Go Maroon and Yellow!

I figured if I put Maroon and Yellow instead of Garnet and Gold it won't seem like I'm cheering for FSU as much!! Yesterday our neighbor invited the boys and I to join her at an afternoon FSU game. It was a beautiful day, plus Andy was out of town, so I thought it would be a lot of fun. I let Drew skip his nap so that we could get there on time, and I put Knox down a little early. Other than some meltdowns (from Knox) as we were getting ready to leave, the boys did really well. Our neighbor's son plays on the team, so we wanted to go and show our support. Andy and Drew have gone to a few games and they really enjoy this "boy" time. It would probably be easier if I just had Drew, but I thought it was fun letting Knox experience the game.

When we first got there we were standing at the fence watching them warm up, when one of the pitchers came up to us and handed Knox a ball, then gave Drew a high five.Here is Knox showing off his treasure. He LOVES balls. At one point during the game he wanted to throw the ball back onto the field, because he saw that's where all of the other balls were.This is our neighbor coming over to say hi to the boys.There was a kid next to us getting autographs and he offered us his marker, so we asked Robbie to sign it for the boys. It was their first autograph!Knox did not like to sit down for long. I think the only time he sat was when I was feeding him a hot dog. It made for an interesting time. I wasn't sure what the "protocol" at a game is. I didn't know if he was a distraction, or if people are used to it, but there was no getting him to sit still. We stayed through the 7th inning.

Here is our neighbor Kathy. She and her husband are so good to the boys. They are always giving them a special treat and they always remember to give them a present on special occasions. We're very blessed to have such great neighbors!On our way home! Drew had a great time....and you can see Knox (below) did as well!

Happy Birthday to......ME!!!

February 15th, I turned 32. It was a great birthday....thanks to my wonderful husband, family, and great friends! The Friday night before my b-day Andy took me out to dinner and a movie (which is my very, very favorite thing to do). We ate at Masa and then went and saw Valentine's Day, which I thorougly enjoyed. As soon as we got home Andy wanted me to open my presents. (He's not one for being patient. Sine he bought them that day he wanted me to open them.)

Here we are at Masa.

Here we are before going out. (with the boys)

Here is part of my present from Andy. Some new jeans from Buckle, which is my very favorite store for jeans. He also got me a top from there. Because he wanted me to have something to open on my actual birthday he went later that weekend and got me a few things from Ann Taylor Loft as well. Drew picked out a really cool necklace from there, and Andy picked out some great things, but they were PJ's and I wanted "real" clothing so I exchanged them for a really cute dress and skirt. On my b-day my good friend Tara brought her 2 kids over and watched my 2 while I went to the mall for 2 hours to do all of my exchanges. It was wonderful!!! Thank you Tara!

Fruit of the Spirit

At Bible study our teacher talked about the Fruit of the Spirit this past week. She has mentioned it other times, and I thought it would be such a great scripture to work on with Drew. I decided we would make a poster with the verse on it and a bowl for the fruit. Drew helped me to come up with what fruit to use, then I wrote on the back of each of them one of the "fruits" so that, for example, the grapes are "self-control". When I see Drew exhibit one of these fruits he gets to go and put the fruit in the bowl. At the end of the day we talk about what fruits he exhibited that day. He gets a little treat for each fruit. (this week it's 1 M&M/fruit) He thinks it's fun! We also came up with a little song with motions so he can learn the verse. We've been performing it each night for daddy, and practicing it in the car when we go places. If I could ever figure out how to upload a video I would show you, but for now, just close your eyes and picture it in your head. :) I wanted to share this because I LOVE getting ideas from other moms on sharing the Word with my children, so maybe this will spark some ideas for some of you other moms, or maybe you can share some of your ideas with me. I'm always eager to hear and learn....

January at a glance

It's been awhile since I have posted here, so I thought I would try and give you a quick overview of our month. It's been pretty cold here, so we've stayed home a lot more than we usually do, which has been a nice change of pace for us.

Knox has to do EVERYTHING he sees Drew doing, which is really cute, but also at times difficult, because he wants to take every toy Drew has. We're working on it (about 50 times a day!) Here is an example of what I am talking about. Drew was climbing up the outside of the stairs, and therefore Knox had to give it a try as well.

Knox found Drew's hat on the floor and put it on himself. I like how he decided to wear it a little to the side, and may have to try that on Drew next time.

My Mom and Dad were here for a visit, and while they were here we celebrated my dad's 54th birthday! I know I am in pajamas (which I always am when I'm not leaving the house), and the boys don't have shirts on (because we had lasagna), but at least my dad looks nice!

One afternoon we went to the Florida Natural History Museum, which has a lot of fun things for the boys to look at. Here are my parents and the boys at the top of the paddle boat.

Drew needed some new underwear, and since I won't let him wear "cartoon-ish" outfits, I let him pick out fun underwear. He loves transformers, so we found transformer boxer briefs. What else do you do with new underwear, but put it on your head??

Knox learning to read. (just kidding)

Most days I still have Drew take a nap (more for me, than for him probably). But, some afternoons I'll allow him to stay up and do "school" with mommy while Knox is napping. While I put Knox to sleep he'll go downstairs, get out his work book, put pillows on the floor for us to lay on while we work, and wait patiently. The other day, we were talking about helping in his workbook and they instructed us to make a "helping hand" for Drew to wear when he was a helper that day. By the time Andy got home, his hand looked like this. I didn't even notice....Andy did. He asked, "why is he wearing a hand like this?" (if you can't see clearly, the middle finger is the only one left up)

The circus was coming to town (which Drew and I ended up going to), and to promote it they had clowns come and do a show at the library. Both boys loved it! If you look closely, you may be able to see Drew's clown nose.

Drew has been teaching Knox how to pray with him before meals. Now if Drew doesn't start quickly enough, Knox will go "uh, uh, uh" and fold his hands, until Drew gets the picture.

With all of the cold, we've been enjoying many fires. Here is a picture of the boys enjoying a fire before bed time.

When Andy gets home from the gym he always allows Drew to listen to his music, but not to be left out here is Knox joining in.

I hope you all have had a wonderful winter, and with Valentine's Day coming up this weekend I thought I would leave you with a verse about love.

This is one of the first verses Drew ever learned, and this week we decided to work on it with Knox. (i think it will take awhile;))

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and strength." Deut. 6:5

shopping (mini style)

We decided to take Knox's shopping cart to Publix, so that the boys could have an opportunity to use their cart and do some shopping of their own. I wanted to make sure it was a time Andy was with us, so he could help, so of course it worked out to be one of the busiest times. (New Year's Eve at 5:00) Oh, well....the boys had a great time, and did a good job staying out of the way of other shoppers. Everyone in the store kept commenting on how cute they were!Knox patiently waiting for his turn.All checked out!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We made very special memories. Not only did we enjoy the anticipation leading up to it, but the actual day.

Christmas Eve was a very busy day. I started my day at the gym, rushed home to do some baking, and went with Andy and the kids to get a last minute gift. After nap time we headed to our church for a Christmas Eve service. I'm sure it was wonderful, but I feel like the entire hour I was busy trying to keep Knox entertained! :) After church we headed to Andy's sister's house for a Christmas Eve celebration. We had yummy food, and loved watching the boys play (our 2, plus her 1) together.

My parents were not sure until Christmas Eve if they would attempt to make it to Tallahassee. My dad had surgery a little less than a week before they were traveling and although he was pretty uncomfortable during his visit, I think he would tell you it was all worth it to get to see the kids enjoy Christmas morning. We are soooo glad they made it! Drew had been praying for that.

Here is Knox playing with their train set. Drew got a Geo Trax train a few years ago from Uncle Eddie and Aunt Kate, and since then we have been adding on to it. They have such cool accessories. What surprised me is how into it Knox is. A few weeks before Christmas I was able to purchase a huge amount of used Geo Trax tracks, accessories, and trains that I'm saving to give Drew for his birthday. (and since he can't read I feel comfortable posting that surprise here:) )

I had to go in the stash the other day to get another train out for Knox, so the boys would both have a train to control. They have been playing with it every day. I finally broke down tonight and put the tracks away. I had left them out all week, but I wanted to see our loft picked up again. :)



Here's Drew openning one of his larger gifts. We got him an Imaginext Space Shuttle and all of the accessories. He got the Fire Station last year and has loved it. I highly recommend any Imaginext toys. They are GREAT quality, and the kids are able to manipulate them to do many different things.


Another space accessory.

Knox received a doctor's kit. He has really enjoyed giving us our physicals.

Knox really did a great job openning his presents, and didn't seem disinterested until the very end, when it appeared he was going to pass out from all of the excitement.

Knox openning his farm from Uncle Eddie and Aunt Kate. They were in Orlando celebrating with Kate's family.

The week of Christmas we received some money from the great grandparents to spend on the kids. We wanted to make sure the kids had something on Christmas to open for them, so we could take some pictures for our grandparents to see. Drew's was the first gift I bought. When we were at Barnes and Nobles that week he was fascinated with a book that was all about Battles. Drew LOVES looking through books. He asks a BUNCH of questions,and will sit there as long as you'll read to him. Since he had found the book that week, it was fresh in his mind, and he was so excited Christmas morning to open it.

Knox took a little more thought. We wanted to have something he wouldn't grow out of too quickly, but something that was unique. We went to a local toy stoy on Christmas Eve, where we stayed way too long. We just couldn't find the right thing. Then when we were about to settle on something I saw this grocery cart out of the corner of my eye. We knew immediately that this would be perfect. It looks just like a real one, and is great quality. It's made by Melissa and Doug, who make great wooden toys/puzzles. Since Christmas we have taken the cart to Publix and the boys took turns shopping. So fun! (pics to come soon)

Drew's Battle book

Drew openning a Decepticon (transformer), which is what he always said he wanted for Christmas this year when asked.

Knox helping to model a necklace Andy got me. (Andy got me some great gifts. He has always been a great gift giver. Way better than me. Probably my favorite gift was a heart rate monitor that I wear to the gym. It tells me my heart rate while working out and how many calories I burned. And I love it even more because it's Pink!)

We hope that you and your families had a wonderful Christmas! What an awesome time to reflect on the Lord and His goodness to us. Although we should celebrate Jesus every day it is so great to have a time where we are focused on Him.

May 2010 bring you even closer to our Savior, and if you don't have a personal relationship with Him, may this be the year that you KNOW Him!