Growing too fast. All of them!

Great news with Hunter! Although I still find myself going upstairs to check on him each school day morning, Hunter is always ready with coat and shoes on with backpack nearby in plenty of time to catch the bus. However, there have been a couple dark mornings when I'm glad I checked on him.

One morning he wanted to wear a blue shirt, but they were all dirty (scattered all over his bedroom floor and not in the laundry room) so he pulled out the only blue shirt left in his drawer; a sleeveless, mesh styled tank top that I had missed while clearing out the summer clothes. After my explanation and his mumbling that what he was wearing was fine, he changed his shirt.

Another time I reached the top of the stairs and found Hunter sitting in the recliner. He probably was wearing his shoes but I couldn't tell as they were buried in quite a few folds of denim.

I asked Hunter to stand up for me and as he did, he hitched up his pants, held them, and said, I think these are dads. Ya think? He was going to go to school in a pair of his father's pants because I had made the mistake of putting them in Hunter's clothes pile and not Tim's.

I'll probably show my tired face upstairs, where Hunter turns on every single light fixture, for another few weeks.

He brought a progress report home and like last year he is doing 85% or higher in all subjects except for Social Studies. Currently he has holds a 65% there. I've asked him to bring those books home and he forgets and Ihave written a reminder in his notebook again to have his teacher remind him. His writing is still pretty bad. I think he should have been left handed. I've watched him play and eat with his left hand, but it's his right that he prints with. He positions his paper like he were a left hander, too.

I've written down a few things that Devin has said that have just been too darn cute, but my list has disappeared. I think it become a canvas to my little artists that eventually ended up in the trash can. I can remember Devin saying, Yes, sir! and saluting me when I asked him to do something (Toy Story). The other night as he got out of the bathtub and was wrapped snug inside his duck towel he said to me, I can't move. My batteries are dead. I picked him up and he told me that he needed new batteries. I threw him on the couch, which recharged those drained batteries!

He has started to say no to just about everything I tell him and he's whining something awful! Tantrums are becoming more regular. Eventually I tell him to go away because I don't want to listen to it anymore. He does. He goes and sits on his bed then and does the same when he's in trouble. The other day he was doing a great job nicely wrestling with Bryce on a pile of couch pillows. Then he became not so nice when he kicked Bryce in the head. I comforted Bryce and ordered Devin away. When I went into his room five minutes later I found him just sitting there quietly on his bed with a frown on his face. He did apologize to Bryce and they both continued on with the pillows.

I don't want to jinx it...how do I say it without tempting fate?? (Bryce has slept through the night for almost a week!!) That's all, now hush!

He has gotten so big! I think he'll be bigger than Devin. He's not even two yet and he comes just about up to Dev's shoulder! Some of my medium diapers aren't fitting him anymore. Devin was wearing mediums up until a few months ago!

You'll see in this weeks collection of pictures a good sized gash on B's nose. The boys were playing outside, Devin with Knight's hard plastic bumper. I don't know what exactly happened, but it sounds like Dev threw the bumper toward Bryce and either the bumper did it, or maybe Knight did, or maybe Bryce fell down from one of the two, but the end result was a very upset Bryce with a good sized cut on the top of his nose. It bled quite a bit. Thankfully now you can barely see it, which is great because...the boys and I are leaving for the annual Christmas pictures tomorrow!

For seven years now my sister Karyn and I have been meeting in Lexington, KY to have pictures taken of our kids together and then we give them to our parents and sisters for Christmas. We met in Lexington because that is the half way point between my house here in NE Ohio and hers in NE Georgia. It actually started when Hunter was two and Jennifer K'ryn a small three months old and we lived in Michigan. How time flies. Over the years other family members have been going. Last year was the most with everyone attending but the husbands (dad was there). We rented a cabin last year to hold us all. This year though, after determining we've done all we'd like with the kids in the Lexington and Louisville area, I was surprised to hear Karyn saying she wanted to go to Columbus, here in Ohio. A 3 1/2 hour drive for me. No complaints at all! LOL We've found ourselves a little cabin with a hot tub on 80 acres in Nelsonville. On Saturday we're going to go for a train ride, Sunday spend the day at the HQ of COSI, and Monday morning are the pictures and then a pumpkin festival. We'll all go our separate ways Tuesday morning...unless I can convince my loving, wonderful family to come back here because Tim is gong to be gone the entire week. He is leaving for North Dakota with Knight. They are both dreaming of duck and pheasant but it sounds like there is going to be a lot of everything where they're going.

I believe Jennifer's hubby is coming with her, but I don't know if we'll be seeing him. I'm told he's going bow hunting. Tim considered coming when he heard this, but after looking at his calendar and seeing his North Dakota trip during that same time, well, it's obvious where his heart REALLY is! LOL (Love you, babe.)

The only person not coming is my...sweet...sister, Tiffany. Her and her wanderer husband just got back a couple weeks ago from a trip out to CA to see the Redwoods. They don't know how to travel in a straight line. I know they stopped at a relatives house in ID I think it was, then spent some time on the hot southern red stone of Utah before continuing on. I'm sure there were quite a few more stops in there! If we want to see her over the Christmas holidays, then she can't make it to the cabin in Columbus. I'll get over it eventually, Tiff. :P

Tim is actually leaving tomorrow, too, on a trip to Michigan he knew was coming, just not when. Early Tuesday morning his paternal grandfather died after about a years battle with cancer. I was saddened to hear of his death. I only really saw him during family reunions and could tell he loved having everyone together. Tim and I did see him briefly last Christmas, but honestly, I couldn't bear to look at him. He was so frail and thin, having to sleep in a portable bed inside his house and not in his own bed. The situation reminded me of my mom and her death of cancer back in April of 2003. His service will be on Saturday. Tim and I had already discussed that he would attend alone. Great Grandpa G. will be greatly missed.

Hope everyone is well. Love to all.

Yolanda