Happy Holidays!

Do You See What I See? 2010 Edition: Chance’s favorite breakfast food (besides “aw-ffuls”)...The boys love this dog & the “meddling kids” he hangs out with...1 GREAT concert at Wolf Trap! 12 GREAT years together!...Chance’s skill is close to “perfection” playing this game...Jeff’s Thursday night & Saturday morning activity...Garrett – age 6 ¾...The little grocery store we can’t live without...“Magical” book series that captured Garrett’s attention...Kari’s knee-high accessories during a week at Girl’s Camp...Garrett loves “math questions”—and checking to see if the answer is right... 2 of Chance’s many stuffed “friends” he carries around...Where Jeff still works, in spite of turning down a move to DE...Reminder of the blizzard that buried us in February...Practically perfect week at the beach in Hilton Head, SC...Chance – age 2...Old school cartoon fun—one of Garrett’s favorites!...A few of Kari’s favorite book club picks...One of many piano duets Garrett & Jeff have been practicing...Trendy little items Garrett collected and traded...We’re addicted to this game—it’s got “ZING”!...Chance sings “I want candy…” when he gets a taste of this chocolate candy—his favorite from Halloween...Cars, Little People, Disney + Legos & Star Wars = PLAYTIME!...A yummy triple layer snack—one of Jeff’s favorites...Chance never gets bored with these 3 stories--or any others...Scrambler & Frog Hopper & Super Dooper Looper—oh my!(aka: The Sweetest Place on Earth)...Kids’ 1st choice in cookies...Souvenir from Kari’s girls’ trip to South Florida in January...Favorite fall tradition: apple picking (and the closest we got to a good family picture this year)...Garrett’s prize from his first season of coach pitch baseball...13.1 miles later, Jeff’s post-op knee is all good!...A few holiday wishes for you on our favorite Sunday night game... With Love and Laughter, Jeff, Kari, Garrett & Chance

Confessions of a Back-Blogger

Yes, I admit it! I'm a back-blogger! What can I say, I like to keep things in order--even if it takes me 6 months. So if anyone is still checking this blog (thanks Mindy) try not to get too confused by my oh-so-late posts. There are plenty more coming! Hopefully I'll be caught up soon! Better late than never, right?

Camping or Moving?

Both! Jeff and Garrett had a great time camping in the Shenandoah for Memorial Day weekend and Chance and I stayed home to pack for our move last week. This camping trip has become a tradition for us and several friends and is always lots of fun.

No camping trip would be complete without smores, but this year Jeff insisted that we get the "nice long roasting sticks like the Williams have" so I went to Walmart and got a couple! They really are great, especially for the kids. Thanks Ellie and Jeff! I'm sure the smores tasted even better because of the "nice" roasting sticks. In addition to smores, Garrett loves to bring his "camping stories" along to read by flashlight in the tent at night. And of course, one of the best things about camping is playing in the dirt.

Garrett, Ian, Spencer and Nate digging in the dirt. Two years ago, our friend Sara brought this shovel set for the kids to play with and Garrett loved it so much that it went home with us. It has been well used--for camping and more--and I'm amazed it has lasted so long! Thanks Sara!

Garrett, Ian and Addy watching the deer in the Big Meadow. The deer at Big Meadow are very used to people and not the least bit shy. It always amazes us how close we can get to them.

They did 4 different hikes during the weekend. Jeff loves to hike and Garrett has really become a great little hiker! He rarely whines and just keeps going--even with blisters on his feet! We're always so proud of him when he finishes a big hike.

Garrett, Peter and Ian on one of the hikes. (Can't you just picture them in 10 years on High Adventure?)

Andrew, Nate, Peter, Spencer and Garrett racing down the trail to the waterfall. This is a hike that has become familiar to these boys over the last few years and they seem to run faster every year. I remember watching our friends' boys running down this trail when Garrett was still wobbling his way over every rock and taking rides on Jeff's back. It's so fun to see him running down the trail now.

A sure sign of a fabulous camping trip: smiling and dirty little boys.

(Chance & I got most of the packing done too, but didn't have nearly as much fun!)

Peek-a-Boo!

Chance has a new game. When we put him in his crib he quickly pulls down the bumper pad and watches us leave the room. Then he cries (he always cries, but just for a minute) which makes it that much more tempting to open the door again and be greeted by his cute chubby face, peeking through the crib rails! Garrett especially has fun with this game and loves to be the first one in Chance's room in the morning and after naptime. They occupy each other for quite awhile playing this version of peek-a-boo.

Hooray for Spring!

Garrett's class did a cute little play called "Hooray for Spring!" They helped write it, made their costumes (t-shirts), painted the backdrop and each memorized a part. They put on a great show for the parents! It was fun to see how nervous and excited they all were waiting for it to start.

Once it was over--and it was over FAST!--they weren't quite sure what to do. We clapped, they bowed and then they seemed to be thinking, "That's it? It's over?"

And then came the smiles!

Mr. Independent

This week Garrett has finally decided that he is capable of getting cereal out of the pantry by himself. (Yes, he is 5 years old and we realize many parents can't keep their 2 year olds out of the pantry, but for some unknown reason, Garrett has never attempted to get food out without asking us first.) Sometimes, when I want to ensure a chance to sleep in, I leave a baggie of cereal on the counter for Garrett to munch on when he gets up (usually 6:30-7am). On those days, I also try to leave the tv channel on disney so he can watch a show if he wants to. (Ok, ok, don't judge to harshly. I know at least a few of you do this too!) I did this a couple times last week during spring break. This week Garrett has come into our room early in the morning asking if I left cereal out for him. I haven't. Usually he will just play for a little while until one of us fixes breakfast. Instead he got cereal for himself and turned on tv. Yesterday, he was able to fill us in on the weather and traffic and today he came running into our room telling us all about the soccer, basketball and baseball games he just watched. I looked at Jeff and said, "Did he just watch SportsCenter this morning?" (Jeff was the last one up last night, so the tv channel was on ESPN.) Jeff smiled and said, "That's my boy!" Garrett laughed, very proud of himself, and said, "Yep! I ate my Bumpers (cereal) and watched some sports!" I guess there are worse habits, right?

Quiet Time?

Today we were in the car with our friends and the boys were all asking if they could keep playing together. My friend Mindy & I told them no because we were all going home for naps and rests and quiet time. Garrett started complaining and saying, "But mom, I don't want to go home for quiet time!" Being the sympathetic mom that I am, I told him, "Too bad." Then Wyatt (Mindy's 3 year old) offered him an alternative: "Garrett, do you want loud time?" That gave Garrett something to think about! (Thanks Wyatt!)

The Cave

With all the Easter craziness (didn't you hear, Easter is the new Christmas?) we have really been trying to remind Garrett the real reason for celebrating Easter. He got a little bit of a start at preschool where they read some stories about Jesus' death and resurrection and made tissue paper crosses (hey, it's a start!). As his excitement for egg hunts and baskets full of goodies grew exponentially day by day, we tried to remind him of the atonement and the resurrection. We used the Easter story eggs my parents gave us to go through various scriptures and talk about why we celebrate Easter. By Easter Sunday, he seemed to have a pretty basic understanding of it all. At church, during Primary, the children were shown pictures depicting the Easter story and were asked what was happening in each picture. Garrett was shown the picture of Jesus by the tomb. He said, "That's Jesus when He came out of His cave!" Hmm...funny how one word really can make a difference.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker...

Chance is not even a year old and I'm already setting him up on his first date! Ok, so really he's just sharing a chair with my friend's baby, Lindsay, but we thought it looked rather "date-ish". (Funny that he has the same nervous, petrified expression that Jeff had on our first date. I guess it's never easy to make the first move, no matter how old you are!)

Here they are holding hands...

Chance going for the classic "stretch, then reach around" move...

So happy together...

April Fools! I Tricked You!

Our all time favorite April Fools joke is rubber bands around the kitchen sink sprayer. (I think everyone in both our families has been the victim of that one--including us!) Since we don't have a sprayer anymore, we had to move on. I have to admit I wasn't really into it this year until I talked to Mindy and heard all the fun they were having. It was contagious! Garrett came home from preschool ready to play all kinds of "tricks." The rest of the day was filled with phrases like "Mom! It's snowing outside! April Fools!" and "Look mom! I tricked you! April Fools!" Yeh, he's still getting the hang of it, but it's a start. He was having trouble going to sleep because he was waiting for Jeff to lay down and find the book he put in his pillowcase. I finally assured him I would tell him all about it in the morning. I am also proud to say I got Jeff good with soap on his toothbrush! His teeth got extra clean! My favorite, though, was hearing Mindy's daughter Olivia ask "Who is April Fools anyway?"

Can You See It?

Garrett kept insisting that he could see a tooth in Chance's mouth. Of course we didn't believe him, but with some help from Chance, he proved us wrong! I'm sure it's only the first of many times they will work together to thwart us. The pictures are a little blurry, but there it is...can you see it?

Oh What a Difference a Day Makes!

I'm so sad to say that the madness came to a screeching halt at our house yesterday. And as of today, Jeff has won. Again. There are still games to be watched, but our brackets are done. At least I have Garrett to keep me company in the loser's circle this year.

Lego my...LEGO!

I love Legos! Legos provide Garrett, and therefore me, endless hours of entertainment. Yesterday was no exception although the entertainment came in a slightly different form. Toward the end of quiet time, I noticed Garrett quietly walking down the stairs. He was close to tears. He said, "Sorry mom, but I need to apologize to you and my esophagus." Ok. I asked him why and he explained to me that he had swallowed one of his legos and it was stuck in his esophagus! I decided to call the doctor just to be safe and while I was on hold, I got a few more details from him. He told me the lego was one of the "lights" that glows in the dark and he accidentally dropped it when he was holding it high in the air over his open mouth. (Imagine that.) The nurse told me that as long as he was breathing ok and didn't have a fever or a tummy ache, he would be fine and would eventually "pass" it. She told me that we needed to look for it in his poop for the next few days! When I told Jeff about this detail, he suggested that we just turn out the lights when Garrett poops and see if it glowed in the dark! Garrett thought this idea was hilarious! I failed to mention that I was fighting back laughter (not very well) while on the phone with the nurse because Garrett was analyzing where in his body he thought the lego was traveling. "Ok mom, I'm pretty sure the lego has dropped through the hole at the bottom of my esophagus and is swimming in my stomach juices." "Don't worry mom, I think the lego is too big to be absorbed into my blood vessels." "If it does go into my blood vessels, do you think the villi will move it along?" Ponderous pause... "Nope. I just felt the lego squeeze into my small intestine and now it's sliding around...(tracing the lego's path around his abdomen)...all over here." All this while I'm trying to listen to the nurse tell me the importance of searching through his poop! Later that night, Garrett assured me that he had felt the lego move into his large intestine and it was almost ready to come out in his poop. The last thing he said, as I tucked him into bed was, "Do you really think my poop will glow in the dark mom? I can't wait to go poop!" Seriously?

16 is Sweet!

Time for bragging rights! I know the tournament is far from over but I do have to toot my horn and say I picked 15 out of the 16 sweet teams! WAHOO! In case you're curious, we're in a 3-way tie! Gotta love the madness!

Let the Madness Begin!

It's that wonderful time of year: the DVR is set and our brackets are ready! This year Garrett is joining in the fun. Jeff attempted to wield his fatherly influence and succeeded to an extent, but ultimately Garrett made his picks based mostly on which names sounded funniest to him. Akron, Oklahoma and Duke are among his favorites and of course "BUT"ler. He was super excited when he woke up this morning to discover he was tied with Jeff and ahead of me. We have a crazy feeling he might just win...