He loves his boots, i love his belly. :)

The boys got new snow boots... I had planned to wrap them for Christmas and hope for snow... but, we're going to Sonoma and expecting rain, so I busted them out early! Matthew WOULD NOT take them off! He loves his boots! I just loved his little belly stickin out. ;)

My Boy, Being So Good!

I just had to share a moment of pure Joy that I had today, watching my boy. Joe was home sick from school today. I am a table leader at Mom2Mom at our church, and today was a meeting. I decided we'd go, but I'd bring him this DVD player and headphones to just chill out with me. He did SO GOOD. He sat at my table for a while first and had a snack with us. He did not interrupt anyone and he asked very nicely for the foods he wanted. Such a gentleman. Then, when it was time for the speaker, he went and sat nicely to watch his movie.  There are plenty of times when I want to pull my hair out with my boys, but today... my heart smiled at my good boy. My God has blessed me and I am one thankful Mama!

All Done! Now keep me AWAY from stores! lol

So, this year I got started early! I've actually been collecting things in a "gifts cabinet" on my desk. When I see a good deal, I snag it and stash it up there! This year, we are only buying gifts for the kids. It's a tough economy and all of us adults just love that we have each other and our health and we can spoil the kids a bit! I took this picture yesterday, when I said I was DONE... But, then the boys and I went to Walmart today... Uh Oh, I have a few more to wrap! ha ha ha  

Because Chris is my best friend.

Joe brought me a collection of "special things" and a card that he had written for his friend Chris. This "top sheet" on top of the box says, "I Luv U From Joe to Chris (we did a little bit of fixing on the writing).  He didn't have a top for the shoe box, so he taped together two pieces of paper.

This is the card inside. He got the coins and folded this "card" all up around the coins. Chris just had a "Mario Bro's" birthday party, so Joe drew him Mario... He wrote "Mareyo"... we had fixed that up a bit too.

Here is the contents of the box. =) Joe has wrapped this all up for me to bring to Shavonne, Chris's mom, when I see her tomorrow.

I just thought his little heart in wanting to share with his friend and creating the box was cute. =) This box has actually been Joe's "Treasure box" in his room for a long time now. So, the fact that he dumped out all of his treasures to put some in there for Chris is just extra sweet. =)

"May I, Could You?"

I'm trying to train the boys to say, "May I please" or "Could you please..." when they ask for something. Instead of, "I NEED CHOCOLATE MILK!" I like to hear, "Could you please get me some chocolate milk?"

Matthew gets them a little confused and keeps saying, "Mama, may I could you please get me...." I love it!

"I'm Just Petting Them."

Last night, I began the journey of wrapping Christmas presents. =) This morning, my office was adorned with 12 newly wrapped presents, some with my sons' names on them. Joe was not slow in figuring this out, and found himself drawn like a magnet to these beautiful blue boxes. I said, "Joe, please don't touch the presents." He says, "Oh, I'm not mama, I'm just petting them."

Family Night in Newport!

I just wanted to send some pictures from a fun Family night we had in Newport tonight! ;) The boys LOVED getting all bundled up in their snow jackets for the cold wind at the beach. Today was just one of those days, even with the hard spots in the middle, by the end of the day there was a happy sigh of a day well spent. =) Those are so special!

Waiting for Dada's Truck to get washed!

 On the Lifeguard tower... they felt so cool!

 Matthew was TIRED!! His little face was all smashed into the seat belt! So cute!

I love my family. I love the life God has blessed me with, challenges and all. Whenever I start to wonder how I am doing as a mom, I see my Jojo be kind to an old woman... or hold the door for a young lady. I know, there are areas where I fall short as a mom... But, they see love for others in Aaron and I, and that is one of the greatest things we can teach! I LOVED listening to my boys have a conversation with our waitress tonight. They were just so sweet and the woman walked away with a smile in her heart. We're doing something right! ;)  (don't ask me what went WRONG today! LOLOL)

Diary of a mom who just got pushed over the edge!

*sigh* Ok, so I have a frustrating tale to tell.  This moment got me so incredibly frustrated that I sat in thought of what would make me feel better. I prayed first, and then I continued in prayer in asking the Lord to forgive me for not sucking up his peace right now! lol I needed to vent. I tried to call my husband, he answered his phone while at work (shock of all shocks really, typically he can't)... BUT, he couldn't hear me. Yeah Lord, still not grabbing hold of that peace! lol Tried to call a friend, no answer.

It starts on the drive home. We had been staying at my in-laws for the past couple of days while our house got fumigated because of termites. My in-laws kept the boys for me today and went to have some fun with them. Aaron went to work, and I got in the car to come back to our house and start putting away all the things we had to pack up. The fumigation company was supposed to call me as soon as the "All Clear" notice went on our door, so I could be here for the gas company to turn on our gas.

On the way home, I realize one of my earing had fallen out somewhere. They aren't super nice earings, and I don't think they even cost that much... but, they are the earings I bought just over 7 years ago for a bridesmaid present for one of my girls. They've always been special and now one of them is gone. I accepted it, moved on, and was ready to get to work in my house.

I get to my door and there is the "All Clear" sign...but I hadn't been called. The man who set up the fumigation said he thought it would be between 2-5, so I showed up at 2 just to be safe. Well, there was another note, one from the gas company. It said, "We came at 10:55 and missed you, please call to reschedule." Me, being the usually positive person that I am... Thought I could call right up and have someone head on over here.

No such luck.

I get a lady who says the very next time they could be here is "Sometime Monday." SOMETIME MONDAY??? I told her, "Ok, wait a minute, I have two small children to take care of and you want me to go 2.5 days with no gas?... No baths?... No cooking???"  She said there was absolutely nothing she could do.

*tears began to fall*

You see, for me, uncontrollable tears fall when I'm overly frustrated. THIS IS NOT OK, is what I felt. THERE HAS TO BE AN ANSWER!

There's no answer.

My husband is working very hard today, he'll get home in the middle of the night covered in sweat... no hot water. THAT IS NOT OK.

See, overly frustrated tears are falling down my face again.  I know "sometime Monday" will come and we'll live until it does... I know the gas will eventually get turned on, but IT'S THE POINT... Who leaves someone with two small children high and dry for 2.5 days?

Thanks fumigation company, for not seeing it important enough to make that call that was highlighted and in big letters on your order form. I hope you enjoy your shower tonight. Oh, and don't worry about all the cabinets and drawers you left open, I'll get those for you.

I'm sorry to all you sweet people who get this blog automatically... but, I also thank you for allowing me to feel like I shared my frustration. Now... whether I like it or not, I have to get this house ready for my sons and my husband to come home tonight. Hmmm, I bet the boys would find it funny for me to microwave water for their bath! Ha ha ha

Ok Lord, I'm starting to feel that peace... Now for Joy... let's work on that one! ;)

This was our fridge... with everything packed up for the fumigation. I put all the freezer stuff in the garage freezer. SOOO not fun!

So Excited for Matching Underpants! The same size too! ;)

They were SO HAPPY to be underpants twins for naptime today. I just had to grab a quick pic!

I heard, ‘Hit her, hit her, kill.”

The boys and I had an adventure to the McD’s playground today. I gave them the normal warning, “You will be kind while you are playing, or we will leave!”  I laughed at how many moms of two boys there were in that playground today. I knew they understood my boys’ energy AND noise level!

Of course, a bunch of the boys got into pretend fighting. I don’t really care for that, but I also know it is a normal part of development.  UNTIL there were girls, and girls who did NOT like the fighting (of course). I was sitting next to a few grandma’s who were friends and brought their granddaughters together. I heard the one grandma say, “Who was beating you up, you show me and I’ll take care of THEM!” Luckily, she had a great sense of humor and didn’t intend on any bodily harm to young boys! Ha ha ha

Then it happened. The girl went back up to play and I hear my son, “Hit her, Hit her, Kill!”… Before I could even think, my mouth was open and the oh so familiar sound of, “JOE!!!” came out.  To this moment, Joe PROMISES he did not say “kill”… but, he can not deny “hit her.” I firmly believe what I heard and there is NO WAY I was gonna let it fly.

So, as I had Joe sit down next to me to get his shoes back on, the little girl came back down to her grandma. She was explaining that the boy was beating her up again (I have to add, none of the boys ever touched her, but I just don’t like that play!)… The grandma, once again said, “Show me who he is, I’ll take care of him!”… Joe heard her and slumped down in the corner behind me to hide!

So, I tapped on the grandma’s arm and nudged in Joe’s direction to show her that he was hiding. All the grandma’s got a kick out of that and the woman started to say, “You show me, find him, I’ll tear him limb from limb!” I LOVED THAT. Joe was scared half to death, until Matthew walked up. Joe jumped up real quick and said, “There’s the boy who hit her!”  *insert a hearty laugh, and a deep sigh of an enjoyed moment!*

Boys…. But, more specific… JOE!!!!