Love of My Life = Jesus... or hot dogs?

Ever have those moments when you think you are going to have a memorable, spiritual, possibly life-changing conversation with your kids? Well, this was not one of those moments.

The boys and I were sitting together this morning, just relaxing and talking... "Mom, I love you THIS much." Andrew said, and spread his arms as wide as he could. Reese followed with, "Mom, I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really love you." (give or take a few "really"s) I was touched. "Ah, boys, I love you too. But you know... if you would have said you love Jesus more than me I would have been fine with that!"
Drew very sweetly replied, "Mom, I love Jesus more than you. And I love your hot dogs more than Jesus."

Ahh shoot! He almost got the point I was trying to make :) To offer a small explanation, I had said a few minutes earlier that I was going to grill them hot dogs for lunch. Since food is never far from his mind you can (kind-of) see where he came up with that.

So to recap... Drew loves #1 hot dogs, #2 Jesus, and #3 Mom (guess I should just be thankful I made the list at all)

Window

Drew is excitedly telling/showing everyone the "window" in his smile. Claire is still loving her "baby" that Grandma Gheen got her for Christmas. She refuses to sleep without it. We enjoyed a nice break in the cold weather today. The sun was shining. It hit 55 degrees outside. And I spent as much time outside as I possibly could. We went for a walk this afternoon and the boys splashed in every puddle they could find... and there were a LOT of puddles. They were soaked by the time we got home but the fresh air did wonders for us all.

I'm thinking snow boots and shorts will be the new "in" thing. :)

News

Big event in our household this week... Drew has his first loose tooth! He was eating a taco last night and kept complaining his tooth hurt. I checked it out and sure enough, one of his front bottom teeth is loose. He's pretty pumped and keeps talking, and talking, and talking about it.

In other news, Claire is walking. She has slowed down a little since falling a few times but she is starting to get brave again and is just taking off. She is very proud of herself and it's cute to watch. Claire is VERY attached to her baby that she got for Christmas. She cannot sleep without it and carries it around with her wherever she goes. Her new favorite thing is to find a piece of clothing from the floor or a laundry basket and put it on her head like a hat.

Reese's new thing is not so fun... he's into pouting. I have no idea where he learned it but when he's frustrated he sticks out his bottom lip, drops his shoulders and then his head. It is funny to see but we're still trying to encourage him not to do it.

I guess our other big news is we got our dog, Jazz, back from our friends. When we moved into our new house nearly 2 years ago, we didn't have a yard (just mud). Our friends, the Mailands, kindly took Jazz to live with them. They took great care of her and we got to see her fairly often since Sarah Mailand babysits for the boys regularly. The boys have missed her and have asked when she could come back to live with us. Well, I must have caught Tom on a VERY good day because he agreed and now she's back with us. The kids are really enjoying her and so far it's been a very easy adjustment to have her back with us.

The boys are taking good care of Jazz. Reese set her up with pillows and blankets for her nap on the couch...

Christmas, Birthday, and others

How do you know it's been a while since you updated your blog?... When your mother-in-law calls and, very politely, asks when she's going to see some updated pics of her grandkids!!

Here ya go, Bev!! I'll try to get some of the boys posted sometime soon...

We had a great time in Ohio over Christmas. Unfortunately Tom & Claire were sick but it was still wonderful to get to see family and celebrate together.

At the Cron Family Christmas we also celebrated Claire's 1st birthday.

The boys stayed in Ohio with Grandma Gheen for about a week after Christmas. We enjoyed a quiet house but I think Claire missed her brothers.

One morning I let Claire try the last drops of my protein shake...

... she really liked it.

We celebrated Claire and Annabelle's birthdays together (they are just 2 weeks apart in age).

I can't believe my baby is 1! Where did this year go?