Tubes on the Tenth - Mission Complete!

Our sweet boy got his tubes placed this morning and he did great! There were no tears whatsoever (from Drew or his Mama). I really liked the surgery center - everyone was super friendly. Our ENT said that he had tons of thick fluid in both ears, so I was thankful to get all of that gunk out of there. Hopefully our boy will be happy and talking very soon. :)

I took a few pictures with my phone while we were waiting. It helped to pass the time... ;)

He wasn't too sure about the purple gown...
I assured him that he was man enough to pull that look off. Ha!

I have never been so thankful for his pacifier and "nanny" (security blanket)!
Instant comfort...

He kept looking at his ID bracelet.

In the Recovery Room with groggy post-anesthesia eyes.
Finally getting something to drink. He guzzled his water down!

The nurses bragged all over Drew and went on and on about how sweet he was. That was music to my Mama ears. :) I'm so thankful to have that all behind us!

Taos Ski Trip Recap

We went skiing in Taos, New Mexico last week. It was such a fun trip! We were gone Tuesday - Saturday with our friends Todd & Leah, and we had such a good time!

Wade's parents came to our house to watch the boys, which was wonderful! Clayton got to go to preschool on Thursday (which was picture day :) ) and Drew got to sleep in his own bed. I love when the boys get to spend time in East Texas, but I was so thankful that Marsha & Terry were willing to watch them here last week. It just worked out really well. Thanks, Marsha & Terry! Y'all are the best!!!

We didn't take many pictures (Shocker!), but here are the few that I have to share...

Is it just me or does Wade look like a car jacker when he skis? ;)



How is it that Leah looks so cute in goggles and I look like a big goober???

I learned a lot on this trip. So much, in fact, that I feel the need to make a bulleted list. Y'all know how I love a good list! It makes my OCD heart go pitter patter. Ha!

* I learned that I loooove every single thing about going on a ski trip, except for the actual skiing. I love the scenery, the wintery clothes (we don't get many opportunities to wear sweaters, thick coats, ear muffs, and hats in Texas!), riding on the lifts, hanging out in the lodge, drinking hot chocolate, hot tubing, etc. I just really don't care for the actual skiing.

I have been on 4 ski trips in my life and I have never felt comfortable on skis. I am terrified of going fast, so I spend the whole time trying to slow myself down so that I feel in control. I am just a nervous skier, and that isn't any fun. I wish that I wasn't such a scaredy cat. :(

I took a 2 hour refresher lesson to try to gain some confidence. At first, I'll admit that I was feeling better about my abilities. As I skied down the bunny hill I might have thought to myself, "Oh yeah! Mama's still got it..." When we got to the real slopes, however, I realized that this Mama don't got it. ;) I just resided myself to the fact that I am never going to be good at skiing. Such a shame...

* I learned that I am perfectly content sitting in the lodge watching the beautiful scenery with a book and a hot chocolate. I spent the second ski day doing just that and it was awesome! I loved every minute of the peace and quiet. :)

* I learned that I really, really, really love spending time with just my Hubs. We've been "dating" since June 2nd, 1995 and there is still no one that I would rather be around. I missed our kids like mad, but I sure did love being with just their Daddy. I feel like every time that we get away together, our marriage gets a little boost and we come home better than when we left. :)

* I learned that Leah is really good at being pregnant. She makes growing a baby look so easy! She glided down those slopes like a pro! You would never guess that she was 19 weeks pregnant. She never complained once or acted like she was uncomfortable. It was amazing to me!

* I learned that 5 days is about the maximum amount of time that I can be away from my babies without being totally miserable. I was really missing them by the time that we got home!

* I learned that you can learn A LOT about a person when you have a 12 hour drive each way to and from your destination. Leah and I sat in the back seat and gabbed the whole time. We see and talk to each other multiple times a week, so you wouldn't think that we'd have much to talk about. But... we sure did find GOBS to discuss. I feel like I know her so much better now. ;)

* I learned that it takes several days to catch up when you get back from a trip. My mother-in-law did ALL of the boys' laundry, changed all of the sheets on all of the beds, and left my house immaculate. How awesome is that?!?! I have a really, really great mom-in-law, for sure! Even with all of that done, though, it took me a good 2 days to get myself back into our usual routine.

* I learned that my baby boy desperately needs tubes. He has been a hot mess since we got home! He cries non-stop, isn't sleeping, and just isn't himself. I'm 99.99% sure that his ears are infected again. :( We met with the ENT last Monday and his tubes are scheduled for this Wednesday (the 10th). I'm nervous about the anesthesia, but so ready to get his ears fixed. By Thursday I'm hoping to have my sweet Drew back to his usual self. Fingers crossed...

I really enjoyed our trip! Out of curiosity, what is your favorite trip that you've ever been on? I'd love to hear from you!

DIY Valentines Decor

I love to make anything crafty. I really do. I always have a list of projects that I want to make. I'll see an idea (usually online), bookmark it, buy the supplies, and then follow the tutorials. That's just my thing, you know. It's my hobby, if you will. Being at home with little ones can get monotonous at times. Don't get me wrong, I adore my boys and I'm thankful every single day that I get to be at home with them. But... some days I just need a creative outlet. So, I sew/paint/decoupage/craft/whatever. That's my "me time." :)

So... I thought that I would share some more fun crafts that I made this month to spruce up the Carpenter Casa.

1. Valentine's wreath from The Idea Room - This came out super cute! I'll warn you, though, you have to cut out LOTS of hearts. Like 200... I just cut them out while I was watching the Biggest Loser. Ha!

2. XOXO Marble Frames from Tatertots and Jello - I loved this one, too. The only problem was that the E6000 adhesive stinks! I made these over the weekend and I still feel like my whole living room smells of E6000. But, that's a small price to pay for the cuteness on my mantel. :)

3. "Love You" Scrabble frame seen HERE - I ran across this frame on a random website and I thought it was darling! But... it was listed as 45 British pounds. Isn't that like $70?!?! Um, I don't think so, my friend! I made mine for F-R-E-E. I had the frame and scrapbook paper already. I swiped a few tiles from our Scrabble set and stuck them on with glue dots that can be easily removed. So, after Valentine's Day, I can return the tiles to their rightful place. Cute, huh?

I love Valentine's Day, but we don't really ever do much as far as celebrating. I have big plans for this year, though! Stay tuned... I'm sure there will be a blog post. :)

Medieval Times

I love my kids being 3 1/2 years apart. It really has worked out so well for us. Clayton was potty trained and big enough to be a pretty good helper when Drew was born, which made the adjustment to 2 kids a little easier. They are close enough in age that I think that they will be buddies, but far enough apart that they {hopefully} won't fight like cats & dogs. It's been a great spacing so far.

The only problem is that Clayton is at a really fun age where he wants to go and go all of the time. We think of fun outings all of the time that Clayton would like, but Drew is just too little to enjoy. Drew still needs naps and can't sit through shows/movies. So... we try to do things with just Clayton every couple of months. Miss Catherine comes to watch Drew and Clayton gets both parents all to himself. :)

On Saturday night we had hired Catherine to watch Drew so that we could take Clayton to the rodeo. We were all really excited about it! Well... we were slackers and didn't call for tickets until the last minute. So, the rodeo was sold out. :( We remembered that we had a coupon for Medieval Times, though. We figured that Clayton would enjoy that, so we decided to go with that as our back up plan.

Clayton had a ball! He got so into cheering for our knight. He was growling and yelling, "GO BLUE!" He was scowling and shaking his glow stick through the whole thing. Pretty funny... Wade & I laughed so hard at his banter!

Aside from the knights dueling, Clayton enjoyed several other parts of the evening. 1. The waitress called him "Prince" which he though was totally awesome. 2. The only drink options were iced tea or Pepsi. So, our crazy kid (who never gets caffeine) got 2 Pepsis with his dinner. Yowsers! Yes, he was up way past his bedtime bouncing off of the walls. Never again... 3. He got to eat with his fingers without getting in trouble.

Our knight didn't emerge victorious, but we all had a lot of fun. :)

Clayton screamed at the knight, "Throw a rose to my Mama!!!"
He was really sad that I didn't get one. Ha!

Super Hero Day at Preschool

Thursday was Clayton's favorite theme day of the year at his preschool - Super Hero Day! This month in chapel they have been studying different super heroes of the Bible. They learned about Noah, Daniel, David, and Jonah. The finale of the unit was learning about the "ultimate super hero" - Jesus. The kids got to dress up as their favorite super hero for the day. From the wide array of super hero costumes that we have, Clayton chose Batman. He was pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

After the 2 smiling pictures, he said, "Wait! Take a picture of me doing my Batman pose!" Ha!

I love his little preschool. I'm sure gonna miss it when he goes to "real" school next year... sniff, sniff