Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

 

Santa visited Leyton's school in a helicopter today! He collected toys from our kids for Toys for Tots....he's delivering them right now to Scotish Rite Hospital. The kids were so happy & excited! It seriously was magical....even for me!

 

 

2012 Christmas Card Pic

Merry Christmas 2012

Best Christmas Pic Ever

EE seriously ran through the mall screaming & crying after spotting Santa. I caught her....and this is what we got! Sheer fear on that face of hers! She has warmed up to Santa now! :)

Tell Me About the Good Ol' Days

Nov. 16th---Leyton dressed as an old man. They had talked about the good ol' days all week and on Friday they got to dress up. Leyton even interviewed Mimi and Poppy to hear all about what it was like when they were his age!

Thankful

Harrison aka "Bold Eagle" Thanksgiving celebration--Nov.15

Roller Coaster

This is a little late, but Leyton recently rode his first real roller coaster. It was seriously scary. When we finished he said that he should wait until he is a little older before he rides it again!

Election 2012

We have briefly talked about electing a new president around the house. Here is Erin-Elizabeth and Harrison after we voted. When I asked them who they voted for Harrison replied "Daddy" and I thought EE said "My Mommy"----but I soon figured out she was really saying "Mitt Romney."

Leyton is SIX!

Happy Birthday, Leyton!  Six years old! The morning of his birthday is always kinda tough....after a long night of Halloween festivities. We woke him up with balloons and singing Happy Birthday. I went to school that day to bring him Sonic and have lunch with him and his buddies. That evening we had dinner at the Hibachi/sushi place. We came home and celebrated more with an ice cream cake. His birthday party isn't until the 11th. We are stretching this out!!

My sweet Leyton!

Six years ago I gave birth to you! I never knew how much I could love someone until that day. Seeing you for the first time was amazing. I always heard that it would be, but I never even had the tiniest clue how wonderful this love would feel. And scary. Very scary. In a good way. I would watch you sleep in the tiny bassinet next to our bed....and I'd just pray. I'd pray that you would be safe and that I would be a good mommy. I'd listen to you grunt like a little man. I'd watch you take tiny breaths....and I'd poke at you if I felt like it was taking too long for that next breath to come. You were an easy baby. And you brought us so much happiness...and pride....and love. And you still do. All the time. Now, you are a big boy. Not many traces of that little baby left. You are six. You are awesome. Daddy and I are amazed by you. You are smart and funny. You love your family. I now watch you sleep in that big bed of yours sometimes. And I still pray. I pray for your safety and your happiness. And I pray that I am a good mommy...giving you exactly what you need. Thank you for 6 awesome years...I love watching you grow up. I love being your mommy.

Happy Birthday to you, my Tones Bones!

I love you!
Love,
Mommy



 

Halloween 2012

Batman, Spidergirl, and Jayden---the Red Power Ranger. We had a great Halloween this year. We met up at the neighborhood park with a lot of families from our neighborhood. It was a great time!

Love that Boy!

Cute things that Harrison has said recently...

"Wait, I gotta put my sword in my purse."

We were snuggling during naptime and I told him that he is my most favorite 4 year old. He then said "You are my favorite 34 year old girl."

He makes my heart wanna burst.:)

First Time...

on a school bus----AND first time on a field trip. (apple orchard!) I'm not sure which one was more exciting for our boy!

Butterfly Book

Leyton brings home his bag of books that he has to read each night. This past week one of the books he had was about the life cycle of a butterfly. What did we learn from that book? First of all, 5 year old little boys think the word PUPA is hilarious. Next...he wanted me to explain what mating means. Once again, not prepared for the question. Usually I bust out in dance or karate chop him or do something equally as mature to distract him from whatever question I don't want to answer. This time I was an adult. I sat down and told him that it just means that 2 butterflies hang out and make more butterflies. Ok...so I do know that isn't really the most adult-ish answer I could have come up with, but it seemed to satisfy him for the time being! I'm so not ready for these questions!

Life Around Here

Life has been busy. Fun, but busy!

I had a little leg thing done to remove the varicose veins that the kids gave me during pregnancy! Thanks, guys! It was worse than I thought it would be, but I am surely glad it is behind me. I am definitely feeling human again...which is nice.

Leyton has been enjoying Kindergarten. He has a fabulous teacher! Really could not be happier with her. He is learning so much and enjoying it all. Every day is an adventure in Kindergarten...and we are thankful that he is loving every minute of it. He is playing soccer. His team is named the Kicksters. He seems to enjoy that as well. Sometimes I see him do his Power Rangers kicks while on the field...which makes me smile every time. He also wants to start taking Karate. I told him that he has to choose whether he'd rather do Karate or continue his drum lessons....jury is still out on that one. That's a tough decision for this guy! Time seems to be moving even faster with him in real school this year. I can't believe that we are in October!! He'll be six in less than a month!

Harrison is really loving his "big boy class" at the CLC. He loves the centers and playing outside. He adores his teachers...and so do I. They are wonderful. The Roberts' kids hit the teacher jackpot this year! Harrison has really started enjoying playing the Wii lately. He has 30 minutes of electronics time a day that he absolutely LOVES. Power Rangers is his game of choice, of course.

Erin-Elizabeth is doing great in her 2 year old class. She has a couple of friends in there that she knows from last year....and she has made some great new friends too. She is enjoying ballet and performs for us in the living room. She is full of energy and pretty stinkin' funny. She loves to be the center of attention. I swear when we walk into school, she thinks everyone driving through the car rider line is just cruising by to see her. Oh sister...you're crazy.

Russell and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on the 10th. He's a great hubs...fantastic dad. I dig being his wife. I really don't have a thing to complain about. Except my leg...I've been a whiny, complaining baby about this leg. :)

Life is great. Thankful. Happy.

Our Superhero is 4!

Happy 4th Birthday, Harrison! The morning of his birthday was already special because his Mimi, Keyo, Cade and Cole were in town. We came to wake him up with balloons while singing him "Happy Birthday." We had a great party at Jump for Fun that afternoon. He was a happy boy! And he loved loved loved all the superhero presents he got...just more gear to help him and his brother SAVE THE WORLD.

All about our 4 year old...
Harrison,
You love hearing about when you were a baby. You know what? You will always be mommy and daddy's baby. You love to hear about how you broke your arm when you came out of my tummy. I can't believe that was 4 years ago. Time sure does fly!!

You are seriously the most giving, kind hearted kid around. You love your big brother and your little sister. You and your brother play superheroes from the time you wake up until you go to sleep. Plus, you always sleep with a sword or some other superhero gear. You play "family" with your sister. You really can entertain her for longer than anyone else. She is usually the mommy, sometimes the baby....but you are always the "Power Ranger Daddy." You like to tell jokes and make people laugh. We think you are so funny. You definitely have an opinion on what you want to wear. If you had it your way, you'd live in some type of superhero shirt. Except you always have me cut the itchy tags off! You love playing outside. Riding bikes. Using tools. Baseball. Soccer. You love it all. You are easy going and fun loving. I never worry about you at school, because you always are friendly and jump right in to whatever is going on. You definitely melt our hearts with your sweetness. And we are proud of you. Every single day we are proud of you. One of my most favorite things about you is how easily you are pleased. And you always seem thankful. Thank YOU for being such a cool little dude. We are so thankful to be your parents. You bless us more than you will ever ever know! We thank God for you every day.

We love you!
Mommy & Daddy

Tiny Ballerina

Our girl has started ballet classes. Her friend Mo is in class with her and they are precious to watch!

Sarah "Lou"

Over at kellyskornerblog.com she is having people write about a single friend they have and link it up to her blog. (Hope my technically challenged self can figure that one out!) So, here's to finding my lifelong friend Sarah ("Lou" is my nickname for her) a LOOOOOOOOVE connection!

Where do I start? I've known Sarah since the 5th grade. We became instant friends and have stayed that way since. We hung out in the same crowd in high school and were even in the same sorority in college! (Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?) I'm telling you all this as background info....as in I know her. I know her well. And I love her!

So here is me playing matchmaker.

Dear Sarah Lou's Future Man,

I'm going to be honest and start off by telling you that this girl thinks for herself. There is no bossing her around. She stands up for what she believes in...always! Do you know what she believes in? She believes in friendship. She is fiercely loyal. This girl has tons of friends and she does a tremendous job of maintaining her friendships. She is willing to put in the effort to have meaningful friendships....that last.

Another bit of info about my Lou is that she is a fast talker. Like so fast that you have to tell her to slow down a lot of times. She majored in Deaf Education in college and I bet she even signs fast. She has interesting things to say....but MAN you better be listening. The good news is that she is a good listener too and doesn't have to do all the talking. Seriously one of the best listeners I know.

Determined! That's a great word to describe her. She does marathons and trains and runs and runs and runs. She is disciplined....waking before the sun even rises to get workouts in.

Besides putting a strong emphasis on friends, Sarah also has a very close relationship with her family. She has a great family! I love them.

She has a dog named McGuire that she loves bunches. It is her furry child. She is a good doggie mom.

I could go on & on. So, I will.

She has a great sense of humor. She doesn't take herself too seriously and can laugh at herself. To me, that is one of the best qualities a person can have. It makes that person fun to be around. And she is most definitely fun to be around.

She likes things to be planned. So if you take her out & things go well, will you please help her to become sorta spontaneous? I do think she has it in her. In my 20 something years of knowing her I have seen her do spontaneous things at least a handful of times! Come on, Lou!!!

So Mr. Future LOOOOOOOOVE or even LIIIIIIIIKE connection...have fun getting to know one of my dearest friends. Treat her well.  & Have fun with one of the greatest people you (or I) could ever have the privilege of meeting.

Love,
Marsha

Sarah is 35 years old and lives in Texas!

Karate Kid

Leyton went with his buddy Jensen to "Bring a friend to Tae Kwon Do" day. He broke this board in half with his hand. Needless to say, he is hooked. He was ready to sign up that day.

School's Cool

 Cheese!

 Preschool!

 Sweet.

My man.

 

It was Harrison's first day of school and EE's first full day. Everything went great and both of my babies are happy....which makes me happy too!

He is....

Studious.:)

construction.

there have been construction workers outside everyday for the past 2 weeks. they are doing something serious to the road. not quite sure what, but it requires bulldozers and roadblocks. i just find a way out of the neighborhood and don't give it much thought. the kids are a different story. erin-elizabeth decided the other day  that they are building a castle. harrison disagreed....he thought they were building a super hero statue. leyton said that they were just going underground to put in new water pipes. he's so logical. just like his daddy.

Meet the Teacher for my Harrison!

Harrison with Mrs. Michelle and Mrs. Brown....Today was Harrison's Meet the Teacher. He loves these 2 ladies already! They were Leyton's teachers last year. He's a big kid now....and he loves it!

Tender Moments

First day of school for Miss EE!! It was just a short day (9-11) to get them acclimated. Surprisingly, she cried when I dropped her off. (only lasted a minute) When I picked her up she proudly tells me that she cried. When I asked her why, she said "Because I wanted you." I said "Aw....you like me, don't you?" "No." was her reply. Good golly gracious---this child is my clone! I can almost hear those words coming out of my mouth.

Do you know what she does like? She likes school. We are all excited for her real school days to start next Tuesday!

An Ol' Pro...

In just a couple of hours, he'll have the first week of school under his belt! It's been an exciting week, but we are all looking forward to a long weekend of relaxing and spending time together. Some highlights of the week according to Tones Bones...
*collecting rocks (candy rocks) for acts of kindness. He gets to bring them home today.
*playing Iron Man on the playground
*the bouncy bridge on the playground---he says it is like an obstacle course
*getting to use ipads in his class
*eating his snack outside
*daddy going with him to a meeting at school at night time
*& his most favorite part has been meeting his 2nd grade buddy, Jacob

Back to School for EE!

 Drawing at Meet the Teacher. (even though we know her teacher well!)

 Ready for school...

 Posing with Mrs. Sarah. (our director)

 Harrison showed her around her new classroom. (since it was his classroom last year!)

Erin-Elizabeth's very special friend, Mo. We love Mo!

What Have I Done?

I have done what I always said I wouldn't do.

I remember driving in the car when I was younger to float the river with my family....and about 5 other families. Dad driving, mom in passenger seat, and me and my sis in the backseat. My mom started reading the brochure about what to do if you fall off the raft. It was talking about the undercurrent and my mom started bawling. She was scared. Which of course made me scared. This is just one of many examples of how my mom (who is awesome, BUT a worry wart) has made me a worry wart (but awesome!;)) too!

I always told myself to keep my crazy fears to myself in front of the kids. This plan was going pretty smooth until Leyton was oh...1. I guess it just took a bee swarming my face for me to go all crazy. I tried to keep it cool. I tried hard, but I couldn't help but run in circles while screaming. He's scared of bees. Shocker.

I cringe when I see my kids playing by our retaining wall because I think a snake would find that wood to be a perfect place to hide. I try to just let the kids play like they should, but I usually say something about snakes biting their feet. My kids can scope out hiding places for snakes now.

And the latest? My daughter actually sprints to the car every morning yelling "Squitos!!! Hurry brudders, the squitos will get us!!" Guess mommy has put the West Nile fear in them.

I'm going to work on it.

I'm still amazed my mom even let me get on the river. I thought she was crazy...and we all laughed and made fun of her. I get it mom.

The Good and The Bad

The good news? The first words out of Leyton's mouth when I picked him up yesterday----"Mom! Kindergarten is the best school ever!!!"

The bad news? On our way to dinner last night he asked me if Santa Claus is real. Ugh. Was not prepared for that one.

Work it, Boy!

Yeah, this pose was all him. It's a little lunge---Power Rangers style. A friend just texted me and it read "We made it through the first day of Kindergarten!" How true! What a milestone...and we did it! This is how it all went down....

We had a little family meeting last night to discuss the upcoming changes. First on the agenda....I WILL HAVE TO WAKE YOU UP, KIDS! Seriously! This one was even a little hard for me to grasp. The sun will not even be in the sky when I come upstairs to get you. This is just how serious school is....because we all know I would not wake you up before the sun rises for much else. The other topics we discussed were pretty much just what to expect in the morning. Breakfast, teeth brushing, change clothes, and then I fix their hair. You see, during the summer we occasionally had a couple of hours of our day go by before we did any of the items listed above. (well, besides breakfast)

So, the real morning of the big day goes like this. I set the alarm for 5:15. Why that early? Because I'm insane and I am always paranoid of being late. Today was my test run to see how long each thing would take. Well, I am happy to report that it doesn't take 2 hours. Looks like I won't have to rise that early again! I shower, make Leyton's lunch (more on that later), and get breakfast started. I go wake up the kids....which I must admit was a tad bit fun. Give them a taste of their own medicine...I'll show them! Both Leyton and Harrison come down and lie on the couch. Leyton asks if today is one of his short days and I said yes. He was glad. They each took about 2 bites of their breakfast. I tried for more, but no luck. They brushed their teeth. Got dressed. I took some pics. And we were out the door. Yes, we did arrive too early. Story of my life.

I took some more pics by the school. We all went into the cafeteria....because that is where the early kids go. And we waited. For oh...about 18 minutes. When we were finally released, we all walked down to the Kindergarten hall. Mrs. Hill was waiting with a smile! He picked a place for him and his backpack. He played with some blocks. I took a couple more pics. All the students said both pledges and then sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" which totally makes me love his teacher. It was fun and random....and I'm all about fun and random. I left. Then I came back for one more hug. Then I left again. (In my defense most parents were still in the room) Then I cried....but I only allowed like 2 tears to fall from each eye. Then, I dried my face and was fine!  I met two friends at the gym cafe and did the treadmill!!

After the gym, we headed to my second home--Target. It was fabulous. Carts are made for 2 kids...not 3. The kids each got a new thermos and we left. We came home and the kids sipped water from their new cups and....WAIT FOR IT...no....WAIT FOR IT......they actually played together!! EE was not glued to my hip! This, my friends, is a MIRACLE! A true miracle. H and L are always playing together which means that me and EE are playmates. She actually went upstairs. This has (almost) never happened!  Since it was a short day at school this first day, this joyous scene was cut short and we were on our way to pick up our favorite 5 year old. It was so great to see his smiling face!

I asked him close to 78 questions after getting into the car. He answered about 3 of them. This is the information I do know... 1. He ate his snack outside. 2. There are some white things on the ground that his teacher said elves live inside of. (must be true then!) 3. He got to play on the i-pad. That's it. He either tuned me out for the other questions or just answered with some sort of man grunt. I do know...now....that they didn't need a lunch for the first day of school. This is a real bummer, because as I told my friend earlier, I had pretty much prepared a Thanksgiving size feast inside of his tiny lunchbox. For real. I couldn't decide what to give him, so I pretty much went with everything we had. I even wrote him a love letter. humph!!! I'll try to duplicate my efforts this Thursday when he goes for his first full day.

I feel great! My kid feels great! It's official. A Kindergartner lives here...and we think he's awesome!

Leyton's First Day of Kindergarten!

 Good luck, Leyton!

 Leyton & "Super Rocky"

My new classroom!!!



Weekend before Kinder!

 Leyton's teacher asked the class to decorate a pet rock and its house for the first day of school. Leyton made a super hero rock and named him Super Rocky.

This is the note Leyton had next to his breakfast plate. We found a safe spot  in his backpack for his penny. :)

H & A

Harrison & his sweet friend (and neighbor!) Aslynn!

 

Headed to grab a bite to eat after their mid-morning swim...

Meet The Teacher!

 Celebrating with a sundae!

 

 Classroom!