I'm Gavin And I know It

My cousin, Ashly, sent me this link for me to share with the boys.  As I could have guessed, Gavin was the one who wanted to watch the video over and over.  Check out his unusual dancing skills.

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You can Hope for change...

Gavin: "Daddy, can I eat my cereal like a puppy on the ground in front of the T.V.?"

Steve: "Okay, Bluey (his dog name),  I suppose this one time it'll be okay."

Harrison: "No, no, no!  Mommy says we're not allowed to eat in front of the T.V., WE HAVE TO EAT AT THE TABLE!!"

Steve: "Harrison, I said it's okay, Mommy's at work and I'm in charge."

Harrison: "No, Mommy's the boss!!"

Steve: "Then, what am I?"

Harrison: "You're the boss after Mommy's the boss.  First Mommy, then you!"

Steve: "Well, Mom's not here, she's at work, so I'm the boss now."

Harrison: "No, you need to call her at work and see if she says it's okay!!"

 Gavin: "Harrison, Daddy says it's okay!  It's okay!"

It was imperative to have a third child to break this two-way tie we have in our family.  Steve and I are both heavily campaigning for Cannon's vote (so far I'm leading by 92% due to my ability to provide fresh milk in seconds). The favor will likely swing towards Steve once Cannon is able to enjoy wrestling and being carried around upside down. I'm going to enjoy my 66% lead while I can and put policies in place that will ensure my hold for years to come.  **Perhaps I've been watching too many political debates lately?**

 Harrison picked these flowers for me yesterday and made me a cup of coffee.  All without being prompted, just because he loves his Momma.  I told Cannon to pay attention and take notes.  Oh, yes, Steve, Cannon will be mine.  I will have a strong hold with my lead and rule for years to come.  You can Hope for change all you want, Steveboma.

Like Father Like Son

Steve's shoes and pants are thrilled to finally have found company. Yay for me!

Signed,
The laundry lady


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Location:Kylemore Ln,Greer,United States

Grammy's Visit

Grammy came to stay with us while I started my job and endured hospital orientation.  The boys were so super excited that Grammy was here they didn't even notice that I wasn't! My hat is off to all the working moms in the world who live in ground hog day of doing the same routine of go, go, go everyday.  I started off each day grateful I chose a profession that didn't require a monotonous schedule.  

I was never happier then seeing the first week came to an end; I had two glorious days off with the family.  After a relaxing Saturday morning we drove to North Carolina and went gem mining. We have done this before here. It's exciting to look at a mound of dirt hoping to find priceless gems as you sift through it.  

We found some pretty good-sized rubies and amethysts.  This has Steve stoked about trying to be the next John Hardy and make his own jewelry.  This man and his crafts, Oy!, it's hard to keep up with.  

Grammy even got in on the action.  Although I think she enjoyed the shop inside more than digging through dirt!

 Alright, South Carolina, these boiled peanuts (pronounced bawled peanuts) you keep talking about? Making me think my mouth is going to reach nirvana as I chewing them.  You. Are. Wrong.  Think lima bean texture with a peanut taste--odd, a combination that should never be paired. 

 Gavin pilfered a pocket-full of rocks off of the ground from the rock mining park that he wanted to bring home and paint.  I didn't realize he had so many rocks until we were onto our next adventure and I had to keep re-tightening his belt because his pants kept falling down.  What is it with little boys and rocks?

Harrison had also collected rocks from a previous trip--God-knows-where (seriously, these boys come home with rocks all the time!) and he wanted to paint his, too.  A morning craft to keep them occupied: check!

 

There is no evidence of a broken arm here.  Harrison has healed and is back in action!

Grammy snuggling Cannon Ball keeping him warm at the park.

Thanks, Grammy, for coming to stay with us! After two weeks of Grammy and G-Jo the house is just too quiet.  Plan another visit soon!

Can-The-Man 8 Months Old

 So many firsts happened this month; G-Jo's first visit, Grammy's first visit, your first ear infection, my first job here in South Carolina, and a blogger first....I didn't get your 8 month shirt done on your eighth month birthday!  It has been busy, busy, busy! Let's just get down to it....

 G-Jo's visit was pintastic! We have some well-written blog posts to attest to that, my guest writer puts my writing to shame!  I don't write because I like it, it's a struggle to put my thoughts into words. I write to capture these moments that pass too quickly that I know one day I'll want to look back on (I hope you and your brothers do, too!) and remember.  Grammy is here visiting being the "mom" during the week while I start my new job in the NICU.  After five eight-hour days, hospital orientation isn't  nearly over, and I am dying! It's grueling sitting in class all day missing you and your brothers. I can't wait for it to be over so I can return to my normal night shift schedule.  Although it's hard staying up all night it's even harder not being able to be home doing the job I love best.

 You have not helped make the transition to my returning to work any easier.  You are a bonafied boob-addict and will not take a bottle. That, alone, makes you less-than-pleasant to take care of.  Added to that, you have a cold and cough that has developed into an ear infection; you are raking Grammy over the coals!  She says you're lucky you're so cute!

You have met some developmental milestones this month, rocking back and forth on your knees, rolling all over, almost pulling to a sitting position, but none more my favorite than...drum-roll, please... 

Giving kisses!!  It's the best!  All I have to do is ask for a kiss, pucker up, and wait for the best open mouth kiss to be planted. 

Pinsanity Finale

                      Sock bun: our next-to-the-last Pinterest craft on our Pinsanity weekend.

I had to watch an actual demonstration to see how this process worked.  It took a few attempts, but as you can see, a sock was turned into a hair bun.

The idea is to wear this attractive little hairpiece to bed and wake up in the morning.......

.....to this!  Pinarguably the sock created the Pintended outcome: waves, curls, and body.  We're not Pinsinuating anything here, but Pinasmuch as we were expecting a Pincredible head of shiny curls cascading down Greta's back, we weren't initially Pinpressed, however, we became Pincreasingly more pleased as the morning wore on.

And, finally, our very last Pinsanity Weekend project: turning an ordinary cardboard box into a Pinpressive storage container.

Pay no attention to the naked boy on the left.  He is merely between costumes. 

We needed a cardboard box: Greta had plenty, cool fabric: we found these two remnants at Hancock Fabrics, and spray adhesive.  I can't say I've ever used spray adhesive before.  I had a Pinkling I was going to really like it and I did.  Pinpressive, Pindeed.

Pinsanity Weekend is now just a Pincredible memory that will Pinspire us to keep the creative ideas flowing.  From the monster jeans to the laundry detergent to the continuous Pin something-or-the-other-words,  it was a truly AMAZING weekend.  Thank you, Greta.  You Pinspire us all.  I turn the keyboard back to you now...... 

Pinsanity Take II

Exit: White Cheddar Cheese Ball Snacks. Enter: 14 lbs of homemade laundry detergent.  Greta wanted one of those cool apothecary jars like the original Pinterest posting for the homemade detergent.  However, since we spent an entire morning locating the ingredients for the soap, there wasn't time for another shopping outing.

If  you know Gavin, you know that hauling around a monster container of snacks--in this case said cheese balls--throughout the house is his mantra.  For the remaining few balls, he will have to carry around a zip-lock bag, because the container is now the new home of a year's supply of laundry detergent.  We highly recommend this Pinterest idea.  It really did only cost about $20.00 and is suppose to last at least nine months.  The laundry came out very clean and the smell is Pinvigorating!






Good thing the laundry detergent has such a pleasant aroma because the smell of making deviled eggs left us all wondering who "let one go?"  Another Pinterest idea:  using a zip-lock bag to mix the "deviled" part of the eggs.





It is truly a Pingenious idea.  The ingredients easily blend together.  The best part: snip the corner with a pair of scissors and squeeze the contents into each shell.



 A Sprinkle of paprika and, in Steve's words, deviled eggs are the original "poppable food."  Pincidentally,  Greta's neighbor wasn't Pinpressed.

Greta has a bay window that was screaming "window seat!"   So we found some cute fabric and let the Pinspiration begin.  What makes a window seat Pinterest-worthy? It's not the really cool combination of colors that blend well with the aqua-themed kitchen, nor is it the fabric glue that we used to close the last seam, it's not even the idea of adding Velcro to help hold it in place......

It's the "dis-pinterest" of You-Know-Who that makes the window seat project blog-worthy.  Steve read that the fabric glue needed "pressure" to make it "hold" so, as you can see, he applied some.  Pincidentally, Steve would like to use the fabric glue to fix the seam in one of his pants.

OMG!  This next Pinterest idea is absolutely Pinaginative!  Monsters have taken over where holes once were.

 It was complete Pinsanity Saturday morning as we created one monster after another......

                                                       And the jeans are cute, too, huh?

Each Pinsanity day included at least one "normal" activity.  Saturday was hiking 2.2 miles there.....and 2.2 miles back from..... 

.....this amazing waterfall.   There were a few moments of "are we going to do it?" thoughts, but we all made it, there AND back.  We had "scary" trees to manipulate around, huge rocks to explore, incredible views to take in, a hanging vine to dangle from, and mountain lions to avoid (not really, but Steve had the boys looking for them).  I think one of the most interesting sites along the way was seeing the friendliness of the other hikers.  I know this because as we passed each one Greta would ask, "how much longer to the waterfall?"   

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