Good-Night, Sleep-Tight.

How sweet is this?

I realized that it was taking Craig a long time to come out of Hunter's room after putting him to bed tonight. Like 30 minutes! I figured Hunter was having a hard time falling asleep and just wanted his daddy to cuddle. But, to my surprise, as I quietly walked into the room, both of them had fallen asleep and I couldn't resist snapping this picture before waking Craig up to tell him to go to bed.

Happy Birthday Henry!!

How cute is he??!!

Happy Second Birthday to my adorable nephew, Henry! He is such a joy and I can't imagine my life without him. He is truly a blessing to our family and brings a lot of fun and laughter! Wishing him a wonderful day and a new year full of excitement! Love you buddy!

The Sink-Hunter's Favorite "Toy"

Some days I question as to why we even bother buying toys. Well, really we don't. We are given majority of our toys for gifts, hand-me downs, and Craig still has pretty much all of his toys from his childhood. Thank goodness we have a room designated for a toy room. Otherwise I'm pretty sure our house would like a toy store. Some days I wonder how we had all of them in an apartment.

Hunter's latest favorite toy is our bathroom sinks. They are the best. He loves filling them to the brim. Thank goodness there is a drain hole so it can't over flow. He has tried making it though because he wants our house to be a big flood and have it all under water. That way it will be like a big swimming pool like in Texas and we could swim and play in the water all day. I will give him a couple points for creativity.

The sink also converts into a bath tub for his fish bath toys. He will wash them with soap. If I drain the water he will melt down and say "MOM!!! The fish are going to die!!! They need water to survive!!!" I tell him they're just toys, but some days he is not convinced.

The sink makes great car wash too. He will have Hot Wheels cars and trucks lined up and drive them in and wash them off and will have a towel waiting on the other side so they can dry off. Maybe he knows that cars and trucks should be clean since his Uncle Jason owns a car wash. Hunter has always been a clean freak too.

I am so glad Hunter has the imagination he has. He can make fun out of the simplest things around the house. Hopefully it continues through the years.

Lucky's New Home

In May, we adopted our cat, Lucky, from the Humane Society. She is pretty much the best cat ever and tolerates the boys. Brody will practically tackle her thinking he's giving her a hug. And petting her is usually patting her. Hunter on the other hand will find a string of any sort and try to lasso her or make her a leash. He tells me that she really wants to go for a walk. For some reason, I have a hunch that she doesn't really want to.

The other day, Hunter was in the bathroom playing with water. He loves the sink...I will make another post about that :). I went to check on him to make sure that the bathroom wasn't getting flooded (Hunter's dream-more on that in another post). Fortunately it wasn't, but I did hear a faint meow come from somewhere. Immediately I questioned Hunter where Lucky was. He had the look of guilt written all over his face. Oh no, I thought. He proceeded to tell me that he made Lucky a new home and she really liked it. This is not the first time he has made Lucky a home. He will put a rug over a stool in hopes that she'll like it. He has written her name on cardboard boxes in hopes that she'll like it. But this time, I think he found one that she actually will like!

He then opened the closet and to my surprise I found Lucky curled up on a blanket purring away. She actually did like it. She found a nice soft spot where the boys wouldn't get her. However, I had to tell Hunter that even though it is a nice and comfy spot, she couldn't stay there. Disappointment was written across his face. But, I then explained that she didn't have her food or water or litter box. He was ok with that.

Lucky is not a fan of pictures.

Proud of his new home for Lucky. But with a slight look of I probably shouldn't have done this without asking my mom.

It's the Little Things that Matter.

After a rough night of sleep, make that hardly any sleep (I had a lot on my mind) I had a feeling today wouldn't start out too well. I'd be tired, crabby, etc. But, after my shower this morning, I checked my email and to my surprise had an email from Craig:

"Good Morning!

Just wanted to say I love you, I love you, I loooove youuuuu!"

This simple email put a smile on my face, brought back great memories of our first date (we went to the movie Elf where this wonderful quote comes from...and Hunter will run around the house saying it) and made me realize how lucky I am to have him in my life! I love emails...even the little ones because sometimes they're the ones that matter the most to me.

Extra Pickles, Please.

Well, as I stated in my previous post, Hunter and I were in town earlier today. Things took a lot longer than expected. By the time we were on our way home it was 1:30 and we still had no lunch in our stomachs. Oops! My dad was watching Brody so I didn't have to bring him out in the cold (Thanks Dad!) and I didn't set anything out for Brody for lunch. Double oops!
Quick, think fast! McDonald's was the easy answer. I figured I could order the food, eat mine on the way home, then while the boys were eating I would put away all the groceries. Ding, ding, ding! We had a winning idea!
So, I went through the drive-thru and ordered our lunch. I was craving a double-cheeseburger with extra-pickles. (I think McDonald's and Subway have the best pickles ever and usually order extra when I'm at either place.) We got our food and were off to our house. I quickly found my burger, unwrapped it and took my first bite. Wow! Talk about extra pickles! Just to prove it, I took a picture while at a stop-light. I tried counting, but the light turned green when I was at 15...and I still had more to count! Unbelieveable! Not going to lie though, my double cheeseburger with extra pickles was AMAZING! Ok, so maybe there were a few too many pickles, but I still enjoyed it.
The way my dad and I have it figured someone at McDonald's was like "I'll show her extra-pickles" or they grabbed in the pickle container and pulled a few too many out. Either way, I was a happy lady.

Winter Wonderland!

This morning as I pulled open the blinds, I was greeted by a wonderful surprise-frost on the trees! I know, it's little, but I absolutely love the look. To me it is as if God has spent the entire night placing crystals all over every single tree for a special event. In my opinion, it makes living in Minnesota during the winter worthwhile.

Hunter and I headed into town for an appointment and some errands and the drive was simply gorgeous. Not going to lie, I was a little distracted because I kept looking at the trees and was wishing I had time to stop to take some pictures. (I made sure to throw the camera into my purse before I left home. You never know when there is going to be a photo op!)

Well, the appointment and errands went longer than I intended (typical) and the frost was disappearing off of the trees slowly. It wasn't as amazing on the drive home. But, as we were passing by my dad's house, I noticed the trees there still had a fair amount of frost. So, after passing his house, I turned around in the next driveway and headed back his way. I trekked through the snow in my tennis shoes to get a few shots. Hopefully I have some more opportunities later this winter. :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here. In some ways it doesn't even seem possible that another year has passed us by. But yet at the same time, it has been a very busy year.

Yesterday we received our first Christmas card. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited. And it came just in time. Earlier that day I cleared off the entire fridge so it was ready for all the new pictures to come. I love seeing how people change and families grow from year to year. Especially the little ones.

I have been busy getting our cards ready to send out. It is a bit of a process, but it is almost done. We don't always hear back from everyone, but it is that one time of the year that we actually take the time to contact some people. I like to share what has been going on in our lives, show off the boys and how much they have grown this past year, etc. Even though we don't always hear back, I still feel it is important to let them know we are thinking of them and feel blessed to have them be a part of our life.

However, I know that Christmas isn't always highly anticipated for everyone. It always seems like this time of year people get depressed, saddened and lonely. They miss the loved ones who are no longer with us. Holidays are hard because you're wondering how it may be different if that person was here. I have been there before. I remember when I was in sixth grade we were at my aunt and uncle's house in Bemidji. A normal kid loves being woken up Christmas morning, however that morning I received terrible news.

I remember my dad walking into the room we were staying in and broke the news to us. My grandma had passed away that morning. It didn't seem possible. We had just saw her the day before. There was no way she could be gone. Tears immediately filled my eyes and rolled down my face. My mom and older brother had already left to join relatives to make funeral arrangements. I didn't think it was fair. She was only 67.

I remember my dad comforting me and praying with us. Even though it was hard losing my grandma on Christmas day, it was also very comforting. She went to be with the Lord on the day we celebrate Jesus' birth. And because of Jesus coming to Earth to save us from our sins, we have eternal life with Him in heaven. I knew that my grandma was no longer sick or in pain and it was so comforting. I knew that one day I would see her again because she believed.

Even though Christmas can be a hard time for some of us by remembering the ones who are no longer with us, I hope we can find peace in knowing that we are saved from all of sins and that Jesus is the Reason for the Season! And therefore, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

"Me Time"

With Craig's work schedule being as busy as it is, I am busy watching the boys and have little time for myself. But every now and then I need some "me time" as I like to call it.
My "me time" usually comes at night after the boys are down. Sometimes it starts as early as 8:00 PM. Other times it's not until 10:00- or even worse, 10:30. But, I need it. I am not a morning person (never have been), so I don't get up before the boys unless I have to. They are my alarm clock.
When I get my "me time", I usually watch a movie or TV, read a book, look through magazines, go online, catch up on emails, Facebook or the latest- blogging. Sometimes it's for an hour or two, other times it is only around 15 minutes. But I need it. It's the time of the day where I can do what I want to do with little to no interruptions.
Do you have a certain time of the day that you take for yourself? For me, it is an important part of my day.