Hunting Dinosaurs

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 Tonight is one of those nights that I enjoy playing with my kids. Some nights they just fight the whole time or disobey me every 5 minutes. But tonight we had a blast. 

 My husband is working evenings this week. After a few nights of it, the boys and I start getting frustrated with each other. 

 Sometimes I get so caught up in other things that don't matter. Like facebook or looking at recipes pinterest. Anything to distract myself. Sometimes I get frustrated when they try to interrupt. Now Josiah grabs my faces and says, "Mommy, look at me. I need to talk to you." It really stings when he has to get my attention because I don't pay attention to him from the start. Sometimes I block them out because  I get tired of having to stop their brawls or their mess making. I'll just have them help clean it up when its done. If they hurt themselves fighting, maybe they'll learn from it? 

 But there are lots of times where they ask me to play and I do. We play cars or racing or wrestling. Jo is getting a little too rough, so I try to hold him off til Daddy is home to wrestle. 

Tonight they found flashlights and shut off all the lights. When I asked what they were doing, Josiah was immediately offended. He told me "SHHH, mommy! What's that? Find the dinosaurs!" So we walked through all the rooms and looked under all our toys and blankets. But all we could find were invisible sleeping spiders! Josiah wouldn't let me squish them. And then a dinosaur got me and so Josiah had to shoot me. But when they sat on me I came back to life. Then I cooked them into some brother stew. But they said they tasted like poop, so I didn't eat them. Then we played "hide and go scare". Which is basically where I hide in the dark and they come find me and I scare them. They love it! Now that Jo is older, he hides too. Kaiden tries to hide but... its ALWAYS under the table. Every. Time. Josiah is a good big brother though, and does a really good fake scream and acts like Kaid really scared him. 

 The last few days they have been cracking me up. Josiah has decided he's a comedian. Everything he says is followed by, "That was funny, huh?" and then a chuckle. 

 He told me he wanted to go swimming yesterday. After I explained it was too cold and we could go when it was warm, he said "I have a jacket, Ma!". His logic is fool proof. 

They have provided more laughs for me this week than a real comedian would have. 

My comedian with his bath hair <3

Just a couple of silly geese. :)

New Year's Resolutions?

Oh hello blog. Yes, I'm still here. I feel like I haven't made a real post in awhile. 

So let me tell you about my New Year's Resolutions! 

I didn't make any.

I feel like people make them all the time and never keep them. 

If at any point in the year, I feel like I should make a change to myself, my house, or whatever, I will do it at that point. I don't need a New Year's Resolution to do it. 

But then I remembered seeing people posting pictures and calling it Project 365 or other things that are similar. So I decided to look into it. Basically, its taking a picture a day. Some people take pictures of certain things. Some people take a picture of whatever they feel like. 

And people take them for different reasons. 

I want to do it so I can look back at the end of the year and see how life has changed. Doing my end of the year posts (Here & here) made me realize that I didn't have as many pictures as I would like. The kids grow so fast and life changes so quickly that I wish I had taken more. 

Thats my main goal with this. 

Also, I hope to start thinking outside the box more and become more creative with my photography. I found a link on Pinterest (Jan Photoaday) that has some daily photo prompts that I've been doing. Its pretty fun and forces you to be a little more creative. Otherwise I'd probably just end up with 365 pictures of my kids. There is nothing wrong with that, but to their dismay, the world doesn't revolve around them. 

I signed up with Peas and Carrots and joined a facebook group to share my pictures with others and to help stay motivated. It's only day 6 and I can feel my motivation slipping. It's just annoying to have to upload them every day. I might end up taking a picture every day and only uploading weekly. I just don't want to get too far behind. I think the photo prompt really helps me not get bored with it. 

Anyway, I think its a fun idea. If you want to see how I'm doing you can check in on me here or watch my facebook album But only if you're my friend. ;)

Hope everyone had great New Years! 

Did you make any resolutions? Share with me!

Happy 2013!

The End of 2012!

Let's see... In July

We started potty training the boys. Only Josiah has lasted. 

Not much else happened. We played a lot. 

August

Jo started Cubbies! This is his hair for Crazy Hair Night at Awana

The boys got to ride in my mom's new Mustang! They loved it of course.

We went camping with Aunt Katie and Uncle Michael.
Daddy started the Police Academy right after!

September

The boys got into mommy's make up. Lipstick makes a better eyebrow pencil.

First pony ride @ Harvest Fellowship Church

October. ...Not the best month.

The boys and their first pumpkin!

I convinced my family to all go the pumpkin patch for the boys. 

I'm so glad they all came. It was our last time all together.

That night we took the boys to their first circus! mine too.
 They enjoyed it, but since it was so late, we had to leave early. :(

The next day, we celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday!! Such a pretty girl. 

A few days later, a date I'll never forget, October 23rd 2012, my little brother committed suicide.
Worst day ever. 

November.

My uncle tom passed away.

We decorated for Christmas early

Got my hair cut and colored!

Kaiden got his 1st haircut

Got a tattoo in memory of my brother.

December

I don't have as many pictures yet. They are all still on my camera.

Kaiden got his first bloody lip.

My husband graduated from the Police Academy & got a job in a jail.

 Hopefully he'll be out on the road in a year or so!

two of my sisters-in-law had babies this month. They are so adorable and I love to hold them. :)

Another sister-in-law announced that she is going to be having a baby in August! Two of my friends are due around the same time as well. Babies are so exciting! 

no more for us right now though. ;)

On December 14th there was a terrible shooting in Connecticut. 26 people died. 20 of them were kids. It was a terrible day. I couldn't even imagine their pain. Sending their kids to school like any other day. presents waiting under the tree for kids who will never open them. It's just another reminder to never take life or time for granted. Spend as much time loving as you can.

On the 21st, we survived the end of the world. Again. ;)

We celebrated christmas at my in-laws and my moms. It was actually a good day. It marked the 9 week anniversary of my brother's death. But the day was better than I expected.

My sister wrote this poem I want to share with you and then this post will be finished!

It’s hard to smile on Christmas Eve
At all the presents under the tree.
When your baby face is all I see
Staring right back at me.

Remembering the look on your face
Next to grandpa’s fireplace
Time will never begin to erase
The love and joy shared in that place.

15 Christmases all flew by
The same as the days in your life.
And as I think I start to cry
Goodbye to the joy in your eyes

Holidays will never be the same
Because of the tragedy we became
All of our tears become like rain
Bubby, I’m sorry for all of your pain

I’m sorry for the tears you cried
I’m sorry for all the times I lied
I’m sorry I could never see
Just how much you needed me.

And most of all I’m sorry you’re gone
I’ll remember, Bubby. From now on.

The First Half of MY 2012

 I figured before the world ends, I should do my "end of the year" post.

I'm going to skip the political and world events and just do my personal year.

2012 was a tough year for me to say the least. I don't remember much of the first part of. My husband was deployed and thats kind of what I was basing my "year" around. 

In January 2012, we celebrated my last christmas with my Great Grandma Ruby. She had tumor and she barely remembered us but it was still a good memory.

5 generations

On our way home, we found a super cool blue door and stopped for a few pictures.

Me and 2 of my sisters

In February, Grandma Ruby passed away. My brother, Jeremy, came home from a 6 month deployment to Afghanistan. He lived with me for a few weeks. I think we learned that even though we love each other, we are not great roommates. ;)

March wasn't super exciting. I turned 23. Kaiden was 21 months old and started sleeping in a toddler bed. He also finally had some hair growth, and it was curly! We also got to spend a lot of time with Addie and Jay-Jay!

Kaid, Jo, Addie

April was a little more exciting! My husband came home from Afghanistan after 13 months! 

We also adopted an American Bulldog/Boxer mix puppy from the local animal shelter. She was abused by her previous owners so it took her a bit to warm up to us. she's still skittish sometimes, but she loves the boys and they love her. She and Kaiden are besties.

Welcome Lewie!

Kaiden and his Bullet

Also in April, My husband donned a kilt and participated in the Highland Games. It was fun to watch.

Real men throw rocks.

In May, we found a mulberry tree in our backyard. We also celebrated my baby's 3rd birthday! He got to go camping for the first time.

"We don't know where all the berries went!"

Happy birthday, baby!

Mother's day!

June was pretty fun too. We had a bonfire at my mom's for the boys birthdays. We celebrated our 4th anniversary. My husband surprised me with a trip to IL to see my family there! I don't get to see them nearly as much as I would like. While we were there we celebrated Kaiden's 2nd birthday.

Cake at Nana's

My brother and sister in IL. Nick jr and Sierra

Grandma Chris, Kaiden, and some kids.

Play place at my grandparents. I played there when i was little!

That used to be my sisters when she was little

Grandma and grandpa walker

Sierra & Kaid

My dad with jo

my dad and Kaiden

twinkies!

And since there are so many pictures, I will make another post of the last 6 months later. 

It's been fun doing this. I looked through all my old facebook posts to see what if anything happened that month. 

My first few months were all mashed together this year and I didn't remember a lot of what happened.