Rainy Day...for a Week

It seems as if we can't catch a break with all the bad storms that have been coming through our area. With bad weather comes cabin fever for 3 very hyper active boys. These last couple of weeks have truly tried my patience in more ways than one. Since Steven had had enough of the fighting and wining about one of our kids NOT breathing or touching the other one he decided to have a game day. While they all look so sweet and angelic don't let it fool you, they were ready to take each other down a few minutes before LOL Ah the joys of raising sons!!

Dr. Suess Day at school for the younger kids!

I put this one in just to show that they can be serious and reverent when they need too LOL

Gardening Time!

The boys LOVE to plant their individual gardens. They decided today was the day to weed their flower beds and get things prepped. I have to say they take after their father and their Maw Maw in that they can grow anything. They are to the point that they could probably make a popscicle stick sprout! It's kind of odd though being as how I have a Masters degree in Botany and can make silk flowers wilt....for the record, Botany is the identification of plants, therefore, I can identify every plant I have ever killed and every out of the blue plant my sons and husband can grow. Oh well, I don't mind having resident gardeners! :)

A Tribute to Hamlet...

On January 4th, our 12 year old German Shepherd, Hamlet, passed away. I have always referred to both our dogs as "puppies" when in fact just Seamus is. I guess because Hamlet had been in our lives since we got married that he was always our puppy. I still remember bringing each of our boys home from the hospital and the ritual of letting Hamlet meet them for the first time. He was always gentle when he walked up and sniffed them. He also stuck right by our sides and wouldn't leave the room we were in when our daughter, Gracie, passed away. Some people think that dogs are animals and no emotional connection can be made. We know different. We will always have the vivid memories of him getting to know our boys. Then 3 years ago watching the process of him getting use to the fact that the nagging white ball of fur nipping at his feet and legs was his son, Seamus. He will be greatly missed.....

Where does the time go?

I didn't think that it had been so long since I posted pictures! Yikes! It's been a while! Thanks to my sweet mother-in-law Liz for getting me back on track!
It seems like we have been passing around the same upper respiratory virus and bronchitis to each other for over a month now. I seriously wish we could all get well already. I mean, I taught my kids to share, but geez they didn't have to share that much. lol

I added this one because Orion took it! I mean look how sweet they are trying to look!

This was a product of numerous tries and them insisting that they would "act right" with this picture.

In case you have never had the pleasure of meeting James, he marches to the beat of something...at this point I'm not even sure its music

Our sweet Hamlet....

Orion determined that this is a "cool" pose for a picture..

The boys and their Maw Maw! I have so many pictures of them with their Paw Paw and almost none with Maw Maw :)

So much to do...not enough time to do it!

I don't know if it's just me or not, but it seems as if time flies by much quicker between Halloween and Christmas. December came way too early for me. I am diligently working on finishing the Christmas shopping. I am not a Black Friday type person. I have no desire to be trampled in order to get a deal on the items I want. I know it's crazy but I would rather spend a little extra than deal with those people! We managed to get our Christmas tree up the first week of this month and of course we made Christmas chains. The boys truly love making them every year so that they can count down the days until Christmas. The pictures that I am posting are just a "trial" run for Christmas pictures. If you are wondering about Ian's lips, they were very chapped. It does kinda look like he had collagen injections lol! As you can tell from the pictures, the boys thoroughly enjoyed this photo session!

It looks like the tree is leaning but it wasn't. Steven thought it would be funny to take a picture at an angle...and he wonders why he isn't allowed to take pictures unsupervised.

Thanksgiving!!!

We will use any excuse to make a run for the coast to visit with family but it is always an added perk when it's a holiday and the house is packed! We had the best time but unfortunately we had to make this one of our "fly by night" trips. We left our house at 6:30, drove 4 hours with 3 very excited kids, visited with our wonderful family, and then drove 4 hours back home with 3 exhausted, sad little boys. But who knows, maybe Orion's Christmas wish will come true and we will get to move back to the coast very soon. According to our boys, the only thing that could have made Thanksgiving better was getting to see Aunt Christi, Uncle Scott, Christian, and Jackson. That will definitely be on our itinerary for our next visit!

Our Niece Tyler

Little Miss Natalee

Our Nephew Lee and his girlfriend Melanie

My sweet Mother-in-law and Father-in-law

James and Justin: Partners in Crime

James is explaining the finer points of "puzzle building" to Justin