It was Merry!

We had a great Christmas. I think it is always so much fun with little kids. I have pictures and will post them very soon. :-) My parents (Shannon's) were in town to spend the holidays with us. I loved having them here! Levi and Dylan got scooters and ride them all over the house. It's great exercise and keeps them occupied. Isn't that wonderful?

It's sort of a bummer how abruptly Christmas ends. All radio stations instantly stop their carols the next day. Stores clear out everything and already have Valentine's day stuff out. My tree is still up and that helps prolong the festivities, but then the countdown begins until next year. How long do you keep Christmas going for?

Merry Christmas (tomorrow)

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year because I mailed out baby announcements and am really too busy with 3 kids, work, and life. Maybe next year....

However, we love you all and we are doing well. Merry Christmas!!

boys

Levi wants to type " i love you grandma and grandpa"
i loven you grandna anfd grandpaq

Preschool Performance

Levi just had this cute Christmas performance. They did the chicken dance as part of it. I couldn't believe that I have an almost 5 year old!! The picture of him and another boy is Levi and Franklin. For some reason Levi always hangs out with the oldest and biggest kids in his class. It leads to a lot of "but Franklin said".... and drives me nuts!!
There's also a picture of Levi with one of his teachers, Ms. Karen. He has really awesome teachers. I totally love his preschool.

Hilarious: Dylan

Gingerbread House

More Levi stuff

Levi is home sick today. I am home with him. He is lying on the couch... I am not. After this post I have a messy house to clean (and then a little boy to hold).

However, this morning we had to go get milk and mail some packages out (Isaac and Amy... incoming!) Levi was quite funny for being sick. I think he watches too much television (and he only gets to watch about an hour a day.)

Me: "Levi, we have to go to the store."
Levi: "For insurance?"
Me: "What?"
Levi: The car insurance store, Progressive.
Me: (lots of laughter). No, we already have insurance.
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We pulled up in front of the post office and Levi said, "If it fits, it ships".
Seriously. Is this kid the king of one liners?
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And then this was sad: (please note that it was 29 degrees outside this morning, so we were all bundled up)
We got to the store to get milk (and bread... it was actually our first stop) and Levi started crying when I asked him to get out of the car. Since he's sick I attributed it to that. However, he insisted that he couldn't get out of the car. I asked him why not. He said: "My coat is so big people will think I am fat."

Well. We had a lovely discussion about his jacket size, self esteem, other people's opinions, etc. I can't even believe that my 4 year old (4 YEARS OLD!!) was worried about people calling him fat. So now I get to find out where this is coming from. Oh the things parents get to deal with. I can't even imagine having teenagers, or a girl. I hear they are lots of drama. I love my boys. :-)

Levi-isms

While trying to teach Levi the reason for the season, we had a discussion about service. This was our conversation:

Me: "Levi, what is something we can do that is nice for someone else."

Levi: "Take them cookies."

Me: "What if they don't like cookies?"

Levi: "Then we'll go somewhere else."

Potty Training

Dylan knows when he has to go and then runs to the little toilet and goes potty. Both ends even. He is 21 months old. No, my other 2 boys are not potty trained. Seriously now....

December Already?

Really???

What's new?

I figured out how to make a new bow. I think they are adorable!!

And here's smiley Riley!

Love, love, love this picture.

It was family photo day

Surprisingly, the boys all cooperated. Two wanted naps and one was sick. Overall, I am super pleased with how they turned out. AND, I got 6 sheets for $7.42 How that happened, I don't know. Cool, huh?

3 years and still going strong.

Yesterday was our 3 year anniversary. I have to say that it went by quickly and yet seems like we've been together forever (that could be taken two ways)...

I am incredibly grateful to be married to such a wonderful man, and to get to share life and challenges with him. This is by far the best chapter of my life. I love you Matt!

A Haiku

my sanity... gone.
there is just too much to do
i wish i could sleep.

Oh my happiness!!

How can I be sad with a box full of ribbon!! Also, our webstore should be up by next week and then I can send you all there to see what I have for sale! Isn't that fantastic?? I love my hobby and my husband for supporting it and doing all the business side of it. :-) I just like to make bows.

Halloween

How to get this much candy with just a 4 year old and 19 month old: 1. When you say trick or treat at people's doors (or cars) and they drop candy in your bag, say "No, I already got that kind, what else do you have?" It then requires the adults to search for something else that meets your approval. Note: not one adult reached back into Levi's bag to take back the candy he originally declined.

2. Go to your neighbor's house towards the end of a normal Halloween night (ie: when they probably want to go to bed) and say "Trick or Treat". This will result in them emptying the contents of their candy bowl into your little sack, probably to avoid eating it themselves.

The cute boys. Yes, we recycle costumes. I wasn't feeling too imaginative this year... I had other things going on.

I know the picture is sideways... Riley was a lion, except he hated the thing on his head and screamed alot. Very fitting roaring like a lion.

I'm so glad they are little and have low expectations on what is carved into their pumpkins. They thought any design was great. Good times!

pictures for Dee & Eddie

Taken this morning.

We all need something pretty to look at:

Love them!

Hi. Here. Alive.
Much thanks for the cards, flowers, fruit baskets, comments, love, and support. I appreciate you all. Thank you also to those who brought in meals, cleaned our home, took Dylan for the day, and drove kids around! We are very grateful!

Beware: Gross Pictures

I've never had a black eye before. My poor kids keep pointing at my bandaged face and saying "Owwie". My head hurts. Wonder why? I look like Frankenstein. I had surgery yesterday to remove the cancer in my forehead. They got it all. Yay! Here are the beautiful results.

That would be 40+ stitches in my head.

My whole right side of my face is swollen and it hurts. I'm feeling awfully grateful for vision, life, and modern medicine!

Something New

These are my new creations (copied of course, with minor changes). They are felt flowers. They can be attached to barrettes or a pin. They are quite lovely. I am so excited!

See how lovely it looks on my hat?

Dylan constantly wants bows in his hair. He loves being my model. :-) He he he.

Cute little Riley

My sweet little boy. He is so good and calm. I really hope he stays that way.

Enduring his photo shoot.

Such a cute little boy... in my professional (and biased) Shannon opinion.

Matt's cool "Owwie"

Matt went paintballing on Saturday. While playing, he got this fabulous flesh wound. When he came home he properly took care of it, but had a hard time walking. Sunday was the same. Yesterday, his leg had swollen and he was in horrible pain and it was oozing.

It also looked worse than these pictures too, and so last night he went to the ER after much debate if it was necessary. Turns out he has a 2nd degree burn on his leg and they gave him stuff for it and medicine. He still hobbles around and it hurts, but it wasn't a waste to go sit in the ER.

I hope you feel better today Matt (and are no longer dizzy). Love you!

My First Craft Fair!

Oh my happiness! I had so much fun! I love things like this... (you can click on the pictures to make them larger). The highlights of the day were: people watching, having fun, selling bows, getting a break for some Shannon time, and visiting with my friend Leslie, who came to help me out. It was just fabulous! I got rave reviews from the people checking out my booth, which totally boosted my ego. That alone was worth the day. I do make cute bows, if I do say so myself.

I had pictures of models wearing the bows and the prices on them so people wouldn't constantly be asking me how much they were. Turned out that everyone LOVED the pictures. The one of Riley was a big hit. No one knew he was a boy.

I thought it was successful. I only sold $51 worth of stuff (in 3 1/2 hours), but that is okay with me. Remember all the above mentioned positive aspects of the day? Well, I learned a lot, changed some of my ideas, got feedback, checked out the competition, etc. It was super fabulous.

Now, if any of you need bows, please let me know. I'll do a post on that very soon. I have lots, and I custom make to your liking, etc. Happy day!

Wouldn't it be funny if...

These pictures were in order of how the event went. Obviously Riley is not too keen on wearing hair bows. Maybe he knows he is a man (okay, so a little one) and hair bows aren't typical wear for guys. However, I was just so excited to have someone to try my new bows out on. He he he.

Wouldn't it be funny if I were to go to a store with him sporting a lovely bow and have someone say "Oh, she's cute. How old is she?" and I would say "HE is 7 weeks old." I just want to see that person's face! Maybe I'm a little twisted. I think it's past my bed time.

No wonder I have a headache

This is our idea of fun: melting chocolate and dipping things in it, then rolling it in sprinkles. It's also quite popular with the boys and people we give the yummies to. Riley had fun (I'm sure) watching us.

Levi has done this many times and is very good at it. He also knows not to double dip, how to stay clean, and to ask before eating.

This is where the headache part comes in. Dylan doesn't know how to do any of that stuff Levi knows. He almost double dipped, but I stopped him and got him his own bowl of chocolate so people wouldn't get Dylan germs. Plus, Dylan just wanted to lick all the chocolate off the stuff he dipped (except for marshmallows, he ate those).

I left for a second to get sprinkles (literally, a second... they were in the same room). In that time, Dylan had grabbed all the pretzels we had dipped and had them in his mouth! The kid is fast and really likes food. So, we had to start all over with the pretzels, and Dylan had a great time getting to lick all the chocolate off the ones he stole. By the end of our project, Dylan was definitely covered in chocolate, he ended up strapped into his high chair to observe the process, and both boys got baths. It was fun though.