December...

Yes... I am aware that it is now the END of February... but... we have been busy!!! The pictures will be worth it though... I promise!


I just can't resist taking pictures of Anthony in his cute little Eskimo coat!!

They were helping daddy shovel off the deck... so we could actually get to the bird feeders... we love watching the little birds come and eat out there!


Jerry's favorite hat... can you see it? He bought it in Uralsk when we went to get Alex... it is the warmest hat ever and looks funny too! I have a picture later of Alex in it...


The Christmas program at church... The boys looked soooo cute in their little ties and everything... Alex got in trouble up front... it was rather embarrassing, i am not sure what the problem was... All i saw was him and another boy shoving back and forth! Oh my!!!

Anthony sure likes to "sing" he will basically make noise... but actually follow the tune! Still the only word he likes to use is... "da!" But he was going at it... he always likes to copy the choir director with his hands... and he was rocking back and forth this time!

So cute!!! Anthony was singing so hard!!! Alex was doing a good job too!! They have such cute little voices!!!


just cute.


We had "Christmas" with Jerry's parents on Anthony's birthday... so we had Anthony open his birthday presents first and then we had dinner and cake and THEN we opened Christmas presents! Ooooooooh batteries!!! with the toy!


We found the floating marina from the Little People toys that we used to play with as kids... so these toys are OLD... heeheehee, but the boys love them... the love to play with the marina in the bath!

We did a cheater cake this year... poor kid... but it was cute!!! He was the CHAMPION candle blower! He blew it out so fast that i didn't even get a picture!!!

Hardly one crumb went to waste... this is Anthony we are talking about here!!!

Then they got to open their presents from Grandma & Grandpa! They each got their own dvd player for the car and a couple new dvds. We currently use only one... as Anthony can not be trusted to not push all the buttons every few seconds...

Grandpa brought over a little train! They were VERY excited about that!

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ok... these boys are strange... they will eat raw onions like it is a treat! In the summer they do it out of the garden... they pull off the green stalks and eat them... but I was cutting up one of those really big onions one day and Anthony was begging for a piece... a big piece had fallen off and he wanted it! SO i gave it to him... he ate the entire thing!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Crazy kid! If Alex had been around i am sure he would have too!!!



We made sugar cookies... They both helped... sort of.

So for some strange reason, we do not have a rolling pin... at least i can not find it... so we used a jar to roll out the dough.
Then i let the boys decorate some... They don't get their hands on knives very often so they were rather excited...


Of course they had to eat the first one they frosted... it was a mess!!!

Chicken Pox!!!!

We have been tagged!!!! We think that they came from someone at church... they have not been a big deal! and they completely surprised us!! haha! I mean, in one day... Anthony was covered!!! I am actually happy that Anthony got them so that he will have a lifetime immunity now! Alex had them when he was 2 months old in the Babyhouse in Kaz. So he should be good too... So far no signs of any on him.

Anthony has been really good about them... He hasn't even itched that much!!! except for a couple on his head... and his head (in his hair) was COVERED!!!! He didn't even seem to be bothered by them... one day he was acting a little under the weather, but he got some extra sleep and he has been going full blast ever since!

They are almost gone now... any that are left are all scabbed over and so we are still waiting for his little baby soft skin to "return." But he is looking good and i don't see any scars yet...

Thought i would share a couple pictures... He's so funny!!! He likes his picture taken, as you can tell. Even in his cute little underwear!!

Well...

So the Auditor came and Jerry showed her the shop... I think he bored her. They really just wanted to make sure we had such a facility. We surely do. It really wasn't a big deal... apparently they have rescheduled the actual audit until January. I guess the construction industry is really being audited lately... and we are no exception.


We have SNOW!!! We actually had a true blizzard last week! Its hard to say how much snow we got, but it snowed all day and most of the night... but also blew like crazy! We had huge drifts all over and we did not leave the house for almost 2 days!! The boys liked watching it that's for sure. They wanted to go out. The cats didn't know what to do with themselves... they were too scared to go out! Jerry was gone to an auction all day on Thursday when it was the worst. We sold our bulldozer and ground heater... we just don't need these much any more and could use the cash more!

Yesterday, Saturday it was sunny all day, so some snow melted and today it rained some and some more melted but the ground is still completely covered at our house. Our driveway has melted off some and hopefully tomorrow will melt some more. I am wanting to check on the carrots that i planted way back in August. They have been covered and growing all this time. So i am excited to see how big they are. I hope they are a good size. It will be interesting anyways. I also have some beets in a couple beds so we will see... if they are big enough we will harvest them and if they aren't i think it will be the end of the growing for them... I have to put the plastic away for the winter so that i can use it again in the Spring. I hope the sun shines tomorrow!

I leave you with a teaser photo of the boys Christmas photo-shoot. Actually i did two shoots... one i took about 200 pictures and they were awesome and the boys were so good and they got their treat after wards and everything... When i loaded them into the computer, i noticed that the files were really small!!! Oh no! i realized that i left my camera on the small setting from when i was photographing stuff to sell on ebay!!!!! I was so upset, i actually sat down and cried!!! I can't print anything bigger than a 4x6 photo and i always scrapbook larger ones at Christmas... so i begged and promised more treats for another shoot later that night... so this is one from the first shoot...


actually i couldn't pick so i added a couple other funny ones. This is Anthony's faker-smile... most of the time you can't even see his eyes though... so funny!
This is Anthony's surprise face... it makes him look so funny... it stretches his skin out funny around his eyes!! Alex is just steady-on with the smile.

Alex's Birthday and more...

So Alex turned 4 on November 8!! I can't believe it!!!! he has been home for 3 years! So this was a picture of his birthday lunch! Some of his favorites: salad, broccoli, purple mashed potatoes, and veggie choplets!

For Dinner that night we went to grandma & grandpa's (jerry's parents) and had dinner, "Dirt" Cake and opened presents! Alex kept asking for a "Baja" Cake like last year... but we improvised a little with the "dirt" but putting little off-road jeeps on top! he was happy!

Grandpa and Grandma both helped him read his cards!


We gave him a new brown puffy coat and a hat to match... the hat has a quad on it.
Anthony had to try it out too...

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On November 15 at our church we put on a Holiday Workshop! I am on the Women's Ministries team and we had planned lunch and several classes for women to take that might help them prepare for the holidays. It was so much fun and A LOT of work! Each member decorated a table for the lunch. Bonnie and i shopped and planned together... i was so excited how hers came out i had to take a picture! The cool big ornament place-mats we found at Dollar tree dollar store! We thought they were awesome. She put some gold glitter on themto add something! and we added ribbon. But otherwise it was a bunch of cute ornaments that she and i had and some crystal and it was fabulous!!!! I loved it!


This was my Christmas table i put together for the lunch. This is pretty much my normal Christmas table at home so i didn't have to come up with too much extra for it!

I had so many amazing looking gourds that i just HAD to do a Thanksgiving table! I just love all the gourds, squash, and apples. Do you see the cute little pumpkins!? They are my favorite!!

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Ok. Gross!!!! But one night when i was ready to go to bed i hear one of the cats growling... they are more like dogs around here... size and growling. I looked out and this guy was on the deck... so i opened the door and tried to shoo him away... Lucy was out there and wanted to come in, she was trying to get past him... but apparently came to close because all of a sudden they were tangling a little! Scared me... i grabbled Lucy and threw her in the house... the crazy little opossum just put his head down toward the deck and started curling over until he fell over with a thump!!! I knoow they play dead but i had never seen one actually do it and this one was so small! I thought it was so funny... i just had to take a picture! I went to bed and a little while later i heard the cat growling again and knew the opossum must have made its escape!

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Then there's this little munchkin! We decided to go for an off-roading drive one weekend... It was a nice cool day just warm enough for no jacket. After we drove for a while down the bumpy trails we found a spot we hadn't been to in years! So we took a little walk. There is a stream there next to a lake so we explored a little.

Took some pictures of our beautiful kids...


oh! and threw rocks into the lake! You would think with all the little boys in the world all the lakes would eventually fill up with rocks!

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One day Jerry decided that HE wanted to try to make bread at home... he was actually going for rolls i guess. He had 2 little helpers... What a mess!!! I was making soup and they were making bread... What a fun night!! They forgot to read all the way through the instructions. They started to stick the rolls right into the oven instead of letting the rise... it was funny, and in the end the rolls tasted really good!

I have been into making soup a lot lately... I made several kinds in just a few days... we ate one meal or so of each kind and then i froze the rest. You see it is a very big pot! This soup was a Corn/ Spinach soup.


Showing off my two biggest sweet potatoes! yummy!


Having a little photo-shoot one afternoon... I switched lenses and i can tell... the colors aren't as great. I will stick with my fixed 85 lens for photo-shoots!



Oh my! These boys... they like to play "fight" and stuff, like karate and wrestling... its so funny... as long as Anthony knows they are "playing, he is fine... but as soon as he think Alex is actually trying to hurt him... watch out... cover your ears! He screams like crazy!

So Alex chokes him...

Then Anthony pokes out his eye!!!

I always love this angle... This is what i see a lot of... someday he will be looking at me from my eye level! Yikes!

Alex Loves to runa nd show me how fast he can run! He is pretty fast... but i can still out run him... even in sandals.

Anthony is much slower but is getting alot faster and easier in his run...

After playing hard for a while we all snuggled down in mommy and dadda's big fluffy bed for a nap... They are so cute when they sleep!

Nervous...

Why is it when you think you have done everything right that you are still nervous when it comes to an IRS audit!!!? Good Grief! I guess its like when OSHA comes to the job-site!!! I mean we have a killer safety plan... over 1100 pages, all kinds of certifications, safety talks... haven't had an incident in 11 years, but... they make you nervous... and they usually find "something" to write you up for! I imagine the irs audit will be similar... i hope i am wrong. Our construction company is being audited starting tomorrow and i am nervous!!! They are reviewing the year 2007. The one really great year (business-wise)we have had in... well a long time!!! Besides the audit they also want a "tour" of our Facilities! So i feel the need to clean like a crazy person! Why do they care if you could eat off the floor in the office or the shop for that matter? They probably don't!! goodness! oh well... its going to be anyways!! Actually things have been pretty clean around here lately, but sometimes areas in the office get a little crazy... Like a 6 inch pile of weird papers on the corner of my desk... It drives me nuts, but I don't seem to take the time to find files for them all... We have been working on ebay-ing some things around here so i had some boxes in there... since i photograph on the drawing table and then list at one of the computers. At least we have an awesome filing system and every year is designated a clear plastic box when that year is over... sometimes a year has two boxes if it was a big year! Our filing cabinet is color coded, so that each department has a color... and you don't use that color in any other area. For example... insurances are yellow, tax returns - dark blue, employee files are orange and so on... it is really easy to remember where stuff goes. We also have what is called a tickler system. we have files labeled for each month of the year, one says next year, one says "i don't know" and then we have one for each week, 1st thru 4th. So when ever mail comes in we file it in the file when we want to do it. It works really good! We have been using it for years!! We also scan almost every thing in, that lets us throw out a lot more stuff! So we have only spent a day or so (altogether) getting together all the stuff they need for the audit. But it was a lot of stuff!! my goodness! I think we are as ready as we will ever be for an audit! I hope we don't have to do this very often!!!