Guilty

Here it is December 3rd and I am amazed at how quickly time has passed. I have been hounded by a couple of friends (you know who you are) about keeping up with my blog. My intentions are good, but I have failed. I haven't failed my followers, I've failed myself! With a sincere apology, I can forgive myself and move on and give this blog thing one more try!

Lots has happened in the last few months. I left off at Mallory's birthday. Then came Mason's Birthday, Number 4! He had Jedi-good time! We visited Mamaw and Papaw in Santa Clause Land in July and saw that there is really Christmas in July. In August, we went to Vevay for the annual Swiss Wine Festival, the house I was selling had an offer place on it and we found out we were expecting. I slept through much of September (first trimester, is all I need to say). I started to come out of the fog is October to celebrate Halloween with a Tinkerbell fairy and Darth Vader. November included a much enjoyed trip to St Louis (Chateau Lack has the finest accommodations) and we had a feast at home which included a substitution of cornish game hens instead of a turkey.

We are up to date and now we are 3 days into our Advent Calendar. We are counting down the days until Christmas and the days are filled with Advent stories, shopping, music (Mason loves the song Baby It's Cold Outside), decorations, chocolate covered anything, and many a threat that Santa will receive an email if You are naughty!! Toddlers are so much fun this time a year and I'm not being facicious!

Lazy!

Okay, as you can see I haven't blogged in months. No excuses, besides, potty training, work, marathon vomiting and diarrhea (the kids), crammed packed weekends and evenings, meetings, etc, etc, etc. I said no excuses. So, here I am again for a second attempt at blogging. I want to journal so badly. I think it will be so neat for the kids to read about all the madness of their childhood and so I can read back and remember! At our Mom's group today we talked about intentionally creating memories for our children and how we typically just live to get through the day! Boy, I know how that is. I desire so much to slow down and design my day instead of living through default. So, maybe I'm really not lazy, more just busy and time is slipping by. I know you can't stop time, but hopefully I can learn some tricks to savor what's here in the present!

We're BACK!

Yes, we have been back for awhile now, but it does take time to recover from a Disney trip. Well, maybe not a month, but whatever! Our trip was awesome, the kids ask frequently when we can go back and I dream about the same. We hit all the parks, including Sea World, so we have great memories and pictures to prove it! We ate with Cinderella, played games on the Boardwalk, enjoyed yummy muffins from the bakery, drank till we floated on soda, swam in the pool, rode rides (even the scary ones), hung out with our buddies, Liz, Joe, and Lauren, and sister Brenna, danced to the Chicken Dance in Germany, sat in awe at the Nemo musical, and basically just lived it up. It was wonderful! I've got a great many story so I'll start posting.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Disney World here we come! We are packing up and in one day we will be headed to Disney! This is one of my favorite places on Earth. The kids are getting excited and parents are too. I have the Disney Vacation Ultimate Packing List (Thanks, Liz) and I am 85% packed. Mason wants to ride the Captain Jack ride and he wants to hug Captain Hook (I don't know how that will be received!) Mallory wants to dine with the princesses. I do know that they will probably not remember this trip, being so young and all, but we will and the memories will live forever through me and the stories that will be told!

Trouble

Both kids got bad reports from Jamie today. Mallory ran with tinker toys and
Mason lied! Yes, my son lied. Something about a fishing pole getting tangle up, he didn't go into all the details. So tomorrow no taggie at Jamie's. This is bad news. He loves his taggies. Taggies on blankets, on pillows, on stuffed animals, on clothes. The bigger the better and they have to be the satiny kind or he doesn't waste his time. Tomorrow will probably be a tough day, but sometimes you have to pay the consequences. We'll see what trauma this causes!

Mother's Day

At the Thursday night church service, the pastor's sermon focused on mother's as we prepare for Mother's Day this Sunday. It was a great sermon, as always, I am taught something. Often, the sermons invoke many emotions and this one was no different. I got teary eyed when he spoke about being a parent and how it is the BEST job in the world. I reflected on how my mom was supportive (and still is), positive, involved, loving, and just the best mom anyone could have. I hope and pray that I can be all of those things for Mason and Mallory. Not only did I cry a bit, I also laughed. Actually, I laughed so hard I snorted. Pastor quoted a parent who said, "Being a parent is like being pecked by a duck 24 hours a day." I think I found that to be funny, because sometimes my patience wears thin after hearing my name repeated 50 trillion times a day (sometimes at 2 in the am), plus request after request for food, cartoons, water, cartoons, milk, chocolate milk, reading books, buttoning pants, wiping bottoms, on and on...that statement really describes how I feel at times. But even though I might feel like I am raising little ducks, I'm so proud to be the one chosen for this job, it is the BEST!

Craftsman

When we came home this evening, it was pouring down rain. Cats and dogs and we are supposed to get at least 2" in the next two days. Phil was cutting boards in the garage to begin the arduous process of building Mason and Mallory's swing set. Mason got a quick lesson on hammering nails in wood, moving boards, and drilling. Most of all, he got wet. I had told him when we got home to "Stay out of the rain, stay in the garage." Did he listen? Nope. Phil said when he checked on him, Mason had his head under the stream of water coming off the house (we don't have gutters.) Soaken wet. I guess that was his pre-bath before the real one this evening!

Huh?

Mallory has a ginormous vocabulary. She has for a long time now. She is able to communicate as well as Mason, who will be 4 in July. She definately lets us know what she wants and needs and sings and talks to anyone and everyone. We have people often comment on how much she talks and how well she talks and it is nice to get that complement, though I have to admit there is one thing I'd like to change...she has this terribly annoying habit of saying "Huh?" She says it when I am trying to explain something to her, like where Mason is or what we are having for supper. She clearly hears what I am saying, most of the time I am facing her, she still says "Huh?" and I fall into the trap of repeating what I just said and again she says "Huh?" Then I end up saying "MALLORY, STOP HUHING ME!" and she just giggles. I know too soon this phase will be over and we'll end up in the "Why?" phase.

Just hangin' out

The fam has just been recovering since the birthday extravaganza. Yesterday, we had pizza and popcorn and watched a Vegetail movie after a full day of playing outdoors. The weather is amazing in the 70s and I've noticed the spring plants and trees are loving it as much as we are! The tulips are lasting forever and the dogwood trees are so vibrant. God has painted a beautiful landscape for us to frolic! Today, it was back to the grind, but Phil nor I feel like our job is "the grind" truly. We are so fortunate to have a great employers and we really like what we do. The kids got to jump on a trampolene at their childcare provider, Jamie's. It must have worked Mallory's little legs out 'cause when I asked her to jump tonight, she actually acheived liftoff! I think it surprised her. It also must have not worked Mason out enough 'cause he has been out of bed 4 times just to "give us a hug." The last round was around ten and required a stern "I'll take your taggies away" and a loving "Love you , buddy" and 3 minutes of rocking. He hasn't been up since. I love the days when we just get to hang out.

Flirfday Flarty

Flirfday Flarty, otherwise known as a Birthday Party to a 2 year old. Today was Mallory's second birthday party and she took the cake (pun intended). She entertained 30 of our closest friends and family with her girly antics, like wearing green princess slippers, piggytails, and her cupcake birthday T. She sang and danced, she played in the water and sand, she ate chocolate cake and loved every minute of opening gifts which included barbies, babies, jewelry and make up. She is a very special Princess. Her big brother, Mason, was patient with gift opening and when it was done he enjoyed driving the barbie Malibu car and karate kicking the balloons. Both were dog tired at the end of the day and the only one fighting sleep was the now terrible two princess!