We'll Miss You Trumie

This past month we lost our sweet dog Truman. She had cancer and went to play in the heavenly fields with her sister Molly. Truman was buried with all of the tennis balls we could find in the house. This was partly for her, but mostly so that we would not be reminded of our grief. We spent the whole day out of the house to avoid the sadness, but returned later in the evening. The boys were getting ready for bed when Grant found another of Truman's tennis balls. He asked Jeff to "put it in a safe place so that I can take it to heaven with me and throw for Trumie."

This dogless house just isn't the same for any of us these days. We miss you, girl.

Our cuddly boy

Grant, upon waking this morning: "Can I go in and cuddle with Dad?" Me: "Sorry, Buddy, Daddy's already at work." Grant: "That's too bad. Dad would 'apprishidate' it if I cuddled with him."

Happy Birthday Reese!

We celebrated Reese's first birthday on Saturday with a cupcake party. All of the decor, down to her adorable cupcake shirt (thanks, Amy!) reflected the cupcake theme.
I was surprised that Reese didn't really seem to "get" that the party was all for her. Generally, she is very friendly (some might say "flirty") with people-smiling coyly, waiting for them to smile back at her. She didn't really act like that much on Saturday. She just enjoyed her cupcake and her presents (after we "helped" her open them--she didn't "get" that either). Oh well, Reese...you have lots more years to catch on to how this "birthday thing" works. We sure had fun celebrating you and are so happy you are part of our family!

soccer practice and park fun

Grabbed a few pictures outside the other night while Connor had soccer practice. Unfortunately, I didn't get any great shots of Connor--they were on a field too far away and my stroller doesn't go "off road" very well. I did, however, get some better pictures of Grant and Reese playing during soccer practice. Enjoy!

Grant's Adult life

In the car yesterday, Grant started talking about what job he wants to have as a grown up.
He told me he wanted to have a BUNCH of jobs, and these were his choices-in order. There was absolutely no input from me, just his thoughts.

1. "Dirt digger", upon further questioning..."drive a bulldozer"
2. "Build cars"
3. "AND build trucks"
4. "McDonald's worker (who wouldn't want unlimited chicken nuggets?)"
5. "I gotta teach basketball. That's how I will get my money" We frequently have to remind him that Jeff goes to games to earn money for our family.
6. "Superhero"

Breakfast this morning

If this comes up blank, it is because I am still learning. I recorded Reese (and a bit of Connor) this morning with our laptop webcam. Let's see if it worked.
Please leave me a comment here letting me know if you could view this or not?

Our home, America

Grant loves spotting the American flag. He is so adorable about it too--"Mom! I see the place where we live!!" Every time he sees an American flag, that is what he says. So we're driving the other day and he sees several American flags, and I decide to remind them that we have a great country. I say, "I really love America, don't you?"
Grant responds with "Yes, I do. AND I love Raintree!"
I say, "why do you love Raintree?"
"Because grandma lives there and I like it there. And my other grandma lives in the REAL America-not Raintree."

So my parents' neighborhood across town apparently qualifies as another country.

All things Reese

Speaking of birthdays, it has been almost a year since little miss sunshine joined our family...here are a few pictures of Reese!

Here is Reese at her favorite afternoon spot-the back sliding-glass door. She loves to watch her brothers play outside!

Big brother Connor was talking to her through the window and she leaned over to "kiss" him through the glass.

More watching...

And waiting...

Reese and Grant in a rare moment. Grant is typically running away from Reese and taking all of his toys with him. "I don't like her slobber getting on my things!" he says.

Connor and Reese playing on the floor-they have a great time together! Apparently Connor does not share Grant's aversion for Reese's slobber.

This is what adoration of a sibling looks like.

Daddy's girl, banging on the door after he left in the morning.

She took a minute out from her banging to ham it up for me.

This is our girl-happy and always on the move! Her name means "running" but right now it translates to "super-fast crawler"!

And He's FOUR!

If you ask Grant about his birthday, he will tell you that he is now BIG! He is not little, like when he was 3 and 3/4, or 3 and 11/12. Yes, he really referred to his age in fractional form for the past 6 months. So, to celebrate his growth from the babyish 3 and 11/12 to the ripe age of 4, we rang it in with hot dogs and cup cakes.



We are so lucky that this party even got to happen, first we had a quick round of stomach flu (Connor) followed by nasty ice and snow. Fortunately though, we overcame those troubles and our friends and family ventured to our house to celebrate the blessing of Grant.

We are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives. Grant, you bring much sunshine and laughter to our house. And you also really try my patience, so God must be using you to make me better!
We love you!

Vanished! Temporarily...

We had quite a scare last night at our house.
Around 9:15 or so, I was reading in our room and heard Connor get up to go to the bathroom. I called out "Connor?" and he replied "yeah" so I knew it was him. I reminded him to wash his hands and shut his door back when he was finished, but he didn't say anything. I got up about 5 minutes later and checked the boys' bedroom door--open. He frequently "forgets" to shut it--I am pretty sure he just wants to make sure that he can be the first one out of bed if anyone else is waking up. He is our farmer.
I called into the darkness of their room, "Connor, you were supposed to shut the door," but got no reply.
"He was tired!" I thought.
I then went about the evening bedtime rituals and told Jeff, who was working on the computer in the kitchen, that I was headed to bed. I always check on the kids very last thing, just to make sure everyone is covered up and asleep.
Reese's room was first. I can just barely open her door and listen for her breathing. She is a LIGHT sleeper. Check.
Then Grant, he needed to be covered up, it is still so cold at night. Check.
I climbed a couple of steps on the ladder up to Connor's bed and didn't see him. I figured he was at the other end, so I started feeling around.
Nothing.
My heart started beating a bit faster as I ran out to turn the hall light on to illuminate their room without waking Grant.
He wasn't there.
PANIC!!
I went running 0ut to the kitchen yelling, "Jeff, I can't find Connor! I can't find Connor!"
He comes running back and turns on the bedroom light-we are checking the closet, behind the door, the floor, everywhere. Still, we can't find him. We begin yelling his name, Jeff checks in Reese's room--just in case he went in there???
I've been all through the house putting things away and preparing for tomorrow. I haven't seen him. Where could he be?
Jeff has been sitting in the kitchen, we can't figure out how he could be anywhere but his bedroom.
Jeff checks the basement, I am walking through the house calling his name. I call loudly while standing in the living room.
The red blanket moves. Sweet relief...Connor is curled up in the chair, completely covered by a red blanket with a pillow in front of him. He hears his name and stirs, looking at us as if he can't quite figure out why we have woken him up.
Jeff grabs on to him and asks him if he remembers coming out here.
"no."
Are you awake?
"yes."
"You scared us to death!!"
He is giggling and proud. Though he didn't mean to "get us" this time, he is quite pleased that he did.
We send him to the shower to "wake up" completely and he dresses himself and gets in bed.
Then remembers NOTHING this morning.
Can you even believe that?

Of course, this is the same kid we found one summer night at 10pm (two hours after lights out around here) standing in his underwear under the shower spray. Again, no recollection.
We're gonna have to watch our little sleepwalker!