Christmas with the Batsons 2008

On Sunday, the 21st, we opened a few presents since Eric was going to be leaving us for Christmas. The boys were thrilled with presents from the Grandmas! Star Wars Action Figures, Duplo Blocks and planes are just what our kids love!

Christmas Morning 2008!

Christmas is so fun and chaotic with tiny kids! The "babies" were up several times through the night so by 6 something they were ready to go! Unfortunately, Kendall and I were ready to GO back to bed! My mistake for leaving the christmas tree lights on through the night and putting all the presents out....Yeah, even half asleep Eli notices stuff like that!

Well, we got ourselves semi-concious and let the ripping begin! They tore those packages open with wreckless abandon and didn't care one bit what the tags said! Somehow we got it through, at least to Eli, which toys belonged to which kid. Ah, who am I kidding? They all go in the same toy box and Eli steals everything from Noah no matter what we say!

12-26-08

This one's for Megan! Noah was "reading" the newspaper while I was talking to you!

Snow, yup that's it!

We have apparently received more than 4 feet of snow all total since it started snowing on December 17th. ( The kids started their Christmas Vacation a couple of days early)

I love it! I think it is beautiful and I'm so glad I have nowhere I absolutely have to go. I'm super glad we decided months ago to stay home for Christmas and I'm even more glad that I have a husband who has a few weeks off from school! Yay!

Sometime around December 19th!...The snow days have all run together now.

It did take a while to find the van!

This is after the 2nd full day of snow. Well, that's old news, we've had more than 2 feet more since then!

Christmas Eve Excitement in North Spokane!

Our Eldest Snow Angel...It took him a while to get up out of that fluff!


Yeah, it really was relaxing. I can't believe how much I am loving this snow! Maybe it is because I am way UNDER-scheduled these days. I'm just relaxing and enjoying. Yes, there's some cabin fever going on, but that is remedied by my escaping child-less for a couple hours once in a while....last night it was to to the bookstore to just browse, uninterrupted! Oh and thank goodness for my huge Carhart coat! I'd never wear it anywhere I want to look cute or anything, but it sure is great for out in the snow when it's like 10 degrees!



Eli thinks he's in heaven!


We were both ready for a nap, he was fine with lounging on my legs in the snow. I'm pretty sure that his face was the ONLY part of his body that had a clue that it was cold outside!


Now...for the crazy part of the week! - Christmas Eve Day to be exact!
This is a picture of the building that is right next to and in line with ours. Notice the big section of railing that is missing?



This is the SUV in the "ditch" or whatever you would call it between the retaining wall and the apartment building. Apparently the lady couldn't stop. My question is this: How fast would one really be going when pulling into a tight parking area when there's tons of snow? Hmmmm?

It took a really huge tow truck and many hours to get the car out. I'm impressed they could get it out at all without a huge crane!

This week...

This is from May of this year. The boys have grown so much in that short time!


Thanksgiving Dinner - Grandma and Grandpa Batson were here and the boys were so happy to see them. Kendall did the bird and it was delicious!


Eric was in heaven with a meal where he could eat as much and as long as he wanted!


Right on cue we had snow on Friday. Not tons, but enough to play in and to have a great snowball fight! Noah did pretty well stomping around in boots that were 3 sizes too big!


We don't get many photos with our entire family. Out in the snow will have to do!



Gregger's birthday party. ALL the 3 year old boys wanted to blow out the candles. Eli was thrilled when they were all blown out and he yelled, "I did it! I blow the candles!" (he actually didn't)



Double take of Eli, but I couldn't resist...he now loves to say cheese for the camera and has learned how to fake smile.

Eric so grown up.

Happy Holidays from us!

If I'm not screaming, I'm laughing...

I think that's what it is with 2 year olds. They make you scream or laugh nearly all the time. Today I was trying to give Eli a project to keep his mind and hands busy. I made a nice swirly design on construction paper and lined it with glue. I suggested he put beans (a variety of colors) on the glue to make a cool picture. It only worked if I worked with him of course. If I took my attention somewhere else, there was bean throwing and glue smearing. The cutese was when he kept asking for more "blue". "Need more blue mommy!" I thought I'd try to teach him how to say glue..so I said "it's glue...g - lu" "Oh, g - blue!" From then on it was g-blue. Well we're getting somewhere, right?

questions

I stole this from an old mission friend's blog. I thought it was kind of fun and simple to do. The instructions are to answer with just one word....I challenge any of you do copy the questions and give your own answers....liz, nik, shaila, mandy, meg, april, sherin, gina.....yeah, all you sisters!

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand
2. Where is your significant other? bed
3. Your hair color? brownish
4. Your mother? home
5. Your father? retired
6. Your favorite thing? babies
7. Your dream last night? unsure
8. Your dream/goal? music
9. The room you're in? closet/office
10. Your hobby? papercrafts
11. Your fear? dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? date
14. What you're not? asleep
15. One of your wish-list items? ipod
16. Where you grew up? Moses Hole
17. The last thing you did? facebook
18. What are you wearing? jammies
19. Your TV? smudged
20. Your pet? nonexistent
21. Your computer? friend
22. Your mood? denial
23. Missing someone? yeah
24. Your car? van
25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? Target
28. Love someone? Kendall
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? recently

Noah's book.

Well, it took me almost a year, but I finally made Noah's little brag book. Carolee was so kind to make one for Eli and I just had to have one for Noah too. Obviously I still need to add the pictures, but I'm just so glad to have this much done. I'm sure this is only interesting to any of you who are into papercrafts or scrapbooking, etc., but I had to show it off anyway, because it is a huge accomplishment for me.

October 2008

Halloween 2008.

Is it me, or is he just getting too big too fast?

Da boyz!

Go Dawgs!

Grandpa Griggs with Noah. Grandpa just turned 94 years old!

Gratitude

I was thinking that it had been a while since I'd made a post, but 2 months? Bad Sharon! I guess I've been a little preoccupied with everything else in my life lately. I've let a lot of housework go while I've played with the kids and I've spent more time with friends in my neighborhood.
Today is a glorious grey, rainy and cold day. I love these days. Maybe I'm weird, but sometimes I like the excuse to stay in and do "rainy day" type stuff. Today I sit fiddling at the computer while Eli is playing with brown play-doh. Why brown? Well it used to be different colors...they have all been blended. Since he's totally happy with that, I am too. Maybe some day he'll want individual colors again, but until then, why spend the money?
I am also thinking today of how grateful I am for a good husband. And I'm not just saying that because he made the bed 2 days in a row! (I have no recolection of him EVER doing that in our marriage so far-without being asked, that is). When we do find the time to spend together discussing our family, goals, desires, ideas, etc., it is so nice to see that we are still on the same page. No, we don't think exactly the same way, but we have the same goal in mind. That is both refreshing and reassuring.

Bikes and Bread...

They have nothing to do with each other, except for the fact that they are two things my boys have enjoyed immensely lately.

We've been trying to teach Eli how to ride his bike. Grandma Stark found him one that is just the right size with training wheels! He loves to sit on it, but we're still working on the peddling concept. The helmet was a huge hit and he barely would remove it to sleep. He insisted on keeping it on while playing at the playground later, even though the bike had been left at home.

Thanks big brother!

Bread...

So, I took this bread making class a few months ago. A sweet sister in our ward who has been baking bread her whole life showed us how to make whole wheat bread. I was eager to attend, since I have tried to do this and failed miserably. It shouldn't be that hard to follow a recipe, right? Wrong! Bread is a fickle beast and I knew I needed an expert to show me the tricks of the trade. The loaf I made at the class turned out so nice I was excited to try again at home. Sister Smith told me that she will make 2 loaves worth of dough in her bread maker and then take them out and shape them in the loaf pans to bake them. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I tried it. Um, mine kind of worked, but not super great. Try #2 was worse. Then, one day I decided to go for it again. I tried different methods each time: put the flour and dry things in first then pour the wet yeast mixture over the top, try it the other way around....and so on. This new time I thought I'd mix it a bit by hand just to make sure it got going. I put the bread maker in my laundry room, thinking I was so smart to not have it taking up space in my microscopic kitchen (anyone who knows how small my kitchen was in Pullman will understand when I say that this one is smaller...seriously!). It takes a while to do its thing and I figured the timing would be just perfect. I could shape the loaves when the babies were sleeping and not have to be bothered. No, that didn't happen. It seems I didn't have the pan all the way stuck in the machine because at some point it had popped out and the dough was just rising and not being kneaded at all. I was so sad. I had ground the wheat myself, and to waste 6+ cups was tragic to me. Not only that, the babies were up and Eric was bored. I got grouchy really fast (no surprise there either). So, I did what any good mother would do. I got out the dough, squished it all together and tore off a hunk for each kid, Okay, not for Noah, that would be bad. I showed Eric and Eli how to knead the bread and just to get out some aggression and frustration and stuff I showed them how to spank the dough! I wish I had a pic of Eric's face when I first spanked the dough as hard as I could! I think he was scared. Then I smiled at him and said, "Now your turn!" He whacked his hunk as hard as he could. Soon, the 3 of us were kneading and spanking and whacking and laughing our heads off! Noah was happy sitting in the middle of all of us playing with some toy. We shaped our loaves and stuck them in the pans. I am not kidding in the least when I say it was the best bread I have ever made!

Eli's very own loaf. It was small and he ate it all himself. He was so proud!

Noah is 1!

Happy Birthday to Noah!

Well, actually he's 13 months today. But, since Mommy has not been a very good blogger lately, his birthday pics are being posted a month late. Oh well, at least they got taken, right? The fun thing is that Ryan and Tammy and the kids were here just the day after Noah's birthday, so we actually had some family to celebrate with. Noah was not shy at all about digging in to HIS cake...we had to hurry and cut him off a piece so we could have the rest!

Eli couldn't resist making his own mess with the cake. No surprise there, since he looks like this at every meal AND he seems to need to copy Noah lately!

My little one...

Though it's been a stressful year, I cannot begin to describe how blessed I feel. Noah came to our family a little quicker than we intended, but I can't imagine our lives without him. This one tiny person adds a balance to our family that makes everything seem just right. He's nearly always happy (except of course now that he's one and wants Mommy always!). It seemed like he came out laughing and smiling. His giggles are contageous and we can't get enough of them. Now he's walking (trying to run!) and can't seem to learn everyting fast enough.

What a wonderful, adorable and delightful little person you are Noah! WE love you!