Santa Sightings

This year Christmas has been so fun. Javin is so excited for Christmas and has been counting the days. Cael loves to hear about Santa and loves to see the lights, presents and trees. They are both so excited and we're glad to get to start our own family traditions for the kids but miss the fam in Utah!!



Robby (our apt complex manager) dressed up as Santa and walked through the apts today yelling ho ho ho and merry christmas

He then was at the office for the kids to come and see him. Javin spotted a fake right away and Cael was super excited.

We went to lights of the south this year with the Winn's and it was really cool. This is one of the castles sitting on top of the swamp. You ride through the lights on a tractor drawn hay ride. Javin of course could not contain his excitement.

Playing after the lights

Javin and Kade! Javin was so excited to go with these guys!!

Cael didn't want to look at me.

We couldn't get Cael to smile but the kid was so excited to see "sasa" and sit on his lap.

Good thing the real Santa was at lights of the South since the one at our apt was "fake"

Cute Kids

I like to cuddle with my daddy!!

Most of the time they love each other and play super cute.

Javin's homework time. Usually Cael wants to do homework too so we get out paper and crayons for him to do his homework.

Caellum helped me set the table by putting every single piece of silver ware that we own on the table. He is such a good helper

I just thought these pictures were cute and wanted to let you all see them.

Birthday Fun

Happy Birthday



I can't believe Cael is 2!! He's getting so big and is such a little boy.



He didn't quite understand Heavy Heavy hangover and of course none of us got him to wish us anything but one day he'll get it.

Javin is barely taller than the chair. He had more fun than Caellum did.



The official BATMAN cake. Caellum loves him!!


The next day playing with birthday presents.

He's 2

Today is Cael's birthday!! Poor kid had to endure the doctor with all of the shots that go along with it. They also wanted to do blood work so I had to hold him in my lap while they stuck him with a needle and drew blood. I felt so bad for him. Luckily he isn't quite as dramatic as Javin and once it was over he stopped crying and only said ow a few times. He's so tough.
Last Tuesday I went to Javin's school for a party and had so much fun with him. He's such a great kid and was all excited to see me. And then Thursday we went over to the Weiler's for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun and such good food. Thanks guys we loved it. We then went over to some of our friends from the Star Wars game for desert and the kids loved their older boys who made them oragami and let them play with their cool toys.
On Friday, After the craziness at work, we dropped the kids off at Cari's (thanks so much) and Ryan and I went to Atlanta to the Manheim Steamroller concert!! YEAH!! Before the concert we went to dinner at the melting pot and it was delicious. It's been a long time since Ryan and I had good quality alone time and we had lots of fun. The food was delicious and the music was excellent. The only down side is that because of work I didn't get to see the kids for 2 whole days. I missed them but at least Ry got some good quality time in. I wanted to take pictures but the battery has been dead forever and i can't find the camera stuff to charge it. Hopefully we can find it and get pictures of Cael's Batman cake and opening presents.
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and love you all

TWILIGHT

SO, I know this is a huge deal but last night I went to the opening of the movie Twilight. Cari got me hooked on the books and she and a bunch of friends were going to the movie so I tagged along. It was a lot of fun!! I love hanging out with the girls and just being silly. We laughed and even giggled at those awkward moments and the crowd cheered when each new character was introduced. I must say I think I liked it more having read the books because you know what they are thinking better. We had fun and I was extremely tired at work today but so worth it. Next time there's a fun movie premier sign me up. By the way, thanks Lynds for the pictures that I stole from your blog. Love ya!!

It's finally gone

After months of saying we need to get rid of Cael's binky it's finally gone. We cut two of them and were on to the last binky. It was being used for nap and bed time and anytime that Caellum just needed a little extra comfort. through no magic of our own the last one is gone. Cael lost it and Ryan and I have searched this house like crazy. He went to bed last night without it and i have been searching on and off today and can't find it anywhere. Caellum is now down for his nap without it and now I think if we do find it we will have to throw it away and never let him know about it. We wanted it gone before we come to Utah so I guess fate has stepped in and made the decision for us. I have to say I will probably never let a kid get this hooked again. Javin never used one but Caellum kind of needed it. Anyway, it's gone
On a fun note Cael and I went to Javin's school to eat lunch with him today. He was so excited to see us and couldn't stop jumping up and down and giving me hugs. I love how excited he gets about things. and I probably should cherish the fact that he's so excited to see me and doesn't care who sees him giving his mommy a hug and kiss. It was fun and Caellum loved being at school.

School's out

I'm so retarded I just created this post and published it and then realized I'd put it on the wrong blog. So, it will be posted both places. Javin's out of shool today and it's been so nice to have him home to play with Caellum and help with the chores. We're washing every single blanket and all of our bedding today and trying to sterilize the house so that we don't all get daddy's sickness. We may bathe the animals today too but that's only if I get really ambitious. I like having the kids home with me during the day especially when I have to work at night. This way I'll get to see Javin so much more today. We're also working on his piano skills. He's been wanting to do more every day. I realized that other day that it's been forever since I've played the piano so I got out some of my music the other night and I stink!! I have lost so much of what I used to have. I guess I'm going to need to start practicing more. I also think it's interesting that in almost every place we've lived I've had a piano calling in the ward and that has helped me keep up with the skill but now that I'm leading music and not playing I haven't really been playing at home either. I love to play so I need to start again!!

Mini Ryan

I bought Javin some new Sunday clothes a little while ago because he has gone though a growth spurt and I didn't have anything that fit him. Caellum on the other hand now has an array of clothes to wear since he can wear shirts from a 2T to a 4T and he gets all of Javin's hand me downs. So, I got out Javin's new clothes this Sunday and realized that I had unknowingly purchased the same thing that Ryan wears to church (when he is able to come) and thought how much more Javin looks like his dad when he's wearing the same clothes. Of course Cael can't be left out of anything so I took his picture too.

New Monster Tooth

Javin came home from school the other day to inform me that his tooth was hurting at school so I took a look and sure enough he has another loose one and right behind the loose tooth is another monster tooth. I think there is a reason kids are supposed to loose the teeth before the new ones come in and for some reason Javin has not gotten this memo. His new teeth come in and then knock the other ones loose. I don't know how those ginormous teeth are ever going to fit correctly into his mouth. The dude is going to need some major orthodontic work when he gets older. oh well such is life.

Also, Yesterday Javin came home and told me that one of the kids in his class was throwing up and then he was up throwing up last night. Poor kid slept in the bathroom and everything. He stopped throwing up about 1:00 this morning and went back to his bedroom and then he said he felt fine this morning and ate breakfast and wanted to go to school. Everyone cross your fingers that he doesn't throw up there. Anyway, It's hard to know what to do when it comes to sending kids to school but if he's feeling better I don't see why he shouldn't go but at the same time I would hate to have him sick there. Luckily Caellum slept through all of the madness of last night.

Halloween and Trophy

It was a fun Halloween. We made pizza's and let the kids pick their favorite toppings and after dinner we went around our apt complex. There weren't very many kids or lights on but because of that everyone was giving out handfulls of candy. The kids made a killing all of which will probably be shortly thrown away. SAD!!



Javin was Jango Fett from Star Wars this year. He's a little obsessed just like his dad. Caellum was Batman and couldn't quite figure out the mask



For some reason he wanted it to cover his entire face!

Javin's baseball season is officially over and to celebrate the kids went to Adventure Crossing. It's kind of like a small amusement place, arcade games, roller coaster, go carts etc.. Anyway he had tons of fun with his teammates. I love the trophies and the cake.


Javin's team, including the coaches. They loved their trophies!!


So cute


This cake has the team picture on it and the baseballs are rings so each kid got a ring with their piece of cake.



He won this game and was super excited. Thanks for playing Wesley.


Javin and Conner

It was a fun season but I'm kind of glad it's over. Two games every week so far away is kind of a lot for a little kid and the mom whose taking him. They do baseball again in the spring and apparently it's a little more competitive. I'm glad we introduced it to Javin early and we'll see when the spring rolls around if he likes baseball enough to play again.

Also, Ryan cut Caellum's binky last night because I'd heard it was a good way to make them not want them, however he didn't go far enough away and Caellum caught him in the act of cutting. I guess he was really upset and all morning he's been telling me "Binky, daddy cut cut." Oh well, live and learn. We'll be cutting one every other day or so until they are officially all gone. Sorry Cael.

Fall Fun

With Halloween coming up the kids have been so excited to wear their costumes. Caellum has asked to wear his every single day and has started calling himself batman. He loves it and We'll get pictures up soon of them in their costumes!!Also, I had Saturday off and was so excited to get to spend time with the family and so we went to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, made dinner in a pumpkin and made homeade cream soda. It was supposed to be root beer but we couldn't find root beer extract anywhere so we improvised. It turned out so good and the kids loved it!



Javin recently lost his first tooth. YAY!!!! We were so glad because we didn't have to take him to the dentist. Anyway, here are some pictures of him without his tooth and putting it under his bed for the tooth fairy. Not to be outdone, Caellum had to pose for some pictures too.



Javin also got to play catcher again at his last game and was really excited. The weather has started to change and Cael has had a little cold so we left him home and Javin and I went to the game. We were freezing. Javin had on long johns under his uniform and still wore his coat, gloves and a hat. It was fun but cold I was so glad we didn't take Caellum and so was Javin because he didn't have to share his snack after the game. I wish I had had my camera all these pictures are from previous games!

Ryan recently got an award for being a wonderful linguist!! If only the army could give advance notice on things, I ended up being over 2 hours late for work. I'm glad they like me. And it's good that Ryan keeps earning these awards!! He was also linguist of the year a little while ago and has been soldier of the month twice. We're proud of him and his great linguistic acomplishments. Hopefully they'll help him get into the army green to gold so they'll pay for us to go back to school.

Javin's first field trip is today and they are going to a pumpkin patch and the library. I hope he has fun and he was really excited and hand picked all of his lunch items for today.

So Gina tagged me and I'm supposed to write six insignificant things about myself, which I will do at the end of this post. Ryan and I went to Javin's first parent/teacher conference today and his teacher says he is very smart (of course we knew) and that he is doing really well. We asked about his behavior because the boy has so much energy and she says he is doing great there as well. For those of you who know about the stickers Javin got up to 18 before getting a yellow again. We were so sad because at 20 we were going to do something totally cool (don't ask what yet) but we thought it should be awesome because it's a huge accomplishment. Anyway, he's started over and is only at one again. Caellum came with us to the conference and was great and I took him to story time and lunch the other day and he is so good. My only concern with him is how shy he seems to be but hopefully he'll grow out of it a little bit.

At Javin's last baseball game he got to be the catcher. He has been wanting to be catcher since the beginning of the season because you get to catch the ball after every play and at the end of the batters you actually get to get people out. He thought it was awesome and I wish we'd had our camera so you could see how he looked in the catcher's helmet.

We're going tonight to get costumes and to Boo at the Zoo on Saturday so I'll take pictures and get them on here.

OK for my 6 insignificant things
1. My favorite time of the year is the fall. I love the changing weather and the changing leaves. I love the colors and everything about it. It's seriously the greatest time of year
2. I love to wear layers of clothing. I really like to have on long pants and long sleeve shirts and just be completely covered. Weird I know but it's just how I am
3. I love watching Caellum walk the dog. It's my favorite times of the day she's the perfect size for his little body. It's totally cute
4. I get stuck in ruts a lot. So I totally have to try and break myself out of them and do something totally new. It's why I like adventurous friends who keep me always going because sometimes I'd be content to never leave the house
5. Being a mom is the greatest thing ever and I love having so many great friends and family members who are great mom's because it's something that I need to be constantly improving.
6. I'm hooked on People magazine. After living with mom for so long and always reading hers I can't pass one up!

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you want to put yours up I'd love to read about your insignificant things too.

Crazy things

My kids are very funny!! The other day I let Javin go to the dumpster with me and help with the garbage. It was an unusually stinky day there and I told him he better hurry up so that we didn't throw up. When we got back to the car Javin said "Mom maybe it's so stinky because there are so many flies and they all pooped there" Apparently it had nothing to do with the garbage but with those stinky flies.
Amira was extremely doggy smelling the other day and I looked at Cael and told him that Amira is so stinky. A few minutes later Caellum brought me his diapers and wipes. When I asked him if he needed a bum change he nodded his head no several times and pointed at the dog. He was bringing me new diapers and wipes because I had said Amira was stinky.

Update on Javin's monster tooth. We went to the dentist and he said that because the tooth in front of the one that is coming in is loose we should just wait for that one to fall out and then the other tooth will gradually work it's way into the empty space. If the tooth hasn't fallen out by Halloween he will pull it to help in the process.

The primary program was Sunday and the kids did an excellent job. Javin always steals the show and was the only one with his part memorized. Good thing he's not shy. I will say that while I was extremely proud of the kids (all of them). It's a lot more stressful to be a part of the program than it is just watching. Caellum of course wanted to sit with me or up with Javin and wasn't' super happy that he couldn't. Ryan took his lunch break at work so he could come and we're glad he was there.

Baseball is going great and Javin is learning some important skills. I'll get more pictures on here when I can (hopefully soon). At this age they don't keep score in the games and the team who is up to bat bats until all of the kids have had a turn then they go to the next team. Pictures are tonight before the game I hope they turn out well.

Here are our family pictures from California. It's amazing how Ryan is the biggest kid of all and ended up soaking wet and throwing his sister and children into the ocean with him (fully dressed). i love these ones of the kids

Javin has a tooth growing in behind one of his front baby ones. We've been calling him monster and have been glad that he's going to the dentist on Friday for a checkup so that he can look at it. Because he has a permanent one coming in I was telling him that if the dentist decides to pull the tooth in front of it we can put it under his pillow and the tooth fairy will come. I didn't mention how much money she brings because I swear Jeffrey and Zander get like 5 dollars for every tooth and Javin will probably get like a quarter or something. Anway, on the way home from school yesterday Javin was telling me that his tooth hurt and it was wiggling. Luckily it's the one in front of the tooth coming in, so I told him that if it's loose and has a tooth behind it the dentist probably will pull the one in front. He then said "So if the dentist takes it out the tooth fairy will smell it and bring me something?" I thought it was funny but I guess how else does the tooth fairy know you lost a tooth if she doesn't smell it.

Hopefully I'm going to be adding pictures this time but it's been awhile since I've done this so I may have already forgotten. Last week Ryan's dad came to visit and the kids loved it (we loved it too). Caellum played with him like crazy and so did Javin. It was so cute to hear little Cael asking for papa first thing when he woke up. I'm glad they got to spend some one on one time together. Javin has been doing way better in school. He almost always comes home with a sticker now and is doing really well. He also has started playing t ball and loves it. At first he wasn't super excited but now he cheers when I tell him that he has a practice. Also, it means that Ryan has to get over his dislike of baseball and actually throw the ball around with him. I think it's good for them. He is excellent at hitting the ball and is getting better at throwing (Cael actually throws better) and he is even getting good at staying in his position instead of running after every single ball. They've had two practices a week for a couple of weeks now and the entire team is doing much better.

Work is going good. They've been scheduling me during the days lately so I've been doing projects instead of just cleaning up after people. I like it and I've gotten really great at ladders. I've always been a little afraid of heights but have gotten over that on a ladder. Also, Ryan has gotten us started in a Star Wars role playing game. He loves it and does his research and has found a few friends from work to come over. They come over every Thursday and so far I've been able to play too. It's fun but really I could take it or leave it, I'm just glad that I was invited. I've never role played before so maybe as I get better at it I will love it too. Anyway, I'm going to put some pictures of the boys on here playing the wii. Javin only gets to play if he got a green at school and since Caellum thinks he has to do everything Javin does he has his own special remote without batteries so he thinks he's playing but he doesn't mess anything up.

We got through the first week of school. Things Javin loves: eating lunch at school (They even have pink milk and a brownie), riding the bus home (he doesn't have to wear a seat belt) and Gym because he doesn't have to sit still. Things he hates: Sitting, and not talking. Since that pretty much encompasses what is expected at school there is a little problem. However, it's totally good for him to learn to do this and he is getting better at it. Also, I've noticed that when he talks he isn't yelling as much. I think he's learning to talk in a quiet voice. Caellum hardly ever gets his binki anymore and he's talking tons more. He is so funny. He just chats away and is always trying to say new words. Javin loves to get him to say silly things like peacock and you know whatever else he can think of. He still cries every morning when we drop Javin off and he gets so excited to see the bus come home at the end of the day (although he thinks he needs to get on it and go for a ride too) I am totally baby hungry and would love to have another one soon but I think it's been determined that we will wait until we get back to Utah because I just love our doctors there and hate the army ones. I'm horrible with pictures but love to see all of yours. Also, for any of you that know him, Joe Rowe is in our ward here (I went to Jr high and high school with him) and I conned him into playing the violin for our primary program. Bet he never thought he'd move all the way to Georgia and run into someone who knows all about his musical accomplishments. Have to say, I'm glad he's here to do it for me. Anyway, I'll try to get more pictures and post them soon.

So, Javin is officially in school. I think he likes it but he says he doesn't really because all he has to do is sit sit sit. For those of you know him, this is a very hard task. The boy can never sit still. Anyway, we are zoned to have him bussed but I've been taking him and picking him up because you know he's my first in school and I'm worried about him. I finally consented to let him ride the bus home today and he was so excited. I will still take him to school because in order to catch the bus we'd have to leave at 7:30 and school doesn't start until 8:30. It's much easier to get us all ready at the later time. Here in Georgia kindergarten is all day long so he doesn't get out until 3:15 and then I work nights so it doesn't leave much time to see him. I'm going to ask for less days so that I can see the kid more. Caellum cries every morning when i drop Javin off and my days are so much quieter. Cael hardly says anything and I'm so used to Javin (who never shuts up) that the silence is a little unnerving. Anyway, maybe Cael will start talking more because I think he misses the craziness too. Well, I'll try to remember to take my camera to the bus stop and take a picture of Javin getting off but it's been raining all day so we'll see how that goes. We love you .

So, I guess I have some explaining by way of our address. The goat and mouse are what Ryan has called Javin and Caellum from birth. He has this thing with nicknames and Javin has always been goat because of the way he laughed. Ryan has always called him that. Then when Caellum was born he squeaked all the time so Ry took to calling him Mouse hence, goat and mouse. I figured it would be unique enough that no one would have already chosen it. Anyway, I still have to figure out the picture thing and thanks to those of you who have given me some insight. I need all that I can get. This week has been different for me because i had to work Sunday because of some tax free business and then i don't work again until Friday. It's been crazy being at home every night with the family and I forgot how much i liked that. Anyway, Javin's open house for school is tomorrow night and needless to say I guess I'm the worried mother because I can't believe he's going. I'm trying to be all excited because he is but I'm a little nervous for the kids. Hope it goes well.
The picture is just a random one from Myrle Beach last October. Just thought it was funny and wanted to see if I could get the picture thing right.