That Santa is a crafty, no - wily, no - devious dude

Aaaah, the perfect mix of FUN and WORK.

How long before they figure out the WORK part?

Midnight Scaring. (No, not the boys)

Okay, I can barely type for the giggling. It's probably one of those 'had to be there' moments, but it's just so stinkin' funny, I have to get it down. Let me set the stage:

The house is dark and everyone is tucked into their own beds. Considering the week we've had, that is a small miracle. Both boys have their humidifiers humming, and we haven't heard even a cough from them. Nice. Quite. We ALL were sound asleep as it approached midnight.

And. Then. Ryan and I both wake up at the same time. There is a sound drifting into our room that is reminiscent of a horror movie soundtrack. It sounds like a demented spirit is playing on a cheap children's piano, plunking out the saddest tune.

Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink-tink, tink

Now, let me insert here that Ryan has been known to jump out of bed and head down the hall when I INSIST that I heard a door close, heard someone walking in the hall, or I am sure someone just took the TV. No problem. Da-da-da ... Super Husband is on the way.

But...
A creepy noise.
He hesitated.
He was creeped out.

Tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink

"What is that?"
Me: "It's a Christmas Song."
"Where's it coming from?"
Me: "Daniel's alarm clock. Go pull the plug."

For the next half hour we (we meaning me alone while Ryan humors me) laughed nearly uncontrolled thinking these thoughts, repeated on a loop:

*Big bad Dad, afraid of a creepy song.
*WHO recorded that song?
*WHO agreed to put it on the radio? (Even in the middle of the night.)
*Will I ever enjoy O Little Town of Bethlehem again?
*Will I ever get out of my head: "Yet in thy dark street shineth, The everlasting Light"
(Insert your own plunking piano sound in your head!)

I finally kicked myself out of bed, bound for the living room to watch TV. Ryan has to be up early for work, and he's getting zero sleep with me erupting into a fit of giggles every few minutes. Like I said, you probably had to be there.

I really dislike winter

Croup.
Barking Cough.
Wheezing.
Sitting bundled in the cold looking at the stars.
"Whoop Tent."
(((yawn)))
It's gonna be a long night.

Thought this was a lesson already learned

"Who's turn is it to say the prayer?"
Daniel pushed his little hand high in the air and enthusiastically answered, "Me!"

He offers sweet and honest little prayers. He prays that Logan will be nice and Dad will be safe. He prays for what's on his mind. (Yes, at times it is interesting, and at times it is the adults in the room that are holding back the giggles.) On Sunday night, he offered a prayer that had Ryan and I tearing up.

"Thank you for our dog." (Oh man, we all miss her.)

"Please bless Cadi that she'll come home to us after her body is better." (Uh oh.)

Daniel tries to be Mr. Tough Guy. But, he prays for what's on his mind. He misses her, too. (Sigh.) It's been almost six months since Cadi got sick while Daniel was asleep and he didn't get to say goodbye to her. I thought we'd talked, and talked, and talked about what happened and that he understood. He's a deep thinker and asks a lot of questions .... I don't know where I went wrong with this one.


It makes me think again about maybe getting another dog.

Happy Halloween

Today was Trick-or-Treat at Dad's office day ... and Daniel's class party. Here's Logan, after all the festivities ... checking out the loot!

Here's Daniel's class ... look closely at at the back row - far left. (Daniel is middle row, on the right) But, back to the back row ... kid dressed like his dad ... his head is shaved on top ... holy cow it got a lot of laughs!

Here's a few pics from Ry's work this morning. All my boys all dressed up. Daniel is Anakin Skywalker, Logan is a polar bear, and Dad is Woody from Toy Story. (His whole department was Disney themed. Cracked me up!)

From the mouth of babes ... or a 5 year old

Overheard today in the car:

"Mom, if you spell PARK backwards, does that spell CRAP?" (K-R-A-P)

and not 5 minutes later ...

"Mom, if we used "Google Earth", could we see Heavenly Father?"

Hogle Zoo October 2009

Okay, so there isn't a giraffe, elephant or zebra in sight. The monkeys that I was taking pictures of weren't climbing trees or (ahem) grooming themselves. (Thank heavens!) Here's MY little monkeys enjoying their autumn afternoon at the zoo. Aunt Lissa wanted to see the new baby animals, and it was fun to see the baby elephant, baby giraffe and the snow leapord on circuit tv. We liked the (move-it-move-it) lemurs and I had a strange puppy-missing-urge to give the black bear a hug. It's a good thing he was on the other side of a fence and moat. (Sigh.) Here's the two cutest boys at the zoo that day!

You can't go to the zoo and not ride the train! Here's our crew waiting, somewhat patiently, for our turn.




Aaah, finally!


It seems like we have pictures of us little girls around this LION water fountain. (See, I did take pictures of a lion. haha) I wanted the pic of my boys by the lion. They weren't impressed, especially since I wouldn't let them actually drink from it. So, here it is. Mission accomplished. Sorta.

My Sweet Boys!

We're Not Complete

Daniel has always had a particular soft spot for our huge dog. If we are cuddled together, and she wasn't there, he'd say "We're not complete." He'd then call out for her to join us.

Well, now we're not complete. Last night Cadi started acting strange late in the evening. We knew something wasn't right, so Ryan took her to the "Doggie ER". When they did the xrays, they could confirm what we were dreading, but expecting. Bloat, Twisted Stomach ... bad news.

Ryan stayed with her while they put her to sleep.

My title there at the top says our family is us, the boys and our dog. That's what equals our family. Our house feels very empty today. Both literally and figuratively. She was just a big ball of fur and love! We miss her lots.

We're not complete.

JUMP ON IT!

Cousin Talon stayed with us for a few days. We love having him around! We decided to go to JUMP ON IT. The three of them had a great time!

Spring Cleaning at Grandma and Grandpa's

I didn't take a head-count, but there were dozens of us there to help with spring cleaning at grandma's and grandpa's. Inside there was a pantry makeover, and outside all over yard clean up. Throw in lunch and kids playing, and it was a very productive and fun day. Wow - what can happen when you all pitch in. I am going to post a few pics - post a comment below or email me if you want me to email all of them. Okay, I can't pick just a few ... so here's most. FINE Colleen, I cave to pressure! You'll find NO roller-pics here. It would take ages to narrate each photo ... but here's all the fun!

I'll add more over the next few days ... lots of them!

The faster I go the behind"er" I get

I'm having one of those days! Strike that, I am having one of those days, times ten.

I've tried all day for a productive day. The stars (or more aptly named LOGAN) are stacked against me. Grrrrrr. I love the little dude, but he's starting those terrible two's 6 months early.

You ask, "What could such an angelic looking child do?"

Here's the list:
He unfolded the stack of laundry when I went to answer the phone.
He scattered dog food.
When I opened the dishwasher to unload it, he'd turned it off - so they were dirty, with a sink full ready to go in.
He often, and notoriously undoes whatever straightening is accomplished. Blocks in the box ... now on the floor. Cars in the bucket ... scattered down the hall. Dish towels in the kitchen drawer ... around the kitchen.
All of the above is easily fixed, so I try to do it with a smile and move on with the day.

AND THEN ...
I tried to wash the car today. An exercise in futility! He was afraid of the power-washer. So, I ensconced him safely in the car, with the radio to do with as he pleased. He's usually quite content there for a few minutes. (My car washing skills are not extensive, so it was a relatively short amount of time.) I get back in to pull the car back in the garage ... and stuck in the steering wheel is a penny. Odd? Hhhmmmm. I look down to the ash tray for a small loot of coins that usually are found there. Curiously empty. Odd? Hhhmmmmm. As I swing around to line up the car ... NNNNNOOOOO!!!! He had pushed the contents of the ash tray INTO the steering wheel. Like, in the area that houses the airbag. What used to be pepsi money is now rattling around every time I turn the steering wheel. I can hardly wait to tell Ryan when he gets home ....

Goofy week with my boys

We have had a fun week - we spent Easter weekend with the family ... it was too cold for traditional Easter celebrations - but still had fun at a big family picnic at the park. Cadi's Easter surprise ...

It's been cold this week, so we have been entertaining ourselves indoors. We broke out the big ROKENBOK bucket ...

Daniel did his imitation of "Humpty Dumpty" and Logan did his imitation of Daniel, doing his imitation of "Humpty Dumpty" ....

And the SNOW was there when we woke up this morning. (April 16th! Really!!??!!)And this one ... just because he is so stinkin' cute!

Easter Eggs