holiday hugs...

sweet, sweet boys

Hell hath frozen over...

sleeping in the middle of day??

call Ripley's.



so thankful...

 

here's a shot of my darling boys giving a shout

out to all of those we love and hold dear. 

I hope your Thanksgiving was as full

of hugs, laughter and craziness as our was.

We had such a great day ♥

good times

life here is never dull. we've been dealing with 6 weeks of colds, flu and variants of the two combined. oh the joy. i'm certain that the motor is gonna burn out on my little green (steam clean) machine at any given moment. i'm not at all sure that i'll ever get the smell of vomit out of Flynn's car seat. this past Friday we had (yet) more plumbing problems and went more than 12 hours before it was fixed/working correctly. oh the rapture. and then as if all of this wasn't enough... we are left with this heartbreaking news today :

 

 

Flynn broke his collar bone :( 

this time last year...

 

totally cannot believe this was already a year ago.

where O where does the time go??!

AuShoddy... We Miss You!!

 

Here's a shot of Henry working on his "Trophy Finish" at golf practice.

Some weeks I think his extra curricular activities are gonna kill me.

He's recently informed me that "Now is the time" for his guitar lessons.

oye.

 

My Sister just left after a truly wonderful week long visit.  During her last visit, Flynn referred to her as "Him."  Like, "Where'd Him go?"  This time around he graduated to calling her "AuShoddy" [for Aunt Shari].  Sooooo super cute!  And I'm pretty sure that he has asked about her at least 47 times just since we took her to the airport this morning.  ♥

highly suspect...

 

love this shot from Gareth's Birthday.

everything is highly supect with him.

lol. 

duck faces...

duck faces anyone??

kiss, kiss!!

 

 

so how exactly is it...

that since school has started i actually have LESS time for everything?!!

 

here's to not getting shit of any kind done.

awesome.

hugs 4 school...

we are ever sooooo very slowly adapting to everyone having to be up at 6 am in order to get ready for school.  aye, aye, aye.  the boys are doing pretty well with it... except Gareth, of course.  who keeps the noise level elevated with all of his screeching, screaming and wailing.  

 



one of  the sweetest things in the mornings are the "hug outs".  Henry says that they have to have big huge ginormous hugs from everyone, so that they'll last for the whole day.  ♥♥♥

 

and my lack of a camera frustration continues.  my iPhone camera takes decent shots outside... but inside it's truly horrific.  everything is so super grainy and dark... and no filter in the world can totally disguise it.  heaven forbid trying to use the flash, as it blows everything out and results in totally gross red eye pics that can't be corrected with even the best of my photo editing software.  grrrrrr.

grrrrrowwwwl....

lion impersonations.

 

 

oh yeah.

totally nailed it!!

holding out...

so I'm fairly certain that Patrick mentions just about every. single. day.

how much Gareth is in need of a haircut. 

hmmmm.  perhaps he has a point. 

 

but then again.

 

I just adore his little curly wings.

I'm not ready to see them go.

I'd miss them.

 



 

and since I'm the one who'd have to snip those darling things off...

it's safe to say that they'll be with us a while longer.

 

much to the chagrin of Papa Young.

doa...

The boys always have a great time with their cousins ♥

and it appears that my camera is dead.  i went to use it last week - on my birthday, no less - and the damn thing wouldn't turn on.  i'm so completely frustrated... there's no telling how long it will take to fix it... or worse - how much it will cost, as the extended warranty just ran out this spring.  ugh.  soooo super irritating.  so now i'm without a real camera and with Henry starting school tomorrow, i just want to punch someone in the face and cry.

special request...

I can't believe that school is starting next week! It's so unbelieveable that summer is over... where on earth has the time gone?  We've had loads of fun during summer break and although there have been some truly challenging days for me... I still don't want to see them go off to school.  Call me crazy, I guess.  And while I am excited for them... I dread it at the same time.  Of course, I think little Gareth will be the saddest of all.  He absolutely adores his big brothers ♥

Flynn will be in preschool and Henry 1st grade.  And as much as I'll hate to send them off each day, I know how much they'll love and enjoy the school experience.  They're both such social little butterflies... nothing like their parents at all - hahahaha!!

I also have a little request.  If you're not already collecting them for someone else, please consider helping us clip, collect and save the box tops for education coupons.  Henry's school holds several fun promotional drives throughout the school year, where the kids can earn fun prizes and classroom points for their collection efforts.  Last year, Henry's Kindergarten class did so well that they earned an ice cream party for their participation.   The coupons can be found on an insane amount of product packages these days and are so easy to acquire.  Just hang an open ziplock on the fridge and drop them in as you clip them.  When the bag's full, zip it up, drop it in an envelope and mail it to Henry.  Easy peasy.  It's something so super simple that will truly send him over the moon :) 

Zzzzz's

Sweet little Gareth...

catchin' some Zzzz's at the zoo ♥ .

hot stuff...

finally getting these photos scrapped...

i think they're able to get 4-5 toastings on these megasized

mallows.  these boys are the KINGS of reroasting ♥

hugs & kisses

just got back from taking Dad to the airport :(

so very hard to let him go.

we will all miss him so much...

the boys woke up at 12:30 am this morning and insisted on waking

"Dantda" [Flynn's words] up so that they could give him

Three more bonus hugs and kisses goodbye ♥

phhbbt

whatta nut.

Folly with Gampa...

We're so glad that Gampa Wilson was able to change his vacation dates around so that he could join us in Folly.  We had such a wonderful time together and the boys truly loved sharing all of our favorite haunts with him ♥

fun at Folly...

we're just getting back from a week at our

favorite coastal getaway... Folly Beach.

had such a great time ♥

Happy Birthday Baby G!

I cannot believe that our little guy is a year old.

On one hand it's like - Already??!!

And on the other it's like - OMG. It feels like three!

 

 

lol.  Gareth, Gareth, Gareth.

So much trouble... yet so very sweet.

We loves him ♥

a little slice of heaven!

 

Apple Pancake Rings w/Apple Cider Syrup

1-½ cup Apple Cider

1 Tablespoon Dark Corn Syrup

1 stick Cinnamon

1 cup Bisquick*

1 whole Egg

½ cups Milk*

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Butter, For Frying

2 whole Apples, Cored, And Sliced Into 1/8" Thin Rings

To make the apple syrup, bring the apple cider, corn syrup, and cinnamon stick to a boil in a small saucepan. Simmer until reduced by half, about thirty minutes.
Make the batter by mixing the Bisquick, egg, milk, and spices. Heat a nonstick griddle to medium heat. Add a pat of butter to the pan.
Use a skewer to dip an apple ring into the batter and place it in the hot butter. Repeat. Cook as you would a regular pancake, about two minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve with the hot apple syrup.

* I used Gluten Free Bisquick and am not sure if it was due to that or not - but 1/2 milk left the mix incredibly thick... so I kept adding until I got to a consistancy that looked good... probably closer to 2/3 Cup of milk, in total.

Seriously... these were so good!!  Like ahhhmazing!  Everyone practically inhaled them so faaaasssssssssssst that I would consider shelling out the cash to buy a mandoline and an apple corer in order to make them on a regular basis.  As it was... slicing the apples so thin by hand was - a challenge, to say the least.  And since I don't own a corer, I just sliced them up and used a bottle cap to cut the core out afterwards.  It worked, but was time consuming.   This recipe was barely enough for all of my hungry boys (Dad included)... so next time around will most likely require a double batch :)

Disney World Woes

We're using this weekend to try and decompress after our disasterous vacation this past week. Tropical storm/hurricane Debby completely destroyed our Disney World vacay.  Torrential down pours, gail force winds and tornado watches all week long weren't any fun at all.  And to make matters worse, the weather conditions knocked out our wifi for the entire week at the condo we rented.  I've never watched so much TV... lol!    Talk about a major bummer.  Thankfully the condo had 3 really wonderful pools, so the boys got to go swimming everday and they loved every minute of that.  I'm so glad that at least our last day was beautiful... we tried to see as much of DW in one day as the kiddos were up for!  Henry said that Haunted Mansion and Goofy's Barnstormer were his favorite rides and Flynn really Loved the Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo rides.   We're all ready planning a do-over Disney trip in October!!

I think this is about the only decent photo I managed to get

during the whole week.  On our very last day :)

stepping out of the Jurassic

well. 
after years of fighting it, i finally upgraded my cell phone.  something i've been refusing to do for over 3 years now.  i'm not exactly sure why i've been so opposed to this in the past??  because cell phones are the root of all evil, perhaps??  i dunno.  but i'm pretty thrilled with most of the cool features available on the latest iPhone.  the on board camera is actually quite good - especially by cell phone standards... and am hoping it will provide a great bridge for photo opps when lugging the big camera around isn't an option.  like with our upcoming Disney trip! 

lucky. lucky. lucky.

everyday i look around and still cannot believe that we live here. 

that this IS our backyard. 

it truly is like being on vacation every single day.

i am so eternally grateful for this wonderful life.

and for all the extraordinary experiences our beautiful boys

will be so lucky to have while they are growing up. 

 such amazing memories of family and fun ♥

here's the link for a larger screen version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv_DRYO9lso

Disney World or Bust!

Ghads... things so far this summer have been super busy for us.  We're having a really great time thus far, despite all the whining.  LOL!  I do feel like we've been dropping loads of cash lately though.  After two years of buying almost nothing, it's a bit of a shock to actually make some bigger purchases again.  Talk about sticker shock!  The worst culprit of all is our upcoming trip to Disney World.  Geesho!!  The cost of just the admission tickets alone warranted a detailed read of the fine print, to ensure that we weren't, in fact, purchasing a black market kidney, instead of a family vacation.  The boys are CRAZY excited about the trip and have been finding "Mickey Ears" in absolutely everything.  It's so fun.  I was thrilled when I found out just this past week, that the place where we're renting our condo actually allows pets (previously I had thought they didn't) and was so glad that we'll be able to take Evai with us and not have to put her in a kennel.  The boys were VERY happy about her getting to come with us as well ♥

Henry's Mickey Mouse Marshmallow :)

We recently added a 15' square trampoline to our backyard fun emporium and the boys have been in 7th heaven!  Our friend Dan came over and helped The P get it all  put together and they were able to knock it out in about 3 hours or so.  It's really fantastic and was absolutely worth the additional cost over a traditional round version.  The amount of bounce the square design provides is Amazing!  I also loooove that the enclosure has a zippered entrance and that the trampoline and enclosure are actually attached and act as one complete piece, so there aren't any gaps or holes at the bottom and is extremely secure and safe.  A must have where Flynn is concerned.  And although it still needs to be leveled, the boys are loving it and spending oodles of time bouncing around.

We also finally got the last of misc. moving crap out of the Den... but were then at a loss at what exactly to do with that room. We had originally thought it would be an "adult" sort of oasis... nice and relaxing with beautiful furniture. Hahahahaha!!! Yeah. That's what I ended up thinking too - like that is EVER gonna happen :) Our boys are just too busy and when we finally get half a second to relax and wind down we're ready for bed! So instead I decided that we would turn the Den into a game room of sorts... say Hello to our beautiful new pool table! We also got a butterfly ping-pong table that can sit on top of the table and an ice hockey table that inserts just inside the table's bumpers. So three toys all in one. We're having loads of fun with it and The P and I have been able to play 3-4 times a week... after the boys are all tucked into bed.

 

With any luck we'll find some time before summer is over to

 paint over the truly horrific teal walls in this room!

*gag*

such sweetness...

this photo just makes my heart melt ♥

toothless...

I simply cannot believe that today was H's last day of Kindergarten.  ?? 
WTH.  Where on earth does the time go??

And to further cement the sense of loss... he's also lost his first tooth.
What a trooper!  Without even shedding a tear, he let Dad yank it out with a pair of plyers. so brave ♥ and super duper handsome.  am I right?!!

priceless !

We were so very lucky to have Patrick's Mom and Step-Dad out for visit last week. Gran'pa Jack (as coined by Flynn) is a fantastic musician and one night he showed Henry how to play a few chords on our guitar. Oh my word. Talk about amazing!! Sweet little Hen's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, he grinned from ear to ear and was beaming with absolute joy. Totally made my heart do a flip-flop. Such a magical moment to be shared with his Grandparents.  It made The P and I so very happy, we were practically giddy.  Of course... now he's all about wanting to take some guitar lessons... and we couldn't be more thrilled :]

Henry told me today...
"When I get awesome good with my guitar, Gran'pa Jack is gonna be so proud!"   Sweeeet :)  We had such a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa Jones ♥ We all cannot wait to see them again in the Fall!