sidekick and spring

As I look back to this same time last year, I remember stressing out about whether or not to send Cale to all day Kindergarten or half-day the next school year. My heart (and Darren) told me I needed to choose half-day, so I did. I will never regret that decision (which is exactly what Darren said...he knows me SO well). Oh yes, many some days are very challenging and I may or may not question my decision, but deep down I know that this is a special time that I will always be grateful for. It's our last year to have one on one time together before "brothers" (as Cale calls them) get home from school. Make no mistake, Cale can be a complete stinker at times but most of the time it is short-lived and the next minute he is so very sweet. This little boy tells me he loves me out of the blue at least once per day. Over the past few days he's been making a heart out of his hands AS he tells me. I love this little fella so very much!!!

my little helper watering the flower pots

I've spent a lot of time working in the flower beds over the past few weeks. They needed to be weeded, the bushes needed trimming (Darren helped with that) and they needed new mulch and fresh flowers. I love the happy cheerful colors...they just scream spring to me. Here is one of the beds...

And lastly, I leave you with a picture I took of Ellie Mae today...not that I like her or anything. :) She is such a pretty girl!

16 months old

we got snow

We woke up to snow this morning. The boys had really hoped for a snow day, but no such luck!

Ellie wasn't sure at first, but once she finally left the porch she had a ball running circles in the snow (Ellie usually has a collar on, but girlfriend decided to chew hers up yesterday. I have NO idea how she got it off!)

Cale couldn't get home from school fast enough today. He told me that we needed to hurry home because the snow was already melting (he gets out at 10:30 and sadly it was already melting).

He dropped onto the ground as soon as he got out of the car. He made a few snow angels. It was precious!!!

He really wanted to help me shovel...

but he had a hard time with the big shovel....

so he pulled out his little garden shovel :)

He had a ball digging up snow and tossing it.

Cale was thrilled when Coby got home...

They threw snowballs at each other for a LONG time. There wasn't much snow left, but they sure did make the most of what we had! (Connor was out front playing basketball just like every other day.)

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I sure do love this boy!

I'm thankful the boys were able to enjoy at least a little bit of snow this winter. It was a fun day, but I'm ready for it to warm back up. Looks like I won't have to wait long, Wednesday's high is 62. We have the weirdest weather!

This is random, but such is my life...when I walked into the kitchen this morning I saw this note on top of the box of donuts (the boys love when Nina and Poppy are in charge of donuts at church because they always drop the leftovers off at our house).

Apparently Coby wanted to make sure he was getting the "sprinkled" donut. In fact, he told me that he might have to get up at 1 am to be sure that he'd get it. I assured him that wouldn't be necessary so I guess he opted for a note instead.

grumpy old man

Today was the 100th day of school. Cale dressed up as a 100 year old for the occasion. He played the part well...he was hunched over and grumpy which is pretty much how Cale acts even on a normal day (only kidding...sort of). He reminded me of my precious Grandpa who almost always wore a red plaid shirt, light colored jeans and glasses. Ah, it brought a smile to my face.

lucky lady

I have failed at keeping track of the boys' sweet sayings lately and I know I will regret it later. So I have to get this down while it's fresh on my mind....

I was on the phone yesterday and Cale walked in the room and said, "Mommy, Can you please report to my office?" His "office" being his bedroom. Coby had put together one of Cale's Lego sets and I needed to see it STAT.

Then tonight Coby was helping me pick up my bedroom and put clean sheets on my bed. I was just thinking about what a blessing Coby is to me when he looked at me with a grin and said, "I'm so lucky to have you!" I couldn't help but smile as I was JUST thinking the exact same thing about him.

As we decorated the Christmas tree (about a month ago) Coby looked at me and said, "Why don't you just sit down and let us do all the work...you just take it easy!" He is always wanting to take care of me and telling me to sit down and relax while he does the work. He is such a sweetheart and I know that he is going to be a wonderful husband one day. I just hope and pray that he will have an equally amazing wife because Coby deserves someone who will really appreciate him. He is a one of a kind boy that deserves the world!

I think about a year and a half ago I blogged that Connor informed me that he was going to start calling me mom, but to this day I am still Mommy and Darren is still Daddy! One day (probably sooner than I'd like) I know it will change, but I just wanted to remember that as this moment (at almost 12) he still calls us mommy and daddy....and I love it.

And last but not least, I want to remember that I got flowers from my main man a few days ago. There was no reason for him to get me flowers, he got them just because, which if you ask me made getting them all the more special!

I am a lucky lady indeed!!! I love my boys...all FOUR of them.

it's beginning to look like Christmas....

I can't believe the holidays are just around the corner. It's unbelievable to me that Thanksgiving is just two days away (Can I just say that I am SO proud that I have the boys Christmas shopping done minus one more gift for Connor!?! What a great feeling!). Darren had an unexpected night off so we pulled out the Christmas tree and decor tonight. I was SO thrilled as I like everything up before Thanksgiving and I really didn't think it would happen this year.

I pulled out my Christmas Scentsy bar and "Jolly" Christmas warmer for the occasion. It made our house smell like we actually had a live tree for once. Yum.

We also had Blueberry Grape sparkling juice for the occasion. The boys loved it.

D, Cale and Coby (and Ellie) fan out the tree

Coby decided that the "tree fanning" was dangerous and told us that he needed to get a helmet.

We couldn't help but laugh as he emerged from his room in not only a helmet, but safely goggles as well!

Meanwhile...Connor was working REALLY hard! {We are LOVING (insert sarcasm here) the pre-teen years.}

I loved watching Cale help Darren string the lights. (Notice Cale's helmet? He was "Fert" the safety guy. He couldn't let Coby be the only one in helmet! He was "Fert, the safety guy" all.night.long. I love his imagination.

He had so much fun.

Coby took pics of me and Darren as we worked on the tree.

Connor and Cale digging through the ornaments.

Cale decorating the tree. He was all about being up on the ladder this year so our tree is quite top heavy!

Ahhh....all of my boys in decor mode...I just sat back and enjoyed watching them work together.

Connoroo decided to get off his butt Ipod and have some fun!

Yes, I know that Christmas is not technically supposed to go up until after Thanksgiving, but we just can't help ourselves. We like to enjoy Christmas for as long as we can. However this does not mean that we skip over Thanksgiving. Both Coby and Cale have been to the mall with me (on two separate occasions) recently and have each commented about how the stores are already ready for Christmas and have asked, "But what about Thanksgiving?" I was so glad they asked because I don't ever want to overlook our many blessings. We have SO much to be thankful for and I look forward to "giving thanks" {and eating way to much food!} with my family on Thursday!

rover

I'm pretty sure I've never brought this up before, but Darren bought a Land Rover about a year and a half ago. It cost $350. Seriously. He really wanted a Land Rover that he could work on and not worry too much about if he screwed it up royally. So, a friend of a friend heard that Darren was looking for one and just happened to have a Land Rover sitting on his farm property. It had been sitting there for years and was in rough shape, hence the $350 price tag. It didn't run, but that got Darren even more excited about it. He bought it against my wishes and it has been taking over our third garage spot ever since. It didn't move for a year and a half, but Darren was busy working on it (as time and money allowed) on and off during that time. Darren pulled the motor/engine (not sure the proper term here). He chucked it and rebuilt the entire area under the hood from scratch. I had no idea that he had such talents (well, I had an inkling as he changes our oil, rotates our tires and can easily fix whatever is broken on the Sequoia), but still that's not an easy task. I didn't doubt him though. I knew he could do it. I just didn't know it would take quite so long and cause such a mess on our beautifully painted garage floor. Oh well, it's just a garage. At least that's what I keep telling myself. Maybe one day I'll actually feel that way!

Darren finally completed the motor/engine (whatever it's called!) and IT RUNS!!!! It took tons of work and for a while he was even questioning if it ever would, but after lots of blood, sweat and tears, he started that baby up about a month ago and finally drove it around the block in the last week or two. I will never forget the look on his face after he took it for it's first spin around the block. He said, "Tonight was the maiden voyage!" Cracked me up, but it was cute seeing him so proud of his accomplishment. I don't think he believed he could do it. I never doubted that he could. He may not be handy around the house, but by golly he can fix anything on a car. I think I'll keep him around! :)

OK, on to why I'm finally posting this. Tonight, after dinner was served, homework was completed, and Cale had been bathed we piled in the Land Rover for a family drive (just to the in-laws who happen to live in our neighborhood about two blocks away). I had to take pics to document this momentous occasion in case we all blew up or something. Trust me. I was worried! I said that I knew this car would start, but I never said that I didn't have concerns that it might blow up.

Darren detests having his pic taken (hence the fake-o smile), but I told him we had to document this big day!

This is when D got really tired of my pic taking and was ready to hit the road. Notice Cale is in the back sticking out his tongue at me. :) Just a typical day 'round here!

Yep, he still needs to work on the interior. Maybe one day he won't need the SCREWDRIVER to put the shifter into drive! ;)

Umm, me thinks Connor is hiding either from the camera or out of embarrassment from riding in daddy's LOUD car. Coby was happy though!

Cale was SUPER excited and wound-up. He was so excited to finally ride in the SUV he'd watched daddy work on for many, many months.

Poor Connor was wishing he'd stayed home!

Oops, did I forget to mention that while this car may look really good under the hood, the rest is still pretty rough looking? Ot that the interior has yet to be put back together? Did I fail to say that Darren has to use a SCREWDRIVER to put the car into drive because the shifter-thingy is still in a box on the garage? That there are wires hanging from the ceiling because he took the ceiling panel out to recover it? OR that the exterior is in serious need of a paint job/body work? Not to mention that it needs a muffler (wow is a car loud without one of those...trust me, the in-laws knew we were coming before we ever hit their street). I'm sure eventually these things will be taken care of, but for now I'm just proud that it starts and drives! I'm choosing to celebrate small victories!

Can I just be honest here and say that I still can't believe this is my life? It sure does makes me laugh A LOT though! Darren and I are polar opposites, but I guess it would be pretty boring around here if we weren't. I'll never know.

off to school

The boys started back to school a little over two weeks ago (August 19th to be exact). This has been the easiest transition back that we've ever experienced. I know it's early, but so far the boys are loving their teachers, excited about the friends in their classes and they come home happy every single day. It makes my heart happy to see my boys doing so well. I was especially concerned about Connor starting middle school this year, but he just loves it and seems to have made the adjustment flawlessly. Whew! Here are a few pics from the first day back...

I couldn't help but torture myself. I HAD to see how much the boys have changed since last year. They've changed A LOT. wow

The pic of Connor is the only one I got while actually at school. I love his face. He's like seriously mom? After I snapped this he was off and running to the middle school as quickly as he could! (Our Elementary school, middle school and high school are all in the same area which is so handy!)

Darren and I first took Coby to his class (not that he needed us to). We I insisted!

Then we were off to take the bug to his first day of Kindergarten (which was painless for me and him since I chose to send him just half day...first grade is the year that gets me with the kids. I hate sending them ALL day. Yes, I am THAT mom. :))

He did great. We barely even got a goodbye from him. He was too busy working!

Hooray for a wonderful first day of school and hopefully the beginning of the best school year so far!