Oh, my!

We are a full-service house.

Is he the cutest child ever?

I told y'all everyone loved this pillow.

Luke's school had an African-themed fine arts night last week. Everyone had a piece of artwork displayed; for the kindergarten, it was a self-portrait. I think Luke got his jaw-line just right.

Museum of Nature and Science

Yesterday the kindergarten classes at Luke's school went on a field trip to the Museum of Nature & Science. It was a really neat place, similar to Edventure in Columbia. The kids were well-behaved and seemed to enjoy the day.Making a toothpick & marshmallow structure.
Giant bubbles. Look at Luke's face.

Clayson, Landon, Ben, Alex, Mathew, Joel, & Luke

For Nana

Nana, everyone loves the pillow you gave Gary for Christmas, even Molly. Thanks!

Cutie patooties

How cute are they?!?

Poor baby. He's been sick this week, and I think it's clear by the look on his face just how rotten he felt yesterday. Thankfully, he's feeling much better today.

Making progress

I know you're not supposed to compare your children to each other, but it's really hard not to, especially when the first one was above average at everything. At this age Luke was talking in 4-5 word sentences. Noah still just says one word at a time. Sometimes it's the same word over and over (and over and over), and sometimes he'll randomly say an assortment of words in close proximity to each other, but not in a sentence. For example, on any given day in my house you might hear, "pee-pee . . . pee-pee . . . pee-pee" (you get the idea) or something like, "Mimi . . . . . . shoe . . . . . puppy . . . . . .shash (trash) . . . . . Wo-wa (Noah)". So, to hear Noah put any two words together has been music to my ears.

About a week ago he was leaving with Gary to run some errands and on the way out the door he said clear as a bell, "Bye, Mommy." I was thrilled! He now says, "Bye, Mommy" (or Daddy, or Bubba) on a regular basis and has also added, "Hi, Mommy" (or Daddy or Bubba) as well. This afternoon when I finally let him have his pacie before naptime, he grabbed it and said, "My fafy (pacie)". It' s such a two-year-old thing to say, but it's still amazing for me to hear!

Playing catch-up . . . again!

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything new. I didn't intentionally take a break, but my blog is often the last thing on my to-do list. So, here's what are the highlights of what's been going on.

1. Luke is playing basketball, and Gary is coaching his team. They've played 3 games and have won all of them! Luke even made a basket last Saturday! It's nice to be on a winning team for a change.

2. Noah continues to be a nut.

3. We've done some more fizzy-foamy experiments.

4. We've spent some time at a creek that's close to our neighborhood. I discovered how much boys love to throw rocks and sticks into water.

Hoop dreams

Last Friday Luke & Gary drove down to Waco to see the Gamecocks play Baylor in basketball. While we ended the '08 football season on a rather sour note, it seems there might be a glimmer of hope for the basketball season. The boys said it was an exciting game that came down to the final seconds, and Carolina won!As you can see by the stands, there weren't many people at the game so Gary & Luke got to sit about 15 rows off the floor.
After the game Luke walked onto the court.
On the way home, Gary kept trying to get a picture of Luke watching his movie. Most of the time, Luke caught him taking the picture.
This time Luke was too engrossed in The Empire Strikes Back to notice Gary snapping a quick photo.
Luke got Gary good the last time he took a picture!

Funny boy

Nice comb-over.

Happy New Year!

We had our annual pajama party at our house for New Year's Eve. It's so nice to hang out at home in comfy clothes and not have to worry about being on the road. Man, I've gotten old!
Benny & Luke partying it up!
The big boys had a really good time.
You can see my fabulous decorations in the background. We really do it up big!

Even Molly had fun playing Guitar Hero. Can you guess who put this on her?

Merry Christmas!

Again, I couldn't move these pictures, so they're out of order. Luke got a Fizzy Foamy Science kit and loved doing some of the experiments. My mom obviously enjoyed them, too.
Santa put this microphone in Noah's stocking, and it was a hit!

Our favorite thing by far was Mario Kart. We're all addicted.

These are a few of Noah's favorite things . . . an ATV, an umbrella, and a cup of cereal.

Christmas Eve

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve. For some reason I wasn't able to move them, so they're out of order. Luke leaving food for the reindeer.
The boys in their new Christmas PJ's

My mom & me before leaving for church

All my boys & me

How funny is this picture?

Well, here we are

That's right, we're officially in the terrible twos, although I think Noah actually got a head start on this stage in his life. His birthday was lots of fun. He enjoyed opening presents this year and has had fun playing with his new toys (so has Luke). We had some friends over for cake & ice cream Thursday night; it was wild but fun. He had his two-year check-up on Friday: he weighed 26.6 pounds which is the 34%. That's a big jump from the 15% at his 18-month check-up! He's 35 inches tall (57%).

As far as the whole terrible twos thing goes, here's a snippet from our life this morning. Noah was supposed to be eating a waffle, but he was just eating syrup. I asked him to eat his waffle, and he looked at me and said, "No." I said, "Excuse me, what did you say?" To which he repeated, as clear as day, "No." Hmm . . . so that's the direction we're taking. Nice.

Here are a few pictures from his big day.

He hasn't quite mastered holding up just two fingers.

Happy birthday, Noah!