Moments like these.....

I was putting the boys to bed tonight and had the sweetest conversations with them. I laid down with them both as they frequently ask me to do. As I was laying with Michael, I asked him if he had a good time today and he said, "Yes". I told him I loved him and he said "I love you, too". Then I said, "I love you more" and he said "I love YOU more". And we went back and forth about 1/2 a dozen times until I just gave him a great big hug and he said, "Yeah, I won". ha!

When I went to lay down with Vince, I asked him the same question. "Did you have a good time today?" He said, Yes and that he really enjoyed the swimming and the presents. And then he said, "But the best part was spending time with my family. That was the more important part." I couldn't believe it. My little 6 year old. It was so cute and made me so proud.

They are such good boys and I never thought I could feel such tremendous love for 2 human beings that can make me so crazy at times. I love them so much.

I love my sis!

I love my sis. We sort of look alike, don't you think?? We are so different, though. Like night and day. But she's so great!! Love you, Cin!

Happy Birthday to Vince, Happy Birthday to Vince....

Yesterday was Vince's 6th Birthday. My mom and dad came up yesterday afternoon. After we got done with the carnival at school, we went to Vince's favorite place to eat, KFC. He LOVES fried chicken! He will literally eat everything but the bone....meat, fat, gristle...everything! Today, we had a swim party up at the YMCA. He invited all of his classmates. About 2/3 showed. We had a pretty good turnout. The kids had a blast. Afterwards, we came home and my sister and one of my nieces came over from Holden and we CONTINUED to open presents and have cake and ice cream. I'm pooped!! And, the even better part is.... I think both my boys are pooped, too. Hurrah!!! Lookout pillow, here I come.....

Sunday best and Crazy hair

This week was Catholic school week. Everyday was a different theme. Monday was pajama day. Tuesday was sports day where they dressed up in their favorite teams jersey or shirt. The boys didn't have any Chiefs attire so they wore Boonville Football sweatshirts. (We're not big MU fans. Plus, since Greg is from Kansas, they'd have to wear K-State Wildcats shirts & it's too cold for t-shirts.) Wednesday was wear your Sunday Best day. Yesterday was Crazy hair and backwards clothes day. Today was spirit day. They've had so much fun with all the activities. Plus, there has been limited homework so they LOVE that....ha! The week ended with a school carnival today and a chili supper followed by a dance tonight. I helped out with the carnival this afternoon and had SO MUCH fun. I'm so glad I can spend time with the kids and their activities now. Take a look at my cute little boys...

67 years....WOW!

We went back to Kansas this past weekend to visit Greg's family. They were all having an Anniversary party with cake and ice cream for his parents. They've been married 67 years! That is so awesome!! What a testiment to the institution of marriage. We had such a good time visiting with everyone. It was a short visit. Greg had to work until 5:30 Sat. night. We didn't get into Marysville, KS until 10:30pm and stayed in KS until 6:30 Sun. before heading home. It was late when we got back home but the kids slept in the car so it was all good. I told Greg we be about 100 years old if we made it to our 67th anniversary. And I guess that's all well and good if we haven't lost our marbles by then....ha!

1st Confession

Last night Michael had 1st Reconciliation at the church. All second graders have to go through it. It was a nice ceremony. My parents came up and went with us. We had talked to Michael and told him to just talk to Father as if it were mommy or daddy and to not be nervous. Greg said he thought it was the hardest thing that Catholics are asked to do...'to go up in front of someone and tell them what an idiot you are and that you'll try not to do those things again.' HA! I thought that was so funny. After Michael was done he said, "That wasn't scary at all." He looked so cute. He was walking with his head cocked to one side because he had slept on his neck wrong the night before and had a crick in it. Poor little thing.

Day off.....but not for me...

The kids had the day off from school since it was Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. It becomes increasingly difficult to find something to occupy the boys during these cold weather months. They are so active and I don't want them just sitting watching TV all the time. I got this book a while back called Cool Parent 101. It has 101 things to do with kids from making cookies to decorating piggy banks, etc. Some of the things are pretty cool. So I picked out a few things and let the boys pick which ones they wanted to do. Well, of course, they wanted to do everything. We got in about 2 things by the end of the day...ha. By the time we went and got hair cuts and went to the store and Wal-mart and got in lunch and quiet time in the afternoon....well, there wasn't much time left. But we did get to make some Christmas candy. Yes, I'm a little late. But the holidays were so busy I never got around to making these. And I got out a bunch of art supplies and the boys designed some posters. That actually kept them entertained for quite a while. They both love to draw and make things. Anyway, here's some pics of what we did. By the way, I was exhausted by the time Greg got home.

The Hillside Singers

The boys and I went to Rock Bridge High School in Columbia Saturday night with my mom & dad and my youngest niece to watch my second oldest niece perform in a choir competition. It was really good and they did so well. They have won a lot of awards in the past, singing down at Branson and being invited this year to the Teacher's Conference down at Tan Tara. They didn't get 1st place this time. They got 2nd. But they sounded and performed like champions.

Hide and Seek....or is it...Run and tell!

We all played a game of hide and seek tonight. It was so funny. Everytime we play, Vince wants to hide where everybody else is hiding or somewhere close. And if he knows where you're hiding he'll rat you out. It's so hilarious. He can't help himself. He just has to tell where everyone is hiding. He was so cute. We laughed so hard and had such a good time.

Anyone for pool and darts?

We had a nice evening Friday night. I told Greg that my reward for losing ANOTHER pound on JC was not to do anything Friday night but relax and enjoy myself. So, we got on our comfortable clothes and made a couple of cocktails and went down and played some pool. We hadn't played pool in probably a year. Can you believe that! We've got this great pool table downstairs and haven't had time to play. The kids were playing really well together in their room. They came down later and Greg taught them how to play darts. It was a good night!

OK - I'm ready for Spring!!

Ok, I know it's only 2 weeks into January but I'm ready for Spring. I have a constant chill in my bones so I'm just going to post a few motivating and pleasurable pictures to take our minds off the sub-zero conditions outside. Sound good....here you go...

Mojo New Year's Eve

I know it's a couple of weeks past New Year's Eve but thought I'd share some pics. Greg and I don't get out as much with the adults as we used to and we hadn't been to a New Year's Eve party in a few years. This year we decided to go back to KC to spend New Year's Eve with our Mojo friends. We love all the Mojos so much and are all so close. They are like our second family. We all had such a good time. We played Pin the ______ on the Mojo (haha) and even had our own little mascot. Harley was such a good sport. He just sat there and let us dress him up. Hope everyone is having a great start to 2009.

Who are you and what have you done with my children?....

This might not seem like a big deal to some people but the fact that this room is THIS clean is pretty amazing to me. And the fact that the boys cleaned it up themselves this morning before going to school without even being told makes it even more amazing. I had gone down to sleep on the couch about 5:00am this morning. I was keeping Greg up coughing so much. So, I got up late and was rushing around trying to get myself ready and breakfast for the kids and them off to school on time. I didn't even notice their room until this afternoon. I had to take a picture. It was SPOTLESS! And the beds look like you can bounce a dime off of them.... army reg!! Wahoo! Way to go boys!

JC update

Just an update on my journey with Jenny Craig. I have lost a total of 11.2 pounds. I just love the program and feel so much better about myself. And the food is delicious! Listen to me...I sound like a Jenny Craig commercial myself.

I'm almost to my 1/2 way point. Just 3.8 pounds to go. I knew I had kept those old jeans from college around for some reason...ha! I'm going to fit into them by this summer!!

New Year's Eve spent with family and great friends!

Happy New Year to everyone! We had a good one. Spent the evening with our biker group in KC. Enormous fun had by all! Thank you Axe & Sheri!! On New Year's Day we all rode to a little bar called DeJon's for lunch. It was a bit chilly. I decided not to take my bike. It was a little brisk for me. Greg was happy about that. He says I never ride with him anymore now that I have my own bike. Well, what can I say...


Well, the good times just lasted about a day after New Year's. I came down with a cold and was down for a couple of days. We had decided to stay in town an extra couple of days so we could go to "Game Night" over at one of our friends. But needless to say, I couldn't make it. Greg and the boys went. They had a great time. When Michael got home (mamaw and papaw's) he said, "Mommy, you HAVE to let us go back there". Here are some pictures. Looks like they're having fun.