You're gonna miss this.

This week I'm killing 2 birds w/1 stone by jumping back into You're Gonna Miss This. One I'm getting back to why I blog. I blog to remember the moments. Two I promised weeks ago to get holiday pictures up. These are moments I treasure.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

You're gonna miss this.

We had a rough week here. I'm sure there were plenty of moments missed. One thing that has really been heavy on my heart is where did my babies go? So I thought I'd just post a few of my favorite pictures. This one was taken at the hospital when "W" was born.
These 2 were taken at our favorite state park. This was summer 2006. We did have one milestone that I must note because I'm not sure how many times this will happen.

Both got excellent daily reports everyday this week !!!!

So Nanny gave them the footie pjs that she had bought for them this week. I will really miss it when they tell me they're to big for footie jammies.

You're gonna miss this.

This week had a couple of firsts. We went to a birthday party on Sunday it was both boys first time on skates.


Another moment was when all the kids decided to do the Cha-Cha Slide. Apparently this is a popular line dance to do during gym time.

Another first was bowling. FireMan got a strike. He tied one game w/ me & beat me the other. "W" said he got lots of strikes. We used the bumpers but in "W"'s case it would have helped if we could have shortened the lane by a few feet.
I was also inspired by Pam to gets some video this week. I don't know how many times a day I have to say less singing more __________ (insert the requested task). Because in our house invokes a song. So here's "W"'s latest clean up song



Check out more moments here.

First Parent Teacher Conferences

Both boys got thumbs up from their teachers.

Ms H says "W" thrives in the high structure times. He still has some moments w/ crying & defiance (which she called impulse control). Most of which she chalks up to being a very young kindergartener. She was very happy w/ his skill level.
FireMan is above grade level in all areas. Ms T was really impressed with his knowledge base. She expressed that he was working more independently & learning to find his way in the group. She had expressed concern earlier in the year because he lacked certain social skills for being in a large group (speaking out,sense of volume, & the one that just made me chuckle walking in line) I know that these things are important when you have 20 2nd graders but these are not what I classify as life skills. So all in all a good report. which is some good news this momma really needed to hear.
I left the school praising God for his faithfulness. It was really hard to let go of hsing. I prayed very specific prayers for the types of teachers they would have. God was gracious & granted those prayers.

You're gonna miss this.

Here's a moment that I didn't know was gone. Friday "W"'s class went to the zoo. I love taking my guys to the zoo. We were paired up w/ little D. He was so precious. It was so cute because he was truly amazed at the animals. I miss the wonder that my guys had the first time they saw their favorite animals up close.
We also went to the circus. it was so much fun to watch the boys ohh & ahh over the different acts.
This was the family favorite of the night. They had 7 motorcycles in that tiny space.

You're gonna miss this.

"W" is so spontaneous. It is one of the things I love most about him. It can also be on of the things that drives me so crazy. This picture was taken his farm day field trip. As soon as he walked up to the sheep pen he starts shouting , "BAA". Of coarse the sheep replied,"BAA BAA, BAA ......" Much to the giggles of his friends "W" then starts having a very loud "conversation" w/ the sheep.
FireMan loves to create. He loves to tell elaborate stories. He uses his toys to create scenes for these stories. Here is his magnetics to tell his Star Wars story. He wanted me to take a picture of it so he could show it to BigC. He also loves to build w/ his magnetics. He spends hours at this type of stuff

Check out more moments here.

You're gonna miss this.

Here's what I'm going to miss this week.

I'm going to miss the pumpkin patch.

I'm going to miss when the pumpkins are almost as big as you or when you can actually carry your own pumpkins

I'm not going to miss the fighting over who you're going to sit beside. (Am I?) I mean there are only so many seats beside Jacob

I'm not going to miss forgetting to emptying your pockets before I wash your pants. I'm still finding corn & sand from this day.

Check out more moments that will be missed over here.

First day of fall

This is a little late because I had a slight camera misplacement. (read: I lost my camera during the trip) We celebrated the first day of of fall w/ a trip to to the pumpkin patch. FireMan's best buddy "J" invited us along w/ his family. A great day was had by all. For those of you that are local you really have to visit Ballinger Farm. It is by far the best corn maze that I have ever visited. It was so family friendly. There was so much for the kiddos. This year they even had a mini corn maze, which was perfect since we came w/out BigC & Iam directionally challenged :). The big hit of the day for my guys was the giant hamster wheel. I belive they could have stayed in it all day. Here's a few pics from our day:

You're gonna miss this.

I was hanging out over at CWO & found Pam's blog & her new meme. It really struck a chord w/ me considering I'm having a lot of your gonna miss this moments since both boys started school. Here's 2 pictures that instantly came to mind. I love it when I catch my guys just being buddies.

I think someone's been playing w/ my camera

I found this & several pictures of cars on my camera when I uploaded my 1st day of school pictures. :)

I blinked & now I have a 5yr old

W, I can't believe you're 5. You are my unexpected blessing. Here are some of your best moments.

Rockin' 5yr old

This one's for Aunt A. Here's W enjoying his rockin' b- day card. Do you have any idea where he got the "ham" gene?

The post I didn't want to write

A few posts back I let slip that the boys would be going ps this year. I felt that news like that really deserved it's own post. But I haven't been able to bring my self to do it. My solution was to just not blog much. Long story short the boys are in school and adjusting quite well. We're getting used to our new normal. God is big and leading us through this blind curve. (There I said it in blogland now I can move on to posting about everyday stuff.) Here's some pics from their first day.

Look out here I come.
Sweet brothers.
Mom & Dad w/ the big boy.

My family & I would greatly appriciate your prayers a we start this new adventure.

Take only the important stuff

Question: If you're running away what do you pack?
Answer: (If you're a 4yrold named W.) A lunch sack full of his planet hero toys.

Are you done laughing? Now let me tell you the rest of the story because it gets better.

I'm in the kitchen fixing supper. Both boys are supposed to be in the playroom picking up. They are going to bed right after supper because they were unable to do this task beforehand. W enters the kitchen carrying a lunch sack that has about 3 or 4 planet heroes. He tells me he's running away to Boo's house. I asked him why? He said, "because you're mean to me." (said w/ the cutest pouty lip and puppy dog eyes a boy can muster)I asked him how I was mean to him? (Again w/ the pout & pitiful eyes) "Cleaning that mess is too hard." (Now I'm hiding my face so as not to show my laughter. I said let's call & see if it's ok for you to run away to Aunt Boo's house. I called & my mom answered the phone. I explained to her W wanted to runaway to her house. Mom laughs hysterically. He talks to Nanny & finds out that it's just as hard to live at Nanny's. ;) He gives the phone back to me and goes back to the playroom. Through my mom's laughter I tell her just give him Mr Blue Bear & a bike & call him me.

Yeah the real rest of the story is about me. One of my mom's favorite stories to tell on me was the time I "ran away" from home. I was unhappy w/ my mom's choice for supper. (veggie soup) I went to my room got Mr. Blue Bear and took off down the driveway on my bike. I rode down the side street to the garden gate. When I got to the garden gate I realized I had a problem. I wasn't supposed to ride my bike past the garden gate. So I decided I would sneak to the barn & hide till they came looking for me. (My mom saw the whole thing from the kitchen window.) I sat in the barn unit it started getting dark (maybe 10min.) Then came home to happily eat my veggie soup. :)
He's so much like me it's scary! To this my mom replied just keep an eye on the door for the rest of the night. He might just do it.
(In case you're worried. As I type W is sleeping w/ his stuffed dog Bingo safe & sound in his bed.)

Who knew?

I mean, how hard is it to find postcards? Not more than 6 months ago you could walk up to the service desk at our Wal-mart & there stood a whole rack for .15-.25 a piece. Fireman was signed up in a postcard exchange w/ some children over at the FIAR boards. I'm a little embarrassed to say I had let the mail out date slip up on us. No worry we'll just run to Wally world. We stroll up to the SD, no rack of cards. I start asking around & find out that they discontinued them the last time they did inventory or at least that's the best answer I got. Well we don't live in a real tourist type place. I was really in a bind . So this morning we did the only thing I knew to do. We used some of the neat scrap papers that I won from the growing in grace contest. Then I used google images for my hometown & the surrounding area. We came up w/ some neat pictures. Everything w/ the exception of the Titans Logo is within a thirty mile drive of our home. I'll still miss the date by one day (sorry ladies) but on the bright side you will have original postcards from us. My camera is charing so I'll post pics later.

Here's some of our other projects

As promised, notebook pages

I have one small flaw in my plan from a few weeks ago. I didn't plan to give myself any breathing room. So I took today to catch up. We mounted things in our notebooks. We've really had some fun over the last 2 weeks. Here's some pictures of the last couple of weeks. I 'm just notice that some of the pictures in the slide show are wonky. So I'll post some still shots later.

Rock Collections & Faith

There is never a dull moment w/ my boys. Sometimes they make me laugh. sometimes they make me think. But I never ceased to be amazed at how God grows me through my children. I'm so thankful for the family God gave me.
First the funny.

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is. A bowl of rocks. "W" found these new "friends" a few weeks ago. He & his brother dug them up. As they were bringing in their toys I catch "W" bringing in a shirt full of rocks. I ask him what he's doing & he informs me that this is his new rock collection. Being the "good Mommy" that wants to encourage creativity I gave him a bowl to keep them in. It was lunch time So I convinced him to leave them out side. Well that night after supper he saw them on the picnic table. & had to bring them inside. After all they will get cold outside. Then later on that evening & a few times since I've found this.
Yes that is "W" watching TV w/ his new friends. Now ask me what is "W"'s favorite toy right now. Yep, his rock collection.
Now for the thinker.
As I mentioned I've become quite the Jeremy Camp fan as of late. I Will Walk By Faith has really ministered to me lately. Yesterday when we were in the car I asked the boys to be a little quieter so I could hear the song on the radio. When we stopped the car FireMan asked me what that song meant. "You know walk by faith?" I said that the song was talking about choosing to follow God even when the way life is going doesn't make sense. Because even in hard times , God still has a plan for us. And God's plan is always for our good & His ____. FM responded , "glory" Then he says that he's going through a time like that right now. I asked him to tell me about it. He shared that he didn't like some changes that we are going through. How it doesn't make sense to him. Then he said that I guess that song is right God has a plan & we just have to trust Him. I'm struggling w/ some of those changes myself. But God used FM to remind me that He is good and always faithful.

Build & Grow

I'm trying to do a little blog house keeping. I've been keeping a running list of things I wanted to blog about when I get the time. One the items on the list is the Lowes build & grow workshops. FYI local friends they are having another one this weekend. My guys loved this. Here are some pics of our first outing.

"W" putting his frame together.
Fireman finishing up.
Finished products !