My Monkey Tales

Edisto Island 2009

2009-07-21T22:01:00.007-04:00

Once again we had a GREAT time at the beach with our very dear friends. Claxton and Julia were very brave this year with crashing the big waves. I'm so glad they love the beach as much as we do.

Curious George Was Here Today

2009-05-21T20:22:00.005-04:00

He left his mark...

And he left a trail too. I found him trying to escape on the rock climbing wall.

On your mark, get set, go!

2009-03-09T22:04:00.002-04:00

We usually participate in The Home Depot kid's work project every month. They post on their website the project for the given month ahead of time so you will know what you will be making. I generally check before we go. This month it was a racetrack. I really thought it was pretty lame and the kids would not like it. I was wrong. What do I know?

Claxton hard at work...

Julia, wise beyond her years, suggested they read the instructions first

Claxton is ready for the races. Notice the sweet little hands with dimples going after the glue, haven't quite figured out who they belong to but they sure are cute. The Starbucks cup without question is mine.

Julia's turn...

This project actually turned into a progressive project. Once we returned home we realized there might just be a problem with the race tracks looking identical. So we had a painting party.

Ready to race

Julia ran to get her harmonica to play us all a tune before the race began. And surprisingly, Claxton waited patiently during her performance.

She confidently says "I win, I win Claxton!!!" Check out his facial expression, I foresee fierce competition in the days and years to come.

Final check before the race

It's too close to call!

Photos from today

2009-03-08T22:22:00.001-04:00

What a great day to be outside.

Let's go play over there.

I sure do like jumping and stomping my feet, don't you?

You know she wants to take more pictures. I'm so over it.

Last one, we've cooperated long enough.

Let's wiggle and make faces instead.

Dancing works too.

Hey Claxton, I found a stick.

I can't believe she found that stick before I did. I sure do want it, but I can't snatch it because Mom and Dad are watching. Wonder what she's planning to do with it. Ummm.

I might need to defend myself, so I should probably look for a stick too.

Can't find another stick close by, so I'll put this pine cone in my pocket and pull it out if needed.

Mom, this one is for you, hope you have your camera ready.

We're outta here, on to bigger and better things!

Her new favorite book

2009-03-04T14:10:00.001-05:00

Best remedy

2009-03-02T11:57:00.002-05:00

When you have an eye infection, nothing can remedy it better than holding Daddy's finger while eating. Nothing.

Really not worth mentioning

2009-03-01T17:20:00.002-05:00

On the drive home from church today it started snowing and we were hoping for enough to at least throw a few snowballs at each other, but it was just a big tease. Claxton fell asleep in the car and when we woke him up he just wanted to go inside. Julia decided she would check it out. It's a good thing she did because about thirty minutes later it was all gone. Oh well, there's always next year.

Sleep over

2009-02-28T21:51:00.002-05:00

Claxton had another play date/sleep over with his buddy Bentley. The two of them crack me up when they get together and even though sometimes it's several months in between visits, they just pick up where they left off with each other. They play really well together. Unfortunately the weather was less than cooperative so we ended up being indoors the whole time and at times it was VERY LOUD in the house. It didn't seem to bother anyone but me. This morning I fed them all breakfast and while they were eating I decided to make myself a smoothie. Would you believe they had the audacity to ask me to turn off the blender because it was too loud, it was hurting their ears. Seriously???? Apparently it was so unbearable that they had to cover their ears. It has never taken me as long to make a smoothie as it did this one....!!!!! Yummmmmmy, it was good.

Puppet Show

2009-02-27T23:43:00.003-05:00

I took the kids down to the Center for Puppetry Arts and we saw the puppet show "Weather Rocks!" First, we attended a workshop where the kids made puppets and were able to put on a very short show (about 1 minute) with their puppets. All of the kids really got into it and it was fun to watch them.

That's the back of Claxton's head you see with his puppet.

Then we spent some time in the museum checking out all the puppets and especially enjoyed all of the Sesame Street characters.

Pretending to be Big Bird

Next, it was on to the show where we were entertained by songs, dancing and fun facts about weather. The creativity was truly amazing. Claxton absolutely loved it and can't wait to attend another event there. The show was a little long for Julia as it lasted about an hour, but we managed!

And all the way home the two of them sang to the top of their lungs the theme song - "We are the weather people, welcome to our show!" Over and over and over again.

We're geocaching!

2009-02-24T17:46:00.002-05:00

Some really good friends of ours introduced us to geocaching a few years ago. We enjoyed it so much we decided it was something we could start doing with our kids. So this past weekend we set out to find our first treasures. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and in search of one of the geocaches, we found a treasure that probably otherwise we would have never seen. We found two out of four geocaches on our first expedition, but more importantly we found it to be great fun for the whole family!

Our first find

Hanging out at the local town square

Claxton's favorite find of the day - "Mom, this fire hydrant is taller than me, it's so cool!"

Unexpected treasure

Looking a little lost

INK

2009-02-17T12:12:00.004-05:00

Normally wo go to swim lessons on Monday, but since it's President's Day everyone is off for the holiday. So on a whim, we decided to have a family fun day at the INK Museum. There are many exhibits that allow the kids to get a real introduction to some every day things in life - a few of their favorites were the bank, the dentist office, a diner, and a beauty salon. Of course the antique fire engine and an airplane were big hits as well.

The ATM was neat in that upon arriving at the museum they gave the kids real ATM cards so when they went to the bank exhibit they would use it get cash (play money of course), but it actually functioned as a real ATM.

I think it's time to take her to the real dentist

This one frightens me just a little.

Serving up something yummy

If it has a button, it's gotta be pressed

Valentine's activities

2009-02-15T16:34:00.006-05:00

I'm just not the craftiest person around, but kids love crafts so I have to talk myself into more often than I really would like to do. Hopefully my kids will really, really appreciate it one day. So last week we did a couple of activities leading up to Valentine's. One day we got out all the red, white, and pink paints that we could find in our house along with a few marbles, a cardboard box and a large white heart. Boy the fun that can be had with just those few items!

On another day we made bookmarks...

The most fun was had making the special Valentine's dessert...every one was in on this one.

Of course everyone knows you can't make cake without tasting the batter

We had several events for the day. Claxton and I attended a birthday party in the morning, while Daddy and Julia enjoyed a lunch date together.

Ready for her date with Dad

I am told she insisted on riding the frog.

Daddy made dinner

Just a nice, quiet dinner at home with the family.

Short visit with Grandma

2009-02-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

We headed south this past weekend to cheer up my mom and help her out a bit. She was recently in a wreck and has a broken pelvic bone. Thankfully she is doing fine, but will take a little time to heal. We warned the kids that she probably could not hold them like she usually does and that they could not crawl all over her. That lasted for all of about the first two minutes of being there. Mom was as eager to see the kids as they were her!

And when the day comes to an end and it's time for bedtime stories, if there's a grandmother around, then mom and dad can just forget about reading to the kids, in fact we dare not suggest otherwise.

Capturing the moment

2009-02-05T23:39:00.001-05:00

Recently I've allowed Claxton to take photos with my camera. I know we've been a little late in the game with this activity, but there's no way Brian's going to let him play with his camera, and my small one is not very old. But, he's been asking so I finally broke down and let him. He walked around the house selecting very specific items to capture in his work. Here's some of his favorites:

Airplane remotes

The coasters

Sweet Julia

Fruit Bowl

Mom pouring milk

My head

That's the Pacific Ocean

2009-02-03T17:14:00.001-05:00

We've been wanting to make it out to California for a while now to hang out and visit some family. It's been almost seven years since we've been married and Brian hasn't had the opportunity to visit since 2001 and we've never been together. While I've been to California several times, it's a first to the Santa Barbara area and Paso Robles. When we left home it was predicted to rain five out the of the seven days we were supposed to be there, but it only rained the first day. Otherwise it was gorgeous, just light sweater weather, but lots of sunshine as you would expect. It was a really nice time to catch up with relatives that we just don't get to see very often. We had talked to Claxton about going to the Pacific Ocean, so every time it came into sight, he exclaimed, "that's the Pacific Ocean, right Mom, right Dad?!" What a fun little traveler he has become!

Highlights of the trip according to Claxton: Seeing Sammy the Seal (the elephant seals), going to the Pacific ocean (even though he could only put his toes in), riding on a trolley, riding on the ferris wheel at the pier, splashing in the puddles with Maddy and Aunt Sybil, and riding in the red jeep with Uncle Sal. Julia's list was a little shorter - playing with Maddy and her toys and going to the beach.

For me, it was absolutely wonderful to get away and have a break from our normal routine. Brian's uncle and aunt own a jeep tour business through wine country and they graciously offered to keep the kids for us one day so we could enjoy a tour. It was fantastic! If you make it out to that area, I highly recommend it, check them out at www.ccjeeps.com.

Claxton has been begging me for weeks to play outside in the rain, but this time of year is just too cold. So I have promised him that when spring comes we will definitely play out in the rain sometime. Needless to say, he was thrilled when I told him on our first day of the trip that we could take a rain walk and that his job was to splash in every puddle he saw. And splash he did!

Julia did her fair share of splashing too.

Playing at the fountain in Ojai

Claxton and Maddy getting ready to race to the next big puddle...

Before we made the track back home, we stopped by the local ice cream shop for a special treat. Let me tell you that these three perched up on these window seats were show stoppers in the town of Ojai on this day. There was absolutely nothing more adorable than watching these guys enjoy their treat. Every single person that passed by took a double take, commented amongst themselves on all the cuteness, and there were even a few that came inside to get a closer look at all this cuteness, who didn't even have ice cream on their radar for that day. I am certain we helped boost the ice cream sales that day. The pictures here just do not do justice, between the glare and the reflections from the cars on the street, the moment is not captured as well as it could have been. But, honestly, you'd have to be blind not to oooh and aaahhh just a little.

We finally made it to the ocean on our fourth day of the trip. And this is as close as mommy would let them go. Brrrr, this water is cold! They both practiced much self-control and only got their fingerstips wet.

A little lesson about shadows

God must have known to put these rocks on the beach to occupy those little ones with so much energy, otherwise they certainly would end up wet...and very cold, especially on a chilly, windy day at the beach! We could spend hours climbing on the rocks.

One of our stops was to observe the elephant seals. And they were LOUD!

The kids said this one had to be Sammy!

A few family photos...

This is at one of the wineries in Paso Robles.
Hanging with Uncle Sal

Uncle Sal rocks! He took us for a ride in jeep.

Another beach stop.

We spent one day in Santa Barbara, this is the crew hanging out on State Street.

A must do for Claxton was the trolley. He spotted one in Ojai on our first day and we didn't hear the end of it until we rode this one. I'm not quite sure if it's all he thought it would be or not, but for a quarter, it was worth it. Can check it off his list now.

I have no idea what is being said here, but certainly Dave and Maddy are amused!

I really wanted a cute photo of the three kids in front of the trolley, but herding cats would have been easier. This is the best one of the bunch.

It's my birthday!The last day was packed with activites. We left Ojai mid morning and made our way to the Pacific Coast Highway. We had promised one final stop at the beach before our trip ended. So we worked our way south to Santa Monica and spent a couple of hours at the pier and the beach.

Checking out Santa Monica from the top of the ferris wheel ride
They finally got to put their toes in the water, still cold, but much warmer than the previous days at the other beaches.

Notice Julia in this photo. I have no idea what possessed her to do this, but we just laughed hysterically as did some others who happened to be passing by! She'll just love us when we pull this one out again in about twenty years from now.

We needed to pass a little time before meeting up with some of my family for the evening. My cousin suggested that we check out the Skirball Cultural Center. Specifically they have a Noah's Ark exhibit that is ongoing with a myriad of interactive items and activities. What a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

A fun time was had by all. Now it's back to the grind with normal life and such. Claxton already wants to know when we are going back to the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully we'll make out it there again before another six or seven years pass.

Random Photos

2009-01-17T15:01:00.001-05:00

January has been a bit colder than what we are generally used to in our neck of the woods. Thus we've been inside more and everybody, and I do mean everybody has cabin fever. So, I've tried to keep them busy as best as possible with inside activities.

Playing with moon sand. They both loved it and would play with it every day if I let them. I, however, have decided that this is an outdoor activity from now on. I personally wish I could ban all other similar activities as this too, ie playdough, play foam, but the kids absolutely love these activities. So I endure.

Painting with water

Julia really got into the painting.

Sneaking a few moments at Claxton's workbench, but more importantly was the feat of getting the hat!

It's just second nature

2009-01-10T14:31:00.001-05:00

The weather was wonderful here on Friday and we spent three hours at the park with our playgroup. There are five little boys who are all 3-years old plus Julia. We were the only ones at the park for about the first hour, then another mom with a 3-year boy came on scene. It only took a few moments until he joined in playing with the other boys. At one point things suddenly got really, really loud and all of us mom's turned to see what was going on. Words that came to my mind were primitive, savage, barbaric. Six little boys running, chanting, screaming, some beating their chests, some had swords (aka sticks), just being boys, just having the time of their lives. We moms just stood and stared, when at last the one mom that we did not know said, "we really don't teach this at home, I don't know how or where he learned this from." The rest of laughed and told her not to worry. A few of us mom's with boys have finally gotten that our little boys are by nature going to do things that we never even imagined doing. Julia was not part of this tribal community, why of course she was strolling her babies. And once or twice I saw her stop and stare, I'm quite certain she was thinking that these boys must be from another planet. Who on earth would behave like this?

Being a great big brother

2009-01-09T12:26:00.001-05:00

We have a system of putting our things away when we get home from being out and about. The routine is very simple - go inside, take off your shoes, put shoes, jackets, etc in your locker. Claxton has adapted to this system well and on his own has become Julia's helper. While he's putting his things away, Julia gets in place on the floor waits patiently on him for assistance. I finally captured a photo of their little routine and had to share it.

New Year, New Look

2009-01-03T23:06:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! We have a new look for the year and hopefully we'll be posting on a regular basis this year - it's one of my goals. Please keep checking back with us to see what's going on in our world.

Conversation during dinner

2008-11-06T11:17:00.007-05:00

Me to Claxton: "Tell me about class today."
Claxton: "We played and went to art."
Me: "Did you have a story today?"
Claxton: "Yes."
Me: "What was it about?"
Claxton: "A baby."
Me: "Really, who was it? And was there anyone else around?"
Claxton: "Baby Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph too. Baby Jesus was sleeping on hay. And there were animals there and they liked the hay too."
Me: "Good memory. "
Claxton: "Yeah, and there were two Joseph's."
Me (looking puzzled now): "Are you sure there were two?"
Claxton: "Yes, I'm sure. He had a rainbow coat, his brothers threw him in a hole and ripped his coat. He was very sad."
Me (remembering that he had learned that story a month or so ago): "You are right. There are two different Joseph's, but each has a different story. So, what happened to Joseph after his brothers threw him in the hole?
Claxton: "They sold him as a slave." (at least that's what I thought I heard)
Me: "Do you know what a slave is?"
Claxton: "No, Mom, not a slave. It's a sleeve."
Brian (piping in with laughter): "No, not a sleeve, that's silly. This is a sleeve. (pointing to his shirt sleeve).
Claxton (0bviously over this discussion): "Oh, that is a sleeve. Can I please be excused now?"

O'dark thirty

2008-11-04T16:03:00.012-05:00

I admit that I have never been a morning person. I think my mom always tried to make me into one, but the truth is I'm just not wired that way. Never will be. Last week I had to make a trip to Athens and left the house at 5:45 a.m. Yikes, that was hard for me. Today, to ensure I'd be able to vote (because I was not about to take a 3 year old and a 20 month old with me and Brian had to catch an early afternoon flight, plus not knowing how long the wait would be I had to go early) the alarm went off much earlier than I ever desire. So I left the house with coffee and magazine in hand at 6:30 a.m. and was done by 8:40 a.m., plenty of time for Brian to still be able to do everything he needed to before heading to the airport. And go figure, when I left the polls there was hardly a line, so I didn't need to get up at o'dark thirty this morning after all. On the drive home I just kept telling myself how wonderful it was to stand there with all those other folks who all came out to exercise the priviledge to vote. Yep, that's what I kept telling myself. I did notice that most were dressed quite differently than me today. I in my sweats and sneakers; they in their office attire. Made me reminisce a little from what was my life just a few short years ago when I got up at o'dark thirty five days a week, just like the majority of those I know do. And I know I only have another couple of years to enjoy not having to rise so early in the morning. Being a sahm to preschoolers certainly has its perks, doesn't pay much at least monetarily speaking, but yeah for the perks!

Halloween Recap

2008-11-02T16:48:00.002-05:00

When I was growing up we always waited until dark to go trick or treating. I guess with this thing about pushing day lights saving time until first Sunday of November has changed things a little. Anyway, we waited until it was almost dark so we didn't get started until about 7 pm. The kids were beside themselves excited. It took Julia all of about two houses for her to catch on to the program. Between Claxton's charm and her sweet innocence, the two together made out like bandits.

Ready for Top Gun

Cute as can bee!

Waiting patiently on Mom to take more pictures...

Got our lights, let's go

Oh brave one...

Julia's two favorite things are puppies and babies and can spot either of them a mile away, so when we arrived here she really thought she hit the jackpot!

Checking out the goods

Yummy!

After all the trick or treating fun was over, we called Grammy and Grandpa so they could see the kids in their costumes. Claxton confidently informed them that we would be going trick or treating again the next night!

Our Jack-O-Lanterns

2008-10-30T23:22:00.001-04:00

We had planned to carve pumpkins last Sunday but ended up attending a neighborhood fall party and when we got home it was too late. So we pushed that project off until Monday and again something else came up. So finally last night we got around to getting our pumpkins carved.

Pigtails!

2008-10-30T11:01:00.001-04:00

Every day when Julia gets up and we start our morning routine, it always involves her asking for a hairbow. So yesterday we tried something a little different. Here she is with her new look!

Doing a flyby

2008-10-25T17:55:00.006-04:00

Claxton and Julia both share Brian's passion for aviation. We have quite a number of airplanes flying over our house every day with some of the new flight patterns from the main airport here, plus there are several small private airfields close to us. When we are outside they both are quick to find one when they hear it. And even when we are inside and hear one fly over at least one or both of them is shouting "airplane, airplane!". Today was a special treat for Brian, he got to go flying with one of his buddies. But what we even better is that they circled the house a few times and the kids got to wave to Daddy up in the sky. I think everyone in the neighborhood could hear them screaming "Hi Daddy. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Hi!"

Watching Dad doing a flyby!

Photo Update

2008-10-22T16:29:00.006-04:00

Ok, it's been a while and quite honestly I've had a ton of good material to post over the past few months. Unfortunately other things seem to take precedence, or probably more accurately stated - I've just gotten really lazy. We usually make it to a pumpkin farm about an hour away, but haven't made it up there this year. So this weekend, we went to a local nursery that had several activities for the kids.

First face painting

He was quite intrigued with the white pumpkin.

Scarce supply of pumpkins since we arrived late in the day. Julia kept calling them apples (she calls strawberries apples too, but at least they are red!)

Waiting for the hay ride.

Getting into the Olympics

2008-08-12T15:32:00.005-04:00

We are just not big sports fans around our house. However, I've always enjoyed watching the Olympics and we're all getting into it this year. Our mantel is adorned with an Olympic flag (well, sort of, it was the kid's project at Home Depot this month). So to get into the spirit it sits on the mantel where we all can see it everyday for the next couple of weeks. Every morning Claxton is sure to remind us that the Olympic rings are on his flag. We've talked about China and where it is. We've even had our first map lesson. Brian and I are enjoying following Micheal Phelps (kind of hard not to though) and cheering him on. Claxton really likes the swimming competitions too but is also really getting into gymnastics and diving. We've been allowing him to stay up past normal bedtime to watch. This started last Friday night with the opening ceremonies. Claxton's favorite part was all of the fireworks and lighting of the torch. And that's exactly what he thought the Olympics was all about - fireworks and lighting the torch. On Saturday when we started watching the actual sports events he didn't understand and kept telling us that he wanted to watch the Olympics. After going back and forth several times we came to understand that he wanted to see the fireworks again. We had to explain the whole sports events to him and now every morning when he gets up he says "Mom, can we watch China today?" We are working on getting him to say Olympics instead of China. But that's cute and we have a good chuckle with it every morning. None the less, we are having a fun time. I'm sure there will be a sad little boy when they end in a couple of weeks. We should have ordered Chinese food for the opening ceremonies, but hadn't really put that much thought into at that time. So maybe we'll do that for the closing ceremonies.

He watched just as long as he could...

Updates, updates, updates

2008-06-25T17:57:00.007-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while. No excuses other than time is just getting away from me. Every day I think I will spend some time working on my blog after the kids are in bed...and everyday I don't. And this past month, I've had some really good blogging material, but now that I've sit down to blog I can't remember much of what I wanted to blog about. Old age is settling in I suppose (no comments please!). Anyway, here's a rather lengthy report of all the happenings since my last post.

1. Last weekend in April - One of Brian's really good friends from college along with his wife and son came for a visit. We decided to take the kids to the aquarium and they all loved it. It was especially exciting for Julia, she couldn't stop pointing at all of the fish...and of course vocalizing her excitement as well (lots of grunting and screaming). It was rather crowded that day so the noise level was already at a high level. Thankfully no one really noticed all of her squeals...

Back at the house, Claxton and Samuel enjoyed being firemen before bedtime…

2. I finally reached my wits end with our antique washer and dryer. I mean, how efficient is it when you have to sit on the washing machine to prevent every load from becoming off balanced and thus producing an obnoxious buzzer going off? A buzzer that would wake the dead no less. Then after that great pleasurable experience you have to in fact dry your clothes 2-3 cycles before they are completely dry. Enough already. We had actually been shopping for a washer and dryer for a little while so that when the time came and ours actually kicked the bucket we would have knowledge of what's on the market these days. So, we found what we wanted on sale. Date nights just aren't what they used to be...

(Click picture for full image)

3. Mother's Day - Well, it was a low key sort of a day. I was treated to lunch at what has become one of my favorite places to dine - Five Seasons. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home with Brian and the kids. Upon arriving home from lunch I noticed a couple of gifts waiting for me on the hearth. I was very surprised to receive two very unexpected gifts - a camera, and a pair of earrings that I've had my eye on for a few years now. I've kind of wanted a small camera I can carry in my purse for a while, but not high on the priority list, just something I thought would be nice to have. I love Brian's camera and will still continue to use it to, but it is just too bulky to carry around for play dates and things like that. Very cool. I'm so excited. And then the earrings. Ok, I admit it, I'm picky. And it's not really often that I ask for something very specific, but I had seen some earrings a while ago that I really wanted. Nothing fancy, just some silver hoop earrings. The uniqueness of them is that rather than being just round hoops, the edges are square/round, just like my wedding band. I saw some when we were in Banff a few years ago and have wanted some ever since. I actually put my order in sometime ago and was really starting to give up on this one. But just when you least expect it... And the reason it has taken so long is that Brian was searching all over and couldn't find the ones I wanted. Well, leave it to H&A, they seem to come through for us on all of our jewelry needs…or I guess more appropriately…my wants. I love them!! Thanks for searching until you found just the perfect ones.

4. We wrapped up swim lessons in mid May. We could not be more pleased with Claxton's progress this year at Dynamo Swim Schools. Claxton is jumping off the side "like Jonah" (thanks Veggie Tales), swimming six to eight feet out to Dad. Then Dad turns him around and sends him back to swim to the side of the pool. He reaches for the side and pulls himself out. We are taking a break from swim lessons over the summer and will advance to regular group classes (without Dad) in the fall. Julia will start lessons for the first time in the fall. So it looks like Dad will still be going to swim lessons for a little while longer!

5. Early to mid May Julia took her first steps. It is just so hard to believe that she has reached this stage already. Claxton was her biggest cheerleader. I had been telling him that it would happen just any day so he was keenly aware to be on the look out. In fact, he was the first to see her walk and proudly announced it to the rest of us. "Mommy, she's walking. Sweet Girl is walking!!"
Julia loves her big brother. If he's in another room, she's looking for him or calling him. And he knows her call. Right now it kind of sounds like Dai, but he knows she's trying to say his name. His usual response is "here I am, Sweet Girl". The two are really starting to enjoy each other's company and it's a whole lot of fun watching them!
She likes sitting at the bottom of the steps and kicking her feet and occasionally she's try to sneak up the stairs when were not looking. We bought beach chairs for the kids for our vacation. But in the meantime we've had them in the house and Julia really likes climbing in and out of her chair. I think she spends about fifteen minutes at a time just doing that over and over again.

6. We're spending more and more time outside these days. Claxton has become quite the little explorer. He likes exploring the edge of the wooded area of our yard. He likes pulling the bark off the trees, playing with sticks and pine cones, and checking out the different leaves (thankfully we haven't come across any poison ivy). We have a couple of small trees that he can climb on and does as often as he can. On another day, he found a caterpillar on the swing set. He is indeed all boy. And if the mail comes when we are outside, well, he must run to get it. Often times before I'm ready for him to go because he's not allowed to go by himself just yet.

First spotting of the caterpillar

Must call Dad to tell him about his find

Showing off his find...

7. Julia is quite the littler explorer in her own right. However, most of hers is done inside the house. Her favorite place to go on an adventure is in the pantry. If the door is left open and Julia is nowhere in sight, the first place to check is the pantry. 99% of the time you'll find her there. I think she might have a napkin fettish. There are napkins in a drawer she can reach and she loves to pull them out one by one, wad into a ball, then take to the trash can. She would do this all day if I would let her. So I retrieve them from the trash, spread them out to make the look like new again and put back in the drawer for her to do the next time she sneaks into the pantry. It's a fun game. Her other fun thing to do is open the Crystal Light boxes and dump the packets on the floor, pick them up and put them back in box and do it all over again...and again...and again. Another fun game - who needs expensive toys?

She's become quite the little helper too especially since she started walking. She likes to take her dirty diapers and any other trash to the trash can. She knows exactly where it's at, how to open the door and put it in…and is very proud of herself when the job is done.

8. In late May we started having two visitors show up either in the mornings while it was still cool or late in the afternoons when the temperature began to drop for the evening. Our visitors were Peter and his friend... The kids both enjoyed looking for them everyday. And for about a week, they showed up everyday.

9. The last week of the month we spent with Grammy, Grandpa, Uncle Brad, Aunt Anne, and Kyle. We really enjoyed our time together and a special highlight was being able to celebrate Kyle's birthday with him this year. Here's a glimpse at some of the things we did on our trip.

More updates coming soon, stay tuned...

Time for Touch a Truck

2008-04-22T15:14:00.001-04:00

Last year was our first time attending this event and we knew we would be returning. Claxton is still into police cars, big trucks of any kind, and of course fire engines as much or more than he's ever been. I'm thinking he'll probably carry this passion with him for a very long time. Based on last year's experience, we knew it would be best to arrive when it opened to avoid most of the crowd so that the kids could spend a little more time on each truck checking out all of the bells and whistles (aka - buttons to press, knobs to turn, etc). There were all kinds of vehicles to explore - police cars, fire engines, school bus, UPS truck, semi trucks, trolley, and more.

Julia is old enough this year to enjoy it as well. She was quite amused with all the activity and things to see and by the way, not at all phased by the loud horns and sirens. Her favorite part was seeing a police dog (she has recently learned what a dog says and demonstrates at every chance she gets).

His favorite - driving a fire engine

Everybody has to take a turn running in the back of a semi...

Claxton and Julia waving to their fans from the big yellow school bus

Vroom, vroom!!
(This is for Unlce Brad)

Just a little too loud

He'll be cutting the grass for us real soon

Look closely at Julia's face -she had just seen the police dog

Conversations this morning

2008-04-20T22:45:00.009-04:00

As we are getting ready for the day:
Claxton: "Dad, what's the plan?"
Dad: "I don't know."
Claxton: "Oh."

During breakfast:
Dad: "Claxton, ask Mommy what you asked me upstairs."
Claxton: "Mommy, what's the plan?"
Me: "The plan for what?"
Claxton: (no answer)

Riding in the car:
Claxton: "Dad, Dad what's the deal?"
Dad: "I don't know. You tell me what the deal is."
Claxton (with great confidence): "Oh, ok. Well, first we are going to church. Then we are going to eat at Chic-fil-A. That's the deal, Daddy."
Dad (laughing heartily): "Well, we are going to church. But Chic-fil-A is not open on Sunday."
Claxton: "Yes it is."
(Then we actually passed one and it was indeed closed.)
Dad: "See, they are not open, it's not even an option."
Claxton (pointing out the window): "Well, that restaurant is open, so maybe we can eat there."
Dad: "Maybe."

I'm glad to know we have another planner in the family!

If at first you don't succeed...try, try again

2008-04-16T22:24:00.001-04:00

Claxton was playing out in the backyard for a while this morning. He was continuously moving from one point of interest to another in a matter of minutes. i was in the family room with Julia all the while keeping a close eye on him and his activities. There is a trapeze bar on the play set, but he is still too short to reach it. I looked out and saw him reaching for the bar...and then falling to the ground. Then he would get up and try again and again and again. He figured out that he could stand on the frame of the base of the play set, then stretch to reach the bar. And after many attempts he finally did. Hang time was only about 1.5 seconds, but he did it!! And then it was on to the next challenge.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

2008-04-15T22:07:00.001-04:00

We have been trying and trying to read books to Julia on a regular basis for sometime with little to no success. This is a different experience than what we had with Claxton. In the past two to three weeks, she has basically gone from no interest to total interest. Quite amazing. The other day, she spent about ten minutes or so on the floor by herself flipping through the pages of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?". And now, she even enjoys lying on the couch with Daddy and Claxton to read. It's thrilling that she has finally started to gain a interest in reading.

What we've been up to

2008-04-14T22:21:00.001-04:00

Playing outside, going to Chic-fil-A, going to the park, and riding in the car. This has basically been our life for the past week and a half. Literally. Why? Because we are finally doing a few things around our house that we've wanted to do since we moved in three years ago. You all know that we like color on our walls, so the monochromatic khaki walls are history (at least downstairs). Painters were here last week and we are having some minor repairs done on the floors this week. Which has turned out to be a good thing because we found a leak that we were told had been repaired when we bought the house, but in fact was not. Thus creating more work for Brian this week than he really has time for. And I almost forgot to mention that the track lighting in our kitchen is gone. Hallelujah! I am not a fan of track lights. And that too was a good thing because in the process we found a live wire laying in the ceiling. Our electrician friend pondered how the house had not burned down. With all this activity I knew it would be best to get the kids out of the house...the truth is out of the way so the work could get done in a timely fashion. It sort of feels like we just moved in because stuff is everywhere. This part is driving us all crazy, but it will all be done in just a few more days and we can get back to some normalcy around here with happy colors on our walls. So if you want to see our new colors, come on over for a visit!

Uh-oh

2008-04-12T18:26:00.003-04:00

I walked in to get Julia up from her nap to find her paci and animals all in a pile on the floor. She just looked up at me then down at the pile and kept saying "uh-oh, uh-oh" in a very soft, innocent manner. Guess she knows more than we had been giving her credit for. Let the games begin!

Amy, this is for you...

2008-04-10T15:09:00.001-04:00

I know you told me that we should take pictures of Julia in the green bucket and I keep forgetting to do it. Well, it was on the floor and I needed to contain her for about five minutes or so. So I set her in it with a couple of toys. When I went to get her out I noticed just how adorable she looked. So of course I quickly found the camera.

Just a swingin'

2008-03-30T14:47:00.002-04:00

These two just love to swing, and the higher the better, for both of them. I have to admit, it was one of my favorite things to do as a kid, in fact, I still enjoy swinging. But I don't think I was as brave as either one of my kids are at their ages. Claxton will probably be one of those kids who figures out how to swing all the way around one day. Lord help me!

Train them early

2008-03-28T14:29:00.001-04:00

We believe in training our kids at a young age to pitch in and help out with household chores. Julia's first assignment is to unload the dishwasher.

Dreamland

2008-03-24T21:08:00.002-04:00

We have been asking Claxton for some time what he dreamed at night. Normally, he looks around and "sees" what he dreamt about - a toy, Daddy, Mommy, Julia, etc. And normally every morning we wake to screaming from the other end of the house "Here I am Daddy. MOMMY, HERE I AM." This signifies it's time to get Claxton up.

This morning was different. There was no screaming, so I figured Claxton was still sleeping. But since we had swimming lessons today, I went into to get him up. He was not sleeping as I expected. In fact, he was standing in the corner of his crib looking at me very sad.

"Daddy?"
"Yes Claxton."
"Daddy?"
"What Claxton?"
"Daddy."
"What is it Claxton, what's wrong?"
"My swing set. It's broken. Bentley {one of his best friends in the world} broke my swing set."
"When did that happen?"
"Last night. While it was dark. Daddy can you fix it? My swing set is broken. Bentley broke it."
"Claxton, Bentley didn't break your swing set. He wouldn't do that."

I quickly picked him up and took him into the guest bedroom. I opened the shutters and told him to look at the swing set, it's not broken. A smile came across his face... and then quickly disappeared. A look of confusion then appeared.

"But he broke it. The ladder. He broke my swing set."
"Claxton, it was only a dream. It wasn't real. It was like when you pretend."

Claxton remained perplexed all day, trying to reconcile the situation. But one thing is for sure Claxton just had his first dream - first that he remembered anyway.

You can tell it's March

2008-03-24T14:10:00.003-04:00

Typical spring weather in our neck of the woods. A few days ago we had on shorts and t-shirts and today we had to bundle up when we went out. Right now it's cold, windy and snow flurries have been falling off and on all day. My entire household is ready for spring to be here permanently.

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T13:57:00.004-04:00

A busy few days

2008-03-23T23:06:00.008-04:00

Whew!! It's been a busy few days around here. Over the weekend we have been to three Easter Egg Hunts of which one was combined with a birthday party, and yes we had one in our own backyard and it counts. We, or more accurately, Brian, assembled an airplane. Claxton and I dyed Easter eggs along with a little help from Dad. Went to church this morning and played outside with the kids today (even though a little windy) for quite a while. We tried to get some photos of the kids dressed up this morning, but let's just say they were a little less than cooperative. Maybe next year.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of our weekend. In the meantime, here's a conversation in the car on the way home from church this morning:

Me (looking at the craft he made): This is nice Claxton. What is the round brown thing?
Claxton: It's a stone. It rolled away.
Me: Rolled away from where?
Claxton: The door to the cave.
Me: What cave?
Claxton: That's where Jesus was.
Me: Where is he now?
Claxton: Mommy, he's looking for stones.
Me: Are you sure?
Claxton: Yeah, he's looking for stones.

I'm just assuming that he got restless before they finished the end of the story so he missed it, or he got sidetracked when they got to the part about the stone and his little boyish mind began thinking about how much fun it would be searching for stones. In any event, seems we will have to keep working on theology a bit.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T11:01:00.001-04:00

From us to you, wishing you a Happy Easter

Be careful what you dream for

2008-03-22T22:25:00.003-04:00

We all know the phrase "be careful what you ask for - you might get it." Well, in this case it could be said "be careful what you dream for - you might get it." My husband has the dream of building an airplane in his garage. That dream came true last night. Something tells me not exactly what he had in mind!

So, not exactly your dream, but your children will be very appreciative for years to come.

And today, we have one very excited little boy.

Time to put the gates up

2008-03-19T13:58:00.003-04:00

It has been wonderful not having to go through gates in all the door ways for a while now. But, the time has come again for them to go back up. She is unbelievably fast.

Jumping like Jonah

2008-03-17T21:54:00.001-04:00

The "Cars" movie and "Jonah" a Veggie Tales movie are by far Claxton's favorites. There's hardly a day that passes that either one or both don't get mentioned at some point. It seems as though whatever we are doing, he can find a way to bring it into relation to one of those two movies. It's really amazing.

Ever since grandparent's arrived this week, Claxton has been telling them that when he goes to swim lessons he jumps in like Jonah. They probably heard this a thousand times this week. Well, this morning, he finally got to show them that he can really jump like Jonah!

Thanks Ron for sharing these photos.

Adult time

2008-03-17T21:30:00.001-04:00

At night after the kids are in bed, we've been playing Wii. We even convinced Grandma D to play and created her very own Mii. I hate to admit this, but we did not capture any photos of Grandma D actually playing. For those who know her, well, it should come as no surprise that she got the hang of it right away. I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone or anything, so I'll just report that she did very well bowling...

On another night, these three were at it. You can just tell there's no competition going on here...

Julia's 1st Birthday Party

2008-03-15T23:35:00.004-04:00

Today we celebrated Julia's birthday and had a small, but fun party for her. I could go on and on and on about what a sweet blessing she is to our family, but those of you reading this already know that to be the case. We, including Claxton, just adore her tremendously and are thankful for the joy she has brought to us. Yes, including that squealing stage!

As appropriate for our family, her first birthday cake was a monkey, a very cute monkey. Hats off to Brian for outdoing himself yet again.

Grammy and Julia ready for the party.

Time to sing Happy Birthday!

Yummy, this is good!

Cake and presents...birthdays are fun!!

I'll stop opening presents for a moment and pose for the paparrazis.

Thanks Miss Amy for keeping my brother occupied while I open my presents

Grandma D, I made you a cake in my new kitchen

Ellie, would you like to ride?

Here I am on my new airplane and someone else wants a turn too...

We had tornadoes that touched down in the city not too far from us here today. So right in the middle of the party, we had the local news on to follow what was happening. At one point our neighborhood was even mentioned on the news and of course this was at the same time we were ready to cut the cake. Here's half the crew getting ready to make a mad dash for the basement if needed. Thankfully, it never came to that.

Growth charts

2008-03-14T21:32:00.002-04:00

We took Julia for her one-year checkup and she is doing just great. After we got home, I decided to take a look at Claxton's records and compare their growth during their first year. In a nutshell, they both entered the world rather small. Claxton took forever to eat, but Julia had no problems getting the hang of it. She really packed on the pounds the first four months, then begin to taper off quite significantly. But by her first birthday, she weighs 4 pounds less than Claxton did at his first birthday. Interestingly enough, since she has been eating table food she once again eats more than Claxton. When she's hungry we cannot get food in front of her fast enough. At her current rate of food intake, she might just surpass Claxton again. We won't be surprised if our doctor tells us to put her on a diet at her 15-month check-up. Currently she's only in the 15th percentile. A dainty little one.

Claxton:
Birth weight - 6 lb, 13 oz., height - 19 1/2 in.
Five days old - 6 lb, 8 oz., height 19 3/4 in.
One month old - 7 lb, 13 oz., height 20 1/2 in.
Two months old - 9 lb, 10 oz., height 22 1/4 in.
Four months old - 13 lb 6 1/4 oz., height 24 1/2 in.
Six months old - 16 lb, 15 1/4 oz., height 26 in.
Nine months old - 17 lb, 5 oz., height 27 1/2 in.
Twelve months old - 21 lb, 10 oz., height 29 in.

Julia:
Birth weight - 5 lb, 14 oz., height 18 in.
Four days old - 5 lb, 10 3/4 oz., height 18 1/2 in.
One month old - 8 lb, 4 1/2 oz, height 21 in.
Two months old - 11 lb, 2 oz., height 22 in.
Four months old - 14 lb, 3 oz., height 24 1/2 in.
Six months old - 15 lb, 2 1/2 oz., height 25 1/2 in.
Nine months old - 16 lb, 8 1/2 oz., height 26 1/2 in.
Twelve months old - 17 lb, 1 oz., height 28 in.

Family in town this week

2008-03-14T14:44:00.002-04:00

We have the pleasure of having Grandpa, Grammy, and Grandma D visiting with us for the week. Our schedule is fairly full while they are here. To start our week off, we had our family photographer come out and get pictures of the kids along with all the grandparents. I'm excited that we will have a four-generation photo. Next we had to get some shopping in for the birthday girl and get ready for her party that's on Saturday. And Claxton is looking forward to showing everyone how he can jump like Jonah in the pool at swim lessons on Saturday. Pictures of all coming soon...

Look who's 1

2008-03-12T16:15:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to our Sweet Girl

First sleepover

2008-03-10T21:28:00.002-04:00

Claxton's very good friend Bentley came to our house for a sleepover. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so they spent a whole lot of time outside…doing the things that boys do…

Being silly while having a snack...

Playing swords...

Playing ball...

Riding the roller coaster...and taking turns very nicely I might add...

I failed to capture a picture of them trying to push the roller coaster cart up the slide. I thought that I should probably stop them from killing themselves rather than find the camera.

And when the day was done and it was time for bed, they were both sufficiently tired enough to go right to sleep without us having to tell to settle down – not even once.

Bentley, you are welcome to come spend the night at our house any time!

Think Claxton will mind if I use his computer...?

2008-03-10T21:15:00.001-04:00

Mastered the sippy cup

2008-03-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

It has taken Julia a little while to get the hang of drinking out of a sippy cup, but she's got it mastered now. So much so she's become quite the little guzzler.

Keep out of the reach of children

2008-03-03T23:07:00.006-05:00

There's a reason manufacturers put that on their products. Let me just say that it is really good advice. Here's how I know. This past weekend we were visiting with my mom. On Saturday during rest time, we actually thought that Claxton was resting. He was quiet for the most part and every now and then I heard him talking, but nothing out of the ordinary. There was a long period of time that I thought he was probably asleep, then I heard talking again. So I figured a sufficient amount of time had passed and I would get him up so he could play. I opened the door and just stood and stared with my mouth agape. He stared back at me. You could have heard a pin drop. I just kept staring in disbelief and in my mind I was trying to figure out exactly what had happened. His face was covered in it, his clothes were covered in it, his hair was covered in it. I moved in for a closer look. His hands and his beloved Firedog and Dog were covered in it. The sheet and the sides of the pack and play were also covered. I still did not know what it was at this point. Another step closer and the odor hit me - Butt Paste. I surmised that he had been able to reach the bag that contained all of his toiletries and he had dumped the entire contents into his bed and then began his masterpiece. And when I thought it could not get any worse, I saw other items that had been pulled into the bed - two of my hairbrushes, my hair dryer, several throw pillows that were in a chair next to him. I cannot even begin to express just how stunned I was. Obviously I didn't notice anything that I really thought he would bother when he was supposed to be resting. HUGE mistake. Because we have to buy so much of this stuff, we always purchase the 16 oz container...and of course it was a brand new jar. When I found it underneath all the stuff it was COMPLETELY EMPTY. He smeared it everywhere he could possibly reach. EVERYWHERE. Our luggage and two of Brian's shirts even got a few spots. We knew from previous experience that this product stains and the label states same. However, we are always very careful with it. The label also states that it helps seal out wetness. And rest assured that when 16 oz has been smeared everywhere, you better believe it seals out wetness. We could not find a cleaning agent to break the Butt Paste. Almost everything had to be thrown away. Our trip ended up being far more costly than anticipated. Bet I won't make this mistake again. And when Claxton gets old enough to get an allowance we may just have to remind him that he's already spent it. "Remember the time you smeared butt paste everywhere..."

Firedog undergoes surgery

2008-02-26T14:24:00.004-05:00

Firedog is extremely dear to Claxton. He sleeps with Claxton and goes on all overnight trips. This is his second surgery in about three weeks or so. We are really not sure how much longer Firedog can hang on, but we are hoping it is for a while. We've sort of looked for a replacement for when that time comes, but can't find anything close. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, we just have not come across it. So in the meantime, Daddy has come to the rescue yet again. And believe me when I say that Claxton has great faith and believes Daddy can fix absolutely anything...ANYTHING. And thankfully that has been the case so far. Marrying a pretender certainly has benefits!

Claxton talking to and comforting Firedog during the procedure

Fracture update

2008-02-23T12:38:00.004-05:00

No fracture. Hopefully. We took Claxton back to the doctor yesterday. The orthopedic did a very thorough exam of his food and leg. He didn't twitch the whole time he was being examined which was a great indicator of no fracture. We also learned that sometimes fractures don't actually show up on an x-ray until 10-14 days after the injury occurs. So we are going to monitor him a few more days, but we've ceased giving him meds as per doctor's orders. As of this morning he was still limping.

Conversation at dinner tonight

2008-02-20T23:36:00.003-05:00

Brian: "We really need to finish setting up your computer."
Me: "Ok, how much more time will it take to complete it?"
Brian: "Not too much longer."
Claxton: "Didn't you break Mommy's computer, Dad? Didn't you?"

Getting a little too brave

2008-02-20T22:41:00.002-05:00

It was bound to happen at some point. And it did on Monday. Claxton and one of our neighbors were playing outside running, climbing, swinging, laughing and having a big time. Then Claxton got a little braver than he should have and tried to climb the ladder to the play set while carrying something in one hand. And the inevitable happened. He fell. So the running and climbing and laughing and having a big time came to screeching halt. We checked him over thoroughly at that time and later before bed time. Everything seemed to be just fine. I fully expected a bruise on his knee because I thought he hit the rung when he fell. But it never bruised. He did limp a little when he walked, but that was after we asked him if his knee was okay. So at this point we didn’t know if he was really hurting or just looking for a little sympathy. We decided to go on about our day because there was no swelling or bruising. Today when I went in to get him up he told me his foot hurt. We asked him to walk and again he did with a limp. Then we asked him to run, and he couldn’t. We called the doctor. So he and Brian went off to get it check out and then they were sent to have an x-ray. Apparently the pediatric radiologist saw a line from one angle that he believes is not a fracture but bruised tissue. Our pediatrician got a copy this afternoon and is not yet convinced that it is not a small fracture. So on Friday we will be making our first trip to a pediatric orthopedic. It’s not major, but we are certainly praying that it’s not fractured. He was actually starting to run and jump a little this afternoon so it probably is just an internal bruising. We're still going to have it examined. Better to be safe than sorry.

Family Fun Day at the Circus

2008-02-16T15:36:00.002-05:00

Highly recommend the Big Apple Circus for those who have small children who really want to attend a circus. The show was fantastic and we didn't pay big bucks to get in. Kids 3 and under are free at this one. The venue is small and it's true that there are no seats more than 50 feet away from the ring. Claxton and Julia were captivated the whole time - and the show was two hours long. When we asked Claxton what his favorite part was he said, "the doggies doing tricks and the people in the air doing flips."

Here they are - both captivated.

Happy Belated Valentines...

2008-02-15T08:17:00.003-05:00

We made cupcakes for Valentine's Day. Claxton always wants to help out in the kitchen, so I try to make something every now and then that he can help with. He's actually becoming quite the little helper. I allowed him to add most of all the ingredients to the bowl as it was mixing and he did so without spilling anything. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. Red velvet cupcakes, ummm, ummmm good. It goes without saying that you have to taste the batter when baking so I told him he could have one spoon full...yummy!!

The batter must have been totally irresistible because when I finished putting the cupcakes in the oven to bake, I turned around and saw something I just was not expecting...

This is why it's important to unplug the mixer between jobs.

A visit to the dentist

2008-02-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

We have been looking for a family dentist and I think we found one today. I could have not been more pleased at how well they worked with Claxton. We prepped him as much as we could beforehand and when we left the house this morning he said he didn't want to go. So we tried to work through that on the drive over. Once we arrived he was just fine. Everyone was friendly and told him exactly what was going to happen each step of the way and he listened very well on when to open and close his mouth. When it was all done he received an excellent report. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said the sippy straw and watching the dinosaur movie from his chair. The first trip was such a success he's already asking when can we go back again.

I intended to take the camera but of course in the rush to get out the door this morning I forgot it. We took a couple of pictures with the phone camera. Not good quality, but works in a crunch.

Getting his teeth examined...

Showing off those pearly whites...

Sweet Girl is Eleven Months Old

2008-02-12T22:58:00.003-05:00

Where the heck does the time go? Julia is eleven months old already. She is an adorably happy little girl, minus the squealing that occurs from time to time of course. I'm sure she's just making sure that she's heard and that we have not forgotten about her. Her vocabulary includes "mmmommma" and "da da". She understands kiss and gives them freely. When she wants cheerios, she just squeals...and gets them. It's easy to get a smile out of her and it is beautiful. She still only has two teeth although it seems like the teething process is never ending, but no other teeth have appeared yet. She hasn't met a fruit that she won't eat, yet on the other hand it is rare that she will eat cereal and absolutely will not eat green vegetables. We have not given up on those yet, we camouflage them often to make sure she's getting them. She loves her big brother and her little face just lights up when he comes into the room. She's cruising and we are expecting her to walk at any time, although she has absolutely no problem getting to wherever she wants to go. And everything goes to her mouth so we have to watch her closely with anything on the floor or around some of Claxton's toys. To top it off, she is speedy gonzalez, so we are forever chasing after her and getting things out of her mouth. And can't imagine life without her. We are just so blessed and thankful to have her in our family.

We were watching Claxton and Julia playing on the floor together a couple of days ago. For the most part he plays pretty well with her, except when he's having one of his moments. But we both noticed that it's not going to be long before she is able to fend for herself. I already hate it for Claxton when that day comes. I think it's only going to take one or two times for her to whip him in shape, and then he will be bowing to her every whim. She is sweet, but she is also determined and a little headstrong. When we take her for her 1-year checkup, I'm fully expecting our pediatrician to tell us that she is going to be a more strong-willed child than he's predicting Claxton to be. Boy are we in for a great ride for the next 18 years or so.

Just look at those beautiful curls...

No Pee, No Wii

2008-02-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

We are trying to find something that will motivate Claxton to be interested in potty training. We've talked about it and he understands it. This has been going on for months now, but he is just not interested. Now the truth is I am not worried that he will be going to kindergarten and still be in diapers. I'm sure we will have conquered it by then. However, I'm ready now. I've had two children in diapers for almost a year now and I am indeed ready for one of them to be past this stage. We bought underwear sometime ago and had it where he could see it everyday. For goodness sake it has Lightning McQueen on it, what 2-year old little boy would not want to wear that underwear. He wanted to try it on, so we did. And that was the end of that. We have seriously been considering purchasing something (you can call that bribery) that he would want and put in on top of the refrigerator for him to see everyday but not get until he is trained. The problem is he doesn't ask for stuff - at least not yet, so we really don't know what his hot button is that would do the trick.

Every now and then Brian will let Claxton play Wii with him. And there have been days when he gets up from his nap and says "let's Wii, I want to Wii." So this past weekend out of the blue, Brian told him that he had to start using the toilet in order to play the Wii again. He immediately ran to the toilet, pulled his pants down, took his diaper off, stood on the stool and tried. Nothing happened, but he tried. It was hysterical watching this whole thing play out. He did all of this with no help from either of us. He was completely on his own. So now we tell him, "no pee, no wii". We probably will regret this one day soon, but if it works I'll be glad. We didn't have much success today, but we are sticking to our plan. We'll see what happens.

My Vote Is In...

2008-02-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

I have cast my vote with confidence here on Super Tuesday...and I vote my husband deserves the Best Husband Ever award. What a fabulous weekend getaway we had. He arranged and planned every little detail and managed to keep it a surprise the whole time.

Here's where he took me. It was truly a magical winter wonderland. We had our own private little cabin nestled behind the main lodge. We each enjoyed a massage both days and a full day of snowmobiling - something we both enjoy immensely.

It was a great time for the two of us to reconnect and for us to have some uninterruped time together again. Although we both missed the kids and couldn't wait to see them again on Sunday night.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Grammy and Grandpa for coming to stay with Claxton and Julia so we could get away. They both miss you already and can't wait for you to come back.

Winter Wonderland

Our private cabin

Surprises...

2008-01-30T23:14:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that I like surprises? Well, I got one today. My in-laws showed up at my house this afternoon and I had absolutely no idea they were coming. Although I did have a lot of questions for my husband today before he left the house. It went something like this:

Brian: I'm taking Claxton with me today. We are going to have guy time.
Me: Ok....
Me (after a long pause): Why today? It's Wednesday, it's the middle of the week. Are you sure you don't need to be working?
Brian: Not today.
Me: Where are you going?
Brian: Why are you questioning me?
Me: Because you are having guy time in the middle of the week. Where are you going?
Brian: Parker's, Fry's, and the bank.
Me: Oh no, not Fry's again.
Me: How long will you be gone?
Brian: I don't know. A few hours. Enough with the questions already.

I left the house about an hour after them to buy groceries and upon my return they were still not home. I dared not call to check on them. So another hour or so passed and I heard the garage door open. Claxton comes running in the house saying, "Mom, Grammy and Grandpa are here, Grammy and Grandpa are here!!!!". I thought at first maybe he was a little confused but I was wrong.

So the plot thickens. Brian informs me that just the two of us are going away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and that he would give me details as needed. While I'm excited, I'm also worried about leaving Julia as I have not been away from her at all. I have a day to get it all together. I have to pack for cold weather and take a swim suit. We leave early Friday morning and will be coming home Sunday night. That's all I know. Stay tuned...

Fifty is the new Forty

2008-01-29T23:20:00.000-05:00

You may have heard that line. It's on a commercial for one of the financial planning companies, I think it's Ameriprise. Anyway, I've probably heard it a dozen times or so but never really paid attention to it. Not until this last week or so when I suddenly realized that I have a 'big' birthday approaching. While that phrase is not the main message of the commercial, it has indeed resonated we me over the past couple of weeks. Fifty is the new forty. I could not agree more. Especially today.

I thought I would share the card that my sweet, loving husband gave me today.

The screaming is baaccckkkkk

2008-01-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

And it is more piercing than ever. We had thought that we had moved past this stage. It tapered off around Thanksgiving and really didn't hear much of it throughout the entire holiday season. Maybe all of the fun festivities of the season kept her occupied enough that it was not necessary. For whatever reason, it is back and all of us will be glad when this passes. Everyone here deals with it in their own way. Here's Claxton trying his best to cope with the situation one day during lunch.

Julia screaming to the top of her lungs...

Claxton coping with it...

Not yet

2008-01-23T14:19:00.000-05:00

When Claxton talks he often begins his sentences with the words not yet. Here's a couple of examples of things he says:

Not yet it's time to go to bed
Not yet it's time to pick up toys
Not yet it's time to eat
Not yet it's snowing again

Twice in one week

2008-01-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

We got snow again this week. Life is good for Claxton! It snowed most of the day so we had enough to build another snowman. In fact, Claxton asked if we could build a real snowman today!!! He could hardly contain himself and Julia just looked on in amusement.

The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry

2008-01-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

And so it is. We had big plans to spend the first weekend in January organizing, re-arranging a room or two, decluttering, etc, etc, in an effort to start 2008 off with great orderly fashion. We had a plan of attack. A plan which quickly got derailed. Three of the four of us managed to catch a nasty cold. We took the kids to the doctor only to be informed that they have the preliminary stages of Bronchiolitis. The doc said Julia will probably be clingier and want to be held more than normal. This in fact has been true. He also said we should not allow Claxton to run around too much as it would further irritate the situation. Thankfully we are just coming off Christmas where he received 3 or 4 new DVD's. I think we've seen "Cars" at least ten times this past week. As we were about to leave the doctor's office he told us to be prepared for a very long January. Thanks Doc.

I'm now looking around at all the things I wanted to get done and see how none of it has even been touched. I had visions of all the fun organizational baskets/containers and gadgets that I would so enjoy purchasing and placing in just the right places. Instead, we are now the proud news owners of not one mind you, but three humidifiers. One for each kids room and one for me.

We are on the mend now so we'll see how expeditiously we can execute our plan. I'm hopeful to accomplish everything I had wanted to do by the end of the month. Some of these projects should have been done a long time ago right after we moved in this house. But babies came along and priorities changed. So between changing diapers, feeding the kids, reading to and playing with the kids, laundry, running errands, etc, etc I am determined not to put these projects off any more. I am striving to be more organized in 2008.

Surprise, surprise!!

2008-01-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

I love surprises and so does our little man. Today when he got up from napping he had a great surprise awaiting him. We captured his reaction on video but am having trouble getting it posted.

We had snow! He was very excited. Our plans were to go outside tomorrow morning and play, but after listening to the weather report we decided we should let him play on the deck for a few minutes after dinner otherwise he might not get the opportunity at all since it is suppose to rain later tonight. So we wrapped up as best as we could (we really don't have appropriate clothing since it is so rare that we need it) and played on the deck for about five minutes or so. Even though the time was short, Claxton had fun. I'm glad we allowed him to go outside tonight. Seeing him so excited was worth every freezing minute. We built a miniature snowman. It looks more like a duck than a snowman, but it served the purpose and Claxton was thrilled to play even for just a few minutes.

We had 'fat snow flacks' as stated by Claxton

Throwing a snowball at Mommy

Trying to make a snowman

Our miniature snowman

Done! (Dad said it looks more like a duck)

Julia stayed warm and watched from the window

Everybody loves the new train table

2008-01-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

A few weeks have gone by since Christmas and Claxton is a little more open to sharing his new toys with Julia. He's starting to find that when he shares everybody is a little happier around here. We are not 100% there with the sharing, but progress is definitely being made. Daddy likes his new train table too...

Dancing Queen

2008-01-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

Young and sweet only 10 months old... If anyone has rhythm, it's Julia. There's not a toy that plays music that she doesn't start moving to the beat when she hears it. One day this week I watched her as she pressed the music button on a puppy toy she has over and over, for at least ten to fifteen minutes straight. She was on her knees and happily swayed to all of the tunes over and over and over again. I've noticed that if she is upset, she often calms easily if I just start singing to her.

(I was going to post a video of her dancing but couldn't get it to work. Maybe I'll post it later.)

Claxton reading to Julia

2008-01-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

The kids were playing on the floor while I was trying to get a few things done around the house, like the never ending pile of laundry and such. I looked over at them to find Claxton 'reading' Pat the Bunny to Julia. He even made sure to show her the pictures along the way. It was one of Claxton's favorite books when he was Julia's age and it's her favorite now too.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-04T18:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a recap of the holidays. It includes days leading up to Christmas, Christmas, and time with our families. It's a little lengthy...sorry about that.

Standing for the first time

2007-12-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

She's cruising now. Claxton was taking his afternoon nap when this occurred. My guess is that he will not be very happy when he catches Julia at his new train table. She crawled right up to the table and pulled herself up as if she had been doing it all her life.

Preparing for Christmas

2007-12-23T14:25:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks we've been trying to do an activity every day in preparation for Christmas. It's part of our participation in Advent. Some days we've gone somewhere or attended an event. But typically we take 10-15 minutes right after dinner every night and do something together as a family. That's the time we are all awake and together but it's not yet bed time and part of that routine. Our activities are simple, but enough to keep the attention of a 2 1/2 year old for a few minutes. There's always a one to two minute lesson pertinent to what Christmas means. This is our first year giving it a try and we've missed a few days, but all in all I think we've done a decent job. The best part is that every day around dinner time Claxton starts asking "when are we going to advent?"

Here's some of the things we've done:

made an angel ornament
made a sheep ornament
made cookies and decorated them
shopped for a Christmas tree
decorated our Christmas tree
made a star ornament
gave the birds in our yard a special feast
donated toys for some other kids to have presents under the tree
donated some food for other families
talked about the things we treasure
talked about who Mary & Joseph are
talked about Jesus and his birth
talked about good things God has given us
attended a Christmas program
rode around to look at Christmas lights and decorations

I have to say that this short time each night has been very special for our family and we all look forward to it every night. Hopefully next year I'll get a head start on planning our activities. We definitely want to do it again.

Essentials for great baking

2007-12-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

1. Getting flour on your face in the process...

2. Waiting patiently for it to bake

3. Getting to taste what you've just baked as soon as it out of the oven and cool enough to eat

On to bigger and better toys

2007-12-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

Julia has been crawling very well for almost a month now. So we've had to start being more careful with what toys we have available on the floor when she's on the move. And having to share on a regular basis is something new for Claxton. Something that he is not always pleased about. She's very proud of herself here where she has been able to get her hands on his airplane for a little while.

As soon as he is aware that she has something that belongs to him, it usually spurs on a conversation something like this:

Claxton (observing Julia with one of his toys): "Julia don't want that. She don't want it"
Me: "Well she must because she is playing with it."
Claxton (as he is heading towards Julia to politely take it away from her: "No, Mommy, she don't want it."
Me: "Claxton, it's important that we share. Julia is not hurting anything. It's okay for her to play with some of your toys too."
Claxton: "But I don't want her to play with it."
Me: "Life's hard. Get over it."
Claxton: "Oh."

Story time with a surprise guest

2007-12-16T23:20:00.001-05:00

The Reading Tree hosted a special Christmas story time with a reading of the Polar Express. At the end of the story, the children were greeted by a surprise guest who gave each child their very own silver bell. Bet you can't guess who it was! It was interesting watching Claxton. He wasn't quite sure what to do when Santa entered the room. He just stood and stared. Our child who is usually very vocal and animated was still, quiet, and watched with his hands behind his back. Once he realized he would get his own bell he came to life again. So Santa handed out the bells, then we talked to Santa for a few minutes and of course I captured a photo of the kids on his lap.

I'm probably a little biased

2007-12-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

But isn't she just adorable. She has gotten into the habit of crawling under the table and looking out the window. Often times she gets herself in a bit of jam and needs help getting out. Who could refuse that sweet smile?

This is just a comfortable position for her. I have no idea how she does it, but she can sit in this position and play for twenty minutes or so. I love watching her play especially when she does not realize it. Every morning I pull out the baskets with her toys and she's usually good to go for 20-30 minutes. More often than not this is the position she likes best. It's rare to find her on her sitting on her bottom playing.

A streak of creativity

2007-12-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

Claxton had a couple of days where he was just coming up with all kinds of new ways to use different items. These two I captured and thought I would share:

"Look Mom, this is a camera. You have to press the button to take the picture."

"I'm going to take a picture of you, smile!"

(Note: The power strip was not plugged in. It was out in the middle of the room on the floor because we were in the process of decorating for Christmas.)

"Hey Mom, watch me! I'm iceskating."

I gotta give it to him, he's got a great imagination.

In search for the perfect tree

2007-12-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

Every year we go to a local tree farm to search for that perfect Christmas tree. This year Claxton enjoyed running between the trees and of course informing us that he liked each and every one of them. It didn't take very long for us to settle on one. Julia was curious about the tree and kept trying to touch them as we walked around, but mostly I think she just liked watching Claxton run all over the place.

Time to lower the crib

2007-11-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

When I went in to get Julia up from her nap today she was on her knees holding on to the rail trying to pull herself up. It can't be time to lower her crib already. It's just too soon. Wasn't it just a few days ago that we moved her from the bassinet into her crib? Seems like it anyway. Daddy and Claxton will have to take care of this right away.

Last week

2007-11-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Even though Claxton didn't really get to play in the snow, he at least got to see some before it was all gone. But more importantly, Claxton and Julia got to spend time with Grandma D, Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Bobbie, and Meghan. Then on Thanksgiving Day Uncle Brad, Aunt Anne, and Kyle arrived. The boys always have fun together and this trip was no different.

Julia hanging out with Grandma D

Julia, Claxton, and Kyle watching the snowmen

Claxton enjoying being read to by Grandma D

Daddy and Julia

Claxton and Kyle pausing for a moment for a quick picture

Claxton and Julia with Grandma D

Travel update

2007-11-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

Thankfully we had an uneventful trip yesterday. There was no squealing at all. Both kids were extremely well behaved and Julia even slept for over half of the airplane ride. They both crashed in the car before we arrived at Grandma D's house though. It was a long day since we got up much earlier than we are used to in order to catch our flight.

And to top it off, Claxton's prayers were answered. It snowed on Monday afternoon and evening just in time for the ground to be covered and awaiting his arrival. He was very excited. We even saw a few snowmen along the ride from the airport to the house. It's mostly gone this morning, but there's a possibility of a snow again on Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

We've been reading books about Thanksgiving this week and Claxton doesn't really understand it, but loves reading the books about it. The one thing he knows for certain is that the pilgrims arrived on a boat called The Mayflower. The cutest thing is that when you ask him about it, he's just so serious.

Anyway, we are off to visit Grandma D (Brian's grandmother) for Thanksgiving and we are all looking forward to it. We are especially excited because it will be her first time meeting Julia. Every day Claxton goes through the drill of all the family members that will be there. He is so excited he can hardly contain himself. It's a rare occasion that we get to have Grammy, Grandpa, Kyle, Uncle Brad, Aunt Anne, and Grandma D all together for several days.

On another note, Claxton has been praying for weeks that it will snow at Grandma D's. Forecast is not really predicting any right now, but I suppose things could change. I'm hoping for him that we will see a little bit because he's not likely to see any at home. Of course it's been over a decade since we've gotten much snow so it's about time for a blizzard in these parts.

It's our first trip on an airplane with Julia. Have I mentioned that she's a squealer? Well, I'm hopeful she will not squeal to the top of her lungs on the airplane for two hours. I've stocked the backpack with all the Gerber star puffs I can fit in it. We should be adequately prepared to keep her quiet. I'll let you know how it goes.

Amongst all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holiday, don't forget what it's really all about. Take a few minutes to think about all of God's blessings in your life. I'm planning on doing it, and I know I've been blessed beyond belief in my life and have more than I could possibly ever deserve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My stars are all gone

2007-11-16T16:48:00.000-05:00

Smiling and squealing at the same time. This is where she uses that manipulative shrill along with that sweet smile to get what she wants. Works every time.

Look closely

2007-11-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

She's finally getting her first tooth. Look closely and you can see it.

Our brown-eyed angel is eight months old

2007-11-15T22:12:00.000-05:00

She's happy, wiggly, smiley, and very squealy. She's as curious as her brother ever was at this age. Her smiles are contagious, even after one of her high-pitched squeals when you think your eardrum might just burst, she's still able to solicit a smile in return from almost anyone. Her dad especially likes her squeals these days!! And Claxton just stares at her sometimes I think in disbelief that such a little person can be so incredibly loud.

None the less, it's a fun and exciting time as we watch her grow and observe her personality developing. She has already discovered the art of manipulation. She loves the Gerber puffed star snacks. When she's in her highchair and has eaten all that's on the tray, the squealing starts. When we try to feed the real meal to her, she shuts her mouth tight. A crowbar couldn't get it open. But put a star back in front of her and she's as pleased as pie. Not a good sign of things to come. But I admit that for now anything to stop the shrilling works for us.

Have I mentioned what a fantastic roller she is? Quicker than you can even imagine especially when it's time for a diaper change. If she's not doing any of the aforementioned things, then she may be trying to put either her hands or feet in her mouth, playing with her toys, watching Claxton, and sometimes even playing with him these days. Of course we've now reached the stage that when Julia touches something of his even though he's not playing with it, he immediately becomes interested in it again.

We've been blessed with her for eight months already and it's going just too fast. I already miss the tiny baby stage, yet am enjoying this stage equally as much. She's our sweet brown-eyed angel.

It's raining!!!!

2007-11-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

It's raining at our house tonight. Can't even remember the last time that happened. Not sure how much we'll actually get, but thank God it's raining. We certainly need it.

There she goes...

2007-11-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

It's official, she's crawling! No stopping her now.

The adventures of "Finding Nemo"

2007-11-08T11:06:00.000-05:00

We are having pajama day today. Both kids have colds so we are staying in to try to get healthy again. The kids are getting way more video time than is ever allowed in a given day, maybe even in a given week. It's just not an every day occurrence around here. After an educational video that only lasted 30 minutes, I realized that maybe a movie that's a little longer might be a good thing and just maybe I could get a few of the projects that are on my to do list checked off. So I asked Claxton if he wanted to watch "Finding Nemo". Of course he did. Well, I went to get it and could not find it. I took all of the videos out of the cabinet three times. It was not there. After a few more searches I told him we would have to watch something else. At this point his mind was set on watching it. So I went to one other place to look for it. In the mean time, the following conversation occured:

Claxton (yelling from family room): "Nemo is in here. It's in here, Mommy!"
Me (yelling from another room): "No, Claxton. I looked in the video cabinet three times. It's not there."
Claxton (still yelling): "Mommy, I got it. I found Nemo."
Me (still yelling): "No, Claxton. It's not there. Get out of the cabinet. I've looked three times. Trust me. It's not in there."
Claxton (rounding the corner): "Here it is, Mommy. I got it. I found Nemo!!"
Me (stunned): "You do have it...Take me to where you found it."
Claxton: "It was right here in the cabinet."

For the record, it was in a different cabinet, not the one I had looked in three times!! None the less, he knew where it was and I honestly don't know how he remembered. It was not in with all of our other DVD's and we haven't watched that movie since sometime in the summer. But he knew. Now I'm hoping he can help me get my hands on a few other missing items!

A Monkey & A Clown

2007-11-01T14:33:00.000-04:00

We really weren't super original with costumes for the kids. The monkey naturally is appropriate for our family, and the clown, well let's just say I'll probably hear about this in about ten years or so. Something like "why did Claxton get to be the cute monkey and I had to dress in some silly clown outfit on my first Halloween?"

We went to about five or six of our neighbor's houses and Claxton did very well with the routine - ring the door bell, say trick-or-treat, then say thank you. Sometimes he would forget the trick-or-treat part and just say thank you. I'd rather have it that way than the other way around.

He was intrigued about us walking around the neighborhood in the dark. And kept saying "this is fun walking in the dark."

It's Halloween

2007-10-31T15:50:00.000-04:00

Kids are napping and dinner is being prepared. We are getting ready to experience trick-or-treating with a 2-year old tonight. The jack-o-lanterns are in place and the costumes are ready to be put on. We'll see how it goes.

Salesman in the Making

2007-10-30T13:04:00.000-04:00

In sales, they always teach you to use questions to lead your customer to answer yes when it comes time to close the deal.

For a while, Claxton would state what he wanted immediately followed by a very positive "OK!". It was always funny, but we never thought much of it.

Recently, we have really started to teach Claxton how to properly ask for things. "May I please..." and "Would you please...". Claxton has really taken to it, maybe even to much. "May I please have sharks (they're fruit snacks)?" And without breaking stride he simple states "Yes, you may!"

He's almost two and a half. A salesman in the making. I'm just a little scared!

We've got pumpkins

2007-10-29T16:58:00.000-04:00

Four of them to be exact. They've been sitting on our deck for a week. And a certain somebody informs us every morning during breakfast that we have four pumpkins out on our deck. Well, yesterday two of them became jack-o-lanterns. Here's a look at the fun time we had.

Just trust us

2007-10-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

Last night we had an early dinner and dressed the kids in their pajamas immediately after we were done. Of course Claxton's initial reaction was, well, let's just say not very positive as naturally he thought it meant bed time. It was still daylight outside and he knows we don't go to bed until it gets dark. So after convincing him to trust us on this one, we loaded everyone in the car and headed into town. We arrived at what has become one of his favorite places to go - The Reading Tree. They were having a special event which included pajama story time. He kept saying how silly it was to be riding in the car in his pajamas, but was very excited when he realized where we were going. Miss Linda had on her pj's too. She sings songs with the kids, generally reads one or two books and makes a craft. Claxton loves to sing. Best way I can describe it is that he likes to sing as if no one is listening. Unfortunately no one has a choice but to listen!!

Mr. Fix It

2007-10-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

Today a hinge on one of the doors on the cabinets where we keep the toys broke. Claxton informed me that the door was broken and he had to fix it. He wanted to get Brian's tools out of the garage, but I convinced him he could use his own tools. So he ran to his tool bench and came back with a drill, a hammer, and a screwdriver exclaiming "I fix it, Mommy, I fix it"! And interestingly enough he actually went about it the proper way, (except for the hammering part, I'm not sure why that was necessary, but I kept quiet on that one), and even tested it to see if it worked as it should. After several good hearted attempts, I suggested he wait and ask Dad to assist him. He was good with that. But I learned that he is quite a determined little fellow today. And yes you can tell I've became a blogger because I ran for the camera to capture the whole thing.

This is where he is testing it to see if it works properly

In this one, he turned around and said, "Mom, take my picture!" (Ummm, I wonder if we take enough pictures around here?!!)

It's about to get hectic

2007-10-23T22:47:00.000-04:00

Julia is quite the mover these days. If there's something she wants she gets to it by rolling and scooting, and rather quickly too. This trick has been going on for a while now. Tonight however, she figured out how to get on all fours and sway back and forth. So I'm sure it's just another few weeks before she puts it all together and is crawling. We've enjoyed having the gates down for a while now, but I suppose those days are about to end again for a while. Here she is:

These are her cheerleaders