Happy Valentine's Day

Over at DSM April posted this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbphotography/390180594/ and I thought these cards were so cute we decided to give it a try. They were so easy to make and Ian thought they were really funny. Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day.

My Grandpa

My Grandpa Lee passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was such a great man and such a great example to his family and everyone he knew. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of him and a few favorite memories. We will miss you Grandpa.

Favorite Memories:

The dancing wooden man he made—I thought it was magic, I didn’t realize that Grandpa was bouncing the board so the man would dance. I just thought Grandpa had made a magic, dancing man! Of course he could work magic with wood.

The teeth—I remember always being afraid of the little container that would appear on the bathroom counter every time Grandpa came to visit. I knew his teeth were in there, but I never dared take a peak. Without his teeth he had the funniest grin. I remember him coming down the hall once without his teeth in and chasing us around the kitchen, and then somehow he and Grandma ended up fox trotting around the table.

His hugs—Grandpa would always give me a big bear hug and a whiskery kiss every time I saw him. It wasn’t just a little hug, but a big hug that let you know he really liked you. This past fall we went to visit Grandpa when we went to leave Miles started to fuss and lean away from Dave towards Grandpa. Dave walked over to Grandpa and Miles reached out to get his big hug before we left—he was not going out that door until he had a hug from Grandpa.

His laugh—Grandpa wasn’t one to show a lot of excitement, but given a funny story he could laugh until we thought he might pass out! These stories were usually brought forth by my dad—the knocking out the chicken story, the pig story, something about a experiment gone wrong in my dad’s science class (ask Dave for more details.) As my dad would tell these stories Grandpa would laugh until his face went pink and he could breath—and when he would do this it would immediately become contagious and pretty soon everyone’s face would hurt from laughing so hard.


Most of all I will remember Grandpa as someone who lived a life of quiet service. He showed his family and those around him he loved them by the service he gave them. The dresser he made in my little boys room, the many selves he made that now decorate my walls, the electrical outlet on my porch, the rocking horse in my basement, even the spackle and paint on the walls on my house were all acts of service rendered by Grandpa. Thank you Grandpa for loving us and serving us, we will miss you.

So Happy Together...

Twice as much fun when you can spin with two!

My little Batman.

Wolverine

Ben--The Incredible Hulk

Paige-Green Power Ranger

Ian-Wolverine

Miles-Batman

Everyone wants to be a Superhero!

Christmas--Noel Style

Well, Christmas definitely found us! Ian has been begging for superhero costumes all year long--I thought I would hit the jackpot after Halloween, but all I could find were Hannah Montana costumes...so I decided I would sew him some costumes. Save a little money, and hopefully come up with some better looking more durable alternatives. I also decided that the boys needed blankets for their beds so why not sew them some blankets?! Well, I'll tell you why not--I don't sew, it is not fast, I dislike using a pattern, I refuse to unpick anything, and I barely have a working knowledge of my sewing machine. Everything turned out cute and I only broke 2 needles, but I haven't gone to bed before midnight in awhile, the Primary in our ward has been neglected, dinner is always last minute, my children have memorized the schedule of programs on PBS...you get the idea. Anyway we did have a fabulous Christmas and I apologize for no neighbor gifts, no Christmas cards, no blogging, no e-mailing, no facebook updates...next year I am not sewing anything!

Thanks to Miss Nora we made some cute candy houses before Christmas.

Here is Ian with his creation. He has now declared that Christmas is over we may eat the house!

PJ's thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Noel--slippers thanks to Santa. Aren't they the cutest? Miles wants to wear them everywhere--today I made his wear his shoes because we were going to be outside, but he carried the slippers around in a Walmart sack.

Ian & Miles tearing into another gift. They both were so cute and excited about everything. Miles kept thinking every present was a "choo-choo" or a "car".

Santa brought Ian this mask to go with his homemade Hulk costume. Very cool for a 5 year old boy--kind of freaky for his mother.

Here is macho Miles with his cars jammies, slippers, and his macho pink bink. (It is the only one he hasn't lost)

Ian with one of my sewing projects. Santa brought matching gloves and he already has a Batman mask.

Yea! Finally a "choo-choo."

The costumes and trains have kept them busy for the last week--I'm hoping the novelty doesn't wear off too soon.

We spent Christmas Eve and the Noel's complete with great food, bell ringing, a nativity production, and lots of fun. On Christmas day I cooked my first turkey and thanks to the snow we were able to eat it with the snowed in Mair family. Nora whipped up some potatoes and a yummy pumpkin roll--it was a meal to remember. (Ian kept saying he hoped the neighbors dog would eat our turkey so we could have a Christmas like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story")

The sweetest moment of the day came when Ian come to me crying because he was sad that Grandma Lee was missing out on Christmas. After a talk we decided she was having the best Christmas because she see her whole family having their Christmas'. And she must be smiling because she is still passing out presents--before she passed away she decided to collect all of the U.S. State Quarters for all of her grandchildren. Well, when she passed away they were almost done--Grandpa finished them and this year I opened a present from Grandma Lee.

Read 'em all please!!

Or at least leave comments on all. I just tried to post on about everything we have been up to the last couple of weeks so keep on reading when you get to the end of this post. The order is random and due to my head feeling like it is underwater the writing might be a little sub-par, but read away---please.

Birthday Day Two

We kind of celebrated Dave's birthday on the official day and because we went out to dinner we didn't really want to leave Miles' celebration up to the babysitter--so here are some pics from Miles birthday one day later.

We got him this fish aquarium that you just plug in and turn on (my idea of a great pet). Ian had one when he was about two and loved it. It was a hit--here are Paige and Miles enjoying the pretend fish.

Here he is with his Tow Mater pillowcase. I saw this fabric at the store and showed it to him. He would not let go of it so we turned it into a pillowcase. He loves getting in his crib every night and has us name all the cars before he goes to sleep.

Miles is always so easy going and happy. What a great kid.

Blowing out the candles...yes he did blow out both of them by himself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE ONE!

Birthday Buddies

It was Dave and Miles birthday a few day's ago.

We went to visit Dave at work and took him some presents and his favorite--pumpkin cheesecake.

Down vest from my parents--I might have to borrow it it looks so warm.

Wait who's birthday is it anyway! I guess Ian decided if it was Dave & Miles' day he had better get in on the fun. They had a fun day and I think every year I will wonder how Miles managed to show up as Dave's birthday present 2 years ago.