From the Mouth of Babes

I really must say that there are moments that I feel Aidan is so loving and compashionate that it's amazing he even needs any guidance whatsoever. He is so good natured naturally that I can't even explain it and Ryan and I have both said on occasion that we don't deserve such a special little boy.

Last weekend I spent in the kitchen making sugar cookies for Santa and Chex Mix for the neighbors. We bundled up the kids on Sunday to deliver our goodies and I had exactly enough for all of our surrounding neighbors and for some other friends further down the street.

We set off and we thought it would be cute if Aidan was the one to hand them the bowl of goodies and if we could get him to say Merry Christmas. After the second house he was really into it saying "I want to do it again." He was a little nervous looking at some of the people, but after a little encouragement he would happily say "Merry Christmas!"

On our way home we came across a family we did not know that had little kids outside playing in the snow. They had seen what we were doing and Ryan and I felt bad that we did not have any extra bowls to give; as we only had one bowl left for one of our closest neighbors. Without any time to react, Aidan took the last bowl out from underneath the stroller and gave it to the little boy without hesitation saying as happily as possible "Merry Christmas!!!" (I am crying even as I write this). I was so overcome with his generosity and the fact that he did not know that that bowl was not for that family. He just knew that we were out giving away goodies, and yet he was doing what Ryan and I probably would have done eventually, but with hesitation.

Well, we figured out something for that last neighbor that didn't get his bowl of chex mix, but the most important thing that day was the lesson I learned from this sweet 3-year-old little boy.

Building a Ginger Bread House

We have been trying really hard to follow the cute advent calendar that Nicole and I made for all the girls. Today we decided to make our gingerbread house.

Aidan was so excited once he figured out what we were doing. I don't know if he was eating the candy more than putting it on the house, but he decorated the whole back of the house all by himself after we were done with the candy. Right now he's really into being praised for his actions so every time he put a candy on the house he yelled "I did it!!" I'm so glad he had fun and hope we can make this a tradition he will remember in the future. Sorry, the pictures aren't really in order.

Date Night.

First of all I want to say that I'm so upset with myself for not taking the camera with me. I meant to, but naturally I forgot it.
So I found out a week ago that Ryan was planning this date for last Friday. He called his mother on his own accord and asked her to watch the kids for the night. I overheard the conversation and he told me that he was planning a date night. He told me that the details were a surprise and so I laid in wait excited that he had taken the initiative to plan for us to go on a date.
When I dropped the kids off on Friday he was waiting at his mother's house where he had my new diamond ring. For those of you who don't know my ring fell off in January while I was at the office and I have not been able to find it since. Sniff, sniff. Ryan and I bought a new ring the day after Thanksgiving and got it for a ridiculously good deal.
The reason that this was so special was because it was five years to the day that he proposed while we were at his mom's house. I know, right!!! Sigh. He then took me to our favorite place to eat out....Cafe Rio. After that we were off to the Grizzly Hockey Game. It was seriously one of the best nights of my life! I could not believe that my husband was so thoughtful and that he actually did it all on his own! I love him so much and am so grateful that he took the time to tell me how special I was. Thanks babe!

My Alter Egos

I thought this was hilarious, so I copied it from Jenn! Love you girl!

1. My rock star name: Jingle Saturn [first pet and current car]
2. My gansta name: Snickers Sugar Cookie [favorite candy bar and cookie]
3. My Detective name: Green Dolphin [favorite color and animal]
4. My Star Wars name: Madda of wellbutrin [First three letters of last name and first two letters of first name, then the word "of" then a medication you are on]
5. My Super Hero name: The Purple Coke [2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "The" in front]
6. My Nascar name: Karen Verle [first names of your grandmothers]
7. My "lover" name: Curve licorice [favorite perfume/cologne and candy]
8. My witness protection name: Jean Clyde [mother's and father's middle names

Christmas time.

I love Christmas. For all the obvious reasons of course, but also for the not so obvious reasons. I love being in the kitchen making holiday goodies (for someone else of course ;). I love all of the opportunities to help out someone less fortunate. I try to do as much as I can...donating to the Salvation Army, the Food Bank, and we always try to do a secret santa.

I also love the fact that no matter how less fortunate you happen to be, there's always someone less fortunate for you and so everyone has an opportunity to give. I think people are better for the most part (although I don't see it at the stores; especially the day after Thanksgiving. LOL). I love teaching my kids about Christmas and the excitement of doing something new. Aidan was so excited when I got out all the Christmas tree stuff; he couldn't stop being in the middle of it to help.

I love feeling gratitude and being thankful for the things I've got now and for the blessings I've received throughout the year. I have a wonderful family, extended included. I've come to learn that every day is so precious and that I should be thankful for every minute with my kids (it makes me more patient). I'm grateful for friends and I think the longer you have a friend the more you love them. I love all five of my girls especially, I hope you know who you are.

I'll stop rambling, but I just wanted to express a little bit about how I feel about the Holiday and let everyone know how much I love them.

Super Grunt

So Ryan and I got Aidan and Teagues costumes this year online and they are Batman and Robin this year.

Well, we got their pictures done at the beginning of this month so that we would have them back by Halloween. Ryan was putting some of them in frames and Aidan kept calling his younger brother Super Teague. When we asked him to say that Teague was Robin he said "no, it's Super Teague." We thought it was adorable!

I'm really going to miss all the cute things that kids say when they are learning to express themselves. Like tonight, I was going to visit some friends and Aidan was so excited to be going somewhere. We got to the end of the street and Ryan had come home from his school orientation. I asked him if he wanted to come with me and he said he did, so we turned around and went back to the house.

I pull into the driveway and Aidan says: "Dang it!" I look back at him and he has hit his forehead with the back of his hand. I asked him what was wrong and suddenly I realized he was reacting to have had to go back to the house after only making it to the end of the street. I ended it by assuring him that we would still be leaving, we were just picking up daddy so he could come with us.

Welcome nephew #4!

After so long of waiting for him, he's finally here. I honestly can't say who's more excited; me or Booger. He cannot stop talking about the baby and every time he's in the same room he has to be holding him.

He was born on Friday at 1:53 p.m. and weighed 7lb. 11oz. 19" long. He looks just like his sister and has the same birth marks, only they extend over the other eye.

He seems to be a fairly timid baby and manages not to cry even when he's hungry. He's a little sweet piece of heaven to hold and it's so exciting to have another one in the family.

I have to admit, it makes me a little baby hungry, but I know that right now is really good timing for Ryan to get his Master's and I am not mentally prepared to change more diapers for the next two years.

Our goal is also for me to be able to stay at home so I'm not having to put another baby through having a mother who has to work full time and is constantly saying "I can play with you in a little while." It is just over way too quickly and I'm going to make it last as long as I can the next couple of times.

Grunt's Party

I can't believe my baby is 1! It seems like just yesterday I was begging the doctor to put me out of my misery and send me into labor.

Teague loves to be the center of attention and is a total ham!! He's a lot of work, but when he smiles and acts all goofy like he loves to do, you often forget the work that goes into it. He's really a very sweet boy and I'm so happy to have hime, wiggles and all.

Ready for Church

Here are my handsome boys ready for church after they got new outfits.

Unspectacular Quirks

So I loved this post that my good friend Erin put on her blogspot and have decided to copy...it was funny to hear some of the things that she is so anal about. After knowing her for six years some of these things I still did not know and I thought it was kind of fun. The goal is to list six unspectacular quirks about yourself...I don't know if I can come up with that many, but here goes.

1) It absolutely drives me insane when Ryan won't finish the dishes! He's so good to help, but he just hates doing pans and absolutely avoids them at all costs. Even when he thinks he's done the dishes all the way, he usually hasn't washed out the sink. Love you honey!!

2) Like Erin, I hate it when the lids to Teague's bottles don't match. I noticed that some of the bottles weren't matching, and I would try to match them up when I did dishes and couldn't get them all to match up. I love Ryan, and thought that maybe it was his color blindness, so one night I asked him to try really hard to look at the colors and match them up. He responded by stating that one of the lids to the bottles had melted in the dishwasher. Now I have to put up with at least one of his bottles not matching at any given time. It's really annoying.

3) I'm like that with clothes too. Ryan will dress the kids for me some mornings, and because he didn't pick the pants that went with that shirt I'm up the stairs finding the right one. When he can help it, Ryan always asks what I want the kids wearing.

4) I LOVE to play card games. Solitaires are great, but I will even play 2 player card games by myself while filling in for both people. I try very hard when playing one person or the other not to help the other hand...I don't know if that makes sense, but I really enjoy it. Nicole says there were many a nights when we were living together that she heard me up in my room at night shuffling cards.

5) I HATE giving the kids a bath. I don't know what it is, I think it might have to do with being on my knees at the edge of the bathtub for so long. I usually try to talk Ryan into giving them the bath and then I will get them dresssed. When it is absolutely necessary for me to give the kids a bath I usually try to get it done as quickly as possible.

6) I LOVE to cook! To many of you this may not come as a surprise, but I love learning new recipes and trying new things in the kitchen. I'm not creative enough to come up with recipes on my own but I'm always trying to find something easy and new to try.

Hectic next couple of months, and some random rambling.

So, I can't believe it's been a whole week since I touched my blogspot. I haven't taken any pictures, and I don't really have much to tell. It's kind of sad.

I have been pretty crazy busy with work and we're trying to refinance the home, so that's kind of a lot. I guess it really boils down to me being so busy. I am a kind of strange creature. I go through phases where I have to have the house clean and I am staying on top of everything by doing two loads of laundry a day, picking up 2-3 times a day, and cleaning the ENTIRE house on the weekends. This weekend I have a wonderful task of getting the front lawn ready for the fall. I want to replace all of the shrubs and start fresh in the spring. I'm also going to paint my shutters and front door.

Mind you, this only lasts 2-3 months, then I get frustrated because my house NEVER stays clean and I'm just picking up once a day and so swamped on Saturday that I don't really care taht I didn't get anything done. Well, I'm in one of those tidy moods right now and it's only lasted about 2 weeks, so I've got a ways to go. This really confuses Ryan because he then wonders why I all of the sudden care if the floors have been scrubbed or ligthly mopped, why I have to clean the molding, straighten out the cupboards, etc.

The next 5 months are going to be pretty crazy with Teague turning one next month, Misty having her baby, and moving to Germany in November. Stacey is also having her baby in November. I then have another little neice coming in January. Honestly, I'm looking forward to it because it means I will be making baby blankets and doing craft projects for the little ones I'm so excited to meet. And the last half of the year is going to be much better than the first by meeting these precious babies as opposed to burying a grandmother and almost a grandfather. Count you blessing, name them one by one.....

Trying on Our Costumes

I love Halloween!! It is one of my all-time favorite Holidays next to Christmas. And yes, I know it's still a month and a half away...okay, maybe a little more.

I was surfing the internet looking for ideas for my witches costume when I found these costumes online. I couldn't believe they had them in toddler size and infants! They were not badly priced, so I got a bonus from work and ordered them online.

I got them in the mail yesterday and had to try them on the kids so that I knew whether or not they fit. If they didn't, I could return them and get them back in time for Trick-or-Treating. (ok, so maybe this is all just a ploy to cover my over excitement, but I think it's a pretty good cover). Anyway, they were so cute I couldn't resist getting pictures taken of my little Batman and Robin.

I was so surprised that Teague actually let us put the face mask on and then you could tell he thought it was so cool. He didn't touch it until we took it off of him and you could tell he just thought he was hot stuff. Aidan was throwing fits and so scared to put his costume on, and us being the mean parents made him put it on. It did help a little that Teague was in his costume first, because then Aidan wanted to participate. After we put it on him he kept asking if we were done. I guess I'll be letting him wear it a couple of times before Halloween just so that he can get used to it. Anyway, I'm just glad he was a good sport long enough to get these cute pictures.

Love/Hate Relationship

This is a rare and once in a lifetime picture. Kylee NEVER lets Ryan hold her. I think this may be the second time in the entire 18 months that Kylee has been alive.

It's not that Kylee really hates Ryan or that Ryan doesn't like Kylee, but Ryan scares Kylee because of his yelling and his deep voice. She has not been around men very much since her father is in Germany and Misty and my mom have pretty much raised her. She tries to avoid him as much as possible.

Ryan can't really tolerate Kylee very much because she has those Kerby lungs and is very loud, and as most people know, toddlers have a tendency to whine. Now, this strikes me as odd because Teague also happens to have those Kerby lungs and can really get on my nerves when he's being difficult, but it doesn't really seem to bother Ryan too much. Ryan cannot tolerate, however, 10 seconds of Kylee's crying. My only explanation is that maybe it's because Teague is his own child.

Anyway, Kylee happened to be at the house, my mom and I were busy, and Kylee was very tired and therefore throwing a huge temper tantrum. Ryan asked her if she wanted him to hold her and before you knew it, this was the scene. I told Mom I had to be sure to get a picture of Kylee's face because I thought that Misty would never believe me....well, here's the proof.

Comic Created for ME!

So Ryan totatlly made my day today by sending me this comic! He always rolls his eyes at my obsession to sleep with a fan close to my face each night. I've done this since I can remember. It has come to the point that I can't sleep without the noise or the air. I don't think Ryan would even have grounds to make fun of me except for the fact that not only do I have a 5 inch fan less than five feet away and directed right at my face, but I also insist on running the ceiling fan every night. Needless to say, this describes me to a T!!

Thank you PaPa!!

Oh my gosh!! Yesterday was the most wonderful relaxing day ever!! It was gorgeous weather and I had so much fun!

We had gotten up and finished doing our weekly cleaning of the house, Ryan and I had exercised...and his parents called to tell us that they were going to lunch with Ryan's uncle and aunt and invited us along. After a wonderful lunch with some extended family members we don't get to see very often, Ryan and I talked them into coming over for a couple games of pinochle (one of our FAVORITE card games). Aidan had been playing with Harlan's palm pilot and drawing on it. Harlan wanted to pay attention to the game at hand, and so he was going to put the palm pilot away. We talked him into letting Aidan play with it as long as he sat there at the table with us. As Harlan handed it off we could hear Aidan saying without any provocation "THANK YOU PAPA!" It was a moment where you had to be there, I know, but it was soo sweet! It makes you feel good when you know that your kids really are learning what you're trying to teach them.

We got to end the day by walking to Maverick with the kids in strollers and getting an ice cream cone. It was such a nice relaxing day.

I AM

I.....Darcy

I AM ...someone who is fascinated by criminal justice. I spend my time watching cold case files, working in security, and watching crime dramas.

I WANT... to be able to stay home with my kids without having to work.

I HAVE ... a wonderful home, healthy kids, a super helpful and loving husband, and a wonderful religion that pulls me through EVERYTHING.

I WISH I COULD ... be a homicide detective without putting my family at risk. To become a detective, you have to be in patrol and that's just too much of a risk.

I HATE ... being so angry and nagging all the time. I take some things way too seriously.

I FEAR ... dying young...for some reason I thought it would always happen. I'm afraid my kids won't remember me if that happens.

I HEAR ....Aidan is watching one of his many favorite movies.

I SEARCH ... to become close to my Father in Heaven.

I DON'T THINK ... that my kids get enough of my attention.

I REGRET ...Not finishing my degree sooner.

I LOVE ...my husband and kids.

I ACHE FOR ... couples that are struggling to become parents.

I ALWAYS CRY ... when I'm overwhelmed and overstressed.

I AM NOT ...A typical mother.

I DANCE ... when I'm deliriously happy and to exercise.

I SING ... ALL the time. I even make up my own songs.

I NEVER ... want to give up on my marriage.

I RARELY ... get to spend time on my crafts.

I CRY WHEN I WATCH ...someone mistreating children. Children suffering for any reson.

I AM NOT ALWAYS ... as patient with my husband as I should be....I need to give him more slack.

I HATE THAT ... My house will never be all the way cleaned or organized.

I'M CONFUSED ABOUT ... my depression. I desperately wish I could get rid of it.

I NEED ... to feel validated and appreciated and needed.

I SHOULD ... be playing cars with my children and making the little revving noises.