As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

The Incredibles

2009-10-15T07:11:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom. We dressed up as the Incredibles. Even though it was incredibly hot- we had a great time.

Andrew's First Day of School

2009-10-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

I am a little late in posting this, but Andrew has started school as well this year. Well, it isn't "officially" school but it is pretty much the same. He is actually attending two different programs. On Tuesdays he is attending Mother's Day Out at out old church and on Friday he is attending the Terrific Two's program where Clayton attends school. Why two programs you ask- well the MDO is from 9:20-1:20 so this allows me to have a half day without both boys since Clayton attends school from 9-1 on Tuesdays. On Fridays Andrew only goes from 9-11:30 while Clayton is there till 1:00.

Andrew seems to really like school and is always so proud of the work he has done that day. He always holds up his pictures to show me the moment he sees me and we have to spend about 5 minutes looking at it. It is really very adorable.

Unlike Clayton, Andrew doesn't run into the classroom with excitement. We will be walking to the class then all of a sudden I will look down and Andrew will have stopped walking and will have only maid it halfway down the hallway. Sometimes he cries but usually the talk of going and finding a truck gets him through the door!

Clayton's First Day of Pre-K

2009-09-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today was Clayton's first day of Pre-K. I am blown away by how big both my boys look in these pictures (sniff sniff). Clayton had a great time and it was so nice going to Wal Mart and Target with only one child! I made the mistake of waiting till the last minute to get Clayton a lunch box (he won't need it till next week) and every where I went they were out of them. Finally at my 4th stop- I was able to find Clayton the one he wanted- a Star Wars lunch box. I gave it to him when I picked him up and he was so excited. He has taken it with him every where today- including to bed! Andrew missed his brother while he was gone and gave him the biggest hug when he came out of his class- it was so cute.

Before class started.

This is when Clayton first came out of his classroom.

Andrew loving on his brother.

On the playground after class.

Clayton getting his lunch box!!!!!

Sesame Place

2009-09-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Clay and I have been wanting to take the boys, especially Andrew, to Sesame Place in PA. Andrew loves Elmo or "Mo" as he calls him, even more than Clayton did so this is something that we wanted to do for him. Here are some pictures from our trip.

This was our first character encounter for the day. Andrew just walked up to Zoe and gave her a hug. I was very happy to see this after Andrew's reaction to the characters last year at Disney.

I had to include this picture because Clayton kept saying, "Here comes the Countdown."

I can't believe how big Andrew looks in this picture. At first glance I thought this was Clayton.

This is when Andrew say "Mo" for the first time.

Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas

2009-06-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

As a mom of two small boys, I know how hard it can be to 1) find the time to make dinner, 2)make a healthy meal 3) find a recipe that is easy, doesn’t' take too much time to make, and is easy to clean up.

I have set out to find healthier recipes and sometimes not so healthy and share them in hopes to make your daily struggles of getting dinner ready easier for you and your family.

Here is recipe #1- Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas from Cooking Light 2003. I have made some modifications/variations to the recipe.

I found this to be delicious and Clay LOVED it! Getting my husband to love a dish that doesn't involve meat is a very big deal. His motto is, "If it doesn't have meat- it isn't a meal." On nights that I fix something at meat I always call him at work and warn him that our dinner isn't going to contain meat! So, I was very happy that he liked this dish.

Of course, I didn't use the reduced-fat cheese or fat-free cream cheese that the recipe calls for since they don't I can't get these items in bulk at Costco or Sam's! I also always use more cheese than the recipe calls for. The first time I made this I didn't use the soy crumbles. The second time I was making this for a friend that just had a baby and happens to be a vegetarian so I tried using the soy. I couldn't find any frozen soy crumbles. I found some soy in the refrigerated section and chopped it up into small pieces and used it. I couldn't tell it was there but Clay said he could and didn't like it once I told him that I added soy the second time around. I also added 1/2 can of corn to the recipe which I think was a nice addition!

This was very easy to make and easy to clean up! I also liked that this is a recipe that you pretty much can have all the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator making easy to make on one of those nights when you are scratching your head trying to figure out what to make. The only issues I had with this recipe was that I found it hard to roll the corn tortillas. They kept cracking and didn't want to stay rolled up. A minor thing for a delicious meal.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12- ounce) bag of frozen soy crumbles, thawed (such as Morningstar Farms)
3/4 cup bottled salsa
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.
Add onion, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender.
Stir in cumin, oregano, chili powder, (I put these 3 ingredients in a small bowl first to mix together) garlic, beans, and soy crumbles, and cook 2 minutes, stirring mixture frequently.

Stir in salsa, cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and add cream cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread 1/3 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of a 13x9 - inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of each tortilla, and roll up. Arrange enchiladas, seam sides down, crosswise in dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheddar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

2 enchiladas = 1 serving.
Calories 386
Fat 12.9 g
Protein 26.8 g

Jack's Birthday

2009-05-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Jack's 5th birthday party (birthday boy below in my favorite picture). They had a reptile man come and share several different kids of reptiles. It was a great party and the kids had a blast so I wanted to share some pictures from the party.

Where did my baby go?

2009-05-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

We finally did it- we cut Andrew's hair. He went from looking like a baby to a little boy. I am going to miss those curls!

Think they're brothers? (Haircut day - Andrew's first)

2009-05-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

Andrew's Ice Cream Dance

2009-03-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

NKOTB

2009-03-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday I went to The New Kids on the Block concert here in Baltimore. Stop laughing- my husband and brother have already made fun of me enough. Unless you were a fan back in the day you just wouldn't udnerstand. It was a great concert- I had a great time and if they come back to DC this summer I am so there. You got to give up to these guys that they came out a great ablum and are still kicking it after all these years (at least 20 years later).

Here are some pictures:

2 in the Morning

Step by Step

Please Don't Go Girl

Example 434 of why I can't Get Ahead on House Work.

2009-03-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

I have been sick for over a week so I was on the phone with the doctor's office trying to make an appointment. I could see Andrew in the kitchen. I could see the top of his head over the counter so I knew he was standing on one of his little chairs. He does this all the time trying to get something out of the drawer. While holding, I yelled for him to get down but he never did. Once I got off the phone I went to get him and found this (see video below) so I had to grab my camera. This is just another example of why it is so hard for me to get ahead on my house work.

Musiccorn

2009-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

Converstion 983 with Clayton:

C: Mommy I saw a musiccorn.
M: Really Clayton. What is a musiccorn?
C: A horse with a magic wand on its head.

2009-01-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here are the boys getting ready to sled down the hill in our first major snowfall this winter season. I don't think Andrew was a big fan of the cold snow flying in his face while going down the hill. He has also been sick and today was the first day he is somewhat back to his normal self.

Clayton preferred pushing his dump truck around to sledding. He said while going down the big hill was fun it was still "scary."

Andrew on his third set of gloves (these are Clayton's). He wouldn't keep them on and would get so upset when he got snow on his hands.

I got Andrew dressed first then started on Clayton. While putting Clayton's shoes on I looked over and Andrew was on the floor like this.

After being outside in the snow, Clayton wanted some hot chocolate. I made him sing the "Hot Chocolate" song from one of his favorite movies before he could have his. He calls his "dance moves" in this video his hot chocolate dance.

Conversation with Clayton #384

2009-01-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here is the conversation I just had with Clayton:

C: Mama, is it Christmas Eve yet?
M: No Clayton, Santa only comes once a year. We just had Christmas, you will have to wait a long time for him to come again.
C: Once a year-what are you talking about!

But I like Christmas.....

2009-01-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Yes, your Christmas cards are going to be mailed tomorrow (at least that is the plan and yes I know it is January 5th). I had planed to get them done while we were in Georgia but that just didn't happen and I just got back to Maryland today so I am hoping to get them finished tomorrow.

Our Christmas was great, but a little hectic. In some ways it almost feels like Christmas didn't even happen but then I just take a look around my house and see the empty boxes, wrapping paper, and toys everywhere so I know it did. My parents were here for Christmas which was really nice except for the fact we all got sick the weekend before Christmas. I felt really bad- welcome to Maryland, here is the Noro virus! Then we flew home to Georgia on the 27th and just got back today. My house still looks like it did Christmas morning! When we walked in the door today Clayton said, "Its Christmas! Its Christmas!"

Clayton loves Christmas and he doesn't understand why Christmas has to end. While we were at our friend, Dusti's house in Georgia she was putting away her Christmas tree when Clayton asked her, "What are you doing." She told him that she was putting the tree away. Of course, he asked, "But why?" She told him, "because Christmas IS over." He said, "But I like Christmas!"

Some other funny things Clayton said this Christmas:

On Christmas morning before we went downstairs to see if Santa had come, the first thing he wanted to do was to hug Andrew. He kept saying, "I want to hug Andrew" over and over again. After about the 15th hug given to Andrew Clayton said, "I being extra good."

The day after Christmas Clayton wasn't being the best behaved boy in the world and I told him he was being a "bad boy." He responded with, "I not a bad boy. I a good boy. Just ask Santa!"

He has already started making his list for next year.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Day.

Andrew with "Santa"

The boys with "Santa"

Clayton with "Santa"

Clayton playing with one of his toys while wearing his Doctor's outfit.

Would you like fries with that? Don't be confused, this is a McDowels.

Clayton loves Garfield so Santa found one on Ebay!

Why you ask would a mother giver their 3 1/2 year old and 17 month old a drum set? To that I have an answer: It is a lot quieter than them beating my metal mixing bowls with a metal spoon! We were all amazed at how Andrew just sat down and knew what to do. It was like he had been playing the drums all his life!

Clayton on the drums.

Andrew finding his Mickey.

Ever since we went to Disney, I can't walk by a Mickey stuffed animal without him screaming for it. I just wasn't' going to spend $35-50 to get him the giant Mickey that he seemed to want. So, when I saw that Walmart had a 2ft Mickey on sale the day after Thanksgiving for $10.00 I was so there. I got there at 4:50 a.m. in line with the masses. Once the store opened, everyone was running in- heading toward the electronics department to get their TV, camera, computer, etc... I think I was the only person that ran in and asked, "Where are the Mickeys? I ran to the toy department to find I was the only one there! I think I could have gotten to Walmart at 7:00 and been okay! To see Andrew play with him though- it was well worth it!

The aftermath!

Hi Mili!

2008-12-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

Here is Clayton and James saying hello to Mili, their best gal. She broke their hearts when she moved to Arkansas.

To Hell with Georgia

2008-11-29T12:59:00.000-08:00

To Hell with Georgia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who is out there????

2008-11-21T12:12:00.001-08:00

I am totally copying this post (and I am literally copying it) from my friend's blog. After reading hers it got me thinking, who is out there? I am guilty of stalking blogs too.

I admit it. I am guilty. I am a blog stalker. I love to blog surf and wind up on random people's blogs who I don't know, and who definitely don't know me. I click a link on a friend's blog, click another interesting link, click, click, click. I read, I look at pictures, I may even read comments...but I never let that person know I was there. And I got to thinking....I wonder who reads this blog? I thought I had a pretty good idea who my audience was. But lately I have discovered people who said they read my blog and I thought "Really, YOU read it?" So I am asking a favor...If you are reading this blog, this single post even, leave a comment :) You don't have to say anything...just "I'm out here." In return, I will try to do the same to all those blogs out there that I happen upon :-)

Halloween

2008-11-20T05:59:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from Halloween. Clayton went trick-or-treating with his best friend James in the his neighborhood. They both dressed as spiderman, however Clayton wore his Mr. Incredibles costume underneath so he was a "bulky" spiderman. His neighborhood has a special night planned for Halloween and it was a lot of fun. First we had pizza and all sorts of yummy food that people bring (my friend Kimberly brought the best pumpkin bread!). Then we went on a hay ride through the neighborhood while trick or treating. Once we were finished there was a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Andrew loved trick or treating. Every time we started walking up to a house he would start to giggle. It was sooo cute. Another funny thing that happened that evening was when Clayton and James were running from one house to the next and James yelled out to Clayton, "Where are you going?" Clayton yelled back while running, "I don't know." It was like I don't know but I know there is more candy this way.

Here we are on the hayride with James and his mom and my good friend, Kimberly. She is dressed a poison ivy. I am dressed up as a stay at home mom.

Andrew as Elvis

Clayton and James.

Andrew

The boys at someone's house.

They would bang on the door yelling, "Happy Halloween" till someone came to the door.

Leaves

2008-11-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the boys playing in the leaves. Andrew didn't like them at first and he cried but then he warmed up to the idea and had fun playing in them.

I will get the Halloween pictures posted soon.

Conversations with Clayton

2008-10-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here are 4 conversations I have had with Clayton in the past two days.

Conversation 1:

I walked into our office/toy room and said, "Look at this place. It is a mess." Clayton responded with, "Garfield did it."

Keep in mind we don't have any pets. Clayton does love the movie Garfield though. There is a scene in the movie where Garfield knocks over bookcases and makes a big mess.

Conversation 2:

Clayton went to the bathroom and I was so happy to hear that he was washing his hands after he went without me prompting him to do so. After a few minutes I decide to walk into the bathroom since I thought he was taking a little too long. I found him with the sink half filled with bubbles and he was splashing water every where, including the walls. I proceeded to tell him that I have enough to clean up without him making more messes.

He looked at my and while patting my back and said, "It will be okay. It will be okay. You will be fine."

Conversation 3:

I was unloading the dishwasher when Clayton asked me what I was doing. I told him, "I am unloading the dishwasher and when you get older you will get to do it lots and lots (a phrase he uses). He responded with, "that be scary."

Conversation 4:

"Mommy, I want zero cookies"

"Clayton, you can have all the zero cookies you want."

Other little things that Clayton is saying right now.

The other morning I woke up at 6 a.m. to Clayton singing at the top of his lungs- It's a Small World.

I will say something very basic and boring like, "lets go brush your teeth" Clayton will respond in the most energetic voice with an " Oh boy!" while swinging his arm.

Other responses include, "that be awesome" and "that be fun. All right"

Another funny thing that happened today:

We made Halloween cookies and I let the boys have one this morning. They were eating there cookies when I got a phone call and had to answer the phone in the office. Clayton finished his cookie and came in the office. Since Clayton came into the office without Andrew I asked Clayton to go see what Andrew was doing. Clayton walked into the kitchen and said, "Oh no!" I instantly knew what was going on. I waked into the kitchen and found him standing on his blue table helping himself to more cookies. Clayton ran over and decided to help himself to some more as well.

Disney World

2008-10-21T09:52:00.001-07:00

Disney World 2008

It has taken some doing but I finally have our pictures online from our amazing trip to Disney World. There are a lot of pictures but I took over 500 so it has been hard trying to decide which ones to put on the blog. I have provided a summary of each day with some pictures. I tried to be brief!

Day 1: We checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge, put our luggage down and headed to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey's. It was delicious and Clayton was so excited to see Mickey and all his friends. The excitement in his face was priceless. Andrew on the other hand wasn't too thrilled. He would stare at the characters from afar but when they got close to him he would lose it.

Clayton seeing Mickey for the first time

Clayton and Andrew looking at Goofy. He was a few tables away. As you can see Andrew is very interested until....

They got close to him. As you can see he wanted nothing to do with him.

Seriously people, get these things away from me.

Oh Minnie, I love you!

I think Clay has a crush on Minnie too. Look how he is leaning in!

Day 2: Clayton woke up in the middle of the night with a fever! I gave him some Tylenol and when he woke up in the morning it was gone so we decided to move forward with our plans. We had 8:00 reservations at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and his friends. We got to go in the park before it opened which was amazing since hardly anyone was there- we had Main Street all to ourselves. Andrew warmed up to all the characters except Tigger. Both he and Clayton loved riding on Dumbo and Andrew especially liked the Pooh ride. He even cried when we got off of it. Unfortunately Clayton started feeling really bad around 9:30 and by 10:30 he was asleep. We left the park (Disney actually gave us our money back for the day) and took him to the doctor. Turns out he had an ear infection. We got him an antibiotic and that seemed to take care of it right away!

Don't you just love Pooh!

Pooh and Piglet are okay but...

Get Tigger away from me!

Day 3: We headed to Hollywood Studios where Clayton discovered one of his favorite rides at Disney- Toy Story Mania, also known as "Jing Jing." That is the name he gave it and he was always asking to ride it. Clayton got to meet some of his favorite characters this day and have lunch with June and Leo from the Little Einsteins and Jo Jo and Goliath. Andrew really liked Jo Jo and Goliath- they were very sweet to him. I really liked this character meal because it wasn't very crowded and the he got to dance with the characters and the food was delicious.

Andrew and Clayton waiting in line to see Buzz and Woody

Andrew playing Jing Jing

Day 4: We went back to the Magic Kingdom. I didn't take my camera since there was an 80% chance of rain. It was really neat seeing Andrew get excited when we entered Fantasyland. He started bouncing up and down in the stroller. I really wished I had my camera since Clayton got a kiss on the check from Alice in Wonderland. He still talks about it to this day.

Day 5: We hung out at the pool!

Day 6: We went back to the Magic Kingdom. Clayton had a ball riding Goofy's roller coaster. He had this laughing scream that I wish I could bottle up- it was priceless. Clayton really like the Indy cars and the Buzz Lightyear ride as well.

That night we went to Mickey's Backyard BBQ. They had a band so all the kids could dance with the characters and they also had a cowboy do a rope show. This was Clayton's favorite character meal. Clayton got to see Chip and Dale- two of his favorite characters right now. He loves to watch their DVD. I put the boys in Chip and Dale shirts which was great because Clayton got special attention from them all night. At one point Chip was pushing other kids away so he could dance with just Clayton and no one else. Andrew's favorite part was the Mickey Ice Cream Bar. At one point during the evening the band played the Twist. I tried to dance with Clayton but he literally pushed me away to dance with some random girl- see picture below.

Clayton dancing with random girl instead of me!

Daddy I am worn out!

I will dance with you Goofy.

Day 6: This was our last day in the park. We had lunch reservations with Chip and Dale and I was so excited after seeing Clayton's excitement about them from the night before. However, this was the day that Clayton decided to have a melt down and wanted nothing to do with them until it was time to leave. At one point he was hiding under the table. Andrew really warmed up to the characters and even wanted Mickey to pick him up!

Later in the day, Clayton had fallen asleep and we were walking around the world when someone told us that Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore were in the England toy store and there was no line to see them. So, we took Andrew and it was great. They spent about 5 minutes with him- even getting on the floor with him. After that Andrew is now a fan of Tigger.

Pluto- I have decided you are okay.

Mickey please pick me up!

Clayton finally warming up to Chip (or Dale- I can't remember who has the red nose and who has the black one)

I love you Pooh!

Daddy, please buy me this big Nemo pillow (we didn't).

Nap time at Epcot.

This is a random picture from our hotel but Andrew loves to put shoes on his feet and crawl around.

Halloween Decorations

I can't wait to go back to Disney again!

2 Days. It isn't too late!

2008-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

I just dropped off 32 tickets for the movie Fireproof to our local fire station. To be honest I was a little nervous how they would the tickets would be received. I wasn't sure if they would be like, "Okay, thanks." I thought they might be kind of like we get stuff all the time attitude. I was also wondering if another church had already donated tickets.

I have to say, I was just about brought to tears with how appreciative the three gentleman I spoke too were. It made me wish that I had gotten them all popcorn and drink vouchers as well as providing even more movie tickets. They were so grateful, very moved and even though they didn't know what the movie was about they were already trying to figure out when they could go. It was as if it was one of the nicest thing anyone had ever done for them.

So, to those of you who think it is too late to do something- it isn’t and you will be glad you did.

Proud to be an American

2008-09-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

My Challenge to You

2008-09-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

My Challenge to You:

On Friday night Clay and I had the opportunity to attend a private screening of the movie Fireproof at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC. For those of you who haven’t heard of the movie it is by the producers and writers of my favorite movie Facing the Giants. We got to meet the Kendrick brothers, Alex and Stephen, who wrote and produced the film. Alex was the star of Facing the Giants. We also got to meet Jim McBride who played Bobby Lee Duke in Facing the Giants.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the movie. When was the last time you went to a movie and you felt better, inspired, happy, moved, motivated, etc? This movie did all of these things and more. You will laugh, possibly cry, get mad (my friend and I were wanting to yell at the screen), etc….

I am asking all of my friends out there with blogs to please post something about this movie on their blog. If you don’t have a blog, please send out an email to everyone you know. We need to get as many people as possible to see this movie opening weekend which is September 26th. Why you ask? There are a few reasons:

· First, it is a Christian movie and we need to send a message to the people in Hollywood that these are the types of movies we would like to see.
· Two, Sony is distributing this film and they see it as an investment. If it doesn’t do well, they will pull the plug on it which means that it will be incredibly difficult to get another movie like this distributed again. While Sony sees this as an investment, they are not giving it the advertising budget they would normally spend on a movie. So, the makers of the movie are relying heavily on people getting the word out everyone.
· Three, if it does well opening weekend it will stay in the movie theaters longer and get more press and will send a bigger message to Hollywood.
· Four, it is an amazing way to reach nonbelievers with the message of Jesus Christ.

With my challenge to my fellow bloggers to put it in their blogs I also challenge you to get a group from your church to see the movie opening weekend. This past Sunday at church I posted the times of the movie on the white board and passed around a sign up sheet for people to sign up for a day and a time they could go opening weekend. I also had a column for people to offer to donate as many tickets as they wanted to our local fire department. I collected the money and am going to get the tickets for everyone this week. As of right now we have 15 people signed up to see the movie opening weekend and 30 tickets have been donated to our local fire department. You don't have to do this but this is what I did and it worked well. I had people sign up for times that were convenient for them since I knew not everyone would be able to attend as one big group.

So, let’s see how many people you can get to go see this movie opening weekend and how many tickets you can get donated to your local fire department! Let’s see what God can do with this movie!!!!!!!

I can't wait to see this movie again!

Germantown Fire Department's Open House

2008-09-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from the Germantown Fire Department's Open House. It was a lot of fun and hot! Every year they have a bunch of fire and rescue vehicles for the kids to look at as well as some animals from reptile world. Today, when we drove by the fire department Clayton asked to go see the snake. He doesn't understand that the snake doesn't stay there all the time.

Poor Andrew, he pretty much stayed in the stroller the entire time since it was just me there with the boys. He did however really enjoy his cotton candy until I took the cone away from him when it was all gone. It is one of the most pathetic pictures ever.

Clayton looking at the turtle.

Why did you take away my cotton candy?

He made this face for about 10 minutes I kid you not.

Clayton getting dressed to go shoot the fire house. Andrew seemed pretty excited.

Clayton in front of the police horse. This was one of his favorite things all day.

Clayton's Clubhouse and Andrew's Hundred Acre Wood

2008-09-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

I finally found the cord I needed so I could download the pictures from the boys party! Clayton had a Mickey Mouse party where we turned the backyard into Clayton's Clubhouse. The kids had fun playing in the moon bounce, in the sandbox, with all the beach balls, and even the toys inside.

The following friends attended Clayton's party: James McCallam, Jack, Brennan, James Frankauski, Maya, Sophie, Taylor, Jake, McKenna, Lexie, and MJ. Andrew had a Pooh party.

We turned the basement into Andrew's Hundred Acre Wood. His friends had a lot of fun on the roller coaster and in the ball pit. The following friends attended Andrew's party: Malachi, Noah, Quinton, Harrison, Ava, Ben, Jackson, Gracie.

I made the boys cakes which was a little bit of a challenge making two big cakes for one day. After I got through the first hurdle with Andrew's cake if finished it and put it in the dining room to keep it away from Clayton. A few hours after I put it there, I went back in to check on it and to my disbelief, the arms had fallen off the cake and it had split in two at 8:00 at night! I ran to Michaels to get more supplies in case I couldn't repair it. I used melted chocolate to "glue" it back together and glue the arms in and it worked. So, Pooh looks a little lumpy!

I couldn't have pulled off the parties without the help of the grandparents and my wonderful husband Clay!

Here are the pictures from the party- they aren't in any certain order

Andrew eating his cake. He LOVES cake!

Clayton in front of his cake.

Clayton eating with a few of his friends.

Clayton eating his pizza.

Andrew with his smash cake.

Mommy with Andrew and his Pooh cake.

My attempt at getting a group shot with Clayton and his friends. I don't know why I thought I could get a group of 3 year olds to sit still infront of a moonbounce.

Andrew on his roller coaster by his trees in his Hundred Acre Wood.

Andrew loves balloons now and he screams everytime he sees one!

Family Photo infront of the entrance to Clayton's Clubhouse.

The boys with Nana and Pappy. Pappy's shirt has a picture of Grumpy on it.

The boys with JanJan and GradDoug.

Clayton's Mickey Cake.

Andrew's Pooh Cake and smash cake.

Food: Spinach salad with strawberries and toasted walnuts with homemade vinegrette.

Pasta salad and yummy Costco Pizza.

Entrance to Clayton's Clubhouse. This is where everyone entered the party.

Shot of the backyard as the guest started to arrive.

My New Hero

2008-09-03T20:17:00.001-07:00

Who Taught This to My Child?

2008-09-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

I am trying to figure out who taught Clayton how to break dance. We did not teach him any of this or tell him to do the ending.

Day in DC

2008-08-21T14:30:00.001-07:00

Today after dropping Clay's parents off at the airport I decided to spend the day in DC since we were already down there.

First stop was at the Jim Henson exhibit at one of the museums. Clayton loved seeing all the puppets and even put on his own puppet show. I don't have any pictures of that though since cameras were not allowed.

Next stop was lunch with my wonderful friend Rebekah. After lunch she took us on a tour of the Heritage Foundation where she works.

After our tour with Rebekah, we headed to the Natural History Museum. Normally when I go to this museum I only see the jewelry exhibit (like the Hope Diamond) but today I got to see exhibits I never have before like the Dinosaur and Insect exhibit. I guess that is to be expected with two boys! The boys loved it and I want to take them back when I have more time. After Clayton saw the dinosaurs, every skeleton he saw the rest of the day was a dinosaur (like the ape, turtle, whale skeletons, etc...)

Andrew pointing at the giraffe

Clayton looking at the crickets

Clayton spotted an alligator and had to tell this stranger all about it.

The boys with the capital in the background

A group picture in front of the capital

The boys with Rebekah. Clayton had to hold her hand while I pushed him in the stroller. They absolutely love her. She is wonderful so it is easy to see why they adore her.

The boys in the broadcasting room with at the Heritage Foundation. People like Sean Hannity will broadcast from this room. Clayton was singing his ABCs into the microphone.

Clayton going solo

Here is Clayton in the television broadcasting room. If you ever see anyone being interviewed on TV from the Heritage Foundation, this is where they sit.

How to Cut the Grass with Two Boys

2008-08-11T06:13:00.001-07:00

This is how you cut the grass with two boys when they both want their daddy!

Miss. Colleen

2008-08-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

These are senior pictures I took of Colleen.

Yesterday was another sad day for us. Our boys only babysitter, Colleen, has left for college. She is going to the University of Georgia of all places! For all you UGA fans back home, she is going to be twirling for them, so you may see her at a football game.

Clayton and Andrew absolutely adore Colleen and I know they are going to miss her terribly (as will I). She is an amazing, beautiful girl and was wonderful to my boys.

Who is Santa?

2008-08-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my dad is a professional Santa. He does private parties for Churches, country clubs, and different organizations. Every year we have a party at our house where all the kids in the neighborhood come and have their picture taken with Santa. I think Clayton has figured it out!

New Spelling of the Word Tool Bench

2008-08-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Andrew's 1 year Pictures

2008-08-04T04:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some of Andrew's 1 Year Pictures

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

2008-08-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

Every year we have gone to the Zoo for Clayton's birthday. Below you will see pictures from Clayton's trips for the past three years as well as Andrew's first Birthday trip to the zoo. I highly recommend that if you start a tradition like this, don't go to the zoo in July. Stick to something indoors like the aquarium!

Clayton's First Year 2006

Clayton's 2nd Year 2007

Clayton's 3rd Year 2008

Andrew's First Trip to the Zoo 2008

Clayton and Andrew Together

What a Gorilla Says at Age 3

What a Gorilla Says at Age 2

Greatest Meal Ever!

2008-07-24T05:37:00.001-07:00

I am sure you are wondering what could possibly be the greatest meal ever? Was it the food? The ambiance? A romantic dinner for two? Well it was none of those things. So what then could it be you ask. Well, you will have to see the picture below to find out why Clay and I had one of the greatest meals we have had in a long long time!

Clayton asleep in the booth during the entire meal.

Yesterday, with the help of my Friend Tiffany, we had Clayton and Andrew's friend Mili and Sadie over to play so their mom could finish packing for their move to Arkansas. Mili and Clayton played from 2:00-6:30, so Clayton did not get his nap. After they left I didn't feel like starting dinner so we decided to grab a quick bite at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Clayton fell asleep in the car on the way there and stayed asleep in the booth during the entire meal, thus resulting in the most peaceful, greatest meals ever (okay maybe not ever but in a long long long time). It was amazing- I actually got to finish an entire sentence while talking to Clay without getting interrupted. I think I actually got to talk to him for 30 minutes straight. Normally Clayton spends the entire meal trying to climb onto Clay's back.

This Kiss.....

2008-07-20T19:53:00.001-07:00

Today was a somewhat sad day for us. Our good friends, the Berry family, are moving back to Arkansas and it was their last day of church. While we are very excited for them and a little jealous they are getting to move back home. However, we are going to miss them terribly. They are such a wonderful family and inspiration to us all. They have two beautiful little girls and they are same age as our boys. When Clayton thinks of church, he thinks of Mili and his friend James (they are the three amigos of the blue room). I know he is going to be very sad when he realizes Mili isn’t there anymore. We love the Berrys so much that we are willing to go ahead and set up an arranged marriage with their daughters. We joke that if Clayton and Mili were to get married, they would have the palest children with the biggest blue eyes.

After church today there was a going away reception for them. I wanted to get some picture of Clayton and Mili together. Well….I told Clayton to give Mili a kiss on the check and this is what happened. I wish I could have gotten it on camera, especially so you could hear everyone there. It was hilarious.

Clayton and Mili

The innocent kiss on the cheek.
Mili decided to give Clayton a little kiss.

Then they just turned to each other and gave each other a big kiss!

After the kiss.

Andrew decided to take after his big brother and kiss Mili's little sister Sadie. I don't know if they are going to let us come back to church!

Birthday Cake

2008-07-17T05:13:00.001-07:00

Here are the pictures from Andrew enjoying his birthday cake.

This is the greatest stuff ever!

So good, so good when it hits the lips.

I want to make sure I get every last bit in my mouth.

Happy Birthday to me!

This really is good.

Can we do this again?

This is like magic!

What are you doing eating my cake?

The boys aren't going to have their birthday party till August so there will be more cake pictures to come!

Happy First Birthday Andrew

2008-07-16T12:20:00.001-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Andrew!!!!

To my baby boy Andrew,

Happy Birthday my little man. I can’t believe you are 1 today. Where has the time gone? You are such a blessing from God. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 1 2 Corinthians 9:15

When I look at you I truly see the miracle that you are and how you are a creation from God. When I look at you I can’t help but be reminded of Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb 1 I chose you. 2 Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” Knowing that the Lord picked you out and gave you to us is an amazing thing. I am so grateful to have you in my life.

Here I am the morning I gave birth to Andrew.

Looking back, I really don’t know where this past year has gone. You have always been a very sweet little thing. That is why I refer to you as my little sack of sugar, although you aren’t so little any more. When you were only a few months old we used to joke how you were just dying for us to look at you so you could smile, and now you are dying for us to look at you so you can laugh and smile! People used to say, “Look at those cheeks!” when they would see you. Your checks have gone away but now people comment on your beautiful blue eyes.

Birth Day

Andrew 3 Months Old

Andrew 6 Months Old

Andrew 9 Months Old

Right now here are the things you are doing:

Your point at everything and say “da”. It is like you are saying, “what is that?”
You are not walking yet but you are a super fast crawler. You really move it when I am telling you no and you are crawling away from me.
You eat everything. If you see watermelon and don’t get any, you let us know how upset your are.
You think it is hilarious when Clayton throws things (thank you for encouraging him) or jumps off his bed.
You like to sit on your knees.
You have the most pathetic cry face.
You like to play catch. You throw the ball to me and I hand it back to you and you throw it back again. You do this over and over.
You love to cuddle.
You are a climber. You always find a way to crawl onto the train table.
You like to crawl around with things in your hands, usually balls.
You will be perfectly happy sitting there playing or with someone else holding you but if your daddy or I walk by you start crying.

Andrew, I know you will grow up to be an honorable young man and go on to do great things. However, the proudest moment for me will not be your high school graduation, college graduation, or t he day you get married but it will be the day you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Just as it says in 3 John 1:4: I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

While I hope to teach you many things over your lifetime if you can only learn one thing from me I pray you will learn that following:

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. John 3:14-40

I pray that you know the Lord and love Him with all your heart and that you follow His will for your life.

Praise be to God for you my little man. I love you.

Your Mama.

Bo's 1 Year Pictures

2008-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I really enjoy photography so I decided to get a new camera and take some photography classes. Stephanie has been very gracious and allowed me to take Bo's 9 month and 1 year pictures. Here are some of the pictures from his 1 year session. I haven't gotten a chance to edit them yet- it will be a while before I have time to do that!

Mitchell Side of the Trip

2008-07-15T12:56:00.003-07:00

Mitchell Side of the Trip

Carter, Mackenzie, and Clayton

While on the Mitchell side of the trip we took a trip to Tiger, Ga where we visited my Aunt Connie and Uncle Jack and Aunt Melody. The boys have decided to make Aunt Connie and Uncle Jack honorary grandparents since they don't have any grandchildren of their own. While in Tiger we took a trip to the Dillard house where we had a delicious lunch. After lunch we visited the petting zoo where Clayton got to feed a llama, cows, goats, and chickens. Andrew kept his distance.

After leaving the Dillard House we took a trip over to Goats on the Roof. That was truly a unique experience. It was made up of two separate building that were connected by a bridge. On top of the roof of the building they had houses for goats and they could walk back and forth between the two buildings. You could buy goat food and put it in a can that you cranked up to the top of the roof to feed the goats. It was really neat! Not only was it a neat place, they had some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever had.

Clayton feeding the llama. He thought it was a horse and while feeding it he kept saying, "it tickles."

This goat was so hungry he would stick his head through the fence to get some food.

Here we are at Tallulah Gorge

Andrew with Aunt Connie

Here is a picture of Goats on the Roof.

10 Days in Georgia: Tractors, Goats, Cousins- Oh My!

2008-07-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

We just had 10 wonderful days in Georgia visiting family. The first half of the trip was spent on the Couey side where Clayton spent his days riding Grand Doug's tractor, feeding cows, driving Belle's pink "monster truck" and swimming in the pool.

Here is the Couey side of our trip:

Andrew and Clayton with their cousin Bo.

Clayton, Belle, Andrew and Bo

Clayton and Belle on Belle's pink "monster truck"

Andrew in the pool.

Here is Clayton helping Grand Doug drive the tractor.

Here are all the Couey Boys on the tractor. They are taking some hay to feed the cows.

Andrew having fun with the cows.

Clayton attempting to feed one lucky cow a single piece of hay.