sad snow

Here is the best snow we have had in years. It's sad, so sad. The only thing more sad was that the kids were so excited about this snow, if you can even call it that. But they could sled down our great sledding hill in the back yard. They just couldn't do it twice in the same place. So sad.

Carter loves his family

Carter loves his family. I have never doubted this. He is always wanting to do things, "with the whole family" whether it be playing a board game, going out to eat, watching a movie or hanging out at home. And he loves to get together with extended family. But I still wanted to document a few things he said lately, because as he grows older, they mean more to me.

The last day of Christmas break (Allen was already back to work), I was going to take the kids to the movies. That morning I offered for them to each invite a friend. But Carter said, "oh, I don't want to. I want this to be just our family". Now, I know Carter loves to do things with his family, but he is also the most social one of the three so this surprised me and touched me. Then yesterday he said that he had just read several chapters of #5 Harry Potter and had one chapter left, but he was saving it for "us", meaning he and I. The last several H.P. books I have ended up reading the last chapter to him, one because he likes me to and two because I like to do it. I like to relive the end of the book and then talk to him about it and the lessons we can learn from it. I was happy that he remembered this (it's been awhile since the last book-summer) and wanted to do it again. And then he said, " and then we can have our date and watch the movie together". As I said before, as Carter ages and gets ever so close to his teenage years, I can't get enough of him and his love. I hope with all my heart that this desire to be with his family, this love he has for us doesn't fade away.

Claire quotes

A few funny quotes from Claire:

1. said randomly in the car: "Jesus and Santa Claus are always watching you. Jesus know what you want and Santa Claus knows what you want for Christmas."

2. after taking a sip of soda and making a face: "I don't like the wiggles"

3. While showing her "pink hair" to Jared that she made by putting a pink skirt over her head: "do you like my pink hair? Is it stylish?"

organize

It is Saturday late in the afternoon and my family and I have just spent the last few hours organizing. Last Saturday we did the same thing. And several days over Christmas break we clean out, rearranged and organized different places in our house. I don't think we have ever done so much in such a small amount of time. I am proud of us all. I took a few pictures. Claire's bows and such had over run my space in my bathroom, which is what prompted that clean up. The boys rooms have become jungles of junk. For the past 2 years (since we moved into our current house) I have let them "decorate" their rooms. They begged to be able to display in their own fashion. I agreed even though I had many ideas in my head. Luckily I still had Claire and spent my time decorating her room to my satisfaction. But the boys rooms had become so full of stuff, you couldn't see what they were trying to display. I think they each had two garbage bags full of things they no longer wanted by time we were done. So I posted a few pix from their rooms so we can remember what they choose to keep and display. And arrange things to their own liking. We also moved some furniture down to our office to make room for a new desk in our "piano room"(dining room). Now the lap top is hidden away in the drawer instead of on our kitchen counter. And when the kids use it they have stools there to use it so they are not at the kitchen table. I love this space...so I took a picture of it. The pictures above the desk were ones I bought a few months ago even though I didn't have a place for them. I love leaves and knew I would use them some time. And then the perfect space appeared. I love when that happens. Allen tackled many thing all by himself, like the pantry(I don't think I have ever clean it out before). He is brave. It is big and it was a mess. He not only organizes it, but throws stuff away, and wipes down the shelves. It seriously looks like a new room. What a guy.

Ok, here is the list of places that got organized, de-junked, cleaned, rearranged this past month...prepare yourself to be amazed:

-office

-office closet

-linen/sweater/jewelry closet (it's big)

-all master bathroom drawers and cupboards

-Carter and Jared's bedrooms

-piano/computer room

-unfinished storage rooms

-large walk-in pantry

-junk drawers

-mudroom closet

-closet in bonus room(all DVD's back into correct case, all video games are where they belong, all game pieces in place, all books in one place. And we now have a garage sale pile of many unwanted items)

-bonus room

I think that's it. I am tired, but very happy. Let's see how long it lasts.

introducing chef Jared

My baking buddy had his debut at being the head chef in the kitchen. After helping me make blonde brownies many, many times, I turned over the spatula to Jared. I was only his assistant. He got everything out, he measured everything, poured it in, and mixed at his chosen speed. I only had to remind him that if there was a b then that meant Table not Tea. When I tried to tell him about how when you measure brown sugar you have to pack it, I was reminded that he already knew that. So smart. And I must say, the final result was yummy! My compliments to the chef (and the assistant-who without, the brownies would have been a wee salty-that darn b)

my bad

I made a mistake. And boy did I pay for it. In the months prior to Christmas, I asked the boys to make a list of things they might like for Christmas. Carter had a list two pages long, and multiple times he verbally added more to it. And I admit, I didn't always listen to the verbal ones. I would do the mommy trick of pretending to listen as I thought of something else, or looked at my magazine and just gave him a few "uh uh's". Jared on the other hand had a very short list that ended with "surprises". This threw me for a loop. And so I thought alot about some surprises I could get him. And I was so proud of myself when I thought of the kids version of National Geographic-perfect for my son who loves animals, especially ones found in the wild.

So, Christmas morning came and Jared opened the magazine and was happily surprised. And I patted myself on the back for such a good gift. About a week later he got his first one in the mail. I made a big deal about how it had his name on it because it was HIS magazine. A few days after that he got a special gift from the magazine-a blow up ball that looks like a globe. As Jared happily ran off with it, Carter spoke up finally...."mom, you know it was me who asked for that magazine, not Jared. I think you forgot who asked for it" And what killed me was that he didn't say this in an angry voice, not in a crying-poor me voice, not in a bratty voice. But instead it was in an adult voice that was just a little bit off because of the hurt that was there that he was trying to hide and because his lip was quivering a little as he spoke. It reminded me of how Allen and I talk to each other when one has hurt the other unknowingly...you are not mad, just hurt. Once the words sunk in, I begged forgiveness, I hugged and kissed him and said I was so sorry. I did not remember anyone telling me they wanted that magazine. And to think how I had made such a big deal when the magazine came that it was Jared's own personal magazine. I can imagine what Carter was feeling. As I was going to sleep that night I nearly came to tears thinking of the hurt I caused my son unknowingly. But then my thoughts changed to how proud I was of him in how he handled the situation. He handled it like an adult....my ten year old boy is growing up. The next day I apologized again and told him how proud I was of him. And when I said the words "acted like an adult", he beamed. And that helped my heart.

Happy New Year

Last night after the "big new years eve bash" that we hosted that consisted of cousins singing and dancing(and a few adults) with their video games and lots of good food, Allen and I laid in bed and tried to think of our highlights from the past year. All our trips came to mind first. We love to travel, especially with our kids (this was not true just a few short years ago). So, here are our 2008 trips: Disney with Allen's parents along with us, Utah to visit 2 of my brother's families and to snow ski for the first time, a family reunion (my side) at Isle of Palms, Anniversary trip to Asheville, Washington DC, Space camp for Allen and Carter and a few over night trips to our lovely smokey mountains. Aside from the trips, I thought of Allen jumping the wake on his wake board for him and he agreed but said he only really jumped it once or twice and he still needed to improve-yes, he is a perfectionist. And for me it was doing well in my statistics class. And designing our future house-I love anything to do with houses and so for me this was a dream come true.

It was a good year and I am curious as to what 2009 will bring.