty sure I said yes before she was even done asking the question. :o) Seriously, what a terrific idea. We're all dressed in our Christmas best enjoying a nice beverage with our dearest of friends to kick off the night. Sign me up! Karen had tried a delicious cocktail called a Jamacian Ten Speed and she got Scott to make us some...they were bright green with a red cherry in them...delicious and oh so festive! And she had hot chocolate ready for the boys, altough Logan wasn't too interested. Oh well, it was still the start of a wonderful night. Thanks again Karen and Scott, and I definitely think this needs to become a new tradition. Life is good with a Christmas cocktail in hand.

Twas The Night Before Christmas 12.24.10

2006...really could care less what the other one was doing.
2007...Apparently I wore them out before the picture taking.

2008...Seriously, Logan?

2009...Can you feel the annoyance?

2010...The best one yet!

Every year I try to get a picture of Logan and Norman in front of the tree together and I have to say, the older Logan gets, the easier it has become. Thanks Logan and Norman for all your cooperation. I love you both so much. I'm one lucky lady. Life is good with a family like mine.

The Next Ansel Adams 12.24.10

The winner!
"Logan just give...me...the...camera!"

Ummmm, it's called art. :o)

The first shot...not the most interesting subject matter, but look how straight.

Logan has recently decided that picture taking is for him. Now, I have a decent sized camera and it's not the easiest thing for him to hold it steady, focus in on something, and reach the button. However, this afternoon he was giving it a shot. The above are some of his shots. I think he did pretty good. :o) Life is good even when you're behind the camera.