Boxing Day

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve opening presents. Kevin didn't get the message to wear red on Christmas Eve, but we sat down for a nice photo shot (darn camera didn't focus the best, but every one is looking the right direction, so I guess I should be happy).

Playing with old toys before opening new ones.

Momma stepped it up a notch and allowed us water to mop with!

One of the big hits this Christmas, a basket ball hoop. He made basket after basket, and the same the next day.

Some of William's other favorite toys: a cash register (just like my old one), a doctor kit, and a microwave. On top of that we have plenty of new crafting stuff, building and puzzling toys to keep us busy.

My father even found a working Fisher Price Radio. I got one when I was seven and loved that thing. It eventually wore out, so he found one on the internet and surprised me with it. William likes walking around with it and interviewing us with the Microphone.

We are saying good bye to one set of Grandparents today and hello to the other set tomorrow. What we are going to do when we run out of Grandparents to entertain is any ones guess!

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve to all, here at our house we are having a pretty laid back day. Grandpa Mc and Uncle Kevin are watching WWII shows and making observations. Grandma Mc is doing a little sewing. William is dry mopping the concrete basement floor, I am updating the blog and drinking my favorite Chai Tea Latte. Adam is hanging out with all, moving from area to area as his attention span wanes.

William has increased his helping power and learned to clean carpet spots this past week, though I think he had more fun putting the sponge in the water and squeezing it out than actually cleaning the spots.

Proud of his sponge and enjoying helping Momma.

He really loves being involved with all we do and we try to encourage it as much as we can. On his list of things to help with...

- Get mail from the mailbox
- Wheel out the garbage bins and back in when empty
- Water the plants in the house
- Sweep and Mop
- Make cookies
- Turn on and off lights
- Open and close the garage door
- Make Murphy's food
- Give treats to Murphy
- Put out bird food in the back yard
- Folding laundry (well at least shaking it out)

We had our friends Ryan, Suzy and Julianna over for a visit Friday morning. Julianna and William played well together and had fun with their Christmas present exchange. Julianna was checking out William's hat and got him started riding his airplane again (but he is getting a bit big for it).



Have a Merry Christmas with family and hope Santa brings you your heart's desires.

It's the little things...

It's the little things in life that make it so special. For instance...

- Finding a bouncy ball under your pillow.
- Taking a plastic chicken drum stick to the dentist and then not letting that thing go on your life.
- Finding that your chap-stick went a wandering, maybe you will find it, maybe you won't.
- Finding a toy car in the clothes chute.
- Finding magnetic plastic letters under the fridge.
- Your husband saying to you, "Every time you come over here it stinks, are you farting?", then you say "No", give him the stink eye, walk over to your son who is near by and find a load in his pants.
- Your son having the time of his life running around the Carter's Store finding Mommy and Daddy.
- Singing Jingle bells and having William chime in on the "Hey" part. Sing it in your head or out loud if you don't know what part I am talking about.
- Then getting interrupted every time you sing a song, so you say "Are you serious?", only to hear "I serious, he he" every time you now try to sing a Christmas Carol.

I truly am so very blessed in every way, and I wouldn't change a thing!

Mopping in the basement and telling Mommy to sweep with our bear hat on (thanks Chandra).

Wrestling with Daddy and having a good time upside down!

What I get when I say "Cheese", must have gotten that from day care, it's better than no smile.

While looking into new cameras, I finally dug in on some of the features of my current camera only to find the ISO setting and what it does. A big help for indoor lighting and not having to use the flash, I wish I had studied that a long time ago. Maybe now I don't need a new camera, well for a little while.

William says, "I sad"

William's latest expression is to tell us when he is sad. We hear "I sad" when he doesn't get his way mostly, when you ask him why, you rarely get a response back, he will just tell you he's sad. This is the face that usually accompanies the "I sad" statement.


On the flip side, we had a lot of messy fun last weekend making Christmas cookies with all the cookie cutters. It was a whirl wind of flour, dough, cookie cutters and rolling pins. From all the play-doh experience he has had he was a pro at using the cookie cutters, and I could barely keep up with his shape creation. Though I managed to get them on the sheets and baked, and only over cooked one batch. After nap we are going to attempt to decorate them with icing and sprinkles.


William expressed his first interest to go potty on the toilet this week. He just sat there, but boy did he think he was hot stuff. We went out and got a potty seat and he tried that out too. Thus far no success, but the interest is appreciated. I give it another year yet, but we can start working that direction.

Murphy's picture hasn't made it onto the blog in a while, so I thought I would share what he has been up to lately. He is nine years old and still acts pretty young. He can do figure eights around the furniture, but not for as long as he did when he was a pup.

He has gotten a little more emboldened lately and has twice pulled William's bowl of snacks off the train table and gobbled them up before being discovered in the act. Sneezing by William or myself deserves investigation, but if Adam sneezes its not worth getting up from our nest of blankets on the couch. He still has impeccable timing, as soon as everyone is settled down to watch TV or read a book, is when he decides it is best to desire to go outside.

It's true his position in the house has sunk a bit since William came home, but there is still a special place in my heart for my Murphy.

This is his, "Yeah I know I'm cool" pose.

Playing catch up

I don't blog for over a week and I feel like there is so much to post. Thanksgiving was fun and busy. William and I had fun with family and friends. We played at the park, William hung out with G&G S while I toured some plants, we helped Grandpa Mc cut down some tree limbs, had fun on Turkey Day, played with our cousins Keegan and Declan, went to the zoo with G&G Mc, went to Happy Feet Two with Chandra, Darryl, and Brylee, had fun at Keegan's birthday party. It was a very busy weekend!

Playing at the park below my parents house...

Swinging with Grandma Mc

William's first taste of juice that comes from a box at Keegan's Party, it was a hit! Keegan and William got along well, Declan on the other hand wasn't so sure about having William in his house.
Will loved the penguins at the zoo, and in true Grandpa Mc fashion he secretly bought him a toy penguin. Grandma Mc named him Perry and he is now a close friend.
First time riding the Monorail at the zoo, it was a nice way to see the animals since it was cold and rainy. Nice picture of me and my Dad.

G&G Mc and William in the tropics at the zoo.
Helping Grandpa with the dishes.

Thanksgiving day, playing with old toys before the meal.

I can never quite get the lighting right in my parents house for a group picture, here's this years attempt.

And now, pictures from William's party taken by Melissa Ives. Thanks for the great pictures!

The big tractor balloon kept escaping throughout the party. William was pointing it out to us so Daddy and Grandpa could sweep it down. Pretty funny as it took a couple minutes for them to coordinate their efforts.

Two year old stats: William is now 37.5" tall (above 97%) and 31lbs 3oz (90%) and doing great. He just bumped up to a new room in daycare and is adjusting to the new surroundings. His new teachers were so excited for him to come into their room as they say he is such a nice little boy, so that makes me happy.

Slippers, art and flowers

William has been into slippers this week, wearing Daddy's as you see below. That or encouraging us strongly to wear ours, while he puts his on (crocs with liners) by himself. Will then runs around the house stomping his slippers on the floor.





We are trying to find more two year old friendly art projects; to have things to do when the weather is rainy or cold. So we have been doing more painting. Which I will have to admit is hard for me, I want to control the mess, which is part of the fun of it for William. So we are working to find a balance. A smock (or one of Momma's old shirts) helps to keep the clothes clean, and some neat new ideas help. Paint on the paper from Melissa and Doug keeps the paint mixing down to only that sheet. And we are trying the color wonderful finger paints, clear goop that changes only when it contacts the paper. The artist at work...



Adam surprised me with some really beautiful flowers. Thank you Hunny, I can always rely on you to catch me off guard and wow me! William has also enjoyed smelling and touching the flowers, so they were a hit for the whole family.


We leave on Tuesday for Minnesota, and yes, most of the bags are packed and ready to go today. That and a "don't forget to pack" list keep me sane. Hopefully the drive to MN goes well, William, Murphy and I will be making the trek without Daddy :( as he has to work the whole time we are gone. We look forward to seeing family and friends soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday William

Family, friends, fun, food, balloons, presents, cake, what more could a two year old ask for?

We had a great birthday weekend. Amppa and Amma S came in on Thursday, Amppa Mc came on Friday and William enjoyed entertaining us all. William just couldn't get over having two Grandpas in the house at once and frequently told us about the two Amppas when ever they were in the same room together.

Hanging out on Saturday before the party.

It took farm themed balloons for Grandpa S to clue into the theme, guess he didn't look at the invitation card :) The balloons were a big hit with William and with Max and Maya. Thankfully I got three clumps one for each 2 year old.

The cake.

William's big present from Mom and Dad, a play house just for him. We found it on sale at the end of summer, and we have been putting parts together since then. Glad we did that, as it took us most of the morning to get the thing assembled. So many of the holes didn't line up and with a two year old grabbing washers and bolts at random, I got a bit rattled part way through (which is out of character for me). But it came together and hopefully it will stay together.

Finishing touch, the roof!

Ta-Da!

William playing on the train table that Grandpa Mc built, he even made cute little houses for the cars and train tunnels, as well as roll out storage on the bottom. Thanks Grandpa!

William's Clubhouse, enter only with permission :)
I let Melissa and the Grandparents take the pictures, which is a nice break for me, and allows me to enjoy the party. I promise to share some good ones that Melissa took as soon as I get them (sorry for the red eye, couldn't get it to correct on all).

Hard to say who is having more fun with all the new toys, William or Mom and Dad?

Thanks to every one for the clothes, books, games, and toys, we have plenty to keep us busy for a while (well at least till Christmas). And thanks to those that attended Will's party, it was great to have you help us celebrate our little man's 2nd birthday.

I can't believe my little buddy is two years old. All weekend long we kept remembering where we were two years ago and all that has happened since. We are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives, he is a constant joy and it so fun to watch learn and grow. We couldn't ask for a better son, William we love you tons! Happy 2nd Birthday and we look forward to much more fun to come!