oh the joys of technology

hello everyone! if you thought I dropped off the face of the earth, you are pretty much right. my computer pooped out! the starter box died??? I know nothing about computers...so anyway after my cousin Cody worked so hard to get a new one and install it...the motherboard died too. i don't know for sure what all that means, but i know it's very very bad, so needless to say i was computerless FOREVER!
but thankfully to our good friend Brian, we are up and running again, with a new/old pieced together computer for a while!! Yippie! so i will blog again soon, and post new pics(when i get my hard drive back), and when my poor sweet hubby isn't trying to sleep
ps:typing in the dark is really hard, good thing i was terrible in sixth grade and had to use those blinder things all the time....
anyway, more to come soon!

Welcome to my crazy life!

Hello!

Ok so yes it has been forever since I have blogged...I know, put it on the list of stuff that doesnt' get done around here. You'd think that Mommy person would show up around here and clean, and cook, and teach my children quantum physics already. but instead my kids are stuck with me, and the mashed up cheerio's and strawberries on the floor, and the finger paints. But, darn it, we have fun! I have changed Caleb's clothes three times today, once for sand, once for fingerpaints and lunch, and once for melted chocolate chips...and it's only 3:30 so by baby standards, I think he's had a stinkin fun day!

I'm trying to think of what all has kept us busy...I've been working quite a bit recently, and we have been gone a lot. We were gone all day to Grandma and Papa's. (mom and Mike's) We had a fun time and my kid's got thoroughly spoiled...THanks guys! They got some rummage sale toys, new hats, smoothies, and I can't even remember what all else...no wonder they always want to go there.

PS: I need to get a sticker for my bumper that says "I brake for rummage sales" It's my new addiction..or my old...as Justin A would say, I'm a compulsive crap buyer. Thankfully my taste in things has changed and I'm much more picky. But I've found a boatload of good deals this summer. THe best would have to be Eric's father's day present. It was twelve outdoor solar lights. They are really nice, metal ones and they work really well. For only 8 bucks, I think it was a steal...
And I got a bike for my friend Kendra (in return for watching my monkeys while I worked) for eight bucks!! Once again, a steal. Anyway, it is so true that one man's trash is another man's treasure!

Sunday we went to church and then my Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch and Luke got to play the toy violin...he loves it! He and Caleb also love to sing and dance while my Grandpa plays his real violin (fiddle) or guitar! They have a ball. My Mom is actually relearning to play the violin now, some thirty or so years after she quit. She is actually getting pretty good. At first some of the notes were less than pleasant, but she's doing much better. My Grandma also has an accordian that Luke thinks is very cool.

THen we went to hang out at Eric's parents house. Sarah, Alexis and Wyatt were there so all the kids had fun running around and getting into trouble. Then we went to see Eric's PoPo in the hospital. He has had some kidney problems and may have to go on dialysis...we aren't sure yet. Please keep him in your prayers (his real name is Roland) Then we went back to MeeMaw and Papa's for a while to let Lukie fish. He loves it out there by the pond. And then Eric, Johnnie and I tried to put together an entertainment center. Why won't men use the instructions? Is that a blow to the self esteem to actually attempt to do what the Chinese people who make everything we buy, say to do? I'm all for it. Yet, as I was trying to decipher that...Eric and his Dad where doing their own thing and using power tools.. So needless to say we had to redo things a couple of different times...Go figure.

Anyway, I am going to get a new camera soon so I can post new pics. I miss my old one so bad!! Boo hoo. That's what I get for being forgetful!

Well hope everyone has a great day!
bye

Caleb's party

Hey everybody! Sorry it has been so long. (The last time I posted I went in to the kitchen to find that Caleb had destroyed my aloe vera plant and broke it's pot...so finding time to blog is difficult!!)

Anyway, I have to go quickly again as Caleb is attempting to reconfigure the way my computer wires are placed (at my feet), but I just wanted to share some pics of his bday party this Sunday. My Mom downloaded all these pics for me, as my forgetful Mommy brain left mine at our local park...and I don't think I'll ever see it again.

So, here are some pics...(my Mom isn't the best photographer...notice the cutoff heads...but you gotta love someone who takes the time to download her pics for me without me even asking...just because I was sad about losing my camera...what a Momma!)

Anyway, here is my special little boy opening his presents, with his figure eight race track cake I made him, and getting ready to dive into his first cupcake. I'll post more of my dirty baby later...he did so great!!

As Julie mentioned when Avery approached the one year mark, this is a very hard time for me. With Luke I always knew there would be another baby in my life after him. But with Caleb, I'm not so sure, so the thought of my little man growing up is killing me. He is such a special gift from God. He is probably the most low key person in this whole house. During his party he was passed around to everyone and never minded a bit. He is so mellow and sweet and he is such a lover! Luke has never held still long enough to hug me, but Caleb will crawl right over to me just to hug me around the neck and plant a big ole slobbery kiss on my cheek, or lips, or eye or whatever is available.

As I think of his big heart and mellow personality it makes me wonder what all amazing things God has in store for him someday. I also struggle with the thought of him growing up and not needing his Momma in the same way, but I know that is my ultimate goal, so I try to see it positively.

Speaking of his heart, we saw the cardiologist the other day and everything is going great. Dr thinks he will completely outgrow his problem and should have no limitations later in life!!! Praise God!!

Well hopefully I can post again soon, Maybe even on his actual birthday! Thanks to everyone who reads this and invests in the lives of my boys in one way or another. It's so fun and amazing to know that I have friends and family that love my kids almost as much as I do !! What a blessing!

Have a great day!!

HI!

Ok so it has been a long time since I have blogged. And I have about two seconds as Luke is watching Elmo's potty video for the four hundredth time! And Caleb is destroying the train table. So here goes...
Not a ton of excitement at our house today. I think we are going to the library as it is raining and yucky so please pray for God's blessing upon us!!!!!!!!!! The library is a huge source of anxiety for me due to the fits of gigantic proportion that LUke has thrown there. I had sworn not to go back with the kids for a long long time but I have tried once recently and it went pretty well. I just brought treats and a special toy that Luke rarely gets to play with to use to get us out of there (there is a train table there and Luke hates to leave) I know that all of this is considered bribery, however I don't care. Anyone who thinks I'm a bad Mommy for this should promptly take my son themselves and see how embarrassing it is to carry a screaming toddler out of the building while also trying to lug out a one year old, purse and diaper bag. NOT FUN! So I will continue my bribery, and I think God says it is just fine!

We are gearing up for Caleb's first birthday here. I can't believe it! My baby is growing up so fast! He cruises everywhere and is starting to get in to everything!!! I can enter a previously clean room and find it trashed in a matter of moments! Even worse than Luke and that is pretty darn bad! He is so adorable though that is hard to stay mad! He is also trying to stand up in the bath tub now and not staying in his little chair so you have to watch him like a hawk. And when you tell him no, he stands up, points his little finger at you and says NO NO NO. (while smiling) What a poop!! Do I have my hands full or what???

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTI!! I'm sorry I couldn't ever get a hold of you yesterday...I had to work and then could never reach you. Hope you had great day! Can you believe we are twenty eight???? CRAZY! I had a patient yesterday (62 yr old male) ask me how old I was. When I told him he said "I didn't think you were that old" IS that supposed to be a compliment or not?? Cause I didnt' think 28 was old, but I guess it sounds like it! Oh well, who has time to worry about it while chasing kids? I was thinking that if I have another baby I will be like 30 or 31 when it is born which seems old by OBGYN standards!! Man, where have the twenties gone???

I guess we are gearing up for our class reunion coming up. Thanks for all the hard work Julie and Amy!! It sounds like a lot of fun and they have done a lot of work to get it together and make it special!! Thanks guys!!I look forward to meeting everyone's families and catch up!

Well, I guess I better go and check on my kiddos and then spend some time in prayer before the library, hee hee!! Have a great day, and I will post some of Lukie's bday pics soon!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKIE!!!

Oh I cannot believe this day has come! It cannot be real that at exactly 1:15 pm three years ago today my little man came into the world!! So many amazing awesome moments in the last three years....it just blows me away to think that he is actually three! (Although he keeps saying he is two)

Luke woke up this morning and came to see me and Baby Caleb. We sang Happy Bday to him (only the funny zoo version) He is so excited that it is his bday! We got to go to the Flip Shop and jump on trampolines and play on all the equipment! Then we ate lunch and played with our neighbors, Kendra and Connor! Kendra even made special birthday cupcakes for Luke! He liked them so much...he even ate Connor's!

Then tonight we have pizza and cake at MeeMaw and PaPa's then were going for ice cream with Grandma Ginger and PaPa! WHat a day! Then a Curious George bday on Saturday! What a fun time!!

After reading Julie and Christi's blogs the reminisced on the birth of Avery and Josiah...I thought I should include some special pics of Lukie too! So hope you enjoy them! I can't believe he was ever that little!

It seems so long ago. Especially because of Caleb, so now the freshest memories I have of baby times are of my littlest man instead. But I'll still never forget the moment when they put him in my arms...The love that grew inside of me that I never even knew was there. It was and is so amazing. Who knew that was deep within there, just waiting to escape. I heard a quote the other day that said that a baby feels a void you never even knew was there...how true!!! And in an instant the world no longer had anything to do with me and everything to do with taking care of my little bundle and teaching him everything he needed to know. Part of my heart was torn away and put inside this little guy so that I felt everything he felt and anything that hurt or upset him also did the same thing to me. Also a new joy overflowed as I saw his joy and happiness in the tiniest things!! It is so incredible to watch life through the eyes of a child! Beauty is everywhere and even the most mundane thing is new and fresh in their view!

Ok so I'm all misty eyed now, so I'll go...but I want to leave you with the words to a song that came out around the same time as Luke was born that I would sing to him all the time...

"Come here and cry on my shoulder,

I'll hold you till it's over,

I'll rescue you tonight.

Let my arms be your shelter,

your hiding place forever,

I'll love you more than life."

Long time....

Ok so it has officially been a very long time since I have blogged. As I listen to my sweet little angel screaming his head off in the next room (as he is supposed to be taking a nap) I am reminded of why it has been so long. I have been working a lot more than usual recently and when I am actually home, I have been having a hard time getting my kids to nap at the same time!!

Above are some pics from Easter. Luke is making a funny face in the first one. Those ones are from my Dad's egg hunt. It was cold out there!! Gotta love Easter in the four states. Next is Luke and Caleb getting their Easter baskets. Thankfully we hadn't said anything about the bunny because I made up the baskets and set them out around 10 pm thinking my kids were asleep but apparently Luke wasn't because he came out and started messing with his! So much for surprises! Caleb got these new little paints that fit baby hands and a Veggie Tales cd and Luke got a new train (of course) and a VeggieTales too. They seemed pretty excited about it! THen they hunted eggs at my grandparents and then again at Eric's parents. (Clay Michael, our nephew, is the other little boy in that pic)

Last is a pic of Eric with Caleb at the Flip Shop on the trampoline! Eric got to take his lunch break early to come play with the boys and they all had lots of fun!

Luke will be three a week and I cannot believe it! He is doing so many cool things now and I can't believe how much he has changed since he was two! He has just now started counting things...(like really counting things instead of just rattling off one, two, three and not comprehending that the numbers represent something.) And he is doing so good with his letters, and he loves to read all the time! I'm so proud of him (if you can't tell!)

Baby Caleb has definitely perfected the art of crawling very quickly. I can put him down and I swear he beats me to wherever I was heading. He has also started cruising all around the coffee table and anywhere else the he can hold on a walk. He ate baby food spaghetti today (which looked disgusting) and is just getting too big too fast! It makes me sad! Oh and by the way, Amy, we cut his hair finally a couple of weeks ago..and he does look a million times better!!

Lukie Duke is having a Curious George birthday party so hopefully that will be fun! I'm going to attempt to make his cake. It is George's face, so we'll see how that goes!

Eric and I are going to Table Rock Lake for an overnight trip at the end of this month for our anniversary. We are so excited! We are going to stay in some really nice looking cabins, complete with a double jaccuzi! I think we are also going to go golfing and biking while we are there. Eric is funny because when we first got married every time we went anywhere we had to go and do things every moment of our trip. Now when I was trying to plan what all we should do he was like "I just wanna lay around a lot and not do anything!" It's funny that the longer we are married he becomes more like me and I more like him! Does that mean we will eventually be just a like? I just hope he doesn't get my ditziness because we need some brain cells in this family!

OH! I forgot.. LUke and Eric are going to take a train ride around Pittsburg this Saturday! It's some fund raiser and I think Luke will be in Heaven! I haven't told him yet, just in case something happens and he can't go, but I'm so excited for him! Also we are going to take the boys to Silver Dollar City at the end of this month too! So that should be fun! And we are having a rummage sale the last Saturday of the month! So this month is going to be crazy busy and also hopefully a lot of fun!!

Also, I did forget one other thing. Eric played Jesus at church on Easter and did a great job! THey led him up to the stage and "hammered" him on the cross and hoisted him up in the air. He looked kinda scary in his little toga and covered in fake blood. He had to hang there for about 20 minutes during communion and then he came out later in white and walked back out. He did a great job and I was really proud of him. Actually I teared up immediately when he came out and forgot that he was my hubby and just thought of Jesus and all he endured for us. It was very touching and an awesome reminder that He allowed them to beat and crucify Him all out of His amazing love for us and in obedience to His Father!!! How amazing!!!!!

Well that is a ton of info for now! I promise I'll write again later...For now I think I have to go put a toddler back in his bed for the 23rd time!

Bye!

Our crazy life!

Ok,so hopefully these pics will show up! The first one is of my sweet little guy learning to crawl! I thought this would be a great occasion at my house but I forgot how as soon as they learn to crawl they want to get into EVERYTHING now! Caleb's favorite new game is "Pull all the DVD's off the shelf and watch Mommy pick them up" If you haven't played it, it is apparently more fun than any of the expensive toys laying all over my floor! And Luke is hilarious because he has recently become the "Rule Nazi" at my house. Any rule that any other kid should be following must be punished to the greatest extent (except rules he breaks of course) So Caleb pulls the DVD's down and it drives Luke crazy! If he only remembered that just a couple of years ago it was him instead.... Oh they grow too fast!!!
So, pic number two is a funny one...I may have already told some of you about it. For me it actually was a dream crusher! You see, as you all know Luke is "full of energy" to say it nicely, and too stinkin onery to put it bluntly. So, I was for sure that when precious angel baby Caleb came along that he would be my calm, sweet child, who enjoyed cleaning his room and giving his Mommy shoulder rubs. He would never purposely drop kick his Mommy or trash my house just for fun. But as you can see by the pics my little angel doesn't always wear a halo. As soon as he got close enough to get his little grubs on my aloe vera plant, it was all over. As I was making breakfast that morning I heard Luke say, "Baby Caleb got poop all over the floor" which made me rush over to see to my dismay my precious angel had tested his green thumb by pulling out my plant by the roots and leaving a pound of potting soil all over my floor. And the worst part was....HE WAS LAUGHING! So, as you can plainly see, my dreams are over. Life as a Mommy of two ONERY boys has officially begun, and I'll probably never own another thing that isn't in some way broken. But I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Oh, and the last pic is also hilarious. My title is "I should have listened to my Momma and took my nap" I actually shouldn't joke because Luke was really sick when we took it...But, he was just playing along and all of sudden I looked over and he had fallen asleep standing up. Between this and falling asleep at the dinner table twice while eating (we had to grab him to keep his head out of his food) I'm beginning to wonder if he has occasional narcolepsy...you wouldn't think it when he is fighting me to take a nap though.
Well so that is all of my crazy pics. I don't have too much more..We had a good busy weekend, and spent some time with Eric's family and mine so that was nice. We also got to see Julie and Avery on Friday and a little bit on Sunday (thanks again for taking the pics!) Avery is getting so big! She looked really cute in her Nascar attire (including her bow) We had a good time at MOPS this morning and two of my friends and their kiddos came over for lunch afterwards so that was fun (it included 6 boys under the age of three..yikes!~)
Hope everyone has a great week!