Gavin's favorite Christmas present

I forgot to mention what Gavin's favorite present is. The $1.50 scissors that were in his stocking. Seriously. He opened probably $400-$500 worth of gifts (total) and his favorite thing is the scissors! He's been cutting paper since he took them out of the stocking! He loves his John Deere loader, too, but I honestly think the scissors are his favorite. I have learned my lesson! :)

Home with the boys!

I'm home with the boys for 8 more days! Woo hoo! While I love being home with the boys for vacations and during the summer, I really don't think I could do it full-time...especially in this little house! I think I'd go crazy!

Today, the day after Christmas, we are busy cleaning the house! It was a disaster when Andrew left for work this morning. There were toys EVERYWHERE! Gavin went to "coop the noe" (scoop the snow) with Papa, so while Grayson was taking a nap, I cleaned the house. I cleaned out the boys' toy box. I threw some toys out, kept some, and made a bag for the Good Will. The boys got a train table from Grandma and Grandpa Hanson, so Daddy will have to put that together this weekend. I made room for it, so I hope they like it! The toys overflow into the dining room, but I don't care. As long as the boys have something to keep them busy, I'm happy!

I got an i-pod from Andrew for Christmas! I was SO surprised. I have secretly been wanting one, although, I don't really know all they can do! I'm excited to figure it out. He also got me a BIG Power Sort box for scrapbooking! Yee haa!!!
We had decided to not exchange gifts, so all he got is underwear and socks! I felt really bad, but then he told me he's buying a new motor for his little boat that costs $900! So, now I don't feel bad! :)

I got few things from Jon and Sherry (sweater, lotion, scrapbooking tool) and Andrew got a new depth finder from both sets of parents. He's pretty happy about that!

The boys got a ton of toys. I had totally rearrange their room so they would all fit. Several of them are outdoor toys (mostly trucks) that can go outside in a few weeks, when the newness wears off!

Well, that's it for now. Gavin is watching "Annie" for the first time. We're going to see the play in April, so we bought it for him for Christmas. He's liking it so far. :)

Almost Christmas!

I can't believe there's only FIVE, yes five, more days until Christmas! Times flies!

I am completely done with my shopping, although I am going to return some things today. I ended up finding some great deals on some things I had already gotten from Amazon last week. I saved about $100!! I'm such a bargain shopper! Presents for the boys:

Gavin:
Fisher Price Kid Tough Camera
V-Smile and games
Shrek backpack
Tool box with tools
Horse and horse stable
Train table
John Deere loader

Grayson:
V-Smile baby and games
Diego Animal caller
Charlie the Charcoal (talking) grill
Little people farm
Tonka loader

Both:
Movies
Trucks
Socks
Animal headphones

The boys are doing great. Gavin is SO ready for X-mas. He has seen Santa at least three times. Grandma Hanson has planned for Santa to come to their house on X-mas Eve, too, so that will be fun. Grayson does whatever Gavin does, so he's excited too! :0)

Speaking of that...it is SO much fun to see how much they like each other. Grayson does EVERYTHING..I mean EVERYTHING that Gavin does. Whether it's sitting on the potty, singing a song, running around crazy, giving out hugs, whatever...he does exactly what Gavin does. The other night, we were in the car and Gavin was singing a song. Grayson was singing it, too, but we couldn't understand a word he was saying! It was too cute!

Gavin is potty-trained! It really hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but I think that's b/c we waited. I really didn't want to push him b/c I didn't want any of us to be frustrated with the process. He still wears a pull-up to bed, but has been pretty much dry every morning. He tells us when he has to go and everything!

Grayson peed in the potty chair last night! I told him I had to go potty, so he had to go, too! I put him on the little potty chair and he went! We made a HUGE deal out of it and he got a sticker. Gavin was SO proud of him, telling him "good job" and "do you want a sticker?". IT would be SO nice to have them both potty-trained by the summer! I can't imagine not having anyone in diapers!

Plans for Christmas...
We are headed to Grandma and Grandpa Hanson's on X-mas Eve. We will open presents right away and then put the little ones down for a nap. The adults will play cards with the Harder's (a tradition). We'll have to get ready for church around 4:30. It's at 6:00 in Jefferson. After church, we'll go back and eat prime rib and chicken!
For X-mas day, we'll get up early (not by choice) and open presents from Santa. I can't wait to see the look on the kids' faces when they see their presents. They are going to be SO excited! We'll head to Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs house around noon for X-mas with them.

Only one more day until Christmas break! We have a few parties to go to over break, but nothing big. I am looking forward to spending almost two weeks at home with the boys!

Happy Holidays to all!

Hump Day

Today is Wednesday. I hate Wednesdays. My day is jam-packed full of kids and it's exhausting! I have to run straight from here to an after-school meeting. Lovely.

I went to the Region VB meet last night. We lost by 2 points in the 5th game. Very sad. :(

I went scrapping with Chris Harder on Saturday and got 14 pages done! I am up to the summer in Grayson's scrapbook. I have about 5-10 layouts done to be caught up on his. Then, I'll have to get caught back up on Gavin's. I think I'm about a year and a half behind.

I've got a jump on my X-mas shopping. I'm done with both grandmas. I got Gavin a Fisher-Price Kid Tough camera. I think he'll love it. He LOVES taking pictures and seeing them on mine. I have lots of ideas, just have to go pick out the stuff. I'm waiting for Black Friday to get some of it. Mom, Angie, and I will go to Omaha again this year and spend the night. Lisa won't get to go because she'll either be VERY pregnant or have a newborn. :)

Andrew is off on Friday for 2 weeks. I'm glad he'll get the change to hunt and be done with it!! May be a long 2 weeks for me, though.

We have a new gym in town and I just started working out there on Wed. I'm trying to go a few mornings a week and then will do one to two times after school. When I go in the morning, I have to go at 5:15. Yuck! It's amazing how good I feel, though, for the rest of the day.

Both boys have a cough. Hopefully it doesn't develop into anything serious. Gavin was breathing heavy last night, so hopefully he's o.k. I called Marlene and she didn't notice anything with the breathing, so that's good.

Roast is in the crock pot for supper! I love putting things in the crock pot and having them ready when I get home from work. I can actually sit and play with the boys instead of rushing to get supper done! :)

Gotta run to my meeting.

Trying harder...again

So, here I am...how many months since my last post? I'm pathetic!!

Last night was Halloween. Gavin as a lion and Grayson was a dragon fly. They were SO damn cute! We hit all three Grandma's in town. The kids got plenty of candy, just between those three places. I wanted to go to the gym for the Halloween party, but Andrew was afraid he would be put to work, so we didn't go! I offered to take Gavin around the block for trick-or-treating, but he was too busy playing with the horses at Grandmas. :)

I hit a deer on the way to work yesterday morning. It was pitch black out. Renae was riding with me. We were in the passing lane and it came right out of the ditch with no warning whatsoever. I was going 79 mph. We ended up hitting it's hind end with the right front bumper. The car is a mess. The headlight is gone and it pushed the side panel back so the passenger door is hard to open. They're estimating the damage is between $1500-$1800. I'm just glad we're o.k. That is NOT something I want to go through EVER again.

Update on the boys:
Gavin is 3 years, 3 months. He is STILL not potty-trained....grrrr.....He has absolutely no desire to be either. Part of it is our fault for not working with him muc h. It's just hard to find the time when we both work full-time. Marlene puts him on the potty several times/day, but he never goes. It's getting to the point where I think I'm going to potty-train BOTH the boys at the same time!
He is getting to be such a big boy. He speaks in complete sentences and talks ALL THE TIME! He is a very funny little guy, but can be very stubborn, too.

Grayson is 20 months old already. I can't believe it. :( He LOVES his big brother and wants to say and do everything Gavin does. He is quite a bit tougher than Gavin already, so we're trying to toughen Gav up a little!! Grayson has a TON of words. He is still using his paci for sleeping. I'm not thrilled about it, but we'll be getting rid of it by his 2nd b-day for sure.

I'm off to go pick up the kids. Homemade pizza for supper. Yum!!

Going to try harder!

So, I'm going to try harder to update this blog. The boys are just SO busy, it's hard to find any time to actually sit down at the computer, without "help".

We just got back from Okoboji with Mom, Angie, Lisa, and the kids. The kids were all very good. We swam at the pool and beach most of the time. Wednesday, we took the kids to the new indoor water park. Gavin went down the BIG slide one time (said it was "scary"). He's so darn funny. They said his eyes were HUGE when we came out of it!

Andrew's grandparents are in town for 2 weeks, so I think we'll be spending a lot of time with them. Tomorrow is Father's Day and I think we'll be headed to the river. It's supposed to be 92 degrees....blech!

Update on the kids:
Gavin is using words, such as "already", "almost", etc....it's a hoot! Everyone comments on his facial expressions. He's just a ham.

Grayson is really starting to say a lot of words. He says ball, baby, birdie, mommy, dada, Ninny (Linley). He is such a good boy. He's getting over another double ear infection. That was a hellish 2 weeks, but he's back to normal now!

Back to work. :(

It's been a while since I've posted. Things are crazy around here! Christmas has come and gone. The boys were so excited..esp. Gavin! They got way too many things. Gavin got a tool bench, art desk, Leap Frog train set...those were the big things. Grayson got a Bounce and Spin zebra, ride-on caterpillar, and some books. Mom and Dad got a new computer!

What else is going on......
Grayson now has 6 teeth, cruises furniture, still doing the army-crawl thing. He is eating all table foods now....he eats like a horse! He has at least 2 helpings of anything we set in front of him.

Gavin is in the terrible 2's, that's for sure. He can be such a sweety, but my..he is stubborn! He definitely tests our patience daily. He is now obsessed with Monsters, Inc. and Spirit. WE went to see Charlotte's Web the other day at the theater. I thought it was adorable, but it didn't hold his attention. It isn't animated and I think that's why. Grandma Hanson, Caleb, and Ben went, too. Ben and Gavin were very squirrely at the end! Gavin kept saying "all done, Mom", like he was done with the movie! But I really wanted to see it! :)

I am back to work and the kids are back at daycare. I am starting a class tonight..not too thrilled about that. It's in SSC, so I won't go home between work and class. I won't see the boys at all on Mondays. :(