This & That & Lots of It!

Miss Amber is off on a new adventure...in Texas! We had one last hurrah before the moving truck leaves town. As always, it was wonderful to eat good food and catch up with friends. Losing friends to different cities stinks. But Austin is lucky. Amber has loads of creativity, loves to shop, remembers everyone's birthdays and gives the sweetest gifts, is an amazingly dedicated wife and mother, can cut hair like nobody's business, loves chocolate, and sincerely listens to and validates others. So many wonderful characteristics all wrapped up into one person. Yes Austin, you are lucky! Lots of love and well wishes on this new adventure!
No, I don't make my children wear helmets as they swing, though it's not a bad idea. Cypress Park has great biking/walking paths throughout, making it even more awesome. The boys ride and play to their hearts delight.

Have you ever seen a smaller snowman?!? We didn't get that much snow but the boys were dead set on building a snowman. He's cute isn't he?!

Lets hope that sleeping with his hand on a gun doesn't become a habit!

Ready to brave the snow, complete with his new trucker hat...courtesy of our neighbor. He puts it on first thing every morning.

And it starts. Poor beloved Jeep has lost his first wheel. Moment of silence please.

Happy Hour Happiness

Date night with the Christensen's. Bowling and games and dessert crepes. Shane and I kinda got killed in the game department. Jake and Steph are quite the competitive pair!

I feel lame to post pictures of my hair. I know it's not that cool. But I've been focusing on small victories lately...and braiding your own hair is a small victory indeed!!!

CTR sticks for primary singing time. Program number 4 here I come!

Feeling the Love

Valentine's this year was fun, mostly because Cade and Carson got into it. They got to give Valentine cards to friends for the first time and receive them in return, decorate heart-shaped cookies, & eat lots of chocolate and cherry hearts. Life as a 4 year old is good.

Little Love Bugs!

They even got some cash in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma Tucker. Cade has never been more excited! We went to the store to spend their doe. Cade picked a boat for the bath and a small dump truck. Carson picked a pimped out Cadillac Escalade with doors that open.:) They were so proud of themselves as they handed their money to the "store guy."

Neighborhood kids all together for a par-tay!
Love from Mom and Dad
Carson opened up his box of chocolates and devoured them as quickly as possible...stuffing them all into his mouth at the same time. Cade, on the other hand, ate them amazingly slow...savoring each one. Who knew watching them eat their chocolate could be so telling of their personalities!!!
They each got a water-color book (which is so out-of-character for me). I'm happy to report that we have faithfully had some "art time" most days since. Carson counts down the seconds until he's done his mandatory page. But he does it and that is progress.
Milkshakes after dinner!

As much as I love my little boys and enjoyed celebrating the day with them, this man is my number one Valentine. If we were in elementary school, I would have picked out an extra special Valentine to give him, and said it was from his secret admirer. His gift to me was sweeter than candy. He wrote a poem, complete with his witty comments and sense of humor. His writing is one of the first things I loved about him...this gift reminded me of that. I was told to read it out loud and he would stop me as I went along. The poem was 3-fold. I was stopped three times as thoughtful, personalized gifts were given. He makes me swoon!! What a wonderful person I get to experience this life with. There is no one better suited for me, that I know for sure, and having him by my side is my greatest of blessings.
We all felt the love this February.

Bed for Sale

I remember anticipating the time we would transition to a "big boy bead." Carson was the first to graduate from his crib. So much anxiety over this change...would he stay in bed, fall out in the middle of the night, keep blankets on...??? If only I would have known then what I know now. Such is life. If only I knew that all Carson would need for a restless (he's far from a rest-FULL sleeper) night's sleep would be a piece of carpet next to his door. For two years now, I cannot for the life of me get Carson to sleep in his bed. And believe me, I've tried everything! I've gone in and moved him back to his bed multiple times a night, threatened him, patiently explained that people sleep in beds, blocked his carpet spot, told him to sleep in his bed with blankets so he doesn't get cold, and we've even made him an actual bed on the floor. No success. He doesn't take a pillow or blanket with him to his carpet spot. Just himself, which makes me worry. So we made him a bed on the floor with our crib mattress. He slept NEXT to it. What?! So we made him a little bed on the floor with pillow and blankets minus the mattress. He pushed it aside. We've gone through this cycle lots and lots...revisited the issue over the last two years to see if anything has changed with time. Still waiting. He sleeps right up against the door (with the door closed). As close as he can possibly get to the outside world maybe? Once he's asleep, you can't even open his door with his dead weight up against it. We've left the door open. He still just lays in the same spot with his eyes poking out into the living room until he falls asleep. What is the deal?! I am at a loss and ready to sell his bed. :) Really, if he would just sleep with a blanket, my controlling self would be satisfied. He also frequently sleep walks and talks. One night, he started crying for me and I went in to find him sleep walking...standing straight up on the top bunk! Scary! We have found him wandering the house in the middle of the night...multiple times. He makes me nervous. Never a dull moment with Carson! I have managed to get a few pictures.

So this night, the piano bench blocked his "spot." He crawled in between the legs and nestled in for the night. What a comfy snuggle buddy. He woke and started trying to get out while I took the picture. I am open to all suggestions! For now, we have an empty bed if anyone wants to come visit!!!

Bundle Up....

Saturday Shane and I took a much needed mini-get-away...Bogus Style. Lucky for us the weather was beautiful and the company even better. There's just something about being in the mountains. It's good for the soul. There's also something about a man on a board. I fell in love with Shane all over again. :)

Monday we went back to the mountains with the whole fam. Carson and Cade have been dying to go sledding so we finally made it happen. Our experience today was much, much better than our last sledding day. Progress!!! Friends+Snow=Happy Day!

The 3 older boys...Emery, Carson, Cade...ready to hit the hill!

This last picture of Cade sums up our weekend. Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!