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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ten on Tuesday

1. Where to start? We had an action packed weekend! Saturday morning the twins had a soccer game, which they won. I got to watch this one from the sidelines with Jackson and Brody since Jackson's team did not play. Brody fell asleep mid-way through the 3rd quarter, so I was able to take a few pictures...

Kind of hard to see-but both Bryce and Jarron are in this picture


Hard to believe these boys are 4 years apart-Moose is such a big boy!

2. I got a new camera-I sold that awful Olympus and got a really nice Nikon point and shoot. And I love it! It is so easy to use and takes really good pictures. In fact I took a little over 100 pictures since getting it Friday! That seems like a lot.

3. Saturday afternoon, we went to lunch at Symmes Tavern on the Green, a local eatery in Fairfield. Jackson got so tired at one point he fell asleep in a chair! The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was pretty cool, so we'll be eating there again.

Jackson's Nap Spot


Not sure what's up with this look...

4. We also spent some time at Chuck's parents' house. Don and his boys came over so the boys got to hang out with their cousins which they really enjoyed. (There you go Don, you finally made the blog!)

Uncle Don and Bryce


Bryce, Jarron, and Jackson doing some artwork


A rare photo of a smiling Jarron-he hates having his picture taken these days

5. Sunday was Baby Dedication Service at our church. This is (obviously) the last one we'll be participating in. Brody was in an awful mood and screamed for a good 15 minutes before service started. I ended up looking (and feeling) like an awful mess-so I won't be including the family picture, but here's Moose...


6. Speaking of Moose, how funny is this picture? He just cracks me up! He said "mama" for the first time last night. Rationally, I know he was babbling, but emotionally, I was thrilled to finally hear it.

Cookie Monster

7. We went to Fuji House (our favorite restuarant) with James and his family. It was kind of loud and choatic-as you would expect with 6 boys under the age of 8-but the boys had fun. Blaze had never been to a hibachi grill before and his reaction was priceless. I wish I had brought my camera.

8. Bobbi took Brody's 6 month pictures this weekend (technically he's 7 months but who's counting). I saw a couple of them on her camera before she worked her editing magic and they are were already amazing! Can't wait to see them (not that I am rushing you or anything Bobbi)!

9. I am registering this little man for Kindergarten on Thursday. We'll take a tour of the school and meet the principals. I am so excited for him-he can't wait to be a big boy like his brothers!


10. The twins' birthday party is this Saturday at the bowling alley. I am on the hunt for Monsters/Aliens related party supplies. Should be a good time...check back for pictures next week!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Ten on Wednesday

1. Jackson is cracking me up lately with his (mis)use of the word "awkward". He thinks it means "weird", so he has been using it constantly. As in, "Mommy this turkey is awkward", "This TV show is really awkward", "Quit acting so awkward". Love it!



2.There is a woman in my office who leaves her cell phone on all day and leaves it at her desk while she is in meetings. And it rings incessantly. It is literally driving me crazy. She also listens to her iPod so loudly that I can hear every lyric from where I sit. I wonder if she just doesn't know what the word "volume" means?

3. Our nephew Jeremy was in a motorcycle accident this weekend. He shattered his ankle pretty badly but is okay other than that (thank goodness!). He'll be off his foot for about 3 months-an eternity to 21 year old!) Please say a prayer for his recovery if you get a minute.

4. I recorded my first win as head coach of the Purple Dragons soccer team. I'm feeling pretty good about that...and, um, happy for the kids too. Unfortunately, the twins' team didn't do as well. (Coach Christina 1, Coach Chuck 0...just saying!)

5. Jarron lost a tooth this week. He was very laid back about it. He mentioned it in passing, "I have math homework, I need to bring money in for lunch, I lost a tooth, I played basketball at lunch..." I guess the thrill of the tooth fairy is gone now that he is 8.


6. Moose is 7 months old today! I can hardly believe it! He still doesn't have any teeth but he's really babbling a lot. Lots of "bababababa" and "lalalalalala". So cute! He still isn't crawling, he just rolls to where ever he wants to go. I have a feeling he'll be like the twins and just go straight to walking.



7. Bryce is star of the week at school. He had to color a poster with facts about himself. He listed his favorite food as pot pie and asked if I would make it for him. So I spent an hour and a half making chicken pot pie from scratch. This was our coversation during dinner:
Bryce: "Mom, I don't really care for the peas or carrots or corn. Not sure that I like the celery or the sauce. I'm not a fan of the chicken either."
Me: "So basically you like the bread?"
B: "Yes, maybe next time you should just make biscuits?"
Me: "I'll do that."

8. I must get the invitations to the Bryce and Jarron's bowling party sent out by Friday. I am so behind! I may even have to get the dreaded "store bought" invitations....boo!

9.This Sunday is Brody's Baby Dedication service at church. I'm hoping it gets warm so he can wear the super cute shorts outfit I got him!


The official Baby Dedication Day "portrait" courtesy of Bobbi Sawyer Photography

10. I had fun at the school last week for Bryce and Jarron's birthday. I made them cupcakes and added some Kool-aid to the icing for extra flavor. It was super yummy but unfortunately, it turned the icing pink. The twins were not happy! (But their friends enjoyed them!)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Eight Years Old!

Eight years ago today, Chuck and I went from being a couple to being a family.


After 40 long weeks of pregnancy, 36 even longer hours of labor, 2 epidurals, and a C-section, Baby A (aka Bryce Charles) and Baby B (Jarron Thomas) entered the world at 12:04 AM and 12 :05 AM. And our world changed.



Those first 3 weeks are a blur. I know that people came by, that diapers were changed, babies were fed and we occasionaly slept, but I dont remember much of it. I do remember holding the boys and wondering how we got so lucky. How we, of all people, were chosen to be their parents. I remember the blue glow of Jarron's billirubin blanket to help him fight jaundice. I remember Bryce's sweet round face, always so calm, but always the first to want a bottle. I remember how proud I felt to say "these are my sons".


And then I blinked...and they were 6 months old and sitting up and smiling and laughing...




And I blinked again...and we were celebrating their first birthday.




And then suddenly they were two.




And I blinked again and they were three and big brothers...




I blinked again and they were four...




And suddenly they were five and junior grooomsen in my brother's wedding...




And then I put them on a bus and they went to their very first day of school...



And then they were six...



And suddenly they were seven and big brothers once again.




And now eight. Eight Years Old!




Those tiny little babies that changed my world are now my world. They are little people I can talk to about politics, sports, or the weather. They share my love for reading and their Daddy's love for sports. They have a deep faith in God and walk close to Him. They have kind hearts and generous spirits. They are smart and funny and adorable. In short, they are amazing.



I don't think it is possible to put into words the love you have for your children. It's just too big. It's like trying to describe the ocean to someone who has never been there before. You can give them the facts, it's a body of water with fish, but until they see it for themselves, until they feel the waves on their legs, they just don't get it.



I never knew what it was to love your child until April 16, 2001. In that moment, I knew I would gladly give my life for theirs without hesitation. I knew that no matter who they became, I would love them with eveything I had.



Happy Birthday Bryce and Jarron. Thank you for making me a Mommy. Thank you for the best 8 years of my life. I love you so very much!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Ten on Tuesdayish

1. Okay, so it's not Tuesday, but I'm only one day behind! We had a busy, busy weekend! Thursday was the twins' first soccer practice of the year. Jackson starts this Thursday and our first games are this Saturday. Like I said, busy, busy.


Jarron at practice

2. We gave Bryce and Jarron the bikes Chuck picked out for them on Friday. Their actual birthday is tomorrow but we couldn't wait for them to have their presents. They were thrilled and already have the hang of riding them! We also got Jackson a Big Wheel (which he keeps calling his 4 wheeler).





3. We celebrated the twins' birthday with the Lakes side of the family Saturday (we also celebrated my nephew Andrew's birthday and Easter at the same time). The boys got lots of DS games and Pokemon/Bakugan stuff.



4. Want to see what a normal 6 month old look like compared to our Moose? This is Rizzo, my great niece, who is a week younger than Brody. Brody looks like giant next to her. When I dropped him off at the nursery for Easter service a woman who hadn't seen Moose in awhile was working the table. "Is he in the one year olds room?" she asked me. "Ummm no, he can't even crawl, he's only 6 months old." "Oh, he's a large sized baby!" Yep, he sure is!



5. All four boys were pretty agreeable Easter morning and let me take fairly good pictures of them. I know I am biased, but man, they are good looking kids!




Bryce


Jarron


Jackson


Brody

6. The Easter festivities continued when the Sawyer side of the family came over for lunch and egg-hunting. After the hunt, the boys pulled out their bikes for some more riding. The weather was absolutely perfect!




Jackson on the hunt...

7. My nephew Blaze, just cracks me up. I asked him if he had gone on an egg hunt at his other grandma's house and he said, "Yes, I found some eggs, a capri sun, an empty water bottle and a box of macaroni & cheese!" Too funny.

8. My babies will be eight years old tomorrow. Eight years old! I just can't wrap my mind around that. They are such big boys now.


Crazy kids!

9. The bowling party that was supposed to be for 2-3 friends of Bryce and Jarron, has taken on a life of it's own. There are now about 15 attendees. Sigh. I had every intention of keeping it small this year but I hate to leave people out.

10. I have my Olympus camera up for sale on eBay. I'm looking forward to purchasing a camera I can actually use. :)
Check back tomorrow for the Bryce and Jarron birthday post!!!!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Heard on the way to Awanas....

Last night, my nephew, Blaze came to church with the boys and I. The conversations between him and the twins were cracking me up!

Blaze: "Okay, let's talk about people in the Bible who hated God. Who am I thinking of?"
Bryce: "The serpent"
Blaze: "I was looking for the Pharoah, you know from Egypt, but the serpent will work too."

Blaze: "Let's do some Bible drills."
(Bible drills are when a person announces a chapter and verse in the Bible and you race to see who can find it first and read it.)
Bryce and Jarron kept getting there first and Bryce said:
"Blaze, you gotta move faster you keep losing"
Blaze: "That's ok, I don't win at school either, it's just nice to be nominated."
Bryce: "Um, I don't think that word means what you think it does."
Blaze: "Which word?"
Bryce: "Nominated, I think you mean participated."
Blaze: "Yup, that's word I was looking for."
Jarron: "Can you guys stop with the big words? You're giving me a headache."

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ten on Tuesday

1. It's snowing on April 7th in Cincinnati. Last week we were wearing shorts. Awesome.

2. I neglected to do post about Brody's 6 month highlights (Bad Mommy!), so I'll share those here:
-Weight: 18 pounds 8 ounces
-Height: 27 1/2 inches
-He can sit up independently and rolls over and back with ease
-He eats stage two baby foods (about 5 jars a day) and really likes Chicken Noodle and Mango
-He loves to sleep with a blanket
-He loves toys-I've never seen a baby enjoy their toys as much as he does
-He's such a happy, smiley baby-his smile literally lights up a room
-He still doesn't have any teeth-but I love his big open mouth toothless grin




3. The kids were on spring break last week, so Chuck and I took off a couple of days to do some stuff locally. We (I) thought it would be a good idea to go to the Newport Aquarium. We (I) thought it would be less crowded on a weekday. We (I) did not take into account lots of people were on Spring Break. There was a large line just to get tickets and another to get in. It was VERY crowded. The boys seemed to have a good time. I just really don't care for crowds so it was less awesome for me. Jackson informed me that night that "When I am really old like you I am going to have a pet shark." To which I replied, "Where will you keep him?" He looked at me like I was completely crazy and said, "Ummm, the bathtub, duh!"


Bryce


Jarron


Jackson


Chuck and the boys


Me and the boys

4. I hate to be all negative but I hate my Olympus camera. With a passion. Seriously. I took about 100 pictures at the aquarium and maybe 25 turned out. I've had the thing for a year and a half and I still am no closer to figuring it out than I was the day I got it. I am seriously contemplating selling it and buying a really nice point and shoot with a decent zoom lens. Because let's face it, if I haven't had the motivation to learn to use a SLR by now I'm not going to get it anytime soon. Argh.


The ONLY decent picture I got of fish at the aquarium.

5. I also took the boys to see Monsters vs Aliens in 3D on Friday. Awesome movie. We all really enjoyed it. I love getting to hang out with boys doing something they enjoy. They are so much fun to be around. They were very sweet and well behaved. All three of them thanked me for taking them without any prompting. I love my boys.


Not the best picture ever (taken with my camera phone) but the 3D glasses cracked me up.

6. I got to go to a scrapbook crop Friday night in Mason and I finished.....35 scrapbook pages! Seriously! Our scrapbook for our 2007 Disney trip is nearly complete. It was such a great feeling to get that done. Can't wait to go again...let me know if any of you would be interested in joining me.

7. Chuck and I are both going to be head coaches for the kids' soccer teams this fall. I was seriously stressing out about it earlier this week (because I have never, ever played soccer in my life) but now I am feeling pretty good about it. It's all about getting things organized-how hard can it be?

8. My babies will be EIGHT years old next week! How is that possible? Look for an extra special post about them on 4/16...

9. I lost the bracket challenge at work and church. Badly. I am very sad about this. I did so well last year. Basketball has been the talk of our house lately-Kentucky just hired a new head coach, John Calipari, which Chuck is a little bit excited about. It cracks me up to hear him and Don on the phone every night talking about the latest recruiting rumors. But it makes me happy to see him so excited about his team-it's been awhile.


The guy who is going to make Kentucky basketball awesome again. And he's drinking Dasani water-which everyone knows is the best bottled water EVAH!

10. Lots of family time this weekend-Easter and celebrating the twins' birthday, I'm really looking forward to spending some time with our families just hanging out. Can't wait to take lots of pictures (with my Kodak-because I've had it with the Olympus!).

Have a great week!