Christmas, Christmas, Ho Ho Ho!!!

What an amazing Holiday it was! I think this may have been the best one yet! Christian was the first to wake at 6:10 am. He was completely over joyed that Santa really did come and didn't leave a lump of coal. He was soo happy he was almost in tears. You could hear it in his voice. It nearly made me cry. Then Caden was next to wake with Christians, "Get up Caden! Santa came!! Get up now!" Little Nico still sleeping was left to dream of sugar plums a little longer til the craziness dyed down about. He tends to get a little overwhelmed with the boys shouting sometimes. Once awake he opened his first present and held on to it until the end of the night. One gift was good enough for him. After stocking and presents it was enjoying our time together as a family and having fun with our presents watching the snow fall in NC. What an amazing Christmas! And I am sure the boys received everything they could have hoped for and dreamed of. Thank you to all our Family and friends for helping to make it such a wonderful Christmas. You all mean the world to us. We hope you have a blessed and fun filled New Year!

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Green Belt, Hieeeyahhh!

Here it is! Finally video of Christian's Green Belt test. This was pretty hard for him but he did it! The youngest one at 5 years old. In one of the videos (#4) you can hear Master Lee explain how this if very difficult to do at five. (I was soooo proud!) And don't forget to look for the great smile from Christian in one of the videos (#5) right after Master You, the owner, put Christian's belt on. Master You also told us after that he was nervous watching him too but as soon as he made it to step seven in the form test he knew Christian had it. After watching the form video (#1) you can see Master You way in the back in RED get up and start to clap right after step seven was done. In Tae Kwon Do you are not suppose to make any noise so it was really cool to see him excited for him. Maybe it was for all of them. Who knows. But I would like to think it was because of my Christian. :) Enjoy!


VIDEO #1 18 STEP FORM



VIDEO #2 SPARING SELF DEFENSE W/MASTER YOU The owner and 6th degree Black Belt



VIDEO #3 BREAKING BOARD TURNING SIDE KICK W/Master You



VIDEO #4 This is where they are quizzed and review their evaluation forms that Chris and I grade on different aspects of Christians overall performance at home/school/with friends and he has to write what he has learned since his last  belt test. This is where MASTER LEE (5TH degree Black Belt) tells him how great it is that he was able to do the 18 step at 5 years old. (still super proud, can you tell?)




VIDEO #5 MASTER YOU GIVING CHRISTIAN HIS BELT. note the smile. :)









The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

I'm so bad!

Halloween was sooo much fun! So much fun, that I forgot to take pictures. :( I have a few but not as many as I would have liked. And I didn't know there was something on the lens of my camera phone. so the pictures are a little fuzzy. So as costumes go we finally settled on Nico as the Lion Caden was when he was almost 2. Caden was happy being Christians Transformer Bumble Bee costume. The only problem with that was he didn't want to wear the mask so I am sure no one even knew what he was. Oh well. And Christian chose Lego Boba Fett. Christian and Caden have taken a real liking to anything Star Wars. Especially Lego Star Wars. But unfortunately they do not make those costumes in the store so I had to make one. You can barely see Christian standing under the red #17 shirt. It was made with boxes painted in the colors for Boba Fett and then I made jet packs out of boxes, cans and paper for the back. No one except extreme Star Wars fans knew who he was. It was kind of fun to hear all the crazy guesses. 

After hitting a Trunk or Treat we went to our friends neighborhood to go door to door, then headed home to count candy! What a great night! Now on to Thanksgiving. 



The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere!

Next stop on the outing list for fall is Kersey Valley Pumpkin Patch. Or I guess it is now Kersey Valley Spooky Woods. We have gone to this place every year and really enjoyed it. The only unfortunate thing this year was they have increased in size so much due to their award winning spooky woods that they now charge way too much and are not very  "mom and pop" any more. I was very disappointed to arrive and have to now pay 5.00 for parking when we have never paid parking in the 4 years we have been and it was not advertised on the website. Then after waiting in an extremely long line (because they are only open Saturday and Sunday 1-6pm) to verify prices (since the price advertised at the farm were not the ones on the website) we come to find out that it doesn't cost anything to get on the property and just buy pumpkins as we suspected and riding the cow train is only 3.00 for unlimited rides and the kid corn maize is free. Too bad all the others in that long line probably have no idea about that since all they see is a price list that states general admission is 10.00 for the big 2 hour Corn maize cow train and jumping pillow. All of which I have no problem paying except I am not one who likes to be scammed or not told all the truth. Especially from a place that was never like that in the first place. Either way we of course made it a wonderful time. I do hope next year they don't completely get rid of the pumpkin part because the kids really love it.

After a great time picking our pumpkins and riding the cow train we headed home to crave the pumpkins Caden picked a nice funny face while Christian of course picked the hardest thing I could possibly do. But I am a mother who aims to please so I did my best. Pumpkin you will be Star Wars Storm trooper if it takes me all day.....thankfully it didn't and I was actually impressed I was able to do it. And Both boys were completely happy. And that makes me happy! :)

For the record, Caden wanted to be the horse, not the sheep.

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Veggies.....what do I do?

What are some creative ways to add veggies to recipes so your kids will eat them? Suggestions are obviously welcomed.
My first attempt came out pretty good. I made this Betty Crocker recipe, although I think it was a bit more like cake if you ask me. But the kids did eat it. My only change to the recipe for next time will be to grate the zucchini finer than I did. Christian is just a little to smart. "This is good mom but......what are these green things?" he asked as if he knew it was a vegetable and knowing would ruin the good flavor. And for my reply, "What green things?" :)





The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Apple Picking does family memories make.

I love when it is time to pick apples. It is my sure sign fall is here. Sometimes in NC it is hard to see the leaves change color like they do in CT. Most of the leaves here just go from green to brown with no hint of color first. So when apple picking comes, any doubt of fall being here goes right out the window. This is the first year we were able to go apple picking here. After a crazy morning of finding out the original place I found on the Internet was actually 3.5 hours away instead of the 1.5 hours I thought it was, we picked APPLE HILL ORCHARD & CIDER MILL. And a good choice it turned out to be. 

The drive was great. When we arrived it was nice and busy, a good sign my dad would say. We went up to the barn and received our baskets and headed to the rows of Granny Smith. Our only hiccup was there were no more wagons left so the walk back with all the apples was a bit of a workout with 3 little ones to say the least. But they were troupers. 

They loved grabbing the apples and trying to find the biggest ones. Nico just loved trying to run in the rows. His new found freedom of walking was exercised very well in the rows at the orchard. After we picked all that we literally could carry (which turned out to be 1 bushel) we headed back to pay for the apples and get us some apple cider, apple cider slush for the kids, and a few .50 apple donuts. MMMMM those were good! 

And then after we were rested up and had our snack we head for some pictures and back to the van so I could get working on an awesome apple pie for Chris' birthday. He doesn't like cake so I am glad I can make a pretty good apple pie. Nothing like my Great Grandmother DD's pie but I love that every time I make a pie (apple or pumpkin) I always think of her. She made the best pies. So see, apple picking does make for some great family memories, new and old.

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Halloween Ugh!

Halloween is almost here already?! Looks like I better get in costume mode. For some reason I am having a hard time. Maybe it is the fact that my boys can't seem to keep there mind on one idea! We started with Christian wanting to be Darth Mall (is that how you spell that?) and Caden wanting to be Elmo. Elmo? Whatever..... now we are at Christian wants to be a Robot, which he did when he was 3 so I might have that one down, and now Caden wants to be a bumble bee. A bumble bee? Again...whatever. As long as he is happy though I can already hear the, " Oh look at that GIRL! Isn't she a cute bumble bee?" Yikes! It reminds me of the time I was a devil and everyone kept saying, "look at the CUTE devil." I wasn't cute! I was a devil! I guess I didn't notice that my costume was furry and fluffy because when I look at pictures now, I did look pretty cute. :)





The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Dixie Classic Fair!

I can't believe fall is here already! With such a busy summer time flew by to quick. But with fall comes THE DIXIE CLASSIC FAIR. And you know Christian had to enter some of his legos. Unfortunately the week before we had to bring them to the fair he and Caden AND Chris got a really bad stomach bug. So when it was time to enter them, poor Christian was not in the mood to make anything so I had to grab a few things he had already previously made. Not his best work....but good enough. :) He was happy and that is all that matters. Of course now everyday he gets out his legos he builds more amazing creations and tells me, " OH mom! Look at this! I should have made this for the fair." I say "Oh well. There is always next year."

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Eek! Snakes!

Our local library was hosting a learning event for free called "Snakes Alive" so you know I had to take the boys. They loved it! That speaker had tons of snakes for the kids to hold including a huge python that took about 7 adults and 10 kids to even hold up. It was a great way to beat the heat and learn more about the snakes in our area.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

It's been a hot one!

This picture pretty much speaks for it's self. I am sooo thankful for air conditioning. I feel like we don't go outside much hence why I haven't posted in a while. But it is just sooooooooooooo hot!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

 I guess in honor of the big man turning the big 50, Christian was presented with a gift certificate to pick out the "big boy" bike of his choice! He was quite excited and chose a nice blue one. I think it may have been because one of his favorite shows right now is KICK BUTTOWSKI: Suburban daredevil.

And come to find out, as I watched an episode yesterday...kick rides a blue bike as seen in this picture.

So thankfully Christian has not attempted any of the ridiculous stunts that Kick has (just laughed histarically) but he may be on his way. I have a feeling his sidekick (Caden) may be right behind him. Watch the dare devil stare he gives in this video of Christian taking a ride on his new wheels.

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Happy Birthday Caden!

What fun! I think Caden's Birthday was the best party we have thrown yet! We were having so much fun I nearly forgot to take pictures! The theme of his party was a "Backyard Beach" We can't see most of my decorations but they were great! I had colorful tiki torch pictures at the front of the playground, a big luau party banner on the fence along with a plam tree and a parrot. and in the windows I had cool tiki masks and a big picture of a tropical jungle covering the door. We had water blasters for every kid, which they were able to take home as their "Goodie bag", the pool, Sand in the sand table, a buzz light year slip and slide and grandmas wonderful gift of a ride on fire truck that holds a 2gallon tank on the back to spray water! Even the adults had fun getting wet! 

The party was going to start at 2 and end at 4 but it has been extremely hot here. We changed the time to 11-1 so we could have some shade for the kids and they wouldn't completely die. Our guests had so much fun that they didn't leave til 4:30! We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and just had a great time hanging out. I thought I was going to have to start feeding them dinner too! :)   What a great time! I hope we can have birthday parties like that every year.

On a side note...As I was looking through the few pictures I did take...I think one of my favorites is the picture of may friends holding the kids. Let me explain. If you notice (in order from left to right) our friend Randy is holding his son Nathan who is 3 (1 month older than Caden) then Emma his wife is holding their 14 month old daughter, Catherine. And last but not least by no means, is My friend Suzette who is holding...NICO! He is 10 months and looks HUGE! I am so glad I have this documentation just in case people don't believe me when I say my kids were huge! And just think, Caden was 6 lbs bigger than he was at this age. Yikes!  I don't know how they grow like that! But i sure do love it! :)

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Strawberries!? Where are you?

 Every Memorial Day Weekend we like to take a day and go to Ingrams Farm in High Point to gather buckets full of of strawberries! Strawberries are Caden's fruit of choice and we love to use them for smoothies. Plus....I sure do make a mean Strawberry Pie! Mmmmmm. But unfortunately this years crop was ruined. We have had the most rain/storms this year that I can remember since we have lived here! And they ruined my strawberries! (or at least our picking) In good seasons we are usually guided by some of the members of the family, who own the farm, to special areas to pick our fruit. Once in our row we need only go but a few feet and have a huge bucket full of ripe red berries....but not this year. We were greeted with the owner telling us to," go where ever you like...if you find it...you can keep it!" I tell you what, that was the hardest I have ever worked for strawberries! I really was assuming I would not be doing much of the work so I carried the baby in a sling on my chest and I ended up in the rows on my knees with the baby grabbing leaves and me grabbing anything red and not squishy I could find. Not to mention it was HOT! and this was first thing in the morning! 9:30! The picture of Christian with his bucket shows how many he picked after half an hour in 2 full rows in one field! We arrived with 3 boxes ready to be filled and left at 11:30 with 1 bucket! 1 bucket! I was definetly dissappointed but can only image how the actual family feels. Their season usually runs from end of April to end of July. Hopefully next year will be one of their most profitable years yet! :)

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

80's Bash!

Boy did I have the time of my life last weekend! I friend of mine was turning 40 and she had a big 80's birthday bash! First stop was the roller rink. We skated to some killer music then headed to this rec hall she rented for a night of dancing and 80's nostalgia. It was the most fun I have had in a long time. And I went all out! Some people couldn't handle dressing the part....But I was ready. Funny thing was that I found the whole outfit at Target! So how did I do? Valley girl enough?.......oh I wish you could see my earrings better....they were awesome!!!!

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

World Class Tae Kwon Do Spring Fling 2010!

Finally posted! The video of Christian doing his first demo. I think he did a pretty awesome job! It was located at World Class Tae Kwon Do Academy in High Point, NC. I have a few other videos that I will post in the side bar of my blog so you will have to visit the actual page to see them. Click here if you are reading this in email to be taken to the blog. They are video of his teachers doing some really neat Black Belt moves! Also..... please feel free to turn the volume waaaaaayyyyy down. The sound in the building is not very good so it is even worse on video. :)

First up is Christians opening before they broke their boards. He is all the way on the right in the video. In the front.... I wish you could have seen his face better. They told him to show everyone your mean face. Soooooo cute!

This is when he breaks the board with his foot. He has never done a break with his foot until that day come to find out. When I showed him this video he said he didn't do it at first because he was afraid it was going to hurt. That also explains the look of "shock" on his face after he did it. It takes a while for him to go because a girl was suppose to go before him and got a little shy so his teacher tells christian to go first. In case it is to loud to hear he says, "My name is Christian. I am five years old. When I grow up I want to be a Lego Master."

And last I thought it would be fun to share a video that shows a little more about the masters and what they do at the Academy. Christian is not in this video. This was made before Christian was a student there but it is one of his favorites to watch. Hope you enjoy!

The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is.

Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

Lame

Ridiculous! I didn't get the videos of Christians Tae Kwon Do posted yet. My plan was to do it tonight when the kids went to bed because I took the video footage with our digital camera instead of my phone...which means I have to actually make face time with my computer. ( I love my phone...did I mention that....) So in waiting for them to actually be asleep...not throwing pillows back and forth and asking for water or to go to the bathroom every 5 min.. I decided to watch some of the movie District 9 and obviously ended up finishing it cause my blog is still void of Tae Kwon Do. Sorry.... But they will be posted soon.

If any one has any thoughts on the movie District 9 I would love to hear them. I found it entertaining but a bit too unbelievable to really feel anything for the characters. I almost felt like I should laugh! I don't know...it sure was a different kind of movie for me which was a plus. I like to broaden my scope of movies so it is fun to throw one odd ball in the mix every now and then.



The life and times of a mother of 3.......boys that is. Don't forget to bookmark www.funwith3.blogspot.com and visit anytime for more photos, links and fun!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Playing hard

What a hot hot day! We headed to this great new park at the High Point Athletic complex. The boys ran like mad with a few other friends for almost 3 hours! Then we came home, ate lunch, and crashed! Well...Caden sure crashed, right on the floor. That boy can sleep anywhere.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Happy Mother's Day!

I don't know about you but mother's day was awesome! It started a few days early with all the boys heading to the mall to get me a very cool ipod docking station. I have wanted one of those for a while. I like to listen to podcasts and it is much easier to listen through speakers than the ear buds and do stuff with the kids. A multi-tasker..... I know.

But next it was on to the lego festival. All I can say is amazing! The talent these adults (and children) have to create some of these creations is unbelieveable. Christians favorite was a boy who makes transformers. I must admit this was my favorite too. :) Christian has tried numerous times to make transformers with his legos but the inspiration from this kid took it to a new level. I mean all his transformers were transformable! All made of lego pieces...with 
out a guide or anything! If you look closely at one of the pictures you will see a grey transformer all the way at the far left...that is the one that turned into the gun the boy is holding. Amazing!

 I have added a few pictures of the fun and included the one of christian sneeking the skittle from the lego tray of a guys candy depenser (which I will add had a color sensor so it dispensed the color of your choice by chosing the matching color button.) It was meant for the boy waiting patiently in line and while taking the picture I didn't notice christian was ready to snag it as soon as it came out. Oops! 
 

And last were the hilarious videos people made with legos. Some of them Christian has seen on lego.com but most were new and again..talented.

I may have to post the video I took of the boy transforming one of his transformers at another time. I don't know what my phone/blogger can handle at once. I am still a little new to this posting via phone but so far so good.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre