Harry Potter!

The boys found a pair of toy glasses and really had some fun this past weekend. We laughed at how much Jagger looked like Harry Potter and when we mentioned that he immediately wanted a wand. A quick trip to the kitchen for a wooden spoon and POOF, wish granted. A wand he had! Need a cape? A quick trip to the closet (one of my black skirts tied around him) and POOF, wish granted--a cape! He and Lawson took turns being Harry and casting spells. It was so funny to watch and we had so much fun! I thought they just looked ADORABLE! :)

(Please forgive the mess in the background! I should have been cleaning but we were having WAY too much fun!) :)

Almost!!!!

Rhett is trying so hard to sit up on his own! He gets so close but he's just not quite there yet. Dr. Vickery (my brother) keeps telling us that Rhett will let us know when he's ready to sit up. He says that babies do things on their own time and he doesn't need us to tell him when he's ready for a next phase. I don't know that I believed him. I had doubts that Rhett could just learn to sit up on his own without us helping but he surprised me when he began pushing up on that arm on his own. You can see how close he is and Jordan says it won't be long now until he pushes himself all the way up on his own. We'll see!

Rhett is also getting SO close to full out crawling! He gets up on all fours and moves one hand and one knee before sprawling out flat. He rocks and rocks back and forth and I know it is just a matter of time before he takes off!

Mama's helpers

The boys decided they wanted to help me with the laundry this past Saturday. I was thrilled. I sometimes worry that in a house full of boys I'll run myself to death cleaning up constantly. I try really hard to teach them to pick up after themselves and they do a good job--with a little encouragement, of course! But when they ASKED to help I was very pleased. They folded all of the washcloths for me and even though I had to go back and fold some of them again (without them knowing, of course) it didn't matter because they were learning a lesson and were really trying. I was proud of them. :)

Thanks, Grandad and Gran Willis!

Last week Grandad and Gran Willis (my friend Becky's mom and dad who are like an extra set of grandparents to my kids) surprised the boys with an airplane poster. If anyone knows my boys they know how perfect this was for them! They loved it. She had left it for them in our Bible class and I wish they could have heard the squeals of delight when they saw it! They absolutely love it and wanted their picture made with it. ( I would have posted about this sooner but I had misplaced my camera cord!) Anyway, a BIG THANKS to Grandad and Gran for thinking of them and making their day!

Theme: Creative Crop

My friend Sandy has been participating in photo contests at iheartfaces. I love looking at all the pictures and getting ideas. There are some VERY talented people out there! I'm not sure that I qualify for participating--I'm just not all that creative but I do think that I sometimes, accidentally, get a good shot here or there. I felt like I had a pretty good photo for this week's contest so I thought I'd give it a try. Here is my entry:

This is my before shot:

This is after cropping and a little editing:
As I said, there are many talented people and some great photos so head on over to their site if you'd like to see some or enter one yourself!

I heart technology!

So, I guess we're a little behind the times. I realize that Skype has been out there for a while but we, at our house, have just figured it out well enough to use it. Sunday evening we were able to make a FREE video call to my brother in St. Louis! How cool! He got to see the boys and talk to them. The boys did not know what to think. They kept running and getting toys to hold in front of the computer for Uncle J to see. They were so funny! It did my heart good to see my big little brother. I've missed him and was excited to find out that he'll be visiting VERY soon! :) 

I think my mom was a little jealous that we had gotten to see him and talk to him. I think she had my dad go out hunting for a camera soon after that and they are now set up on skype as well and have already video called him themselves. :)

With the technology we've discovered, we won't have to go nearly as long without seeing him! Now, just to find a way to get hugs through the internet... :)

"Snow much fun"!

Saturday's weather forecast called for 3-5" of snow. "Yeah, right" I thought to myself. I figured we would see a few flurries but didn't expect exactly what we got. Saturday evening we were headed to my mom and dad's when we noticed that the rain was changing over to sleet. By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Hall Roland it was already snow. We went in and helped fix supper and let the boys play out in the lobby for a while. We decided to head on home around 6:30-7:00 and the ground was already covered! By the time we got to the by-pass to get home we couldn't see the road! The snow was coming down hard and it wasn't taking it long at all to make driving difficult. We made it home and just sat and watched it snow for a while. I took a few pictures of it coming down--it was so pretty glistening in the night. I commented to Brandon how pretty it was and how it made everything seem so fresh and clean.

When we woke Sunday morning the road to our house was completely iced over. Brandon was afraid of sliding down the hill onto the highway in the van with all three kids. He said he didn't like taking chances. So, we were snowed in. Just me and my family. I've got to tell you...that wasn't half bad! :) We didn't actually measure the snow but we figured we got around 8 inches or so. The snow came up past Lawson's shins and up to Jagger's knees! I've heard some say they measured 10 inches or more! The boys enjoyed some time out in the snow and helped their dad build a snowman. The artist in Brandon took over for a while and they ended up making an almost 7 foot snowman! When Brandon stood behind it you couldn't even see him!

Later Sunday we made snow cream! My very first attempt at it and it wasn't bad. Hopefully over the years I'll be able to perfect it. The boys liked the idea of snow cream more than the treat itself. They loved helping me mix it and did eat some but not a whole lot. Below are some pictures of our snow day. Just click on them to enlarge.