Inch by inch, row by row...

Well for the 4th time in my life I planted a garden. All previous gardens have been severely unsuccessful so expectations for this one were low. So, when we saw some broccoli actually growing bigger and bigger we were thrilled!!! And then it turned into little yellow flowers... oops. So today we seized the day (and the tiny other broccoli) and harvested some goods. What do we have to show for all of our hard work? A small bunch of broccoli florets (not yet flowers!) and a teeny tiny red onion. The broccoli was devoured quickly with some ranch and the red onion was chopped up an added to some queso (how else do a 5 and 3 year old enjoy red onions?) Is there another garden in our future? Probably, at this rate I might grow a full sized carrot by the time I'm 50.

The proud gardeners

 Our broccoli bunch (the caterpillars were really hard on the leaves)

What happens when you don't harvest at the right time. It is still edible and Lillian really enjoyed being able to eat some flowers!

Roy and his trophy of hard work

Lil and her trophy of hard work

Bunk Beds!!!

After much anticipation today was the day we were finally able to assemble our new bunk beds! We had some great helpers and a lot of pieces to put together but after a few hours.... we were done!!! We finished out the day by buying a new mattress and sheets and blankets for Roy's top bunk.

Lilli was so excited to try out her new bed immediately after we put her mattress in she ran into her 'old room' and grabbed her napping essentials and told us she was ready for bed. I would have went with it but it was a couple of hours too early!

Currently the little monkey's are all snuggled up with their favorite sleep paraphernalia. Josh and I will probably be asleep before they are today... assembling and disassembling furniture is exhausting!!! In addition to the bunk beds we took apart Lilli's crib (some people are coming to buy it tomorrow) and set up Roy's old crib (which is the one we're keeping for the new baby.) All these changes have been a great reminder for me of the little bundle that will be coming in about 2 months. Transition and change is exhausting but the anticipation of getting ready for our little Wendell or Mabel is becoming more and more real with every move we make.

ready for nap... just a few hours too early!

ready for bed, nighty night!

Happy Birthday Roy!

Roy:

-is 4 years old, 32 pounds

-has a tender heart and sweet disposition

-enjoys routine... and will let you know if you stray from it

-remembers EVERYTHING! we are constantly amazed at what sticks in his little head, if he's heard it once he will likely remember it

-enjoys potty humor, but is restricted to using the word 'poop' within the privacy of our own home

-comes up with extremely creative games, jokes, and stories

-loves reading science books - his favorite right now is human body books

-enjoys cars, dinosaurs, dragons, puzzles, workbooks, crafts, coloring, playing games, and practicing on his bike

-likes to watch "Godzilla," "Kung Fu Dino Posse," and "Blue's Clues"

-plays extremely well with his sister (about 70% of the time)

-likes being a big brother

-is excited to have a new baby in our family

-prays for the people who are important to him - if you've ever met him he considers you important and will have probably prayed for you at some time or another

-is trying to give up naps

-prefers to be indoors; he enjoys being outside for about 10 minutes and then he's good

-doesn't like to throw anything away

-knows how to write his name and taught himself using his Leapster Explorer

-is very self disciplined - chooses to not eat too many sweets, lets me know when his computer time is over, turns the tv off after his limit of shows, and rarely plays video games for more than 10-15 minutes

-is cautious and likes following rules

-lights up my world with his smile and laughter

I love you Roy Clemens Carney!

Lilli's New Nap Mat

Although I've had the materials to make Lilli's nap mat since September I just finished it up last week. Her current mother's day out program has nap mats available to use at school so she didn't really 'need' one. But of course out of being fair to both kiddos, and for germs sake I wanted to make sure she had one too. Here are pics of her new favorite place to snuggle up! When Josh picked her up from MDO yesterday her teacher told him that her nap mat is a "God send" because she actually slept an hour! Apparently she usually only sleeps a few minutes and then tries to convince her teachers to wake up the other kids.

Trying it out!

I used my simple sewing machine to "embroider" her name on it. I did the same thing for Roy's, Lilli's turned out a bit more straight, Roy's looks like a preschooler wrote his name in crayon, but it gets the point across.

Her cute little buttons and a close up of the owls... she's loved owls since she was a tiny baby. Every time she'd see an owl in a book she'd get super excited. Now she has an owl to sleep with, an owl purse, several owl books, some owl shirts and this cute little owl nap mat!

(If you'd like the pattern for this mat just let me know, I can e-mail it to you. I got it off of a blogger's free tutorial page. You won't save much money by making it your self but it's fun to be able to customize it.)

Roy on his Career

This morning while I was getting ready we were talking about why daddy didn't wear his Packer jersey to church. I simply explained that it's because daddy talks at church and there might be other people there who like the other team so he doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Here's Roy's reply:

Roy: "I don't want to hurt people's feelings either. I want to be a passenger when I grow up just like daddy."

Me: "You mean a pastor?"

Roy: "Yeah, a pastor and then everyone can call me Mr. Roy. :o) That would be funny. And then I can be on stage. And I can sing."

Me: "Well daddy doesn't really sing."

Roy: "I can be in the David Crowder Band cause I'm a good singer."

Me: "You are a good singer."

Roy: "Yeah, and dancer too."

(Roy's response to me explaining that I was going to post this before I play play-dough with him... "I can't wait to hear it!")

Snow Day!

Yesterday I was supposed to work but instead was able to stay home with our family due to a snow day!! We got about 2-3 inches of snow Thursday night. Now to my Wisconsin and Minnesota friends - I know this seems ridiculous but in a place where snow is rare they don't have equipment to clear roads for safe driving, so we stayed homebound like the rest of the town. It wasn't supposed to get above freezing all day so we planned on heading out to enjoy the snow after lunch. However, by the time we got out there is was nearly 40 degrees in our backyard so unfortunately some of the snow had already melted.

We had some unconventional snow clothes (we leave our snow gear in WI so we don't have to travel with it each year), and lasted only a few minutes but it was enough to create two masterpieces!

Snow Day 2011!

Lilli loved the snow, she just kept yelling "Snow! Snow!" and grinning from ear to ear

Roy and his snowdog named Toilet

(did you notice our new van in the background!)

Lilli and her snowman named Snowflake

North Pole Express

A couple of years ago, before either of our children were 2. We went on a Polar Express ride down in Palestine, TX. I wanted to make somewhat of a tradition out of it and since we weren't able to go last year I was determined to go this year! Through some research I found an alternative train ride in Grapevine, TX that was closer, and cheaper for the 4 of us so on the 21st we drove up to spend the evening celebrating all things Christmas!

Prior to the train ride there was a 25 minute stage show which the kids and I loved but Josh could have done without.

Daddy and Roy ready for the show!

Mommy and Lilli ready for the show!

In line to board the train.

Getting settled in our seats on the train!

Lilli was super excited! She couldn't wait to see Santa.

Singing Christmas Carols.

Pausing from the dancing.

Roy's favorite part - getting his ticket punched by the conductor.

Here comes Santa!

Out of dozens of other parents there was only one other mommy and daddy in their pajamas. But we didn't care, who rides to the North Pole without their jammies on? Not us!

What a fun ride!

A sneaky shot of the kids on Santa's lap... unfortunately I am too cheap to pay the $15 to get a picture of them looking at the camera.

On our way back to the car.

After not being able to get a good pic with Santa we tried going to the Bass Pro Shop to find out that to get a "free" pic with Santa we needed to be one of the lucky ones with a Santa pass. Oh well, at least Lilli got a ride on a reindeer out of the trip!