COLDness

Yep, I'm a spoiled Florida girl. Yep, I know that northern folk have it way worse. Yep, I know I should have been thankful for temps in the 30s - uh, NOT! I live in Naples- almost as far stinkin' south as you can get in the continental United States. And, we have had some bone-chillin' weather here - more than I believe to be our fair share - for several weeks in December.

Just look at some of this nastiness...after cleaning my windshield with my Kitchenaid Spatula - ha ha.



My sweet baby boy bundled up to go to Drew's Christmas Chapel...


Um... hello - white grass killing stuff, a.k.a. frost!

In Celebration of My New Coat from Ross that only cost $18...

How I Keep Myself Movin'

If you know me fairly well, you know I have never been a coffee person. Besides, who needs coffee when you have sweet tea? My "like" for sweet tea took a giant leap to "love" last fall when I couldn't eat. Well, I developed a habit and now, I finally have a happy juice to keep myself movin' when I start to slow down, or for when the lids get droopy.

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea". 

Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar 
and lots of it

--- we do not like our tea unsweetened.

You Know You are a Mother of Preschoolers When...

• You've ever burned out your car battery by pumping in the back seat (yep, I did - last November).
• You get ready for bed at night, run your hands through your hair, and say "Where did THAT come from?!"
• You actually loathe keeping track of and entering those little Pampers Gifts to Grow codes, but it just drives you nuts to throw them out.
• You no longer judge others based on the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of their baseboards.
• White shirts aren't worth the money - you get no mileage out of them.
• Even for a relatively technically savvy female, your paper tiger has lapped you several times while you are too busy to think about chasing it.
• You realize you could get a lot more done if you had a wife and a secretary.
• You will stay up, into the wee hours of the morning, just to have some down time (reading, folding laundry, watch a favorite *recorded on DVR* show) no matter how tired you are.
• You gain new perspective on how Jesus must feel when you don't obey Him the first time!
• No more awkward silences when meeting new people for the first time -you always have conversation starters in your midst.
• You wonder when your kitchen became known as the "Short-Order Buffet."
• Your memory fails you as to what you did for entertainment before you had kids.
• Eating dinner out as a family is not a luxury - it's a punishment for the person stuck serving your table. You'd rather cook and eat at home anyday.
• You wonder when you grew such a long pointer finger.
• You tell your girlfriend (who is a grown-up, by the way!) that you'll be right back because you have to "go potty."
• You know there is so much more you could add to this list, but you've been working on it for over a week now and just want to publish it already!

Add your own and let's keep the list going!

Top Five Ways Raising Bradley is Like Training a Puppy

5. He chases ice, crazy fast, while panting, when it falls from the dispenser on the freezer.

4. Playtime is just an excuse to rearrange the furniture.

3. He can spot an open toilet a mile away.

2. The second you take your eyes off of him, his hands are either in the trash can or he has the trash can tipped over.

1. He hunts down shoes of any kind just so he can chew on them... YUCK!

Woops!

This is what happens when you set a plastic cutting board on the stove and accidentally turn on the wrong burner. I seriously did this the other night - I am such an idiot because every time (four times) I walked back to the stove to check what was supposed to be cooking, I kept wondering, "That's strange that the onions aren't changing color yet. Hmmm." Then, I even went to cut something else to add to the pan, and wondered, "Hmmm, I don't remember my cutting board being convex - seems to me it used to be a little more flat. Hmmm. " Two more times until I realized I had the wrong burner on - the one under the cutting board. Let me tell you that the smell was horrific! I was certain we were all going to get poisoned by toxic fumes! Not one of my most intelligent moments!

I'm Pathetic, Really

A while back (a long, long while back), I commented on Facebook that I was finally packing up the bassinet, after struggling for months with not wanting to put it away (even though Brad outgrew it within two months). Well, I couldn't bring myself to do it... and so then I became a liar. A liar because I said I was doing it, and then, well, I didn't do it.

I don't know why I am having such a hard time putting it away, but can you blame me? I have such precious, wonderful memories of my sweet babies sleeping in this thing.

Who would want to put it away? My sentimental attachment to it has been bordering on (okay, we've blown past bordering and soared right smack into the middle of) ridiculous.

So, about 11 days ago, I left for my Sunday morning trip to the grocery store. I told David I had started to take it apart, after I took two more photos of it put together (really? YES, really!), and I just couldn't go through with it. This was as far as I got, and this was only the top half.



I asked him to please have it disassembled and removed from our room so as to end this silly nonsense. So, he was happy to oblige and now it is sitting in the garage, right by the door to the house, where I walk past it every day, thinking about how sad it is that it is packed up in a bag, sitting where I can see it.

Daddy, Come Find Me!

Hmmmm. I wonder where Drew could be.... Anyone see Drew?

Drew got into Mommy's Makeup!

Yes, when I wasn't looking... he attacked my makeup drawer in the bathroom and came out looking like this:

Some Funnies

Here are some funny photos from the last two weeks to keep things "up" around here; it's gonna be a tough week, so we need all the help we can get! :)



This is what happens when Drew and Daddy wash the cars, get all wet, and then use the tube on the vacuum as a hair dryer!


This is what happens when Drew wants to be the Home Depot man, but insists he doesn't need to wear pants!

David's Daddy Shower

The team of teachers with which David works threw him a "Daddy Shower" at work yesterday. It was very cute and lots of fun. Drew and I joined the festivities as we watched Daddy at a shower in his honor, which, in my opinion, is nice for a change.

A version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was devised for Dave to play, appropriately titled instead Who Wants to Be a Daddy. He had to wear this crazy cool Super Daddy apron made for his diaper changing duties, and his arsenal was complete with three lifelines he could use while answering questions during the course of the game.


The three ladies that are part of the 4th/5th grade team with David are amazing. Here is a photo of them all together after the party. From left to right: Mary, Janet, Tammie, and of course, the Daddy.

Dad and Mom... You are SO Two Hours Ago!

Last week, we visited with some friends, Dan, Erin, and Baby Hope, at their house, for dinner. Hope was awake for a little while but then it was bed time. We enjoyed dinner together, which by the way, was delicious! Then we visited in the living room and Drew was playing with Hope's toys. He also had brought some 'toys' of his own (plastic bugs). He was playing with Dan and Erin, having so much fun. We watched and reveled in the fun they were all having. It was so funny to see Drew be so excited to have another set of adults besides Mom and Dad to play with. He was so excited to have their attention, and was quite the ham. Here are some photos Erin took while they were playing.

There Goes the Neighborhood!

What is that pulling into the drive? Is it... could it be?


No, surely its not... I thought the Beverly Hillbillies were lost somewhere in California...


Oh, now I see... its Drew's new playground!


I wish you could have seen us rolling along at 35 - 40 mph all the way home from Northwest Cape Coral on Sunday. We saw people giving us the funniest looks. It was so entertaining to watch as everyone's heads turned while we went by.

A very sweet family was going to throw this playground out, and at the last minute, decided to list it for free. We called right away and made arrangements to go pick it up the next day. We are so thankful for their giving hearts, and for the husband helping Dave load everything. I obviously would have been no help in that regard.

Before we knew it's exact size, and before we planned how we were going to get it all home, a sweet family at church was discussing the weekend with us after Saturday night service. Once we told them what we would be doing on Sunday, they realized we would need a trailer (before we did- Dave hadn't even seen the pictures of the thing yet). They graciously offered their trailer to us to use. We are so thankful for their willingness to help.

Having a playground in our backyard has been something we have wrestled with for some time. We kept going back and forth between whether it was really a need or a want just because we are parents who wanted to give something to their child. We have prayed for over 5 months about what we would do; we were not willing to step out of our budget to buy something just because we wanted Drew to have it. We kept praying and waiting; we had seen a few free ones listed before, but called too late. When I had called about this one, it had only been listed for 10 minutes. All our thanks goes to God for His provision, even in something as 'small' as a playground for Drew and, one day, his little brother.

Playdate with Elmo

Several months ago, my friend Jennifer told me about a toy store in town where Elmo makes regularly scheduled appearances. She knows how much Drew loves Elmo, and wanted me to know when I could take him to visit one of his favorite characters.

The months passed, and, honestly, I forgot about Elmo :( Yesterday morning, Drew slept unusually late, so I had a little extra free time in the morning. I was perusing the local newspaper website and clicked on a link that took me to another website. The end result was my finding a local calendar of events that included the listing for Elmo's appearance at the toy store Jen had told me about so long ago.

I called one of my friends to see if she and her daughter would like to join us at the store to see Elmo. Then we ended up inviting another friend and her two girls. We all met at the toy store, and the kids had a blast. Surprisingly, Drew was not afraid of Elmo (I wasn't sure what his reaction would be), and, in fact, was playing with Elmo much of the time we were there. Elmo just sat in the floor and played with the kids. What a nice change of pace for a week that has had us spending a little more time in the house than usual.

My Mother's Day Card from My Sister

Jaime gave me this great mother's day card that I just had to share with you:

(Front Cover)
"Sis, I'm not surprised that you turned out to be a great Mom..."

(Inside)
"After growing up with me, how hard can having kids be?"


I just thought this was one of the funniest cards I've received in a long time. Glad my sis has a good sense of humor! Thank the Lord we can laugh at ourselves!

Family Date and a Smart Little Boy

We went to the Evening of the Arts at the school tonight and then took Drew to dinner at Silver Spoon (yay for gift certificates!). When we were done with dinner and were waiting on the check, I excused myself to the ladies' room. Andrew was talking to Dave while I was gone, and this was their conversation:


Drew: Mommy crying?
Dave: Drew, why is mommy crying?
Drew: Mommy sad.
Dave: Why is mommy sad?
Drew: Sick.
Dave: Why do you think she is sick?
Drew: Baby tummy.
Dave: Does mommy have a baby in her tummy?
Drew: Yah.

Later, for comic relief, Drew decided to lift up his shirt and stuff his lion underneath it on his belly to make a baby tummy.

Also, as if we weren't already crying with laughter, he SCREAMS "Bye- love you!" to the waitress as she walks away from our table. The whole restaurant heard this. Never a dull moment.

We don't go out to eat much, mainly because of Drew's allergies, but also because I would just rather cook and eat at home. But, this was definitely one of the most well-behaved evenings in a restaurant we've ever had with Andrew. Go, Drew!

Drew and Some of His Best Buddies

Evan, Aidan and Drew


Hannah Mae and Drew


Hunter and Drew

Fun with the Camera

Even Toby the cat sends his love...

I am watching Toby (who used to be our cat, but he now resides with my 'rents) while Mom and Dad are in Houston with Gary and Jaime.



Today, when I went to clean his litter box, I kid you not, this was the first clump of litter I scooped from where Toby peed...






A litter clump in the shape of a perfect heart... so I've told Mom and Jaime to tell Gary that, in honor of his heart surgery tomorrow, even Toby sends his love.

Horsing Around with Uncle Gary