Brothers and Best Friends

Even though Logan and Alex fight these two are just about inseperable. Tonight Logan told Alex he could sleep in his bed with him. Something Logan NEVER lets Alex do. Logan was very thoughtful in insisting that Alex sleep along the wall to make sure he didn't fall out of the bed. Logan said that it won't hurt him if he falls out. (Hmm- not sure that's true.) Here they are all warm and cuddly in Logan's bed. I bet for Alex this ranks as one of the best days ever.

Just Some Fun at the Park

Of course we had some other fun adventures at the park as well.


Logan the king of the crazy wheel.


How fast can Phil spin them on the wheel of dizziness?


Alex monkeying around on the monkey bars.


Just a little bit of ride 'em cowboy fun on the teeter totter.

Logan the Headless Horseman

Need I say anymore?

Fun on the Swings

What's a day at the park without some fun on the swings? I'm not sure who had more fun - Phil or the boys.

Here's Alex swinging high into the trees. Whee!


Now it's Logan's turn to swing.


Logan saying "Look at me mom."


Phil swinging silly.


Phil's dismount from the swings. I give him a 10.

A Day of Firsts for Logan

Today Phil and Logan decided that it was time to take the training wheels off his bike. This was the first time we'd tried it. Since it's in the upper 50s here (winter in GA)we headed to the park to do some riding.



This is Logan's first attempt and he didn't fall off the bike!



Here he goes after having some fun at the playground. He was getting started all on his own.



Here's Logan as he attempts to go down the big hill on his bike.



This is Logan after he stopped his bike and "hurt his tenders." (Thank you Kung Fu Panda.)

The first lost tooth

Today Logan lost his first tooth! He's been wiggling it for several days now. He's very proud of the fact that he's lost it. It's so tiny. Now he has that cute hole in the mouth grin.

A Christmas Adventure

You don't realize how much you enjoy having more than one bathroom until you're down to just one with a house full of guests. On the 23rd we noticed that the toilet in the bathroom was leaking. Phil figured it was leaking at the bolts where the toilet bowl and the tank connect. So on Christmas Eve he went to Home Depot got some sealant to fix it. Well it turned out that wasn't the problem. There was a small crack in the toilet bowl that was causing the leak.

So the water was turned off for Christmas day. The day after Christmas we went shopping for a new toilet. Luckily we found one that was inexpensive and that took up less space in the small bathroom where it resides. It even uses less water per flush. Have to like that. Phil was able to install it all by himself and it looks great.

A Christmas Suprise for Grandma (and the rest of us)

Grandma (or Great Grandma if you're talking to the kids) got to come celebrate Christmas with us this year. We absolutely loved having her and having her here was the greatest Christmas gift we could ask for. We haven't gotten to spend a Christmas with her since we moved here five years ago and we really missed it. It was also nice to let her relax and enjoy the day as well.

Well it was around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m (most of us still in pjs) and we see someone coming up the driveway. Everyone thought it was our neighbors returning a dremel tool that they had borrowed. But no! It was my Aunt Tori (One of Grandma's other daughters) and Uncle Mark! They had driven nine hours up from Florida. No one knew that they were coming except for my mom (I'm secretly glad as I would have been cleaning like crazy if I knew they were coming). My Grandma was truly suprised.

The next day we were all able to go out for dinner (Grandma's treat - thanks Grandma!)at the Olive Garden. The boys were actually really good through dinner. What a special time.

Christmas Morning

The kids suprised us and didn't get up until about 7:30 a.m. Which was funny since I told Mom and Grandma they needed to be there by 8:00 a.m. because I couldn't promise them I could hold them off for long. They called on their way over and laughed when I told them that they weren't awake yet.

The kids loved their gifts. (Alex did comment that a book was boring - sorry mom. :) He does enjoy the book now though. ) The boys got some new robes and posed for a little James Bondish photo. Kayla got a great outfit from her Great Grandma and Great Great Aunt Jo in Florida.



I got some great gifts as well. I got a digital photo frame. I'm dying to figure out what photos I'll put in there and where I'll put it. I also got a device for next Christmas that makes your outdoor lights move to music. I hooked the Christmas tree up to it and it's great. I'm ready for next Christmas now. :) I'm already planning out next year's light display.

The Never Ending Trip to Visit the Magical Lights

This year we decided that we would go to the Lake Lanier's Magical Lights display and perhaps visit the holiday village. We've lived here five years and had never been. What better time to go see the lights then when Grandma, Mom and Tony are in town or so we thought... Tony was set to arrive around 5 p.m. that would give us plenty of time to meet up and go to see the lights. Well unfortunately his plane was delayed an hour and fifteen minutes. Phil took the boys with him to pick up Tony so the rest of us could stay home and do some wrapping.

We set to meet up with them (at a fast food chain that per mom's GPS was on the right hand side of the road - which it clearly was not) at about 7:20 p.m. It took them 40 minutes just to get to the top of the exit ramp and us to get that far as well. I guess the 23rd of December isn't the best night to go see the lights. :) We switched meeting locales to a restaurant on the right side of the road. Ran in for a potty break and Tony and Logan each got a drink (this will be important later). We were just 2 miles away from the lights. I think they needed time estimate signs at each of the mile markers (if you're here turn around go home and come back another day).

Well we'd been sitting for about an hour and a half (with at least a 1/2 mile or more to go)and Logan announces he has to pee. Well there wasn't anywhere for him to stop and go on the side of the road (businesses and houses line the road to the park). Tony pipes up and says he can pee in his cup it's empty. Of course Phil is in the front seat and Grandma is sitting next to him. So it's up to me to catch the pee. Keep in mind that it's pitch black and we're moving slowly. Logan almost filled an entire medium McDonald's cup with pee.

Since we were moving slowly Phil did dump it out the car. Of course the rest of the night we noticed pee cups left in the middle of the road and saw others dumping theirs out the window.

We did make it to the lights and it was worth seeing. There was the twelve days of Christmas, Santa's workshop, Teddy Bear Land, Disney theme, and animal park. However, we didn't get home until close to 1 a.m. by the time we picked up the car and ran through McDonald's for a snack (Phil went with out because he forgot to order Logan's cheeseburger).

I'm dying to watch the video that mom took of that festive night.

Belated Merry Christmas

Just wishing everyone a belated Merry Christmas. I took a temporary leave of absence from blogging while preparing for family to arrive for the holidays and while they were all here. I will say that this was one of my favorite Christmas' ever. I got to spend time with my Grandma, my mom (her boyrfriend), my brother (making next year we'll meet Tiffany), and a suprise visit from my aunt and uncle. Not to mention getting to spend time with my immediate family.

I think Santa was good to everyone this year and now I have some great blogging stories to share. :)

Kayla's Best Day Ever

After the excitement of getting her purple belt at Thai boxing we went and did a little bit of shopping and Phil and Alex got their haircut. Both look much better with their new looks. Kayla and I in celebration of her purple belt and my promotion went to get a pedicure which turned into a mani/pedi. We topped it off with wings from our favorite wing place (since we were so late we thought we better bring food home for the boys). Kayla said it was the best day ever! I'd have to agree.

Kayla's Belt Testing

Today Kayla and her BFF Madison tested for their purple belts. The first purple belt testing at the DOJO. We couldn't have been prouder. Both girls did a great job. Both of them are competitive so it's fun to watch them test together. Normally they don't get their new belts on the day of the test but Master Chris gave it to them anyway. Just in case they didn't come to class on Monday. But they'll be there with big smiles on their faces. :)

Logan's New Love

Logan has found a new game that he loves to play. He LOVES playing chess. Of course I never learned how to play the game. He loves to play against Phil and has even beat him! He's know reading (with Phil) a kids book about chess.

Some Kudos

I usually don't talk about this here but I'm very excited about this! I usually use this to talk about everyone but myself. On Monday I was offered and on Tuesday I accepted a promotion at work. This of course comes with more responsibility but also a nice raise to boot. It will be an adjustment but I'm ready. :)

Choo Choo

Today Kipper decided that my Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer train didn't belong under the Christmas tree. He pulled it up and set up all the figurines around the train. Then he sat on it and took it for a ride. Of course for all his troubles he left some kisses for the kids to enjoy!

Red and Green

Kipper must have thought our house was not festive enough with all the decorations in every room of our house. We woke up this morning and Kipper had made the toilet water in the hall bathroom red and the toilet water in our bathroom green!

Kipper's Gift

This morning instead of waking to some crazy elf antics the kids were left with a note from Kipper. A note to look for a gift from him. The kids searched and found Kipper and his sack hiding in the tree. Kayla got some small monkey stickers and the boys each got a hot wheels card. It was nice not to have to clean up any messes.

Just Alex and Me

Since I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon I was able to pick Alex up from Pre-K right when he got out. That gave us a couple of hours just the two of us before everyone else got home. We had some fun time just the two of us. We made peanut butter cookies (ok w/cheater dough but it's still baking) with Hershey kisses on top and played a challenging game of War followed by a quick game of Go Fish. Then to top it off while dinner was cooking we watched a little of his favorite show- Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Who could have asked for a better afternoon

Kipper's Adventures Continue

This morning we awoke to a strange occurrence in the kitchen. Kipper decided to take a bath in large bowl of mini marshmallows. To make it seem more festive he even went and got the matching Santa fingertip towels that were just the right size for him to "dry" off after his bath.

I'll try to post the pictures tomorrow for all to see.

Kipper's Sunday Adventures

Sunday the kids woke up to a winter wonderland courtesy of Kipper. Logan and Alex had snowflakes hung all around their room including off their ceiling fan. Kayla had then draped on her bed and entry way. Kipper even hung some snowflakes in the hall bathroom and hung up the lights that Kayla had sitting on her counter. It sure must have taken him a looooooooooooong time to cut out all those snowflakes.

Kipper's Saturday Night Adventure

Saturday morning we woke up to a strange site in the living room. Apparantly Kipper felt the need to do some climbing. We woke up to him climbing up some hangers to get on the ceilign fan in the living room.

Kipper's Second Adventure

This morning we woke up to another adventure with Kipper. We came downstairs to see the television on. Kipper and some of his animal friends decided to make some popcorn (it was a little burnt), eat it and watch movies all night. When we got up they were watching KungFu Panda.

Alex's Pre-K Conference

Today I had a conference with Alex's Pre-K teachers to see how he's doing in Pre-K. I think we can pretty much say he's a genius. Wonder where he gets that from? ;)He's doing very well. He can write his first and last name (with correct upper and lower case letters), he knows his numbers, he can make pairs, recognize and match upper and lower case letters, and can comprehend and predict in stories. The list goes on and on.

What a little smartie.

Kipper's First Adventure

This morning we woke up to Kipper's first adventure. (I didn't take pictures because Logan was sick with the same stomach bug that Kayla and Alex had.) Kipper decided that he would gather up some of the kids stuffed animal friends and have a game night. In Kayla's room he set up a game of cards. In Logan and Alex's room he set up a child's gamer's paradise.

Kipper was playing checkers with the Sock Monkey. The Reindeer was playing on the Leapster. The puppy, the frogs, the bunny, Goofy and Bert were playing a round of Michigan football with the boys football figurine game. It looked like they played some Memory and Junior Yahtzee before that because the boxes were on the floor.

I wonder what he'll do tonight?

A Visitor To Our Home

This morning we woke up to a suprise visitor to our home. His name is Kipper and he's a magic elf. On Monday the kids wrote a letter to Santa asking him if he would send a magic elf to spend the Christmas season with us. Last night the kids left out a plate of crackers (it makes the same sound as crunching snow) and a glass of water (tastes just like melted snowflakes)which is what magic elves like to snack on at night.

This morning they woke up to find Kipper sitting next to the empty plate and water glass. Santa is letting Kipper visit until Christmas Eve night when he must go back to the North Pole to help Santa load up his sleigh full of toys. Magic elves can be fun as they like to create mischief and adventures while everyone is asleep. I wonder what we'll wake up to tomorrow.

A Second Home For Christmas

Every Christmas our cats gain a second home. I think it's actually Pumpkin's favorite place to sleep. See if you can see her in these photos.

Logan's Christmas Wish

On Sunday Logan and I drove to church just the two of us and had an interesting discussion. Logan told me he wishes he could be a bird. He wants to be able to fly up to Michigan to visit everyone but mostly to eat bird seed from the two bird feeders that Shane keeps on his porch.

A New Tradition

I think we're going to start a new family tradition even if it's only once a month. Last night Phil and Kayla and Logan (Alex wasn't feeling well) all worked together and created some of the most delicious home made pizza I've ever had. They were all so proud of their work since they helped. It's much better than any fast food pizza I've ever had.

What A Great Big Sister

Kayla deserves the award for greatest big sister ever after Friday night. She and I returned home from the Girl Scout Troop Christmas Party and she agreed to sit with the boys while Phil and I ran to Kohls to do some shopping (we had $20 in Kohls cash and an extra 15% off coupon). Just as Phil and I were about to leave we hear some crying coming from Alex's bed. He had just gotten sick. I said well we can shop in the morning - the coupon and cash would still be good. We ended up getting him all cleaned up and Kayla said that she could watch him - he'd be fine. We debated and we asked Alex if that was okay and he said he was feeling better.

So Phil and I leave for Kohl's and we knew we wouldn't be gone too long. We're in the store 15 minutes and get a call from Kayla saying that Alex had been sick again but she caught it all in a bucket. What a great sister is that? Needless to say we hurried up paid and came home to relieve Kayla.

We're proud of you Kayla.

Wise Beyond His Four Years

On Sunday afternoon we were all sitting and relaxing while we watched Wall-E and there was a scene where the Captain of the space residence said that on Earth they could grow plants that grew pizza. I turned to Alex and asked him if we could grow pizza. He said to me, "No that movie is just fiction." Who knew he knew that?

Rewarding Experience

Last night was Kayla's troops' annual Nursing Home Carolling event. This is the first time I've ever been able to go to the nursing home with the troop. What a rewarding experience it was to go with them and their sister Brownie troop. I was very proud of the girls. They weren't shy - knocked on the doors and sang to more residents than I can count. The girls enjoyed it just as much as the residents did. I hope if there ever comes a time that I have to live in a nursing home that I'm treated to the wonderful sounds of girl scouts singing.

Feeling Like A Queen

I was already ready feeling really good after having my holiday lunch date with Logan at school yesterday but when all the kids got home I felt like a queen. Since I had some free time after having lunch with Logan I decided to put up the Christmas lights on the front porch (white lights with a long strand of blue snowflake lights). I also was going to try to hang up the icicle lights on the garage but alas even with a ladder I was height deprived. Then I found some really pretty foam snowflakes and put them up all over the garage doors and on the siding and on the front porch windows. I thought it looked nice.

Then when the kids came home I could hear them saying "Cool. Mom we love you!" Apparently my light display was a hit and I felt like a queen.

Holiday Lunch with Logan

Yesterday I took the afternoon off to attend the annual holiday lunch at Logan's school. Logan was the most excited kid to have me come and even more excited because he got to be the line leader. Just the look on Logan's face was enough to make my day. What's a day without a photo? This is Logan eating his turkey.

Sleeping Little Ones

I just couldn't help myself. I had to take photos of the boys sleeping this morning (I can't see into Kayla's loft bed or I'd have taken her photo too).

The tree is up

The tree is now officially up. It does look nice if I do say so myself. We've put up all the decorations through out the house as well. The only thing left to do is to put the Rudolph train around the tree and clean up. Hopefully we'll get that done tomorrow and I'll be able to put some lights out at least on the front porch. We're in for more rain tomorrow so we'll have to see. I'll have to post photos after I get the house cleaned up.

I do miss cutting our own tree but there isn't any places near the house and I'm not paying $45 or more for a tree that I have no idea when it's been cut. When I have a house big enough to do two big trees perhaps I will. :)

Preparing for Christmas

The Friday after Thanksgiving I always start preparing the house for Christmas. This year meant moving a couch into the garage so that we could get the tree in the living room. And straightening up the garage (it's not perfect but you don't have to step over things to get in there) so that when Grandma comes to visit (we can't wait) she doesn't hurt herself trying to get in our house. Of course after shopping and cleaning I wasn't feeling like putting up the tree but with Alex (especially Alex), Logan and Kayla asking to put the small tress up in their room I had to get started.

The kids trees are up and we've assembled the tree in the living room. But we won't do the lights, ornaments and train until tomorrow. I've found that 9 p.m. isn't a good time to put ornaments on when you're 4 and 6. Besides right now they're still enjoying some pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving.

Woohoo! Congrats to Phil!

The letter we've been waiting for finally arrived in the mail today. Phil officially passed his comps and has now earned his Masters! We're all very proud of him! We're even more thankful for all that we have!

Start of a New Tradition

Every year there are a few items that we're usually looking for in the door buster sales at the different stores near our home. Normally it's just me getting up at hours that are unmentionable but this year I got some company. This year I got to share the experience with Kayla. Last year Kayla discovered the "other" Santa and so this year I told her she could join me on my adventure. Mostly because I already have most of her gifts.

I must say it was nice to have someone to talk to while I'm standing in the lines and someone to ride in the car with me. I used to do that with Jenny (but alas we're too far apart to do that now other than joining each other via phone). We worked as a team splitting up to make sure we got everything we were coming for. She and I enjoyed a nice venti cup of coffee from Starbucks (her second favorite only to going to Kohl's)after shopping and picked up some Krispy Kreme donuts for those still at home in bed. We were back home in bed by 7:40 a.m. - a record shopping trip even for me.

Hopefully next year she'll decide to join me again and she has a greater appreciation for what we do to get just the right gifts for the ones we love. Thanks for spending the time with me Kayla.

Waiting......

We're one piece of paper away from finding out if Phil has earned his Master's degree. We just found out today that his portfolio he presented reflecting on all the outcomes of the course was accepted. We are now just waiting for the letter saying he's passed his comps. Keeping our fingers crossed that letter comes in the mail today.

Power Outage - Too Short?

I had just finished dinner tonight and we were sitting down for dinner and the lights flicked off, back on and then off again. We were without power but it wasn't bad. We found the flashlight pulled out the matches and lit some candles. Phil, the boys and I ate dinner by candlelight (Kayla was at Thai Boxing). It was nice not to hear the noise of music or the tv in the background and just be able to have everyone talk.

After we finished dinner we head off to pick up Kayla and call in the power outage on our cell phone. We warned Kayla her chicken may be a bit cold but still it would be tasty. We got back and the lights were still out. We went around got on warm jammies and lit some candles. About 10 minutes later the lights all came back on. We(Phil and I) were a bit disappointed because we were enjoying the time without the tv and the kids were liking playing with the flashlights. Of course then I started cleaning up the kitchen and the boys were taking a bath.

I finished the kitchen and started to blog about the desire for the power to stay out a little longer and then the power goes out again. Of course by the time we got the candles all lit again the power came back on. Go figure. Maybe we'll make a light free night some time soon. (The upside is the heat will still be on. :)

Break in a Blog

Normally I'd blog some over the weekend but haven't this weekend because everyone in the house seems to have some version of a cold. Phil was sick enough to go to the doctor and get some meds on Saturday. Of course after we took Montana for his yearly shots at Petco. Perhaps the colds are due to teh fact that it's actually starting to get cool down here. I won't say cold as that's an insult to my northern friends. But the night time lows have been in the teens and the daytime highs in the 40s (which of course isn't reached until about 4 p.m.).

Then on the off chance I have some down time I've been cleaning the house. I really need to mop the floor but perhaps taht will happen on Tuesday night. At least I can see the kitchen counter and the table again.

Preparing fror the Holidays

It's that time of year again - Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love to decorate (probably drives Phil nuts)although I have slimmed it back some because of the dogs (mainly Montana's big wagging rear end). One of the better things about that time of the year is the need to do deep cleaning. By deep cleaning I don't mean just putting things away I mean getting rid of those things that you don't use anymore. In the past couple of weeks we took 7 garbage bags (the big ones) full of clothes and toys to Goodwill plus we've probably got that many more in the garage ready to go.

Provided I get over this cold we'll be straightening out and weeding out the garage this weekend. In order to fit the tree in the living room we have to move one of the couches out to the garage. And there is no way I'm not having a tree. :)

Congratulations Kayla

Kayla just found out that she's first chair for flute in 6th grade band today. Way to go Kayla! We're proud!

Alexism for the Day

This past weekend we caught Alex sneaking around in my closet. It wasn't a huge deal but something (small kites) that we had bought that we were waiting to give the kids at a later time was in there. They knew about it but they just hadn't earned it yet. So Alex and I are driving home today and Alex asks me where we're going this weekend. I told him no where and I asked him what he wanted to do. He told me that he wanted to go to the park and fly his kite. I said you know that you shouldn't go in my closet without asking. Alex says, "I know but I'm sneaky."

Hat Day - Relay Life

Today was hat day at Logan's school and we had to scrounge to find him a dollar (I didn't want to send in a larger bill with a 6 year old) so that he could wear a hat. He said if we didn't have a dollar he'd be the ONLY one in his class without a hat. The dollar goes to a worthy cause because it does support relay for life. And you know we wouldn't want Logan to be the ONLY one without a hat. What hat did he choose? Why his army hat.

A Miniature Lawyer

On Saturday we were getting ready to leave to just get out of the house and Phil sticks a small baggie of chocolate chip cookies in my purse for the kids. Alex comes up to me and says, "Can I hold the bag." I say to him, "You have to ask your Dad because I think he wants me to hold it because he put it in my purse." Alex replies, "I did ask him and he didn't say anything." I again reply, "I think he wants me to carry it because he put it in my purse." Alex says, "No he doesn't because he didn't say for you to carry it."

Logan's First Conference

Today was the first conference for Logan. I have to say that the teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say about Logan. He's calmed down and isn't pulling strips on a regular basis anymore. He's doing very well in language arts and math. We got to bring home his writing journal and I'm sharing some of the photos he's included. One is of him and I going to Publix. It's hard to decipher but it says "I was at Publix and I was with my mom. Love, Logan" The other is one of him going to Michigan with Shane.

We also learned that Logan provides the teacher with "Loganisms" at school as well. We were told the story of how he was sitting on the carpet (his teacher was in the front wearing a skirt) and he leaned over to the boy next to him and said (in what he thought was a whisper), "She has old lady knees." Luckily his teacher (as all good Kindergarten teachers do) had a sense of humor. In fact, her husband asks her daily what new "Loganisms" she has each day.

Family Photos Part 3

The last of the set.

Family Photos Part 2

A few more photos.

Family Portraits Part One

A few weeks back we had an outdoor family portrait session. These are some of the photos from our session. We did group and solo shots and a funny family portrait.