Happy Birthday TJ!

On Sunday we celebrated TJ's 32nd birthday with the Spahr Clan. We enjoyed a yummy dinner thanks to Marian and Tim, a great chocolate cake and some really cool presents. We had already celebrated TJ's birthday inconjunction with my Dad's birthday on Saturday evening with my sister and parents. Thanks to my mom for a yummy dinner and fabulous pies!

Winter on the Lake

Most of you know that we live on Lake Lignanore in New Market. It has several small beaches, and is a great place to go swimming in the summer. It also has great trails for hiking around the perimeter. It's a small man-made lake, but it is still beautiful. I love watching the seasons change on the lake. It is especially beautiful in winter when it completely freezes over and has a layer of snow on top of it.


Several years ago I had the idea to start taking pictures of the lake during the four seasons. It took me 4 years to get started, but I took my first picture last fall. My goal is to take a picture of the lake in spring, summer, fall and winter from the same spot and display them as a framed group somewhere in our home. Thanks to the snow storm we had yesterday, I was able to capture Winter on the Lake.

Here are the pictures I've taken for fall and winter.

A Laugh From Nathan

Yesterday while we were watching the Pittsburgh Steelers crush the San Diego Chargers, Nathan asked the funniest question about football I've heard in a long time!

"Mommy, why did Pittsburgh get a time out? Did he do something bad like hit someone?"

Children say the funniest things!

Another Set of Ear Infections

Poor little Tate just can't catch a break. He has been almost constantly sick since the beginning of November. He has had pink eye, multiple colds and now 3 sets of double ear infections. He's had to take four different antibiotics in the span of two months. It goes without saying that our once happy little boy has spent much of that time miserable, cranky, tired and at times without an appetite for food. In the last four months he has only gained a few ounces and sometimes even lost a few, fluctuating between 21 and his high today of 22 pounds (fully clothed with his shoes on).

He saw his first Ear, Nose and Throat doctor on wednesday, when he had only had his first two sets of ear infections. The doctor was very nice and explained that Tate would need one more set of ear infections to be considered a chronic case and be eligible for tubes to be placed in his ears. Well, it took less than 48 hours for his ears to become infected- which seems to be both a blessing and a curse. While any parent hates for their child to be sick, this round of ear infections finally makes him eligible for a preventative treatment. His surgery for tubes to be placed in his ears is scheduled for February 9th. I hope we can make it through the next month with no ear infections, but I have my doubts.

Adventures in Ice Skating

This winter has been particularly hard for Nathan because it's been too cold for Tate to go outside and play, which means Nathan can't go outside. This means that Nathan has a lot of extra energy and spends most of his afternoons bouncing off the walls and going stir crazy in the house.

In looking for a way to distract him, I came across information on our local ice skating rink and ice skating lessons. After some debate, I thought Nathan might enjoy learning how to ice skate. But before signing him up for an 8 week session, I figured I'd better take him to the rink for a public session to see if he even liked it. I thought it might be a fun activity for Mommy and Nathan to do together (Daddy doesn't know how to ice skate, so this activity would be left up to Mommy).

Since I hadn't gone in ten years, I invited my sister to come along. We thought Nathan would be scared at first and get tired quickly, but to our amazement he went right out on the ice and spent the next 45 minutes going around the rink. The three of us had such a good time. Nathan was so proud of himself for doing well, he even let go of our hands a couple of times to try skating on his own. We had to bribe him with an Icee drink to get him to leave. He seemed to be a natural at ice skating, so needless to say we'll be signing him up for lessons this week.

Merry Christmas!

We had such a nice Christmas holiday! We were able to celebrate Christmas with so many of our friends and family, all of whom we are grateful to have in our lives.

This was a particularly special Christmas because it was Tate's first. Although he was a little cranky because he was getting over a two ear infections, we still had a nice day.

Santa really came through this year for Nathan, bringing him his "big dinosaur!"

Please enjoy this picture of our family on Christmas day.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

I love this time of year. Over the years I have tried to fill the month of December with lots of family traditions. A few have been handed down from one side of our family or another, but we've also added a few new ones.
One of our favorite family traditions is to cut down our own Christmas tree. About two weeks before Christmas we head over to a local tree farm to hunt down our perfect tree. It's always a great adventure, going from field to field checking out the trees. "How about this one?" or "Well, maybe we should get this one?" are frequently asked questions. Nathan loves helping Daddy cut down the tree. This year, Tate fell asleep in the stroller before we even got to the Christmas trees and missed the whole experience!

Of course getting the tree is only half of the fun. The other half is decorating it. For me, the decorations placed on the tree all hold special memories. There are the ornaments I made in preschool and elementary school, my White House ornaments, and ornaments handmade by my great-grandmother. But my favorite ornaments now are probably the ones belonging to Nathan and Tate which include their first Christmas ornaments and their Hallmark ornament collection. This year Nathan picked out a Buzz Lightyear ornament from Hallmark. The final addition to the tree is always the angel, selected from my collection of Boyds Bear Tree Toppers.

We hope that when the boys look back on their childhood Christmas's that they will have fond memories of family traditions and good times together. Maybe they will even carry on a few of our family traditions with their own children.

Crazy Day!

Today was another one of those crazy days. You know the ones where you try to fit everything into a window of time that you know is too small and then get mad when you end up rushing around trying to squeeze it all in.

Well the day started out by trying to get TJ, the boys and I dressed in our finest and out of the house for a family picture at JCPenney's Portrait Studio in Hagerstown by 10:40 which meant leaving the house no later than 9:30 (the one in Frederick closed years ago so we have to go either to Hagerstown or Columbia). That in itself is not an easy task.

The pictures went o.k. We got one good one of the four of us, but trying to get a great picture of Nathan and Tate together was next to impossible. Tate kept walking off and Nathan wouldn't sit up or look at the camera. The session quickly degraded when Tate bumped his head on Nathan's shoulder and started to cry. I'm hoping to go back after the Christmas rush and get a good one of the two of them.

Enjoy the one good picture from the day!

Next we went down the mall to visit Santa. Thank goodness there was no line! Nathan and Tate actually sat nicely for their picture with Santa (which came out way better than the ones at JCPenney's) and Nathan got to tell Santa he wants a "big dinosaur" for Christmas.

Next was lunch in the food court, followed by a quick trip in to the Bon Ton to look for a nice shirt for Nathan for Christmas day, but we had no luck there. We jumped in to the car, where TJ took a phone call for work. We made a quick stop at the Prime Outlets in Hagerstown so that I could run into Carter's and look for a shirt for Nathan, also with no luck, while the boys sat in the car with TJ. Then it was straight home because TJ had only taken the morning off from work and needed to log on to his computer by 1pm. Well, we almost made it- I think he logged on at around 1:30!!!

A Wonderful Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with the Spahr family. It's always a great day when the family can spend an afternoon together and enjoy some really yummy food!

It was also great to see our little 3 week old nephew Chase again. He's already getting so big. Nathan enjoyed playing in Meemaw and Poppaw's basement, and Tate loved showing everyone his new trick- WALKING! Tate was also very curious about baby Chase. It's not often that he sees a baby smaller than himself.

Nathan celebrated Thanksgiving at preschool on Monday. Nonny helped him make an apple pie for their Thanksgiving meal. He was so proud of his apple pie that he told everyone he helped make it. Too bad when it came time to eat it he decided he didn't like Apple Pie! Go figure! As part of their Thanksgiving celebration they made placemats and pilgrim hats. Nathan was excited to take his placemat and hat to our Thanksgiving dinner.

We are looking forward to many more Thanksgiving dinners together. Nathan is looking forward to next year when Tate and Chase will be old enough to play with him in the basement.

We have so much to be thankful this year and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

That Crazy Kid!!!

Sometimes Nathan is the craziest kid I know. The things he does just drives me nuts. Yesterday was no exception.

Nathan is not the most artsy kid in the world, but occasionally he likes to play with Play Doh, color, or make pictures with his Dot Art Markers (yeah, that's just a fancy name for Bingo markers so they can sell them to kids!) Well, yesterday he decided he wanted to make a picture with his markers so I got him started and then went to the bathroom. When I came back, to my shock, I discovered that he had decided to paint his mouth as well!!!! Most of the blue washed off, but some of it stuck around for the rest of the day.

Enjoy the pics of Nathan and his TWO works of art! I just wish I had thought to take the picture before I cleaned his face! Now that would have really told a better story. Oh well.

A Weekend Away

TJ and the boys spent a great weekend in Ocean City with his mom while I stayed home. I think you could call it a weekend away for all of us.

The weather in Ocean City wasn't great, but they still had a good time. From the pictures, I think they spent most of their time on the Boardwalk and in Playland!!! Tate has a great time no matter where he is, and Nathan had a blast with his Grandma Caroline. When asked about his weekend, this is what he said:

"I played with Daddy and slept. I played lots of games at some place."

I spent most of my weekend scrapbooking my little heart out! I did our Family Album for 2007 and started an album for Tate. It was also nice being able to sleep in and sleep through the night!

On another note, Tate started walking two weeks ago. I just can't believe he is walking at nine months!!! I think he just wants to be able to play with all his big brother's toys- at least that seems to be the object of all of his missions! Enjoy the picture of his first steps.

"I'm Gonna Tattle Your Tail!"

The other day on the way home from school, I had to have a conversation with Nathan about tattle-telling. I had volunteered in his preschool classroom that day and had observed him telling his teacher on Ella because she didn't have her legs crossed during story time. It's something I'm very familiar with. As a child I couldn't stand it when I followed all the rules while the other kids broke them with no consequences, so I did a lot of tattle-telling myself. I'm sure that I drove my teachers, parents, aunts and grandparents crazy.

Well yesterday our dog Skye went running through the house barking and Nathan went running after her yelling "Skye, come back here, I'm gonna tattle your tail!"

It was one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time. Hours later I'm still laughing when I think about it, so I hope it provides all of you with a little chuckle.

Poor Tate

I made the trip to the pediatrician this morning because Tate's eyes were still looking swollen and sore. Because walk-ins are only accepted from 8am-9am, this trip required that TJ take Nathan to preschool, because he had to be there by 9am.

My thinking when it comes to the boys being sick is that I'd rather be safe than sorry. His eyes seemed to be getting better, and since he seems to have problems with allergies, I was beginning to think that maybe his allergies were acting up and a trip to the doctor probably wasn't neccessary, but I took him anyway.

Good thing that I did. It turns out he has a sinus infection, pink eye in both eyes, and an ear infection in both ears. Tate is such a happy little baby, and you would never have guessed he was that sick. I mean, he was cranky for most of the weekend, but he's getting a new tooth and his eyes were irritated, so we all assumed they were the source of his crankiness.

After filling his perscriptions for eye drops and antibiotics, we're hoping by tomorrow he'll be on his way to feeling better.

My Crazy Bad Luck

TJ often makes fun of me for having bad luck. I buy a new sink for the bathroom at the store and when I open the box at home it's broken. I buy a new light and try to install it and discover it's missing an essential piece. He goes out of town for work, and the morning he flies out my car won't start. The list is endless.

So one of my many hobbies is cross-stitching. An art that I learned as a child from my grandmother and my aunt. Last year I stitched Christmas stockings for TJ, Nathan and myself. A lady at church was nice enough to sew them for me, and they came out great. So, this year I needed to make Tate his stocking, and I got a rather late start in September. I should have known that it couldn't be that simple!

Since cross-stitching is a somewhat dying art, I had to go to Catonsville to find a store that exculsively sold cross-stitching supplies. I couldn't remember the name of the fabric I had used or the count number (which the lady explained to me is the number of squares per inch on the fabric), so I took along one of my stockings. The ladies at the Stitching Post are wonderful, and so helplful. I found out that my fabric was called Fiddlers Lite and that I needed 14 count, which they happened to be out of, so I needed to special order it. Just my luck, it took over 3 weeks for it to come in.

Once it did, I almost immediately started stitching, and as of today I was so proud of myself because I was almost done. Well, today I took Nathan's stocking out because I needed to remember how I had done something one his, and I noticed that the design on Tate's was half the size of Nathan's. DARN! I realized that I should have doubled the size of the stitches (known as 2 over 2). So, I decide to save the one that's almost done to finish and frame later, get a new piece of fabric out and get started. After a few minutes I realize that the design this time is going to be too big. DARN! Needless to say at this point I'm pretty upset. After a lot of comparison I realize that what I really should have ordered was 18 count fabric. As I don't have time for another trip to Catonsville this week, I went online and ordered the correct fabric, which takes 1-2 weeks for shipping!!!!! If Tate gets a stocking this year that matches the rest of ours it will be a miracle!





Here's a pic of our stockings from last year.

Falling Leaves and Red Eyes

I love taking pictures of the boys in the fall leaves. Well, to be honest, taking pictures of Nathan and Tate is one of my favorite things to do. A picture to me is a moment frozen in time. I love my boys and I love to watch them discover new things and learn new skills, but part of me wants them to stay little and sweet forever. Taking pictures helps me to freeze all of those precious moments from their babyhood. I love all the fall colors on the trees this year. It has been a spectacular fall. So, I took the boys out into our backyard and took a bunch of pictures of them playing in the leaves. For a few minutes it was such a sweet thing to watch Nathan help Tate discover leaves for the first time, but it quickly devolved as Nathan got bored and Tate crawled away.

My Dad brought us some much needed mulch for our flower beds yesterday afternoon, and took Nathan home with him for a sleepover. Nathan is in need of a new pair of cowboy boots as he grew out of his old pair this summer, so Pap promised to take him to get the boots yesterday evening. Well, as luck would have it, the store had closed 30 minutes before they got there. Poor kid, he's been driving me nuts asking "When Pap gonna take me get my new boots?" I guess I'll have to hear that question for a few more weeks. Well, it's always nice to have a day with only one kid, it helps us get somethings done around the house, or go Christmas shopping for the boys like we did today (good thing Tate can't talk!). But, Tate has been in a cranky mood all day, so we haven't had as much peace and quiet as we would have normally had without Nathan screaming and bouncing off of the walls. I think he's getting another tooth and his eyes look terrible. They are red and irritated and they have been secreting junk all day. I guess he'll be staying home from church in the morning with Daddy, and I'll be heading off to the doctor with him on Monday morning. Oh happy joy joy.

Here are a few pics from the leaves and a pic of Tate's misery.

My Crazy Blog

Ok. So I've been reading quite a few blogs lately, and decided to start writing one of my own. When I went set one up it gave me a message saying that my email account was already being used for a blog. You can imagine my surprise, as I didn't remember starting one before. Well, apparently I had started writing a blog in 2005, made 2 posts and then forgot all about it. Life got rather busy after we had our first little boy, and even crazier after we had our second this year. It seems rather fitting that I had entitled that original blog "Observations of a Crazy Family," so I've decided to keep the name. I hope it's a place where I can share the things that go on in my crazy house and the occasional thoughts that go through my now fried Mommy brain! Enjoy!