BuRrRrRr....

I bundled up the boys this morning and let them play in the snow for awhile. Gavin loved it and was having fun making trails in the snow and making snowballs. Tanner loved the snow, but had more fun watching Gavin play. He was laughing a lot of the time that we were out there. It was fun. Then we came inside and fixed some popcorn. We ate our popcorn while watching the recording from last night's American Idol. We all love American Idol. And since the boys can't really drink HOT chocolate, i made them some chocolate milk. It was a lot of fun. Now i have to clean my house b/c it is a disaster. :)

My first...

I did my first PRACTICE(no charge) photo shoot today. I already have learned a lot from this photo shoot... as in, what i will do different next time. Go here to check it out, http://www.ashspassion.blogspot.com/

Our weekend Trip...

Friday we traveled with a few of our friends down to Columbus for a temple trip. We got there at about 1:45 and a couple of us went to the 2:00 p.m. session. After that we all went to our hotel and did some swimming. It was so much fun. Gavin scared me twice while we were swimming. We were in the hot tub and i was talking to my friends. Gavin was in there with us too and i turned to check on him and his head was under the water and he was waving his arms above the water. Scared me to death. Then another time he tripped and fell back into the water. Water scares me to death when little kids are around. I am determined to teach Gavin how to swim this summer. We will be doing a lot of swimming this summer! I cannot wait. Later that night we ordered pizza, let the kids run around the lobby, and then played a game called, Loaded Questions. It was a lot of fun. That night i didn't get much sleep b/c Tanner was coughing all night long. We got to bed at about 11:00 p.m. Tanner woke up at 12:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m., and 2:00 a.m. Then Gavin woke up at 6:oo a.m. scared b/c he needed a night-light. Then we woke up an hour later. Good thing the hotel provided a hot breakfast to wake up to. Saturday morning we watched our other friends kids while they went through the temple and then when they got back we all went to Red Robin for lunch. That place is very good. It has a ton of gourmet hamburgers. It is almost as yummy as Fudrucker's(that place is the best). Then on our way back we stopped at the Lodi Outlet Mall. There were a lot of stores to look through, but we didn't last long b/c Tanner was feeling pretty sick. It was a fun-filled weekend. I didn't bring my camera for fear of losing it or having it get stolen, so i don't have any pics to post. I did bring my point and shoot camera, but i never pulled it out to use it!

Good Morning Merry Sunshine...

I got sooooo excited when i looked out the window yesterday morning and noticed the almost clear sky and the beautiful bright sun. The sun does NOT shine as much as i need it... I want so bad to be able to go outside and enjoy the sun, but it is so CoLd. Anyway, i took a picture of the sun for my own enjoyment. I can handle the cold a lot better when the sun shines.

Lunar Eclipse

Here is the tail end of the eclipse that happened tonight. Shane had a basketball game tonight and on our way home my sister Holly called and reminded me of the eclipse tonight. Unfortunately by the time we got home we realized we missed the best part of it. Oh well it was fun trying. I had so much fun taking this picture.

My boys are so cute...

I know, my background stinks and makes the boys look pale, but it is all i have right now though.

For my family, go to http://www.ashspassion.blogspot.com/ to find more pics of the boys.

Tanner's firsts...

This is Tanner's first time trying to play basketball. He loved it! Shane would put both of the boys through the hoop and they thought it was so fun. Then this last picture if Tanner's newest trick.

Cereal Bowl...

Gavin is so funny when he watches cartoons. This is his cereal bowl. I have so many other pictures, but didn't want to post too many on this. He used it as a hat for awhile, a leg rest, a foot rest, a seat. He was all over the place with it. Oh, and the way he's dressed...he dressed himself if you can't tell. :)

Hillary Clinton....

Hillary Clinton was here in Cleveland last night. She was about 2 miles from our house giving her little pep talk to all the people. I wish we could have gone just to see what it is like and to hear what she has to say about "changes" she will bring to America. I am actually quite disappointed with the selection of candidates to choose from. I do not like McCain and have no clue how he has gotten as far as he has! NO CLUE. First reason why i don't like him : The media makes it seem like America wants the war done and over with(which i think we all do, but of course we have to be smart about it), BUT McCain is planning on keeping us in war for quite some time. His weak spot is the economy. That is not good. Our economy needs help. So how is he getting so far with American votes?!?! I predict that Obama will be our next President. If not, i will be surprised! What is a girl to do when she disagrees with the republican candidate? Vote democrat...? There are so many factors at play. I also think that this "change" the candidates say they are going to bring is being so hyped up, but we will end up being disappointed b/c there won't end up being such a huge change everyone is expecting. Anyway, that is my opinion. It is such a complicated situation though. I actually care this time who ends up being President, but i am not that happy with any of the choices.

Playing the Drums...

These boys love to get into the cupboards and take out all my cookware, specifically my mixing bowls, and using them as drums or wearing them as hats. This time they decided to drum on them, as you can see. Before this, which i don't have a picture of, they got into the sink and soaked the floor and themselves.

Another Post

Here's a picture of Shane. I played with this on Photoshop a little bit and had to post how good he looks. Sorry ladies...he's all mine.

Day to Day...

Tanner was shaking his sippy cup and got water all over the floor. I told him, "no, no Tanner. You are making a mess." I was about to go get a rag that was on our coffee table when i turned around there he was already cleaning the mess up himself. I was amazed. He cleaned it up pretty good too! :)

This is Gavin this morning eating his cereal. He was really cold so he went and got his blanky and this is how he put it on himself. He is so funny.

Haiwaiin Haystacks...

Last night we had all of our friends over for dinner. It is so much fun when we all get together. We had 5 other couples here, plus their kids, which is about 2 kids per couple. Unfortunately we had one couple who couldn't be here b/c their little boy was in the hospital. We had haiwaiian haystacks and some cake and just talked for over 2 hours. I like houses that are really open and our house here is just really tight. It was a tight fit for all of us, but that is alright. :) There were a total of 11 kids and 12 adults. Crazy! When we first got here to school we were having get togethers all the time, but we haven't done it for awhile since our second year started, so it was tons of fun.

They love Spaghetti...

These boys love their spaghetti. After dinner i gave them some noodles without sauce and they had fun playing with the noodles. Tanner choked a few times b/c he tries swallowing them whole. Gavin loved getting more noodles for Tanner and they just had fun playing with their noodles. :)

Look at those baby blues

Motherhood...

Here are the boys playing in the toy room with their little people garage. They both love playing with this. They love cars.

Tanner is a huge eater! If i allowed it, he would eat all day long. At meal time, he doesn't stop eating on his own... I have to decide when i think he has eaten enough. Even after eating he goes searching for food scraps on the floor, which were thrown down on the floor by him at the table.
Well, i had been feeling bad b/c we don't have books around here that are for Gavin's age anymore. They are all made for Tanner's age. Soooo, reading gets boring and the same old thing. We decided to go to the library and we checked out a bunch of books and Gavin loves it. We've been reading a ton and we decided that we are gonna go to the library at least once a week now. They also have a little play center for the kids so they can read or play around. It is nice. It is something new we discovered we can do when it is cold out. I know, it is common sense to go to the library, but sometimes you forget little things like that that are available.

Now, just something i need to put in my "journal." Everyone's blogs, including mine, makes it appear that life is perfect as a mom. On the contrary, being a full-time mom is HARD. Sure there are many days that life can feel perfect, don't get me wrong. And being a mom is very rewarding and fills our hearts with so much love. But realistically, some days are great, others good, and some are just down right INSANE to where i feel like i am gonna lose it. It is so easy for me to look at others and think, "man, they look like they are really LOVING EVERY MOMENT of being a mom." What i mean by that is, they never "appear" to get overly irritated by their kids, they appear to never want to be away from them, they appear as if they are always happy with them and doing all these activities with them every second of their day. Just so perfect. I know, i know, things are not always what they seem. I have no idea what life is REALLY like for them, BUT it is so easy to be hard on myself as a mom when i get feelings that are anything but loving feelings. I think to myself, "what is wrong with me. How could i feel this way, these are my kids!?" I know that i have the hardest, greatest, and most influential job to ever exist. Maybe that is why it is so hard. I know it is unrealistic to think i could be happy, loving, and giving all the time. Not only is it unrealistic, but some days i just don't feel like giving anymore of myself than i already am. Selfish? Maybe. But oh well. In order for my kids to grow up happy and the way i have hopes for them to be, then i have to make sure that their momma is happy too. If i am not happy, if i am feeling overworked and overwhelmed(stressed)...my kids will sense it. Then they will start acting out. You know that saying, "If momma ain't happy then ain't nobody happy." Well, i have learned that is soooo true! So, thinking about it that way, i have the right to have time for myself. I owe it to myself AND to my kids. I am human...who ever said that mom's are supposed to be perfect?! I shouldn't feel bad for feeling like i need a break from my kids every once in awhile. I shouldn't feel bad for getting sooo excited when bed time comes around! :) Thank goodness that i have the Lord to give me strength every day to help me raise my kids. :) Life wasn't so stressful when it was just Gavin(before he turned 2)...after Tanner came and when Gavin turned 2, both happening right at the same time, being a mom became a lot more difficult than i expected. That said, I do LOVE being a mom. I LOVE and ADORE my boys. I wouldn't trade it for anything! Typing this out helps me to sort out my feelings on what i have been feeling lately....On whether i should feel like a cruddy mom or not. It seems like talking about the hard side of being a mom is something that people try to avoid talking about. I wonder, why that is? Sometimes we just need someone to talk to that feels the same way we do. We need to know that we are not the only one's.

A day in their life...

Tanner LOVES his blanky. He suddenly became attached to it. He loves to wrap himself up in it like a little burrito. He attacks it with his teeth and plops himself on it as if it were a big fluffy cloud. He trusts his blanky very much b/c if it happened to not be under him when he plopped on it like he usually does it would probably sound like thunder in our house from the sound of his head hitting the floor. It is so funny. Gavin has his favorite blanky too. He is very much attached to it and brings it everywhere. He has to sleep with it at night. He always reminds me to get his blanky if it isn't in his bed with him. Gavin loves "studying" on his computer. He learns quite a bit from it too. The picture of Tanner on the chair is of him trying to climb up from the chair onto the table. He is CONSTANTLY trying to get up on our tables. He is soooo determined to get what he wants, so in this case i am CONSTANTLY telling him no and taking him off the tables and chairs. These pictures show at least a few things my boys do on a daily basis at least a few times in the day.

We are the Champions...

For the past month Gavin loves singing the song, "We are the Champions"....He only sings
this part, "No time for losers, cuz we are the champions of the WORLD." When he sings the part "of the world" he sings it in a very high pitch tone and it is sooo funny. He is quite the singer. He LOVES singing, Follow the Prophet, while he marches around the house. The other night we sang the Sunbeams song over and over. He and Tanner loved the sunbeams part b/c we would get really loud when we said it and they both were cracking up. It is so much fun when Gavin sings. Sometimes it can even be too much and i have to quiet him down b/c i can't hear my conversations that i have with other people. :)