More December Moments...

Well, we made it through 2009! This is my last post of 2009. As December concludes, here are a few pictures that deserve to be included.

The boys are just hanging out watching TV...
Jared - "What? I am starting a new fashion trend!"

When I arrive home from work, I can't get enough of the boys and it usually feels that this feeling is mutual! On this day, all three boys were cuddled up in my lap. Wes got up before Daddy could grab the camera...

Andrew and his new hat...

When I arrive home from work, the boys usually run to great me at the gate. On this day, I got in the door without anyone moving and was able to walk all the way into the family room without anyone moving. I was not sure if this was a sign of a good day, a bad day, an exhausting day or Daddy slipping some tranquilizers in those sippy cups. I almost thought I was in the wrong house...

This picture was taken during our December illness. They were still tired after a long night's "sleep." I would like to draw your attention to Jared's zipper...

Our 2009 tree with all of the presents...

On this day, we were getting ready to head to Grandma's house. The boys have been spending a lot of time under the blankets as we were coping with our colds. I walked up to find Jared sitting on the love seat and he had placed this blanket over his legs...

The calm before the storm! Grandma is lounging and watching Rudolph before the Christmas Eve festivities begin...

The boys playing after Christmas with their toys. It's amazing to watch them play cooperatively...

Oh no.. a lawn mowing mishap! And yes, we grabbed the camera for a photo before rescuing Andrew from the grip of the John Deere...

Wes really likes his new table and jammies from Aunt Pam...

Some more creative play with our new toys! Jared concocts a leg warmer out of Mega Bloks. Is this a sign of genius or another new fashion trend?

It's hard to believe that these are the last words I will write within one of the 2009 posts. This year had many highlights but was also marked with the passing of my Dad. I have tried to focus on all of the positive aspects of our holidays but would be remiss without mentioning that I missed having Grandpa there to see the boys enjoy this Christmas.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful 2009 and we wish you and your families a Happy New Year!

Take care 2009! Welcome 2010!

Take care,

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's....

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPER DREW!!!

I have written previously about Andrew's many talents and I can no longer keep it a secret... Andrew can fly or maybe more appropriately - he can leap tall buildings in a single bound!

His jumping has reached a whole new level! I am sure that we should discourage this behavior but please keep all judgement to a minimum and just enjoy some video of Andrew (and a little bit of Wes) jumping off the ottoman...

It is so hard to believe that last year at this time, he could not even pull himself up to stand! Wow, what a difference a year makes!

Take care,

Another Christmas Morning!

The fun never ends!! The boys had a visit from Santa while we were down visiting with Grandma. It was very nice of Santa to leave some of the boys gifts at home. This way we did not have to figure out how to get all of these items back home. We also got to experience another Christmas morning!

Once everyone was awake and dressed, we moved into the living room to have our second Christmas morning! The first gifts to gain the boys attention were the big gifts. Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Dooker's gifts were also waiting under our tree at home. The three seat teeter totter and the picnic table are both from Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Dooker! We can't wait to play with these. Thank you Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Dooker! We hope you are able to make it to Tallahassee very soon to see us play with these...
After two different gift opening sessions, the boys were pros at ripping the paper off their gifts. This gift was for the boys from their sisters...

Jared was quick to rip into the presents...

However, between each rip, he had to bring the paper to Daddy. I guess he didn't want to make a mess....

He brought a few pieces to me as well...

Wes explores his new Mega Bloks farm set...

There were presents everywhere...

Andrew discovers his new John Deere lawn mower! Yeah, now we can help Daddy...

Wow, the boys also got a new vacuum cleaner. Again, now they can help Daddy... As soon as the vacuum was unpacked, Wes began vacuuming the entire area...

The boys also received another baseball tee. We brought this into the family room and the boys knew right what to do!

Well, almost...

Jared loads up the ball and Andrew is ready to take a swing. We are going to have to work on his technique...

"Watch out Ming Ming"...

Daddy shows Andrew what to do and yes, this ball hit me. However, I was so proud to see him take a swing, I did not mind...

Jared was tired of waiting for his turn. Hey Jared, "there is no crying in baseball"...

This is a shot of our family room with all of the toys from Christmas. Wow, that is a lot of plastic! Please note Jared in the middle of the room with the plastic bag over his head. He kept putting this on his head! We of course have to take it away...

Veronica and Wes....

Andrew checks out his new teeter totter...

We brought the picnic table into the family room as well. They boys liked it as it has so many uses. I like it because I was able to get a group photo...

Jared... too cute not to post...

We had our lunch sitting at the table like big boys!

Everything went well until Wes finished his lunch and Jared had barely started. The boys eat at very different speeds. Wes is a speed eater and Jared likes to take his time. This picture was taken after I pointed to Jared's plate and told him that he needed to stop drinking and eat his food. Wes decided to reinforce this directive by reiterating my point... eat Jared...

After the boys took their nap, the got up to play. Jared was the first one to sit at the table with one of their new cars. Then Wes and Andrew followed his lead and sat down at the table. They played at the table with their new cars for a while... I was sitting on the couch and heard giggling coming from under the kitchen counter. I got up to find Jared and Andrew using the teeter totter. They are still working on learning how to use this thing but they were having a ball...

Later that night, we put all three of them on it....

At the end of our evening, the boys were dressed for bed and had their last milk of the evening. Wes and Andrew took a seat at the table as if to have their last milk at the bar while talking over their day...

Christmas 2009 has left us with many wonderful memories to cherish and many wonderful toys to keep us entertained for a while (hopefully until our birthday, at least).

Over the next few days, we will be playing and enjoying our time with Veronica until we say good-bye to 2009 and welcome in a whole new decade. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday with family and friends. Christmas 2009 has treated us well!

Take care,

Andrew's Outing

Exhale... we made it through Christmas! While Christmas may be over, we still have some holiday celebrations to experience. After breakfast this morning, Daddy took off to pick up Veronica. Before he hit the road, Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim arrived to hang out with the boys. They decided that since they had some time before Daddy returned, it was FINALLY Andrew's turn to spend some time alone with them! Back in June, Jared and Wes each had an opportunity to go to the mall with Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim. There were a few promises to Andrew that he would get his time and that time is now! I got him dressed, got a small diaper bag together and he was off to the Brandon Town Center!

While he was gone, Grandma and I spent some very quiet time with Wes and Jared. As soon as Andrew was gone, the boys were very calm and very quiet. Makes ya wonder???

I went upstairs to pack up our things and Grandma was watching the boys. After a few minutes, Grandma called to me and this was the sight when I looked over the loft...
Grandma had these two chairs for my niece and nephew who are college age now. She has wanted to bring them out but two chairs and three boys does not make for a good combination (which was confirmed upon Andrew's return). The guys were so calm and just sat in these chairs for the longest time watching TV...

Eventually, Wes decided he preferred Grandma's lap to the chair but Jared remained in his seat...

It was interesting to watch them get into the chair. Since most all furniture is larger than they are, the always have to climb onto chairs. They could not know to back up into a chair at their height so they would climb into the chair. After a while, they started to back up into them but it took a while to get the hang of it.

As stated earlier, Grandma has been reluctant to bring them out with all three boys there. When Uncle Lance, Aunt Kim and Andrew returned, we learned that Grandma was right. Jared and Wes were sitting in their chairs and Andrew did not have a chair. He eventually laid on the floor beside Jared and put his feet on the chair. After a couple minutes he kicked his legs and kicked the chair over dumping Jared out. With Jared out and crying, Andrew claimed his seat. Well, I guess we will not see these chairs for a while... at least until we can find a third.

When Daddy and Veronica arrived, we loaded up the truck and headed back to Tallahassee. The boys slept for a majority of the trip. When they woke up we stopped and ate dinner at Sonny's. We were about 2 hours from the house when we stopped to eat dinner. After dinner, the boys were not happy about still being in the truck and expressed this unhappiness for the remainder of the drive home... ugh!

However, we finally made it home! It looks like Santa did visit our Tallahassee home. Tomorrow when we wake up, it looks like we have another Christmas morning coming!

Take care,

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Darnell family!

We had the most amazing Christmas holiday over the past two days! Last night we celebrated Christmas eve with the traditional dinner of chicken and chili at Grandma Sally's house. We had a big crew with 21 of us enjoying the holiday. Today, the boys woke up and we enjoyed the morning (in our matching Christmas jammies of course) opening our gifts from Santa and playing with all of the new and exciting toys! After our nap, we headed down to Pooka's for Christmas dinner. There were 24 of us for Christmas dinner and the highlight was watching all 9 of the Great-grandchildren run around in the front yard! Of course the added thrill was trying to keep three 20 month olds from running completely off the property. This involved a little zone defense! I will post about our Christmas activities but wanted to quickly wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

I also deeply thank my wonderful husband for supporting our tradition of family pajamas on Christmas morning. Click here to see our picture from last year. Seriously, we look way to cute to stop now!! I love you and our little family!

Take care,