Number 11

This year Damien participated in his first season of basketball since his days in Bitty Basketball (remember that)?? Since wrestling season was uncertain with a new coach and all, Damien tried out for basketball and made the team. I think there was one game out of 5 where he didn't play. As each game went by that he played in, he got better and better and more confident on the court. I didn't see him dribble a lot or do cool moves, (he did those at home in the driveway, not on the court) but he did score his team a point or 2, showed some defense, and got some rebounds. His last game was the most exciting. Although they didn't win, they came from behind and got close. For once Max and Jesse let me watch the game long enough to actually follow the rythm of the game, and cheer Damien on. I do not like taking Max and Jesse to Damien's games. I've been doing it since Damien was in the 3rd grade, which doesn't seem like long, but these boys cannot be tamed when it comes to going to Damien's matches. Over time they've gotten more managable. Thankfully his basketball games were exactly an hour, and I knew when it was going to be over, whereas, wrestling was unpredictable, and sometimes I sat there and waited for an hour and he never wrestled!! I did more wrestling on the sidelines with Max and Jesse. Oh the joys of motherhood!!! And there was only 5 games too. Maybe a month total of basketball. I know some parents endure longer seasons than this, but for me, this is a good start. I'm not a crazy sideline Mom either. I am very laid back on how Damien does. I encourage him to try hard, accept loses as learning lessons, and to have fun. I enjoy watching Damien play and the smile across his face as he glances towards me when he makes a shot. Here are pics of our star in action....

Gotta love that boy

Last Sunday the Primary children got up to sing. For the Primary Program in October, Max went up, however Jesse stayed behind. As parents we worried about this, and if Jesse was always going to let fear overcome him. Well, this Sunday was different. When the kids were invited up, I held my breath and tried not to give Jesse a look that may deter him from going up. He walked right past me up to the front, and up the stairs to the "stage" (not quite sure what it is called). He goes too far up to the choir seats and the teachers motion him and Max back down. As he turns around he was making this face.....



Mike and I started laughing. We looked at each other, and asked, "What is he doing? Why is he making that face?" (all the while both of us are laughing, and I'm beginning to tear up, I'm laughing so hard) Let me tell you it is quite hard to control laughter at church...I think a lady a few pews behind us caught on to why we were laughing too. Then he walked down to the front where the other kids were, mouth still wide open and all. He did manage to unlock his jaw to sing :)

All silliness aside, we were so happy that he overcame his fear and got up to sing. He came back down and sat next to Dad and told him, "I'm not shy no more."
We later found out why he made that face, he said, "I was tired". I think he thought he was trying to "yawn", but really I think it was his "coping" mechanism. We do love our Jesse.

Mystery....SOLVED

Got a new vacuum today and Mike asked to set it up, and then proceeded to vacuum the whole house. When he was done he raved about all the attachments and how much dirt it just sucked up. Now if only we could afford to get a new one each week, I would never have to vacuum again!! My hubby is so funny.

Sweet Victory!

This has been years in the making, and I've been waiting for the boys to be old enough for me to explain to them "It's too early to wake mom up. You can wake Mom up at 7." Then hopefully they'll prance off and go play until then. Well, so far I've gotten lucky. One morning at 6 something, Jesse comes to wake me up. He says, "The sun's up, it's time to get up mom." (Well, come summer time, that really won't fly with me when the sun comes up at 5 am). So I explained to him, "See the clock Jesse, when the first number is a 7 then you can wake Mom up). He said "Ok" and left the room. Of course he came back periodically to check for that magic number and when it was a 7, he let me know. So today, while I was starting to wake up, but still bundled in my blankets, I noticed Jesse walking in, he stopped, looked at the clock, turned and walked out the room, it was 6:45. Oh sweet victories as a Mom of twins! I never thought they would sleep through the night, let alone listen when I say, "Come back at 7, Mommy's still tired." They do love me :)

I'll slowly work up to 8. But for now 7 is good.

My Boys say the Darndest Things...

Max and Jesse really want a pet, they'll talk about this desire every so often. While driving them to preschool yesterday this is the conversation that went on (I was just listening, agreeing when appropriate, since I am not a fan of having a pet).

Jesse: Mom, I want a cat (repeated a few times, all the while explaining what joyous fun he would have with this cat).

Max (calmly): I want a dog to bite your cat!

Needless to say I was laughing, wishing Mike were there to hear what Max just said. Perfect timing Max! I think this exchange goes to show how much they love eachother :)

On this day

..The most wonderful man in my life was born!


And to mark this day, Dad decided that, since the sun was out, we needed to get out. And we did.


No, Dad is not happy about carrying Max, but to ease some of the crying since his legs were going to "fall off" Dad gave in. We really need to get out more.




Had fun with our shadows along the long trail, and took pics.






And there was a little of this.


Came across a ninja, a.k.a Damien in his new sweater.

After a two hour outing filled with tears, laughter, exploring, kiddos thinking they got left behind, questioning ourselves if could've been pioneers, we had all built up a huge appetite. So we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Dog House Grill. Then after stuffing ourselves with yummy tri tip sandwiches and a large basket of fries, we came home to a yummy chocolate cherry cake. Think the boys like this birthday thing.

Yes, Dad is two....too cute and awesome for words...awww!

(Wonder what Max is looking at???)

Images from Christmas 2010

Setting out the goodies for Santa and the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

Santa came!!! Told Damien, you can wake us up at 7. And he did. What a good boy! Later that day we found some more gifts from Santa left outside on the side of the house. Silly Santa!!

Mike playing with Damien's new Nerf gun. I think he wanted one too...



This was the scene as Max, Jesse and Damien were playing with their new remote controlled cars. Now the batteries are dead.


Anna made the pancakes Christmas morning at my parent's and she used Ben's new pancake pen and had a little fun.



Mike took this picture after we got back from my parents on Christmas morning. He really likes the picture and thinks it sums up the day.


What would Christmas be without a scene like this? Thankfully this was the only thing that needed to be put together. Now if only the weather would cooperate, we could use the soccer goal.


This was a perfect Christmas!!