Update.

I thought for sure I would have more to blog about in February, but now I feel like I'm too busy to blog, rather than having NOTHING to blog about. Although I'm busy...I still don't have much to blog about.

The boys are GROWING so much every day. Gavin says the funniest things and I'm going to start posting his "Gavinisms" more regularly. I have a running list that I write down of silly stuff he says because I just don't want to forget any of it. My favorite as of late was, "Mom, which one is my sweet tooth?" Even when he is being so CHALLENGING he can always make me laugh. He is suddenly very into Super Heroes and we must refer to him only as "Super Power Guy". He keeps saying he wants to have a Spiderman birthday party, but I can't picture a really cool spiderman cake yet so I'm getting nervous :) He loves preschool and anything to do with cutting, glueing, stapleing and drawing (or drawlering as he says.) I love all of his little crafts and I'll admit it's sometimes hard for me to part with them because I know how proud he is. I just can't keep them all because of the clutter, but I try and take pictures of his creations. Thank Heavens for digital cameras so I can immortalize these moments!

Speaking of CHALLENGING, Max is certainly to that age! He is into EVERYTHING and climbs on EVERYTHING. It's so amazing to watch all that he can do, and I try and keep in mind that he is just exploring his abilities and this world that he has only know for 16 short months. It's probably been the fastest 16 months of my life but I can't imagine what it was like without him. He just really fits in. He is showing so much understanding of the things I say. If we're looking at a picture I can ask him where his brother is and he immediately will point to Gavin. He also has caught on to folding his arms when it's time for a prayer, which I think is so incredibly sweet! He's been giving people "5" for about 2 weeks now, but just this morning he held out his hand and said, "Five?" as best as he could. It was just one of those random melt-my-heart-because-that's-my-baby moments. He is growing up SO FAST and I find myself wishing every day it would just slow down a bit.

I love my boys. They are amazing.

Gavinisms

"Mom, this is a picture of the Holy Ghost. AND THIS is a magic fish."



I'll let you decide which is which....

I have a problem...

A serious problem. And it's kind of embarrassing. I can't believe I'm going to share this problem on my blog.

I have an addiction. A really lame addiction

Frontierville.

There I said it. And I'm so ashamed. I always thought those facebook games were lame, and then I got sucked in. I've been playing since probably August. I gave it up during Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to delete my frontier. After all that hard work I couldn't let it go. I just couldn't forget how it took me forever to harvest 1500 peanut crops, or the 300 flax, or how I'm so close to raising and selling off 2500 adult animals. So now I'm back. Wasting time EVERY DAY because I have to make sure my crops don't wither and my animals get fed, and who knows what other kind of silly mission or task will pop up that I need to complete to gain extra experience and move up a level. It's SICK and WRONG. I even friended other players on facebook who I DON'T EVEN KNOW because I needed more neighbors so I couldn't complete these missions and of course my "normal" friends don't play. I know it's incredibly silly, but it's something I like to do to unwind from my day. Sort of like watching TV I guess. Keith says with all of this practice, our garden better rock this year.

I am, however, getting much better at balancing my time. I have set limits for when and how long I can play. Someone has to be the mother around here. I REFUSE to ignore my kids for this game and I'm always left wondering if these other "neighbors" of mine do anything other than play. I can't keep up with them. It's really funny to watch. I'm surprised at the amount of people who seem to do nothing but play. It can't be healthy. And I think they actually SPEND MONEY to accomplish some of the tasks more quickly, instead of waiting around to gather things for the tasks you're given. Those are some seriously dangerous habits. The game is fun, but to know that people can create something where people will actually PAY because they need further themselves in a game...ick.

So for now, I'll keep playing when I have some downtime. And I won't worry about it until I feel the need to start paying.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lest you think I'm creative enough to think this up on my own....I saw it HERE. Now you can steal it for next year!

It's a Date!

Gavin, little stud-muffin that he is, had the privilege of accompanying a beautiful woman on a date last week. I know, I know, he's a little young, but I figured that as far as first dates go, this was a safe choice.

GRANDMA!

He was thrilled beyond words when Grandma Kim asked him out! They went to dinner and a movie and he enjoyed himself immensly! Gavin was, however, very concerned that someone "changed" the movie theatre. The theatre we always go to and drive by didn't have any good movies playing for kids so they went to a different one. He's such a funny kid and apparently thinks there is only one theatre on the planet. He has informed me for the past few days that I really need to let Grandma know where the right movie theatre is.

I feel so blessed that my kids live close to all of their grandparents. They are very lucky to have the opportunity to get to know these wonderful examples and build a strong relationship with all of them. The way I watch Gavin interact and talk about all of his grandparents is something I truly treasure. Whether it's swimming at Grandmas, going to "Pompa's Turtle" to see "our girls", or fishing and camping with Grandma Carol and Grandpa Cecil, I know that my boys feel VERY loved. Thank you, parents...ALL of you. I'm a lucky gal to have so many people that care about me. I hope I make you feel like I care about you too.

It happened again...

A while back you may remember THIS experience I had. Well, it happened again! Not with Megan (I see her all the time at Walmart...so much in fact, I honestly look for her EVERY TIME I'm there), but I had a new CELEBRITY sighting!

For once I ventured out to a store other than good ol' Walmart (I hear all of you drawing in a breath as you read that...) and as I walked down an isle I caught a glimpse of someone I recognized. I stopped, backed up, and stared. Yes, blatantly and obviously stared. I have zero tact apparently. I was really in shock. This particular blogger was the very first craft blog I ever came upon and was instantly hooked. She has to be the cutest, most awesome craft blogger out there. My very favorite part is she has 2 boys and does a lot of boy centered crafts which are hard to find.

So there I am staring and since I'm so obvious about it she catches me. All I can manage to stutter is "Hi." Oh. My. Gosh. I'm such a loser. She smiles and says hi back and then I word vomit, "I read your blog!" like a total idiot. She was so cute and nice and friendly, despite my serious lack of normalcy. She even politely pretended to know who I was from commenting on her blog. Maybe she really did remember me or maybe she just got a stalker vibe from me.... I'm going with she did remember me because she's too nice to lie (and that make me feel so, well, cool!).

Anyway...her name is Cheri...and you can check out her blog here at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. She does the most awesome stuff and has some SERIOUS talent. And while I may not have been dancing with Ellen like my friend Mistie...I thought this was pretty exciting!

Gavin's "Projects"

Lately Gavin is really interested in writing, coloring, taping, glueing, painting...etc. I try to remember he is learning these skills, but sometimes it is such a pain to find all of my brand new tape used up, scissors left on the floor, or paint all over. He has a hard time remembering to ask to use things and it doesn't matter where I hide the stuff...he finds it.

These are a few of his latest projects...

In case you can't tell, this is an airplane...he came up with it all on his own. I thought it was brilliant.

In preschool last week they learned about groundhogs. He came home and was OBSESSED with groundhogs that day. This is his ground hog coming out of it's house. Use your imagination. I again thought he was brilliant. (He hasn't mentioned groundhogs since...)

Today he told me he needed to make a map. I just so happened to have this giant paper with grid lines lying around so I gave it to him. As he's writing it he is describing the obstacles like the trees, etc. Sounded very similar to Dora...he then informed me it was the way to Brittani's house. I thought that was really cute! (And brilliant)

Ground{Hog} Day

In honor of Groundhog day...

I regret to inform you that I can see my shadow and am predicting 6 more weeks of winter.

The month of LOVE...

Ahhhh, January is over and I can already feel myself getting out of this slump! Too bad today is FREEZING because that's not improving anything for me!

I'm hoping I'm over my blogging slump and will find many things to blog about this month. I found a fun idea for Gavin's Valentines that I will share soon and I'm hoping to just have lots to share (even if you're the only one reading this Dad...or Mom...I think I might have 2 readers...)

But for today here is a very {LOVE}ly picture! Don't you just {LOVE} her? I hate when people I take pictures for have cute kids...it's too hard to narrow them down and I just end up spending lots of time sitting at the computer editing everything. I sure {LOVE} you Miss Aly!