"Mom, Santa came!"

JR and I packed up the family and headed to Missouri for our yearly Christmas trip. We usually stay two weeks but with our work and school schedules we cut it down to five days. Even though it was cut short we were able to pack a lot into those five days and we enjoyed seeing everyone for the holidays. This year Santa mailed Grant and Ryan very special certificates for making the Good List and the boys were excited for his arrival. The milk and cookies were set out and the stockings were hung, and they went to bed fairly easy. On Christmas morning I woke up to those sweet little words that I know will end too soon, "Mom, Santa came!"

Ryan saw his battery operated Cars four wheeler and nothing else mattered! It was so cute to see him hop right on it and take off. He did doughnuts in the living room until it was time to go.

Grant was excited to see that Santa checked his list very thoroughly and brought him just what he wanted!

We were able to make all our rounds to visit family in those short five days and the boys had plenty to keep them occupied!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year! We are so blessed and want to keep in mind all those who are struggling this holiday, have loved ones they cannot be with, and to say THANK YOU to all the troops and their families who are serving overseas this Christmas. May God bring you home safely to your loved ones.

Costume hunting!

It may only be the middle of September but I am on the hunt for Halloween costumes. Grant always picks out a warrior type costume and he once again has stayed within that theme. This year he wants to be a zombie soldier. We picked out a soldier costume and with a little makeup I think I can make him Zombified!

Ryan is a little harder to shop for. He doesn't say much yet so I have no clue as to what he wants to be. I know he loves to open and close doors so I could make him a little doorman costume. However, that would involve sewing and we all know that it just won't happen. I stumbled upon this costume and thought it would be perfect since it is his favorite song to sing!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider!!!! This year will be a lot more fun for Ryan since he is older and understands what candy is. We all know he can knock on a door and ring a mean doorbell so now all I have left to do is to get him to say "Trick OR Treat"

August

August started off with a lot of trips to the store to buy school supplies and to prepare for our third and last trip to Dallas, Texas for JR's seminar for his PhD program. We were spoiled in Washington with school starting after the Labor Day weekend, and we were almost certain school would start in late August like in our childhood when we lived in Missouri, so when we learned school starts the first week of August here in Kentucky we were not prepared..........

Here are my two sweet nieces Madeline and Ava heading off to their first day of school in Missouri like good little kids do.....

And here is our over joyed son heading off to Lego Land in Dallas, TX instead of heading off to his first day of school........So we didn't expect school to start August 3rd!!!!

Grant had a blast and I can say it was a much needed family time trip for us!

Ryan didn't know what to think of this place, there were kids running every where and screaming their heads off. I tried taking him to the toddler area but we found it to be just as dangerous.....

My favorite part of Lego Land was the miniature set up of Dallas. They did an awesome job and I compared them to my actual pics of down town Dallas and they look so much alike!

Our nephew Brody has been busy growing by leaps and bounds. The last time I saw him he had just learned to sit up on his own and now he has taken off crawling and pulling himself up on furniture. It is amazing to me how fast they grow up and how quickly they learn to be on the move after they take that first risky step...

For instance.......

For Ryan's first birthday his cousins Jill, James, and Jeanette bought him these awesome roller skates. He couldn't even stand in them about three months ago but now he can stand up, walk on the carpet, and even cautiously glide around the kitchen floor in them.

A wipe-out or two was to be expected;)

July

For the Fourth of July we loaded the boys up and took them on post at Fort Knox, KY. They had a live band playing and a carnival going on all day and at night they ended with a fireworks show.

The boys had fun passing the time with football, baseball, and running around chasing each other. When the fireworks started Ryan clung to daddy and insisted on getting back in the car. He is so much like his mommy. That is why we don't do our own fireworks....Mommy is not a fan of explosives:)

We took a trip to MO to see family and a trip to Grandma Cindy's and Paw Paw Tim's is always on the list!

Here Kitty Kitty ! I won't hurt you.......

June

 Mommy sometimes gets bored and dresses little man up. This is Ryan in his brother's old Halloween costume as  Eeyore.

We had to make a trip to Dallas for Daddy's PhD program so we made the best of it and added in a trip to the Medieval Times and it was a blast!

Ryan couldn't get enough of the soup; he had three bowls!

 This picture is my favorite. It sums up why we take the boys to places like this. The boys faces lit up many times and melted mom and dad's hearts. We are very blessed and will miss this when they grow up!

 The trip was a success. Dad learned a lot at his seminar and as a family we had fun...... Good Bye Dallas!

May (part two)

After I finished painting the kitchen red JR and I decided that furniture shopping was long overdue. We have learned in the past that having rowdie boys in the house calls for the "less is more" motif so we picked up a few pieces to fill the space. Above is the kitchen table and below is my favorite living room chair.....

We thought leather couches worked best as Ryan likes to leak fluids from time to time;)

Then we moved on to JR's office. He finally has his own space to hang up his manly military paraphernalia and it was exciting to finally unearth the awards and posters from storage. This is just the beginning stages as we have so much more at Micheal's waiting to be matted and framed.

I am proud to say that Ryan has been doing great sleeping in his own bed since he was 6 months old but he is now in the climbing everything stage so we thought it was best to turn his crib into a big boy bed. He was confused at first and loved the novelty of getting in the bed all by himself but when night time came he was a little upset by it. It only took two or three trips back to his bed so I say he is doing great!

May (Part One)

We started May off with celebrating Easter. The bunny brought the boys a lot of candy and outdoor toys to play with this summer. The boys always get wonderful things from their Meme, Uncle Terry, and Uncle Chucky too!

I started May off with finally getting Grant's dresser painted. Grandpa David and Nana gave him this dresser before he was born and it was white with flowers and ribbons on it. I have always kept it inside his closet and year after year said I'm going to paint it. Once we moved he decided he wanted a more grown up room so out with the spider man and in with the military.

Next, it was time to tackle the Kentucky Red (pink) kitchen. I know we are just renting but if we are going to stay here for two years I cannot stomach this color so......

I painted the kitchen red!