William reads a story

William has been working very hard to learn to read. He can read several stories in "Dick and Jane" all by himself, but he prefers to have mommy read to him at night. Who wouldn't? For the past two days, William has brought home books from school that he has to read to mommy for homework. We have a Reader Log that we sign and send the book back to Mrs. Reilly. With Daddy away for some training, we decided to video William reading his book so Daddy can see his progress. Scroll down to the video section and check it out. The lighting is a bit darker because we did this at nighttime in William's room with his little lamp, but you still get to see everything you need to. William has become a great reader and is very proud of himself.....I am very proud of him too.

William, William and more William

With Kindergarten only being one day this past week, William and I spent alot of time together. And he got to do some of his favorite things....like take pictures with the camera. I have not seen pictures like these for about a six months....since Kindergarten started...but here was what was in the camera when I went to upload photos to the blog.

William was in desperate need of new PJs. So on Thursday night we went to Moe's and bought new jammies. William REALLY wanted these with the foot socks. I knew he would NEVER wear them because he is a heater....ALL THE TIME. And I have been right.....he wears them at night for 30 minutes and then changes into his other jammies to sleep in. Some battles are not worth the fight. These sure do bring him joy though when he has them on. He picked these out....can you tell? It has the Mario Brothers on it. He wanted his photo taken in his new jammies. Here they are.

This is a present that William wrapped and decorated all by himself for ME! He cut and tied the ribbons and put the stickers on. I was so proud of him. We took a pic for the blog. Oh, the present you ask...what was it? Coins.....money....he knows what are the best presents to give.....diamonds might have been better but he already gave all those to Ms. Laura when she visited.

Housing choices

I have been working hard on choosing options for our new home. I picked out the cabinets, granite, hardwood stain and carpet yesterday. Now I have to pick paint colors for the interior and siding colors for the exterior. Kevin and I talked about going dark....a natural clay color was our first choice. Then I drove by and saw a house with green siding and tan trim.....craftsmen colors. Surprisingly, I really liked it. So I came home and played around on the manufacturer's website picking different siding options. Here are my top three. Look them over and let me know which on you like. You need to visualize this house without the upper-story. Here is a drawing of our house.

This is option one: Natural Clay siding with Natural Clay corner trim, white trim around the doors and windows, white porch rails black shutter, black door, black roof and a white garage door.

This option two: Cypress siding with white trim around corners, windows and doors, white porch rails, black roof, black door, black shutters and a white garage.


This is the third option (currently my favorite): Cypress siding, cedar/tan trim around the corners, windows and doors, porch rails will also be painted the same color, black shutters, black door, black roof, white garage door.

Snow video

I have to capture every moment of the snow because you never know when it will return again. We do have some cute video of William when he was two and we lived in Colorado from his first snow experience. Here is one of the boys playing on the deck before we headed out for sledding. Enjoy.

Snowed out!

I am snowed out! Pooped that is. The boys are getting more energized by the minute. William has been out in the snow four times and keeps wanting more and more. I finally made him come in and rest during Paul's naptime. I am sure we will all head out one last time after Paulie awakens. Here are some photos from our second venture out to the golf course for some sledding. I must say....they sure are cute in their hats and coats!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It snowed over night and the boys are thrilled! I don't know which day got a bigger reception, Christmas or today. When I woke William and he saw the snow he said "Mom, that means Christmas is back! It snowed!!!!" So what do you think we did first thing? Yup, up and at 'em....we got dressed in our warmest clothes and headed out. We made snow angels, ran around, and played with the Radio Flyer sled. It was a grand time. We then headed in for a warm up, breakfast and some rest. It is about time to head back out for round two. William has been begging and begging to head back out. We have warm bellies and warm clothes so off we go. Here are some pictures of our house with the snow and the boys on the deck. It is alot! Three to five inches, if not more because it just won't let up!

Update on the minivan repair saga

After 52 hours, my minivan is finally fixed and home now. The best part is I was able to get the FULL $200 off of my bill due to the inconvenience caused by having to leave the van there for so long. The shift manager had no problems giving the full compensation once he saw my rental car quotes. Good to come prepared! I am thrilled to have the van back....just in time for a snow storm. What fun for the boys.