It's Been a Long Long TIME

WOW. I am so sorry I haven't posted in so long!!! We have been so incredibly busy that I've forgotten or haven't had time to write it all down!!! Let me start back at the beginning of December. Benjamin Bunny turned One on the 9th!!!! What a huge milestone and reality check THAT was for all of us... I cannot believe my baby that I just had what seems like two weeks ago has turned a year old. He is a happy, healthy little angel and I cannot imagine life without him! We had planned the cutest little birthday party for him .... it had a racing theme and we told all of his little friends to bring their ride on toys! Well, we had to cancel the main party because little Zack got sick. So we just had the family over, which was still tons of fun!! Dadoo made Spaghetti, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The best part was when Ben got his very own birthday cake... he DUG IN! He even buried his face in it at one point. I have never had so much fun watching a kid eat. He and little Zack opened the presents and of course, Little Zack took over some of them. The price you pay with a brother around. It was wonderful. We have really enjoyed the Christmas season and took the kids to see Christmas lights one night....we even got to see a live Nativity scene! We had little Zack's window rolled down so he could see better, but he started yelling COLD! COLD!, so we rolled up the window and moved along.
Christmas was fabulous. We took the boys to church on Christmas Eve, with the help of Sity and Dadoo, and they behaved so well! I was very proud. Then we came home and put them in their Christmas PJ's. After Ben went to bed, we made the mistake of letting him open his Godfather's present, which happened to be a little air gun thing that shoots out foam discs. THANKS CHARLIE~! haha No seriously, I thought Zack wouldn't even know what to do with it....I was wrong...way wrong. He immediatly took hold of it and started loading the discs into it. Noone even showed him how. Then he figured out how to work the trigger. Let's just say that I had to let him take it to bed, or it would have been World War III. The next morning, the boys woke up to Santa's bounty and little Zack ran around crazy like a winner on the Price is Right. Sity Dadoo and Aunt Mandy came over to play Christmas morning, then after naps, we went to Mamaw's and Mimi's. I will write more later, but I hear someone waking up from their nap!!

Ben can Bust a Move

Oh my goodness...my baby boy LOVES to DANCE!!! He will hold on to a piece of furniture and bounce and swivel his hips and tap his toes.... ADORABLE! The great thing is, and I have said this since he was younger, he FEELS the beat... he's always in time with the music! I will upload a video of him dancing, for your enjoyment!

Today went pretty well, except for Zack's meltdown in Hancock Fabrics... I take partial responsibility for it because I took them there about an hour before nap time and it was packed so it took awhile. I bought two patterns of flannel with the intention of making the boys' matching Christmas PJ's (the flannel is of Santa's clothes all hanging on a clothesline) and just another fun pair of PJ's for little Zack.... and I couldn't help myself so I went ahead and made the sock monkey pattern pj's tonight. Here is what they look like:

And I also sewed Benjamin two new cloth diapers today, in stunning lime green:

I am loving domesticity. It agrees with me. I get joy from hanging clothes on the line and sewing clothes and cooking meals for my family. I am so grateful to God for putting me in the position I am in.

Whirlwind Week!

Wow! This week has flown by, but then again, they all seem to do that these days!! Zack was home from work on Monday, so it was nice to get to spend some extra time with him and it was good for the boys to get to have him "all to themselves" for an extra day! We viewed Zack's two year old portraits this week, and they were so BEAUTIFUL... it showed his personality perfectly! We splurged and got something called a "Jump Panel" as part of Zack's and my Christmas to one another ... they took a series of pictures of Zack jumping up and down, swinging his arms all crazy like he does, and the jump panel consists of one picture where he appears to be jumping upward, two of him in the air or mid-flight, and one of him landing. Priceless. He wore the pale blue Jon-Jon that sewed for him, with a white A monogrammed on it, courtesy of Mark and Azar's Uniforms. I get such joy from making things for my boys! We went to the Zoo on Friday with Jocelyn and Danielle and all of their kids, and it was a blast! Our little crew looked like some crazy daycare group! Zack had a blast growling back at the Jaguar and Ben enjoyed talking to Ben Castanza! I have been really busy with Spa stuff this week too! I had two Spas! The first one was at Lacey's house, and it was fun and successful, then the second one was at Margaret Crimi's house and 3 girls decided to be spa girls like me!!! That is a huge accomplishment for me, because it puts me one recruit away from being promoted to Unit Vip! and I will earn a free IPod from BeautiControl...pretty cool! I feel so blessed to have this in my life, and I have even contacted a couple of schools about coming to pamper their teachers, and those are looking promising! Go me! I would love to do a spa for you and some of your friends, or even just a one on one spa! I promise you it will be the most relaxing thing you have done for yourself in awhile! Also, I have been working on my Natural and Thrifty blog, Running on Empty is Okay! (http://runningonemptyisokay.blogspot.com) Go check it out, you may learn something, and I would love to hear all of y'all's suggestions and ways to be thrifty! We all need it with the way the economy is!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Wow! I am blogging two days in a row.... that seems to be a record for me these days! We took the boys, who were dressed as a Hunter and a Deer, out trick or treating in our neighborhood earlier, which was FILLED with kids! I am so glad we are living in a place where our kids will have lots of friends to play with. So many cute little costumes! After we made the rounds at the houses of people we knew, we headed to the Catholic Game some the boys could show Dadoo their costumes and get in on a little bit of the football action! Little Ben even made the Friday Night Football Fever on WSFA in his deer costume, along with a bunch of other costumed kids. Here are some pictures from today. Enjoy!

Halloween Bunko and More!

OKAY...time had really flown since I last had a chance to blog. The boys have been going continuously, and Ben has a new tooth, which makes a grand total of 2. He is also letting go of objects that he has used to pull himself up on, and standing alone for a few seconds before he crashes to the floor! He will be walking in no time! Then I will have two running toddlers to chase, no doubt in separate directions. Sity and I took the boys to have their picture made with Santa at Holiday Market last week! They both cooperated beautifully, although we couldn't manage to get a shot where both of them are smiling. This is the picture we selected as the best: Zack also had his two year old portraits taken this week, wearing a pale,pale blue jon-jon that I made for him, that has a white block "A" embroidered on it, courtesy of Zack's Uncle Mark at Azar's Uniforms, to whom I am very grateful for helping us out! Zack was all over the place at the studio.... trying to grab light flashers and cameras and anything else that was nailed to the floor... his Daddy is a pistol and he's a son of a gun, let me tell you. But we survived the session, although he did manage to knock over a huge display portrait, which I caught with my hands, that was on an iron stand or easel, that I caught with my foot. My foot STILL hurts and that happened Monday. No one ever told me that being a Mom involved so much physical abuse! My legs look like my elementary P.E. teacher's most of the time (all bruised up) but thankfully, it's pant season finally, so I don't have to cover them up anymore. I have also been doing spa parties at people's homes, and attended my Day of BeautiU last Sunday, where I learned a lot of helpful information to make me a better Spa girl.
I am hosting Halloween Bunko tonight in our garage/ playroom, and have been planning the menu. Benjamin and I went to get all of the food necessary for the Ghoul's Night Out this morning... I am making "Mummy Wraps " which are hot dogs wrapped in a breadstick that has been baked around it, Smores, Transylvania Punch ( it includes Vodka'd Jello) and a dip with chips. And of course, CANDY! Some people are wearing costumes, some are not.... I believe I am going to resurrect my old Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader outfit from YEARS ago, not only because it's cute, but because, dangit, I'm 25, have had 2 babies, and still look good in it. Gotta do it while I can. And if I look dumb, who cares! There's Transylvania punch to make me forget. Zack had his Pumpkin Party at school today, and they said he ate 3 slices of pizza. What will I ever do with my hungry little boy??? Between him and Ben, I will have to get a night job to feed them! My money saving efforts are paying off, though, as our power bill is already lower, and I saved $45 dollars at the grocery store today, by planning my buys around the sales and what coupons I had that went with them. Well, I better go work on the garage and get it ready for company... I will post pictures from tonight later!!

Pumpkin Patch!!!

Friday, we went to the Zoo for the 2nd time this week, this time with Danielle and her Ella and Ben, as well as Jocelyn and her three (Harper, Violet, and Iris). Those kids had a BLAST! They 4 older ones were all running around holding each other's hands and showing things to each other... so precious. Jocelyn and Danielle, who had met briefly a couple of times before Friday, had a great time chatting and we all had fun watching the kids have fun. Plus, it gave us Mom time.... that is, time to talk to someone other than toddlers, and someone who doesn't mind hearing potty stories.
Sunday, Zack and I took the boys to the Dreamfield Farms Pumpkin Patch! I had to practically beat my husband to get him to go, but once we were all there, I think he had as good of a time as the rest of us. There was a "petting zoo, where the kids could meet, pet and feed real animals that live on this working farm. Zack went crazy over the baby goats and calves! They were all very eager to eat the corn he offered them. Little Ben loved petting the lamb, probably because he was so soft! We watched Racing Piglets, which were hilarious, and Zack got to pet the winner of the race. We tried to do the 5- Acre corn maze (a corn field that has had patterns cut into it like a labyrinth) and got VERY lost, but Little Zack still enjoyed tromping around in his Cowboy boots that Mimi gave him for his birthday.

My poor husband, on the other hand, didn't fare as well.... it wore him out almost as much as it did his son! At the end, we went on the hayride that led us to the Pumpkin Patch, and Zack got to pick out his very own Pumpkin. I put Ben down in the patch and let him explore the pumpkins, too, and making sure all the while that he didnt find an ant bed to sit in. I will be uploading pictures later of this wonderful excursion... it will always be a treasured memory for me, even though I know the kids will only have the pictures to remember it by.
I have spent my day hanging diapers and clothes outside on the line to dry, taking care of the kids and all that it entails, and I have been sewing reusable napkins/ paper towels out of cotton flannel. We are not going to be buying anymore paper towels (people get so confused when they come to our house and there are no paper towels... a nice clean rag or towel can clean up anything that a paper one can!) I am considering learning to sew cloth diapers and sell them as well. There is certainly a growing market for it with the way the economy has gone! I have also been unplugging everything that is not currently in use and turned off the A/C and opened the windows to cool the house. The rates for electricity just went up, so I will be doing everything I can to cut that bill as low as possible!!! If anyone has any other ideas on saving money or doing things the way they were done before convenience items came about, let me know!

The Zoo!

I took the boys to the Zoo yesterday to meet up with my friend Jocelyn and her little ones, Harper, Violet and Iris. They had soooo much fun. Zack had not been to the zoo since he was 6 months old, and little Ben had NEVER been before, so this was truly a thrilling outing for all of us. Zack ran the entire time, except for when I put him back into the stroller for disobeying or running off from the group (he has to learn somehow!) and chattered excitedly about each of the animals. He especially enjoyed the Spider Monkeys and the Bengal Tigers, who were EXTREMELY close to the glass that day. Zack kept pointing at the tigers and saying "ooooooooo". The tiger seemed to be thinking "oooooo that little curly-headed boy would make an excellent snack!", but we all survived to tell the tale. The baby elephant was also a huge hit with the kids, and I enjoyed getting to see her as well! Ben LOVED the Pink flamingoes..... they kept squawking and flapping, which he thought was HYSTERICAL. I do love these outings so much with my boys and know that these memories are priceless. They are getting so big so fast! Ben is letting of things that he has pulled himself up on, then falling. It won't be long before he tries to take that special first step!
This weekend the boys and I delivered invitations to half of our subdivision about the "Neighborhood After Work Spa" that another consultant and I are having here at Woodland Creek on October 16th. It was a good long walk, and a nice end to our weekend. If anyone else would like to come, they are more than welcome to attend! There will be lots of drawings and ideas for Christmas gifts!
Friday night I went to "First Friday" mass and rosary at church, which honors the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and I can honestly say that was one of the most peaceful, prayerful times I have enjoyed in a long time. I have decided to take on this devotion, by where I will got to church each First Friday out of the month and pray for the crimes against the Sacred Heart. I took Ben to Daily Mass today and he behaved beautifully (Zack was at Pre-school) and I really enjoyed the time with God, even though I was keeping a baby happy the whole time! This may become part of our weekly schedule, where we go to mass after we drop Zack off at school. Tonight we are going out to celebrate Gerri's birthday with Mexican Food, so that will be lots of fun!