December 30, 2009

imagine..15 years....

these two are only 5 months apart, so just imagine what life will be like for us in 15 years. wondering if they would be opposed to an arranged marriage?
after seeing this picture, all i could think was "If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it...all the single ladies..."

December 26, 2009

the day after...

what happens when there are way too many boxes left over from x-mas, it's too cold to go outside, and you have some extrememly bored boys....DESTRUCTION!!

December 19, 2009

and he's at it again....

as you can see, Rex always finds a great spot to sit and watch for the day. the kids were especially pleased with his kitchen rooster location...

December 18, 2009

happy birfday to me...

time for a little self promotion (also known as swagger, chutzpah, spunk, arrogance, etc.)...yes, today is MY birthday and i'm proud to say that i'm 34 years old. i'm not ashamed of my age, i'm actually quite proud. i'm glad that i'm no longer a teenager who has no clue what happens in the world around them, or a twenty-something just starting out, but rather an adult that has many things i never knew adults could have. i'm happy to say that not only do i have a FAMILY (and a pretty good size one at that), i have more friends than i have ever had before, more laughs, and more fun than i did when i was younger. right now 34 is awesome, and it's still better than being 35 or hell even 40! i said i was okay with being 34 and that's it i'm not getting any older than this!

today i'm celebrating (yes, that means i'll be drinking...a lot) by doing the usual...laundry, dishes, wiping snotty noses, and staying in my pj's. although i am doing something else today that's a little out of the box, but that's a story for another day....

that's me circa 1979
(totally oblivious and completely happy)



December 13, 2009

the many places of Rex...

so, i'm sure everyone has seen or heard of the "Elf on the Shelf"....ours, whom we call Rex, came to us last year for the first time. this year he came well equipped with a cape and climbing rope (look for future pictures of this). he always seems to get himself into some kind of predicament when he makes a crash landing somewhere (see tree picture), so he came prepared this year. the boys have a blast looking for him every morning, and even Nolan gets excited about trying to find him (Nolan calls him WEF). supposedly the elf is to be keeping an eye on the boys for Santa, but i don't think he's been doing a good job...he poses no threat to our boy's bad behavior. maybe if Rex has an "accident" and doesn't return one morning the boys might feel the heat...







December 10, 2009

one happy family....


not the picture i chose for our holiday cards this year, but it's pretty darn close (i would have liked to use this one, but couldn't find a card i liked to fit this picture). we were lucky enough to have a friend help out with taking our picture (with a small donation of course). i can't believe that we got everyone to smile at the same time and sit still for more than 2 seconds!! it's still hard to believe that our little family (just the two of us 10 years ago) has grown to a family of 5 and that all my kids will be in "school" next month....crazy!!

*totally forgot to post the picture of just the boys....please notice Preston's usual placement...why is he such a loner (at least he's smiling and not pouting)?

December 5, 2009

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...







FINALLY! well, i say finally, but it's only the 5th of December...
the boys were so excited to pick out the tree and get it home to put all the "balls" on. oh how it pains me so to watch them decorate the tree. i'm not an obsessive person, but there are maybe 3 things i'm a freak about and having a "perfect" xmas tree might be #1 on that list. so, watching the boys load all the green balls in one spot and all the red balls in another...painful! hope they don't noctice in the morning that the tree magically fixed itself overnight and all the ornaments are perfectly placed over the entire tree. i love my boys, but c'mon! if it weren't for Colin climbing on the window to put some ornaments up a little higher, all the balls would be no higher than 3 1/2 feet (shorties)! maybe they'll believe that Rex (our Elf on the Shelf) did all the "redocorating"....

December 2, 2009

SNOW!!!

it's only the 2nd day of December and this is what i woke up to....

i know we've all seen snow before, but for Nolan...this is kind of a first. i'm pretty sure the last time it snowed like this was the day he was born (you know back in March of 2008). talk about a crazy morning! when Colin got on the bus at 7am the snow had just barely started, but now at 8am it's a full on blanket of snow out there. i'm tempted to keep Preston home from school just so i don't have to leave the house and "mess" up the pretty picture we have going out there....

November 30, 2009

10 friggin years...

you might say i've been a little busy...i haven't been keeping up with this blog in almost a month (tsk tsk). last week Chris and celebrated our 10th Anniversary (in Belize!) along with Papa EJ birthday, Madison's birthday, and Thanksgiving! the last week alone was enough to put me in a serious food coma (from which i'm still recovering). it's hard to believe that we've been married for 10 years (15, if count the 5 years of dating)! i can't imagine what the next 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years will be like...we've already experienced so much in just this 10 years that it's hard to picture it getting any worse or better. i imagine the only thing that will top the birth of my 3 boys will be the future birth of my first grandchild (but we have a looooong time before that ever happens).

here's to you Babycakes....i'll call you squishy and you will be my squishy...

November 17, 2009

what happens when mommy isn't looking...

it seems my 20 month old is very crafty with a stool and his grubby little fingers...i head off to do the laundry and he comes in with a handful of Oreos! i went off to inspect the kitchen and found an empty bag of cookies!! mmm...guess he won't be needing that lunch after all...

November 2, 2009

wow, it's really 7 in the morning....

feel blessed that 1. i'm up this early 2. i'm in a good mood (thanks to 2 cups of coffee) and 3. you're getting a cool story out of me...i just read a friend's blog that got me to thinking (HockeyMan) and of course i was a little mad that it made me cry so early in the morning, but it did get me to thinking. yesterday, to him, was a very significant day and to everyone else just another ordinary day (unless it was your birthday or something); he celebrated "father's day". i got to thinking about the day(s) that Chris and i found out that we would become parents for the first (second & third) time, which is what mr. hockeyman was referring to. i remember Colin's like it was yesterday...September 5, 2001. it was lunchtime and i was at home from work (yes, i at one time had a real 9-5 job) when i recieved a phone call from my OBGYN's nurse. "Ash, you might want to sit down, hon." after that, i almost threw up in my mouth and passed out. we were not expecting that phone call...at all! i was already 6 weeks along....no idea i was pregnant, but it was the best surprise, and one that i will never forget.

now, to the rest of this crazy story...so, it's a few years later, January 5, 2005...thought i was sick from bad oysters...nope, Preston was about to make us parents, again! a couple years later, July 5, 2007...once again i thought i was sick (this time it really was a hangover from 4th of July - oops!) but baby Nolan was ready to make us parents, again! so, did anyone notice a trend? no, not that we have all boys, but the days that i found out that i was pregnant...all on the 5th! i had no idea, and it creeps me out just a little. but, i now have my own holiday - Happy Parent's Day! - let's just hope that it doesn't mean i'm going to have 5 kids....

October 5, 2009

Preston's First Day of School


i still can't get over how big the boys have gotten, or that this is the 3rd year of school for both of them! hmmm...i'm thininking only about 17 more years before they're ALL off to college...

October 3, 2009

Heels and Hills

i must be crazy...i signed myself up to run a half marathon almost a year ago, but the original race day (back in May) was cancelled due to heavy flooding, so they rescheduled for the end of September. i stopped training back in May and didn't run all summer...crazy idea...so, come race day i was little worried i might be the person they have to scrape off the concrete and haul off on a stretcher. luckily i finished in what i would call a decent time, considering it was freaking hot and i hadn't put on my running shoes in months. i'm now wondering if i should try that again?!!


August 24, 2009

first day of school

I can't believe that he's starting 2nd grade, but even more....i can't believe how much he's grown up since Kindergarten!


January 27, 2009

the sunday food critics

if you have had a chance to look at my other website you will see that we are attempting what i like to call the Sunday Food Critics. our first sunday lunch will be February 8th, so keep an eye out for our first outing and how it goes....