Elf on the Shelf

And of course, Snakey the Sneaky Elf made his appearances this year. The boys had fun finding him in his new hiding spot every morning.

Christmas Continued

After our morning at home, we drove to Virginia to visit my parents, and then on to Christopher's. I think Carter's favorite thing he got this year was a pull-string Woody. He hasn't sat it down and will not let anyone else touch it! Landon got a Leapster Explorer that really neat, and he is so good at it!

Here are a few random pictures from our day.






And of course, no Christmas would be complete without pizza-making. Say PIZZA!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning, the boys anxiously awaited at the top of the stairs while Mommy checked to make sure Santa had come.


Sure enough, he had come and brought many goodies and even left a note for the boys.




Landon ripped through his gifts while Carter very carefully (and slowly) unwrapped his presents one by one. Landon got a police station Lego set and Carter got a Thomas train station. Both boys got things like books, crayons, Doodle Pads, and play dough.






Even Mommy got some surprises like VT stuff for my new car and diamond earrings! Oh, and as you can see in this picture, Carter got juice which was the only thing he had asked for!



*I've got a video from Christmas morning but am having issues getting it loaded onto youtube; hopefully I can get it posted in the next few days.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I finally got my butt in gear and updated the tabs on my blog home page. Check out About Me, About My Circus, and Month by Month!

Just Breathe

Wow, what a busy month it's been. We've had a sick house and been running this way and that. I've thrown a baby shower, attended birthday parties, bought a minivan and taken it in to get some things fixed, had dinner with my girlfriends, volunteered at church, taken myself and Landon to the dentist, been to 2 work parties, shopped, wrapped, more shopping, gone to Tupperware parties, gone to school programs, worked full-time, tried to blog often, cleaned my house (no, scratch that...it's a mess!), washed mountains of laundry, packed lunches, baked Christmas goodies, hosted a 5 y/o sleepover, bought supplies for school parties, traveled to VA on 3 occasions since Thanksgiving...just to name a few. I feel like there is always somewhere to be, something to do, someone to see. Some of these are necessities, some of these are nice-to-dos.

And then I find out that my good friend's husband's testicular cancer has spread into his abdomen. He's my age and they have two small girls (ages 4 and 2). Whoa. While I'm worried about if I have gotten that last gift or baked those goodies for the YMCA counselors, my friend is taking her husband for his 5th chemo treatment in a row and trying to keep the girls from waking Daddy while he rests. My heart is so broken for them.

And there's my sister and nieces who are going through a very hard time with my sister's divorce. Hearts are being broken and relationships are being damaged. And here I am 150 miles away, feeling 150,000,000 miles away.

These are the moments when God whispers to me, "Slow down, Katherine. Take a breath."

Here's hoping that you (and I!) find a quiet moment in the madness to stop, breathe, and savor every second that passes by.

How Men Roll...

When celebrating an early Christmas with Christopher's family in NoVA, the men folk took the kids outside to play. When my camera made it back inside, I found out how they passed the time.

Riding trikes down a hill. Over and over and over.

Say Candy!

The boys were dressed up for the Christmas program at church and looking all cute in their matching sweaters; I had to take a picture. And of course my hard-headed little Carter wanted no part of it. Landon will ham it up anywhere, anytime. He'll even strike poses. Not my Carter Bear.

I managed to get him to stand in front of the tree with his brother for a few seconds. He looks so interested, doesn't he? How did I get him to stand there? I bribed him with candy. Don't judge.

Mini Me

Carter is already picking up on his Daddy's hobbies, football and motorcycles!

*I love how he stands with his little hands behind his back!

Jeter's 2nd Birthday

We recently celebrated Jeter's 2nd birthday. He was a hoot fishtailing a circle in the house on his new horse.

And, as always, the cousins had a great time together.

What's For Lunch?

I pack Landon's lunch and try very hard to mix it up and keep it exciting. There aren't too many choices when it comes to sending a cold lunch. And trust me, there are days where I send a Lunchable, yogurt, and juice box and call it a day!

I tried this fun presentation of your average deli meat (turkey in this instance). I simply rolled it up and held it together with a pretzel stick in each end. Landon gave it two thumbs up!

Shoe Fetish

Carter is obsessed with people taking their shoes off. He will ask you over and over and over until you take them off, or until he finally walks over and pulls them off. He is especially obsessed with Gracie. He wakes up in the mornings asking me to tell Gracie to take off her shoes. I have to pretend to call her and tell her to take them off in order for him to quit talking about it!

I wonder if he wants her to take hers off because he just wants to wear them...

Fun with the Fam

Much fun is had when we go to the Nannie and Papa's farm. The boys love playing with their cousins (4 boys between the ages of 2-5, plus 2 sassy girls) and getting spoiled by their grandparents. Here are a few pics of the kids over Thanksgiving.

Mama's New Wheels

I cannot believe that I have not told you about my new ride! I have been dreaming about driving a minivan for about 3 years. Do not knock it until you get in it!

I am the proud owner of a Hokie maroon 2007 Honda Odyssey and I LOVE IT! Heated leather seats, DVD player, Nav system, sunroof, a woman who lives in the dash that will answer questions like "What time is it?" and will do things such as "DVD Next Chapter", and many more bells and whistles. Seriously, I find new "bells" and "whistles" every day! Landon thinks it's the most awesome thing ever and Carter thinks he's big stuff when I let him sit in the very back. Y'all, I love it!

It even has a "get the sun out of your eyes" thing-a-ma-bob,


And a "go to sleep, boys" do-hickey!