Kids games--completely addicting

Am I the last person to find this game? It is difficult to not try to beat it. Crayon physics--fun stuff!

Christmas is officially over

Last night we finally got around to taking down the tree and decorations. The boys wanted to help and, as things go with toddlers, made the process more difficult than it had to be. We put on a Bob the Builder Christmas video one more time before it went into storage and that was a good idea. Part way through the video they looked up and realized how empty our house looked. I agreed. It is always so hard to take down the stuff that makes your home feel warm and cozy. But they weren't just sad because Christmas was over, they were devastated. Tears were flowing. If sports don't work out for them, there's always the theater.

They went to bed before the tree was taken down and the furniture rearranged, so they didn't get the full effect last night. Though, I didn't expect more tears this morning when there wasn't a trace of holiday decor and they saw the tree carcass laying next to the curb.

Let it snow?

It snowed last night. Not much (even though people were driving 25 on the highway...ugh), but enough to make the boys go to bed dreaming of snowballs, snowmen, and snow boots. The drive home from Aunt Erin's birthday dinner was the only snow we got, so you can actually see the grass through the snow, and there's just a dusting on the sidewalks and driveway.

Does this stop the boys from asking if they can go outside and play in the snow? No. Every ten minutes they ask again. They don't understand that it's just cold outside. And if they start wrestling it'll be wet. No snowballs, no snowmen, and we only know where one of each pair of boots are. It's got bad idea written all over it.

I guess I wouldn't mind a good snowfall so they can go out and play. Not sure if I want something exactly like last year, but it wouldn't be childhood if kids didn't have some snowtime. I know from experience that it is much more enjoyable as a kid than as an adult!

Belated Christmas Post

Thanks to this fabulous couple, I have my camera once again. They will be welcoming their lovely daughter sometime this April. (And she is lovely, I saw her in 4D.)

Jim & Jamie

Here are some shots from our annual trip to Festival of Lights. Uncle Joe and Aunt Erin went with us on the mild night that was packed with other zoo-goers.

This snowflake or snowball or snowperson had great moves! The zoo had piped music playing and he/she/it was getting down to the delight/confusion of the boys.

It was tight in the barn, but we did our best to get a picture taken infront of the manger scene.

(This is out of order, but...) this is Katie's last day with us before heading back to LA. The boys (and Mommy!) have such a good time when she's here.

Charlie is sincerely sad Tia Katie is leaving.

When the boys returned to school this Tuesday their books bags were filled with stuff from 2008. Here are a few of their art pieces.

Louie's angel. The wings are made out of his hands, and he worked really hard to draw arms with hands.

Benny's Christmas tree. Kevin thinks that this was a representation of his protest to ornaments being hung high on the tree, out of reach of little hands.

New Year's Clean up

Have you ever seen The Simpsons episode where Marge is secretly giving a load of things to the Goodwill truck while Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie watch television? She tries to be discreet and quietly carries the stuff out the front door. For whatever reason, the rest of the family notices Marge is acting strangely and runs outside to find out what's going on. Seeing the truck they begin running after it as Marge yells to the two men picking the things up to hurry up and get out of there. The family's sheer desire to keep these possessions that they haven't used or even thought of for years is enough for them to catch up to the truck and grab a portion of the donated items.

This is what is going on at my house. We have a basement of accumulated toys, clothing, household items, etc. that we do not use nor need, but I know that there has to be someone out there who could use them. So I have filled our dining room with boxes and bags that will be dropped off tomorrow morning and hopefully put to good use.

I tried to do this whole process of purging without the boys (and that includes Kevin) figuring out what I was doing. However, when they came upstairs to find piles of...things...they became curious. What is this, Mom? Oh we're going to donate it. What does that mean? After a quick explanation by me, they then began to explain to me how they love this particular item. Yeah right. So I said that they could have that toy, but then I was going to go downstairs and pick out something else in exchange.

You can only imagine how this process went. I'm going to let them play with this stuff until Kevin comes home and then when they're not looking I'll run outside and fill the back of his vehicle with everything to take out tomorrow.

I am a self-proclaimed pack rat, but Kevin may be worse. Luckily, the desire to start and someday finish the basement is so great that he is getting better at parting with things. His collection of flannels from the '90s falls in to the category. Not all of them were sent packing. I let him keep a couple to reminisce his lost youth ;)

So the main goal is to clear out enough of the basement to start framing it out, put up walls, and one day have a family room in our basement. That "one day" will be before the baby gets here. In June. (Don't laugh.)

Letting go

When Fort beat cancer for the third time (Stage 4) she invited me to go out with her rugby friends to celebrate! Amazingly enough, going home we all fit in that cab behind us.

Last night was the visitation and today was the funeral for my friend, Fort. We were halfway through the line at the visitation and a staff member said there were already 800 there! The church was packed, and it was one of those huge downtown-type churches. It was an amazing tribute to the person she was, and the effect she had on others! I know that the people who visit this site come to find out what the boys are up to, so I apologize if this isn't what you're looking for. There is a connection, though!

When I was growing up my parents surrounded me and my siblings with good friends of theirs. I believe these people played a big role in the development of who I am today. I want the same for my kids. I know that Kevin and I can't provide them with everything they need to become well-rounded, well-adjusted people, but with the help of our friends and family, I believe this is possible.

Already, so many of you are involved in the boys' lives and we are so very grateful for that. They learn so much from you and sincerely love having you around. One of the people I was hoping the boys would get to know as they grew up was my friend, Fort. As I've said before, and as some of you know, she was hilarious and caring and loved life. She had an impossibly optimistic attitude toward everything, and this is something that I believe is extremely important.

So, I want to thank you for being a part of mis tres hijos' lives, and people like Fort will continue to be because I will tell the boys about her and she will live on through my memories.


P.S. If you have a few minutes, this is a great essay that talks about growing older, and one of the things you go through with friends--cancer.

Edited: It turned out that there were 1,500 people that came to the visitation, and I know some had to leave because they couldn't wait as long as they'd like. There wasn't an official count for church, but I hope Fort's looking down and knows that she was loved by many.

If you'd like to read Fort's story (or pass along to someone this might be of interest to) her second blog is on this side of this post labeled under "Links to Friends' Blogs." The link to her first blog is here, and this begins when she found out she relapsed for the first time.

Goodbye

When I was a freshman at OU I went with my friend Fort to see our beloved Bobcats play basketball. We were down 5 pts. with .4 seconds to go in the game. Not 4 seconds, mind you, but point-four, less than a second. As OU's coach calls a timeout fans started milling out of the arena, but I made Fort and a couple of friends stay until the end.

"Why? There's absolutely no way that they can pull this thing out," she cried. And she played varsity basketball, so she would know that it's near impossible for our team to win.

I plead with her, "But we just have to believe in them!" and our two other friends just laugh.

As this is going on someone walks by and says, "Hey Fort! Aren't you getting out of here?"

She replies, "No, we have to stay because Annie believes."

That turned into a bit of a joke afterward, in that they made fun of me because I wouldn't give up. If you want something to happen badly enough it is possible, right?

Well, I guess she proved to me that this isn't always the case. My friend Melissa, known lovingly as Fort passed away over the weekend after at six-year battle with cancer. I am completely heartbroken. It is so difficult for me to imagine that a person with so much love and energy and kindness can be gone from this world. I honestly thought she was going to beat this. I know that she went into hospice after Thanksgiving, but she went home the Friday before Christmas. In the pictures she posted on her blog she looked beautiful! So healthy and happy. I thought for sure she was on her way out of this mess.

Today would have been her 31st birthday.

I can't seem to think of anything else. But I do have some wonderful little angels that happen to live in my house. Yesterday Louie asked why I was crying and I told him that the friend of mine that we've been praying for at night has gone to heaven to be with God. He told me that he, Benny, Charlie, Daddy, all my aunts and uncles and cousins will take care of me.

"And Mom, you'll see her again when you go to heaven," he says.

I know Louie, but it's just hard right now.

Nick (her brother) & Fort

My mom, Fort, Cory, Cory's Mom, Fort's Mom, Me

Fort & Me