History was made!

I'm a little late with this post, but it seems that I haven't been posting as much this month for some reason. Last week history was made, twice!

First, the Cardinals won the play-offs and they are heading to the Superbowl! Yay! It's the 1st time in 61 years, so it's a pretty BIG deal, especially at our house! Nick is a HUGE Cardinals fan. Being from Arizona he likes to support our local teams, even when they would continually lose. He is VERY happy that they FINALLY won! Too bad the Superbowl was here last year instead of this year. That would have been cool to have it be here, but I wonder how much those tickets would have cost? Hmmm? You know we will be watching it at our house and Nick is even going to take the day off of work so he won't miss it! Go Cardinals! :)

Then two days later was the Presidential Inauguration. Our new President was sworn into office. Yes, I would have preferred to have Mitt Romney in there or even John McCain, but what am I gonna do? To think about the fact that this country actually elected a black President, just shows how far we've come. That was unheard of 50 years ago and it makes me proud to be an American! I hope it works out and I hope he does a good job. He's done a couple of things already that has me worrying, but who knows, maybe he is just what this country needs. This is me being positive and supporting him. I could be like all of those Bush haters and boo him, but that wouldn't make me a very good American, would it? Let's give our new President our support and our prayers! If you're an Obama fan, please don't flame me. :)

While you're at it, pray for the Cardinals too! A win for them would simply be, well words can't describe the reaction that my husband would make if they won. I'll be sure to have the video camera on hand so in case they win I can get it all on tape. I'm sure it will be a reaction that is blog worthy. Yep, can't wait! :)

What's Your Favorite?

Since it's a New Year, I thought that I would ask the kids what some of their favorite things are. I do this often, but I have never documented it. Since they've gotten older, I thought that maybe things have changed with them, so here is what they have to say to some common questions.

Cole
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite pastime: Playing the Wii
When I grow up I want to be: A professional baseball player
Favorite book: Magic Tree House Books
Favorite song: Super Massive Blackhole (Twilight CD)
Favorite movie: Star Wars 3, Revenge of the Sith
Favorite thing I got for Christmas? Star Wars Legos
Favorite shirt: Brandon Webb Diamondbacks Shirt
Best Friends: Alexander and Dylan S.
Favorite subject at school: Math (he is a freak when it comes to math, no joke, really good!)
What do you like most about yourself? I'm good at sports
Favorite candy: Hershey Bar
Favorite food: Barbeque Chicken
What's the best thing about 4th grade: My teacher and friends

Jacob
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite pastime: Playing the Wii
When I grow up I want to be: A police officer
Favorite book: Spiderwick Chronicles
Favorite song: Super Massive Blackhole (Twilight CD)
Favorite movie: Star Wars 5, Empire Strikes Back
Favorite thing I got for Christmas? Star Wars Clone Wars Helmet
Favorite shirt: Pirates of the Carribbean
Best Friends: Dylan T, Derek R, Ethan, and Noah
Favorite subject at school: Language Arts (wow, he sounds like me, I liked this too!)
What do you like most about yourself? I'm funny
Favorite candy: Twix
Favorite food: Chicken Farfalle and Goulash
What's the best thing about 2nd grade: Get to play with friends

Things I learned from these lists today:
1. My boys LOVE Star Wars!
2. They both LOVE chocolate!
3. They like the same song (no I didn't influence them in that choice at all)
4. Cole loves baseball, A LOT! Jacob doesn't like sports near as much
5. They are different to when it comes to school. Jacob doesn't care for math at all, like me!
6. They are similar in ways, but also quite different.
7. I discovered I was right, some of their favorites have changed, especially since Christmas!

I did not coerce my boys into any of these answers. They came up with them on their own. I know that their love of chocolate comes from me though and they also like the Twilight CD, well because honestly, I play it in the car quite a bit. :)

Twilight Night!

Unless some of you have been living in a cave, the premiere of Twilight came out on Friday. :) Me and some girlfriends that have all read the book went to see it on Friday night at 10:40. We went and ate dinner first at The Cheesecake Factory. We had a great time until Julie asked the waiter to surprise me by singing Happy Birthday. Yeah, I didn't want to have any focus like that on me. You can never go wrong with a Girls Night Out though! The car ride to and from Chandler really was a lot of fun! You ladies are a hoot! :)

Here are most of us at the restaurant. Some left early to go wait in line. Good times ladies!

Here we are waiting in line. Now keep reading for my review of the movie and some funny movie scenes.

Dinner was a lot of fun though and the company was great. The movie was awesome! We didn't even have to wait in line that long and it wasn't completely sold out so we actually got good seats. I definitely liked the book better, but I was pleased with how they portrayed everything in the movie. The actors all did a good job and boy those vampires were HOT! Yes, I said it, HOT! I actually think the actor that plays Edward did an amazing job and do I dare say he looked HOT! Their makeup was a bit much, and I understand that it was like that cause they are supposed to be pale and everything, but it was still a bit much. I can look past that though to see their cuteness shine through.

Here's my review of some of the characters. Edward-Super HOT, he portrayed the part really well, Carlisle-HOT, Emmett-HOT and funny, Jasper-HOT but in a constipated kind of way, Alice-Cute, Rosalie-Ugh, don't like her, Esme-Sweet, Jacob-Ugh, did nothing for me, didn't like his hair, James-HOT bad guy, seriously! Bella-Exactly as I pictured her. She brought Bella to life really well. I just wish she would have smiled more though. I mean a HOT vampire is in love with this girl and she can't smile just a bit more? The high school friends were exactly how I pictured them too, except where was Lauren and good ole Ben? Overall rating? Hot and awesome. (Is that an actual rating?) And in case you all missed that...HOT! Sure I wish that they would have added some more scenes from the book but I completely understand why they didn't. They have to pack an entire book into 2 hours. My favorite scenes were in there though, oh yeah they were! There was humor and romance throughout as well as some great action scenes. Who doesn't love a movie like that? Um, I do! :) My most favorite scene? Well, that would be the scene where they FINALLY kiss! Of course you all knew that, right?

So to sum up my movie review, in case there are some of you that are not paying attention to this wonderful spot on review, I completely enjoyed this movie and thought the actors were great! And just in case some of you aren't clear as to which team I'm on, that would be Team Edward, well because, say it with me now, he is HOT! I mean really who doesn't agree with that?

Here are some funny movie scenes I found. I believe they were posted as a joke, but they are funny. I just wanted to show you all some HOT photos of everyone too.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
EDWARD: Yes, this is a vintage Members Only jacket. You know how you weren't born yet in the '80s, Bella? I was. In fact, I was an 80-year-old man trapped in the body of a 17-year-old vampire. I wear this ensemble without irony. What'd you say? You asked if was I in high school then, too? Indeed I was. I am repeating high school because when you're as good looking as I am, high school is fun. It's amazing to me how people in Forks haven't noticed. No, Bella. No, of course not, my pet! Of course you're the first girl in my life I've ever kissed. Yes, you're pretty. Bella! BELLA! Come back!

'Twilight': The Lost Script
BELLA: I like this jacket a lot better.
EDWARD: I will burn the other and sprinkle the ashes in the four corners of the Earth, so that it never offends you again.
BELLA: You're amazing.
EDWARD: You're amazing.
BELLA: No, you are.
EDWARD: I said it first.
BELLA: No, actually, I did. Just look at the transcript.
EDWARD: You're right, my alabaster fairy. Would you mind scooting away from the waterfall? You're making me nervous.
BELLA: So are you saying I'm clumsy? I knew it. You couldn't possibly love me. You are like a god and I am an adolescent head case.
EDWARD: Shh, love. Don't talk. Let me carry you on my back as though you were either a toddler or a sack of potatoes. Then we will ride in my Volvo and not engage in any carnal activities whatsoever.
BELLA: You're amazing.
EDWARD: No, you are. (Repeat...)

'Twilight': The Lost Script
EDWARD: I will now use my superhuman strength to slam you against the mirror!
JAMES: Oh, the pain! I love it almost as much as I want to drink your girlfriend's blood! But for now I will satisfy my urges by breathing my undead breath all over your pretty face! Do you smell that, loverboy? It is the blood of a human being I just ate as a snack! HAAAAAAHHHH!
EDWARD: It's not working. For you see, I do not actually need to breathe, and if I do not breathe, I cannot be troubled by your odiferous oral issue.
JAMES: Nobody likes a smarty pants.
EDWARD: And nobody likes a vampire who doesn't floss. You should see the condition of your molars, you dastardly cur.
JAMES: Are they really that bad?
EDWARD: Well, I'd stay away from taffy and from people with really thick necks. You never know what's going to happen.
JAMES: Thanks, dude.
EDWARD: Now, die! For the sake of true love, die!
JAMES: At this point, I'd love nothing better.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
LAURENT: Hey, did anyone lose a baseball? We found one about ten kilometers back.
JAMES: And we'll totally trade it for that klutzy-looking brunette standing behind home plate. Hello. Anyone?
VICTORIA: Told you they wouldn't go for it, James. They're obviously having too much fun playing with their food.
LAURENT: You mean you're not planning to eat the human later?
JAMES: You're crazy! Have you smelled her? I would totally eat that!
VICTORIA: James, I'm standing RIGHT HERE.
JAMES: What if we ate her together?
VICTORIA: I could go for that.
LAURENT: Oh, you two... How is it that I am the only single vampire here? Everyone's seen my abs, right?

'Twilight': The Lost Script
BELLA: So did you do the chemistry homework?
EDWARD: Like, 100 years ago.
BELLA: No, seriously. Quit making jokes about our age difference. I have to do my homework before I go home and cook my dad his dinner.
EDWARD: You are a magnificent flower and the sweet cherry atop my life's sundae. Marry me and your life will be distilled bliss, for I do not eat food that requires cooking, and I am rich enough that your chemistry grade matters not a whit.
BELLA: Um, let's not talk about what you eat.
EDWARD: Your wish is my command, fragrant blossom.
BELLA: I don't understand how you can say that. I'm just a plain, awkward girl who needs to strap herself to the commode so she doesn't fall off. Accident-prone is my middle name.
EDWARD: I will sneak into your bathroom and offer my steady, marble-like arms as your supports. No harm shall come to you, my pet.
BELLA: OK, but you have to be really quiet about it and stuff, because my dad is, like, the police chief and even though he can't cook his own dinner, he will totally OWN your undead badonkadonk if he catches you.
EDWARD: (Laughs) Did you just see that? I sprinted to the end of these mossy rocks and back in less time than you took to say badonkadonk.
BELLA: Kiss me unchastely, you sexy beast.
EDWARD: Let's do your chemistry first, and then we shall go for a ride in my Volvo.
BELLA: See? I am ugly. My vampire boyfriend doesn't even want to neck.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
ROSALIE HALE: Ugh. There she is, that human brat Bella, with her scent that my fake brother Edward finds so darned irresistible. She will be the death of us all with her clumsy ways and noisy, American-made truck. Why can't she find herself a nice, human boyfriend? There are certainly a horde of stinky ones gathering around her, like flies to honey. Where is my Emmett? I must go to him so we can kill a wild animal together and drink of its blood. If I still ate, that silly human would make me want to puke.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
EDWARD: Oh my gosh! What happened to your ears! Did someone hurt you, my love?
BELLA: What? I can't hear you. I'm wearing my earbuds and rocking out. Have I told you today that you are gorgeous? Your torso looks like it's carved from marble. Who cares that your skin's so cold I have to wear a blanket when we snuggle? You're yummy!
EDWARD: OK, if you can't hear me, then I will whisper the words I've longed to utter for a century. I love you. Love, love, love, kissy, kissy.
BELLA: Um, Edward, I was just kidding. I can still hear you when I have my earbuds on.
EDWARD: I meant every word of it. You are the sweet love of my life. My nostrils flare to embrace your intoxicating scent.
BELLA: Do you have any Tic Tacs? I feel like I should, I don't know, eat a breath mint or something. We're going to kiss soon, right?
EDWARD: I fear my passions will overwhelm me. Let us just hold hands and take another ride in my swift, swift Volvo.
BELLA: Can't hear you. Earbuds.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
JAMES: OK, see, when I force you into the light? Your skin is definitely sparkly.
EDWARD: Oh, and you are laboring under the illusion that you yourself do not glisten like little girl's toy pony?
JAMES: I'm nowhere near as sparkly as you, you prig. Look at my hands. I haven't washed in weeks. It definitely tones down the gleam.
EDWARD: I can't really see your hands, not when they are wrapped around my windpipe. Do you mind releasing me a moment, so I can more fully appreciate your skin-care technique?
JAMES: Not a bit. Check it, dude. Pure filth. It masks my scent so when I am tracking humans, like your delicious girlfriend, all they smell is 100 percent animal stink.
EDWARD: Psyche! I will now slam your body into this mirror with total disregard for the fact that breaking it will cause me seven years of bad luck which will start immediately in the sequel to "Twilight."
JAMES: Sequel?
EDWARD: Yes, you moron. Even though there are people who travel to rinky-dink Forks to see Bella's house and purchase uniforms worn by the local cheerleaders, we are all as fake as Nigerian banking chain letters.
JAMES: My life has no meaning. Slam me into the mirror, please.

'Twilight': The Lost Script
ALICE: I predict Bella is NOT going to like this picture.
JASPER: Yeah, baby. Edward's hair is totally weird in it. And his posture is definitely less than godlike. But I will use my mind powers to calm her down.
BELLA: I know Edward means well, but when he holds my hands behind my back like this, I sort of feel like I'm being arrested and being arrested reminds me of my dad, and when I'm standing right next to my boyfriend, I don't really want to be thinking about my dad and handcuffs, you know? It just doesn't feel right.
EDWARD: She is so wobbly! If I weren't holding her like this, she would fall over. Do you think she has an undiagnosed inner ear infection? Carlisle could prescribe some antibiotics. I will ask him to do so immediately. Otherwise, Bella might die and then the rest of my immortality would be a prison of sorrows.
ROSALIE: I wonder if Bella knows that her brown jacket isn't all that flattering. It makes me angrier than my perpetually empty womb to look at her.
EMMETT: Rosalie saved me from death by a bear. Is there anything hotter? Man, I've got to get her into the woods again soon.

There they are in all of their Hotness and Glory! I thought these lines were funny, and I just wanted to add even more humor into this post. :) So for those of you that haven't seen the movie, go now and see it so that I can get everyone's opinion on this movie. Go now, seriously! :) I do recommend reading the book first for those of you who like to read. It makes the movie that much better. I'm ready for the next one so bring it on people! The End! (disclaimer: Yes, I do think that my husband is HOT and awesome. Yes, he is the one that I am in love with. I simply like looking at these characters and I do realize that these vampires aren't real. I just think that they did a really good job of casting actors that really look like HOT vampires. Would anyone really object to being bitten by one? Again, yes I know that vampires are NOT real.)

I'm Gonna Miss This!

Last night I was watching the CMA awards. I wasn't always a big Country music fan, but I've started liking it more and more as I've gotten older. I didn't watch the whole show but there were a few moments that I enjoyed. When Trace Adkins got up there to sing his song, "You're Gonna Miss This", I started balling. Has anyone ever really listened to the words to that song? I have it here on my blog if anyone wants to tune in and take a listen. That was the first time I've really listened to the words, and boy did it pull at my heart strings. I think about how big my kids seem to me and it makes me sad that I can't turn back time and keep them little forever. I mean Cole is going to be 10 in 6 weeks!

I am really going to miss these moments that are happening now in their life and I realized that I need to take more time to enjoy them and have fun with them and not constantly worry that they aren't doing their homework when they should be or they aren't keeping their rooms clean like they should be. They need to be kids and have fun and I need to slow down and remember the fun times more. I am so glad I started this blog. It's keeping track of memories for me like a journal. I'm so bad at journal writing, but this comes easy for me.

If I knew back then when they were little what I know now, I would have cherished them even more than I did and would not have been in such a rush for them to grow up. I never thought that we would be one of those couples that would have infertility issues. I just thought we'd have at least two more kids to raise so I didn't see a need to not start them in preschool or play groups instead of keeping them home with me. The infertility took a huge toll on me and has really made me step back and examine my life. I shouldn't be sad that we ONLY have two kids, I should be happy that at LEAST we have two kids. That fact really has made me happy. They are GREAT kids! :) Besides, it could be worse, we could have zero.

I'm gonna miss these moments cause soon enough they will be leaving the house to go off to college and on their missions. When they get married I'm sure I'll shed a tear or 200. Time goes by WAY too fast and I'm not ready for them to grow up. I encourage you young mothers to cherish each and every moment you have with your little kids. Don't feel rushed to have them grow up cause in a blink of an eye, they will be and you won't be able to get these moments when they're little back. I am so thankful EVERYDAY, that I've been able to stay home full time with them! I've been there for all of their "big" moments and I will continue to be there for as long as they need me! I LOVE being a mommy! :)

Check out these pictures of my babies! Wow, seems like forever ago. Boy, they are cute!

Two of my faves from when Jacob was a newborn.

My FAVORITE Santa picture. Jacob did not want to be there!

Jacob LOVED pumpkins when he was little. He called them "badoos", not sure why, but he would sure get excited when we'd take him to a "badoo" patch! HAHA!

One of my favorites of Cole taken on top of a load of laundry, and one of my favorites of Jacob taken at Legoland. :)

Celebrating 13 years of Marital....BLISS!

Mine and Nick's 13th wedding anniversary is today, Sunday. Last night we went out on a date, just the two of us, and celebrated. We went to dinner with no kids whining and embarrassing us at a nice restaurant and then we went to a movie. Today is the actual day and he unfortunately has to work. So, I've been reflecting on the past 13 years and I do have to say that they haven't been perfect by any means, but I wouldn't trade them for anything either. Sure we've had our ups and downs, who hasn't, but we've also had some really, really good times when it was just the two of us and of course since we've had kids. But, now that we've come this far, I LOVE where we're at. Nick is my best friend. I can tell him anything. After 13 years we have great respect for each other and I'm more in love with him now than I was when we first got married. He makes me laugh and he works hard every day for our family and that allows me to stay home and watch our boys grow. I'm so grateful for that. He is a terrific father and husband. Our kids adore him. I feel blessed that we are a forever family. This post is dedicated to him on our special day. Happy Anniversary honey! Thank you for all you do for us! I love you! :)

Here are some pictures, past and present, that I want to share. The past ones may be a little scary looking. My scanner is broken so I had to take a picture of them with my camera.

This is right before we got engaged. Boy do we look young! I don't think I will ever be that skinny again. After all this picture is PRE-Pregnancy weight!

This is our wedding day. The picture on the left isn't a very clear copy. Again, we look so different. I weighed 105 pounds when we got married. Yeah, pretty sure those days are gone. :(

These were both taken last night before we went out. Cole took the one on the left and Jacob took the one on the right. Not bad I must say. They take pretty good pictures. Nick is trying to look cool and I don't know what I'm doing. We're both a few pounds heavier, and a little more wrinkled around the edges, but more in love than ever.

Now that I've made you all want to barf, you are free to get up and go puke from all this mush if you must! ;)

UPDATE: After I started this post, Nick called and had car trouble on the way home from work and had to wait for 2 hours for roadside assistance. Not a fun way to spend our anniversary. At least we had a good time together last night! So sorry dear.

Our New Car!

Some of you know that we have been looking for a new car to buy for awhile now. My van is no longer under warranty and is going to need some repairs soon and we don't feel like dumping a lot of money into it. We've been looking for awhile and on Wednesday we FINALLY found one! It's an '06 Silver Dodge Durango. I love it! It's such a nice car and I like that I sit up higher than I do in the van. It's got so much more room in it also. It was an all day process, but we finally walked out of there with a new car and said good bye to the van since we traded it in. We have some fond memories of the van, but I wasn't sad about saying good bye to it one bit! :) Here are some pictures of our fancy new car. ;)

I was really hoping that I didn't show up in the pictures, but it doesn't look like my wish came true. It was first thing in the morning on the way to take kids to school.

Nie Nie Dialogues

So I have been reflecting on my life lately. I've been following the Nie Nie Dialogues. It's the blog that is done by Stephanie Nielsen, aka Nie Nie. She lives in Mesa and her and her husband Christian were in a terrible airplane crash back in August. The pilot was killed and they were both badly burned. Christian wasn't as burned as her but Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body and is BARELY coming out of her coma just this week. She has been going through various skin graphs. Her blog is inspiring. She is such a sweet mother to her 4 children and a sweet wife to Christian. They've been having various fund raisers for them. The medical costs are astounding. Her sister C Jane keeps her blog full of updates on Nie Nie.

As I read the updates and I read Nie Nie's blog, I think to myself, if something like that happened to me, how would I want to be remembered? Would I want people to remember that I was a pretty good cook? What about a great housekeeper (that's not even true), or what about a great swim teacher? Well, those things are trivial. What I'd want people to remember me as is that I'm a great mother and a great wife. Those are the things that matter most to me. They go hand in hand. I need to work on both. I would also like to be known for being a great friend and someone who is caring and who puts others before myself. I have some things to work on, that's for sure. There are definitely things that I need to improve on. I know that especially after reading about Nie Nie's life. She has a great life and lives it to the fullest with her children and husband. She puts them first over everything. It sounds like she is going to pull through, but has a long recovery still. Christian is out of the hospital and is in rehab now. He is staying here in AZ with his parents and all of the kids are with her family in Utah. How sad that they can't be closer to their parents. She has many more months to recover and with 80% or her body burned, will she ever be completely back to normal? I'm just glad those kids will have their parents back, I can't imagine those 4 kids being on this earth without their mother. The oldest is only 7!

If you haven't heard of or haven't read either blog, you should check them both out. I feel so lucky that I have my health and that I have a wonderful husband and two great kids who keep me laughing every day. I'm very blessed and very thankful!

Countdown to Twilight!

I just want to put this disclaimer here. I'm really not obsessed with Twilight, despite what it looks like (I know Tracy is thinking, I knew it). I am a big fan of all four books and I am kind of in withdrawals since I have finished reading them. With that being said, I am excited for the movie to come out. It comes out 10 days before my birthday, so I want to go see it as a girls night out and secretly want it to be about a birthday celebration for me as the reason we are seeing it. ;) So, the reason I have the Twilight countdown off to the right, is because I saw it on someone's blog, thought it would be great to have so I can keep track of when it's coming to theatres, so I posted it. I just wanted to explain that before I get a lot of comments about how obsessed I am. Really, I'm not! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :) But come on, all of you women who read my blog are secretly glad that I posted it cause now you don't have to figure it out in your heads. I'm right, just admit it. ;)
So, with that being said, can you believe that as of today there are only 44 days left?! And look at that great picture of the two of them. I'll just pat myself on the back for making all of your days, including mine! ;)

Fall is here!

I LOVE this time of year. It starts to cool off and I start thinking about Christmas shopping, which is actually almost done. Halloween is super close too, and I love halloween. This year I think we're all going to dress up with a Star Wars theme. Jacob wants to be Luke, Cole wants to be Darth Vader, Nick is going to be Hans Solo and I'm going to be Princess Leia (No not the gold bikini outfit. Can you see me showing up to the church trunk or treat wearing that?) We are even going to dress up our dog Sparky as Yoda. Yes they have pet outfits, but he's going to hate it. Some of these costumes have been a little hard to find, like mine and Nick's, so if anyone has something that we can borrow, please let me know! I may need help with the Leia famous hairdo also. I'm not sure my hair is long enough for that actually. I'm getting into the halloween decorating too. I'm not done and I want to buy a couple more things even. We have a big halloween snow globe that we need to put up still too. I will take pictures when it's all done.

As of today there are only 83 days until Christmas! I so love this time of year. I love the baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, the stress, the giving, the light displays, time with family, all of it! I can't wait! It's going to be such fun! What is YOUR favorite holiday. Mine is Christmas. Take my poll over on the right and vote for your favorite!

Random photos

I've been looking through some old photos of the kids, and I realized that I haven't been posting a lot of just them lately, so I decided to post some random shots of them. Some of these are kind of older, but I think they are all so cute!

Here Cole was acting like a rock star in the back seat of the car while driving home one night. He was rocking out to the radio. Jacob just sat there and stared at him like he was nuts. :)

This is from last Christmas. They saw Santa and Mrs. Claus right here in Maricopa. Their little dog was even in a Santa outfit. So cute!

This one was taken last Christmas day. My handsome nephew was leaving on his mission the very next day. Jacob just got that pirate gear for Christmas, and he wouldn't take it off. Cole and Parker got their picture taken with a pirate! :)

Okay, I'm not sure what is up with the hat, Jacob thought it was funny. This was last year at my parents Mesa home just before my nephew left on his mission.

Here are my 3 nephews and my two boys showing off how "tough" they are.

These are of Cole on his baptism day almost 2 years ago! We were so proud of him that day for making the decision to be baptized!

Here are some funny ones of Jacob. Watch out Captain Jack, we have a new pirate in town! This other one is him being Indiana Jones and using the bannister as his horse! This kid cracks me up. He's always pretending to be someone else. Today he told me to change his name to Luke so he could be Luke Skywalker! :)

Seriously? Now what?

Okay, our loft upstairs is a constant thorn in my side. First of all, my kids are at a good age now where they are able to clean up after themselves and keep their rooms pretty clean. Cole is great at this, always has been. His room is always free of toys on the floor. Jacob needs to work at this. He's getting better but he likes to shove things in his closet which makes it very messy. Our loft is an extension of our family room upstairs. I love how big and open it makes everything seem. Lately though the kids have been using it as their personal toy space. They bring toys out from their rooms and play with them in the loft. It's gotten worse. I don't know what to do with it anymore. I have a toy box in there, but it doesn't get used. They build their legos in there and then they like to keep them up for awhile. It's not flowing well with the family room. What should I do about it? I'm thinking of maybe getting a room divider, but I would probably need more than one. Maybe some type of shelving? I'm wanting to get it organized as well as the den, but I'm trying to decide where to start. Here are some pictures of the loft. See how open it is, but it's such a mess. They even have legos on the air hockey table now. Oh boy. I'm not going to take pictures of the den cause it's worse. I love that I can close the door to the den to keep people out, but I can't do that with the loft cause it's just open.

See the air hockey table being used as a lego table now? Good grief!

It's just not meshing with the family room side at all.