He's Six

Brady Paul is 6 today! At 6, Brady:

• best subject is math and is starting to read
• LOVES Star Wars
• will eat almost anything - favorite food is shrimp
• cracks up constantly while watching Tom & Jerry

He got a new bike this morning (and agreed to wear the "6" shirt I made last night. I wasn't sure if he would think this was still cool, but he did.)

And he showed me the bars on each wheel that will allow him to do "tricks."





















Ed is taking a cookie cake/juice boxes to his classroom this afternoon. (Not beautiful, but it will taste good :)

Little britches is having a hard time and constantly asks when his birthday is and wants me to know he wants pink punch at his race car party. It might be a long 4 months! But he was happy to help me make the cookie cake and got one for himself.

Great Wolf Lodge

We received a gift certificate to the Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas from Grandma & Grandpa Stockwell and the boys couldn't wait to use it. We've never been before and it just happened that they were invited to a birthday party there the weekend before we went and stayed the weekend (while I was in Nashville). So they had already tried out the waterpark and were ready for more - but they were especially excited to stay in the "Wolf Den" - bunk beds with their own TV.

The Waterpark was a lot of fun. Both boys were able to go on all of the big slides - it was really amazing for me to see them not even blink at these rides. They hopped into the inner tubes without a care and these were big slides that went into dark tunnels with lots of movement. It might be a whole different experience for us at the pool this summer!

They even had a big "kid hot tub." It was nice to hop into warm water and not worry about whether the boys could go in or if it would be too hot. It really was like bath water and amazingly it was never that crowded so the boys were able to swim around quite a bit. On Sunday Brett decided he was going to go under water and look at us so I got their goggles out. Both boys loved looking around with these - I'm sure a lot of kids do, but this was such a huge breakthrough for Brady. Little brother has been good for him when it concerns being brave at the pool!

Every night at 8 they have story time. It was a popular event!

Grandma & Grandpa Stockwell came for pizza and brought us cake to celebrate Brady's 6th birthday. Yum!

(Notice him eating AROUND the frosting. It was all I could do not to take a big swipe of frosting with my finger! :)

Ditto that

I ditto this post. Ed and I watched Leno/news/Conan almost every night. I guess I became a fan without really meaning to - he makes me laugh :)

The Choice

While trying to organize one of my infamous "piles" that contains images of what I want to make, buy, vacation, play, wear . . . .I found this "story" that I have saved from college. I love it.

The Choice

I watched some men tearing a

building down.

A group of men in my hometown.

With a heave & a ho & a mighty yell,

They swung the ball & a sidewalk fell.

And I said to the foreman,

"Are these men skilled, the type you'd

hire if you want to build?"

And he smiled, then laughed &

said "No indeed;

common labor is all I need.

For we can tear down in a day or two

what it took a builder years to do."

As I turned, I shook my head;

I knew there was truth in

what he said.

And I thought to myself as I

walked away,

Which of the roles am I

going to play?

Am I builder as I work with care,

Measuring life by the rule & square?

Am I shaping my deeds to a

well-laid plan, carefully

doing the best I can?

Or am I wrecker as I walk

the town, content with the

labor of tearing down?

--Unknown

Creative Memories

I'm going to steal this book idea - so I can capture all (the "good" things) the boys make that are 3-dimensional or don't fit into an 8.5 X 11 binder by taking pictures of them and writing a little something about them.

SNOW much fun!

School is closed today. Possibly another 6 inches of snow coming this afternoon. This winter has been crazy! Unfortunately most of the time, the kids can't even play in the snow because it's so cold.

But they did get to go sledding on New Year's Eve with their cousins (and with Ed the week before but I missed it) and LOVED it. Even when grandpa got cold, Brett was still saying he wanted to go more. Crazy kids!

Off they go!

Bro went from smiling to this

so he got off and decided to mow (with his tongue out :). Dreaming of summer probably. . . .

While the big kids were waiting to sled, they were doing this.

Breckyn got a turn before I went inside because my hands were on fire (no gloves WASN'T smart for the photographer)

And Brady thought he was pretty cool laying down.

And by the end of it, I think my dad was COLD.

Cute

NOT them, the dress.
(Image from People.com)

Homemade

I always have high hopes of getting a lot of homemade presents made for the holidays. I didn't get a lot made this year, but I was happy with the ones I did.

A reversible cape I made my for my 3-year-old nephew. (Brett was my "size model" and didn't even seem to mind that it wasn't for him.) I found the idea here. (I didn't do velcro - I had just made the straps long enough that he could tie it in a knot. This seemed to be easier for everyone!)





















I also made three of these block photo puzzles. It's a fun idea when you have pictures of friends you don't get to see often enough :)



















Oh, and I also made some of these for breakfast. They were quite tasty and easy.

2010

I've NEVER been one to make resolutions. But this year I am.

• Fitness - It's hard to admit (to myself) but it's been a long time since I've really been in shape. And it's not because I wouldn't love to, but I have never found that hour in the day. But I'm going to FIND the time this year (and feel good in my swimsuit).
• Home - I'm going to declutter and get rid of the stuff we don't LOVE - which I hope will make it easier to have an organized house.
• Projects - I want to finish the Christmas quilt I started last year and get all of my scrapbooks up to date (and figure out how I'm going to record memories/pics moving forward. . .)
• Family - Be in the moment. Patience and understanding. Growth and love. Happy Home.

New Year's Eve

The kids were BUSY on New Year's Eve. They took newspaper, scissors and tape and locked themselves into my parent's downstairs bathroom. The result was this. . . .

It was hard to get this picture of them because they thought there was "still work to do." I think that's when the adults told them they had done enough :)

Some "in progress" pictures.

In addition to making the chain, the kids had fun playing games. Breckyn & Brynna each got a new Nintendo DS and Garrett already had one. (Brady has since decided he would like one too - good thing he has a bday coming. . . .)

And the Rowley's brought their Wii. Brett thoroughly enjoys the Wii. Every other word was "Can I play the Wii??

And they all played Operation. Another game on Brady's bday list!

While the kids were doing this, we were playing "Pitch" and Scatterglories. I wasn't sold on learning a new card game (it usually takes me far too long to catch on), but it was FUN!

Christmas 2009

Our Christmas celebrations were a bit different (spread out) for us this year. We spent the Saturday before Christmas at Ed's mom's. The kids were excited to start the present opening process and had a great time playing with their cousins - Alexis, Jaxon and Gracie.

and were thoroughly worn out (asleep) by the time we left.

We were going to celebrate with Ed's dad and more of his relatives on Christmas Eve but the snow postponed it until the Saturday after Christmas. Since we were actually going to be home on Christmas day (so strange, but nice!), my parents came up for dinner (I was so glad to see them). We had already decided to have Chinese but I was totally ignorant and didn't realize grocery stores (Wal-Mart, McDonald's!!) are closed on Christmas and I didn't have anything to make Chinese food with. So, a little bit of stress but I made the snowy drive to a Chinese restaurant that was open, my parents brought egg rolls and crab ragoon and we had a great dinner and played a little Candyland.

The next day everyone that was going to come on Christmas Eve came up. We had a nice dinner and the kids enjoyed playing with their "Stockwell cousins" again.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on New Year's Day. We had already been in Lebo for a day so the kids were bursting and couldn't wait to open the presents. Now that we have almost 4 that can read, they all wanted to play Santa and hand them out. I remember loving to do this when I was little.

We go around the room and open presents from youngest to oldest. Brett and Brogan were excited to have a BIG present each this year and they opened them together - Extreme Smart Cycles!

We had great Christmas celebrations!