MY BOYS. MY LIFE.

FROM "JUST LAUGH"

2012-02-03T09:53:00.002-06:00

This weekend, I was in Oklahoma City helping the district with a statewide youth event and Brandon was at home with the boys. Ash and Maddox are always kind of excited when mommy is going to be gone for the day and they get to play with JUST daddy! I think they get away with more when mom isn't home...ha!! This weekend, the boys had tons of fun! They played cards, board games, video games (of course...), watched cartoons and movies and even played outside. Towards the end of one of my work days, Brandon texted me that something so beyond hilarious had happened that I was actually very sad I had missed it! Apparently, the boys and Brandon were playing hide and seek in the backyard. During one round of play, Maddox had obviously found a really good hiding spot because Brandon and Ashtyn couldn't find him anywhere! They were searching and searching and couldn't find, or even hear, Maddox anywhere in the yard. Finally, after what felt like many minutes looking for him (and our yard isn't that big...) they spotted Maddox squeezed behind the shed in a corner of the yard. Now, our shed is set up pretty close to the back fence and not just anyone can squeeze in there. Even Maddox had to nudge himself in, walking sideways, until he was out of view from the "seekers" in their afternoon game! Brandon said that once they spotted Maddox he began cracking up hysterically and was trying to tell them something through his heaves of hysteria and laughter! It took a minute for them to really get what Maddox was saying...in fact, it wasn't until Maddox got out from behind the shed and walked a few steps into the backyard that Brandon began to get the picture. Maddox walked into full view of both Brandon and Ashtyn, spread his arms and legs out wide on either side of his body, and yelled out with giggles between each word "I...PEED...MY...PANTS...!!!!!!!!!" What!?!? Hahahahahaha!!!! That's right, Maddox went on to explain that he had found such a good hiding spot and knew he was the last one to be found and so didn't want to give away where he was hiding just because he needed to go to the bathroom, so instead made the conscious decision to just let it go and wet his pants!! He didn't bother to pull down his shorts (even though he was outside...) because that may have made too much noise and drew attention to himself, so instead, in a competitive effort to win the game Maddox peed all over his shorts, shirt, legs and everywhere else you can possibly imagine! Sick! I certainly don't understand boys but I do understand the competitive spirit and I think it's safe to say that Maddox was born with a level of competitiveness that few can match...or may even want to...!!!!

sorrow may last for the night

2012-02-03T09:11:00.000-06:00

FROM "A LESSON LEARNED"
How many times have you heard the phrase "season's change?" We say it all the time. When we're facing a difficult decision, walking through the worst possible experience we can imagine or whether our child is simply putting us through the throws of the terrible twos...it's likely that our friends and family will attempt to lift our spirits with this simple phrase...season's change. We sometimes even repeat it to ourselves attempting to remind ourselves that "this too shall pass" and that if we just wait awhile life will bring us a new season with new blessings along with it. Just like life brings seasons so does our world. Literally, outside our front door, the seasons are constantly changing. Year in and year out, we can count on the fact that the sun, clouds, wind and air will constantly shift and change bringing us a new season every few months. Spring, summer, fall and winter. They are predictable, they are dependable and they are constant. Of course, there are things we all love about each of the four seasons but when we really think about the CHANGING of seasons I'm sure we can come up with more gripes then we can pluses. Think about it! When the weather is changing from winter to spring we begin to feel humidity creeping into the air. The ground turns mushy and muddy with the melting of the last snow and the roads are slushy. On the other hand, when the weather is changing from fall to winter we get frustrated with living through two seasons in every single day. When we walk out the door in the morning the air is crisp and cool and requires us to wear long sleeves or a jacket but by mid afternoon the outside temps have creeped into the mid 80's and we can break out our flip flops! Ugh! You really get the full frustration of the changing of seasons when you live in the south and you have to turn on both your A/C and your heater ALL...IN...THE...SAME...DAY...!!!! Talk about the changing of seasons!!!!

Lesson Learned?? Just like the physical seasons change, outside our windows every few months, life brings us a constant changing of seasons as well. Sometimes life puts us smack dab in the middle of the perfect summer day! The sun is shining, we're BBQing in the backyard with our closest friends and family and all you hear is the distant sound of kids giggling as they splash in the pool. Life couldn't be better. That beautiful summer day can come in the form of a job promotion, marriage proposal, the birth of a new baby or a variety of other things, but no matter the reason for your season suddenly landing you in the perfection and peacefulness of summer you are relishing the moment and it never occurs to you that a change in the seasons is blowing in on the winds above. Before you know it, life changes again. And not for the better. Whether you lose your job, lose a loved one or simply wake up on the wrong side of the bed suddenly you find yourself no longer in the warmth of the perfect summer day but instead you feel stranded in the deepest, darkest and coldest winter night you can imagine. It's snowing outside, the heater in your house is out and you just realized you're out of hot co-coa. You feel like the morning may never return. Soon, though, it's Christmas and the winter doesn't seem so bad. In fact, the morning did interrupt that cold, dark night! You got the heater fixed and you finally made it to the store for a new package of instant hot chocolate! Life is good. The snow is actually beautiful as you're bundled up next to a roaring fire watching a Christmas movie classic! Season's change. Each season comes with it's own fashion, it's own accessories and it's own exciting activities. When one season is turning into the next it can be frustrating. We have to work harder to feel comfortable during the transition and we often find ourselves loathing the change and wishing the weather would just make up its mind and move on to the next season already! Life seasons are exactly the same way. Nothing lasts forever. When we feel change on the horizon it can be exciting at first. Life has become mundane or you simply don't like the season you are living through and so welcome the coming change of pace. However, as your current life season moves into the next the change begins to become frustrating and even hurtful. Change isn't easy. We are often not ready or even willing to accept the change that is happening. It makes us angry, but change continues no matter our personal feelings. It's happening whether we like it or not. We get upset and feel sorry for ourselves. Soon, though, the change doesn't seem so bad. We get used to it! This new season of life brings about blessings and celebrations and many happy memories. The new season becomes comfortable and we enjoy ourselves again. We breathe. Unfortunately, we often get used to a season just in time for it to change once again. Life truly does imitate the world around us. I believe God did that on purpose. We can look almost anywhere and learn something that we can apply to our lives personally. We can gain both encouragement and strength from the nature that surrounds us. So, when you see the leaves change colors and fall from the trees and your allergies are flaring up causing you many sleepless nights and distracted days REMEMBER that Christmas is on the way!! Before you know it, the season's change will be complete and you'll be baking cookies with the kids or looking at lights in the neighborhood with your husband. Then when the snow begins to melt, the humidity returns and storm clouds appear on the horizon REMEMBER that soon enough the backyard grill will be fired up with ballpark franks sizzling for the upcoming neighborhood BBQ and the community pool will be open and buzzing with the happy sounds of the city. Season's change. They wax and wane with the ups and downs of temperature and the ups and downs of life. If you find yourself in the midst of a cold night and you're out of co-coa...hang on! Something new, a change, is just around the corner. On the same token, though, remember to make memories when the season's are good. Don't anticipate a season of negative change in your future. It will come, yes, but don't look for it. Enjoy that roaring fire, enjoy a cool spring rain, smile as you sip lemonade under the warm summer sun and jump in the leaves with your kids on a crisp fall day. Life is alive! It's moving! It's changing both for the good and the bad and all we can do is ride the winds as they come and as they go! Season's change!

my piece of the planet

2012-01-31T20:58:00.000-06:00

Last week I picked up this puzzle for Ash while I was at Target and thought (really hoped!) he would enjoy it! He's really taken an interest in the solar system and space lately and so I thought this would be a neat after school treat for him. When I gave Ash the puzzle he was very excited! He sat down almost immediately and completed the puzzle!! I was so proud!! He only asked for a hint a couple of times and mostly completed the puzzle entirely by himself!! That's Ashtyn's very first "big boy" puzzle to complete on his own!! Looks like someone will be getting more puzzles in his future...!!!

take a breath

2012-01-31T20:53:00.000-06:00

Last week Maddox got sick. I knew it was coming but I didn't know how bad it was going to get. It started out as a cough but quickly turned into a deep cough with wheezing. It really scared me! So, one morning I called him into school and then took him to the pediatrician. I struggled with whether I should take him in or not simply because he wasn't running a fever at all. It seems like every time I take one of my boys into the doctor they just look at me like I'm THAT crazy overprotective mom and tell me to give them tylenol and fluids...but this time our pediatrician listened to Maddox breath and then told me I made the right decision to bring him in when I did. He told me Maddox had bronchitis and a respiratory infection. He also had fluid in one ear. My poor baby was really sick! Dr. Albiek told me that Maddox would need to do breathing treatments and take two medications so Maddox and I went straight to Walgreens to buy a nebulizer and fill ALL of his prescriptions. Once we were home and after finally figuring out how to put the nebulizer machine together (yikes!) we began giving Maddox his treatments.

Maddox really wasn't too scared to take his breathing treatments. His little mask looks like a fish so that lessened the blow a little but I could tell Maddox was a bit nervous because he asked me to sit next to him during every single treatment. He would cuddle right up next to me and hold my hand. It was actually a very sweet moment each and every time! I honestly think the worst part for Maddox during each treatment was the fact that he had to SIT STILL and NOT TALK for 15-20 minutes!! Now, THAT'S a challenge for Maddox!! Ha!!

Maddox's nebulizer came with a sheet of stickers and so after each treatment we let him stick the sticker of his choice onto his machine. I wasn't sure putting a sticker on a machine would be enough motivation for him to sit and do each of his treatments but it actually worked!! Whew!!

We're finally almost done with all of Maddox's treatments. He has to do them for two more nights and is still on an antibiotic. We took Maddox back to the doctor this week for a follow up appointment and Dr. Albiek said that Maddox is doing much better but if he shows back up with the same symptoms again any time soon we'll have to talk about putting him on a preventative inhaler so that he doesn't keep getting to this point. Maddox has struggled with breathing issues since he was a baby. He was even hospitalized as a baby once overnight because he had some fluid on his lungs so I can't say I'm shocked that we've gotten to this point. It's actually a relief to know that we have a plan if this continues for Maddox instead of just treating him with antibiotics over and over and over. I just pray he doesn't have to deal with asthma like I did as a kid...ugh...

domestic bliss

2012-01-31T20:27:00.000-06:00

I love having a home cooked Sunday lunch with my family around the table after church...but I almost love just as much to stay sitting at the table once we're done eating and watch the men in my life rinse all the dishes and load the dishwasher!! Luckily, both my boys are at the age where helping with chores is SO fun and they jump at the chance to help out so that part isn't a fight (it's actually harder to get Brandon to do it...ha!) but there's something so domestic about cooking lunch and then watching my kids clean it up. I guess it reminds me of my OWN childhood!! Ha!!

samurai knight

2012-01-31T20:22:00.000-06:00

Wow!! There's not much I can say about this!! These pictures are a perfect (and I do mean PERFECT) representation of what it's like day in and day out to have Maddox as a son!! Ha!! He's ALL boy ALL the time and there's never a dull moment in our house!! (And I'm rarely well rested...!!!)

smarty pants

2012-01-31T20:13:00.000-06:00

Ash got a science experiment book for Christmas and he's had a BLAST with it!! Brandon and Ash recently did an impromptu experiment from the book. We had to choose one that we had all the supplies on hand for and so we did the classic "balloon on top of a 2-liter coke bottle" experiment!! As you can see, Ashtyn was SUPER PUMPED!!!! The experiment didn't take long but Ash thought it was SO cool that it didn't even matter...

As soon as the balloon started expanding and blowing up Ashtyn jumped backward and yelled "WHOA!!" I love seeing Ash so excited about exactly what he's interested in. I hope he never ever loses his passion for math and science and I really really hope he stays true to himself as he grows up. Just like his daddy, I pray he is never afraid to be himself.

It was difficult for me to get Ash to take his eyes off the balloon long enough just to take a picture...!!!

It was short and sweet but such a memory!! I honestly can't wait to do science fairs with Ash in the future!!

canine kisses

2012-01-25T10:25:00.000-06:00

Every time we visit Auntie Rae's and Uncle Casey's house Maddox gets his fill of playtime with their dog Bella!! Maddox wants a dog so bad and he really misses Charlie, the dog we had for a few months last year, but unfortunately, Ashtyn is still VERY afraid of dogs and so we can't justify getting a doggy of our own. At least Maddox gets some canine playtime with Bella when we go to Ponca City!! They are such good friends...and super awnry together!!

stubborn lil' slugger

2012-01-25T10:22:00.000-06:00

Almost two weeks ago the boys and I went to Ponca City for the weekend to help Auntie Rae and Uncle Casey decorate baby Noah's nursery!! It was alot of work but OH SO MUCH FUN!! We did the whole nursery in 2 1/2 days and that included two pretty big projects in the room!! Poor Rae, who is almost nine months pregnant now, had a hard time keeping up at times but she was a trooper and helped as much as she could!! It was a group effort and we finally got it done!!

First, we had to refinish the thrift store dresser that Rae and Casey had found for a mere $20!! Wowza!! What a deal!! Rae and Casey wanted Noah's room decorated in a baseball theme and so we came up with some really cute ideas. For the dresser, Casey stripped and sanded it and then we painted it an off white/cream color and stenciled baseball words on the fronts of each drawer in black. Rae also chose some very cute new knobs and pulls to put on the drawers.

The other BIG project we did for the nursery was create a faux antique baseball score board to hang over Noah's crib!! It turned out even better then I thought it would. I was SO nervous in the midst of the project. I've never made an antique scoreboard before so it was kind of an experiment but it turned out really good and it truly "makes" the nursery. Rae and Casey wanted a sort of old-school baseball look and I think the scoreboard pulled that theme together.

The nursery overall is very cute, calm and cozy. I think it'll be perfect for a baby boy to grow into and for mommy and daddy to rock their new little man to sleep at night.

We tried to combine decorative and function as much as we could! What baby's room doesn't need a few hooks!? These hooks are especially cute!!

On the wall below the large poster is a framed picture that Elia drew for her new baby brother!! She drew a baseball for him!!

OK...you've seen the painted dresser drawers and now here's a before and after of the completed dresser!! BEFORE, the dresser was...ummmmm, interesting. It was painted white and black and had lizards painted on the front of it. Yikes! But for $20 bucks we knew we could make it work!!

And here's the AFTER!!!! I have to say I'm pretty proud of us!! You would never even know this is the same dresser!! Go us!! We accessorized the dresser with a changing pad on top, a new lamp and baby photo frames and Noah Glen Johnson's initials in the window.

We also put a few buckets of balls on the floor next to the dresser. Each ball is signed by the ladies who attended Rae's baby shower. We also tied a shoe string around one of the bucket handles as a cute little extra!!

We used the other shoe string to tie around the fan pull!! Cute!! (and functional...!!!)

Well, they have the nursery now all Rae and Casey need is A BABY BOY!!!! Come on baby Noah!!!! Rae has been "going to deliver at any moment" for a couple of weeks now. Grrrrrrr. I literally packed my families suitcase almost a full week ago and we've been living out of it (in our own house...!!!) for DAYS!!!! I refuse to unpack though because I know as soon as I do Noah will be born at that very moment. Noah is already keeping us on our toes and he's not even here yet!! I think he got the "stubborn" gene from his mom!! Hehe!!

softer side of Knight

2012-01-25T08:20:00.000-06:00

On January 12th, the Knight family got a little bit bigger!! 7lbs bigger that is!! Brandon's younger brother and his wife had their first baby, a little girl named Natalie Reese!! She's gorgeous!! She was born on a Thursday while I was at work and the boys were at school so we couldn't go visit her right away but we loved every single picture we received and the boys even practiced holding their teddy bears before bed that night so that they would be ready to hold their new cousin!!

We finally got to go to Ponca City Friday night after Brandon got off work and we were so excited to visit Uncle Tyler, Aunt April and our new niece/cousin!! Oh and they had already gotten home from the hospital too so it was fun to relax in a home and really spend time with Natalie. Maddox wasn't too sure about holding a "GIRL" (cause when you're five ALL girls have cooties...cousin or not...) but he let us take one picture of him and Natalie together!! I think he's secretly pretty excited...!!!

Ash is a very proud cousin! He thought Natalie was very cute! It was kind of funny, though, because I'm not sure either of my boys thought of Natalie as an actual living person. She was sound asleep (of course, as most newborns are) and so she was very still and quiet but every now and then she would do that typical "newborn" twitch where a babies arms suddenly jerk up and then slowly fall back to their sides. Ya know!? Anyway, every time Natalie would do that Ashtyn would gasp and say in a shocked voice "She's moving!!!!" Haha!! It was so cute!!

I, of course, LOVED LOVED LOVED holding baby Natalie for the first time!! She's such a sweetie!!

I was hoping (and secretly praying) that when Brandon held Natalie he would catch baby fever...I don't think it worked...he sure looked handsome holding a baby girl though!!

Maddox has always been a mommy's boy. Really he's a "parent's boy" if such a thing exists. Maddox loves his mommy and daddy and I've always wondered what would happen if we had another baby...well, I think we got a small glimpse of what that scene could look like while we took turns holding little Natalie. While I was holding Natalie, Maddox snuggled in right next to me and once even asked me (OK, more like demanded me!) to put my right arm on HIS lap. He didn't want me holding Natalie too close...

and when Brandon was holding Natalie Maddox did the same thing. When Noni came and tried to pick Maddox up so that B could enjoy Natalie, Maddox wasn't going quietly!

Towards the end of our first visit with Natalie, she began to fuss. Her mommy, Auntie April, was holding her at the time and she stood with Natalie and simply said "watch this..." and then she walked Natalie to her daddy, Uncle Tyler, and gave baby girl to her dad. Almost instantly, Natalie quieted and calmed down! Tyler is a natural with his new daughter! He wasn't nervous or anything! It was so neat to watch!

It's so exciting that our family is growing! My sister is due any day now with my first nephew named Noah and Brandon's other brother and his wife are due with their first baby in early June! They're having a girl! Both sides of our families are growing by leaps and bounds! It's so very exciting!

toothless

2012-01-17T21:22:00.000-06:00

Ash has had his FIFTH loose tooth for several weeks now. He doesn't really like us to pull his loose teeth but a few days ago the tooth started bleeding while Ash was brushing his teeth before bed and so I asked him to let me check it. As soon as my finger touched his tooth I knew that it was barely hanging on. And when I say "barely hanging on" I mean like BARELY HANGING ON!! I didn't even think his tooth would make it through the night. I finally convinced Ash to let me pull it out. What's funny is it didn't even really require me to "pull" anything!! Pretty much when I put me fingers around the tooth it just fell off into my hand. It was literally just sitting in there!! So, we put Ashtyn's tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy!! He was so happy the next morning when he woke up to one dollar!! My baby boy is growing up way too fast...

lil' slugger

2012-01-17T21:14:00.000-06:00

Just over a week ago, we went to Ponca City so that I could host a baby shower for my sister, Rae!! Rae is pregnant with her second baby and this time she's having a BOY!!!! She already has a daughter, Elia, and very soon baby Noah will be joining the family!! I can't wait to have a nephew!! Casey and Rae asked for a baseball themed shower and so we went all out on the baseball theme. We printed a banner with Noah's first and middle name to hang above the cake table with Noah's name written in baseball equipment shapes and accessories. Noah's cake was a baseball jersey onesie with the logo of Casey's favorite baseball team, the Texas Rangers. We also served lemonade, bottled water and cans of root beer.

The guest tables at the shower were decorated with green table cloths and baseball centerpieces. Each centerpiece was a basket stuffed with green mossy grass and then topped with two baseballs. We used the baseballs as our "guest book". Each guest at the table was asked to sign the baseball at the center of their table with just their name or a short message for baby Noah and his family. It worked out really well! The centerpieces were resting on foam board cut into the shape of home plate. I also asked Rae to give me little "facts" about baby Noah and put one at the center of each table. The facts were really cute and alot of fun to read! Who knew that the one girl in our family who is always FREEZING (aka Rae) is now a burning furnace! Ha! Oh what a baby can do to you!! We placed two different games on the table for guests to play throughout the shower. One was a baseball facts game to test everyone's knowledge of the featured game and there was also a bingo game. We used sunflower seeds as bingo markers!!

One of the funnest things we did was make up these little baseball cards featuring an ultrasound picture of Noah! On the back of each card guests were asked to guess when Noah would be born, what his birth weight would be, what his birth length would be, how long Rae's labor will last and what color of hair Noah will have. At the end of the shower, all the guests turned their cards into Rae. I guess we'll find out who was closest soon enough!!

For the gift table, we decorated with a couple of baseball bats, the initials of Noah's name and a "clothesline" feature done with a raw rope and we clothes pinned to it printed baby baseball onesies and baseball pennants with phrases that said "It's a boy!" and "Opening Day 2/12/12" because that is the day Rae is due!!

For snacks, we set up a baseball field concession stand called "Noah's Nibbles". We served small portions of classic baseball snacks and finger foods including twizzlers, peanuts, bubble gum, hot dogs, cracker jacks, pickles and popcorn!! Mmmmmmm!! What better excuse can you think of to eat salty snacks we remember from a day at the field as a kid then at a baby shower!?!?

Before Rae opened all her gifts, we cut and served the cake! It was DELICIOUS!!!! (But sort of sad to see it all cut up...ha!!)

Such a proud big sister!!

She doesn't look like she's 8 months pregnant does she!?!? Such a beautiful mommy and daughter!! I hope they're ready for a BOY to rock their world!! Ha!!

Rae's doctor doesn't think she's going to make it to her due date so I'm ready to drive back to Ponca City at the drop of a hat as soon as my sister calls and says she's checking into the hospital. We keep joking that I had my "hospital bag" packed before Rae!! Ha!! What can I say!? I'm SUPER excited!!!!

another desert

2012-01-17T19:50:00.000-06:00

My little friend, Gray, is still battling cancer. He recently relapsed after being in remission for only a few short weeks and has begun another chemo protocol. He's such a fighter and has taught me more about LIFE through his battle then I can even put into words. He has changed my life. Gray has been battling cancer since October 2010 and throughout the past 15 months I have coped with Gray's diagnosis and treatment in many different ways. One of those is by writing. I love to write. I write about the good times, the bad times and even the sad times. Writing allows me to express myself and get my pent up feelings onto paper, helping me release my emotions. I have wrote alot of poetry over the last year through the ups and downs of Gray's fight and recently, when I got the call about Gray's relapse, I wrote yet again. I'm not a professional writer and I'm certainly not a poetry writer but my words express my feelings and help me to pinpoint a moment of emotion in my life. Here is my latest cry through poetry.

God what are you doing? This is impossible to understand.
Why do you clear away the clouds only to lead us into dry, desert land?

We had almost conquered the mountain. We were so close to victory.
But now the world is caving in. We're lost, bound and no longer free.

How can life go from joy to sadness with just one call?
Where are you Lord? Are you there? There at all?

I'm trying to make sense of this life but there's just no hope in sight.
Why can't we live forever in your presence Lord? Free of this emptiness and this fight.

Please take my fear Lord, don't let me carry this alone.
I don't have the words to say. I'm in shock, shaken and need to mourn.

I only wish I could be the one, please let me take his place.
He deserves life. He deserves healing. He deserves your grace.

What can I do Lord? Please tell me, to make this go away.
I'd walk to the ends of the earth if I could, there's no price I wouldn't pay.

My heart is broken right now and deep down I'm angry too.
We're weary from battle and tired from the climb, how can it be starting anew?

So many questions and so much fear that right now I can't even pray.
I'm scared Lord. I'm scared...I don't know what else to say...

FROM "STOLE MY HEART"

2012-01-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Since school started, just over a week ago, both the boys have done really well at going to bed and staying in their beds until they fall asleep. Unlike all the years of their lives leading up to now when they would get up about 100 times before falling asleep to ask for drinks, snacks, kisses and to go potty one more time! Last night, Brandon tucked the boys in and then came into the living room where I was watching TV. As Brandon sat down next to me he said "Ash wanted me to tell you he loves you..." What!?!? I was so happy to hear it but also a bit sad that he had sent the message through Brandon. I asked Brandon why he wanted B to tell me that and Brandon answered, "I don't know, he just said 'dad, can you do me a favor?' and then asked me to tell you that he loves you..." Oh my!!!! I was still a bit teary eyed that Ash didn't call me back there to tell me himself but was also melting over the fact that he even thought to send his loving message along! I love my boys so much!

(September 2011)

first time for everything

2012-01-04T12:11:00.000-06:00

This week I flew my Oklahoma State "Cowboy Nation" flag for the last time of the season...BUT more exciting then it being the last time of the season, I was flying my flag for the first BCS Bowl Game we have EVER played in!! Woohoo!! I can't tell you how exciting this was!! The only thing that could have been better was if we were playing for the National Championship but I'll take being the Big 12 Champions and playing in the Tostitos Bowl Game!! We played Stanford and to say the game was a nail biter would be an understatement. The game went into overtime and we won by scoring a field goal! Whew! It was a close one but all that matters is that the books show a big "W" next to our name!! GO POKES!!!!

my own mustache

2012-01-04T12:05:00.000-06:00

This week we ate at McDonald's and the boys got Happy Meals. On their meal boxes there were different shapes you could punch out and play with and, as you can see, one of those punch outs was a mustache! It was the first thing the boys wanted to punch out of their meals and they soon figured out that if they had a piece of tape they could wear their mustaches JUST LIKE DADDY!! Ha!! I think he looks good with facial hair...whadya think!?!?

last minute luck

2012-01-04T11:57:00.000-06:00

The week after Christmas my parents decided to come for a last minute visit. We didn't think they were going to get to come but they decided to make the trip and we were glad they did! Thankfully, during their visit, the weather was very nice and so we were able to do some extra fun things. One day, Rae and Casey and Elia came down and we went to the zoo!

Maddox is always energetic, but during our visit to the zoo he was particularly hyper!! He kept begging to have his picture taken and jumping up on rocks and doing all sorts of crazy poses and fighter moves!! Ha!!

The boys always love to visit the petting zoo but Ashtyn doesn't usually actually PET the animals. He likes to keep his distance and just observe from afar but today he jumped right in! He didn't seem scared at all!

We not only love doing the "fun stuff" with Grampa Mike and Gramma Pennie but we also love the down time we get to spend with them. The boys love to be read to and who better then your Gramma to read you a story!?

My parents visit was too short but it was alot of fun!! We got to visit Great Gramma in Enid and the boys got to play with their cousin for an extra week!! We don't get to see Grampa Mike and Gramma Pennie but a few times each year but luckily they're coming to Oklahoma AGAIN when Aunt Rae has her baby in February so we get to see them again very soon!! I was teasing my mom before they left that the boys aren't gonna know what to do when they see their Grampa and Gramma twice in just a few short months!! Ha!! Thanks for visiting mom and dad!! It was a blast!!

bursting at the seams!!

2012-01-04T11:40:00.000-06:00

CHRISTMAS DAY IS FINALLY HERE!!!! It always seems like the countdown to Christmas takes FOR...EV...ER... but then suddenly it's Christmas morning and all that built up excitement comes bursting out in one furious frenzy of wrapping paper, shrieks and empty boxes!! My boys were SO excited when they woke up Christmas morning!! We were up before the sun and I think we were finishing opening presents just as the sun was peeking through the sky!! We were all laughing because Maddox was literally SO excited that he was shaking...I mean shaking, from head to toe, while he opened his first few gifts! I wish I had gotten it on video but he was shaking so hard and we were laughing so much that it slipped my mind! He literally couldn't contain his Christmas morning happiness!! It was so cute!!

The boys opened their stockings first and loved everything they found inside. They were especially excited about their new plush Darth Vador and Super Mario character pillows!

After stockings we dug right into the gifts under the tree...!!!

The excited looks on my boys' faces were priceless!! Gift after gift there were gasps and shrieks and screams!! I loved every minute of it!!

Maddox had been begging for this Star Wars cartoon movie since summer and it looks like Santa came through!!

So...MOM, when the boys were opening the presents from you and dad they were so excited but for some odd reason they couldn't get their gifts open! Ha! OK, this is kind of an inside joke, but my mom always wraps her gifts in the craziest of ways. You can never break through the ribbon, sometimes there are layers and layers of wrapping paper and you're pretty much guaranteed that something under the tree will be wrapped in a box that it didn't originally come in to try and trick you! Ha! When the boys were unwrapping their gifts from my parents they were struggling to get into them as quickly as they wanted to. The ribbon was so strong and there was so much of it that we had to help them...sometimes by using scissors! Ha!

Maddox got lots of Legos (just like he wanted!) and Ash got all sorts of Bakugan and Pokemon gear! It was perfect!

I think someone is thoroughly happy with his Christmas morning!!

This one large, green wrapped, gift had been taunting Maddox for over a week! My parents gifts arrived at our house early and so we went ahead and put them under the tree. Maddox would look at, touch and try to pick up this one large box every single day! He even kissed it a few times before he went to bed at night! Ha! He thought for sure he knew what it was...but then...

once Maddox got all the wrapping paper off and there was just a brown box with duct tape staring back at him he exclaimed "I KNEW IT!!" and then after another second passed he looked at me confused and said "What is it...???" Ha!! It was so cute and funny!! I think Maddox was pleasantly surprised with his gift!! And, no, he didn't have ANY idea what was actually inside that box! Ha!

I love this video because after Maddox opened his new Imaginext Dinosaur he held it up and just stood there, smiling. It took me a minute to figure out that he was waiting for me to take his picture! Ha! At least I know he's used to the routine of mom taking so many pictures!

After we opened all of our presents, we got dressed up and went to Christmas morning church service. It was a wonderful, packed out service! After church, we headed back home to make a late morning brunch of biscuits, gravy and (of course!) chocolate gravy! Every time I make (or eat) biscuits and gravy, I remember how glad I am to have grown up a "Wiles girl". Who else makes chocolate gravy!? Not many people I have met...but it sure is delicious! And a tradition I won't be giving up...EVER!!

After stuffing ourselves with brunch, I got right to work building all my boys' new Lego sets. I think Maddox got three new sets and Ash got one. It may not seem like much but the large ones take forever to put together. I started with the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon and, no joke, it took me almost FOUR HOURS to finish it! Yikes! I really do enjoy putting the Lego sets together but my biggest fear was that I would get it together and then Maddox break it the very same day. Ugh. Thankfully, though, all the Legos I put together that day (and the next...) are STILL standing! Whew!

Our Christmas was WONDERFUL!! I don't even know what all to say about it. I loved opening gifts with my boys. I feel like it wasn't rushed but it was still furious and full of energy. Christmas morning church service was beautiful and singing Christmas carols with my church family was so peaceful and then spending the day with my in-laws, my husband and my boys was more then I could have asked for. We were lazy, we ate alot of good food and we watched alot of movies. This Christmas was a perfect example of why we start counting down to the holidays in August!!

visions of sugar plums

2012-01-04T10:25:00.000-06:00

On Christmas Eve, we drove home from Ponca City and had lots of fun stuff planned before bedtime! Papa and Noni came back to our house with us to spend the night and enjoy Christmas with our family. We were happy to have them! Christmas Eve afternoon, we baked and decorated some yummy Christmas cookies! We baked enough to leave cookies out for Santa and had plenty left over to enjoy ourselves! Mmmmm! We used different colored frostings to decorate our cookies and to sweeten them up we used sprinkles and M&M's!

Noni and Papa were BIG helpers in the cookie decorating! I know the boys loved having them there!

After the hundredth, or so, time of Ash getting frosting on his fingers and licking it off...we began to think it was no longer an "accident"! Ha!!

While we let our cookie frosting dry, Noni helped the boys set out the magic reindeer food that Maddox made at his school's Christmas party. Maddox had prepared his reindeer food by scooping dry oatmeal into a baggy and then spicing it up with some bright silver glitter. The magic food instructions said that we should sprinkle the food onto our front porch and the reindeer would first be attracted to the shiny glitter and then when they got to our porch they would stick around and eat their oats while Santa delivered his gifts! The boys were super excited to spread the reindeer oats on the porch...

Here Reindeer, Reindeer, Reindeer...!!!

Once our cookies were all dry, the boys chose their favorites and put them on a plate for Santa. I asked the boys what kind of milk Santa would want and they unanimously decided on CHOCOLATE!! The boys carried Santa's goodies to the Christmas tree and set them in plain sight. We didn't want Santa to miss the treat we made for him!

The boys were just a teeny bit "WIRED" when we tried to take their pictures with Santa's cookies and milk...it was really hard to get a picture of both of them smiling at the same time! Ha! I can't blame them though, they COULDN'T WAIT for Santa to come!!

For Christmas Eve dinner we did something a little different and fun this year! First, I made a "pizza pocket wreath" for us to munch on! I simply heated pizza pockets, arranged them on a tray in a circle and then cut out bulb and star shaped pieces of cheese to serve as wreath ornaments! It was simple, cute and oh so yummy!

To go with our pizza pocket wreath, I also bought a fruit tray, veggie tray and cheese-n-cracker tray! It was a finger food kind of night!

While we ate, we snuggled in our Christmas pajamas and watched a movie. It was so hard for the boys to sit still but thankfully the movie helped wind them down for bedtime and made for a great family memory!

After the movie, the boys hopped into bed with Noni and tried SO hard to go to sleep quickly so Santa would come. They giggled themselves to sleep and it was absolutely magical to listen to...

Santa certainly visited our house overnight!! He was SO good to my boys!! I can't wait for them to wake up so we can dig into all these gifts...!!!

Christmas clues...

2012-01-01T22:28:00.000-06:00

On Friday evening, we met at Noni and Papa's house and had a really unique Christmas!! Uncle Tyler and Aunt April came over too and, instead of wrapping gifts, Noni and set up a scavenger hunt for everyone to follow clues and find their gifts hidden throughout the house!! It was a really neat idea and we all had alot of fun!! It was awesome to hear the boys running around the house and then start shrieking with excitement when they would actually find the gift they were looking for!! So cool!!

Looks like Noni hid some underwear for the boys!! Ha!! When Maddox carried his back downstairs into the living room (where the rest of the family was sitting) he got very embarrassed and hid his new undies so that no one could see them...he was pretty proud of them upstairs though...

Noni and Papa got the boys alot of really cool gifts and then the boys opened their gift from Uncle Tyler and Aunt April!! They LOVED it!! I had never seen this toy before but as soon as the boys opened it they knew exactly what they had!! It's a race track system that connects and sets up into a long track with a loop in the middle and it came with these two little balls that you send racing down the track and then they land in a tray offering different sections for different point levels!! It's alot of fun!!

Before the night was over, Maddox had to give baby Natalie (Aunt April is due in January!) a very special gift just from him to her. As we all know very well, Maddox is not only obsessed with Star Wars but I'm pretty sure he could go up against almost anyone on knowing information about the Star Wars movies, characters, weapons and any other thing you can think of. At this point, his love of Star Wars isn't just a phase! So, for Christmas, Maddox got his new little cousin a knitted rattle that looks like Yoda from Star Wars. (Okay, technically I found it and bought it but you get the point...) Maddox is a little uneasy about having a "girl" cousin but I've convinced him that he can teach Natalie ALL about Star Wars and I'm sure she will love it!! We're starting her young with this super cute little rattle!!

So, now we've had two Christmases in two days. We're on a Christmas high!! We will spend one more night at Noni and Papa's house and then head home tomorrow to get ready for Santa to visit us. We have to bake and decorate some cookies for Santa AND we're lucky enough this year to have Noni and Papa coming back to our house to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us!! So we still have alot of good food, good company and a really fun Christmas morning ahead!!

memory tree

2012-01-01T22:09:00.000-06:00

Late on the Thursday night before Christmas, we left Aunt Rae's house and went to Noni and Papa's house to spend the night. The next morning, the boys woke up early and after breakfast Noni let them help her decorate her family tree. Noni has two Christmas trees. The one on the main level, in the living room, is a very "decorated" tree, decked out in gold ornaments and lots of tulle, flowers and glittery EVERYTHING!! The tree in the den, however, is filled to the brim with family ornaments her kids have collected over the years and really any ornament that sparks a family memory. Noni still buys each family member (including daughters-in-law!) an ornament every year and hangs it on her downstairs tree!! This year, the boys got in on the action helping decorate the family tree. They had so much fun and were very proud of their work!!

feliz navidad

2012-01-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

The weekend of Christmas we drove to Ponca City to visit Uncle Casey, Aunt Rae and Elia and to have Christmas with Brandon's parents and Uncle Tyler and Aunt April. Before we left for Ponca City, Maddox and I went to Wal-Mart for some groceries and while there he found some Star Wars candy canes that we just HAD to buy! On the way to Ponca, Maddox opened his candy canes and had them hanging from every finger AND both of his ears!! Ha!! Who thinks of these things!? He's so silly!!

I know you can't tell in this picture very well but on our way to Ponca it started SNOWING!!!! Woohoo!! I absolutely love the snow!! And since I knew that it wasn't going to be snowing on actual Christmas I was just pumped to see snow on any day remotely close to Christmas!!

Once we got to Rae and Casey's house we had a little mini-Christmas with them. Rae was so excited to give the boys their gifts...she wouldn't even tell me what she had gotten them...and soon I found out why...

Maddox's first gift was something I had told Rae Maddox would want, a Thundercat Sword, but the second gift was a mystery. As soon as Maddox tore the first piece of wrapping paper off of his gift I knew exactly why this gift had been kept under such tight wraps...Auntie Rae and Aunt Kiki had gone in together to buy my little Maddox a real live GUN!!!! Yikes!!!! It's only a BB gun so it's not super powerful or anything but I was still shocked to see a REAL gun in my baby's hand!! We always knew Maddox would get a gun I just thought it would be a few years down the road...but Maddox's lovely aunties sprung a gun on us a little early and literally MADE...MADDOX'S...CHRISTMAS!!!! As you can see, he was very VERY happy with his gift and we actually went right out into the snow to shoot at targets!! My baby boy is growing up...!!!

Next up, Ashtyn opened his gift! Yet again, Auntie Rae and Aunt Kiki pegged their nephew to a tee and got Ashtyn a...

microscope set and homemade science experiment kit!! Wow!! Ash was so excited!! Ash doesn't really express his excitement openly very often, he's just not very expressive and way more shy then his brother, but for this gift we actually got a shocked look and a big smile!! We had to open it immediately and start looking at all sorts of things under the scope.

Then Elia opened the gifts we had brought her. We got her a Disney Princess microphone, a Disneyland game for her new XBox Kinect and the boys had each picked her out a Barbie!!

For Aunt Rae, we got a "Festivus" t-shirt (which you will only understand if you are an avid watcher of the show Seinfeld...) and a book and for Uncle Casey we got a National Lampoons Christmas Vacation Cousin Eddie moose mug and dickie!! Casey's was kind of a gag-gift but I just couldn't resist!!

Ash LOVES his new microscope!!

I think Maddox might need a few "safety lessons" before we let him shoot his gun too much...Ha!!

Uncle Casey modeling his Christmas present!!

After we opened presents and then went out to dinner at our favorite local mexican restaurant (seriously NOTHING says Merry Christmas like some good ol' chips and queso followed by fajita nachos...!!! mmmmmm!!!), we took turns playing Elia's new XBox Kinect!! I wasn't sure how well the Kinect would work but it is SO MUCH FUN!! I love it!!

It looks funny enough when the kids are doing all the motions on the Kinect...but when us grown-ups do it...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! We look downright HILARIOUS!!!! Now, this video of Brandon may not be totally fair because you can't see what's happening on the TV screen but just watching him do these movements was so funny I couldn't resist capturing it forever!!

We had a wonderful Christmas with my sister and her family. I can't believe the Christmas weekend is finally here and even though it's just begun it's also sorta sad that a part of it is already over. Now we're on to Noni and Papa's house to have Christmas with them and Brandon's brother and Aunt April. I know we still have so much fun ahead of us!!

The Centennial Express

2012-01-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, the last day of school before Christmas break, Ashtyn had a super fun day at school!! He was allowed to wear his pajamas to school and then during the day they colored their very own tickets to board the Polar Express. The students then used their custom ticket to enter the gymnasium where their principal read the story of the Polar Express to them while they sipped hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in it!! Ash had an absolute BLAST!! When he came home from school on Wednesday he had so much to say about his Polar Express day...BUT...he was even more excited to know that it was CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!! Both of my boys kept saying "we have two weeks off school! we have two weeks off school!" Ha!! I know the break (and Christmas) will go by way too fast...but right now we're just savoring every single moment!!

lovin' lights

2012-01-01T20:53:00.000-06:00

The Tuesday night before Christmas, we went looking at Christmas lights as a family!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at Christmas lights!! First, we went to the Christmas lights display in the park in Yukon. It never disappoints!! This display covers two public parks and has tons of extras!! You can take a train ride, meet frosty the snowman AND rudolph, park and watch a light display that moves to the music on your radio AND you can even get out of your car and walk most of the park's display!! It's so very cool and we absolutely love it!!

We didn't walk the entire park (it was SO cold!) but we did get out of the car to take a picture with the giant Christmas light tree!! (Sorry the pic is sideways...I couldn't get it to turn...bummer...but I think you get the picture...and if you look close you can see the boys standing in front of it!!) The boys danced around in front of the tree, jumped up and down and were just SO excited!! Their excitement was rubbing off on me and getting me even more excited then I already was!! I love Christmas as it is but with two little boys, seeing Christmas through their eyes, I love it even more!!

After we drove through both parks in Yukon, we went downtown to Chesapeake to see their lighted trees! We had never driven down there before. I've seen the lights featured on TV but had never seen them in person. Let me tell you...it's SO WORTH the drive downtown!! The trees are literally wrapped from the very bottom of the trunk to the very tippy top of each and every tiny branch!! And not only are they so meticulously wrapped but they also change color from time to time!! It's gorgeous!! I only wish that we had had time to go back again...

This pic is kind of blurry but it shows the trees changing from white to color one right after the other. Beautiful!!

We looked at lights for a couple of hours and I guess we wore the boys OUT!! On our way back to Mustang both of my boys fell asleep in the back seat. We weren't even out that late but they were so excited for Christmas (and we had had their class parties that afternoon) that they were just exhausted. I wanted to keep looking at lights but I knew we had to get home and get our babies in bed so they could go to school for their last day on Wednesday before Christmas break!! WE CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

frosting, frosting and more frosting...

2012-01-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

The last few days of school before Christmas break were pretty much just fun days for the boys!! They didn't bring home any homework and they did alot of fun crafts and activities. On Tuesday, they had their class Christmas parties!! I found these really cute Christmas t-shirts for the boys to wear. Ash was an elf playing video games and Maddox was Santa on a snowboard! So cool!

That afternoon, I went to Maddox's class party while Brandon went with Ashtyn. Maddox's party took up most of the afternoon (about an hour and a half...!!!) and we did TONS of fun activities and crafts!! There are five kindergarten classes at Maddox's school and for the Christmas party each class rotated to each of the five kindergarten classrooms and did a different craft in each one. In the first classroom, we played Christmas bingo using skittles as bingo markers. Maddox got bingo TWICE!! When you got bingo you won a piece of candy!

In the next classroom, we made Ritz cracker reindeer! It was alot of fun and they turned out really cute! The kids frosted a ritz cracker with chocolate frosting and then stuck on chocolate chips for eyes, an M&M for a nose and a twisted pretzel for antlers.

Not only were the reindeer snacks cute but, according to Maddox, they were really YUMMY too!! He wouldn't share with me so I can't speak from experience...ha!!

The reindeer didn't last long...

In the third classroom, the kids made edible Christmas trees out of waffle ice cream cones! They frosted waffle cones, upside down, with green frosting and then decorated their "trees" with mini M&M's, sprinkles and red licorice! This craft was MESSY to say the least! Everyone was covered in green frosting and if you've never tried to eat an upside down waffle cone covered in sticky, sweet frosting then you've never lived!! Ha!! To make it even more fun, if your child didn't finish their Christmas tree cone then the teacher provided a zip lock baggy and you got to to take it home!! Yipee!! Ha!! Talk about a mess...

In the next classroom, we made magic reindeer food to set out for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve!! This was alot of fun!! The kids scooped their own "oats" into a small baggy and then topped it off with colored glitter before sealing their baggy!! Maddox chose silver glitter and three BIG scoops of oats!! Not only was this a good idea BUT it was also much cleaner then all the frosting in the last two classes!! Ha!!

Once you were finished mixing your reindeer food, you got to play "Pin the Nose on Rudolph"!! Maddox loved playing this game and he actually got Rudolph's nose really close to its actual location!! Maddox exclaimed "I won!" Ha!!

Finally, we ended up back in Maddox's classroom where we made popsicle stick Christmas tree ornaments. The kids colored their popsicle stick triangles green with markers and then we used glue to stick different colored jewels all over the tree!!

Then Maddox cut out a yellow star for the top of his tree...

Before we left Maddox's class, Maddox gave me a gift he had made the day before! It was very sweet! He had crafted me TWO ornaments (one with his handprint on it of course...) and I couldn't have loved them more! I love all the crafty ornaments the boys give me and I'll keep them forever!

Brandon went to Ashtyn's party. I told him he better thank me for choosing to go to the kindergarten party because we had to load up and move a herd of five-year-olds every twenty minutes from class to class for an hour and a half and Brandon got to attend an hour long party (at most!) and they stayed in Ashtyn's classroom the entire time! Lucky! I worked up a sweat at Maddox's party and Brandon looked all calm and serene when he got done with Ash. Ha! Oh well...I guess it all worked out and I'm just glad both boys got to have a parent with them during their party. At Ashtyn's party they did several crafts and played Christmas bingo too! Ash had lots of stories to tell when Brandon brought him home but he was most excited about the Christmas goody bag his teacher had given him before the end of the day. He got all sorts of goodies and treats and he even won a toy alien, that you put in water and it grows, when he got bingo during the party!!

When the kids got home from their parties that day everyone was exhausted! I was tired, the boys were tired, Brandon was tired...but it was awesome! I'm just glad the boys are still young enough that we get to have these fun parties! I don't want these days to end...

and the certificate goes to...

2012-01-01T11:46:00.000-06:00

This month, Ashtyn won the character award at school!! The award was for "courtesy"...I think that's the perfect award for my Ashtyn!! I don't know that I've ever met a little boy with a more tender heart and thoughtful spirit then him. The award was a surprise to Ash and so Brandon and I being at his school that morning was also a surprise. It was so sweet to see him walk up on stage and receive his certificate and bumper sticker! Ash was a bit confused, at first, because when the speaker announced his name she called out "AshLYN" instead of "Ashtyn" and so Ash wasn't for sure that meant him...but thankfully, his teacher caught the mistake and made sure Ash made it up on stage to get his award.

Ash was surprised and excited AND PROUD of his certificate!! He's such a cutie!!

I love that BOTH my boys have won a character award at school this year. My boys may be complete opposites but they both of strengths that make them who they are and we are so proud of them! I can't wait to see what the future holds for my "courteous" Ashtyn Drew!

the coveted cardboard box

2012-01-01T11:36:00.000-06:00

Before my parents decided to visit us in Oklahoma for Christmas, they had already packed up and mailed their gifts for the boys to our house. When the box arrived I was in shock!! It was a HUGE box!! Thankfully, the boys were already in bed, asleep, when the box arrived and so they couldn't try to break into it and get themselves all worked up. As soon as the box arrived, I opened it and put all the new gifts under the Christmas tree. When the boys woke up the next morning they were super excited to see all the presents under the tree but they were also very excited to see the giant box I had saved!! What is it about an empty cardboard box that can keep two little boys busy for HOURS!?!? They immediately started playing with the box and it honestly kept them busy for a couple of weeks!!

First, they played inside the box, using crayons to color different scenes on the inside. They would put pillows inside with them and even used two empty wrapping paper tubes as swords to pretend play along with their box. We kept the empty box in their room until last week, when we had such nice weather, and then the boys took the box outside. Eventually, they asked me to cut a hole in the side of the box and they would crawl in and out through it and then before I knew it they were smashing the box with swords and putting it at the end of the slide and sliding down on top of it, squashing it underneath them. Needless to say, the box didn't make it back inside after that day! Ha! Now, their beloved box looks like a flat piece of chopped up cardboard in the backyard. Oh well, they had fun with it for longer then I ever would have thought!

cookie mama

2012-01-01T11:24:00.000-06:00

I love to bake!! I love to bake during the holidays even more!! Sometimes I bake to relax, by myself, in a quiet house...and sometimes I bake WITH MY KIDS!! Ha!! Don't get me wrong, I love to bake with my boys but it's just not as calming or relaxing as doing it in the kitchen all by myself. It takes five times as long and we have to keep a careful balance of making sure everything is done fairly (i.e. if Ash gets to stir then Maddox gets to stir and if Ash gets to spoon five cookies onto the cookie sheet then Maddox gets to do the same amount...you get the idea...) but it is very sweet to be with both my boys in the kitchen and we definitely make alot of memories while we cook together. Both my boys really enjoy helping out in the kitchen but Maddox has taken a particular interest in it the last year or so. He'll help me bake something special or just simply cook dinner with me. He often tells me that he's going to be a "cooker" when he grows up! Ha! Today, though, both my boys were helping me and we were making Christmas rice-krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies!! Mmmmmm!! Oh and we used our very special Christmas kitchen utensils too!!

I know, I know...both boys are in their underwear! I hear it every time I post pictures of my boys but hey, what can I say, they're boys and so stay in their underwear as much and as often as possible and, let's be honest, if we could all bake in our underwear and it be socially acceptable...wouldn't we!?!? Haha!! Anyway, Maddox enjoyed watching the microwave for me and, of course, pushing the buttons to turn it on too. (You gotta love that little tushy...!!!)

I couldn't convince Ash to taste the cookie dough before we put it in the oven but Maddox was all over it. Like mother, like son!! Ha!!

Our rice-krispies and cookies turned out AWESOME!! It really doesn't get any better then family and sweet treats!!

santa shop

2012-01-01T11:03:00.001-06:00

At the boys school, they have a "Santa Shop" every year where you can send money with your kids to school and they can shop for gifts for their friends and family. I sent the boys each just a few dollars to pick out a gift for each other but when they came home from school that day they BOTH went on and on and on about other toys they had seen at the shop that they wanted for themselves. I told them that I wouldn't be spending anymore money on the Santa Shop but the boys were lucky enough that that same week they received a Christmas card in the mail with $5 each inside. Both boys immediately decided to take their $5 fortune back to school the next day and go back to the Santa Shop to get what they so badly wanted for themselves. Ash REALLY wanted these glasses he kept telling me about. I wasn't sure what he was talking about until the next day when he came home from school WEARING those very glasses!! They are pretty cool actually and Ash was very proud!! I think he wore them for three days straight!!

Now you can see the glasses in action...!!!

Maddox thought brothers glasses were pretty cool too!! Whenever he got the chance, on the rare occasion that Ash would put the glasses down, Maddox would wear them around the house letting them flash and glow as he played.

I know that within a week of bringing home everything they bought at the Santa Shop we didn't know where any of the little trinkets and toys were...at this point, I don't even remember what Maddox bought with his $5 Christmas money...but it sure is fun to watch both Ash and Maddox get so excited over something so small and silly. And it's even funner to watch them spend their OWN money on it!! Ha!!

office temp

2012-01-01T10:50:00.000-06:00

I've been working at the Oklahoma District Office of the A/G in the youth department a couple of days each week helping out with office work and really whatever needs to be done. A couple of weeks ago, Jill had to come up to the offices for a meeting and she brought Gray with her. I was excited to have a little office helper for the day! (And the cutest office help in the entire world at that!!) I mostly played with Gray while Jill had her meeting and we did everything imaginable! We read books, played hide-n-seek, watched movie previews on the iPad, played "lock Erika out of the office" (a game Gray made up all the rules too and that mostly involved me sitting in the hallway trying to get back into the room! Ha!), we visited all the other ladies in the office and finally Gray did some serious office work with his calculator, pen and paper. It was a fun day in the office for sure!!

to you, from me

2012-01-01T10:44:00.000-06:00

This year, I thought it would be fun to let the boys do some of their own Christmas shopping. When my sisters and I were little my mom would do this with us and we always had so much fun! So, after school one day, I took the boys to the dollar store and let them choose gifts for each other, me and Brandon, their cousin Elia and their grandparents. They were so cute, each carrying around their own shopping basket and carefully choosing a gift for each person! They really took their time to pick out the perfect gift for everyone! The shopping was fun but when we got home and I let the boys wrap their gifts too the day got REALLY fun! Ha! The boys picked out their own wrapping paper (so, of course, we ended up with Spongebob paper...) and they each used their own roll of tape. They also wrapped in separate rooms so that they wouldn't see their gifts to each other. You wouldn't believe how excited they were!!

Both boys did a really good job of wrapping, but Maddox used WAY too much paper and tape for each gift. Ash got the hang of cutting out a piece of perfectly sized wrapping paper for each gift but Maddox just cut off a huge piece of paper and then rolled the gift up in it (no matter how small the gift...) until all the paper was used up and then wrapped the entire thing in tape. Let's just say people had quite a time opening their presents on Christmas morning...!!!

It must have been some pretty tough work wrapping gifts because about halfway through Maddox took his pants off...I seriously don't know if Maddox can do ANYTHING fully dressed!! Ha!!

After all the wrapping (and taping!) was done the boys stacked their gifts carefully under the Christmas tree!! They were so excited that I was worried we wouldn't make it to Christmas without them spilling the beans about what they had picked out for each person. But, they both did a wonderful job at keeping the secret and were so proud when everyone opened their gifts! I think I like this new tradition! We'll definitely be doing it again next year!

new decor

2012-01-01T10:27:00.000-06:00

I recently asked my boys to clean up their messes in the office and their bedroom. A few minutes later they came running in and telling me they were done cleaning. I, of course, went to check their "work" and make sure they hadn't overlooked anything. When I walked into the office Maddox had put his dirty sock on top of the glittery Christmas tree decoration instead of carrying it to the hamper! Ha! The boys thought their new addition to the decor was pretty funny but I think Maddox was just trying to get away with a little less cleaning...!!! I guess he gets an "A" for effort!! Ha!!

post pageant

2011-12-21T15:55:00.000-06:00

After the boys Christmas programs, we stayed and chatted with friends and family for awhile. Jill and Gray had come to see the boys as well as Noni & Papa AND Uncle Casey, Aunt Rae and Elia. We were so glad to have them all with us!!

Maddox and Gray are actually alot alike! They are both very mischievous but also know how cute they are and so are able to get out of trouble by just smiling or saying "I love you." They also both have their mommies wrapped around their little fingers! Ha! I think they're going to get into lots of trouble together in the future...

Elia is growing up so fast. She's such a pretty little lady!!

Before we left, Elia wanted to give everyone a hug. My boys still try to get out of hugging but they've said good-bye to Elia enough to know that they ARE GOING to give her a hug! Gray, though, wasn't too keen on the idea and tried to run away. I think Elia was getting her hug one way or another...haha!!

After a week of preparing for the Christmas program and then a full weekend of dress rehearsals and lighting set-ups, it didn't take but a few minutes for both the boys AND Brandon to be out cold!! So, while all the men in my life snoozed I got some much needed quiet time to myself with the TV.

choir ninja n' sweet shepherd

2011-12-15T19:37:00.000-06:00

Sunday evening, both my boys performed their Christmas programs at church! Maddox was in the little kids program which is Pre-School and Kindergarteners. Maddox didn't want to try out for a part this year so he was in the kids choir! Don't you love his outfit!? He's so cute!! I was honestly kind of afraid Maddox would refuse to put on his choir cape, tinsel crown and big red bow...but luckily Maddox told me he pretends his choir uniform is a "ninja outfit" because according to him "ninja's wear all white AND wear bands around their heads!" Ha!! I'm glad that's how he looked at it!! That could've gone VERY differently...

Maddox did SO well in his program!! He sang loud, he did all the group speaking parts VERY loud and he stood still for a majority of the program!! There were a few really funny (and very cute) moments when Maddox kept waving at us across the sanctuary, he plugged his ears when the wise men said their lines and I'm pretty sure towards the end of the program Maddox had to go to the bathroom!! The entire program was so sweet, so hilarious and so memorable all at the same time!!

After the kids sang their final song, their program director, Teacher Jan, said a few words. Teacher Jan has been leading this program for almost 30 years!! She is now teaching the kids of kids she taught 20+ years ago!! Talk about dedication!! She will have a huge (and blinged out!) crown in heaven!! Teacher Jan has such a tender heart and she truly loves working with children. We are so thankful for her.

After the little kids program it was the big kids turn!! Ashtyn was in this program this year. It's for 1st thru 5th graders and they all work very hard for months to put their program together!! We were sitting so far away that it was really hard for me to take good pictures so I took video of every single song Ash sang with the choir. Ashtyn did such a great job! In years past, he has been known to bust out the air guitar during the program but this year he just got distracted a couple of times and would turn around to see the kids in the choir behind him or would lean out of his front row spot to see what acting was going on across the stage. He just wants to take it all in!! Sorry for some of the shaky video...at times, I was either laughing or talking with Elia and Grayson who were both in the row next to me. We were having way too much fun!!

Can you tell we're proud!?!? Ha!! (I know, I know...it's alot of videos but you don't have to watch them all. I wanted to make sure I put them all up, though, because my parents live so far away and so couldn't see the program in person.) Ash is so cute!! Before the program started I saw his teacher in the hall and she said that she absolutely loves having Ashtyn participate in the program. She said that no matter what is happening in practice, Ashtyn is just as happy as can be and just goes with the flow. She said he is just always having fun in his own little world! We've heard that alot about Ashtyn from different teachers at school and church. Ash is very OCD and likes to have a plan but overall he is a very happy boy! He smiles alot and is really a super easy kid! I'm so proud of the big boy he is growing up to be and that he isn't afraid to be himself!!

When Ashtyn came out as the shepherd in the manger scene I have to admit that I couldn't hold back the tears!!

Wow! My heart is bursting with pride right now! Both my boys did such a great job in their programs! They worked hard at their practices and were so brave to get on stage and perform in front of so many people! Do I see Fine Arts in our future...!?!? Ha!! I'm also so proud because I know that Brandon and I are raising our children to love the God that we love so very much! They have both already been involved in sharing the true story of Christmas with so many and have such tender hearts toward how much God loves them and how much he loves all of us. There's NOTHING like seeing your babies fall in love with God and believe in him without question and with the innocence of a child. So sweet!

pure magic

2011-12-13T21:07:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, after the boys had their final dress rehearsal for their church Christmas programs, we went downtown to the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa!! We've taken the boys to Bass Pro to sit on the Santa's lap for the past two years now and we just can't help but keep going back!! They have the very best Santa (his beard is REAL!!!!), they have a variety of fun activities for the kids to do before and after they see Santa AND it's FREE!! It doesn't get any better then that!! We got to Bass Pro at about 3:00PM and when we walked up to the "Santa station" where we THOUGHT you got in line we found out that this year Bass Pro was doing things a little different. Instead of just having a looooooong line, like usual, they were handing out line passes with a specific time on them when you would come back to the line and then AND ONLY THEN would be allowed to get in the line. Confused? So were we!! Ha!! So, we just took a pass...and then we saw the time we had been given...4:30PM!!!! Yikes!! We now had an hour and a half to wait before we could even get in line!! And then we would have to wait in line!! Oh my!! Oh well...what could we do!? We made the best of it and wandered around the Bass Pro Shop looking at the fish, letting the boys play with toy guns and other toys and took part in all the extra activities the store had to offer. The boys shot nerf bow-and-arrows, shot a laser guided gun at virtual targets and played with remote control cars. It was fun but I wish I could say the 90 minute wait to get in line went quickly...it didin't...oh, and the store was packed with shoulder to shoulder people too...

We must have done everything in Bass Pro at least twice until it was finally our turn to join the Santa line!! We were so excited!! The boys were pretty worn out by then, having went to dress rehearsal for their Christmas program that morning for FOUR HOURS and then walking around and playing in Bass Pro for almost two hours, but nothing can overshadow seeing Santa Clause!! After just a little longer of a wait, it was finally our turn to sit on Santa's lap!! The boys ran up to Santa and were even excited to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. Maddox asked for a gun (the one he's posing with in the pictures above...) and Ashtyn asked for a Bakugan Destroyer!! Santa seemed pretty impressed with their gift choices!!

After sitting on Santa's lap we had to leave pretty quickly because we were headed to have dinner with Noni and Papa. But before we could go, I snuck the boys outside to the car while Brandon purchased the very toy gun Maddox asked Santa for. We just couldn't help ourselves!! He's all boy!!

I was so proud of my boys for sitting on Santa's lap and so happy to see them so excited!! I love that they still believe in Santa an they still believe in the magic of Christmas. The years that you have where your kids believe anything can happen, have so much anticipation for Christmas morning that they think they might burst and are truly in awe of the magic of the season are so few that I want to cherish each and every one.

contagious

2011-12-13T20:40:00.000-06:00

Just a few days after Maddox was home bound with the flu, Ashtyn came down with the very same thing. :( Wednesday, after school, I knew Ashtyn didn't seem like himself. He was very whiny, he would cry at the drop of a hat and he just had that flushed look that says "it's coming..." So, I kept him home from Royal Rangers thinking he would be sick at any moment...but nothing ever happened. Then super early Thursday morning, Maddox came running into our bedroom yelling "Ash is throwing up! Ash is throwing up!" The sun wasn't even up yet, but our entire household was...and poor Ash was very sick. :( Ash stayed home from school Thursday and Friday. He played video games when he was feeling up to it (but, as you can see, even then he felt and looked pretty miserable...) and we spent most of the day cuddling, napping and watching cartoons or movies. It was very sad. On Friday, Ash felt a little better but still wasn't well enough to go to school so he spent another day resting while I disinfected EVERYTHING in our house. If it couldn't be washed in the washing machine it got a good dose of lysol!! So far, fingers crossed, neither Brandon or I have gotten this horrible sickness and at this point I really hope we don't. We're only a week from Christmas and have WAY too much to do!! Good riddens flu...please don't visit us EVER again!!

FROM "mumblings of Maddox"

2011-12-08T11:04:00.002-06:00

Laying in bed with Maddox, the room is completely quiet, when Maddox suddenly turns to me and says with a sigh...

"I tooted alot today..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! How do you not laugh at something like that!!!! Seriously, I laugh every single day around here!!!!

(November 2011)

all I want for Christmas

2011-12-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

Every year I like to get the boys (and me and Brandon!) an ornament that represents that year for us! Sometimes the ornaments I find better represent the year for us then others but this year I think I've found the perfect ornament for every member of our family!! For this year, I bought Ashtyn and ornament with two beavers on it. The child beaver is missing his two front teeth and the Santa beaver is bringing him two front teeth wrapped in a Christmas bow! Ashtyn is ACTUALLY missing both his two front teeth this Christmas!! It was perfect timing!! Ashtyn's ornament even plays the classic tune "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"!! For Maddox, I bought a Lego ornament. It's a snowman. This year, Maddox has become obsessed with all things Lego. Of course, his favorite is Lego Star Wars but I figured the Lego snowman was a good representation of Maddox's most favorite thing of 2011. Mine and Brandon's ornaments haven't come in yet but for Brandon I got an ornament shaped like the moose-head-mug from the movie "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation". We LOVE that movie!! And for myself I ordered an OSU ornament. I couldn't resist, considering we won the Big 12 Champion Title this year for the very first time!! Woohoo!! Go Pokes!! I love Christmas and I love hunting for the perfect ornament every year for each member of my family!! So fun!!

crafty Christmas

2011-12-08T10:25:00.000-06:00

Every year I like to do something different for our Christmas cards. In the past we've purchased cards at Wal-Mart, purchased cards at the Dollar Tree, the boys have colored an individual card for each of our friends and family, Brandon has printed our very own Christmas card design and we've done the tried and true printed photo card from Wal-Mart. This year, I was going to print photo cards again but then, in an effort to save money and do something new and creative, I decided to craft our families Christmas cards!! I love doing crafts so it seemed like a great idea!! I was kind of nervous that they wouldn't turn out when I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all of the supplies. I didn't want it to go to waste. But then as I assembled our cards I was pleasantly surprised!! The cards are turning out really nice!! We're still going to print our family picture and include it with the card. I can't wait to mail my crafty creation to all of our friends an family!!

shoo "bug" don't bother me

2011-12-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

On Sunday evening Maddox came down with a horrible stomach bug. And when I say horrible, I mean HORRIBLE!! We had attended church Sunday morning and Maddox seemed fine. The first time I noticed something might be wrong was at lunch. Maddox didn't seem sick and, in fact, was quite talkative at lunch but he just didn't eat very much which is really unusual for Maddox. He's our little eater!! I didn't think too much of it, though, cause Maddox wasn't acting sick. Then, Sunday evening, as we were getting ready to go to Sunday night church Maddox walked up to me and said his tummy hurt. I wasn't sure if he was just hungry or over tired but I did notice, at that time, that his face looked pretty flushed. Within 30 minutes, I knew without ANY doubt that Maddox was sick. Let's just say that he ended up running to the bathroom over and over again. And not just a handful of times but about every twenty minutes or half hour over the next 7-8 hours...into the middle of the night. It was truly awful!! Maddox and I ended up sleeping on the living room sofa ("sleeping" being used very loosely). We were up and down ALL night...

Even when he's super sick, Maddox still looks cute!! Maddox isn't a good sick person!! Ha!! He's whiny and demanding and literally milks his sickness for all its worth. I really do love taking care of my babies when they are sick, though. Maddox in particular likes to have his back rubbed and likes to be waited on hand and foot until he's back to 100%. During this sickness, though, I'm pretty sure Maddox had figured out by about day two that any time he announced he was "going to throw up" and ran to the bathroom that mommy would come in with him and sit on the floor and rub his back. The last handful of times that Maddox ran to the bathroom he never got sick...I'm pretty sure he just wanted mom's undivided attention...I willingly obliged!! It's good to be needed!!

It has taken Maddox longer then usual to get over this sickness. He missed two days of school. We sent him back to school today but he's still not quite himself. He hasn't eaten very well for three full days but, at this point, I think he's just scared to eat because he got sick SO many times that he's afraid it will happen again. Poor buddy. I'm hoping that tomorrow he'll be back to his normal, awnry self with a big appetite!!

ride em cowboys right down the field

2011-12-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the one day a year that rivals the excitement of Christmas in the state of Oklahoma...we call it BEDLAM!!!! On this day, Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State University rival each other in a football showdown that not only provides the winner with bragging rights for a whole year but often also crowns the Big 12 Champion for the season. This year, Bedlam was bigger then ever!! First of all, OU has beat OSU 8 years in a row (Ugh!) and second, for the first time in school history, a win for OSU would name them Big 12 Champions and send them to their very first BCS Bowl. In fact, there was even a chance OSU would get to play for the National Championship...IF, that is, they could pull off a win against OU. Now, there's something you have to know about Bedlam. Historically, it's a game where the entire football season leading up to this one game can be thrown out the window. All stats, scores and special teams wins no longer matter. Bedlam stands alone. Either team can win. It's a crazy game, to say the least, full of emotion, competition and pride. This year, OSU was actually picked to win Bedlam with a nearly perfect season leading up to the big game. We only had one loss!! If you're an Oklahoma State Cowboy fan you get pretty used to losing to OU. It's sad but true. This year, however, was our year. We not only BEAT the Sooners but we literally WIPED THE FIELD with them!! The game wasn't even close!! When the clock timed out we walked away the winners with a score of 44-10!!!! That's right, WE WON!!!! Finally!!!! I was so happy!!!! Oklahoma State is the Big 12 Champions!!!! Unfortunately, the BCS didn't choose us to play in the National Championship game but we're still playing in a very good bowl game!! I can't wait!! Bedlam was played at night and didn't get over until after 10PM. I was up until after 1AM unable to sleep!!!! I was running on pure adrenaline. I was giddy!!!! The next day, when we got ready for church, I couldn't help but dress us all in ORANGE!!!! GO POKES!!!! OSU #1!!!! (Okay, officially we're number 3, but still...!!!) ORANGE POWER!!!!

cupcake-fest

2011-12-07T21:41:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, we drove to Ponca City for Elia's 5th birthday party!! I can't believe she's already 5!! Elia had a cupcake themed birthday party and to kick things off all the kids decorated rice krispie treat cupcakes with frosting and candy!!

Ash decorated his krispie cupcake with frosting and gummy bears...

Oh!! And little brother Noah was proudly showing off at the party!!

All of the party goers were in the kitchen decorating cupcakes...

but Maddox was hiding in the hallway refusing to participate. He thought the party was too "girly" and wouldn't go in. Uncle Casey even brought him frosting and a cupcake into the hallway but Maddox would never do something that "girls" were doing!! Yuck!! (Ha!!)

After the cupcake decorating, Elia was ready to blow out her candles!! She looked so pretty!! We sang to her and then dug into the cake!!

Again, while all the other kids sat in the kitchen and ate their cake, Maddox took his dessert in the...you guessed it...HALLWAY!! There was just way too much pink and purple in the kitchen for Maddox to even think of entering!!

While the kids finished their cake, Rae read them a story, "When You Give a Cat a Cupcake"!! Perfect for the cupcake themed party!! The story was really cute...

Maddox scooted close enough to the kitchen to hear the story...but he wasn't going any further...

Then it was finally time for Elia to open her gifts!!

After presents, we played pin-the-candle-on-the-cupcake. Ashtyn loved it!!

Elia received flowers for her birthday and she was pretty proud of them!!

At the end of the party, Elia gave each of her guests an "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" coloring book and a box of crayons. The boys also got to take home the cupcake they had decorated and some candy!! What a fun party!!

We hung out at Elia's party for awhile but then had to head home...as you can tell, we are all wearing OSU gear because today is not only Elia's 5th birthday party but it's also BEDLAM!! Happy Birthday to Elia and GO POKES!!!!

Happy Birth(Gray)!!!!

2011-12-07T21:10:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, we were exited to attend Gray's 4th birthday party!! It's always fun to go to a kids birthday party but it's especially exciting to go to Gray's because of the fight against cancer he has been enduring for over a year. Finally, Gray is about to cross the finish line of his treatment and be declared "cancer free!!" but the past year plus has been difficult to say the least. Anytime a baby has the strength and courage to fight cancer and come out victorious and celebrate turning 4 it doesn't get any better then that!! Gray had a Star Wars themed birthday party. They served yummy cake pops on light saber skewers and a mini lego cake for Grayson only!! It was fun!! According to Gray, though, his party was a "present party" and so once everyone arrived we got right to business and let Gray dig into his gifts!!

Gray got tons of fun things including tons of dinosaurs and dragons. Gray is ALL boy and loves to play like one!!

After presents, we sang happy birthday and let Gray blow out his candles!! Then, of course, we dug into the yummy desserts!!

Like I said, it was an honor to attend Gray's party. Birthdays are always a celebration but when your life is so close to being taken from you they take on a whole new meaning. Happy 4th Birthday Gray!! We love you very much!!

i'll be HOME for christmas

2011-12-07T20:48:00.000-06:00

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! Once Thanksgiving is over and we're on the official countdown to Christmas we like to carry on a tradition in our home where every week until Christmas we watch a different Christmas movie and have a family movie night. Our first movie on the countdown was Home Alone!! We love Home Alone!! We ordered pizza and cuddled on the sofa while we watched the movie. We laughed and laughed and, of course, the boys talked and talked all through the movie!! Ha!! But we made memories and had fun!! This is my most favorite time of the year!!

STICK around for some family photos...

2011-12-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we took our family pictures. We take family pictures about this time every year. We use them in our Christmas card and to fill the frames around our house with new photos. For the past few years Jacob Johnson has taken our pictures and we asked him to do it again this year. Thankfully he agreed!! He shot us for about an hour and we got TONS of good stuff!! Thank you Jacob!!

Maddox found a very large stick in the park where we were taking our pictures and he LOVED it SO much!! As funny as it sounds, we actually used this very stick as a "bribe" to get Maddox to take family pictures!! Ha!! We've bribed our kids with candy before, we've bribed them with McDonald's and we've bribed them with toys...but I don't think we've EVER bribed them with a stick before!! Ha!! The bribe worked though and we carried that stick from location to location while we took pictures bribing Maddox with each step that we couldn't take the stick home with us unless he smiled good and stood still for pictures...

After a few pictures, we had to let Maddox play swords with his stick for awhile to keep him happy...!!!

For actually kissing mommy in a picture, Maddox really wanted to show off his moves for the camera!! So, Jacob graciously shot Maddox using his stick as some sort of samurai sword and doing tricks with it over his head...

Then the boys made "leaf angels"...

And then the stick had to make another appearance...!!!

About mid-way through our photo shoot, Jacob told the boys just to dance around and act silly for some candid shots!! It was hilarious!! Ashtyn "walked like an Egyptian" and for some reason every time you tell Maddox to "dance" he just puts his arms straight down to his sides, stands stiff as a board and hops around. It's really pretty funny!!

And, of course, Maddox had to throw in some air guitar!!

And then we all got a little bit silly...

These are some of my favorite pictures. Jacob had Brandon and I sit in the leaves and the boys stood on either side of us. Then when Jacob said "Go!" the boys would throw leaves into the air over mine and Brandon's heads and Jacob would snap the pictures!! They turned out really good!!

Oh! And then the stick and some more silliness...!!!

After our family took pictures, the rest of Brandon's family showed up in the park and we took some pictures together!!

Me and my sisters-in-law. April and Dana.

The Knight boys!! Aren't they handsome!?

Uncle Tyler and Aunt April. They are expecting a baby girl in early January!! We are so excited to meet little Natalie Reese!!

Uncle Nay-Nay and Aunt Dana.

Noni and Papa.

My boys love their Noni and Papa SO VERY MUCH!!!!

The whole Knight family!!

It was cloudy and we were all looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner afterwards, but we had fun taking family pictures and got tons of great stuff!! Oh...and, in case you were wondering, YES Maddox got to take home his giant stick and it's currently in our very own backyard!! It was such a cheap bribe!!

knight of thanks

2011-12-07T19:16:00.000-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Noni and Papa's house in Ponca City!! Both of Brandon's brothers and their wives were there too so we had the whole Knight family together this year!! When we first got to Noni and Papa's house we were the only one's there so the boys played with Lego's. Noni had actually found a couple of tubs of old toys that HER boys played with when they were little and brought them into the house for the boys to play with!! It's funny how we have a TON of Legos at home but something about Noni giving them "old Legos that daddy used to play with" made these Legos particularly fun and interesting!! Ha!!

On Thanksgiving Day, one of Brandon's brothers and his wife were spending the day with her family and so we spent the day just hanging out at the house, playing outside and Noni and I baked and cooked food for our Thanksgiving...which we were having the next day. My boys looked so handsome dressed in their cute fall/winter clothes so we took some pics in the backyard!!

We had the Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the living room and the boys would watch it for awhile and then play for awhile and then come back and watch some more. When it was time for Santa to arrive, though, I went and got the boys so they wouldn't miss it...it's their favorite part!! B, on the other hand, was...you guessed it...WORKING!! Surprise, surprise!! Can you see how excited he is!?!?

The boys were so excited for Santa to come down the road. They waited next to the TV anticipating the jolly old man and his reindeer!! It was very sweet!!

I love Ashtyn's face in this picture. He just looks so eager and excited!! I love the innocence of children. Everything is so magical and makes them so happy!!

When Santa finally arrived the boys were super excited!! I was excited!! I don't ever want my boys to lose the joy of Christmas!! It makes them smile and it makes me smile too!!

When Uncle Nay-Nay and Aunt Dana arrived, they let the boys open their Christmas presents from them early. We can't all be together for Christmas so they brought their gifts with them. Of course, the boys were SUPER PUMPED!! They got a Dr. Seuss board game to share...

Maddox got a Lego Star Wars watch...(perfect choice!!)

and Ashtyn got a Lego board game!! It's a really neat game!! You have to build it and then play the game!! It's alot of fun!!

Since we weren't having Thanksgiving until Friday, Glenda and I spent actual Thanksgiving baking in the kitchen. I had volunteered to bring noodles to dinner!! Noodles are a tradition in my family but the Knight family had never had them before so I was excited to offer them for the first time but also kind of nervous that they wouldn't quite fit in with the menu...I was also nervous because this was only my second time to make them so I was praying they would turn out OK...

I was actually texting pictures of my noodle-making-progress to my mom all the way in Connecticut as I cooked to make sure I was doing it right. She said I was but I have to admit I was still nervous..

In the end, though, my noodles turned out really good!! People even went back for seconds AND ate more noodles as leftovers later in the day!! I was pretty proud of myself!!

Thanksgiving Day afternoon, we had to lay the boys down for an afternoon nap. They always con their Noni into letting them stay up WAY too late when we're visiting their house (which, I can't blame them...they don't get to see their Noni often enough...) but unfortunately no matter what time my boys go to bed they still wake up at 6AM!! So, when they stay up until 11PM (or later...) that makes for a long afternoon with two very tired and cranky little boys. So, I took the boys upstairs for a nap. I actually love sitting with my boys while they take a nap. I love watching them sleep and love sitting in the room with them while they whisper funny stores to each other as they fall asleep. Time almost seems to slow down and I try to relish every moment...

After naps, the boys played more Legos, but this time with daddy and Uncle Nay-Nay who helped build some really cool castles and ships!! Honestly, I think the grown-ups enjoyed the play time as much as the boys!!

On Friday, we took family pictures in the morning and then all met at Uncle Tyler and Aunt April's house for our Knight family Thanksgiving!! It was DELICIOUS!!!! We had turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, noodles, green bean casserole, rolls and much much more!! Mmmmmmmm!!

I have to admit that I was a bit sad on Thanksgiving and missed MY family alot. I know I've been married for almost 10 years and so I've spent my fair share of holidays away from my family and the traditions I grew up with but it really never gets easier. I always think back to the good ol' days, sleeping on my Gramma's floor with my cousins all tucked in sleeping bags and eating around the clock in our sweatpants...and I'm hoping for many more of those wonderful memories in my lifetime...but I really did enjoy my Thanksgiving with Brandon's family and we made many wonderful memories. I got to spend extra time visiting with my sisters-in-law, we took fun family pictures and I got to see my boys get excited to see Santa in the Thanksgiving Day Parade!! Oh and I got to bake in the kitchen with my mother-in-law and go to the movies with my sister, her husband and my niece!! It really was a Thanksgiving to remember!!

king of the kitchen

2011-12-07T18:24:00.000-06:00

Before we left to go to Ponca City for Thanksgiving, we baked some yummy snacks and desserts to take with us and Maddox begged to help out. I never would have thought that Maddox would be the one who would want to hang out in the kitchen and help mommy bake cupcakes but he LOVES it!! He wants to help every single time!! I don't mind...I actually love spending the quiet time with Maddox and (since I don't have a daughter...) I still get to pass on some of my "baking skills" to someone!!

Maddox helped me mix all of the dry ingredients...

and then he scooped the dry ingredients into the electric mixer as it blended the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients one tiny spoon full at a time. It took quite awhile but it was cute watching him scoop tiny scoop after tiny scoop into the bowl!!

Then Maddox scooped the prepared batter into the cupcake cups and got them ready to bake!! He did a REALLY great job!! And, needless to say, the cupcakes were yummy!!

i'm dreaming of a white christmas

2011-12-07T18:08:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we put up our Christmas decorations and it was a family affair!! Maddox helped daddy put up the outside lights while Ashtyn and I worked on the inside...OK, really, I worked on the inside while Ashtyn played video games!!

The boys always love putting their own ornaments on their room tree!! This year we got a new tree topper for the boys...yep, that's right, it's a yoda topper with a glowing light saber!! Ha!! He was too cute to pass up and, of course, the boys love him!!

As we were getting out the decorations, Maddox found some reindeer antlers that we bought last year and then proceeded to wear them around the house like sunglasses!! Ha!! I don't know where he comes up with this stuff!!

When we were all finished, Brandon took some pictures of our decor!! I love Christmas!!

This is the tree in our living room.

This is the tree in our bedroom. It has all of the crafty ornaments on it that the kids make at school and church and we also put our "yearly" ornaments on it representing things we've done or accomplished that year. This tree is my favorite!!

Brandon has always been SO opposed to putting a blow up Christmas decoration in our front yard...but this year when I was at Wal-Mart grocery shopping a Santa and Reindeer blow up mysteriously found its way into my buggy and I just accidentally paid for it and took it home...then once the boys saw it we simply COULDN'T take it back...!!! Hehehe!!! So, this year, for the first time we have a blow up Santa waving to all of our neighbors as they drive by!!

I love Christmas!! I love Christmas decorations!! I love cold weather and I love the snow!! Now, I'm praying for a white Christmas and praying for the next two weeks to go by really slowly so that we can enjoy each and every Christmas movie, each and every cup of hot cocoa and each and every cold night wrapped up in a fuzzy Christmas blanket wearing reindeer socks!!

leaf diving

2011-12-03T17:20:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago, when we went to Ponca City for Auntie April's baby shower, we stayed at Noni and Papa's house!! The boys enjoyed some down time in Noni's yard and helped Papa rake leaves and feed the fish. "Helped" being used very loosely!! Ha!! While Noni and I were at the baby shower Saturday morning, Brandon snapped quite a few pictures of Ash and Maddox playing with Papa. And then when Noni came home she got in on a couple of pictures too!! The pics turned out AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to frame most of them!!

The boys played tag and hide-n-seek outside in the yard and then they begged Papa to rake up all the leaves into a huge pile so they could jump into them!! During tag, Ashtyn got kind of mad and then pouted because brother kept making up new rules throughout the game. Ash is a very strict rule follower and Maddox just flies by the seat of his pants...what's funny, is I'm pretty sure my mom has a picture that looks almost exactly like this of me when I was little because I was upset that I was losing a pillow fight between my dad and sister!! Ha!! I guess I can't deny that Ash is my son...!!!

He's definitely up to something...!?!? He has that awnry look in his eyes!! I think he was born with that...!!!

My boys love their Noni so very much!!

Vogue!! Strike a pose!!

Papa teaching Maddox to use the leaf blower!! Maddox LOVED it!!

We had so much fun playing in the leaves and, as an added bonus, I got all these great pics!! (There's even more pictures but I just chose some to put on here!!) It's always nice to get away and spend a long weekend with Noni and Papa in Ponca City!!

FROM "mumblings of Maddox"

2011-11-27T22:43:00.002-06:00

"Mom, can playing the wii be a chore?"

HAHAHAHA!!!! Nice try Maddox! Nice try!

(October 2011)

sugar, spice and everything nice

2011-11-27T20:45:00.000-06:00

My sister-in-law, April, is preggo and due in early January!! Last weekend, we went to Ponca City for her baby shower. It was a beautiful shower and April got alot of nice things...and obviously alot of VERY pink things!! Everyone joked that they sure hoped the doctor was right about this little bundle of joy being a girl!! Ha!! After the shower I got to go over to April's house and see the nursery. It is SO cute!! She's done a great job decorating!! Now all that's missing is little baby Natalie!! (And maybe one or two more little goodies from this very excited auntie...!!!)

at least my toes were painted...

2011-11-27T20:30:00.000-06:00

Last week I had a little accident. I was packing our family to go to Ponca City for the weekend and, of course, was running around the house like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything together before the boys got out of school. As I was walking (briskly) into my bedroom I stubbed my toe on the foot of an ottoman and it instantly made me stop and say OUCH!! I've stubbed my toe a billion times but this felt very different. At the moment, I didn't have time to deal with my aching toe so I just shook it off and kept moving so my family could hit the road!! We got all loaded up and drove to Ponca City and then immediately went out to eat with Brandon's family. My toe continued to throb all afternoon and evening but I just tried to push it from my mind and keep moving. Once we got back to Brandon's parents house I took off my shoe and sock and was SHOCKED to see that my toe was really super swollen and completely black and purple!! And I mean DEEP black and purple!! I've never seen something like that before!! I showed my mother in law and she confirmed that my toe was most definitely broken and helped me tape it. I asked if I should go to the doctor but she said there's nothing they can do for a broken toe besides tell you to keep it still so it can heal. Bummer. What was worse then the pain (or the nasty way my toe looked...) was the fact that we were out of town and had traveled to Ponca City for my sisters in law baby shower and so the only shoes I had brought with me to wear the next day were pointy toed, high heeled boots!! Yikes!! So, the next morning I crammed my toe into my boots and went with it. Almost nothing has felt so good in the whole wide world then when I got to take those tight boots off and relax my poor toe!! Ha!! Thankfully my toe is mostly healed now but it's amazing how much pain a little tiny toe can cause...!!!

must be good genes!!

2011-11-27T20:18:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we got a note from Maddox's teacher that he would be winning an award at his school's Friday assembly!! Every month, Centennial Elementary honors one student from each class with a character award. There is a character trait for each month and each teacher chooses a student to be awarded a certificate who has displayed that character trait in their classroom. This month, the character trait deserving of recognition was "self discipline". Now, I have to admit, when Brandon and I saw that Maddox was winning an award for self discipline we were pretty shocked!! (And we may have laughed a little...) Maddox definitely struggles with self control, is quite stubborn and strong willed and usually doesn't think before he acts. We assume that Maddox's teacher gave him this award specifically because of how much Maddox has improved in this area since the beginning of the school year. We have spoken with Maddox's teacher on several occasions about his visiting during work time and not always finishing his projects but he has definitely been doing MUCH better!! We are so proud of him!! Maddox had no idea he would be winning an award!! Brandon and I snuck into the back of the gym to surprise Maddox!! When they first called Maddox's name I think he was a bit embarrassed...but then as he walked across the front of the gym and onto the stage he had that look on his face that says "I know you're all looking at me and I'm trying not to smile but secretly I'm really enjoying the attention...!!!"

I think when Brandon walked up close to the stage to take a picture of Maddox he was very surprised that we were there!! In a good way, of course!! He kept waving at us throughout the rest of the assembly!!

Maddox was awarded a certificate and given a "Terrific Kids" bumper sticker as a part of his award!! He was super proud!!

Now, we are rockin' TWO "Terrific Kids" stickers on the back of our mini van!! That's right...we're THOSE parents and, I must say, we're pretty proud of it!!

recovering obsessive compulsive

2011-11-27T14:55:00.000-06:00

I may possibly be, just the teeniest bit, OCD. OK...friends and family, STOP LAUGHING!!!! Fine, I'll admit it, I'm extremely OCD!! I can't help it!! I always have been and probably always will be!! However, I like to think that having kids has cured at least some of my obsessive compulsive tendencies. Nowadays, I can actually go to sleep at night with laundry still in the hampers and the sofa pillows strewn on the floor instead of lined up on the sofa in perfect order. I have my moments for sure (you don't wanna see what happens when we're going to have company over...) but I'm definitely not as "bad" as I used to be!! Alot of times, in fact, I find beauty and whimsy in the little messes my boys leave around the house. I can't even recite all of the places I've found little plastic action figures (i.e. bathtub, under bed covers, window sills, etc) and obviously when you have small kids you find laundry in the strangest of places. (If you don't have kids then you may be surprised to find out that children take off their clothes in layers ALL OVER the house...!!!) The other night, as I was going to bed I stopped in the bathroom to brush my teeth (and all that stuff) and saw Maddox's pajama pants on the floor. I had to laugh because I had just put those very same PJ's on Maddox only hours earlier!! Maddox VERY RARELY makes it to bed fully dressed. He will put on his pajamas at about 7PM and by the time he falls asleep 30 minutes to an hour later he's stripped down to his undies!! I'm not even sure why I buy pajamas for him anymore!! Ha!! And, just in case you were wondering...I left Maddox's PJ pants on the bathroom floor until the next morning!! Yep, that's right, I'm making progress!!

relax instead

2011-11-17T21:24:00.000-06:00

Sunday afternoon I had TONS to do!! I needed to catch up on the laundry, get some groceries, put up the rest of our Christmas decorations and wash sheets...after lunch, though, we laid the boys down for a nap and it didn't take long for Maddox to come wandering out of his room, dragging his blanket behind him and giving me those puppy dog eyes that say "I wanna sit in your lap..." I just couldn't resist. Maddox snuggled up, right on top of me, and dozed off. He slept there for almost TWO full hours! I even slept for awhile! Maddox was making me sweat like crazy (he's a very hot natured little guy...), my legs were falling asleep and I didn't get ANYTHING on my to-do list marked off...but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I truly hope he still wants to cuddle up with me at nap time for many years to come!!!!

we honor you

2011-11-17T20:47:00.000-06:00

The boys' school has class on Veterans Day but they hold a special assembly where they invite any and all veterans to the school for a special time with all the students! The kids learn several patriotic songs, including the National Anthem, and they honor our soldiers and veterans by singing to them and cheering for them and just making them feel special! It's very sweet! Both my boys did a great job learning the Pledge of Allegiance and a couple different songs! Ash wasn't too excited to perform his songs for mommy's camera but Maddox was MORE then willing! (Imagine that...!!!) I wish Maddox had really belted out the National Anthem, though! I've heard him do it in the shower or while playing in his room by himself and it's hilarious! He gets some of the phrases right but most of them are WAY off! Oh well! I just had to get this on tape! The boys are very well aware of what a soldier is and what they do. Obviously, Uncle Tyler, fought in the war and so they know he "fought the bad guys" and they know that soldiers are our heroes. I'm proud to raise my boys as patriotic Americans who love their country and honor those who have fought to make us free! We will never forget their sacrifice and we appreciate the lives that have been lost. God Bless America!

trial by flood

2011-11-17T20:33:00.000-06:00

Last weekend the boys and I went to the youth camp grounds at Turner Falls. Mostly, the grounds are used for summer camps in June and July but they use them for weekend retreats throughout the rest of the year too. Last weekend was Youth Pastors Retreat! I was helping Robin and Jill set up and work the event but I took the boys with me so that they could play with their cousin, Elia, who was their with her parents too! They had a blast! Just a few days before we arrived at Turner Falls for the retreat they had a massive rain storm move through this part of the state that caused alot of flooding! We have been in a severe drought for so long here in Oklahoma and so much rain fall in such a short period of time did some damage! I've never seen the camp quite like this before! It's amazing what water can do!

These pictures were taken in the game court area of the camp. There are flag football courts, volleyball courts and basketball courts scattered over the grounds. When the creek overflowed, though, it carried most of the sand from the flag football courts up into the walkway leaving them filled with nothing but rock. This is one of the flag football goals! It was completely torn down and crumpled up!! All by nothing but rushing water!!

You can literally see where the water forged its own path between and through all the game courts. It carved its own path and left its mark.

As we were walking through and looking at all the damage, Rae pointed and said from a distance, "What's that shiny thing in the tree?" We walked over and found a TRASH CAN completely flattened and tangled in the tree!! We don't even know where it came from!! We don't have trash cans like that one at our camp!!

When the water came through it carried with it a bunch of leaves, grass and other debris leaving it wrapped around the volley ball court poles and trees..it was pretty gross!!

This was ALL GRASS only days ago!! Now it just looks like a dried up river bed!!

The water moved this picnic table from its original location up onto the basketball court!!

OK...this was the craziest damage of all!! The caregiver who lives at the camp said the creek rose to well over the top of this bridge! We use this bridge every single summer to walk from the girls side of the camp to where the tabernacle is. Ever since I can remember, this bridge has been an old, rickety, wooden bridge with metal railings on each side. Well, if you notice, there are NO METAL RAILINGS ANYWHERE TO BE FOUND!!!! The flood tore them down and carried them to the other side of the creek!! They are all bent and crumpled!! Crazy!! You can't see it very well in this picture but there is also a dumpster lodged under the bridge. Again, it's NOT OUR dumpster! It's marked "Turner Falls" on the side which is the tourist attraction across the highway!! Weird!!

There used to be a sewer pipe running across this portion of the creek but it too was washed away!! Gross!! Now all you can see is a portion of the pipe and a bunch of debris. As we got a closer look we could tell that there were TWO picnic tables trapped at the end of the remaining pipe amongst a bunch of yucky grass and leaves.

Casey found a live clam and kept teasing Elia that he was going to eat it!! What's crazy, though, is that I'm pretty sure he would have eaten it except that he said it was "too sandy"...sick!!

This tree is close to the creek and...yes!...that's another picnic table wrapped around it!!

Pretty far up the sandy shore from the creek we found this icky dead fish...Elia didn't believe me that it was "real"!!

This USED to be a tree!! Ha!! It was literally pulled up from the roots and laid over across the road. The camp caregivers had already come and chopped the branches off that were blocking the road. It was so weird to see roots sticking straight up into the air!! Especially where you can remember a tree being ever since you were about eight years old!!

Elia collected a bunch of "goodies" during our walk!! She grabbed leaves, rocks and shells and shoved them all in her pockets!! Then she chose the prettiest ones and put them in a cup to take home. I'm pretty sure she gave some of them away too!!

The boys and I left the camp Friday evening right at dinner time. We grabbed McDonald's to eat on our way home and then the boys passed out!! They were so tired!! Thank you YP Retreat for a quiet drive home!! Ha!!

It may have been a "working weekend" but I'm glad I went!! I had fun visiting with friends and even better I got to hear Jill speak two different times!! I don't get to hear her speak as often as I would like to. She always receives something from the Lord that is so relevant to us as women and mom's. The way she looks at scripture is inspiring and she always, ALWAYS, sends you away with a little souvenir to remind you every day what you learned during the session!! I still remember what each little trinket means too and what she has taught me over the years!! I'm lucky that I get to go to stuff like this so that I can learn something in the process...amongst setting up tables, decorating centerpieces and serving food!! Ha!!

foggy figures

2011-11-14T13:21:00.000-06:00

Wednesday we had a VERY busy day!! I worked at the District Office during the day, picked the boys up from school, did homework, got everyone ready for church, headed to church extra early for a last minute ensemble practice and then ran to Sonic for a drive-thru dinner inbetween my practice and church service! Whew! We don't have too many jam packed days like these so when we do we all tend to feel a little extra frazzled. While we were sitting in a parking spot at Sonic waiting for a dinner to be delivered, I looked back and saw my boys making a memory. They didn't have a movie playing, they didn't have any toys with them and they had left their DS video games at home. Without all of these things, though, they were giggling and laughing and talking to each other! They were having fun! When I watched them for a bit, I found them fogging up the car windows with their breath and then drawing silly pictures! They were having a blast! It was like a mini lesson learned right there in the car. We were in the midst of the craziest day of our week and my boys had found a moment to carve out a memory. It was sweet and, even though I felt frantic about making it to church on time, I myself took a moment to smile and laugh with my boys. It was sweet to listen to them talk about what they had drawn, to watch them interact with each other and to see the boys do something that I remember doing with my sisters as a kid! Life, and making memories, is a beautiful thing.

Beef! It's what's for dinner!

2011-11-14T12:37:00.000-06:00

Last week, Ashtyn brought home his first project homework from school!! We love projects and crafts!! For Thanksgiving, Ashtyn's teacher asked us to cut out a plain white paper turkey and decorate him in a disguise so that he wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner! Ha! It was a fun and cute idea! We disguised Ash's turkey as Batman! He turned out really cute and Ash was very proud! When we took his picture with the turkey in disguise Ash wanted to do a smiling one and a funny face one! He's so cute!

under the weather

2011-11-07T11:39:00.000-06:00

Poor little Maddox has been sick all weekend. It started Friday evening. I took the boys to Target just before dinnertime to pick up a couple of things and while we walked around Target Maddox became more and more puny. He eventually sat in the buggy and laid his head down. If you know Maddox, you know that's NOT normal. He's the one usually touching everything on the shelves and asking if he can buy every toy in the store. Not on this trip. Maddox also began complaining of his head and neck hurting. Uh oh.

On Saturday, Maddox was up and down all day. He would act like he felt a bit better and get up and play but would wear himself out pretty quick and then sit down to rest. He also continued to run a temperature all day long. Saturday afternoon Maddox took a long nap. I was hoping that would cure whatever it was he had...but it didn't...

Sunday, Maddox and I stayed home from church.We hate missing church. Maddox was still running a fever and his aches were much worse. He took tylenol at about 8AM but was literally BEGGING for more at 11AM. I felt so bad for him. He still had to wait another full hour before he could have more meds but Maddox was clinging to his bottle of tylenol and refused to put it down. It was so sad and so hard to tell him no... :(

Sunday afternoon Maddox never really laid down for a nap...unfortunately. He felt miserable and was very cranky but he was just so tired of being "forced" to relax that he was refusing to be still...

Overnight Sunday, Maddox kept running a fever. He woke up in the night and we gave him tylenol at about 2AM. We kept him home from school today. Thankfully, though, Maddox hasn't run a fever since the last time we gave him meds in the middle of the night so it looks like he's finally getting well!!!! I'm so glad!! If he wasn't better by this morning we were going to call the pediatrician so I'm happy that he's feeling better. I still don't know what it was Maddox had but whatever it was I hope NO ONE ELSE in our house gets it...

fancy cracker

2011-11-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

I bought my first new Christmas decoration of the year!!!! I would say it's the "first of many" but I don't think that's gonna happen. I bought quite a few new decorations last year (including a new tree!) so this year we're just getting a few fun things here and there...when I find a good deal!! I found this blinged out little guy at Ross. I just couldn't pass him up!! The boys and I love collecting new nutcrackers every year so this was my pick. I'll still take the boys to Hobby Lobby sometime this week or next and let them choose a new nutcracker for the house!! They love to pick one out all by themselves!! I can't wait to see what they will choose...!!!

double stuff burrito

2011-11-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

This morning the boys woke up early...per their usual routine...and so Brandon turned on a cartoon while he and I got a few more minutes of sleep before we had to pull ourselves from under the covers to get ready for work and school. When I walked into the living room my heart melted. There were my two sweet boys cuddled under the same fuzzy blanket together watching TV! They're so cute!! I was even happier when they let me take this picture...usually morning pictures don't go over too well. When I saw my boys sitting their all cuddled up, it took me back to my own childhood when my mom would tuck us into our blankets on the sofa so we could watch our cartoons. She called us "little burritos" once we were all tucked in! It also couldn't have been sweeter to see my little men SHARING a blanket! Usually, if there's only one blanket you'll hear bickering and fighting over who has more of the blanket and who is touching who! Typical brothers! The only thing that could have made the morning better...if it was Saturday!!

but maaaawwwwwm...

2011-11-04T09:08:00.000-05:00

Maddox knows how to WORK his mommy! I'll admit it...I'm wrapped around his little finger! Yesterday, after school, Maddox asked me if he could eat a piece of Halloween candy. I told him "just one". After he ate his one piece of candy, Maddox found me in my bedroom and totally wooed me into letting him have another piece. He was holding a piece of taffy in his hand and really worked the "look" that gets mommy every time! How can you say no to that face!?!?

baby it's cold outside

2011-11-04T09:04:00.000-05:00

This week winter came to visit us!! Sure, it probably won't stay for very long and, in fact, I think over the weekend it might reach 70 degrees again (blah!) but for a couple of days, at least, it's cold outside! I love winter! I know most people probably think that's crazy but I truly do! I love snow days, coats, scarves, hot coffee, winter holidays, sweaters, sweat pants, warm blankets, dark evenings...I could go on and on! Another perk of cold weather is bundling up my boys each morning for school. They are SO very cute! Ashtyn isn't happy with the gloves I bought him this year (they're mittens...). I thought they were very cute, and they are that cute, but he doesn't like them...so looks like we'll be making a trip to Target for new winter gloves BUT my bundled up babies still looked so very sweet in their winter gear! Here's to many more cold mornings! It's heavenly!

have you seen this pumpkin?

2011-10-31T21:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!!!! This morning, I made the boys a special lunch for Halloween!! I cut their sandwiches into the shapes of bats, packed them orange filled Oreos, a handful of candy corn and a pumpkin flavor filled oatmeal cookie!! Mmmmmm!!

After school, Brandon picked up the boys and took them to the store to buy pumpkins so we could carve them. Unfortunately, we didn't plan for the fact that every store and pumpkin patch within 15 miles of Mustang would be completely SOLD OUT of any and all pumpkins!! What!?!? We were very disappointed but there was really nothing we could do so once everyone got back home we decided to just carve the mini pumpkins we had painted a couple weeks earlier. They are tiny so we weren't able to carve anything extravagant but it worked!!

Maddox loves getting his hands all sticky and gooey pulling out the insides of his pumpkin but Ash doesn't really like it...so, Brandon cleaned out Ashtyn's pumpkin for him.

Ashtyn drew a picture of the face he wanted carved into his pumpkin and Maddox chose a Star Wars symbol!!

Before we put our pumpkins out on the porch, we got the boys all dressed up in their Halloween costumes and headed to the church for their annual Trunk-or-Treat!! We start in the parking lot going from trunk to trunk getting candy from different characters and then we head inside the youth building to play games and eat yummy food!! Oh...and get WAY more candy of course!!

The boys had so much fun playing all the little games inside. They had fishing, spin the wheel (which is the boys favorite!), ring toss and many more!!

As we were leaving we met a giant cowboy in the parking lot!!

Then we sat outside and ate our snow cones while Brandon stood in line to get our hot dogs and popcorn...

Tonight, we had a dinner of hot dogs, popcorn, brownies, snow cones and of course Halloween candy!! Oh, and don't forget the lemonaide!! Yikes!! I guess if you can't eat like that on Halloween then when can ya!?!? When we got home we put our pumpkins out on the porch and lit the candles inside!!

Then the boys spread out their candy and dug into their loot!! We only let them pick two pieces for tonight but I'm sure tomorrow after school they'll dig right back in!! (They'll probably even try at breakfast...!!!)

This Halloween had a pretty big set back when we couldn't find any pumpkins to carve, but we made the best of it and had a great evening!! And we have a TON of candy to show for it!!

brains and brawn

2011-10-31T12:28:00.000-05:00

Last week was Red Ribbon week at the boys' school and so they dressed up every day with a different theme!! One of the days was scheduled as a day to dress up as what you wanna be when you grow up!! Ashtyn wanted to go as a scientist and Maddox wanted to go as a football player. For Ash, we put together a lab coat with his name on it and he wore an old pair of Brandon's glasses with the lenses popped out. He looked OH SO CUTE and very smart too!! Maddox wore his Cowboys jersey and we painted black lines under his eyes!! Both of their outfits were SO them and also very cute!! I still don't wanna think about them growing up tho...

a little "britt" of Halloween

2011-10-31T11:55:00.000-05:00

Last week, we took our annual trip to Storybook Forest at Lake Arcadia in Edmond. This is our 3rd year to go! It's so much fun to walk along the forest pathway and meet a variety of different storybook characters who give the boys candy. Then after we finish the forest walk, we purchase hot dogs and s'mores ingredients to cook over a camp fire! It's one of our favorite fall/halloween traditions!!

We went to Storybook Forest on a school night this year and Maddox was so worn out from his school day that he fell asleep on the way to the forest...poor little Star Wars guy...

We had to stand in line for quite awhile before it was our turn to enter the forest...but we finally got to the front of the line and the boys were so excited!! So was I!! I think the entrance to the forest is SO cute!!

The first storybook character we came to was Rapunzel, or as the boys like to call her "Tangled"! Ha!! She dropped candy from her tower and she has pretty good aim because the boys each caught their candy right into their trick-or-treating bags!!

Then we visited the gingerbread house from the story of Hansel and Gretel...

good thing the wicked witch was captured in the end!!

We saw the giant shoe where the little old lady lives...

and the boys took their picture with Humpty Dumpty!! They look forward to seeing Humpty Dumpty every year!!

Pinnochio was in the forest...

and both boys tried their best to pull the Sword from the Stone. Neither of them were able to pull it out but Maddox ASSURES us that he felt the sword wiggle a little when he tried to pull on it!! Ha!!

At first, Ashtyn wasn't going to stand next to the giant spider web to take his picture because he thought it was real!! (I wouldn't go near that either...) But after I promised him it was just pretend he jumped in for a pic!!

About half way thru the forest, Brandon was getting a bit overwhelmed by all the kids running around along the storybook path!! Ha!! This is his scared face...

The boys got a piece of candy from the three little pigs...

and then looked into the brick house where the pigs were finally safe from the big bad wolf...who is stuck in the chimney!!

After leaving the forest, we found an empty campfire to roast our hot dogs and marshmallows!! And we shared a couple orders of nachos too!! Mmmmmm!!

Maddox scarfed down TWO hot dogs around the campfire and we all enjoyed a little too much chocolate!!

We ended up sharing our fire with two older couples from England!! They had really cool accents and went on and on about how wonderful s'mores are!! They were hilarious!! One of the ladies kept losing her hot dog right off the end of her skewer into the fire and the other old lady just laughed and laughed at her!! They were a hoot!! We're not a big halloween family but letting the boys dress up and going to storybook forest is one of our favorite things to do. We are also excited for this afternoon, when the boys come home from school, and we will carve pumpkins and then go to the fall festival and trunk-or-treat at our church!! Bring on the SUGAR!!

pastors' kids UNITE!!!!

2011-10-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend was Convergence in Oklahoma City. Convergence is a statewide youth event put on by the district office and generally both Brandon and I help out at it. This year, Brandon only worked the Friday evening service and, since I was working too, the boys had to come along! They were excited to follow mom and dad around, though, once they realized that their friends Seth and Gray would be there. Gray had actually just gotten out of the hospital that afternoon from his very last round of proton therapy (Woohoo!!) and so all the boys were eager to get in some good ol' fashion play time!! They couldn't really run around as much as they wanted to because, after all, we were inside a church AND there were about 2,000 teenagers wandering around and crowding up the place! Ha! But the boys still had a good time together! They watched cartoons on the iPad, made up a game of "monkey in the middle" using an event wristband as a ball and sat on the floor playing with action figures. It was neat to see them all together and all playing so well. I hope it never ends!!

FROM "just laugh"

2011-10-23T13:29:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, about mid-morning, I went into my boys' room to make their beds. As I walked up to the bunk bed and was reaching over the edge of the top bunk to grab Ashtyn's comforter I saw something that totally shocked me!! There on the wood railing of the bunk bed, staring me right in the face, was a good sized collection of...DRIED BOOGERS!!!! Eeeeeeew!!!!! I stood motionless and speechless for a moment and then immediately marched to the back door. Both boys and Brandon were playing in the back yard and so I opened the back door and hollared outside for "all men living in this house" to follow me into the boys' bedroom. Brandon immediately started laughing. He knew this was going to be a lesson in something having to do with cleaning the house. I lined Brandon, Ashtyn and Maddox up next to the bunk bed, pointed out the offending pile of "ickiness" and explained to all the boys how it wasn't appropriate to wipe boogers on ANYTHING in the house...or anywhere else for that matter. I made sure they knew that boogers go on tissues and then let them all go back outside. Sick!!!! I never thought I'd have to practically teach a Saturday morning class on what to do with boogers but, nevertheless, I just had. I finished making the boys' beds, made my bed, picked up the office and then that afternoon I finally made my way to the bathroom to clean in there. I hate cleaning the bathroom and so had saved it to last! As I bent down to pick up the bathroom trash can (which sits right below the toilet paper roll) I came eye to eye with my second surprise of the day. Right on top of the clean toilet paper roll was a GIANT dried booger!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD!?!? I was a little shocked, a little mad and couldn't help but laugh all at the same time!!!! As I thought back to my morning conversation with all the men in my life about where boogers go, I remembered that, in fact, I had said to "put your boogers on a tissue" but never elaborated and made sure they knew to then tear off the tissue and throw it away!! Wow, you really have to break it down for boys don't ya!?!? I ripped off the piece of tissue holding the offending booger and walked it around the house to find my little culprit. As soon as I saw Ashtyn's face I knew it was him!! I got both my boys' attention once again and reminded them what we do with boogers, step by VERY PARTICULAR step. Ashtyn nodded in agreement and then just as I was about to walk out of the room Maddox proclaimed, in a very loud Maddox voice, "I wipe my boogers on the door in the van...!!!" Ugh!! I felt like my entire day was a wash. I'm not sure if any of what I had said sunk in. Boys are so very gross...SO...VERY...GROSS...!!!!

a shuffle of emotions

2011-10-23T11:32:00.000-05:00

FROM "A LESSON LEARNED"
Maddox loves to play board games! He usually wants to play with either "just mommy" or "just daddy" and pretty much only likes to play the board games that he wins more often then he loses! Ha! He refuses to play Chutes & Ladders anymore simply because he thinks he "always loses"...imagine that!! One of Maddox's favorite board games to play right now is Candy Land. We play it all the time! In our game of Candy Land, there is a stack of cards that you draw from and on each card there is a colored square that matches the colored squares on the board and you move your playing piece to the corresponding and matching square on the Candy Land board. There are a few cards mixed in throughout the deck that have different candy pictures on them. One has a candy cane, one has an ice cream cone, etc. When you draw one of the "candy cards" you get to automatically jump to the matching candy space! Sometimes that space is way far ahead on the board and sometimes that space takes you way back to the beginning of the board. Of course, when Maddox plays he always wants to draw a card that will put him much further ahead then anyone else who is playing. Every time it's his turn to draw a card he gets all nervous and clenches his teeth. His eyes get really wide and he just can't wait to see what his next card will be. Recently, when I was playing Candy Land with Maddox he drew a card only to find that he drew the one "candy card" that takes you almost all the way back to the beginning of the board. He was obviously very upset. That meant he was losing the game. Maddox saw his card and immediately showed his anger. His face turned into a pout, he slammed his card down onto the board and stubbornly crossed his arms in anger. I wasn't shocked by Maddox's reaction but I wasn't happy about it either. Maddox was MAD!! I tried to explain to Maddox that he couldn't give up. I used all the classic "mom" pep sayings like "you could still win..." and "you don't know what card you will draw next..." but nothing seemed to be helping improve Maddox's attitude. He was stuck on that one bad card. After a few turns, Maddox eventually came out of his losing funk. He uncrossed his arms, his pouting lip slowly went back to normal and pretty soon he was having fun again playing with mom. But, still, every time Maddox would draw a card and wouldn't pull into the lead he would complain about that "losing card" and pout that he was "losing". I did my best to encourage him but he held on to his anger that he was in last place. Maddox is so competitive. Sure enough, though, towards the end of our board game, mama was proven right!! Maddox drew his next card from the deck and there it was...the one and only "candy card" that puts you within a few spaces of winning the entire game!! Maddox's eyes lit up and he eagerly moved his playing piece across the board until he was standing within the last few spaces of the game. Sure enough, within just a few short turns Maddox had won the game and beat me...again!! He was SO excited!! At that point, I don't even think Maddox remembered all my advice from earlier in the game but he sure was enjoying the benefits of hanging in there and not giving up!!
Lesson Learned? Maddox was happily playing an afternoon board game with mommy when all of a sudden his winning streak was in jeopardy after pulling one little card. Suddenly, his mood changed and so did our care free game time. We so often do the exact same thing in our christian walk with the Lord. We are skipping along down the path of life, making our way from one space to the next when suddenly we are blindsided. We pull a card we weren't expecting that pushes us backwards. Just like Maddox, we get angry. We slam our card down, push the game board aside, stick out our lip and cross our arms...glaring at anyone who will look our direction. We are ready to give up. We don't want to move on. Why would God deal us this hand? Why would he send us all the way back to start when we were moving ahead just fine? We can't understand why we're going backwards when forwards seems so easy and so much better! It's all the fault of that one stupid card! While we stomp our feet and scream out to God how unfair life is, God sits quietly across the board from us whispering encouragement. He reminds us not to give up and tells us to keep going. The difference between our view of the game board and God's is that he can see the whole deck of cards while we can only see them one at a time. God knows what is just around the corner and we only know today. Eventually we move forward again but are still bitter about the fact that we've had to start over. We fuss and complain to God every chance we get, reminding him of that "bad card" we drew a few turns ago. All the while, God keeps nudging us forward wishing we would just walk the path HE had planned for us "candy cards" and all. Suddenly, with the pull of one more card, life comes back into focus. God gives us a card that pushes us beyond anywhere we thought we'd end up. We were for sure we were going to lose this game and then God allows us to win! We get to skip alot of the road and move directly to the Candy Land at the end of the board! Maddox didn't thank me when he won. He didn't remember that it was really me who had forced him to continue playing. If it had been totally up to him, Maddox would have got up the moment he saw his first "candy card" and walked away from the game. However, in the end, when he beat me he didn't think back and give me any credit. He just took the win, got super excited and even gloated a bit! We do the same thing to God in life. After a trial, when we move from the valley to a peak, we don't thank God for his subtle encouragement and whispers of love. So often, if it weren't for him we would be way off track! Not only would we be back at the starting line of life but we would have plopped down right where we were, crossed our arms and given up completely!! God kept us going, though, and in the end blessed us beyond our comprehension!! We had to keep playing though!! Maddox would have never reached the bountiful Candy Land had he not finished the game!! No matter where you're at on your personal Candy Land board game of life KEEP GOING!! If you're skipping through the candy cane forest without a care in the world...keep going!! If you've suddenly drawn the candy card that pushed you all the way back to start...keep going!! If you're almost to the finish line and think for sure you're going to win...keep going!! Only God knows what card is next. Only God knows what is to come. And once you've reached the end of the game, or simply made it through your trial, don't forget to look back and thank the Lord for his love, help and encouragement. Because chances are, if it weren't for him, you'd still be stuck pouting on the "hard candy" space at the beginning of the game. We never know what the next card in our life will bring but take comfort in the fact that God does and he knows the one after that, the one after that and the one after that too!!

yoda laid an egg...

2011-10-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

Oh goodness. I'm not sure I'll ever be totally used to living in a house where I'm the only girl!! In fact, lately I have found myself thinking certain things are funny that growing up in a house full of girls I never really thought were funny before!! I think it's rubbing off on me!! Yikes!! This week, Brandon taught the boys a lovely new version of an old Christmas favorite with a Star Wars twist. The boys crack up every single time they sing it and once they get going it's REALLY hard to get them to stop!! Ha!! For some reason, when I was taping them, Ashtyn got frustrated because he thought Maddox had sung some of the words wrong and then refused to finish the song. I tried to get them to sing it over again so that I could get a recording of both of them doing the entire song together but Ash wasn't into it. Plus, they were ready to go to school so we had to stop. Anyway, regardless of the little pouty moment, the song really is pretty funny...just don't let the boys know you think it's funny or you'll hear it 100 times and it only gets louder each time they sing it!! Ha!!