Who Needs a Sled When You Have a Padded Bum

For Christmas, Gramma and Papa gifted the boys snow gear for when they go up to the cabin. Big poofy jackets, snow pants that are perfectly waterproof, boots, and gloves that are nearly impossible to put on ten chubby fingers!

The boys' loved their new snow outfits to the surprise of everyone. So much so that upon Luke first receiving his present, he suited up inside the cabin (which was probably around 70 degrees) and sat on the recliner watching cartoons. You could barely see his face through all the poofiness!

A few weeks after Christmas we headed back up to the cabin to play in the snow. Luckily, we didn't have to even go to the park because my parents had plenty of it still attached to the steep hills on their property. The boys' had an absolute blast and most importantly stayed warm and dry!

As always, Chris was right there with the boys showing them how to perfect their snowball making skills. Later on Luke and Chris partnered up in the snowball making process...Luke made the snowballs which then he would hand to his daddy so that he could throw it at Owen. They were a good team!

Papa doesn't much like the wet stuff, so he stayed inside the toasty cabin while the boys played outside.

Owen takes snowball fights very seriously...so does his Daddy!

Luke called these "ice skates"...close enough I say!

Although the boys were given sleds for Christmas as well, they would much rather slide down my parents' snow hill on their bums. Man, they went so fast down the hills! They would take huge running starts, fly through the air, hit the ground with their bums and would zoom down the hill, laughing the entire time.

Luke is no dummy...he took cover behind the big tree!

 

I love how red Luke's cheekies get when he is playing outside. No blush required!

 

And of course the snow adventure wouldn't be complete without hot chocolate with whip cream. Luke would much prefer just a cup full of whip cream!

To the Hair Salon Customers...

I apologize.

I am so sorry that we disturbed your quiet and restorative place of beauty with the wailing and screaming of a 3-year old boy this afternoon. Granted, it was only for about 15 minutes, but I can understand why you thought that I might be torturing my son with a hair cut given that his older brother sat there, just twenty minutes earlier, quietly reading a book and telling our beloved hairdresser about his favorite animals. 

Beloved hairdresser: Owen what’s your favorite animals?
Owen: Sea Turtles, Sharks, and the Octopuses
Beloved hairdresser: Why do you like the sea turtle?
Owen: I like the sea turtle because it travels fast in the sea currents
Beloved hairdresser: And why the shark?
Owen: because the shark is fast
Beloved hairdresser: the octopuses?
Owen: they hide quickly…I like things that are fast…I am going to be a “triathlon” when I grow up because I’m fast. 

 

And then there was Luke…he sounded as if someone was cutting off his ears with the hair shears... 

He had a bad day… 

A bad day that included a “naughty” note sent home from school outlining an epic all-day battle between a stubborn 3-year old and his teacher….a tug-of-war concerning a {stupid} plastic spider man toy that couldn’t quite stay put in a small, designated cubby.

The outcome, teacher 1: Luke 0.

For those of you that know Luke, this did not go over well, especially when his teacher took the spider man toy away for the entire day. Oh she did! And as a result, little man was super frustrated and angry and was finished with people telling him what to do…thus the screaming at the salon.

 

Again, my apologies…thank you for only giving me a few exasperated looks. Your tolerance was greatly appreciated as this haircut was desperately needed so that my boys only act not look like wild crazy loons.

Christmas Vacation

What I love most about writing is the fact that I get to relive each moment I spend with my boys. I not only get to experience them in real time but each time I put pen to paper, or in my case fingertips to computer keys I get to recall the details of each photograph that was taken or snapshot in my mind.

Writing and photography affords me the precious opportunity to also rewrite our days and hold a bit tighter the sweet nuggets that happened in the middle of all the absolute craziness.

Perspective…

Unlike any other Christmas, I was able to spend a full fourteen uninterrupted days with my boys. Count them, 1…2…3…4…5…14 days!

I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that some of those days seemed very, very long.

Two rambunctious and energetic boys that on occasion: fought, screamed, cried, were noisy, took naps, didn’t take naps, ate what seemed like every two hours, argued, played, colored, put together puzzles, were silly, were naughty, painted, read, went to the park, giggled (a lot), talked (sometimes incessantly), watched movies and cartoons, sang, were loud, got dirty, stayed in jammies all day, fed ducks, wrestled, built forts, and made {BIG} messes. 

Tomorrow my home will be empty of any of this life and I’m already thinking I’m going to miss the commotion. Sure, I have little projects that I plan on doing this week while I’m on furlough-ed time and I will be quite content not having to pick up toys, food, and clothes all-day-long… but I know that as soon as I drop them off at school I’m going to be thinking about them, wondering what they are doing, who they are talking to, missing their sweet voices, wishing they were at home hanging out with me. 

What I would give for another fourteen days, well maybe thirteen…cuz’ this mama doesn’t mind one day off!

Once Upon a Time...

 

January marks the time of year that I select one little word…a word I use as a 365-day-motivational tool …the word becomes the tiny string wrapped tightly around my pinky finger to remind me…a word that helps me focus and prioritize my actions, thoughts, and feelings on a daily basis for an entire year. Past words of mine have included JOY (2010), FAITH (2011), and LETTING GO (2012)…all three were meaningful and significant, and I can honestly say that each word taught me a new little tid-bit about myself that I never knew before.

My word for 2013 is “STORY”… usually, my one little word for the year picks me months in advance, before the new year’s eve ball drops, or for those in Hemet, before the first gun shots are fired off into the starlit sky. But, this word was very different in that it actually came three days late and had some crazy competition from two very worthy words, “gratitude” and “play” –which would have had some awesome potential for 2013. In the end, though, I opted for a word that gives me space to create, memorialize, capture, document, reminisce, write, photograph, be present, honor and celebrate the tiny everyday stories that make up my life, the life with my husband, and the lives of our precious boys…the good, bad, ugly, beautiful, mundane and magical collection of moments that collectively create my {our} amazing BOOK.

Now, I haven’t watched it in ages, but the movie (book), “The Notebook” actually made me start thinking about this word of mine. Never mind the serious eye candy in the movie…but the fact that this couple created a notebook as a way to help Allie remember {their} story is a beautiful tribute to a lifetime of memories. It also got me thinking…I probably have the worst memory of anyone I know…sure I am freaking amazing with short term memorization (halleluiah for that because I would have never passed any of my English finals at UCLA!)  but my long-term memory just plain sucks and is so similar to Dory in Finding Nemo that it. is.very.scary. And by very scary, I mean, holy heck when I’m 50, 60, 70, I won’t remember a damn thing and I’ll probably need my boys to wear name tags each time I see them or I’ll start calling them by my dogs’ names.

 In all seriousness, I want to focus this year on capturing (on a more regular basis) the day-to-day “stuff”. It’s so easy to do when we have a vacation and I can highlight our little adventure. But I am realizing that I am craving more than a few snippets about a trip…I want real details of what I am doing at this exact moment in time, specifics about what my boys say, do, see, think and learn. I’m so afraid that if I don’t start capturing this “stuff” now…I won’t remember any of it and that breaks my heart because this “stuff” although so seemingly little right now will be a goldmine  later when a few highlights of color won’t be enough to cover up the gray!   

So if you see me, smile and say cheese cuz’ I’ll be capturing {our} stories left and right with my eyes, mind, heart and camera!

Here are some of the first few paragraphs of our 2013 STORY:

Once upon a time…on a crisp, warm winter's day...in a land far, far away…there lived two tiny princes...

The princes loved wearing monster jackets with crazy eyes and jagged white teeth on the jacket's hood.

The sun was bright so they used their crazy hoodies to keep the sun out of their eyes...these were brilliant princes!

And on this day they had an impromptu picnic lunch at the park on the hill...  

 

 

 ...their lunches were made of only the finest ingredients, peanut butter, jelly, bread, string cheese, grapes and goldfish crackers. They drank the best apple juice in all the land.
 

 Of course after drinking all of the apple juice, one of the princes started dancing around peculiarly...and with no bathroom for miles and miles...one of the princes decided that it was better to water the park's foilage than stop playing and have to go back to his castle. Being a prince, he was of course very discreet (not!)

 And after the watering incident they played on this special playground... special because this park on the hill has some very unique features...SAND and CLIMBING OBSTACLES!

 

 It's a good thing that the princes came with their caretaker because one of the princes got stuck multiple times on this contraption of death...

After the park the two princes drove back to their castle, driven by their caretaker, to enjoy a little cupcake dessert before their mid-day slumber.  Oh the lives of these two little princes...