My Life as Mrs. Goob

The Search for Cash

2012-01-01T13:26:00.000-06:00

The awesomeness that is Matthew:

Yesterday we received a knock on the door. It was a lady passing out flyers for her missing dog "Cash." He had been missing over 2 weeks and they really wanted to find him.

Matthew had been standing in the hallways listening to this lady's plea for help. When she finished he pumped his fist into the air and said "a mission!!! This is a job for MATTHEW!!"

I smiled at his enthusiasm. We then decided to make it a family mission.

We all piled into the car and drove around town, having Matthew lead the way. He rolled down his window and yelled for Cash.

When we got back from driving around town he grabbed a friend and they walked around the neighborhood to look some more.

Unfortunately he never did find the dog.

Upon further inspection of the flyer we saw that there was a $200 reward for the safe return of the dog.

Matt asked Matthew what he would do with all that money. His response: "I would give it to you."

He knows that things have been tough financially.

But seeing him so excited to help someone he had never even met before makes me proud beyond words.

Conversations with a 3 year old

2011-11-14T19:43:00.001-06:00

While getting out of the tub, David hears the water draining.
"Mommy! It's burping!! (moment of stunned silence) Oh, it says 'Excuse Me.' "

While I was getting him dressed after his bath.
"Mommy I naked boy!"
(in his best superhero voice) "Naked Boy!"

This little exchange happened the other day.
"Mommy, you're awesome."
"Thank you David."
"You're welcome Mommy."

"I like the skelly goat."
After a few seconds of mental confusion I realized what he was talking about. A telescope.

While sitting on my lap with his head on my shoulder and rocking us back and forth.
"Rocky a baby, in the tree."
Looks up at me and whispers...
"Close your eyes Mommy. Go to sleep."

How am I doing?

2011-11-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

Everyone keeps asking me "How are you doing?" I think this is really sweet, but I don't always want to give the full, drawn-out explanation. So mostly, I just say "I'm fine, thank you."

There is truth to that. I am fine. Just not all the time. A lot happened last week, including the miscarriage.

Matt's Aunt Christina passed away suddenly at the young age of 42. His Grandfather also had a stroke, but thankfully seems to be doing well.

The passing of Aunt Christina just about knocked me off my feet. It was just a few months ago we were visiting and were all piled on her bed with 2 of her 3 kids talking and laughing while Matt fixed her computer.

So I'm dealing with a lot of grief.

Today doesn't seem to be one of my good days. I'm weepy and cranky.

I just need to keep reminding myself that I'm having a bad day, not a bad life.

So, I am fine. But then again, I'm not.

I'm still healing from my miscarriage. I didn't think it would take this long. I always thought you had a miscarriage and then that was it. A one day thing. But it was a week on Sunday and I'm still feeling the effects of it. Ibuprofen helps. So does lots and lots of candy.

Thank goodness for Halloween.

Miscarriage

2011-10-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

The following post is a little TMI (Too.Much.Information) You have been warned.

Writing is sometimes therapeutic for me. I'm going to talk about something that is very hard for me to verbally say but I want everyone to know. Mostly so there are no awkward conversations. One day I will be able to talk about it. Maybe even in the next couple of days. But right now, every time I utter the word Miscarriage, my heart aches and the tears flow openly.

I had a miscarriage.

Sunday morning the boys and I went to church. Matt stayed home because he is working the night shift and so sleeps during the day. I was still on my new pregnancy high. 7 weeks pregnant, the baby was the size of a blueberry. That was our little nickname for it.

During church services I noticed I was cramping a little. My back was sore also. I just shrugged it off, thinking maybe I was being a little bit of a sissy. I had been spotting the week before and even went and had an ultrasound done. I saw the teeny heartbeat. I'll always remember that teeny little heartbeat. But according to my doctor, everything looked fine.

Spotting is normal as long as it's not bright red and there are no clots. So I just kept an eye on the spotting and slowed my activities way down. No lifting and lots of laying down to read.

Sunday afternoon we were invited over to a friends (Mike and Beka Parman) house for their daughters First Birthday. I arrived at 4pm, played with the baby. Watch David be crazy and silly per usual. I even received some congratulations for my pregnancy and showed off my ultrasound which showed a little blur for a baby. Even at that point I just wasn't feeling right. Call it intuition. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I put Katie down and went to the bathroom. It was then that I noticed my underwear was soaked with blood, amongst other things. I was devastated.

Matthew came to the door just as I was getting ready to leave. "Mom? Are you ok?" I opened the door, let him and start crying. I manage to say "I lost the baby." He immediately tears up and wraps his arms around me. I love that kid so much.

I then realized I was going to have to walk through a whole crowd of people to get to the front door while still crying freely. I made it to the kitchen where Beka was preparing food for the party. I managed to sputter out that I had to leave because I just had a miscarriage. She gave me a big hug (hugs really help) and offered to take the boys home later, I agreed and ran out of the door, desperate to get home to my husband.

Just as I get to my car Mike comes up and gives me a big hug and just let me cry.He even offered to drive me home. But I just want to leave.
I am so grateful that we have been blessed with such amazing friends like Beka and Mike.

I get home, wake Matt and we go to the ER. Mostly because I didn't know what to do in a situation like this. I'd never had a miscarriage. After a 4 hour wait, blood work, and an ultrasound, it is determined that this indeed in a miscarriage.

I had pretty much prepared myself for that outcome, but to hear those words come out of the doctors mouth broke that teeny tiny string of hope I had left. We cried and then I told Matt I just want to go get something to eat.

So he fed me, he hugged me, he even rubbed lotion on my legs because they were dry. He has been my rock through all of this. I am so thankful that he is mine and I am his.

I will say that even though this has happened and I am sad about it.
I will not let it define my life or who I am.
I am not broken.
I will be happy, although just not right now.
I will recover.
We will try again.
We love Matthew and David so much. We are eternally grateful to have them as our children.

Silly boys and a BIG surprise!!

2011-10-17T20:10:00.000-05:00

Things have been kind of crazy here at the Shoemaker Homestead.

Winter is closing in fast so I've been trying to relish in the last warm days of Fall.

Last week it was so warm we decided to grab some blankets and soak up some sun. It was just what we needed.

A few days later Matthew took it upon himself to rake some leaves in the backyard. He then led his little brother out there and they jumped and played. It's days like that that get me through the days when they aren't getting along so well.

Matthew as the leaf monster!!

David attempted to be a headless leaf monster also but then quickly decided the itchy leaves were no fun to lay in.

A few nights ago Matt was off working the night shift at Energizer so it was just the boys and I. We went upstairs early that night. (Morning sickness has been kicking my behind and all I want to do is curl up in a bed with a good book.)

So there I sat in my bed while the boys played. At one point they came in like this:

Then Matthew had the brilliant idea of grabbing my sweater to put around David.

Oh, these boys always know how to make me smile.

In other news we found out that I AM PREGNANT!!!

I'll know more about when my due date is when I go to the doctor but we're estimating at late May/early June.

We couldn't be more thrilled. Everyone keeps asking if we hope it's a girl. Of course we'll take whatever is given to us. A girl would be different, but if it's a boy then at least we'll know what to do with it! Hahaha!

Stop Motion Animation

2011-10-02T17:34:00.002-05:00

Matthew made his first stop-motion animation a few years ago to stave off boredom.

He loves doing it and created another one just the other day with his friend Aurora. That one supposedly features a Transformers toy, but I have yet to see it.

He always astonishes me with his creativity.

I hope he never gives up on it.

Donut Heaven

2011-09-03T00:11:00.000-05:00

About a week ago someone in my little family suggested making homemade yeast donuts. I don't remember who it was, maybe my dear husband who is well known for his massive sweet tooth. Either way the thought of homemade yeast donuts instantly had us all drooling. Matthew signed up to be my side kick in the donut making process. He was instantly ready to get in there. He even went and washed his hands without having to be ask. (he's getting so big! *sniff*)

I had never made donuts, much less yeast donuts. I may be kind of weird, but I can't stand anyone (mostly my children who demand attention) in the kitchen when I'm trying a recipe for the first time. I just need to be able to concentrate so that I don't waste food if I botch it up. There's a lot of pressure there. I never like throwing away food. Even though we now give the veggie scraps to the chickens and the meat scraps to the dog. But those scraps aren't nourishing my family...so yeah, pressure.

Attempt #1 you're supposed to heat up the milk, sugar and butter on the stove until the butter melts. Well I didn't consider that the milk mixture would get screaming hot and kill the yeast when I poured it in there. That was a flop. Didn't rise one little bit.

Attempt #2 heated up the milk mixture and then let it cool for about 5-10 minutes. I also made sure to watch it so it didn't get as hot as it did last time.

Nope, that didn't help either. The yeast died and I was left with dough that was hard as a rock. I wanted to throw it at someone!! But I didn't, I simply threw it in the compost pile.

After the second attempt I decided to do some research. Matt was concerned that my yeast was old and that's why it wasn't rising. So I checked online and found a little experiment

Take couple of teaspoons of yeast and sugar and add them to a glass of lukewarm water, Let sit for about 5 minutes. If it starts to foam then you know your yeast is good!! If not, well then it's time to restock.

I also found out that the milk mixture needs to be between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Attempt #3 I took my newly discovered information and put it to the test. I dug out my candy thermometer and put together the milk mixture. I was shocked to discover that it took almost a half an hour to cool down to 90 F after getting everything melted. I just wasn't expecting that.

Matthew then joined me in the kitchen. I felt pretty confident it was going to work this time. David was not allowed in the kitchen at that time because he becomes very needy and demanding. (I want a drink! No milk! I want water......umm, no. I want milk!) It's a bit tiring. Luckily Matt was home and swooped in to distract David with toys and good ol' rough-housing.

Matthew and I measured and mixed. Then the hardest part. THE WAITING!!

(Would it rise!?! Would it fail?? Only time would tell!?!)

We waited an excruciating 60 minutes. I tried not to go into the kitchen during that time. And if I did, I did not make eye contact with the covered bowl sitting on the counter.

The timer dinged (Matthew practically informed the entire neighborhood)

SUCCESS!! THE DOUGH HAD RISEN!!

I won't bore you with the rest of the cooking process.

We fried them up and topped with warm chocolate frosting. Oh yeah, they were divine!!

Matthew had just polished off his second donut when he practically floated into the kitchen proclaiming "I think I'm in Donut Heaven!"

Once I figured out all that I was doing wrong, they didn't take too long to make.

It looks like we may have the start of a family tradition on our hands. I can handle that.

Zombie Manicures

2011-08-22T20:42:00.003-05:00

The past 3 days I have been plagued with terrible insomnia. I would lay in bed and just wait.....and wait...and wait, for sleep to over take me.

So naturally I would get up and roam around the house. Picking up toys. Sweeping floors, rearranging bookshelves. There was even some vacuuming involved.

Nothing online was worth watching.

I was bored. And wide awake. And the rest of the family was tucked cozily into their beds. With content looks on their faces. I know, because I would go and watch them for a little bit. Does that sound creepy? I just think they look so perfect just laying there and re energizing for the next day. I never know how my day is going to go with those two pieces of my heart. I love it.

Anyways, after I finished gazing creepily at my children I went downstairs and fiddled around on Youtube.

I love finding beauty tips that look slightly complex but in fact are super-de-dooper-easy.

So, I found this little gem. (it's a nail tutorial)

I spent a couple of uninterrupted hours painting and decorating my nails. I did get some stress-relief from all of this but at the same time just wishing I could go to sleep.

Around 5 this morning I finally fell asleep.

Matt woke me up around 10 with pancakes on the table! My-oh-my...he's a keeper.

I then spent the rest of the day preparing corn to be frozen, making cucumber salad from our huge cumbers and working on restoring our bathroom door, amongst other household chores

At the end of the day, after I had gotten the toddler out of the bath I look down and realize that my polish is already starting to come off.

I wasn't bitter. I kind of think of it like "washing your car to get rain"

I painted my nails the night before and had terrible insomnia. But I got up and played with my kids and was super productive. All the while I would glance down at my "fancified" nails and giggle.

In theory, to keep me from having a slum ho-hum kind of day, I just need to paint my nails the night before.

Another theory, take care of myself and it will make me happier in the long run.

I kind of like that one better.

Sweet Little Petunia

2011-08-21T16:29:00.002-05:00

A couple of months ago the white cat that came with the house had kittens. This is the 4th or 5th litter she's had. She's an outside cat and her kittens always run off when they get big enough. We want to get her fixed but just never have it in our budget. (we named her Old Lady due to her sad eyes and looking older than she is) The last time she had kittens there were complications and all 4 kittens died. They are now buried underneath the willow tree.

This time she was bigger than she was last time. We estimated on at least 5 or 6 kittens. She ended up having them underneath the house and figured it would be a while before we saw any of them.

A couple of days later she brings out 1 itty bitty kitty. All white except for 2 little dots on her head. We waited and waited for Old Lady to bring out more. Sadly we discovered that the rest of her litter did not survive.

Meet Petunia, the surviving member of that litter. We haven't officially said we are keeping her, but the kids adore her and Matthew is the one that named her Petunia. We all think that's a very sweet name. I'm fine with the whole thing as long as she stays an outdoor kitty.

Matthew and his bucket o' cuteness.

But who knows, things may change. Either way, we are enjoying having a little kitten around. Watching her catch bugs and imaginary things in the grass is nightly entertainment.

Momma's Hot Cookies!

2011-08-04T12:19:00.004-05:00

The local church here in Parnell had a Bible School for all the kids last Monday. It was a 2 hour event and even David was able to go. That meant a whole 2 hours with no kids at the house!!

Afterwards they had little performance we got to watch. David ran over and sat in our laps as soon as we were in sight. So he just sang in our laps. We spotted Matthew hanging out with his local buddies, they were singing with very goofy expressions. *sigh* What can you do...

We were then led down to the play area where they had made cookies and decorated hot pads while they were there. This was my favorite part.

Yes, that says "Momma's Hot Cookies."

That coupled with Matthew's hilarious smug look makes this whole thing priceless.

I couldn't love him more.

David enjoying a cookie with his baker's hat. He was very serious about the cookies.

Then Matt put on David's hat, because it made us all laugh.

David holding his beloved hot pad that he lovingly decorated.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

2011-07-28T22:28:00.002-05:00

Who needs TV with silly shows when I have unlimited entertainment right at my fingertips?

When David and Matthew are in the room (and are both in a good mood, this is key) it's like comedy hour at our house. They can really ham it up and it's hard to resist joining in on the fun.

Recently we held a "laughing contest" while my mom (aka Nana) was here. In case you don't know what that is, it's when you square off with an opponent and you each do whatever it takes to make the other person laugh without laughing yourself. I can't remember who won or lost, only that Nana lost within seconds of squaring off with Matthew. It was fun. We are never without an abundance of fun at our house.

I would like to say that I have truly been blessed with some amazing kids. It's an honor to be their mother.

This is David's rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider

Dinosaurs in my house

2011-07-14T17:50:00.006-05:00

This little exchange happened today between my husband and son, David (age, 3):

David: Daddy! Daddy! I a di-saur!! (dinosaur)

Daddy: you're a dinosaur!? Me too! Let's go be dinosaurs together!

David: Yea!

Daddy: I'm from the Cretaceous Era!

David: Yea! A Eh-wa! (Era)

They then proceeded to attack me and then "eat" various things around the house including a stuffed teddy bear.

Typical day.

Guest Post

2011-07-05T15:35:00.003-05:00

I had the pleasure of being asked to write a guest post on a friends blog!

A Thankful Heart

New Friends and Inspiration

2011-06-29T17:29:00.007-05:00

A big THANK YOU to our friend Gina for introducing us to our new friends.

Gina had been pestering us for MONTHS to meet some friends of hers. They are family with 3 kids around our kids' age. But that's not what makes this awesome.

The reason Gina had been wanting to get us all together is because the husband, Jeremy, plays guitar. (and very well I might add!)

Matt has been a singer for years. But due to well...LIFE, he hasn't had much time to pursue his love of music.

Jeremy came over last night and they sat down and played around with some songs for a couple of hours. It was so lovely to hear my dear husband sing again. I had missed hearing him sing.

After he left we got the kids to bed and Matt watched his nightly episode of The Glenn Beck Show.

This particular episode was about Courage. Mr. Beck is gearing up for his Restoring Courage rally.

He told a story about how he recently had to deal with bullies.

His young daughter wanted him to go watch a movie at the park with her. He and his family went and as they were watching the movie someone "accidentally" kicked a bottle of wine, splashing the back of his wife's shirt and soaking the blanket they were sitting on.

His young daughter also had some people yelling unkind things to her.

The jeering continued until the end of the movie. At the end, when the Beck family got up to leave, those same bullies applauded their departure.

Now, he said there were a lot of GOOD people there, but nobody spoke up. Nobody told those bullies to cool their jets and just watch the movie!

I hope if I ever see someone being bullied, adult or child, I will have enough COURAGE to tell them to stop. I'm not a very outspoken person, but I believe in treating each other equally.

No matter what that person does or believes in, they are a human being, just like you and me.

You may not agree with the choices they are making, but it doesn't mean you can't show compassion towards them. You never know, it may be the only kindness they see all day.

So I kind of got off subject there, but I felt it was important to say.

The reason I wanted to share the COURAGE story is because after Matt watched that he went to the kitchen and did something I hadn't seen him do in YEARS! He sat down at the kitchen table and wrote a song! Jeremy came over today and they worked on putting the song together. I was very impressed with Matt's words. He inspires me to continue to pursue the things I love.

HE IS AWESOME!

Here is the song he wrote.

Courage to Conquer

The light shade has been pulled

shut because I can't watch the

hate anymore. The building of this nation

has been shattered into pieces.

Is there anyone to stand back up

to fight this disillusion?

I'm sitting alone, feeling the grief of a

million people dying. I pray to God

and the answer is clear to

stand up for what I believe in.

Even though I feel alone there

are others that are sleeping.

Wake up! Wake up!

Wake up because the

battle is coming. It's nothing new, but

it's my time now to raise the flag again for freedom.

Ask yourself, what do you believe in?

If you don't, you'll be deceived then.

Oh America the beautiful, God shed

His grace on thee, but now we've become

disillusioned that freedom is just free.

But oh America, sweet America, this

freedome has been taken. Lift up

your voice and sing with me as the

war continues brewing. And if it's blood

you want, then blood you'll get, but my

children will be free. Because you are few

and we are many, there's no chance you'll succeed.

Matt said this is just one of many songs that he will be writing, and that he may be adding more to this one.

I hope they continue to write songs and play them. I'm fine with them jamming in my living room (with kids running all over the place) as long as they can provide some songs for me to get happily stuck in my head.

Did I just turn into my husband's groupie? Yes, yes I did.

Muddy Cousins

2011-06-27T20:48:00.006-05:00

This afternoon, I was charged to look after my own boys plus my nephew, Atom. No big deal, I thought. What's one more kid?

What I didn't realize is that a group of boys means mischief, especially if that group of boys are cousins.

I had been watching them from the kitchen where I was happily making homemade marshmallows. (They are delish!)

I peaked out once and they were digging in the dirt.

I peaked out again and they were washing the dirt off with the water hose and spraying each other with it.

I walked out the third time and found....this.

I had a moment of mental freak out where I said to myself "Their Dad/Uncle Matt is going to KILL them!! It's right in the garden area!!" But then I realized nothing was planted there and they were just having good um...clean, fun.

They wanted to go in right away and take showers but I insisted on taking them to the back and hosing them off first to get the top 30 layers of mud off first.

(I got no enjoyment on setting the hose sprayer to jet and watching them squirm, gotta get that dirt off somehow! *wink!*)

Matthew

2011-06-14T22:28:00.004-05:00

The other day we were all hanging around the yard when Matthew suddenly says "Hey Mom! Come take pictures!!"

Well, I am definitely not one to pass on an opportunity like that! So I grabbed my camera and we played around at the park across from our house while I took pictures.

A couple of days later Matthew had Day Camp with his fellow Cub Scouts. He armed himself with a camelbak full of water, hat, sunscreen and bugspray. He claims he had a lot of fun. It's not too hard to believe when he's bouncing up and down while he's telling me.

Of course we always have fun at home too. Especially when I get my camera out.

My Dad My Hero

2011-05-31T08:52:00.004-05:00

Dear Dad, I really wanted to write this blog on the day of your birthday. But we were out of town at the time. Then when we got home we were greeted with company. I suppose I could have just written it while everyone was here, but I wanted to be able to sit and give this my full attention.

So here is your belated birthday post. Hope you like it.

Monday was Memorial Day, it was also my Dad's birthday. I thought about him all day that day. Hoping that his day was going well and wishing I could be there to give him a big squeeze and tell him to his face Happy Birthday.

My Dad has been an inspiration to me my whole life. He has made me strive to be a better person. I looked up to him when I was little and I still do to this day. He is the most caring, thoughtful person I know and I'm proud to say I know him well.

He is always concerned about his family and worries about us constantly.

He catches us when we fall and cheers us on when we take off running the race of life.

I remember being in Elementary school and taking part in a charity race. I've never been much of a runner and I tired out early in the race.

Just as I was getting ready to give up and walk off the track, I hear my Dad cheering. "Go Amber!! Come on! You can do it!!"

I started running again, unfortunately I tired out again and came in dead last. But he cheered me on the entire time.

He has always been one of my biggest fans. He pushes me to blog more and I find myself calling him up after I've finished a blog post. More likely than not he tells me he'll look at it as soon as we get off the phone.

He gets on to me if I haven't posted in a while because he tells me he checks it every morning. I like that he pesters me. I love that both of my parents enjoy my writing. If it's only them that get any enjoyment out of what I say then I'm ok with that.

My Dad has an amazingly cheesy sense of humor that cracks me up and inspires me to be just as cheesy. I love to sit and listen as he jokes and teases the grandkids with his extremely cheesy humor. They love it too.

He is a lover of Louis Lamour books, Home Alone Movies, and he is an all around amazing human being.

He is my Dad. I love you Daddy.

Staring Contest

2011-05-31T00:57:00.005-05:00

I was cleaning out my emails today when I came across this email I had sent to my parents. Apparently it was written pre-blog.

I should note that the email is dated August 14, 2008. So David was just around 3 months old at the time.

So the other day David was being really fussy. He just wanted to be held. So I would hold and rock him till he fell asleep. But as soon as I put him down, he would start crying again. I kept picking him up and soothing him, but again he would start crying as soon as I put him down. It was Matt's day off so I threw my hands up and told him to please try and see if he could get him to sleep. I went into the next room and can still hear David crying.

A couple of minutes pass and I notice he's not crying anymore.

Matt proudly comes strutting out with a huge smile on his face, and says. "I put him to sleep!" I ask him HOW!?! (please share your secret so that I may use it too!)

He said he put him in his swing and then proceeded to stare him down. David just stared right back and eventually just went to sleep!

So come to find out, after all my failed attempts to put him to sleep, all I had to do was stare at him.

Figures...

David turns 3!

2011-05-30T22:23:00.008-05:00

My little bouncing baby boy turned 3 on May 11th. I've been realizing for some time now that my babies are no longer babies. I'm going to try to not dwell on that too much.

We had planned a modest birthday party for him. It was going to be at the park and we were going to make it as fun as possible on a minuscule budget.

I had plans to make newspaper hats for all the wee ones and have them decorate them. Then stuff them full of cake and ice cream and set them loose on the playground.

Unfortunately, the only thing that went according to plan was that David still turned 3.

The day of his birthday is started pouring rain off and on. Since I had planned an outdoor party I had to make the difficult decision to call around and tell our friends that the party had to be cancelled. It kept nagging at me that they would get all the way out here and it would rain....and then rain some more. Then we would all be stuck inside. Not that I wouldn't mind sitting and visiting with all my friends and my sons friends. It's just not what I had envisioned.

That bugged me.

I realize now that it must have bugged me pretty good because I didn't get very many pictures of him.

Of course he could have cared less. There was cake...and ICE CREAM!! And he could eat as much as he wanted! (ha! so he thought, we pulled him away from the table on more than one occasion.)

So to make up for my lack of picture taking on his actual birthday I included a couple other pictures that were taken not long after his birthday. My apologies.

The newly minted 3 year old helping to cut his cake. Cause you know...he's a big boy now. :)

Matthew made sure all birthday traditions didn't go unnoticed.

You see that blotch of red icing on David's nose? That is a birthday tradition (usually only involving me) where my mom puts icing on my nose. It's been going on since I was about 4.

Matthew actually pulled off this tradition. Nana...you should be proud!

These were taken a week or so after his birthday. The park down the street from our friends house had finally opened up. So of course we had to go check it out.

I think he approves.

Happy Birthday my little Rhino!! I love you! xoxo

My Mother's Day Tribute

2011-05-07T21:40:00.012-05:00

Since I'm a few states away from my own Mother, I decided to work with what I have and write a blog about her.

Mom=Tanna Jo Hughes

So here you go Momma, I present to you...your very own blog post!

(imagine me dancing around throwing confetti in the air dramatically)

What is there to say about my Mom?

First off, she's just plain amazing.

She's always there for me. Whether it's for happiness, disappointment or sadness. She is always there to listen to me and cry along at times.

She was recently visiting when I got news that Lizzy (11-year-old girl that I lead in a church group) had suffered a major stroke. I was pretty upset. But Mom just held me and let me cry. We talked about Lizzy and some memories I had of her at the time. She had met her a couple of times so we just sat and talked. It helped me a lot. (Update: Lizzy is now doing so much better!)

After my Mom left, she continued to ask about Lizzy and I would read the updates to her that were emailed to me.

She has such an huge heart that mom of mine.

In fact her heart is so big that when she found out she would not be able to have children of her own, she and my Dad decided to adopt. And here I am. The result of that adoption. (well, actually my brother Steve is the 1st result, but I'M the 2nd!) I couldn't have asked for better parents.

I'd rave on more about my Dad, but sorry...this is MOTHER'S DAY. You'll get your post next month. Hee-hee!

I have to thank my mom for passing down her love of reading to me. When I was a teenager I would climb into her bed at night while she read. She always propped up her arms on a pillow while she read, so I would put my head down on the pillow and she would scratch my head until I felt sleepy enough to go to bed. It was so soothing and full of love.

So I grew up always seeing my mom read.

Because of that I have developed a pretty massive love for reading. I hope to be able to pass this love down to my own kids. Matthew does a little. I love sitting in my bed with one or both of my kids to quietly read and snuggle. It's very comforting.

I will say that I've also adopted the reading pillow habit from her. I'm just not comfy on my bed reading unless I have an extra pillow to put my book on.

She loves each and every one of her grand kids. There are 4 at the moment. *fingers crossed for more* (wink!!) And they love her just the same.

Another quick memory I want to share:

But first a little back story:

Matt joined the National Guard in October 2006. We didn't think we were going to have anymore babies at the time because Matthew was already 6.

Matt was scheduled to be in training for 8 months, so I decided to go stay with my parents, who lived in Arizona at the time.

Matt still denies he said this, but I know for a fact his memory...well, stinks. When we found out he was going to be gone for 8 months he joked that "wouldn't it be funny if you got pregnant and then I got back just in time for the baby and completely missed out on all the hormones and craziness? Wouldn't that be FUNNY!?" Ok, so not an exact quote, but you get what I'm trying to say here.

Back to Mom:

2 weeks after Matt left I take a pregnancy test and it comes up POSITIVE! I ran into my mom's room, where she was still sleeping, and started frantically waiving the stick! She went into "Mom-mode" and while comforting me that everything would be alright, led me into the computer room so we could look up Dr.s in the area.

Throughout the pregnancy she was there when I missed my husband. She told me that "You are the bravest woman I know." While at the time I didn't feel so brave, those words stuck to me throughout the rest of my time without Matt.

As I mentioned before, I'm adopted. So witnessing a live birth was somewhat new to my Mom. But she hung in there like a trooper for both of my labor and deliveries. She's one tough cookie!

I love her smile and to hear that laugh of hers.

So on this Mother's Day Momma, I hope you smile and laugh and remember that you mean the world to me.

"Can you feel my arms?" "They're wrapped around you, giving you a big hug."

I love you Momma!!!

Friends and Fun in a Box

2011-05-07T20:02:00.004-05:00

This is Jana, Matthew's best friend. They hang around our house most days being silly and hilarious.

The other day they saw this box. They each climbed into it and proceeded to act out a scene in Spongebob. Meaning they went on wild adventures in skydiving, mountain climbing and anything else they could think of while using their IMAGINAAATION!!!

Being the photo-junkie that I am, I made them pose so I could add the rainbows that are used in the Spongebob episode.

As you can see, they happily obliged.

Nap Time

2011-05-04T18:21:00.004-05:00

I was doing a little Spring Cleaning in my picture folders when I came across this picture. It instantly made me smile.

I think this may be the cutest picture of my Dad ever.

David, who is turning 3 next week, was just a couple of days old at the time of this picture.

If you look closely you can see David had his little arm propped up near his head, just like his Pop-Pop.

Grandpa and Grandma Hughes

2011-05-01T13:51:00.009-05:00

My grandparents popped into my head this morning as I was getting ready. All of them actually. But I want to dedicate 1 blog post to each set of grandparents.

First up are my Grandpa and Grandma Hughes.

Otherwise known as J.P. and Ruby Hughes.

My Grandma passed when I was about 17 years old. My Grandpa passed almost exactly 2 years later. But this post isn't about their deaths.

I want to talk about the memories I shared with them.

~Grandpa and Grandma~

Growing up my family lived in Texas. My Grandparents lived in Florida. Kissimmee, FL to be exact. About an hours drive to Disney World. My brother and I visited them most summers and most summers they would take us to Disney World. It was fantastic! (Brag moment) I think I'm getting this right...my Grandpa helped in the constructions of Epcot. My dad did too I think. Growing up I always bragged to my friends about that. I thought it was pretty darn cool. Heck..I still do!

Going to my Grandparents house always guaranteed one thing. Tons and tons of fabulous food!! Man, that woman could cook! Every single morning she would make homemade buttermilk biscuits. My favorite thing to eat was a biscuit with a big ol slice of fresh out of the garden tomato. When I moved to the country and started growing my own tomatoes I restarted the tradition of biscuit and tomato sandwiches. I think of her every time I have one.

One time I asked her to show me how to make her famous biscuits. But it consisted of "a handful of this a handful of that. Mix it to it's about this consistency" At my young age I couldn't really grasp that whole idea and I gave up on trying to make them. This may be silly, but when she passed I would often miss her biscuits. Maybe because I thought if I had them, I would have her too.

I never have been able to recreate her biscuits. But I found a recipe a few years ago that comes pretty close. Close enough to qualify to have a slab of tomato applied to it!

~Grandma and a baby Amber~

Another food favorite. Black eyed peas. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my Grandma and Aunt Gladys (Grandma's sister, still kickin!!) shelling peas and talking. They always set me up with a big bowl of peas and let me go to work. I rarely finished a whole bowl by myself. But I loved sitting there and listening to their conversation and feeling all grown-up like. I have to note that they always went to the local farmer's field to pick and bring home multiple bags of black eyed peas. So it was usually an all day affair.

After all the shelling was done, the cooking began.

This is another recipe I have yet to master. But man oh man were they delicious. I feel sorry for you poor saps that have never tasted them. Ha!

She would make a huge batch and separate it into batches and freeze them. I would then come in grab some and warm it up. Add a slice of onion from the garden and I was GOLDEN!! Bonus if she had made cornbread that day.

The last time I had those black-eyed peas, she had already passed. My Aunt Gladys had found a batch in the freezer and sent them home with my dad just for me. Have I told you how much I love my Aunt Gladys? I think she deserves her own blog post.

My Grandpa was often stern, but always loving. He loved to tease me. Like when I would come in and out of the house 3 or 4 times in 10 minutes he would tell me. "You can't go back outside until those hinges cool down!" At the time I didn't know what hinges were. I just thought he was talking about the doorknob. So I would tentatively touch the door knob (like I thought it was going to be hot) and he would smile.

They had these wonderful spinning chairs in the kitchen. I loved to sit and spin in a circle while we were eating. He told me many times that if I didn't stop he was going to put me in a straight back chair. I listened...for a little bit. But I couldn't resist the call of the spin and I would be spinning my heart out not long after.

There was one (really, it was only one) time he made me sit in a straight back, non-spinning chair. It was a sad day for me. But I returned to the spinning chairs and I'm pretty sure it didn't slow me down too much. In fact, If I had a spinning chair I'd probably be spinning right now. Which is why I only have straight back chairs. Ha!

He loved to watch baseball games. I often would sit with him and watch too. I remember asking him what his favorite team was that was playing. Whatever his response, I would tell him that was my favorite team too.

There's so many more memories I could share. But those were the ones that stuck out in my head the most. I hope I did them justice in writing about them. I miss them very much.

Learning to Cook

2011-05-01T13:11:00.004-05:00

Matthew decided today to try to make yeast doughnuts. With minimal assistants from us.

Well, he's just learned the first lesson in cooking.

IT'S FRUSTRATING!!!

At least it is when your still learning, or trying a new recipe. He was getting upset because he just had to throw out his 3rd batch of scalded milk. This time because he put 1/3 of a cup of salt into it.

Mom...Dad, if you reading this...go ahead and laugh. I know you are.

Let me share a story of long ago past:

When I was just about Matthew's age (I think I was 12) my Grandma gave me some cookbooks for Christmas. They were magnificent!! It was a complete set of 10 books. Each one containing recipes from different cultures and styles of cooking. I remember sitting and perusing each and every one of them. Marveling at all the wonderful food I would be able to create with them.

Truth be told, I rarely used them.

But there is one thing I made that sticks out in "The History of Amber."

One day I found a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake. That just happens to be my Dad's all time favorite cake. I told him my plans and he went out and bought all the supplies so I could make it.

I went to work! I measured and mixed and baked. It looked spectacular!! Really, it was a work of art. I called my dad in to marvel at my masterpiece. He "Ooh'd and Ahh'd approvingly. I was so pleased.

Then the time came for him to taste it. He grabbed a spoon and scooped up a mouthful...only to almost immediately spit it out into the sink. (Luckily it was close by)

As it turned out. I had mistaken a cup of sugar for...wait for it...a cup of salt.

There is a happy ending to the story. Being the awesome Dad that he is, my Dad returned to the store and bought the ingredients so I could try it again. The second one was a success. But no remembers THAT one!

I had to share this story with Matthew this morning as he was making his own cooking mistakes.

And let it be known, my family has yet to let me live that story down.

Super Goobs!!

2011-04-27T19:54:00.005-05:00

There isn't really a whole lot to say about this picture. Basically...I got bored. I decided to start playing with my makeup. It was supposed to be a masquerade mask. I pranced around the house showing off my handy work. David kept looking at me strangely. He said "Mommy?? Mommy??" I knelt down and he gave me a big hug. I asked him if he would like to be a superhero. His face lit up and he sat still all of 2 minutes while I quickly drew on his face.

Matthew, always willing to one-up his brother, said "I can sit still for a long time!" So he sat down, told me his mask idea and I got to work.

My husband was a poor sport and wouldn't let me touch him with the makeup. I didn't pout though. I'd already had my makeup fill. Plus my boredom had been cured!!

Easter

2011-04-25T10:39:00.006-05:00

This year we spent Easter with just our little family of 4. It was amazing and relaxing and tons and tons of fun. Matt and I stayed up entirely too late the night before and ended up sleeping in on Easter day. (Boo...) That means we missed the church service. Note to self: please start going to bed earlier...PLEASE!!

I'm hoping that once the craziness of Matt's college schedule stops, we can return some normality in our lives.

But I'm getting off topic.... EASTER!

The kids woke us up promptly at 7:30 yelling "Candy! Candy!!" (that was mostly David doing the yelling) We decided to just let them have at it. We opened packages and Matt popped on an Easter movie the church had put out. We then fell back to sleep and woke up around 10:30.

Thank goodness Matthew is such an awesome big brother. He took care of David while his Mom and Dad slept in. That kid is awesome. He didn't complain once! Of course having an ample supply of chocolate didn't hurt either I'm sure.

We finally got around to the hunt once we woke up. Matt had bought some edible grass to put in the kids baskets. Thus the picture below. I will say, just because they say it's edible doesn't mean it tastes good. It was like sweetened styrofoam. Blech.

But that didn't stop the boys from shoving handfuls in their mouth and mooing around the house.

I had boiled a dozen eggs for the hunt and Matthew colored all of them. They were magnificent. Unfortunately his brother saw the beautiful eggs and threw half of them on the ground. I think he liked the crunching sound they made.

So we were left with 6 eggs to hide. Matt had just sprayed weed killer the day before. So we didn't want to poison the kids by hiding cracked eggs in the sprayed area. The kids couldn't have cared less that there were only 6 eggs to hide. Matthew just adapted. He came up with the idea to have his Dad and I hid the first round of eggs. They hunted and found.

Next, Matthew hid the eggs and the rest of us had to find them.

Lastly, Matt hid the eggs. I ended up sitting and taking pictures. I didn't get any really cool ones. But I love any picture of my kids.

David was super excited about the whole "find the egg" thing. Of course he needed lots of help from Dad to find any. But he had lots of fun. Everytime he found one he would come up to me and say "Mommy wook! A egg!"

If you look closely in some of the pictures you can see our "free-range" chickens. They're usually in the chicken shack but Matthew said he wanted to let the roam around the backyard that day. (I suppose he was feeling sorry for them)

After wards we went inside, snuggled up on the couch and rented two movies online. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt1, and the new Narnia movie (which was awesome!!)

It was so much fun to just hang out with my little family. We played, we laughed, we were lazy.

It was lovely.

David was happy of course because of the amazing bounty of chocolate he woke up too.

Fun with Play-Doh

2011-04-24T21:32:00.007-05:00

For Easter this year we got the kids some Play-doh. In the past I've tried making my own only to have David almost immediately try to eat it.

I felt he had matured some since so we decided to try it again. It was like love at first sight. Matt showed him how to make little worms by rolling a piece between his hands. He then spent the next half hour meticulously rolling little worms. It looked like my bed had been invaded! Ha!

Afterwards Matt (the husband) was playing with the play-doh and started applying it to the kids. The end result...Harry Potter kids!!

Matthew and David both donned their father's glasses to complete the Harry Potter look. Matthew found a stick and it instantly became a wand!!

Next up...wall art! This face thing was made by Matt and Matthew. Enough said.

David was inspired by the face thing and tried to make one himself.

This was the end result. I live with a bunch of goofballs!! But I love every second of it.

Quick product review: It's been a few years since I've bought Play-doh. I noticed that they changed the formula. Here's what I like.

~it doesn't become hard as a rock if you leave it out for 5 minutes.

~it doesn't meld with the other colors when you create.

~it doesn't stick to surfaces, or leave a color residue. (which is why I allowed the wall art. They cleaned it up afterwards and you can't tell it was ever there.)

Overall I am very pleased.

Invasion!!

2011-04-24T20:38:00.005-05:00

The things we do to make our kids laugh...

The other night the electricity went out in our neighborhood. We had put the kids to bed about 30 minutes prior, so David was sound asleep when it happened.

Matt and I were busy lighting candles and finding flashlights when Matthew came down saying he couldn't sleep. The blackout had him a little freaked.

Matt, in an attempt to "lighten" the mood, started joking to Matthew that we were in the middle of an alien invasion. It started to make him feel better so I went ahead and took it a step further.

I whipped out the foil and fashioned some crude alien invasion hats for us. You know...so the aliens can't read our minds!!

We had fun sitting and posing on the bed. We sent him to bed about 10 minutes later. He felt much better and the electricity came on soon after that.

That was pretty Risky

2011-04-01T21:48:00.004-05:00

Matthew recently discovered a record player and records that were in our attic, left by the previous owner. I don't recognize any of the songs, they're mostly old country songs.

He has become obsessed with them!

He starts up the record player as soon as he gets home from school. This morning he found one that had nursery rhymes. He put it on and told me "This is for David when he wakes up." and then left for school. Just now he was jammin to some records while I was in my room. Out of the corner of my eye I see him do this. (see video) I instisted he do it again so that I could record it and share it. It was just too funny to pass up. It was taken on my phone so I don't know how to flip it. Just...you know...turn your monitor on it's side.

Flippin My Wig

2011-03-15T20:22:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that my mom will occasionally wear a wig when she doesn't feel like fixing her hair. Somehow last night I was talked into letting her put her wig on me. Hilarity ensued and I laughed till I couldn't breathe.

Of course, Adrienne was there to snap pictures with her phone. I love having my family around. There's never a dull moment.

Flirty Thirty Birthday!

2011-03-03T23:04:00.005-06:00

Today was my birthday. Technically it still is, but most of the day is over. It was beautiful. I want to share all the wonderful things that I witnessed today on my birthday.

But first, let me tell you how much I've loathed this day coming. For weeks I would moan when I so much as glanced at the calender. Then when it came time for me to remove the Febuary page and mark in all the appointments in March I grimaced everytime I came across my birthday. I never did mark my birthday on the calander. There's a reason for all of this groaning and pouting. I've turned 30. Ok, so today hasn't been bad. But the days leading up to it just about drove me crazy. I went through all the thoughts of "ok, I'm 30. What have I done with my life?" I thank God I have such a wonderful, tell-it-like-it-is husband. First he told me to stop whining and pouting. It wasn't getting me anywhere. {that didn't exactly make me feel better} But then he proceeded to tell me the things I have accomplished. I'm a better cook. I can veggies and such. I can bake bread. Plus I make a mean eggplant parmesean. (Mmmm...)

He also informed me that he knows that I do all the laundry in the house and he really appreciates it. We joked that at one point I wasn't always the best at doing laundry. I didn't even seperate the colors. One time, when had been dating for about a year, I shrunk one of his favorite sweaters. It wasn't one of my proudest moments. But it's laughable now.

I can also crochet. I'm still building on that skill. But I love to do it when I'm feeling tense. Something about sitting in a chair {or bed} crocheting something makes all my worries go away.

I'm also a budding photographer. I'm still unconfident and shy about taking other peoples pictures. But I'm working at it.

So yesterday, Matt affirmed me that there are a lot of things that I have accomplished. He also said I just need to quit beating myself up. *sigh* He's right. It's just so easy to compare myself to other people. But I've come to realize, that I'm me. That's all who I'll ever be. And I'm ok with that.

Birthday:
We woke up to our toddler, David (2) climbing on top of us. {as is his normal routine} Saying "Hi!" and giving us both big cheesy smiles. It's a pretty good way to wake up if you ask me. Next Matthew (10) came in and gave me a hug and a kiss and told me Happy Birthday. After that it was time for him to go to school so we bid him farewell and sent him on his way.

It is well known in my family that I do not move very fast in the morning. I'm more categorized as being a night owl. So anyways, I laid in bed for a little bit, revelling in the fact that Matt was home for the morning. (he only gets Thursday mornings off) Matt popped out of bed and took David with him. I didn't really know what he was up to, all I knew was that I had the whole bed to myself. Does that sound selfish? Hmmm... Either way, it was lovely to just lay there in the quiet and sleep a little longer. A while later he comes in with a stack of pancakes and I get breakfast in bed. {insert ooey gooey love about my husband}

He left shortly after that to go take care of a job he is helping a friend with. So I just lounged in my bed until it was time to start getting ready.

I am the Activity Days Leader (8-11 yr. old girls) and Matthew is in Cub Scouts. They both meet at the same time. So Matt came rushing back to pick us up. We drove into town, dropped off the necessary people and I headed to the church. I was first greated by Auburn. She is turning 12 tomorrow which means she is moving on from Acitivity Days to Young Womens. She is a very sweet girl and she brought me a present! It was so adorable. A necklacke with the letter A and sparkly stud earrings, fuzzy socks and CHOCOLATE!!!

I was next greated by Lucy (age 8) she presented me with a sweet card and a bottle filled with sand. I was a bit confused at first but then she explained to me that it's called a "find it". Basically you have to turn the bottle all around and find all the things she has hidden in there. What a cute idea!

So after we had our little gift exchange I wanted to teach the girls how to play Yahtzee. It's by far one of my favorite games. I fully expected to not finish the game, I just wanted to make sure they understood the rules at the end. About 30 minutes before it's time to go we hear the door open and the girls start squeeling. All I can hear is "BALLOONS!! BALLOONS!! AND CAKE!!

My dear friend Amber Galbraith had brought roses, HUGE balloons, and a delicious chocolate turtle ice cream cake. Sooo good! I ran over and gave her a hug, That was the sweetest thing anyones ever done for me. The cake was gone lickity split and we all left soon after that.

Back at home:
When we got home Veronica (Matt's Mom) Megan, Talina, Alexis (Matt's sisters) were waiting for us. I sat down and let the cooking begin. Matt started grilling the meat. Megan made a vanilla cake from scratch and put it together and iced it. Talina and Alexis got the drinks ready. It was a family effort. I felt very loved.

As for my present, Matt got me the most amazing thing that he knew I would love. It's a one hour Swedish massage! I am constantly having back problems, so I will be making my appointment post haste!!

So after all that moping and pouting this day has been wonderful. I know that many more wonderful days will be coming. 30 isn't so bad. I feel more confident in myself at this point. I'm not just a 20-something, I'm now a 30 year old woman!! I've finally come to terms with that. Is it a bit silly or crazy? Maybe. But this is the path that I had to take to come to terms with my age.

Food Offering

2011-01-05T21:02:00.002-06:00

Today something funny happened. And then I almost immediately forgot about it.

It wasn't until I was talking to my friend Gina and she brought it up that I remembered.

I think it's hard to focus on the small cute things our kids do with all the chaos that surrounds us on a daily basis. So I decided to share this cute, funny story.

It involves David, which is no big surprise considering he's currently phasing into the world of pretend and is a constant source of entertainment.

I went over to my friend Gina's house to chat and visit, we hadn't seen each other since before Christmas. As we were sitting and chatting David is wandering around and happens upon a box of Cherrios on the dining room table. He brings it over to me with a smile that reads "look at this amazing bounty of which I have stumbled upon!" I have him ask Gina who knows and always teases that refusing food to David will result in very dire consequences.

She very kindly led him into the kitchen and filled a sandwich baggie with Cherrios for him to enjoy on the ride home. As we were leaving we passed by some nativity scenes she had out. In front of them was a small empty glass bowl. David saw such bowl and deciding that no bowl should be left empty, placed a small handful of cherrios into the bowl. Gina started laughing and saying that he was very kind to leave a food offering to baby Jesus. He just went on his way, adorably stuffing Cherrios into his mouth like only a 2 year old can.

These are the little stories I need to remember when he's using me as a playground and I'm wanting to find the cloak of invisibility. Those things don't REALLY exist...do they?

Matthew's Christmas Concert

2010-12-08T10:54:00.005-06:00

Matthew had his Christmas Concert at school this past Monday. He was really excited to go and sing which is unusual. He usually loathes going to these things and just kind of does it because he feels it's his duty. But you can see him up there, sighing and mouthing the words to the song. Never really singing and looking utterly bored.

That wasn't the case this year. It was a major turn around and I owe it all to a little thing called a BOW-TIE.

As he was getting dressed he asked if he could wear his Dad's bow-tie. (Matt got it when he was in the Choir one semester at college.)

When he got to the school and sat with his fellow classmates they all instantly complimented him on his "fancy tie". You could literally see his confidence explode.

When it was time for him to sing, he got up there and was the biggest ham. I wanna say he stole the show, but that may be a little biased.

He was all about holding onto his tie and wiggling his eyebrows and looking real smug as he sang. I had never seen him act like that...at least not during a performance. Now, if he was at home? Sure. All the time. Seriously. All...the...time.

It made me think that he would do great in theater when he gets older. But then again, my mom said the exact same thing about me. But unfortunately I couldn't get over my crippling stage fright. It still haunts me to this day. But he does have some of his father's personality, so we'll see. Either way, he always has a way of putting a smile on peoples faces.

Did we ever stop eating?/Cub-Scout-Deputy Shoemaker

2010-12-04T00:45:00.004-06:00

I received an email from a friend a few months back and came across it today. It made me laugh then and I got a good giggle out of it again. I even called Matt over and he read it and just shook his head with a big grin on his face. That Matthew of ours is something else. He's funny even when he doesn't know he is.

Here's what she wrote:

Matthew was so cute today, He comes in and I ask him how he is doing, he says great. Mom and Dad had a fight I think it was about food but they made up and everyone is eating again.

This is just so funny, l felt you had to know. He's such a cute little guy, you both must be doing something right. So glad to hear you are all eating again.

He has the funniest ways of explaining things sometimes. I wish I could be a fly on the wall every time he tells a story from home. Because sometimes his perception of what happened is way funnier that what actually happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Totally off subject:

For Cub Scouts a couple of weeks ago they were visited by a Deputy Sheriff. He came and talked to the boys. (didn't get to hear any of that) But afterwards all the boys wanted to see his super cool police car. He even let them climb in and turn on the siren for a split second. (so we didn't scare the locals) Right before we were getting ready to leave I requested a picture with the Police Officer (can't for the life of me remember his name, and I should.)

The only 2 boys around were my Matthew and his fellow cub-scouter who is also Matthew. So they got behind the car and hammed it up while I snapped pictures of them.

Deputy Sheriff's in training? We'll see...

Craft Time with a Toddler~Success!!

2010-12-03T12:31:00.003-06:00

Today I finally had some success with doing some crafts with David. We did it without him eating it or becoming instantly bored.

I will say it wasn't without some whining when I put the apron on him.

I got that sudden crafty itch today and decided, on a whim, to make my very own finger paints. It wasn't hard at all really. I'll include the recipe at the bottom for my fellow crafty parents.

Like I said before, he whined a little when I put the apron on and then presented him with the paints. But then I showed him how to scoop up some with his finger and swirl it on the paper. It was an instant hit!

The only thing I've noticed so far is that he doesn't fully commit and get his whole hand dirty. It's only the pointer finger and then he complains until I clean it off. I suppose so that he can get another color.

But he had a lot of fun so I deem this crafting activity a SUCCESS!!

Cornstarch Finger Paint Recipe:

3 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring

bring to a boil, 2 cups of water. In separate bowl mix 1 cup cornstarch and 1 cup water until combined. When water comes to a boil, remove from heat. Add the cornstarch mixture until combined. Return to heat and let boil for about 1 minute or until thick. Remove from heat and separate into individual bowls. Add food coloring and let cool. Get messy!!

Love Found a Way

2010-11-17T14:27:00.005-06:00

Let me just start out by saying how honored I am to have my story told. My wonderful friend Connie offered to do my story and I was more than thrilled.

This subject is very close to my heart. I thank my parents every day for all they do. For the unconditional love they show me on a daily basis. The part at the bottom always chokes me up. Both of my parents proudly show off all 4 of their grandchildren. No one would suspect they are not biologically theirs. But they might as well be.

I typed out the entire article at the bottom.

Amber Hughes Shoemaker, Parnell, is very aware of the positive effects adoption can have on a child.

Shoemaker was born March 3, 1981, and was brought to her adoptive parents' house on March 12. She was just eight days old. Shoemaker and her brother Steven were both adopted through the Edna Gladney Center for Adoption.

Jim and Tanna Hughes had a deep desire for children. Although they had tried for years, Tanna was seemed to be unable to conceive.

They went to a fertility doctor. Tests were administered. Treatment was prescribed. Nothing was working.

"When the doctor told my parents they wouldn't be able to have their own children, he had tears in his eyes," Shoemaker said. "My parents adopted my brother shortly after that--in September 1976."

When Shoemaker was 7 years old, she remembered asking her mother questions about babies. Had she really been a baby in her mommy's tummy?

"That's when my mother told me about being adopted," she said.

She told me my birth mother loved me enough to give me to someone who could take care of me.."

Shoemaker grew up knowing she was adopted. It just felt natural.

"That's how it was and how it's always been," she said, "We were their kids. My brother is my brother. He picks on my like any other brother would pick on his little sister."

Shoemaker's was a closed adoption. When she became an adult, she realized nobody in the family looked like her. "Matthew looked identical to my husband," she said.

All the information Shoemaker has about her birth parents is in a manila envelope. A few medical details are inside. She knows eczema runs on her mother's side of the family. Both her birth mother and father wear glasses. There was also a list of some of the activities her birth parents enjoyed. She knows her birth father is Irish.

But that's where it stops. Shoemaker has no medical history about her birth parents. She worries about her sons, Matthew and David. What if they were to have a medical concern in their future?

She decided to look for her birth parents; however, she has discovered she can't get any information about them. The records are closed.

Shoemaker said she has talked to people who have considered adoption but were concerned they wouldn't connect with a child that is not their own.

"My parents never had that problem," she said.

"When I had our second son, David, my dad went around at work showing everyone his picture.

People were telling Dad how much David looked like him. He didn't tell them any different. My mom and I both have green eyes. My dad and Steven both have brown eyes.

Editorial Note: November is National Adoption Awareness Month

Monsters and Marios

2010-11-03T19:13:00.001-05:00

We had a fantastic time Trick-or-Treating in the Maryville Square this year. We had a pretty tight budget when it came to costumes so I tried to be as creative as possible.

Cookie Monster and Mario…a.k.a. David and Matthew

David is our little Cookie Monster, he lives up to this name on a daily basis. So when we found this shirt at the store one day, we just HAD to get it for him.

I tried to make it a little more “costume-y” by drawing horns on him. Matt insisted they were eyebrows since the original Cookie Monster doesn’t have horns. Either way, he looked pretty stinkin cute.

The tale of Matthew’s costume: One day I went to St. Joseph and stopped by this awesome thrift store. I always find lots of clothes for the kids at super cheap prices. I was stoked when I found these red overalls. I immediately thought of Matthew and how he had been raving about wanting to be Mario for Halloween. I couldn’t wait to get home and show them to him. I just knew he would love them…and he did. But then later, he gently broke it to me that Mario actually has blue overalls and a red shirt. He even gave me a reassuring pat on the back, saying that he was completely ok with it. He said he would just be “reverse-Mario.”

I think about these times when I’m pulling my hair out with him. Because in the end, he’s a pretty amazing kid.

So, Matthew loved his costume. I added a mustache with liquid eyeliner and he pulled it off amazingly. He posed up and down the square so that I could get an adequate amount of pictures.

He posed…

…and posed…

…and posed some more.

Funny story: While we were walking down the square, Matt scooped up David and put him on his shoulders because we were getting ready to go through a big crowd. A few minutes after we passed them, Matt stopped and said with a frightened expression “Wait…where’s David?” It only took him a second to realize that he was on his shoulders. Of course I took a picture as a reminder of the hilarity.

The kids got plenty of yummy goodies that Matt and I thoroughly inspected and tested. (as only a good parent does.) A good time was had all around. I can’t believe that Halloween is already over. Where did the year go?

Did I mention that Matthew posed a lot?

Operation: Matthew's Super Secret Birthday Surprise

2010-09-08T17:04:00.006-05:00

For Matthew's 10th birthday we decided to give him a "Not So Extreme Room Makeover." A.K.A.: We repainted his bedroom.

We decided on a Saturday to do it and sent Matthew off to spend the night at a friends house.

"How hard could it be to paint his room?" We thought.

Well, it turned out to be a little more difficult than we thought. But that's just how things go.

Before

So we got in there and moved furniture and taped off the walls. I was excited to start...

until Matt got the paint out.

my dear husband, taping off the walls.

He opens up the can and says "Ummm...this looks more purple than blue."

Me, trying to be optimistic say "Oh, it will dry darker. Go ahead and put some on the wall and see."

So he does, and guess what...it was PURPLE! Not a blue with a purplish tint, but super dark PURPLE.
Note to self: take the paint swatch home and look at it in the lighting of the room, both during the day and at night.

We weren't due to get any money till that next Wednesday. So we had Matthew and David camp out downstairs. Matthew was just itching to know what his present was. He was digging for clues when he asked me why we couldn't just move it into my craft room. (which is David's closet) But when I explained to him that it was much to big to move and definitely wouldn't fit into the craft room he was stumped.

Wednesday finally rolled around and we went and got the paint we wanted. (the day before we got the swatches and checked and rechecked to make sure it was blue and not purple.)

We would paint during the day and then get cleaned up before Matthew got home from school. It would have been pretty obvious what we were up to if we came downstairs covered in paint.

Friday came and it was the day of his birthday. We wished him a wonderful day at school and dashed upstairs to finish up. We didn't get finished until well into the afternoon. But we accomplished our goal to finish it on his birthday.

Tada! All done!!

Oh, and check out his new fan that Matt installed for him.

After he got over the shock of the surprise he ran over and gave us both big hugs and kisses.

It was a lot of work, but seeing his reaction made it all worth it. I sure do love that little guy.

The Dog-R.I.P.

2010-08-26T11:58:00.010-05:00

Am I really going to write a blog about my dog? Yeah, I am. Only because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, there's a story to tell and I feel like telling it. So here it goes.

Our dog died last Sunday.

We'd had him for around 6 years. His name was Daxter (or Dax, or Daxie-poo, or the unflattering nickname my mom gave him the last time she visited. *snicker*)
He'd been with us through the best of times and the worst of times. The highs and lows. The lefts and rights. (you see what I'm trying to say here.)

He was much beloved by Matthew and a loyal companion and running buddy to Matt.

Although we'd had him awhile, he was still very much young at heart. Extremely hyper-active and very playful. And although he had all of those qualities, I feel that I must share...I couldn't stand him.

We obtained Dax the same way we obtained a few of the pets we've had over the years.

Matt: "Hey babe, I was wondering, would you like to have a (insert animal)?

Me: "No." (Mentally preparing to stand my ground)

Matt: "Oh....well I thought you'd say yes. I already got the (insert animal) . It's really cool! "

Me: *sigh* (mentally giving in) *rolls eyes* "whatever, as long as I don't have to feed it, or take care of it in any way."

I have to hand it to him, I mostly never did have to take care of Dax or any of the other random pets we've had. I say mostly because there's always that rare time that I have to do it. But it's slim to none.

Now I will also say that I have also brought home a couple of cats. But I came to realize that it's enough work for me to take care of the kids and the house and feed the monsters that live in it. So I swore off bringing any pets home until I feel I can manage it. (it probably won't be any time soon.)

So, that's how we got Dax.

Here's the story on how he died.

Sunday night, Matt decided to go for a run. He never goes at night, only in the mornings, but he has to pass his PT (National Guard Physical Test) and he's been trying to run as much as physically possible.

He then took Dax with him. He loved to go running with Matt.

Just the week before I went walking while Matt went running and we were outside stretching and talking. Suddenly we became aware of a whining sound. It was Dax, standing outside his doghouse shaking and whining at us. He knew Matt was getting ready to go run, and he wanted to go.

When Matt came bursting through the door he told me this is what had happened:

They were over by the bridge (about a mile away from the house). Matt was running on the left and Dax was over on the right. *Dax never could stay by Matt when he ran, he was always ahead or behind, sniffing or checking something out* Matt saw the car coming and figured the dog would get out of the way.

He did...mostly.

But the car got him right in the head and he died instantly.

Poor Matt was pretty shaken up, he started carrying him home, but the dead weight was just too much for him. Plus he realized he was a mile away from home, and he really didn't want to carry his beloved dead dog all the way home. So he came back and got the car and we buried him that night.

Matthew was pretty upset the rest of the night. He just sat in my lap and cried. And I cried right along with him.

Now Matthew knew good and well that I didn't like that dog and I wasn't about to start pretending I did. I didn't think that was fair.

But I explained to him that I would miss the look on his (Matthew's) face when he came inside to tell me something Dax did. Or the joy and companionship Matt got out of his running buddy.

Plus I have to admit, that dog was loyal.

He would get off his chain and go running around town. But 10 minutes later he'd be back on our front porch. He always knew where home was. No matter what...or where.

So, farewell Dax. We are glad you got to go on one last run.

A Boy And His Rain Boots

2010-08-19T19:08:00.002-05:00

This was the scene at our house this morning. David running around in a t-shirt, diaper and his beloved rain boots. He put them on and refused to take them off.

I suppose it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

First day of school

2010-08-19T18:48:00.003-05:00

Today was Matthew's first day of 3rd grade. To say he was excited is putting it mildly.

Last night he set his alarm for 7am, but when my alarm went off at 6:30 I could hear him rummaging around. Come to find out he had gotten up as soon as he saw the sun and gotten dressed. He had even brushed his teeth!!

Needless to say I was super impressed.

The only downside to him getting dressed early was that he had a whole hour before he could leave for school.

So he put on cartoons and squirmed on the couch and asked every 5 minutes if was time to go until it was actually time to go.

He and Matt then walked up to the school where Matt said he gave him a hug and a kiss and ran off to meet up with his friends.

I just hope he'll be just as excited every day of the school year as he was today. But that's probably just wishful thinking. I'm sure I'll be dragging him out of bed and rushing him out the door in no time.

Cucumber Update

2010-08-19T18:12:00.004-05:00

The following pictures were taken by Matthew.

The day after the cucumber discovery Matthew decided to extract it from the brick. He armed himself with a hammer and loads of patience. Surprisingly it only took him about 5 minutes to completely free the cucumber.

The brick that the cucumber was encased in.

He proudly brought in the square cucumber where we discovered it was not 2 cucumbers, but actually1 that had folded into itself. He then ran outside to track down his friends and brag about his awesome discovery.

But before he did that he snapped a few pictures of his beloved square cucumber. I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with the pictures I saw when I downloaded them onto the computer.

A day later the poor cucumber met its end when it was dissected to see what it looked like on the inside. For the record, it looked just like any old cucumber...only it was perfectly square.

The Tale of the Square Cucumber

2010-08-15T01:18:00.004-05:00

As told by Matthew W. Shoemaker (filled in by Amber)

Last night, as I was finishing up some chores outside I walked by the garden. I saw something pretty AMAZING!!!

At first I didn't know what it was. Then I took a closer look and realized it was a cucumber stuck in a brick!! I came inside and told my Mom what I had found but she didn't think much of it. She though there was a cucumber stuck in the fence around the plant so she just told me to pick it and come inside.

So I decided to bring the whole thing up on the porch for her to see.

Mom said that it probably started off like any other cucumber, only it had found a brick to grow in

Mom tried all of 3 seconds to free the cucumber (which we later realized there are 2 cucumbers stuck in there!) But it was almost bed time and she didn't want to mess with it. So I asked to get the camera and took these pictures and a video. I was a little hesitant to let my mom put these pictures on her blog. I was afraid we would get too much attention from our "Awesome Square Cucumber." I am certain that once people see this they will be coming from all over to see our "amazingness." I just don't want alot of people I don't know at our house.

Maybe we can just keep this between people we know?

And here's the video of my awesome discovery!!

Hello little birdie! No, you may not eat my sunflower seeds.

2010-08-03T08:59:00.004-05:00

One morning we all went outside with intentions to spend the day in the garden. We did, mostly until it got too insanely hot to be out there. Before we got to work I was called over to the sunflowers to observe something. Matt and Matthew had spotted a couple yellow finches snacking on our sunflowers. So I ran inside, grabbed my camera and proceeded to stalk them so that I could get as close as possible to get a shot. I actually got a couple until my little rhino (aka: David) decided to stomp and sing his way over to them. They promptly flew off. But it was still pretty cool to see what had been munching on our sunflowers. I had noticed a few days before that something had been eating them. Now I know, and I don't mind, they are very pretty birds.
Along with the birds we also had a hummingbird and some really pretty butterflies. But those were way too fast for me to capture with my camera. It was really serene sitting there watching the birds and butterflies that morning. At least until the afore-mentioned rhino showed up. Oh well, he's a cute little rhino.

And here he is, my little rhino. He climbed into the strawberry patch and just as I was getting ready to get onto him he throws his arms out and proclaims "TA-DA!" There was nothing I could do at that point besides take a picture. Sometimes he's just too cute for his own good.

After I was done taking pictures of the birds I discovered my next subject. It was an opportune time to get pictures of the boys. They were both dressed and in pretty good spirits.

Matthew was a good sport posing with the flowers even though he thought they were "kinda girly"

Farmer Matthew ready to go, grass in his mouth and all.

Of course David couldnt' have cared less about all of this. He was just happy being outside and stomping through the grass. I picked a flower for him to hold and he did just that, allowing me to take pictures of him. I kept trying to get a picture of him smelling the flower, but he was too quick for me. Then of course because he saw his brother doing it, he was pretending to eat his flower as well.

Of course no photoshoot is complete without a few goofy picutures.

David watches his brother like a hawk! He is consistently mimicking any and everything Matthew does. It's pretty darn adorable.

This is what I get when I try to get my boys to pose with flowers for too long.

After taking pictures of the boys I went around our property to take pictures of this years garden. I always like to look back at the year before and see what we did that yeaer. This year we decided to extend our garden and have 2. One in the front where the old house used to be, and one in the back where we had it last year. We made the one in the back slightly larger.

The front garden, these are our tomato plants.

front garden still, our corn stalks and zucchini plants.

here's a shot of our back yard looking down from the front. These are our sunflowers and zinnias that line the back fence.

Our first harvest of the season. This is not all of it, just what was ready at the time. We have red and yellow potatoes, carrots, and red, white and yellow onions.

My sweaty farmer man. Thank goodness I'm the one that likes to take the pictures cause I'm pretty sure I looked just as sweaty.

Fishing!

2010-07-01T20:15:00.006-05:00

We went fishing today! As you can tell from the picture below, David was beyond excited when we got there.

Matt went fishing last night with the Young Men from our church and was inspired to try again today. You see, he didn't catch anything yesterday. But he came home with 3 bass that 2 of the young men had caught. So we went to a local spot that Matt knew of to try again.

This is what David did most of the time we were there. Sat on a blanket and sipped orange soda. He was very content to say the least.

Unfortunately we came home empty-handed. Not so much as a nibble! I did, however, catch a tree and some grass. But I'm not sure if that counts. At one point, I put my fishing pole down to take a break. David took this opportunity to snatch it up and try his hand at fishing. After all it didn't look that hard! "All I have to do is stick this pole-thingy in the water. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"

Matthew getting some last minute advice about casting from Dad.

As you may be able to tell I did more picture-taking than fishing. I've never been a patient fisher, but I just couldn't pass up this beautiful landscape. I just had to snap away!

Our sweet, adorable, ornery 2 year old. Always keeping us on our toes.

This kid is getting older every time I look at him. It's so hard for me to believe he will be 10 this August. I've never kept ANYTHING alive that long. I love having him around. Between him and David, we are always entertained!

I think this is my new favorite picture. I may be a little biased though, I think he's a pretty handsome dude.

And lastly, a short video of David "fishing."

It's a tough life

2010-06-17T15:49:00.002-05:00

David crashed this afternoon while watching a movie in my room. It's a rare thing, he usually waits till I put him to bed. So either it was a boring movie or a comfy chair. I'm guessing it was a mixture of both.

He has this thing with his belly, he rubs it as a form of comfort. We find it quite endearing.

I thought about leaving him there to nap, but then his head lolled to the side and I figured he'd be more comfortable in his bed. Therefore sleeping longer. (which I tend to prefer)

Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

2010-05-31T15:31:00.004-05:00

Reasons Why I Love Pop-Pop:

By: Matthew W. Shoemaker

1. He likes to play golf, and so do I.

2. Because he's a good man.

3. He tickles me.

4. He used to have a really cool car. I liked to ride with the top down.

5. He's very silly!

6. He's very manley! (notice the eyebrow wiggle here, heehee!)

7. I like his smile.

8. He gives really good hugs.

And last but not least:

Because he's the greatest Pop-Pop EVER!

Happy Birthday Pop-Pop! I Love You!

A.K.A. The Strawberry Bandit

2010-05-28T19:50:00.003-05:00

Today was a hot one. So hot that I could barely stand to be in my house. It was much nicer outside. After dinner I was sitting inside contemplating how miserably hot I was when I decided to go outside and check on our strawberry patch. David followed along per usual.

So I'm sitting there, picking strawberries, not really paying much attention to what David is doing. I just notice he's next to me. I was pretty lost in thought, just picking berries and throwing them kind of behind me into the bucket I had brought out with me.

I ended up picking quite a few berries, or so I thought. I turn around after I am satisfied there are no more ripe berries and find that my bucket is near empty.

I look and there is David, with strawberry juice and a very michevious grin all over his face.

Well...I guess at least he got his daily recommended serving of fruit!

Happy Happy Birthday David dear!

2010-05-13T11:46:00.014-05:00

Happy days will come to you all year!

If I had one wish, then it would be

a Happy Happy Birthday to you from me!

On May 11th 2010, David Bowen Shoemaker turned 2 years old. It was a pretty quiet day. He played around the house while Matt and I cleaned and organized. We were expecting Matt's mom to come over later in the day but she ended up not being able to make it. In the end some friends of ours, Mike and Beka Parman showed up with their little girl, Brianna, who will be turning 1 next month. David turned into a typical guy, kicking her and then immediately giving her a big smooch right on the lips! *sigh*

That afternoon I made him a cake but didn't realized until it was too late that I didnt have any frosting or the right ingredients to make my own. I know it's not going to win any beauty awards, but everyone loved that cake.

The best part was the look on David's face when he saw it.

Now for some reason that I could not figure out, my camera decided to go all fuzzy as soon as we lit the candles. He was so excited when he got to blow them out.

It took him a couple of tries and some coaching from Dad, but he mananged to blow out both of his candles.

He had himself a pretty good helping of cake and then went back when noone was looking and snagged himself a couple more pieces. Little rascal.

Sidenote: The following present was completely his father's idea. Apparently he found it on sale a few months ago and thought it would be a brilliant idea. I...was not as thrilled.

David got a drumset!

And he sang...
and banged away...

...all afternoon long.

It was actually pretty cute. Not as annoying as I originally thought it was going to be. It's been in the house for 2 days now and has been pretty tolerable. Matthew has even gotten on there and banged out "We Will Rock You" and Matt sang along. It was alot of fun.

Now fast forward to right before bedtime. David was chasing his daddy around the house. He jumped up on the couch and when he saw Matt coming for him he tried some new ninja manuver that didn't go as planned.

He ended up smacking his lip right into the corner of the coffee table. Not a good way to end your birthday.

He was understandably upset for quite awhile, but we let him stay up a little later than normal and let him have as many otter pops as he could stand. (which was only 1)

He's still sporting a fat lip, but even with that...

...he's still the coolest 2 year old that I know.

Camera Withdrawals

2010-04-30T17:41:00.007-05:00

Short Story: I broke my camera, but I fixed it.

Long Story: One day the family and I were headed into town. I can't recall the reason for our trip, only that I required my camera.

I took out the batteries because they tend to lose engery just sitting in there. In the process I forgot to shut the little door before I shoved it into my purse. The end result was that little door snapping in half. I...was...devastaed.

For awhile I was able to hold the other half of the door onto the camera to get it to work. That worked fine, until I lost the part.

Dang.

So I went on Ebay and ordered a replacement part. My husband assured me that it's an easy fix and I should be able to do it all by myself. (Yay!)

So I ordered the part and waited....and waited, then I waited some more. I checked to see if it's been shipped, nope. So I ask Matt if he can send the merchant an email and find out why the part hasn't been shipped. Come to find out he's been sick and hasn't been able to send anything out. It's understandable, but still frustrating. On the bright side he refunded all of our money and promised to ship it by the next week. I was fine with that, thinking it would get here before Easter so that I could snap away while my little ones hunted eggs.
It didn't get here before Easter. *Sigh* Ok. Well, at long as it gets here before Megan's Prom then I'll be ok. Nope, didn't get here for that either. As a matter of fact, it arrived the day after her prom. (go figure)

Oh well. It's here now and although I was NOT able to fix it all by myself, it is now functioning again. So today I whipped it out and got a little snap happy with the kids inside. It's all rainy and dreary outside so I'll just have to be happy taking pictures of them inside. And I am.

You don't think they're already tired of me taking pictures of them, do you?

Poindexture Popeye

2010-04-28T21:41:00.003-05:00

Created by Matthew W. Shoemaker

This is what happens at our house right before bedtime. Matthew is usually singing some little diddy or telling us a story about today that he forgot till the last minute. It's a wonderful stalling technique that doesn't work most times.

Tonight...it worked. Only because it was funny and catchy. Matt and I were singing it all the way down the stairs after we put the kids to bed.

Here it goes:

I'm Popeye the Failure Man (Boo)

I'm weak to the finish cause I'm allergic to Spinach.

Everytime that I sneeze, my nose bleeds and bleeds.

I'm Popeye the Failure Man! (Boo)

A-A-A-Atchooo!!!

oops...I'm bleeding again.

Adventures in crafting

2010-04-14T12:51:00.003-05:00

Lately I've been wanting to be crafty. I've tried my hand at scrapbooking, it just doesn't come naturally to me. So I've resorted to kids crafts. I used to have so much fun with Matthew when he was little. We'd get out my craft drawer and make silly little things all the time. He's gotten older now and it's gotten harder to get him to sit down with me and craft. Usually he wants to go play with his friends or go be a kid in general. I haven't really pushed it though, I figured he's just not interested anymore. After all he's going to be 10 in August. Aah!

So although I'm contemplating enforcing some craft time with Matthew, I decided today that I would try to be crafty with David. I went online and perused Family Fun, they have so many cute ideas for crafting with toddlers. I found an easy recipe for oatmeal playdoh that seemed like a good idea at the time.

So I sit him down at the kitchen table and set down all the ingredients in front of him. I add the oatmeal and flour and he helps me mix it up. I got the water and made a big deal out of adding the food coloring. He thought that was pretty cool, oohing and aahing every time I dropped it in the water.

We mix it up and he seems ok with it. I start making a snowman and he smiles, picks up the head, and takes a big bite. I try to tell him no, we're not eating, but he takes another big bite and this time says "Mmm!!"

So I clean it all up, I guess he's just not ready for craft time, especially when it looks perfectly good to eat. Maybe next we'll try something with paper. I'm pretty sure he won't try to eat that. But then again, this is David we're talking about.

Wait...did I say that already?

2010-04-13T19:47:00.004-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I love Spring? If not, let me just say that I LOVE SPRING!!
I love being able to walk outside barefoot and feel the grass beneath my toes. It reminds me of Summers at my Grandparents house in Florida. I don't think I ever wore shoes when I was at their house. Which resulted in lots of stubbed toes. I was a very clumsy child. Unfortunately, some things just don't change.

So back to Spring. Today the kids and I went outside and decorated the sidewalk with lots of colorful chalk. We had a blast. Laughing and having a chalk fight. (Matthew is looking very orange these days...hehe!!)
Afterwards we retired to the porch swing and Matthew started up a game of "I Spy." During one of my turns I said "I spy with my little eye something white" (it was the neighbors little white dogs.) He guessed a few times. "the clouds" "no." "that car" "no." "hmmm, I don't know, I don't see anything else!"
At this point I decide to give him a clue. I hold up my hand to my ear like I was listening. (the dogs were barking.)
He starts frantically saying "Ear! Is it ear?! Ear! Ear! Is it ear!" "No." "Ear! Ear!"
I couldn't take any more, I burst into laughter. He says "What? It's not ear?

"No baby, it's not ear."

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-04-01T20:55:00.004-05:00

Today Matthew participated in the Pinewood Derby. He was so proud of his car. He modeled it after the Bumblebee car on Transformers. A few weeks back we made a trip to St. Joseph where we passed by a car dealership. They had a real life Bumblebee car, complete with the Transformers decal on the side! Matthew was instantly in love and couldn't wait to make his Pinewood derby car just like that one. I think he did a pretty good job.

Of course he had plenty of help from Matt. They spent many hours cutting, painting and putting it together. They really had a good time together just hanging out in the garage. I didn't really help too much with the construction of the derby car. I just let it be a father/son activity.

Matthew couldn't wait to see what his fellow cub scouts had done with their derby cars. I have to admit, I was impressed. We had some pretty cool looking cars. There was even one made to look like a shark! (it's in the very back)

He was only slightly dissapointed that he didn't win...any of the races. But he got the award for Most Fuel Efficient Car, which is an awesome award in itself.

Pack 400

A pretty awesome group of boys if you ask me.

Last but not least. A special thanks should go to these two ladies. These are the Cub Scout Leaders.

Kelli Holman

Karri Henderson

Thank you for putting up with a rowdy bunch of boys week after week!

Here's a short video of one of the races.

Spring Mini Photoshoot

2010-03-31T20:50:00.005-05:00

Lately my trigger finger has been itching to take some pictures. So when we had a beautiful, sunny, wind-free day, I was quick to usher the kids outside to snap some pictures.

Matthew and I had a little talk after our little "photoshoot." He's been complaining lately that he doesn't like his picture taken. But I explained to him that I take these pictures not only for myself, but for him. So that when he gets older he can look back on himself when he was little. He agreed that he didn't want sad pictures of himself. So we'll try again here soon and hopefully I'll get to capture a happy Matthew.

I think this picture completely captured both of their personalities at the moment. David with his mischevious sideways glance. You know he's up to something...

Just a-swingin!

2010-03-31T13:43:00.004-05:00

It's finally warmed up here in Northwest Missouri! This beautiful weather couldn't have gotten here any sooner. I swear if I had seen one more snowflake I would have SCREAMED!!

But the sun is out and the flowers are poking their little heads out from underneath the ground. I'm finally starting to see more green too. It's very theraputic, seeing all that green.

I wondered if David would even know what to do when he was able to go outside. He's had to spend the majority of the winter indoors. No fun. For him or me.

Matt took the cover off of our porch swing the other day and we were able to sit outside and swing to our hearts content. It was wonderful.

We were keeping the front door open to let more sunshine in that day. The screen door was being closed, but it doesn't always latch properly. So Matthew was running in and out and just kind of throwing the door shut but not making sure it was latched. I was able to catch it most the time and shut the door all the way...most the time. David saw the door opened at one point and took full advantage of it and bolted from the house. Only I was in the kitchen and didn't see him. It wasn't until a couple of minutes had passed that I noticed it was awfully quiet and noticed he was gone.

I panicked a little cause we tend to have some people that like to drive recklessly fast down our street. I ran outside, getting ready to shout his name and search the streets.

But then, there he was. On the porch swing, just as happy as can be.

He loves that swing. We've been going outside regularly and he likes to climb up on the swing and just sit. Extra bonus if Matt or I are there to swing it back and forth.

So special thanks go to my parents for buying us that awesome porch swing. We all love it!

Special Ingredients

2010-03-06T12:06:00.005-06:00

This morning Matthew had a special cub scout meeting at Dominoes Pizza. They recieved a tour and learned how to make a pizza. They even got to make their very own pizza! I waited outside for him since I didn't have any running around this morning. He came out and very proudly showed me his "masterpiece." He even offered me a piece. As I was eating it, I noticed him watching me very closely. He then asked "Do you like it?" I said "I think this may be the best pizza I've ever eaten!

To which he responded "That's because I sprinkled it with LOVE."

Dear Dad,

2010-03-01T20:59:00.002-06:00

I'm going to go ahead and address this to you since you are pretty much my #1 reader. I went through all my posts and labeled each and every one of them. If you look to your left you will see all the labels I added. All you have to do is click on a subject and it will take you too all the posts I've labeled with that. Pretty neat huh? I like it cause if I'm looking for a certain post I can just click on the name and find it a lot easier. Well, I hope you and Momma are doing well. Hopefully we can get the speaker fixed soon so that we can have normal conversations when we get on the webcam. :)

Love you bunches,
ME!

Perpetual Motion

2010-03-01T16:22:00.001-06:00

Oh, he thinks he is SO funny!

2010-03-01T11:45:00.005-06:00

I am so excited! We finally painted our downstairs bathroom! It amazes me how a little paint can make a room look so much bigger.

A few days after we finshed the painting, I decided it was time to start putting some decorations up. My mom had given me these cute shadow boxes the last time we visted. I even repainted them before I hung them up! They look really cute!!

Well, later that day Matt came home. He took a look at the bathroom and told me he liked them. I was in the kitchen so I couldn't see the devious look on his face that I now realize he must have had. Cause later on I walked in and see this...

Yes, those are Transformer figurines that my dear husband put in my cute little shadow boxes. What am I going to do with him?

Dear Pop-Pop and Nana,

2010-03-01T10:35:00.007-06:00

Mom and Dad kept us really busy with helping to paint the bathroom.

First we had to tape off the whole room.

Then we got to work! Painting is fun!

It was a lot of work, but it sure does look nice!

Miss you bunches,

Matthew and David

David In Motion

2010-02-24T11:05:00.005-06:00

I try to remember to take videos with my camera since we don't have a camcorder, but I don't always remember. I want to be able to look back and not only see my kids in pictures, but also see them in action.

So here's some videos I took just this morning as David and I were bumming around in our pajamas.

Video #1: Watch as David slowly attacks me. You can hear me slightly coughing due to the cold I can't seem to shake.

Video #2: Watch as David stacks his blocks! I love how he watches them as he walks away. Like he's making sure they don't go anywhere.

Video #3: Watch as David howls like a dog! I was trying to catch him doing something else, orignally. I caught him standing with his back to the dog, bending down and looking at him between his legs. He just cracked himself up! Of course he stopped as soon as I got the camera back out.

Fun at Dinnertime...

2010-02-14T17:47:00.004-06:00

I try to teach my kids manners. The standard "please" and "thank you". Other things like wiping their mouths on a napkin instead of their sleeves and not throwing their bowls and utensils across the room when they're done. (ok, this mostly applies to David)

But sometimes, we aren't the most well behaved and well, I think it's ok. It's alot of fun and occasionally I decide to whip out my camera and take some pictures.

Case in point.

This was a fun night. Daddy was home and he and Matthew had this whole scenario going. It was hilarious. I love these moments around the dinner table.

Not your normal post. A bit of venting and a Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T13:13:00.005-06:00

These past couple of weeks has been exceptionally hard on us. Matt has returned to school and is working part time. This means that we don't see much of him and I don't get out of the house to often either. To be honest, this has put a bit of a strain on our relationship. We're just trying to endure until the end. We both know that when he finishes getting his CCNA certification we will be in a better place financially.

So I wasn't expecting much for Valentine's Day. He's usually kind of a Valentines Scrouge. Refusing to do anything because he feels he can get me flowers any other time of the year. To which I say WHATEVER! and try not to feel hurt.

I told him this year I wanted to give "heart-felt" gifts to each other. I took all the letters he wrote me in basic and put them together in a folder. (he wrote me every day for 3 months!) He loved it! I wasn't sure he was going to follow up on our deal, but last night he told me what he got/did for me and I was both shocked and touched.

Back story: I was adopted as a newborn from The Edna Gladney Adoption Agency in Texas.

He decided on how much he would have spent on a present, took that money and donated it in my name to the above mentioned adoption agency. He then said if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be in his life. They are a non-profit organization too, which made even more awesome.

So even though things have been strained, I know that he loves me and we WILL endure until the end. I'm a lucky gal...

You can almost hear the music playing in the background..

2010-02-04T20:59:00.004-06:00

I know, I know. I seriously need to get to work and start blogging more. I guess I just haven't been inspired on what to write. I need to take more pictures, that always helps. So until then, I give you this. I call it "The Crying Toddler" tee-hee...

And yes, I take pictures of him when he cries. For posterity of course...

Matthew's Letter

2010-01-29T15:11:00.005-06:00

I found this in Matthew's backpack after school today. I thought it was just the sweetest thing! Although he raves about Texas in his letter, I'm almost certain he would love any state his Nana and Pop-Pop are in.

Pop-Pop and Nana

2010-01-03T15:07:00.005-06:00

Fun in the Snow!

2009-12-10T15:27:00.003-06:00

So, we’ve survived the snow storm and being holed up at home for the past 3 days. To ease the tension we decided to all go sledding. It was a brilliant idea, in theory. So we all got bundled up and went outside. Poor David couldn’t even walk or move his head due to his over abundance of bundling. It made for some funny memories though. We sledded for about 10 minutes and then decided we were all just fine with staying indoors until it got a tad warmer outside. I did manage to snap a few pictures. (of course!)

He's Number One!!

2009-12-04T19:55:00.005-06:00

Get it!? Hope so, cause we thought it was pretty clever and funny. Matthew came up with this all by himself.

Peace...

2009-11-30T21:59:00.004-06:00

Matthew never fails to impress me with his "coolness."

He also posed for this picture. He specifically told me how he wanted me to edit it. We had a good Thanksgiving. The food was good and we ate until we couldn't see straight. Then we had pie.

So, we have this fireplace.

2009-11-24T15:36:00.003-06:00

Fireplaces produce ash. Lots of it, especially if you use the fireplace a lot. Which we do since it is getting steadily colder.

Today, David proved to us just how much of a toddler he is by sprinkling the front room with half a bucket of ash and then playing/bathing in it.

Funny thing though, I remember just the other day telling Matt that I thought the ash bucket should be moved outside. I had been finding a various array of toys in the bucket, along with his shoes and a brush. But that’s as far as it got, just a thought. I never acted on the thought.

So this happened. I was actually tickled a little (which is why I took a few pictures) until I had to clean it up. I called Matt in, who was working in the garage, to come help. He cleaned up David, while I got to clean up all that ash. At first glance it didn’t seem like a lot. But once I got down in there with the vacuum I realized just how much he had pulled out.

This was where most of the damage was, but it extended out to the whole left side of the living room.

Now you may ask yourself, “Where was his mother throughout all of this?” Well, I was in the bathroom. That kid moves fast! I didn’t hear one peep from him. He was just silently giving our living room a dusting of ash.

I guess he also thought he was giving himself a bath.

For My Parents

2009-11-23T14:11:00.004-06:00

As you may know, I am usually the one taking the pictures. So it stands to reason that there are very few pictures of me and I'm mostly okay with that. This past Saturday I handed over the camera to my sister-in-law Talina and she snapped a few pictures. I was looking through them today and noticed a decent picture of myself. I'm pretty picky about pictures with me in them. Usually cause I tend to strike a goofy pose.

So this is for you Mom and Dad. Cause I realize you like seeing pictures of me too. I am your daughter after all.

Of course I went to http://www.picnik.com/ first and edited it. I had to have a little fun!

This is what I do when I'm bored

2009-11-12T20:45:00.002-06:00

If you know David, then you know this is pretty accurate.

2009-11-12T14:34:00.003-06:00

And that folks, is your laugh for the day. I know I got a few giggles from it.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

2009-11-11T20:35:00.004-06:00

So, we got a cat...again.
David is very fond of the cat. But you can't always tell from the way he treats him. Just the other day I caught him trying to shove him in the trash can. Ah...David. Such a sweet kid.

Follow these instructions carefully

2009-11-10T20:24:00.004-06:00

Just so there's no confusion, I included a picture as an example.

Yep, that's exactly what he is.

2009-11-10T16:33:00.004-06:00

To be fair, they both are.

When I grow up...

2009-11-07T08:15:00.005-06:00

We went to good ol' Walmart yesterday to do some shopping and general looking around. This meant that Matthew had to check out the toy section. As Matt and I were over in the clothes section having a riveting discussion about coats, we see Matthew walk towards us with a big box in his hands. He says he just wants to "show this to us." Translation "I want you to see what I want you to buy for me." It was a huge Transformers toy, we asked him the same question as always. "How much does it cost?" (Christmas is around the corner and I like to keep these things in mind.) He says "It's a hundred dollars!" I laugh, (Cause I'm not very sensitive to these types of things.) and say "not even in your wildest dreams, kid." He turns away dejected and I hear him say. "When I grow up, I'm going to build a time machine and come back and buy this."

Problem solved.

I just couldn't stop myself...

2009-10-28T22:28:00.003-05:00

After I edited the picture of Matthew I had to go back and find more pics to play around with. It was just too much fun!

He's MAD I tell you!! MAD!!

2009-10-28T21:42:00.004-05:00

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-22T17:47:00.005-05:00

This last Tuesday we went to the local pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. We have David signed up with Parents as Teachers and they sponsered the trip. They even bought pumpkins for all the kids! (Yay for free stuff!)

Luckily I remembered my camera and snapped away while they picked out the perfect pumpkin.

So, this picture didn't exactly come out the way I had imagined in my head. That pumpkin was really slick and David wasn't having it.

"Ooh! Look at all those pumpkins!"

David was all over the place. I think he personally inspected every single pumpkin there.

Inspecting the gourds.

He picked this one out but then quickly lost interest and tossed it on the ground.

"I want that one, and that one...."

Matthew even got to pick out a pumpkin even though technically he wasn't supposed to.
The free pumpkins were only for the non school age children, but Mrs. Debbie bought his too.

He searched through all the pumpkins, trying to find the biggest, best pumpkin in the bunch.

My handsome boys and their pumpkins. We ended up picking out a pumpkin for David, he couldn't decide on just one.

I love my family.

I am man, I have Machete!

2009-10-22T10:52:00.004-05:00

Matt picked up a couple of machetes the other day while he was out and about. So of course he and Matthew had to go out and hack at some weeds in our yard.

David and I just sat and watched them. (tee-hee)

Who IS that masked man?

2009-09-04T15:25:00.005-05:00

I was going through old photos one day while my friend Gina was over visiting. I pulled out this picture and started laughing. "Look at Matt!" I said while pointing. She smiled and said "Yeah, but who is that dope with the white and green make-up on?"

ummm...uhhhh....

(I don't think she saw where I had pointed.)

We still love you Gina!

If you still can't pick him out, he's the one with his arms stretched out and the silly make up on. Hehe.

Dear Matthew,

2009-08-27T17:17:00.009-05:00

Today is your 9th birthday. It seems just yesterday you were born. I remember your "birth"-day very clearly.

It was a week before my due date. It was early morning and I was asleep, Daddy had already gone to work at the airport. I remember Nana calling me around 9:00 a.m. We talked to for a while. I noticed as we spoke that I was feeling pains in my tummy. I thought "hmmm. That was different."But I didn't dare tell Nana cause I didn't want her to worry. I went back to sleep and woke off and on, all the while noticing that my tummy was aching. Around noon I decided to call Daddy and tell him what was going on. He wanted to come home but we weren't sure if I was actually in labor. It wasn't until our friend Chuck, who worked with Daddy, said "Your having a baby! Go home!"

Daddy got home around 4 and around 6 we decided to go to the hospital. That's when we called the family. Alot of people showed up, from mine and Daddy's side, to await your arrival. Nana showed up first. Followed by Pop-Pop and Uncle Steve. Aunt Adrienne was next and then Uncle Josh. Daddy's Grandma and Grandpa Burgoyne were there also.

Labor wasn't too hard and you were born at 11:00p.m. (An hour before your Nana and Pop-Pop's wedding anniversary!) You were 7lbs. 6ozs. and you were 21 inches long. We noticed right away that you were the spitting image of your Daddy. I won't put on here what your Nana said when she first laid eyes on you. (it's hilarious, but a little graphic for a public post.) I'm sure you've heard it before and you will hear it a million times more as you grow up. (It's something we do on my side of the family. Tell the same stories over and over. I think we like to try to engrain these memories into your brain.)

I just want to say how proud I am of you. You amaze me every day with your love, patience towards your brother and kindness towards others. I am proud of who you are today and who I see you becoming as you get older.

I love you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

And to commemorate this day, here are some adorable baby pictures that I'm sure you're not going to like me posting, but I'm going to anyways. It's one of the perks of being your Mom. :)

Matthew is turning 9!

2009-08-26T15:08:00.005-05:00

I finally finished Matthew's birthday invites for him to pass out to his classmates. I decided to make them this year cause we had all the stuff to do them at home and like Matt's Grandpa Dial says. "I'm like a baby bird. I'm cheap, cheap, cheap!" Lol. I love the way they turned out. I might just make them from now on!

Father and Son

2009-08-25T10:37:00.008-05:00

Nothing brings me more joy than watching my husband play with our children. Matthew is almost 9 (this Thursday is his birthday) and his dad and him are always teasing and chasing each other all over the house. I love it. We didn't think we were going to be able to have any more children so David, who is 15 months, is a true blessing to us. We have treasured every moment with him. It warms my heart to see him with his daddy.

Family Day @ Ft. Riley

2009-08-15T20:55:00.009-05:00

Matt had his annual training this past month at Ft. Riley, KS. The boys and I went to Texas while he was gone and we missed Family Day. Our good friends, The Butlers, went in our stead. They are that awesome. I am so glad to have friends that will drive 3 hours to go see Matt so he woudln't be alone on Family Day.

Sgt. Barber and Miriam.

Snacktime with an M16

"The Littlest Butler" aka Miriam

Gina! She. Is. Awesome!

Just call her G.I. Jane...

The Howitzer.

Matt and Miriam in front of the huge Howitzer bullets.

Evan and the huge Howitzer bullets. Woah!

Miriam actually pulled the trigger on the Howitzer. Such a brave girl.

You don't pull, you twist.

Miriam and Evan with some studly dude...oh wait! It's Matt!

*sigh* I do love a man in uniform. Specifically this man.

Evan sportin the Shoemaker hat.

Evan sitting inside the Humvee.

Little Miriam.

Gina took her turn on the Howitzer also.

yet another adorable picture starring Miriam.

Evan learning all about the Humvee.

All geared up and ready to go! Thank you so much for coming out guys. I know it really meant alot to Matt.

Along Came Herman, The Worm...

2009-08-11T18:10:00.002-05:00

Matthew and his best friend, Jana, practiced and then performed this for us.

A.K.A. The Cookie Monster

2009-07-14T09:48:00.003-05:00

"I know there are cookies in here!"

"Maybe if I look cute she will give me some."

"Nope, she's too busy taking pictures."

"Time to take matters into my own hands. Helloooo."

"That woman is always taking pictures of me!"

"Sweet victory!"

"Nom nom nom, I do love cookies!"

"It just doesn't get any better than this."

"Mmhmm."

"All done, time to play!"

Way to go Bluejays!!

2009-07-13T10:50:00.005-05:00

Matthew and his team played in the tournament last week and they got 3rd place!! We are so proud of our little Bluejay.

On the way to 3rd.

Team Bluejay and their 3rd place medals

Silly kid, as usual.

Wir sind eine glückliche Familie

2009-07-10T14:29:00.014-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to Matt's family reunion. His grandmother immigrated from Germany when she was 16 and she still has a sister that lives in Germany, Aunt Leona. Her and her family flew all the way from Germany. This year was her 60th birthday and seeing her American family was the only thing she wanted for her birthday.

Here is a little piece of family history. Translated by Aunt Karen.

Here are some pics I took:

Matt's ornery cousin Jacob. This kid makes Matt look like a saint! :)

David chowin down on some cake!

David and Aunt Diana-she came up from Texas for the reunion.

Matthew's cousin Monica, sister to Jacob. Just as ornery. But she has a sweet heart.

Matt and Aunt Gloria

Matt's cousin Jessica. You can't tell, but she is sitting on her mom's lap. Poor Aunt Gloria.

Here's the whole gang!

This is the line of paparazzi that were just waiting to take our pictures! Superstars!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After we ate we went over to the pool for a little fun.

David was a little scared of the water at first, so he just hung out on the edge with his daddy.

Matthew on the other hand hopped right on in and enjoyed spalshing around with his cousins.

Momma Dial hangin out poolside.

Of course someone had to throw someone in the pool. That person happened to be my husband. He overheard his cousin Jessica complaining about not bringing her swimsuit so he took the initiative and threw her in.

He made the mistake of pointing and laughing at her right in front of his own mother, who then took it upon herself to push him in.

Of course that wasn't going to go unnoticed by him, so he got out and him and Jacob (the afore mentioned ornery one) drug her into the pool. Good times.

The day after the official reunion, all of Monika's (grandmother) children and grandchildren gathered at her house for dinner.

SCHNITZEL!!

Matt relaxing with a full stomach.

This is Matt's cousin Justin, brother to Monica and Jacob. And yes, he is just as ornery as the rest of them.

Little Miss Alexis (Matt's sister)

The lovely Aunt Christina.

She is also the momma to Jacob, Monica and Justin.

But she's not the least bit ornery. At least not to us anyways. :)

Aunt Leona and Matthew. She really took a liking to him. She told me (in broken English) that he was just so cute. And she kept saying something about his cheeks. But hey, can you blame her?

Matt's cousin Ashley.

Matt's cousin Cameron with David.

Aunt Gloria with part of her brood. Joe and Jonathon.

Joe-Joe

Jonathon

Aunt Gloria

Here's all the girls. L-R: Dianna, Gloria, Christina, Veronica

Ramona.

And last but not least. I present to you some pictures that Matt's siter,Talina took. It really shows off our good sides.

Just keepin it REAL!!

Oldie But a Goodie...sorry Mom!

2009-06-03T13:53:00.003-05:00

This is the story of a haircut gone wrong.

I won't completely blame my poor mother because I failed to inform her that at the time, Matthew didn't like the buzzers used to cut hair. They scared him.

In the summer of 2006 Matthew went to stay with his PopPop and Nana (my parents) for two weeks. I guess while he was there my mother noticed his hair getting long so she decided to take matters into her own hands and give him a haircut. It shouldn't have been a big deal cause I had been cutting his hair for years. But what she didn't know what that all those haircuts were usually tear filled scream fests. He hated the buzzers. He didn't like the sound they made, especially when they were right next to his ears. It drove him mad! But we endured it cause we didn't have the money to go get his hair professionally cut and I didn't want him walking around looking all scruffy.

So fast forward to the day we met Matthew and my mom at the airport to pick him up. It had been 2 weeks since we had seen our little boy. We were excited to have him back. He walks off the plane and "what the..." I think were my exact words. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

So yeah, not the greatest haircut. I decided to just go ahead and finish the job and just buzz it all off. Of course we had to have a little fun with it and gave him a temporary mohawk.

Matt of course decided to join in the fun. He told me to buzz all his hair off too. I adamantly refused until he said if I didn't do then he would.

So more fun ensued as well as another mowak.

This is the second part of the story...

After completely BUZZING their heads I clean up and go to the store for something. I come back home and Matt and Matthew are locked in the bathroom. I ask what they are doing and Matt says "You'll find out in a little bit! hahaha!"

They come out and my jaw hits the floor. He had taken a razor and completely shaved their heads!! I mean, it was bad enough that I to buzz it. But to completely shave it off!!! Aaarrgh!

On the bright side, Matthew didn't seem to mind.

This is what we were left with. We fondly refer to this picture as "Pinky and The Brain." Classic.

Number 10!!

2009-05-21T16:30:00.007-05:00

Matthew had his first game last night. Although his team didn't win, they played a good game. We are so proud of our #10!!

Batting...he made it all the way to 2nd base!

He's running to 2nd. He was so fast I barely got a picture of him!!

Right before the game. I just had to take some pictures of him in his cute uniform. He didn't really like me taking pictures of him in front of his friends though.

Cheap Entertainment...

2009-05-21T15:10:00.002-05:00

David's 1st Birthday / Nana & Pop-Pop's Visit

2009-05-16T13:56:00.005-05:00

David Bowen Shoemaker was born on May 11, 2008 at 7:35 am. He was my Mother's Day present. What a wonderful present.

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday May 9, 2009. His Nana and Pop-Pop flew in from Arizona. My dad hadn't seen him since he was 4 months old, my mom came to see us in March. So he had changed alot since the last time they saw him.

Here is David with his Pop-Pop. He loved that cake!

He happily snuggled with his Nana.

Mmm...juice!

He got ahold of Pop-Pop's cup.

Pop-Pop and the boys.

My dad...miss you.

David hangin out on our new porch swing.

David and Nana on the porch swing...miss you too mama.

he's such a happy baby...

such a silly boy...