On the Eve of Four...

I crawled in his bed and just watched him.

Soundly sleeping and surrounded by his favorite toys and a couple of his favorite blankets, I couldn't help but realize this stage is over. The span from four to five years old brings such growth and all the baby features I am hanging on to will slowly disappear.

So I sit.

Taking it all in.

My last baby has begun to look more like a young boy and less like a baby.

I notice features that still remain exactly the same as they did four years ago.

His lips. His lashes. His skin. His crossed hands and those long fingernails.

For a moment, I'm sad to leave these things behind, and yet I'm excited to be a part of what his fourth and fabulous year may hold for him.

My last baby turns FOUR tomorrow.

For now I'm just soaking up these last minutes with my three year old.Seriously. The boy's lips are perfect.How can you not love him?!

Table for two...

The dining room table was covered in folded laundry, the floor was covered in Legos, leaving only one small table left for the boys to eat dinner. Rather than slapping their food down and getting back to my chores, I decided to try and make it appear to be special. With a bad French accent, a towel over my arm, and frozen pizza, the boys were giddy! They even got to drink white wine {milk} out of real wine glasses! I personally think the candle was a great touch. Matthew didn't think 'dating' his brother was a great idea, but he certainly seemed to enjoy himself tonight!! I love that they felt so special tonight. We'll have to try this again soon!!

Toy Story 3 in Ice

To see more pictures from Toy Story 3, check out the 50+ pictures we took below. Sitting in the second row provided LOTS of photo opportunities and several memories for the boys! Thank you again, Poppy and LoLo!

Slideshow generated with Smilebox

Sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

To surrender or give up for the sake of something else.

Matthew was kind enough to sacrifice his own head to let Ethan sleep more comfortably in the back seat of the car. That really was the sweetest thing I've seen him do in a while. I knew I loved that boy for a reason.

Missing Grandpa...

I miss my Grandpa a lot...always around this time of year. He never got to meet Ethan because he passed away one month before he was born. He was a chain smoker. I was the only grandkid that really really was allowed to pick on him about smoking and even ruined several packs by breaking them or running them under the water. Today I saw these cookies and wished I could have made them for him. He would have loved them. I would have loved to hear him laugh when he saw these.

Find more cookies here...

Love.

I admit. I don't say it nearly enough to the people I love.

Early alarm clocks, laundry, jobs, kids, dinner, cleaning and anything else all tend to make it easy to push the important words to the side. On my way to work, on Valentine's Day, I heard a song that instantly made me think of Bryan and I. It felt like it was written just for us.

No, it's not been easy. It's not been perfect. It's not what I had imagined, but I love what it is. It's perfectly imperfect. He does the dishes for me, but he doesn't clean the sink. He brings me coffee on Sundays. He's loud, but he apologizes. He makes me laugh. He's sarcastic. He lets me be sarcastic back. He makes me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Every day.

So, Bryan. I love you. Life is crazy, but it's worth it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

LYRICS

MATTHEW WEST VIDEO LINK

Matthew's Valentines...

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be creative. For Matthew's Valentine's Day cards, there were no exceptions. When I saw hot chocolate on sale, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. The assembly was SIMPLE...the signing of the cards was as painful as childbirth. Ahhh. When will I learn?! Next year I'm going to just type their names on. Why bother with their *my* tears and the fights?? :) Regardless, I LOVE how they turned out!!

Ethan's Valentines...

Writing for a 3 year old is painful. For the parent.

I only made him write his name and he didn't do half bad.

He has 7 other kids in his class and for Valentine's he'll be handing out a handmade heart crayon and some Play-Doh! I think they look adorable!!

Besides, it's peanut-free and healthy. :)

Toy Story 3 on Ice...

They are coming soon.

I have so so so many pictures, I want to share them all. My blogger space is running low, so I am going to load them in to Smilebox and I'll post tomorrow!

Holy Cow!!

After Toy Story 3 on Ice, we went to Harry Caray's restaurant for dinner.

FIVE STARS!

Not only was I surrounded by Cubs (my favorite) paraphernalia, we all enjoyed an absolutely delicious dinner!! I loved being able to introduce my boys to a legend and someone who I listened to as a kid. They had NO IDEA who Harry Caray was and honestly, I don't think they really cared. Let's just hope I was able to erase some of the Philadelphia brainwashing that goes on in our house!!

HOLY COW!!

Blizzard by iPhone

There were so many photo ops during the blizzard and these are just a few of my favorites...all courtesy of my iPhone.

(Clockwise from left - a bulldozer plowing the court, 2 feet of snow on our front walk, the deck. buried, a huge snow drift on the roof, a man skiing down the bike path, Matthew and I after shoveling, Ethan wandering around during the snow, the mailbox, a major road - whiteout, Matthew getting blasted by Bryan's snow blower, and the driveway (center))

{click to enlarge}

Shoot'n Hoops

Another sport. More practices. Lots of sitting on the sidelines with a VERY active younger brother. This boy is a social athlete. He loves being around his friends. He loves laughing and playing. The actual sport??!! Not so much. I think it's just a way for him to hang out with his friends. Right now, I should be OK with that. Right??!!

He was even more excited because he had a LARGE fan section. Poppy and Lo Lo came in from NJ, his dad took the day off of work, and Nonny and Babop came with his cousin, Eli. Don't forget, his two most loyal fans, were also there...Ethan and I!! :)

Happy Birthday, Bryan!!

I love the end of the video when I say, "...1 year closer to 40!!"

Matthew replies, "You're 48?!"

Wow. The math is amazing!

There is something so special on these kids' faces. Ethan just adores his dad and Matthew looks so content cuddled up to him. This is what makes my days happy...seeing these three, happy and smiling. :)

Happy birthday, hun!

Heart Attack

A few years ago, when I was working in a third grade classroom, we had an especially difficult year. For me it was an emotional roller coaster. The teacher I worked with passed away unexpectedly, my grandfather passed away a month later, and the following month I was due with my son, Ethan. Valentine's Day was a week before I was scheduled to deliver and we wanted to make the kids feel extra special before I left. It was time consuming, but boy did it feel good. Every single kid left the classroom feeling loved, appreciated and wearing a smile. Each kid made a heart for every kid in the class and then dropped them off. The students got to read 25+ reasons why they were special! That makes a person feel so good. I had forgotten all about it until I was reading 71Toes, and I realized her family did the same thing.

{Her family is ADORABLE, by the way! Check her out if you have time!!}

After dinner tonight, I sprung it on my very hesitant family that we were going to do the same thing. I have to say, it was the best thing we've done as a family in a long time. It cost us nothing, but each person left feeling a little bit better and a lot more loved.

The boys were hard at work!! Matthew was chosen to read all the hearts. A few of the hearts...

Blizzard 2011

Blizzard 2011 lived up to the hype. After 20+ inches of snow and two days off of school, this blizzard made for some real fun for the boys!! Bryan shoveled and snow plowed for hours. From the looks of the snow drifts, I'm afraid we'll have snow in our yard until August.

{click image to enlarge}

Jumped on the 'BLOG-WAGON'

I jumped on the bandwagon (err, 'blogwagon') and I like it. A LOT! Even my mom (Hi, Mom!) has become a frequent reader of many blogs I follow. Most blogs are giving tutorials on fabric rosettes, but honestly, I don't do well with a needle and thread. I've been really wanting to try to make some for a long time, then I found a really easy tutorial. Super easy and not a fussy pattern. Even the circles don't have to be cut perfectly! Whew. Not to mention, anyone who knows me, knows that I have a slight obsession with polka dots, so when I saw this fabric in the store, I knew it was meant to be. I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but I was just to excited to wait for daylight to get a good quality one!! Can you guess what the teachers are getting for Valentine's Day??!!

You can find tutorials on these websites:

Mad Mim #7

Mad Mim #6

(I know there are more, but I can't seem to find them right now!!)

The Naughty Finger

Please don't judge me or the parenting that takes place in our home. I honestly don't even know how this started. Apparently he just wanted to share. I'm certain he didn't learn this in his Lutheran preschool...so where oh where did he pick this up?!

Terrible Twos?!

He's three.

In 20 days he will be four.

This can't be normal for a child his age.

I should already know that there is no such thing as normal.

Matthew never did stuff like this.

Today Ethan gave me a double whammy.

He cut his own hair.

He flushed directions down the toilet. (attempted, anyways.)

He lied about all of it.

Someone tell me he'll stop this.

Please.

I'm really thinking that I should have enjoyed his 'twos' more.

He saved up the naughty for his 'fours.'