Bring on the New Year

I am ready to begin 2010. So many things to look forward to...

* Jase's 4th birthday
* Jason and I celebrate 7 years of wedded chaos, I mean bliss ;)
* Jason's 27th birthday
* Cole's 2nd birthday
* My one year closer to 30 birthday

Oh, did I mention that by ringing in 2010 means we will only have one year left in New York...ONE YEAR (in my most annoying Monica voice ever!)!! Let the countdown begin!

We wish you all a very safe, blessed New Year

Another Christmas Eve Clip

Here is yet another clip taken from Christmas Eve night. Cole opened the first of a couple Tonka trucks...he really loves his trucks!





In this clip, I am trying to get Jase's Bumblebee Transformer costume open for him, thus the reason for me biting at the costume and cardboard it is attached to. Darn those little plastic things! I should have gotten my lazy self up and found some scissors...might have made things go a little easier and faster!

Christmas Eve '09

We celebrated this years Christmas Eve by going to candlelit church services at our church. Before going to church we let the boys open up a couple presents. The boys were so excited to open the presents...Cole even attempted to open a few before it was time! (i said that i wasn't going to put any presents under the tree before Christmas Eve but i couldn't resist!)






I'll post other video clips over the next couple days...stay tuned!

Santa Pic '09

We ventured out to the mall to visit Jolly Ol St. Nick so the boys could tell him what they wanted for Christmas. As we were waiting in line, both boys were extremely excited to see Santa. But once it was our turn Cole was not having anything to do with Santa. I took the bink out of Cole's mouth which was my biggest mistake but I did not want the Santa picture with a bink in Cole's mouth. So anyway, I had to hold Cole while sitting on the arm of the chair. The story unfolds in the pictures below.

This is excitement to see Santa!

This is after the tears and squirming down.

And finally, the finished picture...

Santa's helpers did a good job at cropping me out of the picture.

Jase told Santa he wanted a train set. However, Santa was prepared to give Jase a Transformer because that was what Jase had initially asked for. But after Wednesday's visit Santa had to hurry and construct a train set. Phew! Jase spoke on Cole's behalf and told Santa Cole wanted Tonka trucks. Thankfully, Santa did not have to hurry out and track down, I mean put together Tonka trucks! Santa is glad that Cole did not change his mind!

We can't wait to see their cute little faces on Christmas morning!

School Pictures...Revealed

Prepare yourself for all the cuteness! ;)

'09-'10 Preschool year.

Lights On...Lights Off...

My laundry basket went missing the other day. I tracked it down in Cole's room. I guess he wanted his bedroom light on!

He has the look of determination on his face!

How can I get mad at this cute lil face for climbing?!

He was telling me he "light off"!

Speaking of lights being turned on and off...Jase was sent home with a note stating that he got into trouble for turning the lights on and off at school. He and another little boy were given a time out for turning the lights off. I had to have a talk with him about playing with the lights. Perhaps I should put a stop to Cole's playing with the light switches or a time out in preschool will be in his future. Hmm...

A Christmas Ornament Casualty

I was in the kitchen preparing lunch when I heard, "Mommmm, Cole did it." I quick put down the hot pan of chicken nuggets (healthy meal, I know!) and ran into the living room. Cole had managed to find and reach a ball off the Christmas tree. We recently re-rearranged all ornaments so that there were none within Cole's reach. Guess we missed one!

You can from the reflection of the ball that I tried to get all fancy with my photography! The kids were wondering what the heck I was doing and why wasn't I cleaning up Cole's mess! I entertained myself with taking pictures of the broken ball for a few minutes. Oh, Cole was fine. The shattered ball did not cut his hand. Thankfully.

So now this is the Jarrell family tree and all it's glory. There are, for sure, no more ornaments within Cole's reach. That hasn't kept him away from the tree though. A random ball, think football or soccer ball, will get thrown at the tree. I'm just hoping that this new, pre-lit, expensive, tree will make it through to Christmas. Santa will be collecting his milk and cookies by a Christmas tree that can very well report abuse!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

The Decorating of the Tree

We did not travel far for Thanksgiving this year...we took a short walk across the street to our CG friends' house and had dinner with them. It was a delish meal! We weren't expected for dinner until 3pm on Thanksgiving day so we took advantage of the time with nothing to do and put up the Christmas tree. (what the heck was i thinking??)

We got into the spirit by cranking up the Christmas music and we (the boys & I) did some dancing around to Jingle Bell Rock! **I think back to the days when I didn't like to listen to Christmas music...oh, the many ways becoming a mom has changed me!**

The boys had fun putting the ornaments on the tree and couldn't wait for me to get them out of the box. As quick as I got an ornament out of its box it was getting snatched out of my hand! Thankfully Jason was manning the tree and directing (as best he could!) where the ornaments should go. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the tree as soon as the ornaments were on because most of the ornaments were on the bottom of the tree! Needless to say, some rearranging had to be done!

Jase putting his 1st Christmas ornament on the tree.

Cole putting his 1st Christmas ornament on the tree.

The boys hard at work decorating the tree!


This kid was working and moving as fast as his little legs and hands would move!

The finished product...after the rearranging!

This was the first of many years to come of the boys decorating the tree and they enjoyed every minute of helping! Now, we just keep our fingers crossed that nothing gets broken.

Cole and the Potato

We recently made the decision to take down the gate that kept the boys out of the kitchen. Jason and I child proofed the kitchen and now the boys can go in and out of the kitchen. Mostly, they go in and not out. This morning Cole was playing in the kitchen and came walking out with a 5lb bag of potatoes. The package was closed so I was worried that he'd get the bag open. Uh, yeah, I was wrong! Cole managed to tear the plastic and get a potato out. I had to run and get my camera before I missed anything with Cole and the potatoes!

Cole is my boy that gets into everything...he keeps me on my toes! But darn it, isn't he cute??!!

My 1st Answered Prayer Grows

I couldn't think of what to title this post. I first thought of "The Countdown Begins" but then decided to save that title for when we officially know when we'll be transferring out of New York. Although the countdown for that began the day that we arrived here so I don't know that that will be a good title for that post or not. Hello, Crissy, back to the reason you are posting in the first place.

Ok, anyway, Jase will be 4 in two months. In the past couple months I've really realized just how fast time flies. Nothing makes the time flying by more visible than having a child in school. Don't get me wrong, those first milestones of first steps, first tooth, and no more bottle are huge and makes you aware of how fast your child is growing. But nothing (so far) has made me ache with excitement and a little sadness more than preparing a lunch and picking up and dropping off my first born at preschool. I really want time to stand still, if only for a moment, so that I can truly grasp this time in his (and my) life.

Jase has recently learned to ride his bicycle. Yes, it has training wheels and I secretly hope they never come off. I have a small heart attack every time he rounds the circle at what seems like 100 mph. All fear aside, I love to see his face as he makes the circle and peddles with all his might to get back up the hill.

Here's where my heart stops a little.

Here's the face of determination.

Our Bug is growing much too fast for me to handle at the moment. Thank goodness I have Cole (my 2nd answered prayer) to keep me busy and school to distract me!

Who needs toys?

The boys have a room full of toys. Toys that range from Nerf guns, baseballs, Hot Wheels, puzzles, books, and anything in between. The other day they created their own toy out of the empty Snack Pack box. They had so much fun with this empty box. Cole laughed so hard when Jase was pushing him around the house in that box. Jase laughed just as hard! Amazing how much fun brothers can have with an empty box!

Don't need toys when we've got an empty Snack Pack box lying around!

Cole had fun just sitting the box!

Even got a little mad when Jase tried to put his feet in!

I've witnessed the boys play with empty boxes before but never one this small. So knowing the kind of fun created out of this little box...I know exactly what they are getting for Christmas!!!

Community Service

For those of you who might not know, I am a member of Sector New York's Spouses' Club. Under the actual club there are little sub-clubs; I am a member of some of these sub-clubs.

Ok, I told you that to tell you this. The Spouses' Club prepares food every month for Project Hospitality. In addition to almost all the spouse's preparing food, a couple of the spouse's will volunteer her time to drop off the food and stay to serve. This month, my friend and fellow CG spouse Brie and I volunteered to drop off and serve. I admit that I was nervous. I had never done anything like this before. I really had no idea what to expect. But I kept an open mind, did not back out, and donned a hair net!

What an experience! All we did was place a spoonful of each dish on a paper plate and the nice lady working in the kitchen handed the food over. But to hear the hungry say "thank you" and "this looks good" was an eye opener for me. This is a real situation that happens every day. This being people going hungry.

I'm not going to go off on a tangent on how we all should do our part to help those less fortunate but like I said this was an eye opener for me. I walked away from this experience wanting to do more. I want Jason and I to feed and serve here in the future.

This was my first ever community service experience. This will not be my last.

Parent/Teacher Conference #1

Jason and I reached one of our first milestones as parents this week...we went to our first ever parent/teacher conference! I say this with excitement because the conference went good and we walked away with ideas on how to better help Jase (or not help) with his homework.

We were pleased to hear that Jase cooperates with his classmates and listens to his teacher(s). We did learn of small "problem" regarding his writing, coloring, and using scissors. I say "problem" loosely because he can do all these things but he hasn't quite mastered the motor skill to do these things for a longer period of time. According to his teacher, "he has the want to, just gets tired after a while." Thankfully, his teacher has pointed us in the right direction to help him better learn how to hold and use a pencil and scissors.

So we are doing crafts and buying toys (educational) that will help Jase keep moving along in preschool. When all is said and done, Jase is going to have no problem holding and using a pencil. And me, well I'm going to be the most crafty mom on the hill!

Our first p/t conference was a success. I hope that the conferences over the next 14 years will be as useful and productive and consist of the teacher telling us that Jase is a good student.

Now, if only I could figure out how to get Jase to be that "cooperative, good boy" as home as he is not school. Hmm....!

School Pictures

Today is picture day at Jase's school. Jase had his hair "did" yesterday and we practiced our smile this morning! I'm a little anxious to see what smile he decides to smile...

He kept telling me he was going to do his silly face!

I'm hoping he smiles this nice, sweet smile!

For the sake of the amount of the check I wrote this morning, I hope we get the cutest preschool picture ever!

I leave you with picture of my little devils! It hurts to see all the cuteness in this one picture! (yes, i am a proud mommy!) The bink that Cole always has in his mouth reminds me with every picture that we have got to get rid of that thing. That drama will be a whole other post, I know it!



And finally, my big boy. He's growing up too fast and he reminds me daily just how fast time is flying. I sometimes wish that I could slow down time. Just sometimes and on certain days!

School pictures will be posted as fast as I can get them! Stay tuned...

Mom's Day Out!

I had the opportunity to take in another Broadway show!! This time I took a stroll down No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane with Mary Poppins! I went with my good friend Lisa and her girls. I had a great time with the girls and came home singing "Practically Perfect" and "Supercalafraga....dioucs"! The Broadway shows are one of the best perks I love about living in NYC!

Can't wait until the next show!

Happy Halloween!

The boys did some trick or treating and mom and dad have had the pleasure of eating all the treats! So much so that mom is now in need of a trip to the dentist! Hey, better mom than the two little monkeys!

On an exciting note...2 Halloween's down, 1 more to go until we ship out of NY!!

Jase update

Starting next week Jase will be attending preschool ALL DAY! He'll still only be going two days a week but he'll be going ALL DAY! (are you picking up on my excitement??!!!)

I wasn't sure if I was totally ready to make this change, but his teacher assures me that Jase is "mature enough" and "will do fine"...I hope she's right!

He's got his sleeping bag ready (for naptime), his lunch box ready for those pb & j's he loves, and he's ready to be a full day preschooler!

9:15-2:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays will not be the same for Cole and me. I'm wondering what we will do with ourselves?!

His mugshot that is hanging on the wall at school!

A Solo Trip to Oklahoma

This mommy was long overdue for some rest and relaxation, so what better time to plan a getaway than do so and surprise someone for their 30th birthday?!

I've been thinking of a little time to myself for a while. Please understand that while I would love to have my husband get away with me, it's just not really happening any time soon. Not unless we fly grandma's up to NY or we all fly to grandma's and then Jason and I go our own way. One day the latter will happen, believe me! Anyway, back to the surprise! Brigid, my cousin, was turning 30 and I had the opportunity to fly home (Oklahoma) to be there for her birthday. So I kept my homecoming a secret from her, which killed my by the way! Only, her hubs, my mom, and sister knew of the plan. It was so hard to keep this secret from Brigid, as we talk just about everyday and about everything. But the secret was kept and she was surprised when she arrived at my mom's for cake and I walked out of the kitchen!

She was excited and kept asking me what was I doing here?! It was great!

Happy 30th B!

A picture in our family is not complete without someone doing something silly. Still not sure what Mike was up to here!

I leave you with a picture of me and my life lines...my mom and my little sister. While I am missing my boys (all 3 of them!) terribly being here with my mom and sister makes it easier. I love them and the quite time I am getting to spend with them...despite the hourly reminders I am getting from my mom on how I should have brought the boys!

Birthday Cake and NY's Bravest!

The boys were invited to a birthday party last weekend where they had tons of fun playing, eating pizza and birthday cake! However, the highlight of the party was the arrival of NYC Fire Engine (i think it was an engine and not a ladder...hope i'm right!) 161 and the firefighters! The kids got to sit in the truck and try on a real firefighter's hat! The kids loved it and Jase thought the truck and the firefighters were the coolest!

The boys exploring the inside of the firetruck!

Jase's turn wearing the hat! He thought this was the greatest!

Cole in the firefighter's hat and a great picture of daddy!!! ;)

The firefighter's were nice and full of information. The dad's had a great time talking to the firefighters and the mom's, well the mom's had a great time admiring the NYC firefighters!! This was a great birthday party and the boys loved every minute of it! Now, I've got to start planning Jase's birthday...which will be here before I know it!

Homework Time!

Jase brought home his first homework assignment last week. He had to practice writing the letters: I, i, J, j, and the number 1 (or was it l...i'm not sure!). He was super excited to get down to business but it didn't take long before we heard "I'm tired of this already!" All in all our first night of homework went down as a success! Looking forward to many, many more nights of homework...that is until it becomes more than I or dad can understand!!

Perfecting the perfect "i"!

He's our little blue eyed Indian boy!

Dad overseeing the work while I take the pics!

Walk for Life!

Our family participated in a cause we believe in...we walked for life! We helped the Crisis Pregnancy Center of NY raise a little money and walked 2 miles. The walk took place on the South Beach boardwalk, which means it was windy and cold. I didn't dress the boys properly for the beach front but we managed to keep them warm thanks to a friend lending us a blanket for Cole and Jase wearing my jacket and his Walk for Life t-shirt! Thankfully, once we started walking we warmed up!

Jase sporting his Walk for Life gear!

There we are walking for life with many others!

Me and Jase after the walk. Jase is enjoying a donut...he worked up an appetite!

It was a good morning!