Breakfast With My Boys

I had to hurry and make note of this happy little occurrence. Read on...

Over a year ago I blogged about being alone at the breakfast table and enjoying it. Need a refresher, read here. This morning the complete opposite of last years post happened...I was actually able to have breakfast with J & C.

A lot has changed, and a lot has not, since last years post. The boys are older, one has an appetite that has outgrown him, and the other, well, C still eats no more than cereal, toast or pancakes for breakfast. This morning I had one request for scrambled eggs (oh yes, this has changed since last year, J now eats eggs but only scrambled) and one for pancakes. I went with the scrambled eggs. C opted for toast. Anyway, after the eggs were scrambled and sausage was done, I got everyone's plates and drinks on the table, prayers were said, it was time to eat. It wasn't until mid conversation about some wild man television show that I realized we were having breakfast together. My heart melted just a bit. I thanked God for this time with my boys and told myself I would do this again.

There are still mornings where the boys eat and are gone from the table before I can sit. I still enjoy those mornings where I am alone at the breakfast table but I much prefer the moments of sitting with them and talking about whatever. Looking across the table at their messy little faces and their almost still sleepy eyes is something I don't want to forget.

There Was A Challenge??

Ok so the mom challenge ended up a flop. While I did begin the challenge with good intentions, I just got too busy. Yes, too busy to stop and look at the 8x10 sheet that was posted on my refrigerator door. I'd glance at it while opening the fridge and say to myself, "Oh yeah, I need to focus on that today" but as soon as I'd walk away from fridge I'd forget. It came up on the end of May and I removed the pretty mom challenge sheet from my fridge. It ended up on my desk. Now is lost amongst the piles of unopened mail and junk on the floor surrounding my desk. Yes, I know I need to clean this area around my desk, but who has time for that?

The mom challenge was good. It reminded me to laugh with my boys, do something fun with them (no, we never did make it to Chuck E Cheese), and to have some patience. That patience thing is a toughie. I know I need to practice that without the reminder from a challenge. So now I am moving on to something else. What's that, you ask? It's nothing. I have no other challenge lined up, unless you consider every day parenting a challenge. Some days I do. My focus for the remainder of the summer is to have fun.

Let the fun begin!

On The Road Again

We are heading to Louisiana for some much needed family time. We haven't been to Louisiana for a visit since July. We are so looking forward to this trip. 

Bags are packed. The iPod and DS are charged. The boys and I are ready to hit the road. We've got just one hold up - Jason. Waiting on Jason to get home from work then we'll be on the road again. 

We'll be ringing in the New Year in Louisiana so I'll take this time to wish you and yours a Blessed and Happy New Year! 

Talk to ya in 2012! 

Merry Christmas

Today is my day of relaxation. Today is a work day for Jason. Today is a play with everything new day for the boys.

Yesterday was a wonderful day for our little family. Our day began really, really, really early. 4am early. Yes, 4 in the morning. Cole, who went to bed on Christmas Eve scared that Santa was going to come thru the window into his room, woke up at 3am once again scared that Santa was going to come into his room. Jason and I took turns getting up to comfort Cole and reassure him that Santa nor his elves would be coming into the bedroom. Side note: We recently seen the movie 'Arthur Christmas', and in this super cute movie Santa's elves do come thru windows and are in the child's bedroom. Cole remembered this. Cole went to bed Christmas Eve not wanting Santa to come to his house. What kid doesn't want Santa to come to their house?? My child. Ok, back to the story. Nothing was working to get Cole back to sleep. So after the thirtieth fourth or fifth time of getting out of bed and not getting any sleep, I had decided to put Cole in our bed just so we could all get some sleep. Well, sometime during the crying (Cole, not me) Jase woke up. He gets up to go potty. I instruct him to go right back to bed. As I am dealing with Cole, Jase finishes his business and wanders into the front room and yells "Santa came!" "Wake up, Santa came!" Cole stopped crying and ran to Jase. They run to the Christmas tree. Jason and I rub our eyes, find the camera, and look at the clock. It was 4am.

We opened presents, played with toys and tried to get some sleep. 6am was the last time I looked at the clock. Jason was snug in his recliner with Cole and I was on the couch with Jase. Jason & I were determined to get some sleep. We were successful for the most part. We woke at 10am. Time to start cooking.

4pm came and so did the first of our guests. Members of the crew and their families joined us for Christmas dinner. Ham and prime rib were on the menu along with delicious sides and scrumptious desserts. We filled our bellies and enjoyed each other's company. Good times were had.

Today the boys are not getting out of our pj's. Minimal cleaning will be done - it will be there waiting for me when I am ready to tackle it. I will relax and enjoy the day with my little men.

I leave you with some pictures of Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!

Writing his letter to Santa. 

Tracking Santa before bed.

Reading the story of Jesus' birth. 

Us in our comfy Christmas pj's.

Opening presents at 4 in the morning. 

November, Where did you go?

Oh my goodness...is it really December? Last time I checked we were trick or treating, eating pounds and pounds of Halloween candy, and talking about our trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. Well now here I am and November is just a memory.

The Oklahoma trip was great. Jason & Jase began the trip by getting an 8 point buck! I am not sure who was more excited about this...Jase or Jason...it's a toss up! On Sunday we attended church with mom. Always special going back to Spring Baptist especially when my husband is home to go with us. Thanksgiving day was wonderful. We spent the day at my mom's eating and visiting with family. My little family so enjoyed spending time with my cousins and their kids...it was a great day! Mom and I managed to do a little Black Friday shopping before meeting up with Uncle Dale & Heather at John 3:16 Mission in Tulsa to serve Thanksgiving dinner.

So that sums up our Thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma. Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I leave you with a photo of Jase and Jason's prize. Enjoy!

Mom-of-School-Age-Kid Blues

I have the up-and-go-to-Oklahoma-while-Jason-is-gone blues which makes for the Mom-of-school-age-kid blues. It ain't pretty

It has been 4 months since I've been in my home state with my people. It has been almost 3 months since I've gone anywhere. I am getting a little restless. Forget a little...I am a lot restless. With Jase in "real" school now, kindergarten not preschool, the boys and I can no longer come and go as I please. Nope, I actually have to stay home. I have to stay put. School is important after all, right?

I am so looking forward to one random day when school is out and Jason can have a day off from work so we can make a trip to Louisiana. And I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving break to when we make the drive up I-45 and across the Red River. In the mean time I will try and fight the urge to blow off a day or two of school and endure the wait until I can go home.

6 weeks. 6 weeks is going to take forever.  It's only 6 weeks.

Labor Day Project

Here is what this little family did on the last day of the holiday weekend...

This is what we started with - empty area of backyard, some lumber, and some dirt. Mission: construct a box garden.

My handy hubs sawed and nailed and hammered everything together. Our boys, along with the neighbor boys, helped to haul the dirt to the backyard. They LOVED mixing the dirt and garden soil together. What is it about boys and dirt?!

They had to make sure the two different kinds of dirt was mixed together just right.

Once the dirt was carefully prepared it was time to do some planting. We chose to plant cucumber, romaine lettuce, winter squash, and carrots. Also, tomato and four different kinds of pepper plants.

The finished product! Mission: Accomplished! This was a fun little family project. I loved watching Jason explain and show the boys what he was doing. The boys aren't so thrilled with the garden now that we are just waiting for something to grow. I hope they are excited when they get to pick their own cucumbers and carrots. I have prayed over our little garden - I pray we get to see the fruits of our enjoyable labor.