2011 Recap

Again, I know I missed the 3rd quarter recap- whoops! So here it is, better late than never!




Caiden- 4 years (although according to his "back when I was 4 stories" he is already 5.)

LOVE-ING SCHOOL. Last year was an okay year but I think it was hard for him when he only went M and F. This year he goes 5 days a week and absolutely loves it. His teacher, Ms Jane, is amazing. She is so good with him and patient. We love her too.

Counting to 30, counting by 10's, knows all his letters and can write them as well.

Starting to read words- short 3-4 letter words mostly.

Is a Star Wars fanatic!! Seriously, I have no idea where it came from....he hasn't really seen the movies OR watched the Clone Wars cartoon. It started this summer before we went on our vacation and it has grown since then.

Is soooo imaginative. Really, both boys are. They would rather be in the living room making up some game rather than playing with toys in their playroom.

Lincoln- 18+

talking, Talking, TALKLING! My how this kid communicates! He has too many words to count and is using them a lot! His initial form of communication....screaming, is still being used most days. We are working with him to "use his words" and he is coming along.

Cars and Elmo- this kid likes toys after all! Lincoln has always really liked hanging out with people. He is so social and mostly just wants to play with you. It wasn't until a few months ago that he started showing any interest in his toys.  For now, Hot Wheels and Elmo make him pretty happy. Needless to say, it will be a very Elmo/Hot Wheels/Star Wars Christmas at the Cummings house.


Enjoys music, helping mama clean and anything his brother is doing. Seriously, he wants to be just like Caiden when he grows up ;)

Not only has he been walking since this summer but he is now running and kicking! It is too cute to watch. He gets really excited and I'm pretty sure thinks he is running MUCH faster than he really is.


He likes to tell me when things are hot but he puts the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong syLAble so it comes out HOT MAMA! Yes, of course I tell this story to everyone who will listen- it's incredible.






A recent funny Lincoln Story:

I was awakened at 3:00 in the morning to; "mom....mom...mama.....mama.....".  Not in a scared, worried or hurt way. Just very casual. I went into his bedroom and found him sitting up in bed reading books. He had on his Batman pjs with the cape that Velcros to the back. When he saw me, he said, "Mama, help" and held up his cape for me to stick back on his pjs. Basically, he woke up and decided to read books and everything was fine until he realized his cape fell off!

Lesson learned- ALL super heroes still need their moms to get them out of a bind from time to time.

No Time...

No time to upload pictures or post these days. It's just not my priority right now. Boo, what a grump I sound like!

Remember back when Lincoln still wasn't walking and we were working with him every night so he would start?

Did you notice about the time he started walking was about the time my blogging slowed down? He is a WILD little boy. Thank goodness he is cute!

Anyway,

Originally I started this blog as a creative outlet. Then, it became more about my experiences as a mom and my children. Lately, it has all fallen by the wayside and become my long lost love.

I truly enjoy blogging.
I could spend hours on Google Reader reading other people's blogs.
The truth is, I've had to make some choices lately about how I spend my time and blogging just didn't make it to the top.

It's nice having a way to record memories and experiences with my boys but it is also nice just spending quality time with them too. Those are the things they are going to take with them when they get older. I want them feel how much I love them, not read about it in a blog post.

I'm not saying this is the end of my blog, I just felt like I needed to give an explanation of why I have about half the amount of posts this year compared to last year. I dumped a bunch of pictures on my computer tonight while I made homemade mac and cheese for our school holiday party tomorrow. Can you believe we are already this far into the season!?

Some things that I HOPE to blog about:

~The activity advent calendar I made for the boys this year. It has a different activity to do with them every day.

~Craft Weekend- it was WAY back in October but better late than never.

~Playing in the leaves.

~Playing at the park.

I will be posting soon with a 3rd and 4th quarter recap. It looks like I missed the last one so I am going to do them both at the same time. Better late than never I guess!

Until then....

My New Love....

is Pinterest.

If you haven't checked it out yet, you must! I haven't really been up to blogging much lately but one thing I do love to do is browse Pinterest. I have several different boards ranging anywhere from My Style Pinboard to Project Ideas for my kids at school. I have even started Christmas lists for the boys with notes on what has been bought. Nice eh?

Other fun ideas I have found: this superhero stuff that made me think of Caiden.

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And this stuff made me think of Lincoln

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And this stuff is totally me.

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It is a wonderful way to keep all of your lists/hobbies/interests in one spot. Whether it is a recipe you've been wanting to try, crafts you want to make or ideas for your dream house, it is all here!

Go check it out if you haven't!

And....happy pinning!

Hello Fall!

So what's new? Well, not much and yet we have been so busy! How is that possible? I have a ton of pictures on my camera that I haven't uploaded yet. That is definitely on my list of things to do. I'm sure I will get it done today because we are going to the pumpkin patch today!

I wanted to head out there around 8:00 this morning to tailgate. Caiden was on board and I think I could have convinced Jay it was a good idea. I mean, he did grow up in Kansas City which is the tailgating capitol of the world. I just can't help it, I totally geek out over fall, pumpkin anything and Halloween. Just picture it, sitting on a bail of hay, camera in one hand, pumpkin spiced latte in the other. The kids running around and getting into, well anything. Inside our picnic basket is chocolate chip pumpkin bread and honey crisp apples and NOTHING ELSE. Yum!

I guess I grew up in a very fall friendly house because pretty much my whole family is this way. To me, it is the start of things to look forward to. Summer sometimes drags on because it can get long and hot. Fall is that season that jump starts exciting weekend after exciting weekend. Seriously, does anyone have a free weekend in October with NOTHING planned? I didn't think so.

It is our opportunity to enjoy the weather before it gets too cold to be outside. Aside from actually raking the leaves, I love everything about them. Their change in color, the crunchy sound they make when you walk over them, watching the kids play in them and of course all the photo opportunities. It just puts a smile on my face.

Once Halloween has passed, we start looking forward to Thanksgiving and then of course, Christmas. In my family, we have sort of a 5th season which is the birthday season. After Christmas we have 10 out of 13 people in my immediate family's birthday. Really, it is about a 10 week span starting with the end of December and going all the way to the first week of March. The busiest part of the season starts February 18th with 6 birthdays in 18 days. My poor parents!

Anyway, back to fall.

Get out.

Enjoy the weather.

Make memories.

Play hard with your kids.

Eat something pumpkin.

End each day with a smile because there are so many reasons too!

Finding the Balance

Balance.....

It is something everyone struggles with.

I've heard it from working moms.

Stay at home moms.

Moms who don't even have kids :)

It's really, really hard.

I've recently taken on a lot of extra duties at work and have struggled more than ever to create a healthy balance of work and family. For the last three weeks I have put in at least two days a week where I worked 12 hours straight.

Even with all the extra hours, I am still behind at work and even more so at home. My house is a mess! And to top it off, I woke up this morning to fleas! Not on me of course but on my cat who sleeps with us. Before I could get to any of the usual Saturday morning chores, I had to brush him, strip the bed, toss out pillows, spray the bed with lysol (not even sure if that was necessary but I am being overly cautious.), give him a dose of tick and flea repellent, and start a load of laundry. All before 8 am- boo!

There just never seems to be enough time to complete a full task. I feel like I take two steps back for every one step forward. I have a running list of to-do's that never seems to get smaller. I usually start crossing things off that I know I'll have to revisit later. This of course is followed by a smug smile because I am so proud of myself for cheating the system. Never mind the fact I will just have to do it later.

Between work and home I just don't feel like I am quite whole in anything I do. I know I'm not the only one who struggles so my question is this:

How do you find a healthy balance in your life?

What do you do to make sure you aren't just being a mom/wife, you are being a good mom/wife?

How do you find the time to clean your house and not live like a total slob?

Because I feel like I haven't had the happiest posts lately, here is something sweet to end with.

My favorite quote is "Happiness is a choice, make it". I'm not sure who originally said it but this is definitely something to live by.

I make a choice every day to be happy and here is some PROOF!

Soo...

My Grandpa died.

I have been really sad.

I have cried every day.

I am still really sad,

but I have stopped crying every day.

We knew we had a limited time left with him so we were able to say goodbye. We actually went down two days before he passed and spent the weekend with him and my Grandma.

It was incredibly sad watching him those last few days but I am so happy I had the chance to say my goodbyes. I truly believe that was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I will, however, have the lasting memory of him looking right at my boys, calling them ornery and blowing them kisses. They were actually blowing kisses at him first so it was really good to see him interact with them and really know who they were. At one point he took my hand, looked me in the eyes and said, I'm ready. That was hard to hear and at the same time comforting to know he was ready.

The funeral and visitation were absolutely beautiful. We got to spend time with family we hadn't seen in a long time. I got to snuggle with my twin cousins who are 5 months old and so incredibly sweet. My family spent time together remembering my grandpa and all the things that reminded us of him.

1. He always had change in his pocket. He would take it out, juggle it from hand to hand and ask you to guess (to the penny) how much change he had. If you guessed right, you got to keep it.

2. We played a lot of spoons when I was younger. My grandpa REALLY got into it so he would put a large serving spoon right in front of him. Later, the serving spoon turned into a ladle. Guess who won most of the time?

3. He would always smile and say, "Come here and love my neck Sugar!".

4. When we were ornery he would pull us close and get our faces with the whiskers on his face.

5. He would take us fishing only if we would bait our own hook and dig our own grub. He would however, take the fish off our line if we caught one.

He was an amazing man and I miss him like crazy already. If you have not read the book Heaven Is For Real, you must. I read it in one day this summer while I was on the beach. It really helps people cope with the loss of a loved one.

Are you like me and certain songs remind you of people, places or events in your life? Thanks to my sister, Libby and her husband Kurt, I have this beautiful and uplifting song that makes me think of my grandpa now.

PS- this is not my favorite version of this song but it was all I could find!

Enjoy!

My New Car

About a month ago I traded in my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. I loved that car- it had EVERYTHING! But as usual, all good things must come to an end.

We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Dodge Durango and we love it! Caiden named it the the Burango Durango. Too cute.

Last weekend we were hit on our street by a neighbor boy and got this damage done to our car. Only one month after we bought it- ugg! The good news is, no one was hurt and the damage appears to be strictly cosmetic. The insurance company found their client completely at fault so they are paying for everything, including our rental car. I guess if you are going to get hit, this isn't a bad way for it to happen.

Boys will be boys...

Here are some more pictures (shocker) of my boys, well, just being boys.

Lets compare

Remember how I said I found some pictures from old posts in my picasa web album? I was looking through them today and found these.

My what a difference 3 years makes!

Koi Fish 2008

Koi Fish 2011

Feeding Baby Goats 2008

Feeding Baby Goats 2011

Walking in the Garden 2008

Walking in the Garden 2011

Caterpillar Pic 2008

Caterpillar Pic 2011


He is growing up so fast!