Evan's 3rd Birthday party.

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Here is Uncle Bob

I am asking everyone for prayers for my Uncle Bob. He is very sick. This picture was taken last year on his 83rd birthday. He lives in Florida. He knew he needed heart surgery, but did not know it was this bad. He waited for my mom and dad to get there so that they could help him during his recovery at home. He had 2 open heart surgeries this week and now his kidneys are shutting down. Everytime the phone rings I am on pins and needles. My mom is so stressed and I feel so helpless here, I so desperately want to give her a hug. So please take a minute today and say a prayer for my favorite uncle. Thanks, Donna

Evan and his new dirt.

Evan received this wonderful toy. It reminds me of a time long ago, before kids. My sister's sister-in-law had a little girl. So for her 8th or 9th birthday, I bought her an ant farm. I had always wanted one of those when I was a kid, but of course my mom said it was too messy. So when I went to the toy store for Sara I thought back to that ant farm. I mailed it to Florida along with the money to buy the ants, but I'm sure the box was never opened and went straight to Goodwill. Well Evan just received the 2008 version of the ant farm. My friend in Chicago, Julie, who doesn't have any kids, she gave Evan an inside sand toy. It has 3 different colors of sand. The box says the sand will not dry out and will provide many hours of creativity. So today as it was 32 below out, out came the sand. First I had to figure out how to preserve my new table, what if this stuff stains? So after I finally have an idea, tape a garbage bag to the table, I'm gathering the things I need and Evan is repeating over and over and over, 'can I do it now mommy?' Finally, I get the sand on the table, he of course wants to mix all 3 colors together. So it soon really looks like sand. He loves this toy. I have to put Nick in his high chair because he is eating anything that falls to the floor, which was a lot. I read the box, it said not to eat the stuff, but not in giant letters and it didn't give a 800 number or a Dr.'s name, so I was not too worried. We will see just how much he did eat at next diaper change. Maybe I will let Mike have that one, the sand was red, yellow and green, could be funny. So I made a slide show of Evan and his sand. When I put him down for his nap today, I told him that if he did not cry at nap time, I would let him watch a video when he got up. He says to me, "I don't want to watch a video, I want to play with that dirt."

Thanks Julie!

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It's still snowing.

Hi, I haven't posted in a few days, I have been out of sorts. My favorite uncle, Uncle Bob is in the hospital in Florida and he is not doing very good. My mom and dad are down there with him. I get to talk to my mom once in awhile, but she is so stressed out, I can hear it in her voice. I just want to jump on the next plane and get down there to be with her. So say a prayer for my Uncle Bob, please. He is 83 years old and had to have open heart surgery twice this week. The Dr. says his heart is good now, but his body is so weak. So just pray for him if you would.

Oh, and it's still snowing here, well I guess it has stopped now. It was snowing when I started typing, the boys were napping and I had a few minutes. Now they are both up and watching a Thomas video, that is 'too scary' per big strong Evum. Got to get them some apple.

Kiss your loved ones today!

It is 9:30 in the morning and the boys are already watching The Polar Express. Mommy did not sleep at all last night, well daddy did not either, but he had to go to work. I woke at 3 and laid in bed until 5, then got up and tried to get past the boys rooms to get downstairs, they both woke up. Mike took Nick, I took Evan, tried to get him back to sleep in the guest room. My good friend Mary Fran called me today with bad news, her neighbors 25 year old daughter was in a fatal accident on I-94. So sad. Mary Fran was so upset, I talked to her for about 20 minutes on the phone, then Evan woke from his nap and the birthday madness started, so I put it in the back of my head. Well, when I tried to sleep, I started to think about what that poor family is going to be going through for the rest of forever. I just laid in bed and cried. Next month it will be 20 years ago that Dotty had her fatal accident. So all of that came flooding back and hit me like a ton of bricks. She would be turning 45 this year. Sometimes I still can't believe that she is even gone. It's like she should walk in the door and start telling me some funny story, but she never does. I always wonder what she would be like now? Would she be married? Would she have kids, God I hope so. Would she still live in Wabash, I'm sure of that, mom and dad would not have let her leave! Would she be a good Aunt, I'm sure of that one. That poor family will have all of those same questions as the years go on. Every holiday, every picture taken, every special moment is missing something. Always missing. I have been down that 'what if' road a million times, they will be on it too. I'm going to send them a card, even though I don't know them real well. That's one thing I have become better at, sending cards to people greiving. Grief is such a strange thing. Everyone does it differently. I don't know what I will say, just 'I'm sorry', I guess. What else can you say?

Just kiss and hug your loved ones today.

My baby boy turned 3 today, how did that happen??

Wow, my baby boy is 3, how in the world did that happen?? I have been on the computer for more than an hour trying to download the 1000 pictures that I took today, but for the life of me, I CANNOT figure it out. I swear I cannot wait for Evan to get into Pre-school so that he can help me on the computer!! No, really, I do not want my Evan to even get any older than he is today. Here are the things he said to me today, 1. I love you mommy so much. 2. Happy Birthday to you. 3. I am so glad you are here today ( that one totally tore me up) 4. This is the best birthday ever. 5. I don't want to go to bed! Today was such an overwhelming day. I swear everyday with these boys is amazing, but today, I could not think. I was so happy that I had a little 3 year old crazy guy living in my house. Nothing could ever prepare me for this change in me, but it is the best ever. Evan is such a sweetie. We gave him 3 presents tonight because he is 3. First gift he loved, James that moves around when you spin him. 2. video of Thomas, always a big hit in this house. 3. video of Clifford the Big Red Dog. So he was so happy, and then we unwrapped James. After mommy had every tool out of the basement and every sharp object available to untie the twisties on the back of every toy sold in the US of A lately, Evan did not like James. His eyes turned around when he was moving forward. Too scary for Evan. But Nick loved the guy, so Nick got that present. Evan loved the Clifford video and Thomas. We had chicken strips and french fries for dinner. Yesterday when I asked Evan what he wanted for dinner, he said 'how 'bout peanut butter toast?' See why I love this guy so much, he is even easy to cook for! So we had a great day, and now the boys are sleeping and daddy and I are relaxing.

Is it really January?

I have not posted yet in 2008, what is going on? Well it started with my husband in 2007. Mike was off work for 18 days at the end of the year and did not return to work until 1-7-08. As much as I wanted him home with me and the boys, I wanted him to go back to work also after 18 days! The little routines that I do have in place, were thrown out the window. And push me away from the table, I swear Mike cooked everyday, like twice a day. I cook (crock pot) maybe once every 2 to 3 days, the boys are managing just fine on peanut butter and apples. So I feel like I have gained 20 pounds, I did not work out while he was here, it was much easier to sleep in and then get up and drink coffee and eat a hot breakfast that he had prepared for the boys. Nick is still eating! The boys have watched Polar Express 180 times, Evan has most of it memorized. He sings all the songs. He is watching it again right now, hence I can be posting! I gotta brag for a minute about my little guy, you know, I could do it all day, but will only tell this one Christmas story. Diane was here for 2 days and we went out to lunch. I took a bunch of trains for the boys, but after we were seated Evan wanted a book. Didn't bring a book, so I told him to tell me a story. Sometimes he will go on and on about Thomas, so I thought that was what he might do. Well, he started telling us the poem, Twas the Night before Christmas. And he knew it the whole way through, I didn't even know that he had it all memorized. So Diane and I are just sitting there with our mouths open and I have these giant tears in my eyes, it was so cute. As soon as he had finished and Diane was done wiping her eyes, she says to me, 'did you know that he could do that? You had better get that on tape.' OMG, it was so precious. So now needless to say, he says it ALL the time. Now I even have the thing memorized!

Other than the eating non-stop, we had a great Christmas. Evan was so excited. Nick did not get it at all, he just wanted to eat wrapping paper. Evan opened all the gifts and any toy that he did not like, he would kindly give that one to Nick, such a sweet boy. The big gift from Santa was a firetruck, a big firetruck. Thankfully neither one of the boys are big enough yet to make the thing move. Nick just likes to sit or stand, mostly stand, in it and pretend like they are going somewhere. I swear Nick's first ER visit will be from this firetruck. He likes to climb up on it and dance or move or whatever he is doing. But I know he is going to fall off the thing. He sometimes gets his leg stuck and can't get either in or out. He'll cry for a minute, but the next second he is right back in there. He's my wild child. And now that Evan talks 24/7, he can tell me everything that Nick is up to.

It is January 9 and the only thing I have taken down from Christmas is the tree, and Mike did that. So today I decided to start on the easy stuff, and the squirrels need to be fed. Evan is holding the gingerbread house that he made in TOTS. So we took his picture and sat it out for the squirrels. Now I need to bring up 30 plastic tubs from the basement and start to pack up Christmas frames. Maybe tonight while Mike is playing basketball. Now we have to get the house ready for Evan's 3rd Birthday. I still can't believe my little baby boy is going to be 3! How in the heck did that happen. So since he is going to be 3, I thought I had better start scrap booking! Oh brother. I have about 1500 pictures on my computer that I need to have printed so that I can get started! Another late night activity when they boys are nestled all snug in their beds.