Christmas 2011

Merry Montage Christmas

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Seriously.

This is my life.

 

I love him to death, but . . . seriously? 

I'm sure he'll love this when he gets older.  :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

 

My babies are getting big!  Last year's pic on the left, this year is on the right.  Yes, I'm that mom that dresses her children alike.  Hey, I was never blessed with a girl to dress in dresses and headbands and all that cute stuff so dressing these two alike is my substitute.  :)  Pretty adorable, don't you think?  I might be a bit biased.

(Sorry for the poor photo quality -- these pics were scanned.)

Friday: I'm thinkin' . . .

 

that it was her birthday and she could cry if she wanted to.  (My darling niece Amelia that we got to visit over Thanksgiving.)

Lots more people thinking about lots more stuff.  Check out the list over at Stacey's blog.

Thursday: I'm thinking . . .

that I miss having a dog around.  Thanks to April for letting me dog sit this little cutie tonight.  I'm also thinking I don't miss barking or little doggie presents.  :)

Wednesday: I'm thinking . . .

 

that I really, really miss my sister.  Umm . . . and maybe her crazy husband.  :)  Can't wait until she comes home.

Tuesday: I'm thinking . . .

 

that I could use a little more sleep.  I wish I could sleep as soundly as these two.  :)

(Thanks to Stacey for the invitation to link up.)

** I know that it's been forever since I've blogged.  Things have been a little crazy but I'm hoping to catch up.

Light

 

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.  -- Aaron Rose

The Other Child

I've posted so much about Joe lately I just wanted to make sure that I didn't forget the other child -- my James!  He's such a little stinker, full of personality.  Love him to death one minute and want to sell him on eBay the next.  I think I'll keep him though.  :)

Apple Picking with the wee ones

I took the boys to the apple orchard today.  You never would have guessed from the title though, right?  We went to Aamodt's apple farm.  I hadn't ever been there so it was nice to go somewhere new.  Last year we went to Apple Jacks and I think I liked it a little better for the boys. 

We saw a friend from Joe's soccer team while we were there, pet some goats, played on the swingset, took a hayride, bought some apples, picked some apples, ate some popcorn and then some more stuff that just made me tired.  The kids were great.  No fighting / bickering.  :)  Love these days with the kids.

Again with the laziness of editing so I just made a quick collage.  Love the picture of the two of them together and am thinking it needs to go in a frame.  :)

Sculpture

I've been on a little bit of a blogging break.  No particular reason though.  I always have good intentions of posting something and then comes the editing part.  Well, I guess that's a reason.  I have a feeling that I'm just going to have to just post stuff straight out of my camera.  I'll have to do that AND make a decision.  That's my other problem -- I have a terrible time deciding which pics to use.  If you know me well you'll know how indecisive I am.  Ugh.

I actually looked through pics and did a little editing with these.  About 2 weeks ago I took the kids to the Sculpture Garden.  It's one of my favorite places in the city.  I think the kids enjoyed themselves.  This is the proof.  :)

We took some silly photos:

 

Some pics around some of the sculptures:  (yes, James has shaggy hair.  He says that he wants to grow it out like his cousins, Eli and Noah.  I like it a little longer but I feel like I'm going to break out in hives -- hair touching the ears drives me nuts.)

We took the foot bridge over to Loring Park, had a little snack, and looked at the ducks.  The boys were very curious because the ducks let them get very close.  Look at the devlish expression on James' face.  Totally him.

We even managed to get in a family picture.  :)

Kindergarten!

So my countdown is done and kindergarten is here.  I finally feel like I can breathe because the anticipation is over.  He made it in, he made it out.  No catastrophes.  Good deal.

It was a restless night.  Joe was tossing and turning and I kept having dreams that we were going to be late.  (We were not.)  I had decided that we needed donuts to start off kindergarten.  Don't we all need donuts when we're starting an adventure?

(Not editing any pics tonight because I'm not motivated -- these are straight out of camera.)  Should have made a collage but that motivation factor comes in again.

We had to snap a few pics before school.

I was doing pretty good after all this.  Mike, James, and I walked him into his room, talked to his teacher briefly and got him settled in.  The teacher took his hand to lead him to his table and we left.  This is where the tears came in.  Me, not Joe.  (I'm sure you're not surprised.)  I had 3 crying episodes before 10am, each one worse than the first.  I got to work and got busy which is what I needed.  I made it through the rest of the day tear free.  I was even able to sneak out of work to pick him up from school.  I thought a good first day of school deserved a little ice cream. 

 

I love him so much!!

ONE!!

Yep, one day until kindergarten.  Well, it's one night now.  We tried on clothes for tomorrow.  I held it together (sort of).  We talked about how he needs to listen to his teacher and do his schoolwork.  I held it together (sort of).  We talked about how excited he is to meet new friends.  I held it together (sort of).  We talked about riding the KinderCare bus back to me at the end of the day.  I held it together (hanging by a string here).  I gave him a kiss goodnight and tucked him in.  This is where I lost it. 

I know that I'm not the first mom to go through this and I know that I'm won't be the last.  This has been a rough year for us and I'm so happy that we have pulled through everything together.  My "baby" has grown so much and I'm so incredibly proud of him.  Overflowing with love right now.  :)

Resting up for the big day. . .

2

2 days.
2 days and I just realized that we don't have a first day of school outfit.  I've bought jeans and a bunch of long sleeved shirts but nothing really for that first day.  What!?  I've been so prepared with all the school supplies and everything that I forgot that all important first day.  I guess I'll be doing a little shopping tomorrow.  :)

For this cute little (yet big enough to be a kindergartener) guy:

4,3

I was so buys making sure all my camera stuff was ready / charged for today's wedding that I didn't get time to do my #4 post.  I know you were all anxiously awaiting.  Reading my post was going to be the highlight of your Friday night.  Sorry to disappoint folks.  :)

I'm combining 4 and 3 because I feel like it.  Because I didn't have time last night / forgot.  Because I'm leaving for Wisconsin shortly and will not have time to do it later.  Because I said so.

This is it though.  The final weekend as a preschooler.  And he's with his dad.  It's Ok.  He'll come home on Monday and I make him snuggle with me all afternoon and evening so I can prepare myself.  I fully understand that I'm the one that needs to be prepared because he already is. 

Even though I'm not directly with him every day, I get to see him for little snippets of time throughout the day.  I always sympathize with the parents of infants that drop off at the center on their first day and cry because they are leaving their baby.  Tuesday will be that day for me.  He's been at the center since he was 6 weeks old and I've had 5 1/2 years to really get attached to seeing the little munchkin daily. 

Since I'm doing the two in one thing here I'm pretty sure that I should share 2 pics.  This one I took this summer at my mom's and I love it because it's pure Joe.  (Didn't have time to do any editing on these pics.)

 

Here's a pic of us from the state fair.  More to come on the fair later. . .

5

OMG -- We are down to 5!!  Ahhhhhh!!!!

Deep breaths, Carla, deep breaths.

He's so excited to start school and I'm excited for him.  I think.  I might be hyperventilating because my baby is leaving me, but it's ok.  It is.  I think.

Really, I am excited for him to start this journey but I can't help thinking that time has gone by so fast.  I decided to flash back today to a couple of my favorite baby photos of my baby.   (and Jackson too)  :)

6

Was a little busy today so I didn't / don't have time to write a bunch today.  My little peanut only has 6 days left before school.

Looks like he's sittin' around waiting for something.  School perhaps?  :)

7

Seven days.
One week.
168 hours.
10,080 minutes.
Too many seconds to count.

(I might have cheated a little on the math -- the effect is the same without having to think too hard.)

:)

That's right -- 8!

So tonight we had Joe's back to school conference.  Like an open house / meet your teacher, only we had a scheduled time.  We got to bring all of his stuff in and get it situated for when he starts school next week.  We signed all of the emergency information, got his pin number for lunch (which he's keeping under lock and key because they told him he wasn't supposed to share it with anyone), and went to the book fair.  Do you want to know the most impressive thing that happened during all of this?  You'll never guess.  I didn't cry.  That's right.  I held it together.  For today anyway.  :)

He's so excited, he's jumping for joy!

9

Yes.  I've started a countdown.  It will be just be a love fest dedicated to Joe before he leaves me forever.  :)  In all seriousness though, let me show you what had me crying in Target a couple of weeks ago.

Pencils.  It was the beginning of the school shopping and it all hit me.  As I put the pencils in the cart I got a little choke up.  Maybe more than a little.  Just nine more days.  I'm kind of hoping I'll hold up like I did at graduation.  I cried so much about graduating before I actually graduated that when it came time for commencement I was good to go.  I'm hoping this goes the same way so I don't make a fool out of myself come Sept. 6th.  Not that I didn't already make a fool out of myself in Target.  :)

Who wouldn't miss seeing this face?

10

That's right -- 10.  Ten short days before my baby goes to kindergarten.  Not sure where the last five and a half years have gone but they seemed to have gone by too quickly.  Trying to squeeze in all the time I can with him before school.  Next Tuesday will be the first day of the rest of his life.  The years will fly by so quickly with brief summer breaks in between and before you know it, he'll be off to college.  Some of you may be thinking I'm being a little over dramatic here, but I'm pretty sure I'm just the right amount of dramatic for me at this time.

Love him so much. 

i heart faces: Pet Week

So it's pet week over at I Heart Faces and although it's not a new photo, I thought I'd share my most recent favorite photo of my Jackson.  It was taken a couple months ago on one of the last snowy days this winter.  I love how there's little bits of snow/frost on his fur.  Just a quick photo taken in the car but I love it.

 

Wild, Wild West

The boys have week long "camps" at school.  This week was Wild, Wild West.  We made "Wanted" posters for the preschoolers and school age kids.  They turned out really cute.  We were all supposed to dress up Friday too.  Some of us did.  We don't have a lot of western wear at our house so we stopped at the store and got bandanas.  Jeans, white shirts, and bandanas -- easy enough.  I had a hat to wear and James wanted one too.  After refusing to buy the overpriced pink foam cowgirl hat at Michaels for James, he was not happy with me.  Yep, I said pink foam.  I told him he could try on the one at school.  The one for the pictures.  He took it from my office first thing and didn't take it off all day.  He wore it to the assisted living center during their field trip, he wore it outside to play, if we let him he probably would have worn it for nap (see picture below).  His teacher was able to wrestle it away long enough to let the other kids take pictures.  Who didn't want to take one with the hat?  Why James, of course.  He is so difficult.  I wanted to get a pic of us all together but it just didn't happen.  This is what I got. (And by I, I mean the teachers at school because my children don't really want to cooperate and I think they're getting sick of me shoving a camera in their face.)

The "napping" . . .

The "Wanted" Poster.  Because posing for one just would have been too hard.  Pretty sure that he might be wanted for wearing the hat like that.  (The band goes inside the hat James.)

Joe.  Pretty sure he might be wanted for picking on his brother.

 

And me.  I think I might be wanted for showing up to the fair like this.  To be fair to me, my hair had been in pigtail braids and under a hat all day.  Not really sure I could've went without it.  I do love hats.

I'm Way Behind

Ok.  So my cousin Jennifer came to visit me twice at the end of Spring / beginning of Summer.  It was great to see her and the kids and even though she had another agenda while she was here we enjoyed the time we had.  I feel bad that I have not taken the time to blog about it and post the pictures.  You may think that I'm going to do it now.  You're wrong.  The kids are up and that stuff has to wait until they are sleeping. 

My reason for bringing up their visit is that "Beautiful Eyes" is the theme at I Heart Faces this week.  I thought about taking a new picture but honestly when I think about eyes I think about these ladies.  My cousin and her 2 daughters.  Her son is also blessed with these beautiful eyes but he was not with on this trip.

Love, love, love these eyes.  Love, love, love these girls.

A little bathtime convo. . .

 

The conversation went a little something like this:

Joe:  Mommy.  I have two balls. (while pulling at them)
Me:  (Long pause) Yep.
Joe:  What are they?
Me:  Ummmm. . . They're testicles.  But I guess you can call them balls too.
James:  I have two balls.  I have two balls.  I have two balls.
Joe:  (Pulling at them)
Me:  Please don't pull them though.
James:  I'm not pulling mine, I'm squeezing them.
Joe:  I'm squishing them.
James:  Look at me Joe.  Look at me!  (all while rearranging and yanking on them)
Me:  You can't do that.  You will hurt yourself.
Joe:  Look at me mommy.  I'm holding them gently.  (while cradling them like a baby)
James:  Not me.  I'm pinching them. 
Joe:  How will it hurt me mommy?
Me:  Tomorrow's a daddy day and I think he would love to talk to you about it.

The end.  (I hope)

And this is why I should have had girls.  :)

Best Friends

So I've always wanted to enter a photo challenge, do a 365 project, or something like that.  Not sure why I haven't ever tried but I thought it was about time I got off my butt and did something.

The theme at i heart faces this week is friendship. 

I know that my boys are the best of friends (when they're not fighting).  It sure seems to me like these little cuties are too.  I did a little photo session with Kari and her family on Sunday and the girls had such a good time running across this bridge.  I love how Syd looks back to her sister to encourage her along.  So thankful that I got to take their pictures and catch these moments.

What we do at our house.

Ever been bored on a Sunday night?  Well. . . we were tonight.  We cured our boredom with a little bath time photo session.  (The poses were their ideas.)  Have so many other post to do / pics to show but this is my perfect ending to a great weekend.  (More to come on that later.)

Joe was into participating a little more than James.  I was just loving it all.

The little guy . . . 

The not quite as little guy . . .

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

And so it begins . . .

So . . . my "baby" is starting kindergarten in a month.  One month.  ONE MONTH people!  Where did the time go???  I'm an emotional person to begin with but I feel like this might take my waterworks to a whole new level.  I hope that I the tears will come now so I don't make such a fool out of myself that first day of school. 

The boys had their last day of baseball on Wednesday and they got to play a game (they were just practicing skills before).  Everybody had a turn to bat and everyone had a turn to run the bases and score.  It should have been no big deal then when Joe ran across home plate.  But it was.

 

When he crossed that plate his face beamed with pride and my eyes welled with tears.  Thank God I was all Jackie O with my sunglasses on.  I glanced around and did not see any other parents with my problem.  It just all hit me at once.  He is really becoming his own little person and I'm so incredibly proud of him.

My kindergartner:

*sigh*