R.C. and I are going to have to learn Pig Latin. That's the only way we are going to be able to keep secrets from the boys. Spelling doesn't work at all anymore! It's Christmas time and secrets are supposed to be kept. The boys are not supposed to know everything that R.C. and I are thinking/talking about. Today in the car as we were driving to finish our Christmas shopping R.C. told me he is going to start spelling words, but omit the vowels. Great idea! What little kid can hear a mix of consonants, figure out the vowels that are missing and say the word within a minute? Russell...that's who.

As we were driving, R.C. said to me, "lws for a tlkt"?
Immediately from the backseat Russell asks, "we're going to Lowe's for a tool kit? A tool kit? Hello...are are we getting a tool kit?"
Silence from the front seat. Followed by "what are you talking about Russell? Why would we go there? A tool kit? Where did you come up with that?"
We tried to cover ourselves. But, yes Russell, there is a kids toolkit at Lowe's we thought of getting you for Christmas.

Yesterday we decorated Christmas cookies! The boys helped me make the frosting, get the sprinkles out, and then spent a good 2+ hours decorating the cookies. I thought we might spend 20 minutes before they got bored with it and wanted to move on to something different. To my surprise they loved it and barely let me decorate any. Maxwell was very particular as to how the decorating should happen. He would get annoyed if Russell did not make a tree green, a star yellow, a snowflake white and a candy cane red. Russell enjoyed teasing him by making stars red and trees yellow. The big brother in him was really shining through. After all our (their) hard decorating it was time to fill our mouths with these overly frosted, overly sprinkled cookies. They were delicious!Although we had a great time decorating, I feel I saw this happening more than it should have...

I guess if you come and eat some of our Christmas cookies, you may want to steer clear of the green ones. Actually, this happened with all the colors so everything is a gamble. Kids...you have to love them...

We may have fixed it for the time being.... So just a taste of some pictures...

I'm sure there will MANY more to come.

R.C. is officially on Christmas break! His highlight of his break so far would have to be his daily nap. For the past 4 days R.C. has curled up on the couch, put his magic blanket over him, and dozed off for a few hours in the afternoon. The boys get a good laugh out of tucking daddy in with their blankets and checking on him every 10 minutes to make sure he is still snoring (you can hear this from every room so I don't know why they think they need to have their ear right on his face to hear this). If you have been to our home and witnessed the size (if you have not been here to witness the size, imagine 4 people and tons of "stuff" put into a shoebox. It's small, but we like it) you will understand that peace and quiet is hard to come by if everyone is not asleep. We try to keep quiet for him, but even the simple sound of putting spoons back into the drawer seems loud enough to raise the dead.

I have taken advantage of having R.C. around. I was able to make an outing with just Max while R.C. and Russell went downtown to a bookstore. I was also able to school Russell while Max went downtown to the bookstore with R.C.. It was really nice to focus just on Russell during this time, but we both agreed that Max adds a bit of humor to boring geography lessons. We were all able to walk to the library together yesterday (it was 60 degrees! In December!). When the boys and I go on our weekly visit to the library the walk is usually not too leisurely. I always have a huge bag of books (the boys clean out the library when they visit!) and 2 hands to hold, so it was a treat to only hold one hand...and a bag of books. The boys are thrilled to have dad here for meals. Each morning I wake up with the boys and allow R.C. to sleep in. Nice huh!? The boys greet me with a "we want _____ for breakfast." As soon as R.C. opens the bedroom door and steps out the boys run to him a shower him with hugs and kisses. Who is a bit jealous? (Not really. It's too cute and nice to get jealous of) I have also been able to cook without the boys under my feet and now I am even able to blog before 8:00 pm.

One semester down...3 more to go.

I hope this works. I did this video on a super old camera (thanks Jen), I don't understand, but, for some reason this is the camera our computer likes.




This is the boys (obviously) singing Rudolph (obviously). You will notice that Russell seems to have a tight hold on Maxwell, but that was Maxwell's wish. If I could post outtakes, you would see we had to restart several times due to Russell letting go of Max. We have been working on different songs and the boys, especially Max, have started to love singing. Maxwell will burst into song at any time of the day or night. He also likes to sing alone. He gets quite angry at Russell if he joins in on a solo.

Today is R.C.'s birthday!!

When R.C.'s birthday comes up each year I can't help but think back to the first birthday that I celebrated with him. We were in college. Dating about 3 months. This was the first time I gave him a gift. This was the gift that was going to set the standard for all other gifts given in the years to come, and I chose...socks. SOCKS!!! What man in college would want socks for his birthday? For some unknown reason, I thought this was a great idea. I remember picking them out, wrapping them in tissue paper, and tying a bow on to make it look pretty. This was not a package of socks either, it was a single pair. Blue. It makes me laugh hysterically now thinking back to how he seemed so happy to have that pair of socks when he opened them. He even made a point of showing me he was wearing them some days. I can only imagine the looks on his friends faces when they asked what his girlfriend got him for his birthday, and he had to say, "socks". I hate to say, my gift giving skills have not improved.

I feel I must keep up the trend I started and write "a few facts" about R.C. (I will stick to the last few years) :

• R.C. can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. This is not just a light "resting the eyes" sleep. This is a deep "rattle the ceiling with my snoring" sleep. In the car, on the floor, in the middle of a book with 2 boys sitting on his lap...anywhere! It's really quite amazing. People say they feel they could fall asleep before their head hits the pillow, but R.C. can really do this!! I've seen it happen!!
• He likes to make "clean out the refrigerator" soup. He will put EVERYTHING in a pot and call it soup. Once he ended up making some really great fish soup. But one time he made left over chicken nugget soup. Not so good!!
• R.C. is Birdman. I believe he is beginning to change over to Bird Mister though...
• He can fix anything. ANYTHING!!
• He hates the thought of anything bad happening to his toenails.
  
• R.C. is GREAT at parallel parking.
• R.C. never gets lost.
  
• He likes to sing crazy songs he made up in his head, to the boys.
• He makes great bird houses and benches! (along with other things also)
• R.C. likes to drink Dr. Pepper with his Chinese food. A good Chinese meal can easily be ruined if there is no Dr. Pepper.
• He is a very hard worker.
  
• He does not, I repeat does not, like to wait for people.
  
• He has a really neat sock drawer. Mine = complete chaos! R.C.'s = neat and orderly.
  

Happy birthday R.C.! You're a fantastic husband and dadden (also know as Dad)!!
(I know you don't want a cake, but we are making one anyways. Just try to keep your fingers off it!)

(this pictures makes me laugh!! His face, and the girl in the distance...)

It's that time of year again. The time when we no longer fight to keep T.V. out of our lives. We now embrace all the Christmas movies. It only happens once a year so we need to get our fill of The Grinch, White Christmas (ok, so maybe everyone doesn't need to watch the entire movie over and over to get their fill of this one.), and Charlie Brown. Let us not forget, my favorite, Home Alone. I could watch Home Alone from December 1-December 25 and never get tired of little Kevin.

We have always been some-what anti-T.V. when it comes to the boys, so this time of year is a treat for them. This is the one time during the year when every night (almost) is a family movie night. We are still doing our everyday schooling, reading, playing, and chores, but for a few weeks I take a break in the evenings. Most evenings the boys bring about 15 books each to the couch, we sit, and I read until I can no longer be heard or understood. For the next few weeks I will read only 5 books for each boy, and I will let Dr. Seuss (The Grinch), or Burl Ives (Rudolph) join in our story time, and give my throat a break (and plus, I like to have stories told to me from time to time).

(This in no way should be misunderstood that I do not like to read to the boys. I still, and always will, think books are VERY important to kids, and I still LOVE to read to them.)

I love Christmas music. Sure, I have posted before on not wanting to hear it, but that was only because it was not time yet. We now listen to it from the moment we wake up to the moment just before we fall asleep. I have my favorites, as everyone else does. I love the classics. Santa Clause Is Coming To Town, O Holy Night (preferable sung by uncle Kenny), Rudolph, Silent Night, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Drummer Boy, Is That You Santa Clause, the list could go on and on. Yes, sometimes people get carried away trying to make these classics "their song", but it's hard to REALLY mess up a Christmas song. I'm not a huge fan of some of these newer songs that have been written in the last few years, such as The Christmas Shoes, but I can tolerate these. I don't even mind when they have the dogs barking Jingle Bells. I don't think I'm too difficult to please when it comes to holiday music.

This year, though, I heard a song that is intolerable and just plain old annoying. Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey. Maybe you've heard this also. They say Dominic is Santa's friend because the reindeer "can't climb the hills of Italy", but Dominic can. Reindeer fly (at least Santa's reindeer fly, not real reindeer), they don't climb, so I don't see a problem with them getting up the Italian hills. I just cringe when I hear this song come on. It's not only the words that annoy me, but the music also. It sounds like a song you would hear at the circus, not one you sip hot cocoa to. How this has made it's way to the Christmas play list on the radio, I may never know...

This past week has provided very little to blog about. It has been a very normal, yet busy, week for everyone.

This week in school we have been focusing on spelling. Russell had 3 spelling quizzes last week and passed all of them. Max can now spell his name (not write it). If you ask him what has name is, he will gladly tell you M-A-X spells Max! He can also point to the letters in his name when looking at the alphabet. It's a start...

R.C. has been wrapping things up for the semester. He has been stressed, and with good reason. His final critique is this coming Thursday (his birthday!!) so hopefully once that is over and done with, he can relax a bit and get some sleep.

Saturday was the only note worthy day for all of us. R.C. decided to take the day off so we could have some much needed family time...and boy did we have a good time!

We started our day with waffles and haircuts. Waffles in the morning always make for a good day, and all boys/men got a haircut. Even Russell, who has been growing his hair since the very beginning of spring, decided it was time for a cut. Saturday was also St. Nicholas day! The boys found their stockings filled with an orange, a few candy pieces, a paint by number activity sheet, and a toothbrush. After going through everything, brushing their teeth with new toothbrushes, and eating an orange, we decided to go downtown to do some "Christmas window shopping". It was a chilly day, but nothing unbearable. We started walking and decided to take a detour through some RISD buildings to see where R.C. works (works a job, not studio work). We were able to stop in and watch some students blow glass for awhile. The boys were very impressed that in the time that we stood watching, we were able to see a blob of melted glass turn into a beautiful goblet. I can't think of many places that you can just drop in and watch glass blowing...a very fun treat for all of us.

There are so many "neat" looking stores downtown that I always drive by when taking R.C. supper or doing other errands, but never have time to stop in and look around. Today was the day to go inside. As we were walking down the street, we were able to stop and see Santa, waiting to meet people as they passed. The boys were both thrilled to see him and shake his hand. Russell told him he wanted legos, any legos would do. Maxwell told him he wants Indiana Jones legos, nothing else would do. They (especially little Max) have their minds made up I guess.

We proceeded to walk to R.C.'s studio to have a look at some new things he has been working on. We took a break for awhile, warmed up and then headed back to the streets for more window shopping. While waiting to cross the street we saw some beautiful horses pulling a wagon, coming towards us. We continued to wait so they could pass by, but they stopped right in front of us. A lady on the back asked if we wanted a ride. R.C. and I looked at each other thinking, "is this really what we want to spend our money on", but the woman quickly told us that it was free! Who can pass up a free ride? We climbed on the wagon and had a great ride through downtown, with Maxwell waving at everyone we passed.

We finally decided to head back to the car to go get our "Christmas tree". We decided that instead of getting a Christmas tree this year we would get a potted Norfolk pine. We went to Home Depot and spotted our perfect tree right away. It is about 3 feet tall and looks great with lights and ornaments on it. It will, hopefully, if all goes according to plan, be our tree next year also. We have been trying to come up with a name for our new addition...

Today (Sunday) we awoke to Russell "whispering" (his whisper is what most people call shouting) that it had snowed. He kept talking and talking about throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and forts, that I just had to get out of bed to see what he was talking about. As I was getting my slippers on he kept talking about all these great things he was going to build. I was all prepared to be just as excited as he was, but then I looked out the window. We had a dusting. Just enough to make the trees and rooftops beautiful and the car a pain to brush off. But it was nice to mark "the first snow" on our calendar.

Today was an exciting day for Russell.

This morning Russell began writing his letter to Santa. He only needed help with a few select words and was able to spell the the others by sounding them out all by himself. He is an excellent speller already! He is mainly asking Santa for legos and 2 toothbrushes. Yes, he has a toothbrush, but he wants a cool Spiderman or transformers one. (We'll see what is in his stocking on Saturday...) Russell finished off his letter by telling Santa that there is one more thing on the table. I asked him what this meant. He told me that he is going to leave a present for Santa since he works so hard giving all the kids presents, he wants Santa to have something too. So come Christmas Eve, Russell is going to set a gift, along with cookies and carrots, out for Santa. This boy is always thinking....

Russell's other, even more exciting thing that happened today, was the discovery of a loose tooth!! I knew this day was coming since he is 6 years old. Today, as he was munching on some almonds he told me that his tooth felt like it was going to fall out. I didn't think anything of this comment. Russell is always saying that he has a broken leg, pins in his feet, or rocks in his tummy (like the dinosaurs). He likes to exaggerate things to either get attention or make people laugh. So hearing that his teeth are falling out was nothing new. However, as I was helping him find his jacket he told me again that his tooth felt like it was going to fall out. This time I told him to open wide so I could check it out. Just as I was ready to pat his chin and tell him all was fine in his mouth....I wiggled a little baby tooth. It is loose. The tooth fairy will be making a visit to Russell's bedside in the days/weeks ahead.

As Russell and I were discussing the tooth fairy and how she will slip something under his pillow while we are all sleeping, Maxwell came in. I thought that with Max being Peter Pan he would enjoy a fairy coming to his room. This was not the case. Maxwell announced, "if the tooth fairy comes to my room, I'll catch her and step on her". I guess Max thinks the tooth fairy is a bug that needs to be gotten rid of.

Thanksgiving has come and gone once again. We have so much to be thankful for this year, as we do every year. This year has been very different with "the move", but we are thankful to be settling in and adjusting well (for the most part anyways...). We are also thankful that, even though we moved so far from our parents and siblings, we still have family that we can visit. We traveled to New York on Thursday to visit "The New York Nobles/Benoits" and join them in celebrating Thanksgiving. It felt good to walk into the Benoit home, get hugs, smell a delicious turkey roasting in the oven, and know that we were with family. Everyone was so welcoming and made us feel right at home. We look forward to spending more holidays/celebrations with this group during our time here in the east.

We left our home early Thursday morning to make the trip to New York. We had directions we were following, but at one point R.C. just had a feeling we were not on the right track (we were not lost, just a bit confused since it didn't look familiar at all). He decided to ask the backseat for advice since Russell seems to be a driving/direction whiz. When R.C. asked,"do you guys know where we are?" surprisingly, Russell had nothing to say. Max, on the other hand, spoke up and said, "welcome to no where!" After drying our eyes from laughing so hard, we realized that we were not lost at all and were, in fact, almost there.

Russell and Max warmed up to everyone quite quickly. Max is usually the one that clings to us when he is around new people or people that he doesn't see often, but he seemed comfortable from the start. A few highlights from Russell and Max's day:

• Maxwell shared his beloved blanket with Great Grandpa Noble. He rarely shares his blanket with anyone so this was very nice to see.
• Russell kept busy helping clean up. He just kept asking Aunt Sue if there was anything else he could do. What a nice boy!!
• They both were having a great time saying Cool Whip. It sounds like such a simple thing to say, and not all that funny, but trust me, it was HILARIOUS!!
• Russell played connect four with Jeremy and Luke. He loves this game and was so happy to have new people to play against. Russell was even able to win a few games on his own!
  
• Max told anyone who asked what his name was, that he was, in fact, Peter Pan.
• They both put their shoes on and walked people to their cars. They felt the need to keep everyone safe and felt the best way to accomplish this was for they, themselves, to oversee people walking to their cars. Once again, what nice boys!!
• Maxwell found that he LOVES cranberry sauce. He ate more of this than anything else.
• Russell walked around with a bowl of mints offering them to people. I believe he was the one who ate the most mints though, since on the ride home I could smell minty fresh breath coming from the backseat.
  
• Maxwell cried and cried when we had to leave. He obviously had a really good time. (And he was really tired! He was sound asleep before we had traveled 3 blocks!)
  

All in all, a GREAT day was had. We headed home around 5:30 and listened to Christmas music the entire time. I had held them all off as long as I possibly could. I finally had to give in and sing along. Hearing O Holy Night 3 times in 3 hours was a great way to end Thanksgiving day. Also, when I turned to look at the boys sitting so quietly in their seats, enjoying the music, I found that they were holding hands! They are such great brothers!!

All mothers are pretty much the same.

Caring for their children, putting their children first, and trying every trick in the book to make a cranky child happy, are all traits that mothers have. Once you become a mother these things just come naturally. There is no way around it. (Unless of course you are one of those crazy mothers that you hear about on the news...I'm not talking about them, obviously. That's a whole other (sad) story.)

Last night I realized that I am very much like my own mother, and my mother-in-law. I had always realized it, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. I have picked up little traits, sayings, and tecniques from both these ladies, but it wasn't until last night that I realized that I wasn't the only one that noticed this.

While I was finishing up my last batch of jam (I put up 2 dozen jars of jam yesterday! That should get us through the winter, I would think.) and R.C. was working on some homework, we allowed the boys to watch 20 minutes of TV before bed. As the TV turn off time was nearing, I called into the living room and told them, "when the next commercial comes on we turn it off and get to bed." I immediately paused and thought to myself, "boy, I sound JUST like my mom!" No sooner had that thought left my head when R.C. piped up, "You know you sound just like my mom." I guess R.C. and I had both heard this phrase at some point during our childhood. There is no hiding it any longer. I am a typical mother just like both our mothers. They too were typical mothers just like their mothers, who were typical mothers like their mothers...and so on it goes.

It was not Halloween, but...

These are the people I get to live with!!!
What a funny bunch!

Backseat drivers are never fun. I am sure that there is not a single person out there who gets into the drivers seat of their car and hopes that the person sitting directly behind them is going to be a backseat driver. They are the worst! A little guidance is OK from time to time, but to have someone constantly telling you that there is a stop sign ahead, a McDonald's at exit 4, or a road closed 2 blocks ahead, does not make for an enjoyable ride. Usually if a person is driving, it means that they can see and read perfectly well and they do not need to be told what signs say, or what color the light is.

Every time I get into my wonderful little car, I have a (sometimes 2 or 3) backseat driver. That's right...I have a 6 year old, and sometimes 3 years old, back seat driver. Now, Russell does not know all the rules of the road, but he gets the general idea when it comes to driving. Keep to one side of the road, stop on red, go on green, honk if someone cuts you off. What more do you need to know?

I have been driving for 10+ years and have never been pulled over or had an accident (knock on wood), yet Russell feels the need to correct me and instruct me as to how to drive. When stopped at a stop light I am informed that it has turned green and I need to go, even though the cars in front of me are not moving. When driving down the interstate I am made aware of EVERY sign we pass. I am told what is at each exit, which roads are closed, and how many miles to the next town.

Sure, this is good in some ways. He is learning to read and shows that he understands some basic rules of driving. But I wonder if having a sweet little boy yell, "it's green! Go already!!", "honk at that car!", from the back seat is such a good thing.

It makes me laugh though.

A countdown to a Christmas countdown?
That's what they said. People are now counting down the days until they can officially start a Christmas countdown.
Do people really have so much spare time that they can do this?
If people are having trouble coming up with other things to think about, I, along with many others, could give you a list of things to think about and do before a Christmas countdown should begin.
I am just as excited as the next person to sing carols, drink cocoa, and eat candy canes until my teeth hurt, but I can, and will, wait until its due time.
It would be a different story if people were thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. But so far I have heard nothing about a miraculous birth, a manger, or shepherds. It has all been shopping, buying, and getting. blah!

$1.99 for a gallon of gas.
Who would have thought that this would make me so happy?

Max: I love M____(could not make out this last word).
Me: Did you say you love mom?
Max: No.
Me: Well, I love you Maxwell.
Russell: I love you mom.
Me: I love you Russell.
Russell: Max, do you love mom?
Max: No.
Me: WHAT??!!! Come on!!
Max: If my doggie loves you, then I love you.
Russell laughing hysterically...followed by Max laughing just as hard...
Me: Good grief!

I now have to try to "woo" a stuffed dog.

3 years ago today, November 16th, we welcomed little Maxwell Graham into our family. Max gave me no problems while I was carrying him but my doctor decided to induce me 2 weeks early in hopes that I would have a nice 7 pound baby boy. R.C. and I woke up early, greeted Grandma Sayler who was coming to watch Russell while we went to the hospital, and then drove to the hospital on a chilly, misty, November morning. This was my second time being induced so I had some idea of what I was in for. The first few hours were a breeze. I was able to watch the food network in bed and enjoy a very quiet morning in the hospital. Early evening I began to feel awful and soon after that, we were able to hold our, not so little, Max. Up until this point our doctor was sure that Max was around 7 lbs., but she was wrong. I will never forget when she handed Max to the nurse to be cleaned up and weighed, and the nurse was certain that this baby was not 7 lbs., but closer to 9lbs.. She was correct...9lbs. 3oz.! Maxwell is such a great kid!! From the day he was born, Max has been a "go with the flow" kind of guy. I believe he will always be this way...

A few facts about Maxwell Graham:

• Max had really bad jaundice as a baby and we had to spend a few day in the Children's Hospital with him.
• He does not want to be 3 years old. The thought of this makes him very angry.
• Max did not talk for the first 2 years. He was practically silent. He understood everything you told him, he just didn't want to talk. Now he doesn't stop!!
• His favorite books are I Spy.
• He likes to play alone. Often I find him playing in a corner by himself and ask if I can play with him. He usually tells me he wants alone time.
  
• Every time Max eats a banana he makes a monkey noise. It is not always loud or very clear, but I assure you, he ALWAYS does it.
  
• He once wanted to be called Klondike. This lasted only a short while.
• Max loves to take baths. He will take a bath 4 times a day if you let him. They don't have to be bubble baths either. Just a bit of water and some toys and he's happy for hours.
• He has a hole in his lip. At least this is my theory. He cannot drink anything, and I mean ANYTHING, without having a HUGE dribble down his chin and shirt.
  
• Max is very content. He never asks for anything. He is happy to look at a toy or book in the store, but doesn't ask for it.
• He loves to listen to any type of music. Jazz and Tom Waits are among his favorites. He likes something he can dance to.
  
• He likes to help clean the toilet. He has enjoyed this for about 2 years now. I didn't force him to do this either!
• He love his "squirrel buddies".
• Max likes to give mommy and daddy things to sleep with. Each night when climbing into bed I have to move stuffed toys, blankets, crayons, socks, anything that he can find that he thinks would help us sleep well at night, gets puts on our bed. Very sweet, but it's a pain to get into bed when you are exhausted and find a vacuum attachment tucked neatly under your pillow.
  

Max has really opened up and developed a fantastic personality in just the last few months. We look forward to what the years ahead bring for this silly boy.

Happy (shhhhhh!!!) 3rd birthday Maxwell!!

How could I forget to tell you all that we have 2 new additions to our family!? We finally gave in and got the boys a pet. Each of the boys got a pet, so that makes 2 pets for our small little apartment. It could get crowded in the months to come if they grow at all. Two pets that the boys need to care for and water. Water? That's right...water. Russell and Maxwell are now the proud owners of their very own Venus Fly Traps. It's their little pet and they love them! I do think they are scared of the boys (if a plant can in fact be scared of humans) since each time they get close to the plant, they close up. Russell stuck his finger in his yesterday and found that the inside is very sticky, and he gave his pet/plant a scolding for getting him dirty. They have yet to be named, but like our other houseplants, they will soon be referred to by a proper first name.

After our science lessons on plant growth, and caring for plants, we found it only fitting for the boys to try out their own green thumb. Hopefully their thumbs will be green enough to help us do some planting in the summer months. We hope to get a plot at a community garden down the street and will need their little thumbs to help pull weeds.

We have a new little newsie in the house. Maxwell finally got to try out the suspenders and he loves them! Most little boys fight over legos, cars, or action figures. Our boys fight over suspenders and hats. Now I can send them out in the streets to sell some newspapers as a team and earn their keep. At least help out in paying for the gallons of milk they drink each week.


(Really folks, I am not going to send these sweet little boys out to earn money. I am only kidding...)