'Twas the night before Christmas......

'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch

The pond was froze over & so was the branch.

The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.

The kids were all home on vacation from school,

And happier young folks you never did see-

Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.

Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,

There came a surprise that gave them a shock!

The power went off, the TV went dead!

When Grandpa came in from out in the shed

With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.

"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.

"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.

Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,

And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."

The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.

Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,

Uncased his old fiddle & started to play

That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.

Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew

Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too.

They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"

Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.

They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,

And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.

They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,

The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.

Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;

And when the kids wakened, the power was on.

"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"

Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.

Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,

He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

-anonymous

Happy list

I saw an article about which states were rated the happiest and found it very interesting that Indiana is rated #48! And also that Tennessee is #4 is not surprising....i have always wanted to move there ;)

HAPPIEST RANKINGS
The state-by-state list (including Washington, D.C.), from happiest to least cheery:
1. Louisiana

2. Hawaii

3. Florida

4. Tennessee

5. Arizona

6. South Carolina

7. Mississippi

8. Montana

9. Alabama

10. Maine

11. Wyoming

12. Alaska

13. North Carolina

14. South Dakota

15. Texas

16. Idaho

17. Vermont

18. Arkansas

19. Georgia

20. Utah

21. Oklahoma

22. Delaware

23. Colorado

24. New Mexico

25. North Dakota

26. Minnesota

27. Virginia

28. New Hampshire

29. Wisconsin

30. Oregon

31. Iowa

32. Kansas

33. Nebraska

34. West Virginia

35. Kentucky

36. Washington

37. District of Columbia

38. Missouri

39. Nevada

40. Maryland

41. Pennsylvania

42. Rhode Island

43. Ohio

44. Massachusetts

45. Illinois

46. California

47. New Jersey

48. Indiana

49. Michigan

50. Connecticut

51. New York

Blue man group

I posted a link of a video from Blue Man Group. I saw them in Chicago several years ago and they were amazing! A friend of mine suggested going to a show a few months back and now I'm really, really wanting to go again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RamNJn9jXk

Nightmare!

I had a nightmare last night! Well actually it was this morning right before i woke up which actually made it more terrifying! In my dream I woke up and went to the bathroom just like i do every morning, but in my dream when i looked out the window there was SNOW on the ground....about 2-3 inches, but it was still snowing! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

I have never really been afraid to drive in the snow/ice until 2 years ago when i hit a patch of black ice and everything i tried doing to stop or move out of the way of oncoming traffic didn't work! It was such a horrible feeling....being completely helpless....the car had a mind of it's own! I was extremely lucky because as my car was heading straight toward a big SUV i started to panic and when i was nose to nose with the SUV i closed my eyes and braced myself for a crash.

I could feel my car spinning and when i opened my eyes i was stopped in the middle of the road sitting in the opposite direction. Somehow that big white SUV had missed me. Unfortunately I still had what normally would take me an hour to drive home to get home to my boys. I had to drive in the ice storm at around 30 mph for the next almost 3 hours! Ever since then i've tried to avoid driving in nasty weather, but now i have to suck it up since i have a job that is 30 miles away from home! So now you can understand why this was such a nightmare for me! lol

Email Monday - Never Judge

Time for the next Email of the day ;)

'Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store. 'You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line, 'said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it. 'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else,' said the man standing behind me. The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself. The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card on to the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away. After developing cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This turned out to be the case today. Several minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove away. 'Why would she do that?' asked the man. Everyone in the line looked around at the fellow who had made the statement. 'I made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry,' said the man. 'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support,' he said in a very firm voice. 'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied, shaking both his hands about. The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing to the shopping cart full of groceries. 'It wouldn't take her card,' the clerk told him. 'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the comment. 'Yes, she goes to our church.' 'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier, 'Please use my card. PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit card and began to ring up the young woman's groceries. Hold on,' said the gentleman. He walked back to his shopping cart and began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included. 'Come on people. We got three kids to help raise!' he told everyone in line. Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts. 'Go back and get two big turkeys,' yelled a heavy set woman, as she looked at the man. 'NO,' yelled the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for several seconds. 'Four turkeys,' yelled the man. Everyone began laughing and went back to work. When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book, and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man. 'She will need a freezer and a few other things as well,' he told the man. The young man looked at the check and said,'This is really very generous of you.' 'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.' Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to clap. And I drove home that day feeling very American. We live in the Land of the free, because of the Brave!!! Remember our Troops of Yesterday and Today!!! A great example of why we should be kind and patient. Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.

Kids say the darndest things

Ty has said some pretty funny things the last couple of days.......

First one:

Ty-"Mom listen to these animals sounds, Meow, Moo, Vrroom, Ruff..."
Me-"Wait what was the sound after moo?"
Ty-"A race car"
Me-"A race car isn't an animal!"

Next one:

Ty-"Dillon is going to be 5 in three years".
Me-"How do you know that?"
Ty-"Because i'm an expert".

And this one he has said to both me and my mom! lol

Ty-"Mom when i'm old you're going to be REALLLLY old!"

Did I miss Thanksgiving?

So I was sitting (actually standing) at work last night, bored out of my mind playing Sodoku while waiting for customers and what do i hear? JINGLE BELL ROCK! Seriously?! It's not even Thanksgiving yet! I can understand starting to shop for Christmas but is it really necessary to play Christmas carols so soon? The next song was a normal every day song from the radio but a few minutes later......Oh Come All Ye Faithful and then Carol of the Bells which normally is one of my favorite songs to hear, but not now, not on November 11th! Am I being a scrooge? Maybe. But I love Thanksgiving and I love fall, which i'm sure i mentioned in a previous post, and it's not over yet! What's the rush? Don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas but I really don't start thinking about it until AFTER Thanksgiving!

The Toddler Contract

The following is something I tore out of a magazine awhile back and it still makes me laugh every time i read it......bc so much of it is true!

Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you for your interest in remaining my parents. Below is a list of my demands.

I. Food
1. For breakfast, there will be only milk from my sippy cup while I'm watching television (see section II).
2. From breakfast until what you probably call lunch, I will be provided with an unending supply of cookies. No arguments.
3. For lunch I will eat yogurt. Anything containing fruit on the bottom will make me pick out the fruit and throw it on the ground or else throw it up on your carpet.
a. So no fruit on the bottom.
4. From lunch until dinner I will enjoy having something to lick. Why not a lollipop? Why not seven?
a. Between licks, I may place the lollipop on your grandmother's Turkish rug. This will be okay by you.
5. For dinner I will have macaroni and cheese. Any attempts to give me vegetables in addition to the macaroni and cheese will result in tears.
a. And don't you dare hide anything in the cheese sauce, because, my God, how you will rue the day.
6. After dinner, you may provide me with ice cream.
a. No frozen yogurt. Trust me, i know the difference.

II. Television
1. The Tv will be on all the time, unless i say differently. You are to sit by my side, quietly, hands folded in lap, while i watch my shows.
a. You may arise to fetch me a snack.
2. No diaper changing or pleas to engage in physical activity will be tolerated during watching of television.
3. Turning off the television will result in much kicking and screaming.

III. Toys
1. There will be many.
a. They will always be strewn about the house so that i may simply reach down and pick up a toy, no matter where i am.
b. They will be loud, complicated, and contain many small pieces.
c. Nothing that results in any type of learning, please.

IV. Friends
1. They should be available whenever I'm in the mood to use someone else's toys or ingest someone else's cookies.
a. These friends may not ever so much as look at my toys or cookie supply.
b. Ever, ever, ever.

V. Sleep
1. Is when I say, where i say, and how i say. If i want to sleep upside down with my legs locked around your neck, then that's how it will be.
a. And you will enjoy it.

VI. Affection
1. Occasionally I enjoy being hugged and kissed. I stress occasionally.
2. I will not be pelted with wet-mouthed assaults on an hourly basis. Should you feel the need to hug or kiss, you must provide me with a written request.
a. And then wait for me to offer my pudgy cheeks.

Signed: x____________

Double dose

I had to work last Tuesday night and that meant I missed my Biggest Loser! This is the only show that I watch weekly that you cannot watch online the next day. Instead you have to wait an entire week for them to post it online! So I just finished watching last week's episode and now i'm "patiently" waiting for tonight's episode to come on! I'm truly hoping that this double dose of Biggest Loser will be just what the doctor ordered for me to get my motivation back!

Email of the day

My email inbox is ridiculously full. I check it daily but rarely actually read the messages. It now has over 700 messages in my inbox and about 400 of those are "unread"! I very rarely forward anything on to people unless it's something different that I haven't received twenty different times over the years! Another problem is that after changing my email address several times I have lost other people's email addresses and so I don't have many people in my address book to forward things on to. So I decided that I would start sharing some of the emails that i like here on my blog! This will not only help me clear out my inbox but also give me something to post on days when I can't think of anything to write about ;) So here is my first "Email of the day".........


We can all relate to most if not all of these

• Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
• I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
• There is a great need for a sarcasm font.
• How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (especially a king-size one!)
• I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
• I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
• Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
• I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
• Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)…ummm...Goonies"
• While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
• MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
• I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
• Bad decisions make good stories.
• I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
• "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
• I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
• Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
• As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
• Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
• Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
•Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
• I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
• I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
• The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel fat before dinner

Why must it end that way!?!

I have several shows throughout the week that i watch on a regular basis such as Gossip Girl, Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy and one of my new favorites Mercy. I seriously am parked in front of the TV if one of my shows is on, unless i'm working in which case I watch it online the next day! Why is it that almost every single week the ending of the show leaves you hanging? Why do they have to do that to us!? I mean if I like a show i'm going to watch it the following week regardless of how it ended, but when they end the show and leave you hanging it just really upsets me! Seriously why make us wonder for an entire week about what is going to happen!?!?! Am I the only one that feels this way? lol

Toys, toys and more toys!

When we first moved into our house we kept the toys picked up all the time and they all had a place to go. The only toys you would see when they were all picked up was the bigger items like Dillon's push and go Tonka Truck and their big Fisher Price play house thing. Two birthday parties and one Christmas later and we have run out of room for toys! Ever since their birthday party in February it seems the toys have taken over! A few months ago I attempted to go through their toys to start getting rid of the ones they no longer play with and Ty was NOT happy about it! He threw a fit when I started throwing old McDonald's toys into a box! So I gave up.......



Yesterday I told the boys we were going to clean their room and that I wanted them to help me organize their toys. Then I told them that we needed to get rid of some of the ones that they didn't play with anymore to make room for the new toys that they might get for Christmas. Ty asked me what we were going to do with the ones that we were getting rid of and I told him that we would donate them to a place for other little girls and boys that maybe didn't have as many toys as they did. That was all he needed to hear because he then proceeded to fill an entire garbage bag full of old toys, mostly baby toys and random toys from McDonald's to give to other kids! And when Dillon tried taking one of the toys out of the bag Ty stopped him and very sweetly said, "No Dillon, those are toys for the other boys and girls". It was a very proud moment for me ;)

Now their room is clean and the toys are organized! Now i'm dreading Christmas and then their birthdays which are in February because we will probably have to do this all over again next fall!

Sparkpeople

Over the past year I have been using a weightloss website called www.sparkpeople.com. It has so many great features to help with a healthy lifestyle. I try to track my food and exercise everyday. There are tons of great healthy recipes and I've tried several of them! I've even added a few recipes of my own so that I know how many calories are in each serving. They have a great recipe calculator and it's very easy to use. If I need some motivation I browse through the different pages or blogs and read other people's stories about weightloss success! I've also joined several different groups like Grey's Anatomy fans or 20 somethings, etc. I just started a new 8 week challenge in one of my groups that i'm trying to get excited about. I really need to get moving again but i've been so busy lately that it's been hard so i'm hoping this new challenge will be the push i need!

Preschool pictures

Ty just loves preschool! He can't quit talking about starting kindergarten and it's a whole year away! Here's this years preschool pics......i couldn't figure out how to turn the one pic!

And here's his class! All of the boys names start with D except for Ty!

Halloween

Here's a pic of the boys! Ty is Wolverine and Dillon is Spiderman ;)

We made it almost all over the whole town (San Pierre) within 45 minutes and the boys walked the entire time! They had a few layers of clothes on underneath their costumes but it was still a little chilly when the wind was blowing! I wonder what they will decide to be next year!

Great kid's website!

Ty just loves playing games on the computer and it amazes me how quickly he catches on to each new game! I found this great new website to help kids learn how to read. It's www.starfall.com. It has so many things to do and if you click on a word it will spell it, sound it out and then say it! Check it out if you have preschoolers!

Bedtime battle

Life as a single mom can be very challenging at times and for me the biggest struggle has always been bedtime until now! Both my boys were very good about going to sleep on their own when they were still babies and sleeping in a crib. I would just go lay them down and leave the room until......i switched them over to their toddler bed! While i was pregnant with Dillon I started laying down in bed with Ty until he fell asleep. After i switched Dillon over to his toddler bed I would lay down on the couch with him until he fell asleep and then carry him to his bed. While i would be holding Dillon on the couch Ty would lay down on the other end of the couch or in the chair, floor, etc and once he fell asleep i would carry him to his bed too. Some nights they would both be asleep by 8:30 or 9:00.....other nights it could be 11:00 before they both would fall asleep! Everyone told me that if i started putting them in their beds to go to sleep it would only be a few nights of crying and fighting and then it would be over! I didn't believe that at all and the thought of even those few nights of an hour long of screaming was just plain exhausting. The problem with our routine was that i need a couple hours of peace and quiet or "Me time" before i would go to sleep and so some nights that would mean that i would stay up until 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. just because i was enjoying "me time"!

If anyone knows me at all then they know that i NEED 8 or 9 hours of sleep or i do not function! So about a month ago i was so exhausted from our old routine that i decided the time had finally come to make these boys go to bed in their room and in their own beds! One night after toys were put away, pj's were on and teeth were brushed i told the boys that we were going to do something new every night. I marched them to their beds, tucked them in, and explained what our new routine was going to be.....pj's on, brush teeth, read book and then bedtime. When i looked over at Ty and saw a look of confusion on his face i simply explained to him that all little boys and girls all over the world goes to sleep in their beds....not on the couch, or on the floor but their BED!

So I sat down and read them a story and then gave them more kisses and said "Good Night" on my way out of the room. Within seconds I could hear Dillon climbing frantically out his little tykes car bed and rushing to the door in tears. "Here we go" i thought to myself. So I calmly took his hand and led him back to his bed, tucked him in and said "good night". This went on for an hour. In between him leaving the room and me leading him back in amongst the crying I could hear Ty talking to him and saying "but Dillon, all little boys and girls go to sleep in their beds". I have to say that i was impressed with Ty. He has never fought me at bedtime and was very encouraging to Dillon!

Night two of the new routine Dillon only fought me for about a half an hour. Nights three and four were only about ten to fifteen minutes and ever since there have been no tears! YAY!!

There is still the occasional coming out a few minutes later with excuses like "i need to go potty" or "i wanna a drink" or even "i need to blow my nose" but the battle is over! Now i get to start my "me time" between 8:00 and 8:30 instead of just whenever they fall asleep and it has been great! Why didn't i try this sooner?

Apple picking!

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year! I just love the crisp cool, NOT COLD, air, the beautiful changing leaves, mums, pumpkins, football and APPLES!!!! We started a new tradition last year of going apple picking and the boys just love it!

We couldn't find any ladders so we had to improvise!

I'm not quite sure how many apples Dillon ate while we were picking!

Riding on the wagon back to the store.

The wagon driver stopped at the haymaze to let the boys run through it. Ty was very quick finding his way through and even helped Dillon!

Eating a cookie they picked out at the store. Dillon only ate a few bites but i think he was full from all the apples he ate!

So now I have a HUGE bag of Golden Delicious apples and I need some recipes! If anyone knows of any yummy recipes for apple dumplings, crisp, pie, etc. let me know so that i can try them!!!!

Weightview

At the beginning of this year I had great motivation to lose some weight. Unfortunately after I had lost 30 pounds I somehow lost my motivation and really need to get it back! If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!!!!

Sometime earlier this year I had come across this website, www.weightview.com and I strongly recommend it. It's very easy to use and they send you the results within just a few days. All you do is upload a photo and then choose how many pounds you would like to lose (up to 50 pounds). They send you a photo of what you could look like after you lost your chosen amount of weight. Here's my before and after...........

Before....

After 50 pounds lost!

First day tidbit

Today was my first day of training at JCP. It was 4 hours of listening.........but there was one little tidbit of information that i found interesting and wanted to share!

The man who founded JC Penney didn't want his store to be considered just another "dime store" so he refused to stock dimes in his cash registers. They still DO NOT stock dimes in the cash registers at JCP. The only dimes that you will ever find in the registers are the ones given by the customers. Lol......crazy traditions ;)

Great story ;)

I read this story over the weekend on www.themotherhood.com and wanted to share! Great ending ;)

JulieCole posted a story
Have Breasts, Will Travel

I have this friend Steve who was recently on a flight. Across the aisle was a new mama with her babe and a very elderly man, who from here on in shall be called ‘old dude’.
As the airplane was taking off, mama started breastfeeding babe. As any travelling mama knows, it’s good if you can get babe to feed on the way up and the way down to relieve any ear pain due to changing air pressure.

As she is feeding, old dude is shuffling around, mumbling under his breath, clearing his throat and basically looking uncomfortable with the breastfeeding situation that is going down beside him.

It was a short flight so before long decent had started and mama sensibly put babe back on breast. Old dude could not contain himself any longer and said “this is clearly making me uncomfortable and yet you continue to breastfeed that child.”

At that point, old dude should have been happy he was not sitting next to me. I feed anywhere, anytime and in front of anyone. If someone feels uncomfortable, they are welcome to leave. Indeed if that sentence had fallen on my ears I likely would have experienced something very close to rage.

Old dude had the good fortune of sitting beside a very gracious mama who very politely and respectfully explained why it helps baby to feed when there is change in air pressure. Old dude seemed satisfied and quite pleased that he had learned something new that day.

The plane landed and old dude was shuffling around looking for his cane and belongings when he turned and looked at my friend Steve and with a quiet smurk said:
“Huh, and to think for all these years I’ve been chewing gum”.

No blogging this weekend!

As most of you know I work from home doing medical transcription on the weekends. Normally I pick it up on Thursday evening and have to drop it back off by Sunday evening. This weekend i did not get to pick it up until Friday afternoon so i lost almost an entire day's worth of time and there is a lot to get done! So I will be typing, typing, typing........

Please keep Alberta, the lady that i contract through, in your thoughts and prayers as she just lost her husband this week. In this line of work you do not get much time off. Her husband passed away on Tuesday and the viewing was Thursday and the funeral on Friday and she still had to go to the offices to pick up the dictation on Thursday! She will have to be back to her normal routine by Monday so I can only imagine how hard this will be for her :(

I'll be back with another post hopefully Monday night! Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Fall decor

I did a couple of different things this year with our pumpkins and gourds and I'm excited with how they both turned out!

First with the pumpkins I tried something that I read in a magazine last year. It was super easy and not messy like it usually is when carving pumpkins! Using an apple corer u just puncture holes in two different color pumpkins and then put the little circle that u cut out of one color into the other!

We go to the same place every year to get pumpkins and Marisa had some of these made up and i thought they were so cute that i had to try it! It was a little bit harder and more time consuming than the pumpkin idea but i think it turned out great! You take daisy gourds and put them on a stick (i used bamboo skewers) and wrap the stick with floral tape. Then put some styrofoam in a pot and arrange the sticks in the pot. Then i used spanish moss to cover the styrofoam!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year around the beginning of October I take the boys to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins! Ty was talking about what his costume was each year and I pulled out all the old pictures and thought I would share them.....it's amazing how much they change from year to year!

Ty - 1st Halloween (8 months old)

Ty - 2nd halloween (20 months old)

Ty - 3rd halloween (2 1/2 years old)

Ty- 4th halloween (3 1/2 years old)

Ty - 5th halloween (4 1/2 years old)

Dillon - 1st halloween (8 months old)

Dillon - 2nd halloween (20 months old)

Dillon - 3rd halloween (2 1/2 years old)

This year Ty picked out a Wolverine costume and Dillon picked out Spiderman! We just didn't have the costumes with us when we stopped at the pumpkin patch. Now I need to get my creative juices flowing to figure out what to do with all the pumpkins and gourds that we got!

Our family

I didn't want my first post to be completely random so I thought I would give sort of an introduction about my family! We live in a VERY small town in Indiana. Somehow we manage to stay busy 5 or 6 days out of the week so i'm sure i'll find tons to blog about ;)

At the current time my 4 year old is all about drawing and writing and anything artistic so i will probably be posting some pics of his artwork soon! He literally will sit and draw for hours......so you can imagine how much paper i go through! Lol....today in the car he was asking me how to spell a bunch of words and when i asked him what he was doing he told me he was making out his Christmas list.....lol, oh boy!

My 2 year old on the other hand is my sports nut! He asks everyday if we are going to a football game or the race track. Even today while we were in the waiting room at the dentist office he was putting a pretend football on the floor and then running to kick it! lol.....the other patients probably thought he was crazy.

And i guess that leaves me.....well i'm the mom of the two very active boys mentioned above! I work part time from home doing medical transcription and i just got hired on at JCP part time starting next week (just in time to buy the things on my son's christmas list ;) )! I'm looking into going back to school next fall for nursing....wish me luck!

Well that's a start.......stay tuned ;)