stickyfeathers

brain dump.

tonight i felt like blogging (instead of doing a list of other crap i should be doing).  it's going to be a total brain dump and scattered all over the place.  enjoy.

the kids are sick.  well, levi just has a runny nose, but tucker has a horrible cough.  he ran a fever of 100* last night, but hasn't had one since.  i had a sick day on monday to bring levi in for his 18 month checkup, and ended up bringing both of them in.  tucker was prescribed an inhaler.  for this and for his other coughing spells he gets when he gets worked up (running around).  i've given them warm vapor baths, gave tucker honey in different forms (which he was not a fan of), cough syrup, vicks ... you name it.  i want this sickness over now.  listening to them cough and hack is the worst.  i'm not one to bring my kid in to the doctor for a simple cold/cough, but this one was bad.  so, hoping tucker goes back to school tomorrow.  he's missed two days (which he was pretty bummed about).  pray we have a good night!

i will do a post on levi soon.  need to update you on all his eighteen month-ed-ness. 

this next month is going to be a struggle at weight watchers.  even though i lost .8 during the week of thanksgiving ... i think december is going to be hard.  cookies.  fudge.  candy.  hoping the changes coming to the plan and also biggest loser on tv help to keep me motivated.  i'm sort of looking forward to the new year and the new push again.  i don't want to waste december, but i just know it will be tough.

i ordered myself new snow gear.  i'm pumped.  tucker also got a new winter jacket and bibs since the kid is growing like a weed.  levi fits perfectly in some of tucker's things i saved so that's awesome!

i may or may not have bought chocolate stars recently and ate some.  whoops.  sorry weight watchers!  see, i'm week.  i need bob harper.

i want siri.  like yesterday.

i need to get cracking on my christmas shopping.  not sure if i want to do it ALL online.  last year i think i did almost everything online.  so nice, but this year i think i might hit up the stores for some things. 

we put up our tree tonight.  pretty sure levi is going to be the cause of 'christmas tree catastrophe 2011'.  besides unplugging the lights, he already ripped off a couple ornaments almost causing the tree to tip. 

tucker is loving hockey.  i have to do a post about this soon. 

i really need to paint my living room.  haven't i been saying that for like a year now?  okay, maybe i haven't been writing about it due to my lack of blogging, but dude, it's been ON MY MIND.  let's see how much longer it takes me.

i think that's enough for now.  hope to catch up on things ... anything ... around here soon.  wondering if anyone is even still reading.  :)

thankful.

when i stop and look around at what i have in my life, i am incredibly thankful. 

this morning, tucker told me 'happy thanksgiving' and then told me that he was thankful for me and all the nice things i do for him.  it was so adorable.  i told him i was thankful for all of my boys.  his daddy, his brother and him ... they are my everything.  i am so blessed.

i am also thankful for the rest of my family.  i really am surrounded by the best people.  my mom is always there for me, spoils me every now and then, and takes time to take care of her grandbabies (which means so much to all of us).  my dad is an amazing guy.  is he always the calm in the middle of the storm.  i have learned so much from him in my life.  i am beyond thankful for him.  my brother and sister are the best anyone could possibly have.  i married well and have the best in-law's the world could have paired me with.  every single member of my family is so important to me.  i am a lucky girl.

this wouldn't be complete if i didn't say i was thankful for my friends.  they all have a special place in my life.  many times i think many of our friends may as well be our siblings ... they are that close to my heart.  life would not be the same without these special people in our lives. 

it might go without saying that i'm thankful for good jobs, a roof over our head and a healthy family.  however, i'll say it anyways.  we really probably don't say we are thankful enough.  it's not just on one day that i'm thankful for all of this stuff ... it's every single day of the year.

oh, and i'm thankful for all my blog readers.  you guys are pretty rad.  :)

happy thanksgiving from my house to yours. 

birthday wishes ... on time.

i feel a little bit guilty sharing this since i haven't even blogged about tucker's FIFTH birthday and levi's FIRST birthday yet. whoops. i swear i'm going to catch up one of these days. promise. maybe.

anyways, last night we celebrated my nephew's first birthday. his birthday is today, but we got together with my dad's side of the family last night. it was nice to just BE together. 

everytime i look at this little dude, i think about my brother.  he is the spitting image.  i mean, he looks a lot like his pretty mama too, but still, there's something about him.  maybe it's those big dark eyes.  either way, i'm so proud to be his auntie.  pretty sure he whispered in my ear last night that i'm his favorite auntie as well.  :)

i can't believe this little bugger is ONE YEAR OLD. he totally just melts my heart.


little g ... happy birthday! we all love you!

magic.

there are so many moments in our lives that we know when they happen that we are going to remember them forever.  today, i was taken back to my senior year in high school.  before rolling your eyes, hear me out.  :)

our high school football team is the section 5 (nine-man) champions.  they are off to play in their first state quarterfinal game tomorrow.  today, as they left town, people all over town lined up in various places along their route to wave, honk and cheer them on.  in this moment, it felt like i was back in 1999. 

in 1999, i was a high school senior.  our hockey team went to state.  i got to go along for the ride because i was the manager for the team (best ever if i do say so myself).  we had the most amazing send off when we left town on our way to the tournement.  i ran into that same coach that brought us to state this morning.  he told me that it still brings a tear to his eye thinking about it.  when your whole team is supported by your community, it is a magical feeling.  i'm not sure if big towns have this same feeling, but it is one of the reasons i have always loved living in a small town. 

with all this excitement surrounding our football team, i can't help but think back to the days where i was one of the stat girls (with my still-to-this-day best friends) on our team.  i loved high school football.  LOVED.  the crisp fall air.  seeing your breath out on the field.  mittens + hot chocolate.  even though i only had eyes for one football player (hello, future husband) ... the way they looked in their uniforms with the huge shoulder pads ... i mean, hello!?  listening to the talk on the field ... and the whistles + pep band + cheers.  running up and down the field to get the stats or to scream after a touchdown.  freezing + loving it.  the whole atmosphere under those friday night lights was magical.  something i never want to forget. 

so, tomorrow as our high school football team plays in their first game at state ... i hope they feel the magic.  i hope they know how special this time in their life is.  i hope they play with everything they got, knowing that it doesn't matter how many more guys the other team has or what their record is.  tomorrow, the only thing that is going to matter is the final score up on that board.  and i hope our mariner boys are able to keep that magic alive ... knowing that they never want to forget the moment they are in. 

and who knows?  maybe years from now ... i'm going to look back on today as i'm sending my cook boys off to play in the game of their life.  :)

boys.

so, i have about a million favorite images.  this shot falls right into that category. 

late this fall, my brother, his wife + little dude were all over playing outside with us.  at the time, i was trying to get some good shots of levi's mullet, but because he is like SUPERFAST, it wasn't working out so well.  instead, we gathered the kids up for a 'cousin shot'.  tucker has a habit of trying to 'make' levi smile (as seen in the picture below) and it seems gordy had his own tricks for levi as well.  i laugh every single time i look at this picture.

boys.

a tradition.

even though i have taken like a kazillion pictures of tucker in his life, there was one i was really excited to have taken.  the annual school picture.  some of my photographer friends are probably cringing! 

i had no idea what kind of facial expression i would get when the pictures returned.  would i get the BIG CHEESY smile that made his eyes disappear?  would i get a stone cold look?  would he look awkward?  mad?  dirty?  haha.  i was so excited to see him bring the envelope home so i could finally see.

i think it was just perfect.  having the cookie cutter photographer take a picture every year of my kid is going to be a tradition here.  it's something i can't wait to compare with his dad's old school photos.  i'm also looking forward to being able to compare all my boys pictures.  :)

the cutest thing though, was that tucker was bummed that i put the 8x10 of his picture OVER one of the framed pictures of matt and i from our wedding day (i covered up the ugly one, i still have my favorite one out).  the kid pretty much melts my heart in print and in living color.