Dance Party & Announcer Training

Evenings can be a little crazy around here at times, but one of our favorite things to do is crank the music loud and have a dance party. The boys come up with some pretty interesting moves! (I guess, so do mom and dad!!)

I realized last night that I am surrounded be testosterone at all times. I was sitting quietly writing out some Christmas cards at the kitchen table. In the midst, Luke and Sam are wrestling in the living room, and Travis is practicing his best announcers voice for the next heavyweight boxing championship bout in the kitchen. He practices often ( I think he is expecting the call anytime)! I just had to laugh to myself, and hope no one comes peeking through our windows.

Jesus Vs. Santa

One of the hardest things to do this time of year is to keep the emphasis on the perfect gift of Jesus, and not on Santa. This has been challenging with the boys. How could it not when they can see pictures of Santa everywhere! It is hard to grasp faith in something you can't see at such a young age, but the MOST important time to try and explain it.

We came home from church this afternoon, and Travis' stomach was upset. He asked Sam to pray for him. Sam says, "Dear Jesus, Please send Santa to listen to daddy's tummy and make it feel better. Jesus, God, We love you, Amen."

Through the Eyes of a Child

Sam and Luke enjoy getting a hold of the camera and taking their own pictures. Here is what they enjoy taking pictures of!

Luke was completely amazed that we had all three of these cars in ornaments!! He insisted on putting them right next to each other.

Sam thought it was funny to shove the camera into the tree and take a picture, this one was kinda cool.
Most of the ornaments are on the bottom center portion of the tree, but this was a great memory to have of the boys really participating in a tradition that Travis and I started 10 years ago. These two little, innocent souls inspire me to be the mom they need and the woman of God it takes to raise men in this world! I love you two sooooo much!!!

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

One of our favorite traditions is getting our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. This year was exceptionally fun because the boys are much more aware of the traditions and enjoy helping. I am not sure what was more fun: decorating the tree or posing for pictures!!

This picture sums up the roles we play in this family!!!! Sam is taking the picture!!!

The only snow we will see

The boys have been asking what snow looks like. One of my friends e-mailed me a blog sight that has alot of kids crafts. This one looked manageable to me, and alot of fun for the boys. Anything that has to do with glue and making a mess, they are all in for!! We made the snowflakes out of q-tips and glued them together, added glitter and let them dry.

Sam was more interested in making glue artwork!!

This was a fun craft, and since we are having a pretty lazy day (except trying to catch up with the laundry), I thought it would be a fun time to attempt!

Finger Lickin' Good

The boys and I surprised daddy with some homemade brownies (his favorite). The boys both love to help me make cakes or muffins, and they get so excited pouring most of the ingredients in the bowl! Sam is wearing an apron that my aunt made for me when I was a little girl! Luke is wearing one he made in Community Bible Study last year.

The best part of brownie making!!Sam is the baker and waits patiently with his hot glove to remove the brownies.

The Many Characters of Sam

Sam always emerges from his room with an interesting outfit on. He is really into my boots right now and pretends he is exploring in the jungle with them!

He also loves to play his guitar and rock out! Notice the matching jacket with the guitars on it, always fashion forward.

Family Sacrifice

I started teaching some classes at the gym about a year ago, one of them being a spinning (cycle) class. My family has been my support system, especially Steph, who give constructive criticism and lots of encouragement! I make them come to classes in rain, hail, sleet or snow! Here they are (Todd, Steph and my dad) at one of my classes. They always have a smile no matter what I put them through! Thanks guys!

Maggie May

We have a new addition to the family. Her name is Maggie and she is a Great Dane. She has been really good, except for the occasional accident in the house. She has helped keep things more tidy, since you can't leave any shoes or clothes out for fear of bite marks!

The boys took a few days to get used to her, but now they have initiated her one of them. Finally another girl in the house. I insisted on a pink collar!

Spiderman and His Amazing Friends

We had a birthday celebration for Luke last weekend too! He is "5" already, and really into SpiderMan. What is it with boys and superheroes?! We kept it small with just cousins, but even then it is pretty big.

Luke's best Spidee imitation! He actually has some pretty good moves. He could either be a gymnist or into karate. I think daddy is leaning towards karate for some reason!!

Pumpkins and Trains

We went to HillCrest Pumpkin Patch last weekend. It was such a blast! We rode the steam train, climbed the tree house, and barely made it across the rope bridge ( this was because Travis and Luke thought it would be funny to bounce across it while I am holding Sam, very challenging to do!). So many photo opportunites, I was running around! Say Cheese!

Travis does everything BIG! He usually goes all out, so he let the boys pick the biggest pumpkins they could find. Needless to say, we had to wagon them to our car.

Make Believe

The world through the eyes of a child is so innocent and silly! The boys love making forts with their daddy (who has a great fort making capacity).

Sam in particular loves to put on silly costumes and parade around the house. He is the clown of the family!

Wardrobe Changes

Nothin like wearing two different Halloween costumes on the SAME day. We had two different parties this day, and the boys wanted to be different characters for each party. You can see Spiderman (with my niece as Ariel).




Travis and Sam love to watch the 'Back to the Future' movies. Sam wanted to be Marty McFly this Halloween. Here is what we came up with.

Eat your heart out ladies!!!For our next party, they wanted to be characters from the 'Arthur and the Invisibles' movie. Here is our homemade works of art. (Do you think we watch alot of movies??!!)

Travis' mom does a pumkin patch party every year and goes all out! She has pumpkins to decorate, crafts to paint, create and glue. She even had a hay ride this year. Here are all the participants who dressed up, the rest were fuddy-duddies!

School Days

My baby is in pre-school! He was quite excited about starting! Of course Sam couldn't let him get away with having a picture by himself. He is such the poser! I thought this would be a great bonding time for Sam and I, but all I hear from him is "When's Luke comin home?".

Mud Wrestling

Here is a typical summer day at our house. I have resigned to the fact that everytime we play outside, we have to de-mud to come back inside. This took me a while to adjust to, but the hours of fun for the boys is worth it to me!

And here is the aftermath. What a charmed life!!