Christmas 2008

Christmas is a day of miracles. Last night 8 more inches of snow was added to our existing few feet. A winter wonderland for sure! Needless to say, we did not venture out on the roads to go to church. Instead, we stayed home and read the Christmas story and the boys filled in parts where we stopped. We had cake to celebrate "Jesus' birthday" at Connor's request. We listened to Christmas music and enjoyed a nice dinner together with our friend Heidi. We also taped the boys getting in their PJ's and singing which I will post. We thought it was such a relaxing night! Then came bedtime....Connor's tummy hurt and he couldn't sleep. Owen couldn't stop fidgeting and moving all around his bed. They were a little too excited. This morning the boys were awake around 6:30, their normal time. We got up and found them both under the covers of Connor's bed just giggling. Apparently, Connor was so worried that since Owen wouldn't go to sleep last night, Santa may not have come so he had already come down to investigate and found carrots nibbled on, cookies eaten, and an empty glass of milk. He was reporting his findings to his brother. We all raced downstairs to see what was happening and they were sooo amazed by all of the presents. Connor raced through his presents and Owen took a little more time. Scott and I didn't get a chance to open any of ours until theirs were all out of their boxes. (The people who package toys are psychotic!) They have played all day long. Scott spent much of the day, bless his heart, constructing a marble maze with Connor that had like 500 pieces. He looked like he enjoyed it as much as Connor! These boys continue to be our miracle and their love and good nature (even when they are avoiding sleep) amaze us each day. We know we don't get to spend these holidays with our families since we live all the way out here, but we hope they know how much we love them and how much a part of our life and traditions they are! Blessings to all and Merry Christmas!

Election Day 2008

Today was an interesting day listening to the perspectives of 12 year olds. They have such strong opinions with very little to back them up. Hopefully in their next 6 years, they will back their voice with reason! The election results were just announced and now we wait to see what the next four years have in store for us.

On a more personal note, tonight was a fun night with our boys. Connor spent 1/2 hour in the bath using his foam letters to spell words. I am in awe of his developing reading and writing skills. He is thriving!!! Owen surprised us with a cute rendition of the MSU Fight Song. (see video clip below!) These boys are incredible! We are just so lucky and I count my blessings each and every day!

Ladybugs

OK...we are trying to be a little more "green" around our house. We have changed out our lightbulbs. My dad doesn't like those swirly ones but we use them anyway. We recycle more and are careful about the amount of trash we create. We are trying to use less chemicals. My roses had aphids and we had many spiders. I had read or seen somewhere that live ladybugs take care of this problem for you. So one day last week, Connor, Owen, and I went to the Spokane Lawn and Feed Store and bought live ladybugs to release in our yard. It was amazing. The boys loved it! We released one bag (approximately 1500 ladybugs) around our yard in areas where there were aphids and spider mites. The boys helped and carried ladybugs around with them. They were in awe. The good news is I don't have any more aphids. I don't, however, see many ladybugs either. I'm hoping they are still working!

Our Latest Visitors

The weekend after school was out, we were blessed to have Scott's Aunt Sally and Grandma Anderson fly all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina to see us. (Well, really to see the boys!) We had a nice time with good conversation, lots of time to read and enjoy the sunshine while the boys napped, and of course time to enjoy those 2 special boys! We went to dinner in Coeur D'Alene and thoroughly enjoyed each other! Here are a couple pics with the boys.

Owen

Owen is such an amazing child! He keeps us on his toes with his outright stubborness and quest for independance. One morning before school was out, he insisted on wearing his wool knit cap, socks, and his crocs. It was in the high 90's but he wore them all day. His school was introducing potty training to him the last couple months but he was not interested. He would say "No, I go in a diaper." Even last week, I tried to get him to use the potty and he said "No, I not want to." But after we visited Connor's Montessori School for an end of the year picnic on Monday, Owen wanted to go to that school. I told him he can't go unless he uses the potty. So, low and behold, he woke up on Tuesday and asked for underwear. He has had 2 accidents between then and now (Thursday afternoon). He even uses the potty when we are out and about. When he makes up his mind about something, he is going to do it. It is amazing! We love him for his sweetness, sense of humor, stubborness, and the way he smiles. He is a joy!

Father's Day, 2008

Today is Father's Day and my boys (all 3) were so sweet. Connor had made Scott a card at his school with his hand print and Owen had made a footprint in clay. The footprint broke before we even got to the car since the boys were both "helping" to carry it. Owen remembered his gift today when I told him today was Father's Day. He said "I made Daddy my foot." They made Scott a cake with candles out of our pegboard and Connor said "Happy Father's Day, Daddy...You get to spend a lot of special time with me today!" How cute is that?! Scott asked for a special dinner of ribs, potato salad, and 3 bean salad with ice cream cake for dessert. The boys are trying to keep the ice cream cake part a secret but the rest is ready to go! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is a positive role model for our boys. He has a kind heart and great spirit. He finds joy easily in life. What a blessing for all of us!

Mother's Day 2008

This past weekend we celebrated Mother's Day at our house. First of all, the day always falls close to Scott's birthday so we celebrated both on Saturday night with just the two of us. We went out for an amazing and QUIET dinner at the "Melting Pot." We fondued until we couldn't possible take in another bite! On Sunday morning, Scott got up with the boys and I got to sleep in until 8 am! Yes, my life has changed once the boys arrived and that is, in fact, sleeping in in our house! When I came down I was greeted by hugs, the smell of breakfast, and a table full of gifts! Connor was so excited to show me what he had made. He opened the gift for me and handed me a small jar of home-made bath salts. Then he gave me a card that he had made himself with a picture of our family. Scott is the biggest and Owen is the smallest, Connor and I are the same size. It is apparently raining on all of us. The people look like aliens with circle heads, bug-like eyes and tall lines for their bodies. He also signed his name and wrote I love You mom on the front. It was very sweet. The boys and Scott also got me new charms (with my mom's help) for my Pandora charm bracelet. We spent the day shopping, snuggling, and relaxing. Scott helped with dinner and gave the boys their baths. What a guy! How blessed are we?!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Today started as an ordinary day. The boys woke up and got ready for school. Scott and I went to work. After I taught, I coached day 2 of track to the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at my school. 96 kids have come out for track and they are doing awesome. There were a couple funny moments though. A fourth grade girl came up to me with her hair blowing in the wind and said "My hair is getting ruined." I tried to stifle a laugh and told her that next time maybe putting it up would be a good idea but in the meantime...get running, it is not a beauty contest but a track practice. Another tired student said, "I didn't know we would be doing so much running!" They are funny creatures!!! Those of you who know me know that I blow my nose rather...um...loudly. My students noticed this for the first time today so when I returned from the hall after checking on a small group, my 6th graders all pretended to blow their noses into their arms too. Aren't they charming?! When I returned home, I was blessed to find members of our small group from church were arriving for a potluck dinner at our house to celebrate the end of another year together. I was delighted to see that Mary and Ron had come since we had not seen them in so long! The boys played out back with Wendy's boys and the rest of the adults enjoyed each other's company and food! Thanks all for coming!!! We have enjoyed and treasured our times of study, prayer, and fellowship with all of you!

Laurie's Wedding

May 2, 2008

Last weekend we were blessed to be a part of Scott's sister, Laurie's wedding in Charlotte, North Carolina. The traveling part was horrible due to flight cancellations and delays (21 hours to get there!) but it was worth it to spend those precious moments with family. We did feel, however, that we didn't even get to really talk to family because we were so busy chasing our little "entemologists" who were busy catching caterpillars. Connor had to keep checking on them, feeding them, and of course, showing them to EVERYONE even if they weren't very interested! Regardless of all of the schedule changes, and chasing of children, it was nice to see everyone and priceless to see how happy Laurie and Josh are! Congratulations! A special treat was to get to see our good friends Julie and Greg who moved away almost 2 years ago to Raleigh. They drove over to spend time with us. We finally arrived home at 11pm on Sunday night and the boys were up at 6am ready to go to school on Monday. Now, 5 days later, we are all exhausted and so grateful that we have a couple of days without any major plans!

My First Blog!

May 2, 2008

This is my first blog. Thanks to the inspiration from my friend Jen, I decided to try this as another way to stay in contact with family far away. I hope to include pictures and video of the boys to share our memories regularly. Raising two boys is a challenge and inspiration to Scott and I every day. Connor and Owen continue to delight, amaze, surprise, exhaust....us every day. This particular picture was of Owen on the day that Connor decided he was finally too big for his superman pajamas. Owen was sooo excited to wear them even though it was the middle of the day. The turtle goggles were the final touch before he had to fly off his bed into his daddy's arms. That is a great example of life with our boys. They continue to get excited about the evryday things and are ready and willing to take risks knowing that we are there to catch them along the way!