Fire, fire

If you are a boy, is it a requirement to love fires?

Sitting on the coffee table watching Papa build a fire.

While we were there Marcus was building a fire and decided to make up a sign for fire and teach it to Max. As it turns out it was really the sign for fire.

Get outta Town

In mid January Max and I had enough of the inversion and so we packed our bags and headed to SG. We had a wonderful time (while Clu worked and worked and WORKED at work and at home). This is a picture of Max hangin' around with Papa and Stevie la stray (kind of my parents cat).

Nothing like watchin' Fox news and playin' with Papa & Stevie.

Flashback of Max & Stevie (Sept. 2008)

Pray for him

My friend Carrie posted on her blog about her cousin and little boy. She had a link to the cousins blog which I clicked on so I could read the story. It touched my heart in SO many ways that I wanted to share. It gave me such a realization of what wonderful things we have being members of the church and not just from our eternal perspective, but also the help that we offer to others. This was a perfect example of strength (of a mother), help (from neighbors and friends), working together (family), love from ALL, and the tender mercies that God shows us. Please take time to read this and let it touch your lives. You will want to start on February 1st, 2010 and can continue to read the updates (if you wish). Pray for this little boy!

Side job

When I was younger I never thought that I would be domestic or make things, but as the years have come and gone I have grown to love a fun project. Here are a couple of the latest and greatest:

LtoR: a necklace that I made with items purchased on clearance at the jewlery supply store on the reservation; a broach made out of a vintage button* (x2 - I also made one for my mother-in-law); hat knitted for my mother to give as a gift; vintage pearl buttons* made into a necklace (x2 - also for my mother-in-law); necklace for my mother; and hat to give as a baby gift.

*Thank you Phyllis for the vintage buttons that came from Snow Cleaners. Some fun things to cherish!

Helmet Heads

Clu got a bike for Christmas, but was told to pick it out the one he wanted. It has only taken him this long to choose the one he wanted (he has been looking for bike for about 6 months). He got the "Clu" special as my mom calls it. He negotiated the price down to less than half the MSRP!

There was a small catch....he also had to get a seat for Max to ride with him. He brought this seat home to try out (which didn't work so well because Max is too tall, but they had to try it to find this out.)

Don't worry all you mothers out there, we also got helmets for the boys, thanks to Nana Deb (which she gave Clu for Christmas).

Merry Christmas to Clu a little late.

Snow Boy

The name fits this little guy. He loves to be outside and loves the "noooo" (snow) even more. Our backyard doesn't get a lot of sun and so we still have snow back there. Max and I went outside to shovel most of it out of the way so he could play back there. I had to pick him up kicking and screaming (literally) when it was time to go inside. We had only been out there for an hour, but he wanted to spend all day back there. This backyard is going to be a lifesaver in ALL four seasons!

Waving hello, but is too busy to look at the camera.

Visiting with our neighbor, Angel, the dog (yes, she is the only ones that lives at the house) but Max loves her.

Daddy's Helper

Max is always right by Clu's side in whatever he is doing. Currently he is working on painting and so...Max has been "helping" with the prep and painting. Don't mind the runny nose and drooling. We are getting over a yucky cold and getting 4 molars at once. By coincidence he is wearing his Daddy's little helper shirt, but it definitely fits the little guy.

According to Max they are not sanding, they are making a mess.

Treat - "Pop Pop"

Mas is just like his dad. He thinks that "pop-pop" or popcorn is a treat. I have tried to set him straight, but he is just not a big sweets fan. This is his idea of having a treat:
Whenever I get out a bowl to cook with, he is sure that we should have "pop-pop" instead.

Paperless

We are so excited to announce that our house is finally paperless, wallpaper less that is!

This bathroom was floor to ceiling floral paper

It has taken a long time (almost all 2200 sqft was covered) but we are glad to see white walls, which hasn't lasted long. I can not take credit for any of it. Clu has done all of the hard work (with a little help from Mr. Max see workin' hard). He has done an excellent job and has now moved on to painting.

The ceiling has gone from dingy white to bright white, the walls have become a soft brown, and the crown molding will be white (which hasn't been painted yet). This is to hopefully show some of Clu's hard work (with the help from Steven). It is definately a process but well worth it to see the transformation.

As Clu's niece Vanessa said "Clu can fix it, he can fix anything!"

Contortionist

Max loves to lick the bottom of his shoes (yuck, I know)! I will get his shoes out and before I put them on him, he licks or tries to lick the bottom of the shoe. Yes, we are working on this one. He knows that it is "kaka" and will lick them and then say "kaka" but does it anyway. So...on the ride home from our errands today I looked in the rearview mirror and saw this:He was licking his shoe, but it was on his foot! It looked painful to watch the stretch but of course he was just fine with it. He was telling me "kaka" but was really enjoying himself. We are going to have to work on this one, because that is just not right!

Disclosure: This picture was taken while we were parked at our house. I was not taking a picture and driving at the same time. He continued to lick the shoe until we got home (so kind of him) and so I took a picture.