Going on a mission

Here is one thing I want to remember and never forget about this stage of my boys. Most parents can attest to the fact that sometimes it's hard to get your kids moving, to get them to get in the car or walk with you. Especially if it's 9 at night and they are tired and a little cranky. Well, Richard being the coolest dad around started playing this game with them. And the boys love it. (He is way better at thinking of fun things like this to play to get them to obey)
He tells them there is a mission. We have to jump into the car and rush home. We have rocket boosters on our car and we need to watch out for the bad guys. The boys absolutely love it. Their little imaginations are great and basically anything Richard says they run with. "hey

daddy, there's a bad guy behind us" Rich says, "ok, we'll turn and they will be tricked. phew, we tricked them, we lost them". boys, "yeah, good job daddy".  Literally the whole way home they play this game. Landon says, "Daddy, there's bad guys beside us". Richard says, Shoot at them. Then we hear Landon make gun shooting noises and tells us he successfully took care of them. The funniest thing happened last night, and it's probably something that you had to be there, but I don't want to forget. There was a car in front of us and Richard slows down and starts telling them we can't let them see us. He says, "duck so they can't see you". And both boys at the same time, dip their heads down and duck as far as they can in their 5 harness car seats and stay there until he says they look up again. It was the funniest thing.

Also - they love to go on hunts. Richard will play "going on missions or hunts" with them throughout the house. We have to turn out all the lights and they put little head lamps on or flashlights and the run around the house doing special ops and shooting people, and dropping and rolling and "keeping mommy safe".  So if you ever come to our house, do not assume no one is home if the lights are off - we could just be on a mission. :)

I love it so much.

I can't believe it!

I've been a little MIA lately on the whole social network realm. And I have a perfectly good explanation. It's been a crazy few weeks around here which I will go into detail later. But for now - I cannot forget to blog about my Firstborn.

On March 23rd he turned a whoppin' 4 YRS OLD!!!!!!!!!!! Did I just write that. I cannot believe I have a 4 yr old. (I know every single mom says this every single birthday -  but it really is such a true feeling) (I hate saying things that everyone says, but this one I can't help saying the cliche thing. :) )

Admist the choas that last week was, I wanted to make Carson's day extra special. And we woke up to a huge snow storm. We got more snow this storm that we had all season. It was a cold cold day - but Carson didn't even notice and I hope he felt special.

Our tradition is always to wake up and first thing go get donuts at the local donut shop. I was looking forward to this day all week. :)

He was one happy, excited 4 yr old

Then we just went home and hunkered down for the day. We were having a little get together that evening. I made chili that cooked all day long and was the perfect thing to have at the end of a snow day with friends. We had an angry bird theme for him. B/c he is obsessed with the game. That's the VERY first thing he says to his dad as he walks in the door. "Can I play angry birds on your phone?" Richard doesn't even get a hello or happy to see you. Just Angry birds on his mind all day long waiting for daddy to get home. Not as many people as had originally planned on coming, actually came, but that's ok. I know Carson still had fun and I hope that he knew how special he is to us.

Some of his best friends here in Fort Collins

We did the party pretty low key and not many fancy things. But that's how I wanted it. And he was just happy to get angry bird tattoos and balloons and eat cupcakes and play with his friends for a few hours. :) 

This little boy will forever hold a special place in my heart. Him coming into my life changed me forever - He made me a Mother! I am changed forever and continually changing. I love this little guy with my whole heart. He is so much like me in many many ways. He is such a people person. He lights up the room when he walks in and really just loves life. He's proving to be very athletic and coordinated. So we hope to start giving him some outlets in that respect. Letters and numbers and other learning things tend to take more patience than he has so he's shown little interest in them. But I'm already seeing some improvement in that area. He loves imagining games and shooting bad guys and crashing cars, throwing anything. HE'S FULL OF LIFE and I love that about him. He's very passionate about life. And he's either SUPER SUPER happy and excited or super super any other emotion. All or nothing. 

I can't wait to see what the next four years hold with him. :) He makes life so exciting and fun and hoping. 

We love you Carson William Gardner.

Old School Style

I decided to join this little link up and thought it was kinda cool to do. Hope other friends do it too and looking forward to readying other people who link up.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was a freshman in college, in my second semester. Probably boy crazy and enduring the cold winter in Northern Wisconsin. Probably playing indoor soccer (intramural) and enjoying the social life. :)

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list?

-send email reminders about children's ministry

-plan Carson's birthday

-vaccuum (UGH)

- Fold a pile of laundry

-Look for bunk beds and apartments/housing on craigslist

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

Oh man this is a hard one for me b/c I enjoy so much. 

-cheese by far, and any kind

-hummus

-popcorn

-avocado

-chocolate/jelly beans

4. Name some things you would do if you were a millionare.

First I think I would pay off our car payment. Then get into a better housing situation. Probably buy a house. Then I would put money aside for boy's schooling. Then I would take a trip to Ecuador to see my parents and for the boys to see it. Then I would take a fun trip with only Richard. :) 

Then buy whatever groceries I want. :) And probably give some away to people. Buy new bikes for the whole family and I would buy myself some fancy running clothes. :)

5. Name places you have lived.

Ecuador most of my growing up life. Pennsylvania, Colorado, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Zambia (for a month, does that count?) and I think that's all.

6. What are some habits you have?

man - I have no idea. I do my routine the same way every day, getting ready for the day, my shower, and getting in bed. I'm a very routine person. I think I repeat myself a lot. This is hard for me. I guess one would be i drink coffee a lot. I worry alot. 

7. Name some jobs you've had.

I worked at panera for a long time. I worked at my grandfather's farm stand. (Selling produce and garden stuff) I worked at a Migrant Head Start. And also as a translator at a Legal Aid office.

8. Name those you are tagging

Julie Baylor, Michelle Weston, Katie Worth, Jerelyn Kurty and anyone else who wants to join in. It's fun. :) 

I'm Guest Blogging today

I can't believe it. I've always thought it would be cool to guest post on someone else's blog but wondered what I would say or if it would be "cool".  I'm so thankful to Tammy for allowing me to write a post about what i've learned the last 6 months and how God has changed me and loved me. Please head over to her blog and check it out!

As "boy" as they come

I have two boys if you haven't been able to tell. That means my days are filled with shooting, swords, running and jumping, tricks, "poop" and "butt" words and lots of running and jumping. (did I mention that before?) I love that they are creative with things. Anything remotely straight becomes a gun or a sword. WE have a pile of sticks and rocks by our front door. They fight bad guys and go on hunts and missions with their dads almost every night. (I love hearing them play like that) They love to play football and play catch. They play hard and sleep hard - which I believe is the best way a kid should be. :) If they can jump on it or from it they will. They love race cars (i.e. any car that has a spoiler or numbers on it, ha) and trash trucks and dump trucks and tractors. They love super heroes and action heroes. Somehow they can make all the different sound effects for every sort of gun or light saber or animal or vehicle - how do they do that? I sure can't and never taught them. :)

 Welcome to my House

of Boy FUN!!!!

My Ninja

My super heroes

I absolutely love this picture

and of course climbing trees

Crazy but wonderful - LIFE

My word for this year was SERVE! God could not be teaching me that more clearly

the last few weeks. We've dealt with our fair share of sickness

and whiny-ness. And through it all I serve my family. Just the other day

I was at my wits end. I went to bed so defeated - it was so hard to selflessly put the boys' needs

ahead of my own all day. I couldn't fill one more sippy cup with a 

whining toddler, or hold my boy one more time b/c he was grumpy

and stubbed his toe for the 20th time that hour. I felt like I was getting nothing

in return for my giving all day long. And I had a bad attitude

about it all. It was not pretty.  God has just been bringing it to light

how much I need to call on him for Strength and Grace - to wake up early

and from the very start serve my family with a happy Spirit. 

I say this a lot - but I'm so thankful that God forgives my selfish heart and 

gives me a new beginning each day. That he loves me through my ugliness and b/c

of that I can wake up and be ready to serve. And I fail and get irritated - and then I beg for 

forgivness and press on with his mercies that are new every morning.

When I first learned that I was going to have 2 boys 17 months apart I will admit I was wondering

how crazy my life would get. But now

I could not be happier. These two are both very agile, full of energy

and talkative - but they entertain each other so well

They are best friends.

My days are filled with lots of hustle and bustle 

but sometimes I just love to sit and watch as their minds create scenarios and

imaginary play together. I love hearing them communicate with each other. 

They also have an amazing Father! He honestly plays with them better than I do,

and has an easier time playing imaginary things with them.

They adore him and he adores them. 

I wanted to share a couple pictures I've captured of the men in my life because

I don't want to forget how blessed I am to be able to SERVE these

precious men.