Right to the heart...

What a week we have had. Life is changing as we know it, and so far really good. On Monday I was doing the dishes at about 10:00 when all of a sudden you hear your husband, and think, "Oh crap." Fortunately/unfortunately he had been put on furlow at his job, and pretty much to us that meant laid off. I have always been proud of Scott and all that he does for our family...and he has worked his butt off this past week to make sure that we will still be okay. Through all of this, we have come across some exciting opportunities for him and his career, despite this crappy economy. But we are still out there searching for a job just like many others right now. We have felt very grateful for a job up to this point, and have even more gratitude that we have made it this long! Despite all the depressing news, the boys have had a lot of fun having their dad around a little bit more. In fact, this morning, Ethan said to me, "Mom, I think you should go get a job." To which I replied, "Don't you like having me around to play with and take care of you?" "Not really." "Well, who would take care of you?" "Dad, of course." Little stinker!

Scott's girlfriend

Meet the other woman in Scott's life. He got this for Christmas, and has been saving for it for about 4 years. He got a great deal, so I can't complain. The only thing that I complain about is the space it is taking in the garage. I am glad that he has a hobby, and I know that we will have lots of fun with this at the dunes and in the mountains this summer. He worked really hard yesterday cleaning it up and putting stickers on it and Ethan was right there along with him to help. He did have to meet his yearly quota of white trash status, and this does a pretty good job. All kidding aside, it's a great machine, and fun to see my boys have fun with their dad. That's the most important part!

monsters

So, tonight we were doing our usual clean up, only this time we had the stereo cranked really loud. Scott got his new sub woofer set up, which is a whole different story...anyway. Ethan walked around the corner to go to the bathroom, and suddenly came screaming and crying hysterically. Obviously we ran to find out the problem. Monster in the bathroom. I guess I was naive enough to think that maybe we had dodged this bullet so far; at least with Ethan. Am I wrong to assume that? He was so upset that he was shaking and it was really hard to get him to stop crying. I know that sometimes he is a little dramatic, but this was totally different. His imagination really got the best of him and I felt horrible. We did the obvious there are no monsters...they are pretend bit, but that was not doing the trick. And the bigger problem? He needed to go to the bathroom! So, I went in with him, but he wouldn't go...it was a struggle. Then I stood in the bathroom by myself to see if I could figure out what was freaking him out so much. We had the stereo cranked so loud that it was shaking the lights and to make matters worse, there was some left over green fabric from an activity days thing I had been working on a little while ago still in the garbage spilling over. A small 2 year old must have pulled it out or something! Monster found! We showed him what had freaked him out...and he seemed to do better. Anyway, we didn't have any problems with bed time...I felt so bad for him! So, I hope that this is just a one time deal...I will be sure that there are no green things coming out of the bathroom garbage can any time soon!

Silly boy

At lunch today, Scott was holding Camden, who has hair that stands straight up. Scott made some sort of comment about how when the next one comes (ha ha ha...I don't think so!) it will come out with straight spikey hair because with each kid they have more hair when they are born. And to which Ethan replied, "Yea, that's because we rock!"

Sledding and Skiing

When my nieces were here, they planned to go to Snowbasin to learn to ski. We wanted to take Ethan to do the same thing, however, we decided that we weren't sure of how he would like it, so we opted for Burton Elementary School's hill instead. Turns out that we should have taken him up to the resort...he loved it! If any of you know my Ethan, he has the cutest giggle. It was so fun to hear him giggle down the hill the whole time. He did really well making a pizza with his skiis, and in the end, Scott didn't have to hold on to him. He was doing it all by himself! We also took sleds and went sledding, and my sister was gracious enough to come and watch and help out with the little guy, who told me he was too little to go down the hill this year. We had a lot of fun, and can't wait to find the time to do it again!

Aiden had fun sledding but really wanted to play on the playground.

My camera battery died before I could get a shot of Ethan skiing by himself.

Christmas 2008

Santa was more than good to us this year. We were very blessed and lucky. The boys didn't wake us up this year, but my bet is that next year Ethan will. Christmas day was nice because the boys were entertained with new things all day long. We stayed in our pj's most of the day and didn't do a lot. I want Christmas to be like that every year. The kids were happy that they got to play with all the new stuff, and the parents were exhausted from a couple of long nights. Another fun thing that we did this year was invite the Grandparents over for breakfast. The boys loved it and loved showing everyone what they got. My only complaint was that the season went way too fast this year. What happened? I know I am old, but really, for all that work, I wish it would stick around a little longer. This is the first year that I can remember that I am not ready to take down decorations. Usually I am ripping everything apart on New Year's day. Anyway, we had a great time. We started our first pajama night with a story on Christmas eve, and Ethan was really happy to open a present. When he found out it was pajamas, he screamed and said, "Oh thank you! This is the best present ever!" I was a little surprised because most kids don't get so excited over pj's. But not my Ethan!

Waiting patiently


Still waiting...

Aiden didn't quite understand what was going on. We are pretty good with a schedule, and he was not in his element. So we went down the stairs without him, knowing that he would eventually catch on. In this picture he is saying, "Wait guys!"

After he got what was going on, he was pretty happy!

The Batman Hulk

Exploring all the new stuff

Cam is happiest when he is naked. Here he is on his way to happiness!

The mess we dealt with for a few too many days

Playing with the speed racer track

Clothes that he wasn't excited about this time

This Handy Manny toy kept both of them occupied all day long.

Gingerbread House

So, we made a gingerbread house to follow tradition (or to break up all the nights we stayed in...) We started off strong. Everyone was in, excited, and feeling creative. And about five minutes into the activity, I suddenly found myself as the only decorator. I looked up and saw that Ethan and Aiden were happily feasting on the nasty candy that came in the gingerbread kit. Ewww! But, we let it go and they were pretty happy. Ethan did help after he had his fair share of goods. And Scott openly admitted that he hates decorating gingerbread houses. But all in all, I think we had a pretty good house in the end!

One cute smiley baby!

I am not sure about the look on his face, but I am pretty sure he thought he was being sneaky and getting candy before he realized I didn't care...

Handsome Aiden


Proof of all the candy eating going on! I think there are at least 4 gumballs in his mouth in this picture...

Ethan getting into the fun with mom

The house partially done


My cute boys


Aiden thought he was so cool because we let him hold the baby all by himself. He sure loves his little brother!