We've had a really nice day. We had church and the boys and I came home while Johnny had a meeting. I got lots of different little areas cleaned out while the boys ate lunch. I'm on a purging spree and am trying to go through the house a little at a time to get ready for a yard sale I intend to have this summer. The boys took a great nap while Johnny and I watched some TV on the DVR. When the boys woke up Johnny took them outside while I got dinner ready and tried to do some more cleaning. We watched Cars after bath time and the boys are in bed while we're watching Heroes. It's not my favorite show, but Johnny really enjoys it.

Saturday we had dinner with Craig and Diana at Olive Garden, usually a very nice evening, but none of us really enjoyed our dinner last night. Oh well. We did enjoy the company lots! Our week is looking pretty empty for now, but I'm sure it will get busy pretty quick.

Some of the funny things Corban says, "Can me mall!" as he runs to do a "cannon ball" in the middle of the living room floor. "My eye Captain" and he constantly talks about the bears and how he had to eat their supper on the deck because they're not allowed in Mommy's house. Caden is getting a little attitude and is liking showing it off. He LOVES for us to all be together and when whoever has been gone comes home, he just keeps saying, "Mama ome" or "Daddy ome." He loves to talk on the "one" and informs us the minute he is "done-a" with a meal. Ah, I love my boys and the joy they bring to my life!

Why do I get on a kick and totally obsess over it for weeks on end? I want to cloth diaper. I've got a few of one brand, and I don't love them, so I've gone on the hunt for more. I've done research, agonized over spending the money, and decided to buy a new kind. I ordered them Tuesday. Now that it's 11:15 pm, Johnny is sleeping in the basement b/c he's leaving early in the morning to go fishing, and I'm STILL researching cloth diapers online. I should be in bed! I should be doing something constructive with my time! No, I'm researching something that I've already researched and probably will do nothing with the information that I've gathered, except second guess my decision until the new ones come in and I can see for myself. I do this with everything. I still look up strollers, nursery furniture, and bedding online even though I've got all of those things, can't afford to buy new, and probably wouldn't even if I could. UGH!

Welcome to my 200th post by the way!

Today MOPS was cancelled, but I didn't know that until I was mostly ready. Since I had planned to get out anyway and I was ready, I decided to take the boys to the mall to play in the Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood. Sometimes this is harder than you would imagine because Caden has a habit of running out of the area and it's just hard to keep an eye on both of them all of the time. Today was different though, both boys were just amazingly well behaved and they were having so much fun! All of a sudden I saw these kids yelling at Corban to go away and saying "We don't want to play with you!" He came back to me and said, "they tell me go away." I wanted to cry for him so bad! He kept trying though, until I saw two of the boys hit him. It wasn't a hard hit or anything, but totally unprovoked. I had had enough. I walked over and told them not to hit and made it very clear to Corban that he needed to stay away from them. I am not that kind of mother, but I just could not help myself.

I did realize something out of all of this though. I definitely saw Corban in a different light. I've always worried about him being too rough with other kids and a bit of a bully. I know he still has that in him, but I saw a sweetness to him today. All he wanted was to play with the other kids and he wasn't acting out when it wasn't working out his way. It gave me hope that he is going to be able to "play well with others"

My children are awake.

Caden has finally started calling me "Mama!" He's been able to say it for a while now, he just chooses, like his brother before him, to call me "Daddy." Finally, at almost 18 months he is calling me Mama some. Again, it's the little things that make my day.

I haven't talked to Corban today, I'm trying not to call too much and bother them. I did call last night and tell him "night night." He wasn't very interested in talking to me because he was eating watermelon. Yeah, he misses us so much! (Make sure you read that sentence with lots of sarcasm). Last night Caden was running a fever, but it was gone this morning and back again this afternoon. Johnny went to a visitation and preached a funeral this morning, someone we don't know. Caden and I got groceries, it was a "big grocery" as I call it and it just about wiped me, and my bank account, out. We're having roast chicken and vegetables tonight and then I'll be able to make chicken noodle soup with the leftovers. Johnny is in the basement trying to go through some stuff. Our big project this week while Corban is gone is supposed to be cleaning out the garage and the unfinished part of the basement. I need to get stuff cleared out for a yard sale this spring and we need somewhere to put all of the baby stuff until we need it again and no, that is not some thinly veiled suggestion that we're having another baby soon. Johnny still has to write the sermon and I've got to do the bulletin, but we're hoping to do something fun with just Caden and maybe go out to dinner since we've got half the "trouble."

And I lost another pound! Just 4 more to go and I'm at pre-baby weight!

I had to go get my glasses fixed today. I've had to wear them because I've got allergies so no contacts for me for a while and then my frames were kind of pulled out of shape. No matter what I did, they sat rooked on my face and I just couldn't deal with that anymore! I had to go to a bad part of town and park on the street, so I was a little nervous, but it all worked out, they fixed them while I waited and it only cost $2! Johnny took the boys to Wal-Mart to get an extension cord for the freezer and I'm expecting them back any minute. Tomorrow we are going to Altoona for lunch to meet Johnny's Mom and let Corban go home with her for a few days. I'm looking forward to having some time just with Caden and to maybe have a calmer house for a few days, but I'm gonna miss my boy! He's not coming home until Sunday. The most I've ever been away from them was last February John and Paulette took Corban for two nights and sometime in the spring Johnny took both boys to his parents for two nights. In two months he'll be 3 years old, I don't know how I like my babies growing up so fast.

Johnny is at the park with the boys. He took Caden's new 4-wheeler and Corban's tricycle to ride on the basketball courts up there. They're headed home now and I think they're pretty wet! I stayed home to do the bulletin and make muffins for tomorrow morning. I have to admit, the blueberry ones are pretty tasty!

Last night Christina kept the boys so that we could go out on a date - it's been a long time! We drove about 40 minutes (which most people would not do around here) to go to the Texas Roadhouse and to see The Blind Side. Dinner was great and the movie was excellent! We actually go the last two seats before it sold out, so we were pretty excited about that! We got back much later than expected, but Christina had gotten both boys in bed! I couldn't believe it when we walked in because I'm pretty sure we're the only ones to have put Caden down ever and Corban for more than a year! It was nice to just come in and have the house to ourselves for a bit before we collapsed.

We had water damage this week, Johnny went down to the basement Wednesday morning and there was water pouring into the finished part of the basement from the garage. Thankfully Luke came over to help J get the garage cleared out and the finished room cleared and cleaned. We sucked up as much water as we could and we've been running fans all day since it happened, but the carpet is still pretty damp.

Well, J is home with the boys, I had better go help them get out of wet clothes!

Dalmation Boy

Tonight we were watching 101 Dalmations and Caden was driving me crazy. He was twisting and turning and getting up and down and nothing seemed to settle him down. Finally, he went into the play room and dug around for a bit and then came out with this foam visor hat thing that was made to look like a dog... a black and white spotted dog. He said "ooon" and was completely content the rest of the evening wearing his dalmation hat. These kids crack me up!

I have a new computer! I asked for money for Christmas, like I usually do, and bought myself a laptop. Johnny will take our desktop over to the church so that he has a fully functioning computer in his office to use. I am so excited about this thing I can't even tell you! It's got a webcam so that I can talk to Mom and Dad. I am so excited for them to be able to see the boys as often as they want! Now I just have to figure out how to use the webcam!

We've had a bit of a hard weekend. The boys have not slept well at all - well, mostly Corban. He hasn't felt great, so I think that's most of it. He threw up today after church, but he doesn't have a fever or anything, so we're not really sure what that's about. Poor guy was pretty puny all day today though. Yesterday we went to Cabela's, it's about an hour away in Wheeling, WV and it was a rough day. Both boys had leaked through their diapers/pull ups by the time we got there and we didn't have clothes for Caden, it was really crowded in there and neither of them was happy to be in the cart or holding our hands. We went to Cracker Barrel to eat and Caden proceeded to break not one, but two biscuit plates while we were there. At least the both went down for decent naps after we got home!

Caden has gotten himself a little temper lately and I'm not enjoying it. He's getting to that independent stage where he wants to do everything for himself, so me trying to do things like feed him oatmeal in the morning are a huge pain. I've got to get a pic of him up here though becaue he got a couple pair of mittens for Christmas and I think they're his favorite things! He finds one and brings it to us and says, "ooonnn" until we put his mitten on for him and then he wears it around for a bit. He's got a total Michael Jackson thing going on. Well, Corban just got up for the first time of the night, so I had better get going.