A White Christmas!

Our first stop was in Leavenworth, which is where Jason's parents live. They had just had a couple of feet of snow the day before we got there, so it was perfect!! Jason's brother Josh, was home from Japan and his wife Alicia. Jason't grandparents were there from Idaho, so it was a full house and lots of fun!! We spent lots of time playing cards, playing with new toys, and sledding. The Maupins have a great hill that is perfect for the boys right in their front yard, so it was their playground.




For some reason, I can't figure our how to post more pictures and it will only let me post 5 at a time.......well, stay tuned for Christmas, part 2......

A One-Man Band

Don't call me a "Scrooge", but I am taking all my Christmas decorations down. We will be leaving for Kansas and will be there thru the New Year, so when we come home, this will make our lives easier. This morning, as I was working, Drew was in the kitchen playing the song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" over and over and over.......Anyways, he comes in to the dining room in this get-up and marches around the house singing the song at the top of his lungs. I just had to capture this because it was cracking me up!!

Eat much??

What kind of eating machine have we created? Lately, Jackson's appetite has been enormous!! He must be going thru a growth spurt or something. Last night, he asked me to make him a triple-decker turkey and cheese sandwich for his lunch today. When he got home, he said he loved it so much but he was still hungry. So, he made himself a quint-decker (I don't know how to say "5") sandwich! I thought they weren't supposed to eat like this until they are teenagers......I think I'm in trouble!

Sooooo Jackson......well, kind of....

All right....this is cracking me up writing this. Last night, Jason and I went to see Stevie Wonder so we had a sitter for the boys. The boys were fed, bathed, and in their pj's waiting for Miss Michelle to come. All of the sudden, Jackson disappears and then re-appears with a suit coat, white oxford, and a tie on which he calls his "Mayor suit" Anyways, I asked him what he was doing and he said that he wanted to be handsome for Miss Michelle (can we say crush??) I said okaaaaayyyyyy, but that he had to take it off when he went to bed. So.........the doorbell rings and Drew and I go to the door to welcome Michelle. I kind of whisper to her what Jackson has done and we walk into the kitchen and he is no where to be found. I start calling for him and then I see a little movement in the Christmas tree. It seems that he kind of chickened out with his handsome suit on and had no where to run except in the Christmas tree. We locked eyes and I could tell he wanted me to bail him out, but bless Miss Michelle....she walked right over, pulled him out of the tree, and gave him a hug and told him how handsome he looked. He turned bright red and smiled. Oh my....it just makes me laugh :)

Happy Birthday Drew!

I cannot believe that Drew is 4! His actual birthday is the 5th, but we celebrated this weekend with a Scooby-Doo birthday! A "birthday monster" stole Drew's presents and the "gang" had to follow the clues to find them. The picture below is the kids listening to the clues...they really got into it!
Here they are untangling the web that the birthday monster left behind....

Just turn your head sideways to look at this one :) Here is the "gang" coming down the stairs about to meet the birthday monster and solve the mystery.
Check out who the birthday monster is!! Drew's brother, Jackson and his dad (I didn't get a pic. of him in his mask!) Jackson and Jason jumped out and yelled "Happy Birthday!" when we got to the last clue. I was a little nervous that the kids would be scared, so I stressed beforehand how nice the birthday monster was. We only had one little girl that was scared...the rest of the kids were fine. We had a great party and a great day. Drew is a constant source of joy to us and we are so honored to be his parents. We are in for a lifetime of laughs!!

A White Thanksgiving?

The boys wish came true!! SNOW!! It snowed 2 times when we were in KC and they were ecstatic! Of course, snowball fights, whitewashing (where you take snow and "wash" an unexpecting persons back), and snowmen. Check out Drew's snowman! Can you see it? Look closely because he was very proud of it.

The last picture is Jason's back. He bet that if he didn't win a game we were all playing, that he would "run around the house" with his shirt off. Well, when he lost, he thought he had to run around the house...inside!! Everyone else clearly understood that we all meant run around the house OUTSIDE!! I mean, what fun is it for us to have a shirtless man run around inside of the house?? Please!! So, here he is...the good sport that he is, running around the OUTSIDE of the house in 30 degree weather!

Thanksgiving Break......

We had a great visit to Kansas City for Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day, in the spirit of my dad's recent marathon, the kids ran their own marathon. Drew had to run 40 yards and Jackson ran 60 yards, but it was a "marathon" to them and they were very proud!
It's so fun to get together with all my cousins now that we're adults. We had fun hanging out and there were 7 kids running around crazy!!

Here is more fun with the family.....I have some great pics. of the kids in the snow (it snowed 2 days we were there), so I will post those later this week.

Pet Parade!

The Kindergarten classes at Jackson's school sent home a letter saying they were having their "Annual Pet Parade." That meant that you were supposed to use materials from your home and make a pet. Luckily, Jason and I were going to be out of town and Grandma and Grandpa Maupin were watching the boys, so we put this under their things "to do" while we were gone.
So....they decided to let Jackson do his project!! They are "old school" and believe that kids should do their own homework--imagine that!! This is proof that Jackson did it himself and he won the award for "Most Creative Pet!" I have to say that his teacher commented to me that she especially liked his pet because it was kid made! Way to go Jackson!!!
Oh....if you're wondering about Drew....he was just "so sad" that he couldn't be a part of the pet parade because he said he has always "dreamed" of being in it. In a couple of years, his dreams will come true :)

New York, Part 2

Guess who??? Tom and Suri were standing near us waiting for Katie to cross the finish line. Suri had a bottle in her mouth the whole time!! Isn't it time to give it up Suri??

In front of the ABC studios after our appearance on The View where we saw Jerry Seinfeld, Brooks and Dunn, and the ladies of The View!! We dragged Jason there, but you can see he is smiling because of the great give aways......he's glad he went now!
Amanda and I waiting to be discovered......
I was discovered and am doing the "mid morning break" saying...."More with Jerry Seinfeld when the View returns!" I thought agents would be knocking down my door after my debut, but I'm still waiting to hear.....

The BIG Apple!!

I am so proud!! My dad ran and finished the New York Marathon this past weekend. I love the way that he lives his life....he wants to live it to the fullest with no regrets. It was such an honor to be there to share his accomplishment! What a weekend! Here are some pics. of the race with much more to come......stay tuned for a MAJOR celebrity sighting.

Fright Night!!

What a fun night to be a parent....and a kid!! The boys had a wonderful time tonight and will be on a sugar high for the next few days....life is good!

Family Ties

Jackson and Drew love their cousins, Brandon and Alyssa. They are actually second cousins, but they don't know the difference! We went to KC this weekend and they came down from Minnesota to visit. What happens is that my dad takes all 4 kids while the women shop. When we come home, we hear all the tales from the day. Visiting 2 different pumpkin patches, driving down a "mountain" (remember, we're in KS) when the brakes go out and everyone has to scream, visiting a tiger farm, and eating ice cream, donuts, cider.....you name it! The kids always have a blast and are dirty, stinky, and happy at the end of the day. Thanks Papa and thanks to Brandon and Alyssa for fun memories!

A rare sighting......

Two brothers living in harmony!!!!!
I came into the kitchen after "sleeping in" (7:30 a.m.)and found these two little boys had quietly started playing a game together. Quiet, harmonious times like this are treasured in our home. I don't know what came over them, but I had to take a picture! They were so proud of themselves so I made chocolate chip, peanut butter chip, banana pancakes. Everyone was happy!

Mad Scientists!!

Well, we had a family shower this weekend, so the whole family was here! As you can see, my dad brought the boys lab coats and scientist glasses (we call them "nerd" glasses) and the boys loved them!!
My dad had lined up some experiments for the boys with mentos and diet coke. Here they are drilling a hole in the mentos and stringing them on a string. Look at the intesity in the scientists eyes. Pretty high tech if you ask me.....
The joy that they got watching the coke shoot into the air and spray all over their prized lab coats was priceless. First it was magic tricks, but now experiments are gonna my dad's new thing.......a new science experiment every time. Wonder what he'll come up with next.....

MOPS GONE WILD!!!

Don't be scared.....We're not putting out a video. MOPS stands for "Mothers of Preschoolers." This is what happens to moms when you let loose a group of moms in another state without their children. We didn't have to cut anyone else's food, wipe anyone else's nose, or pick up after anyone......it was great!!
We went to Orlando last weekend for a 3 day convention and had a great time. There were 8 of us that went from our MOPS group and we had a great time.
The boys stayed at home with Jason and he called in his parents for backup (which the boys loved!!) It was good for him to have a taste of my life as he ran around driving people to practice and games, making lunches, and getting the boys to school on time. Remember.....he had his parents here to help. I know he could do all of those things without them here...he's such a great dad.
At the end of the weekend, I was supposed to come back well rested, right?? Wrong! I was exhausted when I got home, but encouraged and refreshed as a mom....ready to face the next day.

Catchin' Up...

School is in full swing now and Jackson loves it! He is one of those kids who loves structure and wants to know what's expected of him. He follows rules (at least at school) and wants to do his best, so that's why he is enjoying school. At least for now.....it's only the 2nd week! He also loves to get silly! Here is a picture from a "Silly End of Summer" party that we went to. The kids were supposed to pick anything they wanted to from the box, but it had to be silly. Here are the boys with their buddies, Powell and Pierson. They had a great time.
In other news, we had a nice visit from Grandma and Gandpa Maupin this weekend and Grandpa brought the boys jumping beans. Here are the boys watching their beans jump and having races with them.
Halloween is on the boys radar now.....they know it's coming. We started getting magazines with Halloween costumes, games, decorations in it and here they are pouring over the choices! They both have their sharpies in hand because I told them they can circle what they like in there and then we can order something that they picked. So far, on the top of the list are fake eyeballs and glowing skeleton bones. Are they boys or what?? Oh, and yes, Jackson got into the spirit by wearing his last years Halloween costume to breakfast that morning :)