Thankful for my Appendectomy...

We are just past the month where everyone is posting things they are thankful for... but, this morning, I found a new thing to be thankful for.

On the way to school, Matthew asked me: Mama, did it hurt when the Dr's cut us out of you?" I responded, "They give me medicine so it doesn't hurt." He said, "Well, do you have a scar?"

THIS is the instant I became thankful for my Appendectomy way back when I was a child... I responded, "Yes, I have a scar on my tummy!" (ha ha ha)

So, after school today, they want to see the scar from when they came out... and I'm pretty sure I'll show them and roll with that as long as it'll carry me! Ha ha ha

Oh the joys of being a Mom!

Joe's Birthday Card For Me...

While deep in a dream early this morning, I felt a poking at my side. Then a little voice, "Mama, Mama, Mama." I opened my eyes to find Joe at 6:01am. "Hey Mama, I have an early birthday present for you, but you'll need a light to see it." I picked up my cell phone and shined the light to see a card he had made me... SO cute! 

The Front... with a "..." in place of the "Y" in Birthday.

There's that "Y!" <3 (Not really sure what the rest is, but there's something about a Mansion and Gravity Falls...which is a show he's into right now)

The Inside.

The inside says, "Happy Birth Day. from Joe to Mama. I wish you a happy birth day from north and south Amarica from all the world and my <3." 

HOW CUTE IS THAT!?!?! :) It's Thankgiving time, so he's been learning more about how America was formed etc etc... He brought his learning all the way into my card. I LOVE it!

A little while later, when I was actually up, he said, "I probably should have waited to give that to you until tomorrow." I said, "That's ok, I have a hard time holding on to gifts when I have them too... I just want to give them to the person." He says, "Well, your birthday IS tomorrow anyway." lol He's my boys!

His First Mole

You know you are a mom of a country boy when he walks in excited to tell you,"I caught my first mole!"

UPDATE: I got a txt from my dad telling me: "Matthew brought the mole in here and showed it to me and had me pet it. He said Chocolate and him found it. I told him to put it way out in the field so it would be safe and he said he couldn't because it was Chocolate's dinner." 

Ha ha ha... My hilarious boy.

Halloween Fun

It's that time of year again... when the boys want to get dressed up crazy and do their best to accumulate the most candy... Here are some photos from our day... They started dressed up at school... Then, we met up with the Danners, Lilli's boyfriend Jake, Uncle Ricky and Grandma & Pop to walk around a really pretty neighborhood in Sonoma.

Matthew & Justin...

I found myself sheepishly grinning at my little ninja with the phone up to his hear. Matthew and his friend Justin have started calling each other. They have talked every day for the past 3 days. Today, I answered the phone and hear, "Hello Matthew!" I said, "I'm not Matthew!" He says, "Oh, it's ME again!" Sooo Cute! He is the sweetest little guy, and I just love watching Matthew enjoy time with his buddy. 

Today, I had to go hunt down Matthew outside, because he was testing out his Halloween Ninja costume! He stood there swinging his nun-chucks while talkin to his buddy. <3

Matthew's Drive Thoughts....

 Our drives to school are some of my absolute favorite times (when it's not full of fighting! lol).... This morning was no exception....

As we were making the left hand turn at the fire station close to our house, Matthew saw about 20 cars in line at the red light. He sat up in his chair and pointed at them and exclaimed, "Now THAT is traffic!" (I'm laughing again as I type)... I'm pretty sure he forgets about Southern CA living! ha ha It was the sweetest little innocent fascination.

About 5 minutes later, the fascination moved in another direction... space. The boys were talking about needing to go potty in space, and Joe told Matthew they go potty in a tube that goes to a bag and then they let it go into space. Matthew said, "if somebody in space saw pee floating after they let it go, they could think if was jello and want to eat it... but if they took their helmet off, they would die before they make that mistake!"

It is certain, I am a mom of boys! I started this blog so long ago to remember all the funny little things they do... it is more certain that there is no way this blog could contain them all! In my "what if we won the lottery" thought process... I'm thinkin I'd hire a personal assistant just to be with me so I can say, "Write that one down!" ha ha I LOVE picking up my yearly blog book and flipping through things from years ago that I have since forgotten about!

On to our next adventure!!....

Bear Wrangling

The boys and I had some fun looking through old pictures today. This one caught my attention. I didn't know, at that point in his life... this boy is meant to wrangle bears. Hopefully not quite literally, but God has given him a will and personality that can (and I believe will) move mountains. It's tough for the young ones with so much inside of them, to know how to handle it... so, for now, sometimes his "bear" is just himself and he has to learn how to wrangle it and teach it control. 

Our Rainy Day

The boys and I have had a few tough days lately, for various reasons... which will remain nameless. lol  I heard the weather called for rain, and I was praying it would bring a calm to our property and a relaxing day. I was thankful to have nothing on the schedule, that's for sure.

The weatherman was right, it's raining... right now, it's raining HARD. It was just 90 degrees, so this is hard to believe actually.

The morning started out similar to others. About 6:20am, I heard the front door slam, and then Joe as he came running into my room with panic in his voice. He said, "Mama, I was out letting the cats out and I saw a coyote and he was going like this *insert heavy breathing here*, and HE CHASED ME!"  (Now, I don't know about you, but I'm thinkin... coyotes run away from people.) :) I told him to stay in the house, and the coyote can't get him! I wasn't ready to get up yet!

Later, as the rain picked up again, and the boys were playing Wii, Joe asked if he could go outside in the rain. My first response was, "No, not right now." When he asked again 5 minutes later, I thought "eh, why not?"... He asked if he could get his water clothes on and go run around outside. I said, "Sure."

So, as Matthew was snuggled up with "Boots" the cat, watching a movie in the warm house... Joe was running circles around our house enjoying the rain.

My instructions to Joe were, "When you're ready to be done, please do not come in the house... just let me know when you're ready and I'll help you come in!" :) We have a back door that opens to a tile floor, very close to the bathroom!  So, 5 minutes in, he came back for his rain coat... about an hour later, he was done. We got him in a hot bath to warm up that little body, where he spent another peaceful hour. :) My boy loves water.

When they were all dry and warm again, I made us toast with Nutella on it. I handed Matthew his piece and he said, "Oh, this is hot bread.... Hey, it's hot chocolate bread!" :) His little thoughts crack me up.

We're all back to playing Wii and enjoying the sound of the rain pouring in from the open front door. When Joe decided to come in, the rain had let up almost completely... so, he was a little bummed to hear it pick up stronger than ever! Thankfully, he didn't want to go back out! Ha ha ha

I love rainy days... I love my boys... and I love that everyone is made perfectly in their own way.

1st Day of School 2013

I haven't been posting as regularly as I used to... I wanted to catch up a bit. :) Here are some shots from their first day of school! Matthew was excited, Joe.... not so much. You'll see that on his face in his new classroom. I did not get a photo of him with his teacher, but I'll throw in the one I took of her! When I dropped them off that first day, I left and I prayed all day. I prayed for peace for both of them, for a brave heart and for joy. I asked the Lord to please help me have two happy boys when I picked them up! Praise the Lord, after that first day, Joe ran up to me saying, "3rd grade is BETTER than Kindergarten!!" (he thought kindergarten was easy and fun). Matthew struggled in the first week with crying as I dropped him off. He was fine the first day, but then the next day a girl absolutely screamed and clung to her mom and it freaked Matthew out! Poor guy. I spent the first two weeks walking him to his class and standing in line with him to go in... Now, I can drop them both off at the circle. :) Matthew is proud that he's not crying anymore.

Giving "Chocolate" some morning love.

"Boots" needed some too.

There's a cool, tree covered, path to Joe's class.

Mrs. Haber.

Mr. Happy.... um, not.

Mrs. Katzel

Hot Air Balloon Adventure!

This morning, before school, Joe noticed some hot air balloons in the distance... He watched them for quite a while, until it was time to go. On the way to school, I noticed that if I took a longer route to school, we could probably be very close to them... We had built in some "play before school" time at the playground, so we used it for this instead! SO fun to make these kind of memories that they will never forget! ♥ Adventures!

The view from our house.

I stopped when I saw an opening to get them a shot!

Then we realized we could get RIGHT up to them!

Joe picked up the stick. I asked him to put it down, he said, "Mama, it's a souvenir!" lol

Such a fun adventure. <3