One tough cookie

The other day, I sent Bennett out to play in the snow. The only time he gets to go outside is when the neighbor kids are out so I don't have to go out there with him. I had no intentions of setting foot out in the snow for recreational purposes this entire winter. That's what dad's are for. And neighbor kids. I hate winter. Pretty sure I've said that a few (hundred) times on this blog. I particularly hate wearing my winter "uniform" for 4 months- jeans, sneakers, a hoodie and hopefully at least a cute/colorful t-shirt. I also hate the dry air that gives you static-y hair and flaky skin. And the lack of tan. (Although I've finally realized that bronzer isn't just for Snookie. I've fully jumped on the bronzer bandwagon.) And I don't even need to mention my hate for bundling babies up in coats and hats. Seriously sucky.

So anyway, back to the snow day. Dawson and I were watching Bennett attempt the big sledding hill out in our backyard by himself for the first time (its a really big hill). I watched as he gradually made his way up the hill, dragging the sled behind, slipping every few feet but continuing to climb. Then half way up, he slipped and I watched as he lost his grip on the sled rope and it went sliding all the way back down to the bottom as the bigger kids were sledding down all around him. My Momma Bear instincts kicked in so quick, I didn't think twice about my disdain for being out in the snow. I grabbed Dawson, ran downstairs and put on my coat and boots, shoved Dawson into his coat and hat and grabbed the sled from our garage. I then ran out to "save" Bennett. But by the time I dragged Dawson on the sled over to the hill, (laughing the whole way-- poor baby was so deprived staring out the window at all the big kids having fun while his party-pooper momma was keeping him holed up in the warm dry house) Bennett had already made it all the way to the top and sledded (slid?) down by himself.

That boy does not give up. He also doesn't whine or complain when facing tough obstacles. He honestly could have dropped that sled 5 more times but you wouldn't have seen his smile falter. My dad took him on a long walk through the woods near their house this past fall, and Bennett fell into a freezing cold creek while they were crossing a log. My dad recalled him saying something along the lines of, "whoops! I got wet!" and walked all the way back home with a soaking wet bottom half and didn't say another word about it. I'm so proud of his optimism and strong and resilient spirit. And to know that even when I'm not watching and can run to his rescue, he'll be ok.

Once I was out there, we made the most of it. Dawson loved it just as much as Bennett:

Daddy got home to join us for a couple runs. (You can see the sledding hill in the background, meetin up with the fence). When I ran back inside to grab the camera, they were already heading in. (Jon hates winter as much as I do.):

Cutest kid in the universe, you say? Why thank you. I couldn't agree more. ;)

Put a little boogy in it

I had to share this post from one of my favorite Christian bloggers (thanks, Em!! ;)

On the search for some great, non-annoying Christian music for your kiddos??
http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2011/01/blessed-are-booty-hearts.html

I'll definitely be asking for some of these CD's for Bennett's birthday. I love that they sing the actual scripture. We all know the easiest way to memorize something is with a song!

(Moms, if you want some encouragement, read through some of her greatest posts here. She's absolutely hilarious): http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2005/04/greatest-hits.html

Suzie Homemaker

Jon's been at his new job a little over a week, and I have to say- I'm loving the change this has brought in our house. Its so funny, talking to a lot of women about the switch from having him home a lot without a predictable schedule, to having him out of the house most of the day, everyone's response is, "Its nice when my husband has a long vacation from work but I love getting back to 'normal'. I can't imagine having him home all the time!" Here I seriously thought I had the advantage with his schedule all these years. Of course there are a lot of pros and cons to both, but I feel so much more in control of my household these days.
Seriously, for the first time in several years, I just feel more calm, cool and collected. Today, for instance, I'm enjoying a cup of tea during Dawson's nap (and Bennett's movie hour. Yes I let him watch a movie the whole time Dawson's napping. And yes, its totally worth whatever brain cells are turning to mush). The kitchen is clean and I have dinner prepped and the chicken in the crock pot. I hardly ever cooked before because his schedule was so unpredictable, he was rarely home for dinner. I have so much more motivation to have the house clean for Jon when he gets home too. There was just something about him coming in and out of the house all day that threw me off and I didn't even realize it. I also love that he's much more engaged with the family when he comes home. The nightly wrestling matches are becoming quite intense.
And as far as Jon's concerned, he's liking the job. Its something that comes very easy and natural to him and I know he's going to excel at it.

Our new furry friend

She lives in the garage. She has long legs and a sweet little face. Dawson and Bennett are quite attached. Unfortunately, she's not breathing. I'll spare you a picture. I'm talking about Jon's first kill. The lovely little doe strung up by her legs, hanging in our garage. I seriously was hoping that wouldn't be part of the deal. It completely disgusts me. I thought surely he could just hand her off to someone else to do all the nasty stuff. But no. There she is in all her gutted glory. On my side of the garage, no less! I had to climb through the van to get Dawson out from the other side. I wasn't getting near that thing.

So as I said, the boys are quite attached. When Bennett saw it (and touched it. Blech.), he said to Jon, "She's so soft and cuddly. I wish I had deer fur!" Dawson loves looking at it. As soon as we pull in he says, "dee, dee, dee!" Jon found him tonight trying to open the back door, saying, "dee, dee!" and he kept saying it while I carried him all the way up to bed with such desperation in his voice. I seriously almost gave in, he sounded so sad! Oh well. I mean, if we're going to have a pet, its about as low maintenance as they come ;)

Here are a few more antics from my boys:

Bennett with his new CD player:

Putting it to good use to keep Dawson still during a diaper change:

Dawson loves wearing the Mr. Potatohead glasses. He can put them on himself and wore them for an entire morning the other day:

Mullet be gone

Big day for Little D today. His first haircut! He was growing quite the mullet so we definitely had to rectify that situation. I intended to take a good before pic, but of course I forgot. Bennett didn't get a haircut until he was over 2 1/2 and he sat frozen the whole time. I was quite curious how Dawson would do. He refused to wear the cape. He started flailing his arms around underneath trying to escape, so she just laid a towel over his shoulders. He was ok for about a minute (thankfully, while I could snap some pictures) and then he kept reaching up and trying to get her hands away from his head. So I ended up reading him a book in an over-enthusiastic voice and that worked pretty good. I tend to hate the first haircut on baby boys. They instantly grow up. But his is pretty subtle since she only had to trim around his ears and the back. He still looks like my baby.

No more mullet:

First Day

Well, our lives are about to change. Jon started his first day of a new job today. It came up kind of out of the blue. Some friends we've known our whole Iowa lives (Randy Nesbit and Davey Bloom) offered Jon a job with them selling insurance wholesale to insurance companies (or something like that). They had a new zone/area/district (I can't think of the word) open up for sales and offered it to Jon so he'll actually be travelling to Kansas every week for a while, and then probably just once a month after he establishes contacts and relationships. He's trying it part time for the first two months while he contines with mortgages and if its a good fit, he'll start full time and close his mortgage business.
This is going to impact our lives a lot, since Jon's owned his own company almost our whole married lives. He's always only worked a handful of hours every day (if that). His schedule has always differed from day to day and he's usually in and out of the house all day. He's pretty good at staying busy with different projects but he's always had a lot of free time. I can't imagine having a husband work from 9 -5! I rely on him a lot for help with the boys and he also does the majority of the cleaning and half the laundry. I know--most of you moms are probably thinking, "Oh, boo hoo. Now you'll know how the rest of us do it!" And yeah, that's true. I've had it easy compared to a lot of moms. But its all I've ever known!
I'm excited for the change this will bring. I'm sure there will be a lot of positives--I like predictability so it'll be really nice to know his schedule from day to day. And when he's home, he'll be home. For the past 8 years he's had to take phone calls at any time during the day and evening and even on vacations. He never got a true "break" from work. But I do feel like I'll have to step it up around the house. I'm a terrible housekeeper and I've let him do most of it since I do more of the childcare. I'll keep you posted as we adjust to this new chapter of our lives.

I asked him if I could take a "first day" picture of him-posed by the front door with his back-pack or something, but he wouldn't let me :)