Harry Potta

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I would have never predicted Kosty's latest obsession. I don't know about you, but I have never heard of any other 2 year old that eats, sleeps, & breathes "HARRY POTTA". I, myself have yet to even sit through one of those movies. Brayden has never seen one either. His Grandpa, however is a Harry Potter fanatic. I don't enjoy it taking over our TV 24 hours a day, or him yelling for the DVD case when he is in his crib, or the fact that I don't think its quite appropriate for such a little one... Nor do I like making up random Harry Potter "lullabies" at his demand, in lieu of our more traditional bedtime songs. BUT....I SURE DO LOVE the way he says "Harry Potta" all day, like he has an English accent. So he has a strange fascination with slightly scary movies, should I be concerned!? We recently borrowed "Pirates of the Caribbean #?" and I had to turn it off when the first scene was of the Pirate families getting HUNG! Brayden was concerned too, he said, "Mama, I don't think Kosty should watch this, I have a bad feeling." Aww. Here he is completely fixated with the Potta...

Here's where it all began...watching it with Bompa!

EXPELLIENDO!! Snap out of it Kosty!

more things to remember

A few days ago, we said our family prayers at night & then everyone scattered off, normally I have to lasso them all up yet again & try to read family scriptures. Well this time, I just let them go. I was tired of always working for it, so I took the easy road. I felt guilty, but carried on & brushed Brayden's teeth, etc. He said, "Momma, why didn't we read the big brown book tonight?" I told him because everybody left the room. He said, "Well, did I?" I thought for a second. No, he was still in the room wasn't he? He lingered while everyone else left. I said, "No, I guess you didn't leave, sorry." He said, "Well can we read the brown book, please? I really do want to learn about church."

Last night I put him to bed & then I went into my bed & was relaxing watching TV. He came in & told me that Dada was supposed to lay with him for 5 minutes, but he was in the shower. Then he said, "but I want you to lay with me, your so warm and snuggly." So hard to resist, but I had JUST laid down, so I told him I would be there in just a minute. About 10 minutes later I mosied back to his room. I asked if he was glad I came back, and he squeezed me tight & said, "the gladdest I've ever been."

Bring on 2008...

I'm excited about starting a new year. Something about it just makes me feel fresh. Starting new. My mom sent me an email and said, "2008 will be great. It has to because it rhymes!" So I'm goin' with it. Thanks Ma! We have had some challenges this year with Jer switching jobs & starting his own brokerage, but he works so hard for us & I know he will just keep pushing along. All I can say is that we have 2 very healthy, happy and beautiful boys that we really just love to pieces & they bring us so much happiness. We have the gospel in our lives & love in our home & a solid marriage. That's what really matters. I am so blessed. I love my kids & my husband. And I love the gospel. It fulfills my life and encourages me to be better every day. What could be better than that. I hope I can stick to the small resolutions I made this year! Here's to 2008!

We rung in the New Year with friends (thx Brittany & Jason) and the kids were good until midnight! They have never been up that late before! Eeeeek. "Just this once" I told myself. We had a Martenellis toast at midnight & I got a kiss from my man. Woohoo!

New years day we celebrated my niece, Libby's birthday! She was the first baby born on the New Year at the new hospital last year, so she has a special birthday. I can't believe she's ONE! She is stinkin adorable!!

the boys loved Libby's bubble machine!

This was a classic "Kosty stunt." I told him it was time for bed & to read books, so next thing I know he is in his rocking chair, with a book, and a giant bag of tortilla chips, just snacking away. He's hilarious. Now he DEMANDS a bag of chips or pretzels during books every night.

Here are my 3 boys eating a bowl of cereal for their bedtime snack. I just loved it. So its goin in as well. Happy New Year everyone!

a very Merry Christmas

Whoosh, there is nothing I love more than the build up of Christmas & Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day...but I LOVE to take a deep breath when its all over. Actually the day after I am usually pretty sad. We have to wait a WHOLE year for it again! I have seriously let my house "go" this week (f-i-l-t-h-y) & I am dreading putting away all the decor. Sigh.

This year we simplified so much, which was actually wonderful. We did 3 nice gifts for each of our kids & then by the time they got gifts from all the Grandmas & Aunts and Uncles, they ended up with still WAY TOO MANY! I am going to stick to the 3 gifts thing. My house is filled with toys. We had a party at our house with my Mom & Clay's side on Christmas Eve, and we had a Mexican feast & white elephant. It was really fun! My step dad Clay bought my Mom a bunch of 'useful' things from Costco & wrapped them up (actually assigned someone to wrap them) but anyways, it was hilarious watching my Mom open her block of cheese, 3 pack of pledge, lifetime supply of pens, and prunes too. We tried to get a picture with everyone, but 2 pics later & we still didn't have everyone in it! Gotta love big blended families. Then after everyone left, we had popcorn & hot chocolate & watched a movie & made cookies for Santa & sprinkled the reindeer food on the lawn & then drove around & looked at the lights, geesh! We just had to fit it all in though! Jer was not impressed with the displays, he said he felt like he was hunting & that they shouldn't be so darn few & far between! Of course we got the usual story from him, "Back where I grew up....every single house was decked out everywhere you went...no hunting required..." He had me dying of laughter in the car. From now on we just need to find a good dependable route with lots of "Griswold style" houses! Anyone have one?

Christmas Morning, Brayden woke up at 3:30 am & came into our room & told us that Santa had come & it was time to open presents. Jer rolled out of bed & said, "ok" & then I told him to check the clock. So we made Brayden go back to bed (I can't believe he did) then we all woke up at 8:00...a record breaking LATE time for us. It was PERFECT for me. Jer grew up with the tradition of opening all the presents before the sun comes up...but slowly he is converting to my ways. We actually had to wake Kosty up to come join us. Brayden was so stinkin sweet, with every gift he genuinely thanked us & was beaming ear to ear. He loved passing gifts out to Kosty and us too. My favorite gift this year was the one Bray got me from the school "Gift Shoppe." A gold bracelet with "#1 MOM" embossed all the way around. I was so excited to see what his sweet little brain picked out just for us. He chose a gold key chain that said #1 DAD for Jer, and for Kosty a Scooby Doo basketball hoop. He was so proud of his gifts. I have to say that was the highlight of the day for me! It was so cute & special. Hooray for the school Holiday Shoppe! and he got it all for $6! Quality stuff :) Then after some serious playing & Daddy-assembling, we went to Grandma's for Round 2 and her delicious breakfast! The kids got WAY spoiled there too. Then off to my Dad's house for more fun, and more gifts for everyone. Such a long, but fun and exhausting day. Throughout the day, every toy Kosty saw, he said, "and Ho Ho Ho bing it too?!"At the end of the day, Brayden let out a big sigh and said, "I had such a great Christmas."

It was all fun and games until the day after Christmas, dun dun dun.... I had to get my emissions tested and go to the MVD... nothing like that to snap you back into a dreary reality. JUST BRUTAL!

made me laugh

Today I took the boys to Barnes and Noble and while Kosty was playing at the train table, a little girl walked up & asked him his name. I was so close to chiming in & answering for him, but this time I decided to let him handle it. He replied, "Da-ty!" (Kosty) it was so cute. Then she proceeded to ask him if he was a Boy or a Girl. I had to laugh & again wanted to chime in, but he simply said, "BOY!" What a proud momma I was. I didn't realize that he was prepared to answer such questions! My lesson today was that I need to 'up' my faith in my little guy. He handled it like a pro.

And then, we got in the car & I asked the boys if they had fun today, to which Brayden replied, "Yeah, WICKED FUN!" Who knows where that came from! He chose a Solar System book from Barnes & Noble. He cracks me up with how interested he is in the universe & science in general. I suppose I should brush up on those subjects. Ah-hem! Anyways, he was pretend "reading" the pages in the car and on one page he said, "If a meteor hits your house, then you have to call the emergency number." Then later I told him I was going to take them to the Dewper show in the morning since its Winter Break. He said, I don't like Dewper, but I like the other things (carousel & lunch)...its so complicated!"

Oh my I thought today was Wednesday & I promised my boys I would take them to Dewper tomorrow, oh no! Dangit.

"its cold..and..white...and fun"

This was Kosty's accurate description of our *SNOW* day last Saturday. Our friends, the Browns invited us to their neighborhood Snow Day. It was SO much fun. I just loved seeing the kids beaming with excitement as they played in the snow. They were so hilarious trying to make snow angels & have snowball fights. Then I forgot the sled so Jer had to go home and get it, which felt like an ETERNITY. But when they were finally able to sled, it was all uphill from there. Literally! The smiles came back, Brayden never wanted to stop! His smiles were priceless. It was so fun to watch. Thanks guys!! Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

7 years later...