A Day To Remember, Always

An amazing day. An amazing wedding. An amazing couple.

Congratulations to my wonderful brother and his stunning wife on their wedded bliss.

There are not enough words to convey how proud we are to have Amy as a part of our family.

We've been waiting for this since 1986.

Health & happiness to Amy & Brendan Schmutte.

Um, I want a niece or nephew ASAP.

Bucket's Day

Happy birthday to the most amazing Bucket!

You are always there for all of us - for sound advice, solid pep talks and lots of support & love.

Best of all: you have 2 tractors and a golf cart.

We love you!

Happy Thanksgiving....a day early....I got a lot to do, People

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Thank you for the arrival of our beautiful daughter, the health of our sons, the strength of my husband, the unwavering love from our parents.

Thank you for the safety that surrounds my brother and the unconditional support he gets from his beautiful soon-to-be wife.

Thank you for our friends that continue to laugh, love & live in our home and our hearts.

This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for YOU.

Tuesday, November 10

It is a BIG day today for many reasons.

1. Bucket & Meemaw's prized personal posessions (this includes many expensive pieces of china, furniture, 2 decades worth of seasonal sweaters as well as 45 honey baked hams - just a light snack in our family) begin to make their way to Rockledge, Florida. We will miss you, Cincinnati!

I'm sure the trip will go smoothly.

2. It is the Marine Corps' birthday! Happy birthday to our favorite Jarhead - Dada! God bless all those who serve our country. I dare you to look at this picture and not feel something (thanks, G!).

3. Today is also a big day for our Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World - she is 9 months old!

Thank you for completing our family, Lo.

Shenanigans

If eating food prepared by Jose Marty could be a full time job, not only would I be amazing at it, but I would probably be the CEO. I got to show thousands of strangers my true devotion to IPro BBQ this weekend by pushing it like crack at the Washington Food & Entertainment Expo this past weekend.

Jessica and I toiled like dogs setting up, being charming & coy, batting our eyelashes and enticing all to try our samples and then - duh - buy the amazing BBQ rubs of IPro. We did really well!...and I rewarded myself by eating roughly 7 lbs of chicken. Hey, you really have to believe in your product in order to sell it properly!

Check out www.iprobbq.com for amazing rubs, smokers and recipes. They're great stocking stuffers and the men in your life will love them!....crap, it's like I'm a record. I cannot stop.

Today, the boys started their solo swim lessons. Dylan took to the water like a champ all the while saying, "water safety is so cool!" He is so safety conscious and cautious though thoroughly enjoys himself.

This lunatic....good Lord. Can you feel his excitement through the picture?

Most of the pool could hear Sawyer screaming at his teacher, "I'MASEALION" roughly 88x in a row. At least we could always locate him.

I also think this could be my new favorite picture of all time.....

H-Ween 2009

Ah, Halloween. That glorious holiday in which my children squeeze their Schmutte noggins and chubby thighs into sweaty polyester and run rampant through our neighborhood banging on doors like Mormons on a mission. We went with Elliana the Cat & Luccas the Chicken (Nicholas & Frankie had dubbed us 'uncool' & split). Pushing a stoller filled with beer - oh, and Lo the Ladybug - a good time was had by all.

After a few years of brotherhood, the boys finally realized a plus side to having a sibling close in age - sharing costumes! Buzz became Batman and Batman became....wait, what were we talking about? I'm currently eating all the kids' candy. Sorry.

Next up: Lo's first Thanksgiving & Christmas! Sawyer will probably want to wear the Buzz Lightyear outfit for those occasions. Could NOT get him out of that thing.

CONGRATULATIONS!

This weekend, Lo & I traveled to the far away land of Florida to see Uncle Brendan graduate from Explosive Ordnance Disposal school. It was quite amazing as this is a feat accomplished by a very small percentage of people in the world.

Meemaw, Bucket, Logan, Amy & myself were in attendance when Brendan received his diploma, and we got to meet many of his fellow classmates.

Your dedication and hard work paid off, Brother, and it was humbling to see you receive the recognition you very much deserve. You are a leader and a patriot, and our pride runneth over.

Parenting....

It's not that hard.

Hmmmm.....

Think any guy is ever going to have even a slim chance of getting close to Lo?

Growing Little Weeds....Uhhh, That Came Out Wrong

We had Back to School night this week, and boy - did we get an earful! Dad attended to represent the family, while Mama stayed at home and made a scrumptious dinner of culinary delights - grilled cheese and mac & cheese (it had been a long day). You can email me your personal, judgemental comments. Not in front of the children, please.

First up was Dylan's classroom. The teachers wanted to walk the parents through the child's day so Dada got to partake in doing the Weather Bear and even managed to bust out some yoga moves (Pat swears he tore his pancreas). We were told that Dylan is very good listener (seriously?) and the teachers rely on him as a class leader. That I can understand as Dylan is already a decorated Colonel in the Jenkins Child & Canine Army. He is also known for being a great independent player and not letting anyone dictate what he can & can not do. Wait, this is a good thing? I am sensing some serious Afterschool Program moments in our future.

This lunatic....well, he has improved so much in the last 2 months. Sawyer has gone from potential Temper Tantrum King to Mr. Social Butterfly. Toss in his ability to be very compassionate with his classmates (his teachers said he is always there to say "good job!" to his pals) & his polite manners (where are those at home?!), and our pride runneth over. We are still not sure where he gets this, but Sawyer adores being loud, crazy and a foaming-at-the-mouth mic-grabbing animal. I hear stories that my Grandma Otto was quite the scene stealer. Other than that, Sawyer's penchant for social domination remains a mystery.

So Pretty Pants didn't get a back to school review at Miss Natalie's but we are proud of her, anyway. She is doing her best to crawl! We've witnessed a few inches of textbook crawling annnnnd some odd butt scooting and a lot of rolling around (which ends up in a dog hair coated child). She is the cuddliest little thing and lights up any room...even her own at 4am when she decides it's Chatting Time. Her likes include: flashy outfits, Cheerios and shoving her fist in her mouth. Dislikes: being ignored & beige clothes.

We are very proud of all of our tots!

Hello, September

We bid adieu to August and welcome September and it's beautiful weather! Aw, who am I kidding? Bring on September because I can tolerate the cooler winds while I sit on my deck and drink beer while my sons dig up my flower beds. Let's keep it real.

We have enjoyed many visits from Elliana and Luccas. Elliana is always the Best Big Sister Ever and likes to feed and hold Logan. I can't wait until Elli is 7 years old because she can babysit then, right? That's legal, right?

The boys have enjoyed their summer program at school and now face a seriously hard academic year filled with yoga, pinecone birdfeeders and letters that start with 'p'. I think we're screwed because I asked Sawyer how old he was this week and he said, "S". Well, hell.

On a financial note, maybe it's best that summer is almost over....as Dylan has worn out the toes of his Croc shoes (oh, Meemaw.....) and Sawyer keeps wearing his Robin belt everywhere (oh, therapy.....).

Our Weekend Schedule

This week, Logan Grace turns 6 months old. Time is flying. We are so proud of our gorgeous, babbling, eating-baby-food, sleeping-through-the-night girl. She makes our family complete.

These two....Christ. I set up a soccer goal in our yard. "Go play soccer!" I say. They do...for 5 minutes. Then they turn the goal into a dog kennel. Sawyer is the dog. Dylan is the dog catcher, and he tells Sawyer that he has to be a good dog and eat my hastas. Sawyer complies. Sonofa.....

Meanwhile, inside the house - all is right with the world for Miss Pretty Pants. She sports a snazzy dress and even accessorizes well with a flashy headband.

Outside....Dumb & Dumber strip down to their underpants, run through the sprinkler and ride their bike & scooter.

Yes, we get stares from the neighbors. Yes, we own bathing suits. Yes, there was public urination on my trees. And yes, I classed it up real hard by watching them do all this while drinking beer in my driveway.

We did, however, enjoy special weekend outings - happy birthday to Mr. Jose - our wonderful, talented and now hip-replacement-bound friend. Thank you for inviting us to your party! We also trekked over to the Gilmore's to feast on hot dogs & cupcakes. Happy 4th birthday, Liam!

Is it illegal to bathe them in bleach?

Oh Mother Nature, you saucy mistress. You lure my sons outside with your bright sunshine and blissful, blue clouds......

and then - wham! - you ensnare them with your dirt, mud, "look-Mama-it's-a-worm-and-it's-dead" and other Spray & Wash inducing nightmares.

Dylan is always the dirtiest one. He is Mudman Jr. (for those of you not familiar, Mudman = Brendan....he was a filthy child).

In the meantime, Lo continues to be pretty. And has clean fingernails. Thank God.

Dancin' Machines

Nothing makes Lo happier than watching her brothers be wild animals. They are always happy to oblige.

Tonight, Dylan said, "After dinner, I want to dance to the naughty boys, Dada." Now, this is not every parents' dream to hear these words come from their child but we know what he was referring to. The boys most recent obsession? Michael Jackson videos. Sawyer cuts a mean rug to "Thriller" and Dylan wants to be one of the 'naughty boys' from "Beat It" for Halloween.

As you can see, they are already working really hard on getting the choreography down from the gang battle in "Beat It" where the two sweaty dudes are tied together.....obviously, stripping down to their underwear was the boys' creative call.

Sawyer's Turn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdj4ldmvtHc

Baptized Lo

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT BAPTISM WEEKEND!

We're so grateful to our wonderful friends & family who were present for Lo's baptism on the 4th of July!

We are especially grateful to Meemaw, Bucket, Uncle Brendan, Aunt Amy, Aunt Sara & Amnon for traveling very far to be here.

Thank you for the love you always give our babies!

God bless little Lo!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to our fantastic Dada! He has taught us so many things already....

How to be kind to one another and play gently.....

How to eat politely and have nice table manners.....

And to have a serious appreciation for heavy metal...much to Mama's chagrin.

And a special thank you to Grammy for coming over last night so Mama & Dada could go out and see "The Hangover"....Mama snorted a Swedish Fish into her nose laughing. It's a must see.

It's Friday....

...and someone is a big girl who can sit in her high chair!

Logan now demands kielbasa and chocolate milk for sustenance.

Birthday Weekend

We had so much fun this weekend going to two very special birthdays. Mama's lifelong friend, Tara, turned 30 and her family celebrated with a surprise party at her house on Saturday. The boys thought they were super pimp as they were permitted to drink multiple juice boxes and sit on a swing. As Uncle Brendan always says - What up, gangsta?

It was very surreal for Mama to watch her children play at a house that she visited often as a child and teenager. She teared up watching her sons play with Owen Clement, the son of Melissa & Kyle - more longtime friends. But, of course, reality set in and Mama started screaming at the boys to get the hell out of Mr. Ambrose's water fountain and to stop beating the crap out of the pinata. Annnnnnd sentimental moment: over.

On Sunday we went to another birthday party for our bestest friend, Elliana! She is 4 and invited us to the pool. Mama got tired of trying to hold Logan and rescue Sawyer who apparently thinks he is a dolphin and can breathe underwater. We went back to Elli's house and had fun in her pool.....

Jesus, Dylan. Are we so lazy that we have to place a ride-on toy in the pool?

Mama loves this picture of Luccas, Sawyer and Elliana. It is wonderful to see my own children have friends they have already known their whole lives. We are lucky that so many wonderful people care for our kids. Of course, this could bite us all in the ass, when in 10 years Sawyer asks Elliana to be his girlfriend and she says, "Remember that time you ate ribs at my house and got BBQ sauce all over your bare chest? Yeah.....we are so not happening."

The Weekend

The weekend started with a bang....or should I say chainsaw? The Gilmore clan bravely offered to watch all 3 kids while Pat & I did yardwork. Oh yes, we are real ass homeowners and went all Extreme Home Makeover on our shrubbery. It's been getting too big and pissing me off. 

Later, we took the kids to play in the water fountain. Dylan really got the knack of things. He would squirt water with his foot, note the timing of the spouts and wash his Matchbox car.

Sawyer....uh, well....he's a slow learner. 

Miss Logan is now big enough to spend some time in the ol' Exersaucer. A special thank you to Mr. Owen Clement for letting us borrow this toy for a bit. He was such a big boy about letting us take it. Even though when I showed up to put it in the van, he was sitting in it. ;)