weekly 10

1.  Having fun with Pampers boxes.  These are cars for their babies. And yes, Ashton is using my Christmas decorations as bracelets and yes that is my cabbage doll from when I was little!

2.  I can't believe I actually watched a tv show called Vanilla Ice Goes Amish.  The sad thing is, I watched it for more than 5 minutes.  I am ashamed of myself!

3.  The other night I was cuddling the boys before bed.
Me:  I am so lucky to have two handsome boys sitting on my lap.
Grant:  You are so lucky to have two handsome boys that toot on your lap.
Grant:  toots
Oh, life with boys is always fun!

4.  We had Grant's first conference last week.  He got a good report.  They did wonder why he had such a hard time at drop off.  I told them I wondered that as well!  They said he has an amazing heart and is such a kind boy and will be a gift to all his teachers in the future.  I am so glad that despite his drop off issues, they get to see my baby and what a great kid he is.

5. We decided to go for bed transition over potty training because the other night we found Ashton in our living room at 3 am.  I heard someone get up but assumed it was Grant.  When I didn't hear the potty flush I went to double check. I found Ashton sitting on the couch asking to watch his show.  Apparently he was ready to start his day.

6.  Ashton versus the laundry drying rack.  Unfortunately, Ashton won.  I am thankful I have a fun new Amish drying rack waiting for me under the Christmas tree.  However, it is HUGE so I was hoping to not bring it out until we actually had a laundry room that wasn't in the middle of our kitchen.  Thanks Ashton.

7.   So, we have had an Elf on the Shelf for the last two years but haven't really used it.  I have been pinning tons of ideas about what to do with your Elf, but I still don't understand why the Elf has to be naughty.  Can someone please explain to me why he has to create so much extra work for me every night????

8.  Between the wall and the glider = where I found Ashton taking his nap the other day.  When he woke up I asked him why he slept there and he said,"I was hiding."  Guess he thought I was coming back to find him.  oops.

9.  I can't get enough of this  picture. Grant was so excited to see Santa that he didn't even think for a second that this was Jason's Uncle Bernie.  I love his innocence about Santa and I am considering quarantining ourselves  in our house for the next 5 weeks in order to keep him away from anyone that might ruin that innocence by telling him Santa isn't real.

10.  Blessing of the week: so much to be thankful for this week of Thanksgiving. This week I am thankful for walls.  Not only the ones that keep us warm this time of year, but also the ones that were poured for our new house this week.  I took the boys out to see the excitement of the "ment mixers" the other day and just stood there in awe.  I was so overwhelmed with emotions of gratefulness that after such a long time (and a lot of hard work) we are finally getting our dream  house.  I feel so lucky. 

catch up

1.  Life really has slowed down a bit with the colder weather, but I seem to be spending my computer time shopping for Christmas presents instead of blogging! 

2.  Two weekends ago, I asked kindly forced my parents into watching the boys for the weekend.  I was about to loose my mind with constant whining and fighting and screaming and crying and I needed a little time to reset my patience button.

3.  We didn't go anywhere, but instead enjoyed a little staycation.  I was worried that being home I would feel compelled to clean the toilets and fold the laundry, but I surprised myself by totally ignoring the mess around me and just allowing my body and mind to rest.  We slept in, Jason did boy stuff at our property, I wondered the aisles at Target for hours, I laid on the couch and watched every Hallmark Christmas movie I could, we went out for dinner and drank martinis and enjoyed quality time alone. 

4.  When we picked the boys up on Sunday, I felt refreshed and renewed and ready to face the holiday season.  Grant is a little home body and actually missed him momma (yes!) and Ashton seemed a little pissed he had to leave the arms of his pop pop.  He is definitely addicted to his pop pop!  It was a great weekend for all. 

5. Once Monday hit, the boys were back to their old antics of whining, fighting, screaming, etc... but I felt like I had more patience to handle it than I had in a long time.

6.  I am surprised it took him this long.......

7.  I put Ashton's toddler bed in his room the other day but he wanted to stay in the crib. He is fine in there at night, not so good at nap time.  Ashton is also wanting to go on the potty so I feel torn between bed switch or potty training.  I really don't want to do both at the same time! 

8.  Grant's question of the week to my friend who just got done breastfeeding her baby (under a cover btw).  "How do you feed your baby with your body?"   I just about peed in my pants I was laughing so hard!

9.  Goodbye fall and hello Christmas.... guess what I am doing today:)

10.  Blessing of the week:  Christmas music on the alarm radio in the morning, in the car, on my computer at work, CDs at home.  I just can't get enough of Christmas music.  I may have a crazy obsession with Christmas music, but it really just reminds me to stop and take it all in.... enjoy family, eat lots of cookies and watch the faces of my boys as they go through the holiday season with wonder in their eyes.

4

I finally had time to sit down and do my birthday posts from last month.  Better late than never!  Here are the things I want to remember about our little Grantster who isn't so little any more....

- he is full of excitement.  I always say that he is going to be the next Brad Pitt because he puts so much excitement and drama into everything he does.

-he is still a huge daddy's boy. 

-his favorite show is Caillou, Curious George and Wild Kraats.  The other day he told me all about lungs and why we need them.  I was impressed he learned about that in school and then he told me he learned it on Curious George.  Hey, at least he learns something!

-he is a hard worker and wants to help out wherever he can.

-he loves his brother even though they fight over things A LOT.   When we are around other kids, Grant gets very protective of Ashton.

-he loves to eat little chicken "samwhiches" from Costco, pancakes, fruit loops (every morning!), grapes, strawberries, blackberries (he actually eats a whole container in one sitting), raspberries, fish, and rice. 

-he dislikes tomatoes and makes me take them out of everything!  Other intense dislikes for potatoes unless they are fried of course, cheese sticks (has to be "flat cheese", yogurt, and peppers.

-he has finally started showing interest in dressing himself and usually picks the same shirt to wear everyday..

-he loves to ride his bike, play with dinosaurs and run around outside.

-he loves to go to the "pawk" aka park and swing for hours.  And yes, he still talks with a southern accent that is most noticeable with momma, pawk and mewk.

-he weighs 32 lbs and is 39 inches tall.   He wears 3T pants and 4 T shirts.

-he has a huge heart.  I always wanted my boys to have compassion and empathy for others.  I think I have definitely succeeded with Grant.  He has such a kind heart and a compassion for everything - even ladybugs!

-he has a temper and it usually flares as we are headed out the door to school.  He is not a morning person so getting him up, fed and dressed is always a struggle.

-he is very particular about things like socks with writing on the bottom and his pant legs being around his boots, certain fabrics and especially hates it when tags are in his shirt rubbing against his back.

Grant is an amazing boy that has taught me how to be a mother and how to look at life with excitement and a smile again. I feel so thankful that God blessed us with him.