It's begining to look a lot like ChRIsTmAs!

All over town trees are covered with ice.
The view out our front window- These pictures really don't do it justice. The ice just sparkles on the trees. The air is still except for the sound of dripping rain. I've never seen anything like this. It's so cozy!

Can't explain much now. The boys are climbing all over me, but I wanted to post these pics of the BEAUTIFUL ice storm we've had this week. There is about a half inch of ice coating almost everything. Thankfully the roads are safe, so we can just enjoy the scenery. But... It is SOO COLD! Our highs have been in the 20s- the Highs!

Also we had our ward party this weekend (as the ice was coming down). Brody got to talk with Santa and told him he wants, "everything!" Good luck with that one, Bro.

Brody with some "just friend" girls- Sophie, Mallory & Rylee

Don't tell me what I can't do!

It seems like Tate has been really keeping us on our toes lately. This kid just doesn't stop! On Monday I was doing the normal nap time routine getting both boys down before a client came over for a cut & color. I put Tate in his crib and walked into my room to get things together. I heard a strange sound and turned. There walking through my door, blankie in hand was Tate! I did a double take- It was freaky. I knew I had just out him in his crib and I had never seen him climb out before. I'd heard of other kids doing it, but had never experienced it myself. So, put him back in bed, but this time I watched him as he climbed almost effortlessly out of the crib. He was very proud of himself and his new trick. I couldn't stop laughing at this cute little chub! I watched him do it a few more times before I got the camera.
By the time I recorded this I think he was a little tired. It was not fun juggling my escapee and my hair client. I did continue to put him in bed each time he got out. I even brought in his pack and play hoping he wouldn't be able to climb out of that- nope- He's determined. A one point I gave up and just figured he'd ware himself out and I'd just put him down when she left, but then I didn't hear him anymore. I went to check and he had climbed into his pack and play and was finally ready for a rest!

Needless to say Tate has now made the switch to the toddler bed. I don't think he likes it yet. I know he likes that he can get out on his own, but I think he felt a little more secure in the crib. I'm sure in a week he'll be adjusted and hopefully go to sleep on the first try.
How can he be so big and yet so little at the same time?

I snuk in and took this once he finally fell asleep. Sweet baby boy.

I also wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister-in-law Tracey(the Mad Queen)! They are living in Japan for a few years so even though in the states her B-day is tomorrow, in Japan it's toady! I can't call there so I thought I'd give her special attention on the blog,(and since I have created a monster with her own blog!) Some of my favorite Tracey moments include- Curling my hair for my 8th grade promotion. Starting my love of picture taking and scrapbooking. Teaching me how to be a "movie snob"-That's from Glenn too. Helping me with all the "becoming a Mom" stuff and of course, we'll always have Columbus! Happy B-day Tracey-We love you!

Got Milk?

Don't worry- It's not blood!

Tonight as I drove in the Garage I was greeted by Brody & Greg- Welcoming me home from the grocery store. Greg had been building a speaker box for the car stereo he got for his Birthday and I guess Brody was helping him. As sweet as it was I couldn't help but notice someone was missing. "Where's Tate?" I asked. "Oh, He's in there running around somewhere." Greg replied. See Greg still thinks he can do projects and keep the boys busy at the same time. HA!I walked in the kitchen to catch Tate RED HANDED! He had climbed up a chair to get the Strawberry milk mix, spilled it everywhere and proceeded to eat it off the floor! I guess I hadn't put it far enough back on the counter, this will teach me to not put things away. As if this wasn't bad enough as I went to grab my camera to capture this moment forever, Brody decided Tate had a great idea and is now joining him in scooping the sugar off the floor! GROSS!!! Maybe I should have cleaned it up first, but I was laughing so hard I just had to take a picture.

I am starting to wonder if I feed Tate enough. This is the second time this week he has gotten into the pantry to help himself and spilling all over. Maybe that's it- He just wants to do it himself, but here he is earlier in the week eating cereal- again off the floor!
He knows he's guilty

In Greg's defense he has been Mr. Project lately. I mentioned in the last post that he was tearing out and building new stairs to our basement. Here are the during & after pictures. I am still amazed at how well and fast he did them. It only took him a day & a half, and most of that was trips back to the store! Look out Ty Pennington, you've got some competition!He's way cuter than Ty
Brody testing out the new stairs. The old ones didn't have the extended bottom two steps, there was just a big drop off on that side. It was smart thinking to make them longer and he even re-used some of the old wood, great job!


Oh and I colored my hair this weekend too. It can be dangerous to have all this hair color at my disposal!
I know this during shot is just beautiful. We always see the glamourous (thanks Fergie for teaching me how to spell it) after pictures, but never the scary process that leads to the after shot. I did this friday morning and as I cleaned during the processing time, my boys didn't know what to think. Tate just stared at me with a half smile trying to figure out what Mommy was doing. Brody was especially funny because after I washed it all out he kept asking me what happened to my eye brows. I told him I still had them- see. He said, "No, your new eye brows where did they go?"

A Perfect Holiday & Black Friday

To be honest this Thanksgiving started out as a bust. I was feeling really down about not having any family around. We had planned to have some friends come over in the evening to share desserts, but it just wasn't going to be the same. And then I kept thinking about all of you who were having fabulous get togethers and how great it would all look on your blogs... and that made me even more depressed!
Luckily, I have a wonderful friend who always seems to know how to make me feel better. Kristen called during the parade and said she and Chad really wanted us to come over for dinner. She was so sweet to invite us last min. The funny thing was when I first made plans for our family to just go out for dinner- I totally thought I would like it- but as the day came closer all those "family togetherness" commercials got to me. and I started to feel like we were missing out. Who's family is like that anyway? (Don't answer that)! - And Mom I don't need an "I told you to come to Utah."
Anyway- We went to the Withers and man can she cook! She had gone ALL out even though it was just going to be her family. She did let me bring a salad, but everything she made was fabulous! I'm not kidding it was the best Thanksgiving meal ever. And being with them really helped me snap out of my "poor me" attitude and start enjoying the Holiday. We did still have friends over in the evening to taste pies we had made- Um.... yeah- I MADE a trip to Costco for mine! :) And it was a lot of fun.
(It's funny- this has been kind of hard for me to write- I usually like to post the HAPPY things - La La everything is always perfect over here in Stepford- (smile), but I guess it's okay to admit that I'm not super happy all the time).



So what do you do when your depressed? I shop- Perfect timing huh!
Have you ever heard of BLACK FRIDAY? I had no idea what it was till last week. I heard some friends talk about it and was amazed I had gone this long with never hearing "The Day after Thanksgiving Sales", called Black Friday. There are websites dedicated finding the best deals for those crazy people who wake up before dawn and wait in outrageous lines just to get discounts on their Holiday shopping. Well, This year- I was one of those crazies! I've wanted new down comforter, but couldn't justify the $$$ so I woke up at 4:45 to brave the 18 degree morning and the 1 hour & 30 min. line. Was it worth it? Yeah- I think so. They had lots of other good sales too and I'm almost done shopping. We really aren't doing much this year. Our main focus is finishing the basement enough that we can use it as a playroom. That's what Greg did all day. He torn out the old stairs and is attempting to build new ones- they were pretty bad. Has Greg ever built stairs before you ask?- NO, but that doesn't stop him from trying. I guess we both went a little crazy this year. But we aren't the only ones- When we were out last night I saw people camped out in front of Best Buy. It was 4 in the afternoon! That might seem okay in AZ, but here it SNOWED on Wed. Our high has been in the twenties- Not the time to go camping! What is with us?
Have there been any recalls on Turkey we didn't know about?

Seasons Change

I had to post these pictures. I'm having a hard time lately keeping my eyes on the road. It is just SO beautiful! I wanted to TRY to capture some of the beauty for my less fortunate friends. ( I'm so nice). Here are just some random shots I took around our neighborhood. Yeah- I was that crazy lady stopped on the side of road with her camera. One thing I really love about our neighborhood is that the streets are lined with these big mature trees. Each season is just so amazing, I LOVE living here!

It's raining LEAVES!
The summer trees
No- It hasn't snowed yet, but when it dose this is what we see down our street
Here are just some random pics from the weekend-
Greg had a fun Birthday. He wouldn't let me throw him a party so I splurged on a german chocolate cake from Dean & DuLuca. It was so awesome - I'll never buy it again! One cake for two people is a bad idea, especially if it's the best tasting cake ever! Needless to say I've been running double duty this week. The boys enjoyed having balloons around again, They popped most of them by jumping on top of them!

That night Greg and I went out for Sushi and walked around some shops. It was a fun and relaxing break. The next night we had tickets to see a friend of mine preform with the Kansas City Ballet. Neither one of us had ben before and it was really neat. She danced beautifully and I loved the downtown atmosphere.

On Saturday Greg took a day trip to St. Louis, so the boys and I went to the Circus. Another place I'd never been before.... and now I know why. It was pretty fun, but I have to admit it was a strange crowd. The tickets were free and at intermission our friends and I decided we'd enjoyed our money's worth. We left early while the boys were still happy. It was more fun than I've made it sound. Where else would you ever see a Bear on a motorcycle or walk downstair on his hands?


I just had to add these last few. I loves my boys, they are so cute. Here they are playing outside on a brisk fall day.

THE BIG 3 0 !

Today is GREG"S 30th Birthday! I think I'm more excited than he is. I don't know if it's the fact that 30 is a pretty big deal or more that I love that we are "growing up" together . When we met I was 18 and he was 22, Now he's 30! I don't know- it's just special to me and I guess I feel like we've always been too young. Maybe now that he's 30 We'll get a little more r-e-s-p-e-c-t! Even though everyone still says he looks like a teenager-

There are many things I love about Greg, Here are 30 of them in no particular order:

1.He shovels the driveway and likes it!
2.He loves the seasons and is very happy here, but He wants to try out new places and not get too settled anywhere.

3.He is very adventerous and loves being active.
4.He tries to teach his friends how to Mountain Bike so he can have buddies to go with.

5.He chose me!
6.He's so hot he could model, but he swears he doesn't know it!

7. He's so helpful, I still remember him paceing at night with new born Brody so I could get some sleep.
8.He brings balance to my life and helps me to see a different point of view. He is a great listener when I need someone to talk to.
9.AgaIn he loves sports and he is really good at all of them. Even if it's his first time... It's kind of not fair.
10.He'll try almost anything, He's gone scuba diving, water rafting and even sky diving!- CRAZY, That was not with me.
11. He is such a sweet Daddy. It's been fun to see the transition from no kids to kids. The boys truly adore him!
12.He makes some pretty cute boys too, if I may say so-

13.Even When things are hard he keeps hanging on.
14.He is a very dedicated worker and always dose his best in any job.

15. Education is important to him. He still talks about going back for his MBA.
16. I admire his passion and ability to prioritze to get things done.
17. He is a computer geek.
18. He's given both of our boys computers before they were one. (They were free from his work, but our boys see how much he likes them and want to be just like Daddy).

19. He loves to play rough with the boys. They are so happy when they can tackle and run crazy! But he has the softer side too and is very loving with them.
20.My favorite is when he reads them bedtime stories, too cute. I've even caught him singing to them!- It melts my heart.

21.He is so intelligent, sometimes too intelligent.
22.He loves to teach other people, at least when they are willing to learn.
23.He loves treats- Many nights he'll stop off at the store to pick up treats. I'm not always happy that he gets them - I don't need the extra temptation, but it makes me laugh that he dose it.
24.He let me teach him the joy of good food! One of my favorite stories is when he came out here for an interview, the first thing he told me about was this awesome restaurant they took him to, not the job offer, the food... He really is meant for me. :)
25.He can fix pretty much anything. He's teaching Brody how to also.
26. Even if he's never tried to make or fix something he'll try and usually dose an amazing job. He just installed a car stereo for the first time and it sounds great.

27.He tried to teach me to Mountain bike and was really sweet when I was scared and gave me confidence to go down the hills.
28.He is So patient with me. I could list at least thirty more things that he is patient about, but that would take WAY too long!

29.He loves to snuggle.
30. His eyes light up when the boys welcome him home each day.

I love you for these and So MANY more reasons. I hope you have a sepcial Birthday and know how great we think you are!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!