Kissing Cousins

I'm sure these two will be disgusted that I even persuaded them to do this...but it's still cute. Madison is 2 months younger than Ethan and she's the daughter of my first cousin, Heather.

(Yes, I know it's blurry...that's why I tried to 'alter' it a little so the terrible quality didn't overpwer the picture.)

Almost Over.

It just dawned on me...my vacation is almost over. For the first part, I've felt like this:For the next few days...I'm going to attempt to do a little more of this:

I'll let you know how that turns out!

P.S My house is 'almost' spotless!!

Christmas Cards

I'm late. As usual. I have them all in envelopes. Return labels are on. But guess what is missing. Your addresses. In an attempt to 'quick clean' my house, I misplaced my address book. So, just in case you were wondering, this is our Christmas Card. Well, call it a holiday card...since I missed Christmas!! Be on the look out for a little surprise in your mailbox within the next week. :) It is coming...I promise!

Feeling Crafty

I am getting the urge. For nearly the past 2 years, every moment of my life has been consumed with school and homework. I have 1 more week off from school and I intend to make this house clean, organized and even do a craft or two. (With or without the boys.) :) I think I'm going to make this one first...I've been eyeing something similar on Etsy for ages, but I've learned it is totally doable for less than $2!! Stay tuned!!

Directions can be found here.

This is the object of my obsession on Etsy.com

(Did I mention I L.O.V.E. this website??!!)

Too Pooped to Play!

After I got Ethan all dressed up tonight to play, and he fell sound asleep!! I couldn't believe he did this. He was so darn cute that I just HAD to take a picture.

Tis' the season....

Ethan's battle wounds while I decorated. He tried (and lost) bringing up lots of toys from the basement and tripped and fell, banging his lip and eye on the toys. OUCH!...by bedtime story time, all was well with the world. :)

Christmas Parade

Christmas in the Ward House is such an exciting time. Both the boys are THRILLED with the entire idea of Christmas, Santa and all the decorations and festivities that are included with Christmas. For the past several years, I have taken pictures with Santa for Dickens in Dundee. The next day, every year, is a parade that has lots of candy and Santa gets towed down Main Street. Let's just say that even though I was late, we still managed to have lots of fun and the boys gathered almost 10 pounds of candy. And no...I'm not exaggerating.

Shhh. Don't tell them I threw it all away.

Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year. The turkey turned out well. Gravy made by my mom was great and the company was wonderful. This year we had a lot of fun and shared things we were thankful for from each letter of the alphabet. Even Matthew got into the fun and shared really ingenious ideas for the letters he had.

Normally I don't like pictures of myself, but the turkey looked too good not to share. :)

Mom's excellent gravy!

The hungry company.

The kids table.

And Ethan...in his regular pouting position. He never likes his dinners.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dear Husband...

I know you were wondering what you could get me for Christmas. I found the perfect gift and it is in our price limit. Just wanted to drop a large hint. :) You can find them in a size 9 right here.

Love you. :)

Pumpkin Patch

On a very pretty fall day, my dad told me that my cousin would be running in his last cross country meet of his high school career. We rushed out of the house and went to watch! It was fun to see so many people turn out for the race! My boys were stylin' in their very cute hats from their Nonny and Babop.

After the race, we decided to go to Malta for apples...but when we got there, the apples were all gone and the pumpkins were the special of the day. 3 pumpkins for $10. Ya can't go wrong!

Matthew and Ethan even got to play in corn kernels! What fun that was!!

Ethan hauling his own pumpkin! His pumpkin picking experience was NOT what he would consider a good time!!

We even went through a corn maze...Eeks! That was an experience! I'll save you the details and the other 150 pictures we took! All in all...Bryan and I had fun! The boys...well, we will see when we talk about going back next year! It certainly was an experience!

POUT

Matthew got to open birthday gifts before his birthday from Nonny and Babop. He got lots of GI Joes, clothes and a new coat. Matthew was thrilled. He even got a chess set from Blue Nanny and Old Papa who also came into town to visit!

But, Ethan....

Yes, I know it's blurry...but Ethan is in the background, pouting on the stool. He was so angry that he didn't get any cool stuff!

However, at the end...Ethan still loves his big brother!

The Party.

Matthew's 7th birthday turned out to be a WONDERFUL time. His day started out with donuts on our special birthday plate and ended with pizza and pop...and lots of family, friends and presents!

Even Ethan got to enjoy the birthday...I think the cupcakes were the only thing Ethan liked about having to watch his big brother have a special day.

Matthew's Poppy and LoLo came out from NJ to spend the day with him, too!
Matthew's gifts from all of his very generous friends after his birthday!

He is 7.

(Matthew at exactly 7 years old...10.24..09 at 7:13 PM)

My 'baby' turned 7 on October 24th. I still can't believe it's been 7 years since he came into this world! He came into the world on his terms and still today, he's living life on his own terms. I don't think they write parenting books that could help us...this kid has a mind of his own. Even though he is a tough kid to parent, he's easy to love. He is active, intelligent, loving (when he wants to be) and helpful. He's our special little man and we love him very much. Happy birthday, Matthew!