Through the eyes of a child~ Christmas train

Kenton had a "Daddy moment" tonight with his boys. He set up the Christmas train for the first time as a father. Kenton has childhood memories of doing the same with his Dad and his brother. I don't know who was more excited Kenton or Griffin?

Tonight Kenton just took the train out of the box and set it up on the floor. Tomorrow we will go coo-coo setting up all of the bells and whistles. Table, plywood, table skirt, Christmas village, lights, snow, etc. Only one way to go.... BIG!
I am so excited about this Christmas tradition that my boys will share for many years to come!
Griffin at the wheel. It was so awesome to hear all of the, "wows" and "oh boys!" Thank you Kenton for sharing this experience with your boys. This is something to cherish for years to come...

Happy Birthday M&M!

Yesterday we celebrated Meredeth's 6th and Megan's 3rd birthday! The party was at Chuck E. Cheese. You know the place where "a kid can be a kid." I am always a little squirmy of public places where kids play. Can you say HOT SPOT for germs!?!? Sorry for that OCD rant, now back to the story at hand. We have talked about taking the boys to Chuck E. Cheese before but it just never happened. Yesterday was a first and we were pleasantly surprised. The place was clean and a good time was had by all! In typical Griffin fashion he owned the place and Roman was just his squishy cute self!

Have no fear Griffin's here!

Not too sure about the moving rides, but once he saw a hottie get on the horse he decided it was not too scary!
At some point this child MUST sleep. Good thing he is cute~ right!?!

Yummy pizza!

Double the party, double the fun!

Happy birthday sweet Meredeth and Megan! We wish you many more!

Christmas card photo session

Yes, it is that time of year again. Time to get that "perfect" photo of your child for the annual Christmas cards. Anyone who has a child or two knows how stressful that this ordeal can actually be. To top it off I decided to try to capture the moment MYSELF with not ONE, but TWO moving targets. I have been planning this for quite some time in my head. Putting together outfits, locations, props, and bribes is A LOT of work! I was nervous because it is really hard to photograph my boys together. I would say that the experience rivals herding cats. I talked it over with several people. A friend gave me the brilliant idea to just go casual in Christmas jammies and let them play in my bed. That is how the idea was born! Honestly, I didn't think that I would actually be able to pull it off. I expected to just settle on a "good enough" picture and put the cards in the mail. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I know that I am a bit biased, but I really LOVE several of the pictures that I was able to get. Here are some of my favorite individual pictures of the boys. These are not the actual pictures that made the final cut for the card. That you will just have to wait to see...

I would like to send a special thank you to MiMi Kat. She was an awesome "assistant" in helping out with the boys. By the end we were both sweating and exhausted but it was so worth it!

Roman 6 month update

This past month was a month with so many noticeable changes. My little guy went from cute, squishy, and stationary to where in the world is Roman? Roman may be a little chunky, but he is QUICK! Several times a day we have to set out a search party in the house to find him. His favorite hangouts include:

the Christmas tree

the toy shelf in Griffin's room

Mommy and Daddy's bedroom

He is still as lovable as ever. He loves tight hugs and sweet kisses! I just can't get enough of 'em! He still likes to party all night, but that is a story for a different day! His hero is his brother Griffin and he watches his every move. The bond between them is growing stronger and I am so blessed to witness it each and every single precious day...

Mom-Mom Da

There are so many small everyday things that remind me of my grandmother, Mom-Mom Da. I miss her so much. I think of her often and all of the precious memories that I have of her. I just know that she would be so in love with 2 little boys...

This morning while my mom was making the potato salad I had to stop and take a picture. This is such a sweet memory for me. Mom-Mom was KNOWN for her delicious potato salad and she ALWAYS made it in a particular bowl. This is my mom following in her mother's footsteps. MiMi's potato salad is pretty close in taste and appearance to her mother's. Could it be that she watched her make it for many years? Or could it be that she also puts in a lot of love to making the recipe? Or could it be that she makes it in the same special bowl?

Thanksgiving 2010

Alright so a guy from Turkey, a chick from Austria, and a Cajun show up to your party. No this is not the beginning of a joke it was actually thanksgiving lunch at our house today. Tio John had a few couch surfing friends crashing over at his place so they joined us for Thanksgiving lunch. We always have MORE than enough food and were happy to open up our home to our new friends.

2010 a year of many milestones and so much to be thankful for!

Daddy-O carving the delicious turkey.
As I said we had enough food to feed a small army.
Table 1~ welcome new friends!
Table 2~ welcome family!
And the Saints victory over the Cowboys this afternoon was just the icing on the cake!

Thankful bucket

Today I started a new tradition called the "Thankful Bucket." I set out a jar with index cards so everyone could write down a blessing to share with the family. I love the idea for many reasons. I want my precious boys to be thankful and acknowledge the MANY blessings that are bestowed upon us.

I am thankful for my 2 special blessings who are now my addictions. - MiMi Kat

I am thankful for God sending me my Prince Charming. Thank you Satch for your love and guidance of our family. -Andrea

I am thankful for God's grace and forgiveness. -Andrea

I am thankful for my family. - Kenton

I am thankful for the morning time with my grandsons while everyone else is still asleep. Health, family, and friends. -Big Poppa

I am thankful for my brother John and the creativeness, talent and flavor that he brings to our family. -Andrea

I am thankful for the health and happiness of my family. Without their love and support, I would not be the person who I am today. -Kenton

I am thankful for a good husband who takes care of me, our children, and grandchildren. -MiMi

I am thankful for my 2 precious little boys. Thank you God for their good health. - Andrea

I am thankful for our adventurous son, John, that God watches over and takes care of while he travels the world. -MiMi

I am thankful for asdlkaslekjasldkfjl;kdfjasd;lfja;slk. -Griffin

I am thankful that God blessed me with a daughter who is also my best friend. -MiMi

I am thankful for my striking good looks and charm. -Andrea :)

I am thankful for a forgiving heart and the peace that only God can provide. -MiMi

I am thankful for a wonderful son-in-law who is a great husband and father. -MiMi

I am thankful for the freedom of choice in this wonderful country. -Andrea

I am thankful for the unconditional love and support of my parents. -Andrea

I am thankful for a beautiful and healthy family and a wonderful church family. -MiMi

Happy 60th Birthday Big Poppa!

We want to wish Big Poppa a Happy 60th birthday! Thank you for the love and support that you have offered to me and my family. You are the best Daddy to me and Big Poppa to my boys. We love you BIG BIG like the sky!

Here we go again with a group shot. This may take a few tries!

Take 1....

Take 2....

Take 3... You get the point!

Celebrating with a little "happy birthday party" cake!

7 minutes

The time was here again for Griffin to get a scalping... I mean haircut yesterday. We have been taking him to the same unnamed place since his first haircut. The place is a really cute children's salon with great airplane and taxi cab salon chairs. The only downfall is that the stylist can be a bit "snarly" at times. You are probably asking, "well why in the world do you continue to take your child to a snarly hairdresser." The answer is quite simple. Because she is FAST. The entire experience from the time that we get out of the car to the time that we get back into the car takes approximately 7 minutes. I can endure just about anything for 7 minutes right?!? Every time I go in I tell her the same basic instructions.

1. Not too short. I really like the length.

2. Just a basic clean up around his ears.

3. NO bowl cuts! Go "whispy" on the bangs.

Next time I think that I will just omit #1. She doesn't seem to listen to step one, but nevertheless. He sure looks cute!

Before

After
What is the best part of a haircut? The "if you behave and sit still you will get a SUCKER at the end" part!
Never fails. After each haircut Griffin goes instantly from baby to boy in a matter of 7 minutes..... When did he get so big? Sniff. Sniff...

Reasons that I smile...

When was the last time that YOU had this much fun for only $.99?!?

"Happy Birthday Party!"

This weekend Griffin was all about "happy birthday party!" I L-O-V-E birthdays and I am happy to say that Griff is following in my footsteps. We were invited to Evan's 2nd birthday party. Griffin helped me to make a card for Evan. I even went out on a limb and sat on the floor with Griffin and Roman to wrap the gift. (no pictures I was too busy guarding the scissors from Roman while Griffin was wrapping himself up in tape) Here are just a few reasons why birthday parties are so much fun!

1. The Bounce house

2. Spending time with my favorite little people.
3. Playing with friends! (my boys are suckers for a pretty girl)
4. Cheetos. How many can you shove in your mouth at a time?
5. Cake. Need I say more?
6. AWESOME squishy nose cupcakes....
7. And lick your finger icing!
Happy birthday Evan! Thank you for sharing your special day with us!