Ski Trip

I have no idea when I have been this excited.

I am going skiing today with my favorite boys. This is my first time!

My oldest boys are getting to be quite the skiiers, but Jack and I have never skiied. Jon, being from Colorado and all, better be a good teacher. Here we are, in Indiana and all, just a few miles from Perfect North, and I have never been. I've going tubing there a handful of times, but this is new terrain. I'll let you know how it goes...Wish me luck!

Danger in the Checkout Line

Okay, I've never posted a disclaimer before, but if you find yourself appalled at topics like genitalia and menstruation...you best sit this one out.

The checkout line is always a dangerous spot for us. Not because of the temptation of all the candy and pop. Oh, no. It is dangerous simply because for that three minutes or so, my boys have a captive audience. This was a problem when my boys were younger because whatever was rolling around their little minds popped out of their mouths. Like the time one of them was potty training and told the cashier that he had on big boy underwear. Not a big deal, but then he pulled down his pants to show her his little Winnie-the-Pooh underwear. When another one of my boys was learning about the differences between boys and girls, he asked another unsuspecting cashier if she had a penis. It didn't embarrass my boys any as one of them even pulled down his pants to show everyone what a penis was, just in case they didn't know...

Like I said, it was a much bigger problem when the boys were little, but now I find myself following in their footsteps. Last night, while checking out, the man behind me was asking for directions for potato salad and the boys were doing something else and I was digging through my purse for a quarter. I found my quarter, closed my purse..and then discovered that while rifling through my purse, I had knocked out a lone...women's sanitary product...and it was now moving all alone down the conveyor belt. I am proud to say that I didn't panic. I told myself that 1) I am in a grocery store and people buy whole boxes of these all the time and 2) nature is a beautiful thing. My boys just watched the whole thing and thought nothing of it. After all, these are the boys that have proudly plastered themselves with pads and declared them big band-aids. They thought they would make terrific band-aids until they had to tear them off of their wounds...duh...

I'm sticking to U-Scan now, baby.

Jack's Prayer

After we read 'The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies' tonight, Jack asked if he could do the prayer. He told me to repeat after him and I complied:

1) Put one hand in the air
2) Put your other hand up in the air
3) Repeat after me: God. Thank you. For loving me. Help me. To. Not. Be a Blockhead. Amen.

Pastor Jim would be so proud...

Almost Missed It

Today, I almost missed it.

But I didn't...

It started early this afternoon when the boys came in from sledding. They all dried off, changed clothes, and retired to deep, warm corners of the couches. This was the perfect time to settle in for a movie. Just as I found a corner and a blanket, Gable looked at me and asked, "Hey mom, will you go exploring with me?" Exploring? Exploring on this day meant going sledding in the woods. In the woods, which is outside, which is cold and wet and about the farthest that one can get from the deep recesses of a couch piled high with boys, pillows, and blankets. But it was Gable....and he's sweet and cute, doggone it.

So we pulled on our gear and grabbed our sleds. I offered to sled with him in the backyard, but he had his mind set on exploring, as you may recall. So we set off into the woods. He showed me the path that he and Jonah had made in the snow this morning. We sledded it. We walked through the snow and noticed the rug of leaves just beneath. We saw the deer prints and turkey tracks. The raccoon home and the creek that was half ice, half water. Gable was so proud of all the new hills that he and Jonah had found. The only problem was that this was in the woods, which means lots of small trees and sticks. We found ourselves sledding at full speed down a hill and then coming to a complete stop against a log. And Gable found out that sledding face-first belly-down is not a good position in the woods. He found this out when a wayward stick punctured his neck.

And I am saddened to say that I almost missed this. Even while we were outside, I was tempted to say, "Okay, that's enough. I am going now." And Gable would have been fine with that. But I wouldn't have. I would have missed so much with Gable.

A few minutes later, Jonah came plowing out, now recharged and ready to go. We crossed the street and found some new hills that ended in the creek. And at this creek, we found the motherlode. Icicles. The biggest, most beautiful icicles hanging from the mini-waterfall. Beautiful. The boys promptly decided that they must have one for a popsicle. Seeing them dangling over freezing cold water, balanced precariously on a stick and a rock - it was nail-biting and hilarious at the same time. I figured we were surely headed for disaster, but in the end, the boys both struck gold. We came home with 20" icicles that took two hands to circle.

They are in our bathtub if you care to see them. I'm sure they'll be alive for a few more days...

More pics if you're not sick of us yet

Out in Colorado - Look at his little feet...
Karate Kid
Seriously, this tree grew out of total rock
Life is hard for Gable here
But not as hard as it was for Jon this day

Mojo and Gracie
Just like papa
Climbing up the deck from the ground (notice the padding - it comes in handy)
He still sleeps like a baby. Look at his legs all tucked up under him and his toes snuggled together. The only sign of him getting big is the top of his boxers sticking out.
Yes, that is a (partial) albino deer in our yard. He's breathtaking.

Good days at the swimming pool here. He made all of those necklaces and those are Denver Bronco boxers pajama shorts sticking out of his swim trunks...

This is a snowy day, perfect for pictures and cocoa. If you don't want to see lots of sappy pictures, don't check back during the day because that's what you're going to see!

Have fun in the snow. I held the boys off until 9:15 and then they were outside. The routine during a snowy day is this:
they go out
they come in
I dry their hats and gloves
they go back out
they come back in
I dry their hats and gloves
(rinse and repeat often)

This is a stay at home and look through old pictures day. Of course, while I am on the computer, I am being bombarded by three, count them, three of my son's IM pals.
Okay, so this picture is Jonah sharing Jack's bed. I think it is adorable and hilarious. Jonah and Jack look exactly alike if you can erase the hair. Jack doesn't sleep in this bed anymore. His bed is the couch.