Early Christmas with Grammy Linda and Grandpa Jerry

Andy's parents came over this weekend with presents for the boys so they could see them opening the gifts. The boys were excited to tear into the packages-except for Ewan who was engrossed in a movie. When Ewan did decide to join us, he made a beeline for Cale's gifts (0f course). Some tears, some sharing, everyone eventually calmed down and enjoyed the morning. The photo below takes you to the rest of the pictures. :-)

From moreDecember2008

Preschool program photos

Click on the photo below to see the photos from the preschool program. The boys did great. It was funny watching Ewan dance around on stage when the entire preschool was singing. I did notice Cale singing too, although he wasn't as an enthusiatic dancer.

From moreDecember2008

Look who's ready for summer!

Ready for summer, or just ready for his mamma to sign him up for swim lessons? Hmm. Or just excited to find his swimwear in the closet?

Videos from Christmas program

Cale's class (Cale is in the brown shirt)

Another of Cale's class

Ewan's class (Ewan has two little girls in class with him. I guess one was absent)

this one's a keeper

after many painful (for me) photos the other day, I got the boys to sit in front of the tree tonight. this was the only shot that I took and thank goodness that Ewan sat still for it because he had been moving and turning and I thought I was going to get the back of his head....so, I cancelled my other Christmas card order (it was backed up anyway-ooo not happy about that) and will replace it with this one. hopefully I can still get these out before Christmas!

Christmas card photo takes 1-5

Ewan's favorite snack

Ewan has a new fav for a snack. He's really into grape tomatoes! Notice the bulge in his cheek? He would rather eat these than crackers or cheese! What can I say, the boy loves his veggies :-)

Guilty!

Ooo-I slept through Marcus's bus drop-off again yesterday! My cell phone alarm went off and I promptly shut off the alarm so I wouldn't wake up Cale. Then, I shut my eyes and thought "one more minute..." The next thing I know, Marcus is standing next to me. Thank goodness he knows how to use the key to get in the front door, because both the front and back doors were locked. I guess I win the bad mommy award for Wednesday. Luckily, today is a new day.

The Rules of Naming

Thinking about names for baby #4 is a bit of a challenge. I wanted to put out our list (really-my list) of requirements that this name has to include...
1. The first name cannot start with M, C, or E (for Marcus, Cale, or Ewan).
2. The first name cannot end in S, E, or N (again, for Marcus, Cale, or Ewan).
3. The name cannot rhyme with any of the other boys' names (ie Marcus and Lucas).
4. The name has to "flow" with the other names. Meaning: when you say all the names together, one name doesn't stand out.
5. We would prefer the name to have some link to the word "warrior". All our other boys' names do, although, this is the "rule" that I would ignore if needed.
6. The middle name is a family name. I don't know whose yet. And, it has to go with whatever first name we pick out.

Not too complicated, right?

Jingle Bells-Cale style

This is Cale's version of Jingle Bells. I'm pretty sure he is using what we call his "bad guy voice". Enjoy!

the tree is up!

We went out Saturday and got our Christmas tree. It's our first not-fake one that we've ever had. Last year, we decided to get rid of our fake tree which probably could have qualified as an antique since it was older than I was. We had to get some new lights too, since I apparently went on a cleaning spree after the holidays last year. The boys helped decorate it and like touching all the ornaments. And, so far, the cats have left the tree alone. One of my ornaments is MIA. I'm hoping it's stuck in the tree somewhere and not hidden in some cat hidy-hole.

state 2A football game

I took the boys to see Andy's school-Heritage Christian-play in the state finals. They had a good time and as a good mom, I bribed the boys with popcorn and cotton candy to stay in their seats :-)

We got up after ever quarter to look around and walk around.

Then, after the game-which ended at 10pm-we went down to the field to see Andy. We weren't allowed on the field without passes, but Andy found some for Cale and Ewan to wear so they could walk around with him for a minute. Heritage Christian ended up winning 17-14. It was a good game and wasn't decided until almost the very end. Andy got a medal that night and will get a state ring that looks a lot like a high school class ring. I have to say that this ring will be his third from this school for winning or coming in second in state playoffs. I'm hoping I can get a picture of Andy with all his new jewelry. Clicking on the photo below should take you to the rest of the photos from the game.

From November2008

Cale's birthday

Here are photos from Cale's birthday last Saturday.

We opened presents @ home before breakfast.

Hungry Hippo fun!

Fun times @ Chuck E Cheese. We had Cale's birthday party there with his preschool class.

It's a boy! (again!)

As you may have guessed from the top of the blog, we are having one more baby :-). The ultrasound was yesterday and we were told the baby is a boy. We're happy and Andy's thrilled to have his little man army. Now we just have to decide on a name. Any suggestions?

Cale is 4 today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CALE!!!
I guess I don't have a baby photo uploaded to the computer-this one is of Cale @ about 18 mos. He's so much bigger now. He had a great birthday. And while ChuckECheese was hectic, I think he really enjoyed all the excitement. More pictures and hopefully video will be coming soon. I just didn't want to leave this day without mention of my little guy's birthday. :-)

Cale's party

Cale's birthday party is tomorrow (saturday) and I'm pretty sure he understands now that the party is @ Chuck E Cheese and not his preschool teacher's house. I'm pretty sure that most of his class is coming (8 kids). It should be fun/interesting to see how the kids/parents hold up. I've still got to get a few presents for him, bake a cake, goody bags... it's going to be a long day-and I'm @ work right now waiting for 7am!

1st time @ the movies

We took the boys to see Madagascar 2 tonight. I waited until Andy finally had a free night and I was finally not working. It was a cute movie to see. The boys were great and sat through the entire show. Ewan cuddled up to Andy towards the end but didn't fall asleep. Marcus was ready to go with about 30 mins left, but he was just tired (he went right to bed after drinking his milk when we got home-no complaints). Cale stayed up through the whole thing and fell asleep in the car as soon as we started driving. Since it was their first time @ the movies, I took some pictures. I used the nighttime setting on the camera b/c it was so dark. Never have used that setting before. I guess that's why the photos came out a little different....

random thoughts from someone up @ 3am

here's some things that have been happening here...

I got a new cell phone :-) Andy dropped his and broke the screen on his phone. Instead of buying a new one, which would have been at least $80, he transferred his SIM card to my phone and I upgraded to a new phone. Well, a new/old one. We like to get the refurbished phones. They usually don't cost anything. I don't know why my cell number was ready for an upgrade when Andy and I are on the same account and got the phones at the same time.

And, kuddos to AT&T for sending my new phone so fast. I ordered it on Wed am and it was delivered Thurs.

Finally got Ewan's 2 year old pictures taken. He was very cute for the first 5 poses and the Cale had to step in to make a total of 7 poses. I don't know why the studios are such a stickler on getting a set number of poses when the kid is clearly done with having their photo taken.

Got the boys one of their Christmas presents early. Andy bought a Wii off of one of his high school atheletes. They didn't want it and really wanted to buy Guitar Hero for whatever system that is. Andy tested the Wii out last night after the boys went to bed. I think it's going to be hard hiding that until Christmas....

Andy's football team won again. They play in regionals next Friday. This game will be much closer to home than the one they just played-3 hours from here. Andy got home @ 2am and had to be back @ the school @ 930 that morning.

that's all for now. back to work for me

the only halloween pics that i have

this year, i had to work on halloween-no fun and andy had football playoffs. andy's parents came out to take the boys trick or treating. the boys had fun and got a ton of candy that i am now rationing out in what i'm sure they consider an unfair way. so, i only got a few pics of the kids. don't worry, next year there is no way i'm working and i will be taking a ton of photos.

the boys with grandpa-so they're outfits were kind of like psuedo-jedi costumes that i just threw together b/c i figured they would be happy with whatever they got-they were

i said -andy how about you carve pumpkins with the boys while i'm @ work and you can take some pictures. i come home-no pics. why andy? he says-the boys really just kind of stood there, they didn't do a whole lot. i think i would have enjoyed at least one shot of them with the pumpkins...next year...

video highlights of the tea party

Here are some videos from Miss Spider's Tea Party. I thought I taped more, but I guess I didn't hit start on the camera :-)

Miss Spider's Tea Party

Our preschool had their annual insect themed party today. Last year, Marcus and Cale were grasshoppers. This year, I decided that Cale and Ewan would be bees. Super easy outfits-black clothes and yellow tape, and wings from the dollar store that we spray painted black (I've really stopped trying to outdo myself on these costumes). I think I spent a total of $10 on Cale's costume and 8$ on Ewan's (because I forgot to get him black pants). Here are picture highlights of today's festivities.

getting ready to go


snack time


bugs on parade (don't know where Ewan's wings went...)


perfomance time



Cale and classmates