Just Hanging Out On Top Of The Fridge

All of our boys love to climb and be up high on something (anything) they just can't help but climb on things, so after climbing on Daddy from the floor up to his shoulders a few times Jim sat Carter and Brayden up on top of the refrigerator which they love. Dads always think of the really fun things, don't they? Well, Brady didn't want to get down. He even closed his eyes to "hide" so he wouldn't have to get down, and its funny because one of the phrases he can say now is, "Can't get dooown!"

Dillon sounded out and wrote his first sentence. The boys earn quarters and when they save up enough to buy something they want, we go shopping - Dillon's first written sentence states: "Go to Target" HA! He was so proud (we all were) that he wrote a sentence on his own that he decided to tape it up in a laminating fashion so it wouldn't get ripped by Brayden.

I don't know what it is, but we just think their eyes look so pretty outside playing in the snow, you'll have to click to enlarge to see what I'm talking about :) Brayden decided to pull up a chair and help with the dishes....Its hard to see, but there is a bird feeder right outside that window and there are icicles behind it. Those icicles grew to be longer than the bottom of that bird feeder before we realized that we had better take them off before they pull the gutters down....

A silly thing... The boys had baby washcloths tied around their hands and they were pretending that they were shooting balls out of them, but not just any balls. Dillon said he was shooting "Fire Thunder Balls" and Carter upped the anty and said that he was shooting "Super Thunder 698 Balls" I wonder what Brayden will come up with when hes a little older?

Things I want to remember

Resolutions? I'm terrible at making them and keeping them. I always want to exercise more, eat better, lose more weight, be a better mother/person/wife/friend/family member....blah blah blah. Not to say that I haven't improved myself in any of these areas, because I have, but the only formal resolution I ever made and kept was to recycle and that was 7 years ago and I'm proud to say that is still going strong and that even my children know they can't just throw everything out, its simply a rule and a way of life. Anyhow, instead of making resolutions set into stone that eventually turns into sand and blows away, I find it more meaningful to go through the little things I write down or copy, and keep throughout each year. Just like the recycling, I look at these to be rules and a way of life too. I love writing as much as I love to read, so here are just a few that I narrowed down and wanted to share.....

Things important to me (in no particular order):

~ Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
~ If you don't like hearing the truth (even in a nice way)about yourself or a situation....change it.
~ Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
~ Don’t believe all that you hear….or spend all you have….or sleep all that you want.
~ When you say, “I love you,” mean it.
~ When you say "I'm sorry," mean it.
~ Never laugh at someone’s dream. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.
~ Love deeply and passionately, you might get hurt but the only way to live life completely is to feel all that you can feel.
~ In disagreements, fight fairly…you know what is fair, now act like you know.
~ Don’t judge people by their relatives.
~ Talk slowly but think quickly.
~ When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”
~ Great love and great achievements involve great risk and that no matter the risk, it is still worth taking.
~ Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.
~ Be the best listener that you can, if you aren’t a good listener to others, they won’t be there to listen to you when you need someone to just listen.
~ When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Failure is not a negative word. Failure is how you learn. At the end of the day if you can’t think of anything great you did that day, think of your failures and the risks you took and you will find greatness in yourself all day.
~ NEVER tell a child that something, anything, is too hard for them to try. They can figure it out for themselves once they’ve tried.
~ Be humble.
~ For God’s sake, recycle and reuse all that you can. If this is too hard for you to do, then what is it that you consider easy to do?
~ Do nice and thoughtful things for others without them needing to know who or where the nice deed came from.
~ We are not “raising children”, we are raising our children to become adults so teach and demonstrate to your children the little life lessons that you learn, they may be more important than their fundamental basics of ABC’s and 123’s. Our future is in our children’s hands, so teach them well.
~ Know and believe that you are capable of doing a bit more than you think…probably a lot more than you think.
~ Show great respect to others, don’t just say that you respect them, show it.
~ Don’t purposely decide to look down on others. Nobody is better than the other, we just do the best that we know how to do, and when we know better we do better.
~ Each person has a lot to share and teach others, positive or negative, acknowledge it and grab it while you can. It will only make you a better person.
~ A quote right off a magnet on my fridge, I share this with people that I know will appreciate what it says:
“As you go on in this world always believe in your dreams. Keep looking forward to the future…to all you might be. Don’t let old mistakes or misfortunes hold you down. Learn something new everyday. Be interested in others and what they might teach you. Believe in yourself. So long as you are true to the strength within your own heart…you can never go wrong.”

Kitty Love

Brayden loves the kitties and is very sweet to them...well,ok, most of the time. Here he is snuggling with Milo. The next day, Brady was sleeping a little over his usual nap time and when Jim went to go get him up he found Missy is his crib sleeping with him and she was all curled up with the little doggie that looks just Maddy :)