Happy Halloween!!!

John & Ethan,

We CANNOT believe this year was your FIFTH (be still my heart) Halloween! This year was really the first year you decided (on your own, with no prompting from Mommy and Daddy) what you wanted to "be".

John, my sweet boy...you decided to be Thomas the Train. You are currently on the verge of obsessed with Thomas the Train...you love all things Thomas (videos, toys, books...we even have a Thomas alarm clock. My little man...you looked simply adorable.

Ethan, my little lovey...you decided to be Batman this year. We still aren't sure where this decision came from unless someone at school also likes Batman (we don't recall you ever seeing the Batman movie or really anything Batman, but you must have picked it up somewhere). You were the cutest crime-fighter I've ever laid eyes on.

2 little piggies...Halloween 2006 (you were only 5 months old):

2007 you were Pooh and Tiger (and NOT happy about it):

2008 you were the cutest dalmations there ever were:

2009....John was "The Cat in the Hat" and Ethan was "Kung Fu Panda"...cute, cute, cute.

2010...Batman and Thomas the Train.

Can't wait to see what you'll choose next year.

Love,

Momma

Need for Help

I, thanks to my cousin Michal, follow a blog called Momastery....the woman that writes this blog, Glennon, is simply amazing. She wrote an article last week about bullying that grabbed my heart and squeezed. Her PROFOUND call for love and acceptance (not just tolerance) of others was inspiring and such a good example for everyone, in this Mommy's humble opinion. Her love for her son is unending and unconditional and that's the kind of Mom I am too. Her blog post entitled "A Mountain I'm Willing to Die On" is just about the best thing I've ever read in my life....EVER. This world would be a much kinder and more loving place if there were more people like this woman and I vow to strive every day to make sure to teach my kids lessons of love, acceptance, celebration of our differences...the best way to "teach" this, as Glennon writes, is to live it...be the example. Our children are our mimics....be the example.

Following is a link to her blog...

http://momastery.blogspot.com

This morning, when I checked her blog, I was brought to tears about a guest post about a friend who's 22 month old baby daughter, Evy, has an aggressive form of brain cancer called AT/RT. I cannot imagine what this family must be going through. They are complete strangers to me, but will be included in my prayers and if there is any way I can help, I'm going to. They have set up a donation link to make monetary donations and they also have contact information if you would like to donate something for a "silent auction" fundraiser they are having this month. To donate or read more about Evy and her family, following is a link to their facebook page...

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111857755534457

I am so inspired by Glennon and her passion for her family, her friends, God and every human being. We should all be doing our part, like Glennon, to make this world a more loving and accepting place.

XOXO,
Shelley

Canning Grape Jelly

I grew up with a Mom that loved to can. She canned everything from pickles to pears to peaches and lots of other things. I love continuing this sort of dying form of cooking. I love canning dill pickles in the fall and this Fall, we decided to make homemade grape jelly from the grapes that Nana and the boys picked from the cabin. All in all, we've canned about 40 jars or more of grape jelly. I love that we can control the sugar and can make jelly we can use for years to come with no preservatives. Jason and the boys were a big help...here are some pictures from our day of canning.

Cooking down and mashing the grapes...

The boys helped with the mashing (while making funny faces)...

John working on mashing the grapes...

So proud of himself...

The approx. 3 gallons of juice we made to start the jelly-making process...

About 1/2 of our final product...

We all had a great time and it was a fun activity for the whole family. We'll be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the next 5 years :).

Gotta Keep 'Em Separated...

So, after sharing a womb and then a room (haha...I made a funny), the boys are finally ready to have their own bedrooms. The boys are ready to have their own space, but we also need to separate them so they will sleep better at night and go to sleep FASTER. These past few months have been tough...every night bedtime is a struggle where they either cry and meltdown because they "don't wanna go to bed" or they make it into a playtime session of playing with their toys, jumping on the bed, etc (you get the picture).

The past few nights Ethan has slept in the guest bedroom and the boys have gone to sleep so much faster and easier. They also don't seem to have separation anxiety with each other, so it's been pretty easy. This weekend we're focusing on starting to turn the guest bedroom into Ethan's room. He has requested a "monkey" theme so that outta be interesting for this not very creative Momma. We'll do our best, though, to make his room special. We decided to keep the queen bed in his new room and get some new "kid" sheets for his now bigger bed and leave the extra twin bed in John's room (Mickey Mouse themed) for Ethan to sleep in when when we have guests that stay over night (which isn't very often anyway).

Trying to muster up some creative juices to turn a boring guest bedroom into a Monkey wonderland for Ethan. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Self-Doubt

As is probably true of a lot of working wives and moms, I am sometimes so frustrated by the "mommy guilt"...the constant feeling of being stretched so thin, doing so many things, that I'm not doing good enough at anything. I have a constant feeling of guilt...that I'm a working Mom with a stressful job...I hope and pray that I don't bring home the stressors of my career to my family, but I know that I do.

My guilt has subsided somewhat now that the boys are in all-day school and I know I am VERY lucky that I have the ability to take our boys to school every day at 8:30, work only while they are in school (with only a few exceptions), and be there to pick them up every day when they get out of school at 3:00. I know not all moms are that lucky. I also, however, am sooooooo incredibly jealous of moms that have the ability to stay home with their kids. Due to financial constraints and the fluctuations with the economy and construction industry (which majorly impact Jason's job opportunities) I just have never had the option of staying home.

I just want to be the best wife and mother possible but always feel like I need to do better. Why do we (as women) put so much stress and guilt on ourselves? I know that nobody is harder on me than myself.

I just hope and pray that we're doing the best by our children and can make quality time for our marriage at the same time...it's hard to do. I thank god for the blessings in my life...I have a husband who adores me and who is the love of my life (but who also can make me crazy at times :)) and the two best sons in the whole wide world. Have to force myself to focus on that in my times of self doubt.

1st Month of School

As I've posted before, the boys started all-day Montessori school in September. Overall, it's gone very, very well. They love their teacher (Mrs. Renggli) and teacher's aide (Mrs. Joyce) and have been learning so many new things. They are learnings about personal space, writing their letters, taking turns, sharing, show and tell with different letters of the alphabet each week, doing lots of art projects, some age-appropriate general teachings about God and Faith, etc.

We had one minor issue this week of the boys "coloring on other childrens' papers". They, along with another boy, were put in the "think about it chair" for a time out. We talked about it at home and they apologized to their teachers and classmates. Ethan also had a minor incident when another boy was "mean to him"....he pinched his arm. Ethan was put in the "think about it chair" (same day as the coloring incident). We made him color the boy a special picture and we helped him write an "I'm sorry" note to him....hopefully by addressing these issues right away and making them follow-through with apologies, it will nip it in the bud.

Other than the minor behavior issues, their teachers tell us they are bright, kind, loving children that are attentive, anxious to learn and are well-mannered. We are looking forward to parent/teacher conferences on October 21st to hear more about each of their strengths. Below are photos of the boys' first ASB cards....too cute! Love Saint Patricks School!

A Good "Mommy" Laugh

A friend of mine on facebook posted the comment below explaining how she potty trained her son. I thought it was so funny, I had to post it to my blog...kids are so funny sometimes!

"I used Hershey Kisses to bribe Spencer (referring to potty training) although I hear you're not supposed to do that. He negotiated with me... 3 for #2 (poop), 2 for a #1 (pee), and 1 for farting".

I about died laughing. Kids say the darndest things!