Forever Young

I look at you so many times and wish that you could stay young forever. It’s not really that I wish that you could stay this age. I want you to grow up and have new life experiences and I so look forward to the next funny or amazing thing you’ll do. You always astonish me with the things you come up with! No, it’s not that I don’t want you to grow up (even though the thought of you going on a date brings me to tears—I have time to work on that). It’s that I want you to always have these youthful qualities that are so wonderful. I hope you never lose your inquisitiveness, your wonder, your gleam in your eye, your ability to forgive in a matter of seconds, your capacity to love truly unconditionally and wholeheartedly, your I-can-do-anything attitude, the way you march to your own little beat. As I sit here stammering for words, someone has already written a song that says it better…

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift.

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be true
May you always see the truth
And the lights surrounding you.
May your heart always be joyful

And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young.

still sick

But my wonderfully sweet neighbor/super talented cook brought over a HUGE pot a chicken soup. My first thought when I saw that pot was it will take me 12 years to eat that much soup with the appetite I have these days. Luckily, it was just what the doctor ordered. I ate more of that soup than I have eaten in days!! Thank You, Melaine, you are too sweet!
Silver lining to being sick (as Heather puts it)...I now weigh what I did before I got pregnant with Bear! Although, I don't recall parts being this squishy back then. I guess that's where excercise would help. Maybe when I am feeling better...maybe.

PBK--on my soapbox!

Just got my new Pottery Barn Kids catalog and I must say I am not happy with the direction this is headed. This is not a slam just on Star Wars (ON THE COVER!), I guess it irks me the whole commercialization of our kids thing in general. Pottery Barn hadn't been that way in the past. I noticed it in the last catalog with the Batman, Spiderman, and Superman chairs which are back in this one-yuck.

I won't even go into the fact that our kids (or the kid on the Pottery Barn Kids cover) have problably never even seen the Star Wars movies nor the I will I address the ugliness of the sheets (IMO). I just get so tired of corporations marketing propaganda and advertising to kids to wear and play with and further advertize their lame product. It's weak. They know no right-minded adult would buy this crap, but maybe if a kid nags or throws a tantrum in a store, it will get the parent out of their right frame of mind just long enough to buy it. They think a parent can't resist the request of their child who sees the characters they see over and over again on TV, cups, t-shirts, etc...they must be cool, "I waaaant that!" they whine.


I have had enough! I will not give in to the propaganda. I know I have posted pics on this blog of my kids wearing PJs of certain characters. They were gifts and PJs, so I didn't think anyone would be seeing them. I am so disappointed in PBK. I hope this is all I see of this stuff from one of my favorite stores.


What I am gonna do the day when they want to be Elmo, or Spiderman for Halloween?

ETA: I had more to say. It's not like we don't pay enough for these movies at the theater AND they want US to pay for our KIDS to do their advertising for them?! I know this has been going on for a long time but I don't have to buy into it. Call me Charlie Brown, but I don't like it and I refuse to give in. If I wanted to to sell out my kids I would make some money off it myself and sell their names - you'd be reading a blog about 2 boys named Doritos and Red Bull...it gives you wings!

At least with little boys I always know exactly where I stand...

Right in the middle of a hurricane!












I have been siii-uck for the past 6 days! My mom went on a vacation, Cody went out of town on business...Luckily, Cody's mom's a.k.a. Superwoman came to help with the boys for as long as she could--THANK YOU!! When I was on my own with the boys and still feeling bad, this is what happened...nice. Who am I kidding? My house has looked worse when I haven't been sick!

Oh, I showed this picture to Barrett hoping to show him what a mess they made. I asked him, "Do you see anything wrong in this picture?" He studied it and said, "It's crooked!"
ooof!

A Day in the Life...in photos of course

After my last post about all the everyday moments being so precious, I decided to do a little project. This is it. Enjoy.


7:00am hour
Barrett woke up very happy because it was his first night with his new cars and trucks sheets--They FINALLY came! He keeps asking, "What tolor is that twuck? What tolor is that bus?"

When I walked into Kyle's room camera ready to capture him, this is what I caught! I'm so glad I had my camera. He did this yesterday too, but I didn't get my camera in time. He is wearing the puppy's (named Harley) motorcycle chaps with his Spidey PJs. Note: let's also call this the BEFORE hair photo.





8:00 am hour
Breakfast--They are eating zucchini bread mini muffins. They think it's a yummy breakfast, I think it's veggies gone in a flash! Kyle's eating is funny now...I'll work on it if he still eats like cro-magnon man in a couple years.

9:00 am hour
Time to care for the ducks. Kyle wants to help. Let me introduce you to the ducks (or reintroduce) they have been growing and going through a lot of changes so you might not recognize them. The one on the far left is Duck Duck. Don't call her ugly, she's just in an awkward stage. The dark one is Goose. I like to say that he is a duck named Goose who is a turkey (he gives me a hard time). And the big one is Goldie, the pigeon-toed duck--he he. Oh, we quack ourselves up around here! Kyle helped so much that I had to wash him down with a soapy washcloth and change his clothes. Wardrobe change #1 for Kyle!

10:00 am hour
Time for Kyle's first ever haircut. No tears were shed and Kyle did great too! He munched on raisins and marshmallows through the whole thing! He looks like a big little boy now.

He refused to wear the cape so when we got home, I had to change his clothes again. Wardrobe change #2

11:00 am hour
I needed to go to the mailbox so we took a little walk. It's almost a half a mile round trip. The return trip is uphill and against the wind and by this time one or both of the boys is in the stroller that I end up pushing up that hill. Note to Self: Efforts to wear out the kids so that they will take a good nap fail and often only exhaust me. Case in point, today, Barrett was literally running up the hill as I am panting and leaning almost horizontally to push the double stroller up the hill at a snails pace.



When we returned from our walk the boys played while I made lunch. This is a typical scene when Bear is playing cars---The Parking Lot









12:00 Noon
This was the boys' "dessert" after their lunch. I thought the grapes looked pretty in these bowls. And I love that my guys think fruit is dessert. We plan to keep that going as long as possible. Hopefully with a good foundation, they will continue to make good choices when they are older.






1:00 and 2:00 pm hours
Naptime--Quick! get my lunch, check email, work for as long as possible until somebody wakes up!During this naptime, I made and ate my lunch, responded to 3 emails, changed one dirty diaper, sang 4 rounds of Twinkle Little Star upon request, Proofed 1 photo, and installed my new and improved Photoshop. That doesn't seem like much. Bear didn't sleep long.








3:00 pm hour
I snuggled with Barrett in my bed after he got up from his nap. We watched Curious George (this was a sad part). It was so nice to have this still, quiet, together time.






4:00 pm hour
I needed to send a couple more emails, so Barrett went to work too.











Kyle's awake! Uh huh, I see him checking out those chaps again!











5:00 pm hour
My view as I am giving zurburts.











7:00 pm hour
Cody is out of town today and will return tomorrow. He usually says the meal-time prayer. Barrett said it in his place. Here's what he said, "Dear God, Thank you for the food. I not say Amen yet." He likes to wait until you're least expecting it and then say Amen and then act as if he didn't just randomly say Amen in the middle of dinner.

After dinner, the boys play in the tub and then head upstairs to get PJs on. I don't know why I love this sight so much. Can you hear the shrieking giggles?


A bear and a frog looking for bunny rabbits and cows.

Cody is out of town on business so I put the boys to bed on my own tonight. They get each other riled up. It must be almost like when my cousins and I shared a bed when I would visit when we were little. I know we would get all wound up. Barrett and Kyle are just sharing a bed for a bedtime story and can't sit still.













8:00 pm hour
The never-ending, pile of laundry. Let's see, Kyle went thru 3 outfits today alone and that's just one of us in one day! See that basket on the far left? That is the friendless sock basket! The Sock Monster here is viscious!