thinkin' about it thursday.

still thinkin' about christmas.  it was great this year.

i guess it's time to take down those decorations.  when do YOU take yours down?

thinkin' about it thursday: friday edition.

so, yesterday {and the day before}, i was thinkin' about...........
snow
&
cookies
&
my christmas tree
&
christmas baking
&
the movie "white christmas"
&
wrapping presents
&
shopping {lots and lots of other people were thinkin' about that, too}
&
family
&
Christ
and i was thinkin' that all of this is what i've been waiting ALL year for!  'tis the season!  love, love, love it!  merry chistmas!

nine months.

thinkin' about it thursday.

advent calendars.
whoever invented them definitely didn't do it for 3 year olds.   for 4 days now i've had to explain over and over that we only open one present, that we can't open all of the presents, that there is one for each day and if we open them all now we won't have any for the rest of the days.  have you ever tried to reason with a 3 year old?  not fun.
{seriously, though, it really has been fun.......he gets so excited over the smallest things.  christmas this year is going to be the funnest!  i can't wait!}

thinkin' about it thursday.

are those fake?!?!?!?
yes. yes, they are.
i never, in all my years of living (it's a lot), thought i would be numbered among those with fake christmas trees.  and now we have TWO!!!  (a small one in cy's room.  he loves it.)  i love real trees.  love.  i mean, C'MON, is this what a christmas tree is supposed to look like:

i submit - it is NOT.  ugh.  well, it was free, and a real one would've cost, and free wins for us at the moment.  ok, ok, it's not ALL that bad.  for instance, will didn't have to deal with almost-frostbitten hands from cutting the bottom off, i haven't had to vaccuum pine needles, i didn't have to string lights (yay), and i did not get poked at all putting on ornaments.  it IS pretty.  it just looks weird seeing a skinny pole in between the branches and at the bottom.  oh well, i'll live, and i'm almost certain presents will fit under it like any other tree.  so, wal-mart here i come for a smelly "real tree" candle............{sigh}

thinkin' about it thursday.

popcorn.
cy asks for popcorn, a lot.  so, i am popping popcorn, a lot.  is this just a phase?

snow, Snow, SNOW!

so, it snowed here........a lot!  and we got out there and played in it and it was fun:

thinkin' about it thursday.

turrrrr-key, duh.

but also: cold.


it is so cold outside.......... that i had to open the fridge in my garage to warm up the garage.


it is so cold outside.......... that my nose hairs freeze just by looking outside.


it is so cold outside.......... that i had to bring the 12 packs of pop sitting in the garage inside because i was worried they were going to freeze and explode.


it is so cold outside.......... that you don't need to go to the ice rink to go ice skating.


it is so cold outside.......... that we were excited and grateful it warmed up to 10 degrees above zero.  it was a heat wave.


it is so cold outside.......... that the salt we put on the sidewalks froze.


and finally:
it is so cold outside.......... that i am considering moving to arizona.  now that's cold.

{*oh, yeah, and we're very thankful for all of our awesome family.  we love you, and all that mushy stuff.*}
{{happy, happy thanksgiving!}}

thinkin' about it thursday.

exercising.
i think it should be required if you workout you should have to have an almost-3-year-old present.
it is so much fun to be doing jumping jacks and have your own personal cheerleader clap and yell, "yay mommy, good job!"  
it's also very entertaining when your cheerleader tries to join in and do yoga moves or crunches.  
it doesn't even seem like exercise when you're lunging and a huge exercise ball comes barreling at you along with the words, "catch, mommy, catch!"
my own little fan club.  i wouldn't trade it for the world.

thinkin' about it thursday.

awesome-ness.  or not.
so, i was cleaning the kitchen and behind me i hear cy singing the clean up song:  clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere!  clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!
and so, naturally, i'm patting myself on the back.........my child cleans up without me even asking him to.  yep, i'm awesome.
and then i turn around to see said child cleaned up ALL of the toys that i had put down to keep the baby entertained with.what could i do?!?!?!?  yell at him?  for what?  cleaning up?
nope, can't do that.
{ever since lane starting moving around -everywhere- we've been going the rounds with cy about sharing and that the toys are all of ours (not just his) and we've even taken some away that he won't share.}
so today, cy got a little victory and officially became smarter than me.

thinkin' about it thursday.

the elections.

so sad that they are over.  i was so important last week that my phone was ringing off the hook with my buddies calling.  my buddies, like dino {rossi}, sarah {palin}, jay {buhner}, and countless others with pleasant but firm and serious sounding voices.  and now, since tuesday, just silence.  so sad.  well, i guess i'll just have to wait until 2012............and consider disconnecting my phone before then.

happy halloween.

may your halloween be full of cute costumes:

and also:

{thanks for the *awesome* party angela, you rock.}
and cousins:

and fun-ness:

have a great halloween!

thinkin' about it thursday.

addiction: an uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior regardless of its negative consequences.
so, my fam and I have been playing "words with friends" on our phones.  it's a word game like scrabble.  i play will.  at the same time i play with rebecca and a separate game with rob.  will plays a game with rebecca and a separate one with rob.  rebecca and rob play each other.  at the same time we are all playing separate games with mom and angela.  who are also playing each other.  my mom is visiting my sister, tilleea, so i get to play with her, too.  so, all day long we play scrabble.  it is fun.  way fun.  too fun.  and competitive.  very competitive.  my mom called me on the phone the other day {an actual real talking phone call-not text or e-mail} just to accuse me of cheating.  addicted?  i think so.  and i love it.  thank you family.  
{and if anyone wants to know.........i am the best one at this game.}

thinkin' about it thursday.

{pretzels and m&m's}
cy's favorite food ever is m&m's.  he also loves, loves, loves pretzels.  so yesterday i gave him a pretzel m&m (me and will's favorite food).  i'm thinkin' i'm gonna get a best mommy award for giving my offspring a combo of his best-loved foods and instead he has his head in the trash can gagging.  what?!?!?!?!?!
pretzels and m&m's: they've got me stumped today.

seven{th heaven}

seven months old.
this has been an exciting month, what with crawling and all.  lane thinks he's older than he is - he stands really well and keeps pulling himself up to a standing position with the help of whatever is nearby.  i have no clue why he is in such a hurry.  it's so fun to watch, though.  and nice that he has some independence.  i was determined that his favorite food was going to be green beans just like cy's was, but it definitely is not. sweet potatoes is by far his favorite.  he also prefers cheerios over peach or strawberry apple puffs......weird.  anyway, here's our monthly shots:

crawl, baby, crawl video.

thinkin' about it thursday.

crawl, baby, crawl.
we're mobile.  i've been waiting for at least 2 weeks to write down that the baby is crawling.......because he has been soooooo close for that long.  well, yesterday he crawled across the room.  yay!  my whole world has changed.  
again.

thinkin' about it thursday.

influences, influences.
there are good ones and there are bad ones.
we left cy with grandma wendie the other day.  the whole next day he kept saying, "ha ha, too funny, too funny."
it was super cute and made me laugh. (except when i was exercising--then, not so funny.)  i supposed he picked this up from my mom because he started saying it the day after he spent all day with her.  i've really been thinkin' about this lately.  what if cy had picked up something from being with a not-so-good influence?  not cute.  not fun.  cy picks up on so much and repeats a lot.  {he picked up a barbie and gave it to grandma and said, "grandma, princess fiona!" i've GOT to turn off the tv!}
i'm so glad my kiddos have good influences in their lives.  thanks to all who are a part of that!  i'm grateful.

thinkin' about it thursday.

am i allowed to enjoy a big bowl of tillamook's udderly chocolate ice cream while watching 'the biggest loser' on tv?

i don't need it.

i don't need:

expensive jewelry.

*or*

fashionable clothes.

*or*

luscious roses.

*or*

trendy accessories.

*or*

fancy chocolates.

all that i need to make me happy is this:

i love this.  13 years ago we started this.  and i am lucky.  so lucky.  and happy.  so happy.  happy 13, will: thank you.  thank you so much.

thinkin' about it thursday.

{junk in da trunk.}

so, cy has this bike.  cy loves this bike.  to cy, it's not just a bike it's his "motorcycle."  his motorcycle has a trunk.  he loves this trunk.  he puts all his treasures in his trunk.  for example, he has these rocks.  special rocks that have been stashed for months.  we've found fruit snacks, cars, trains, yo-yos, and juice boxes in his trunk.  i guess this day he thought the baby's travel bottle warmer was trunk-worthy.  

if there's something missing at my house, the trunk is a good place to start looking.

one-half a year old.

{six months.}
you hear it all the time.  so, i'm not gonna say that this is going by really fast.  because it is going by really fast, but that would be something i'd be expected to say.  instead, i'm gonna say, "yay!! we've been sleeping!"  this past week there's been more nights that we've only gotten up once or twice than nights we haven't slept.  yay!  it has been sooooooo awesome.  i like sleep.  so, six months old and sleeping.  finally.  there's nothing special we did, i guess he just grew out of it.  can i get one more yay?  yay!  he is 18 lbs 8 oz and 27 inches long.  he stands really well, reaches for everything, and gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.  six months:  my favorite month!  :)

thinkin' about it thursday.

cell phones.
have you ever had to think for a minute about what your phone number is when someone asks you for it?  not me.  i call myself on a daily basis.  i do this because i am either constantly forgetting where i put my phone or my mini-me is carrying it off somewhere.  this is also why will and i will always have a land line - because i need it to locate my cell phone.  
{and just in case you were wondering.....we have a home phone system with 4 [four] handsets -that way i can always find at least one.}

thinkin' about it thursday.

once.
the baby woke up once last night.  once.  at 4:30 am.  I can do once.  these are tears of joy you are seeing, people.  one glorious, fabulous, spectacular night of sleep.  awesome.  when you've been without it you appreciate it.  I'm not expecting it two nights in a row, but today, I'm thinkin' about it......... and definitely enjoying it.

thinkin' about it thursday.

vacuums.

what the heck is up with my kids loving the vacuum?  whenever i get it out, it takes me twice as long as it should to get the floor clean.  you see, i have this special little "helper" who follows me around saying, "mommy, my turn, my turn!"

and then i let him have a turn, which is never long enough, and we start the whole process over again.  the entire time the baby is mesmerized. 

is this because i don't vacuum often enough?  i would think every other day is not a rare event.  (it feels like every other day)  how can vacuuming be so special?  is this normal or do i have little janitors on my hands?  

don't even get me started on sweeping and mopping.  {smirk}

thinkin' about it thursday.

thirst.

so, the other day, we were outside playing, and will and I look over to see that cy had gotten up on the bbq countertop (via a barstool) and made his way over to the sink.  he turned on the water and did his yoga-esque movements to get a drink.  then, he turned it off and got down.  I guess he thought it was too much to go into the house and get a cup and fill it with water for a drink.  

uhhhhhhhh, nope, I've never been THAT thirsty!

thinkin' about it thursday.

train day.

it must've been national train day recently, because the trains at our house got the royal treatment the other day.  they got really yummy breakfast:

and then they got their very own parade, in which farmer john and farmer brown got the honor of riding in:

trains. thank goodness we don't have to live without them.

five months.

five alive:

wait, are we still alive?  yep.  still tired, still alive.  one day I know this child will sleep, and I'm super excited for that day.  but, for now, I'm glad he hammed it up for pictures!!

lane weighs 15 lbs. 12 oz. he sits up by himself, rolls from tummy to back (and back to tummy -once), and he loves to stand - holding on to things, of course. he talks and laughs and spits and drools(excessively), and loves being entertained by cy. when he really likes something, he smiles with his whole body, and it is the cutest thing you have ever seen!

yeah, we're smitten by this kid. I guess we'll keep him.

:)