Crafty and dueling siblings

We have been loving us some craft time in the Patton household lately and have quickly depleted our craft supplies. I feel a trip to Hobby Lobby coming soon.

Above are some masks the kids made with foamy paper (don't know the techincal name), crayons and bendaroos.

Allie wanted to make a butterfly and G wanted to be a mean bear.



My kids have reached the age where all they do is fight. I get worn out playing referee all day.

However, I managed to catch the dueling siblings in a sweet moment the other day. It only lasted for...maybe 1o seconds....but long enough for me to document with a photo.

Company

This passed Friday we had some friends from Gville make a day trip up to see us.

It was a GREAT day. The company. The sunshine. It just couldn't get much better.



Allie has been missing her SC friends and she was so excited one of her friends was coming up to play at her new house.

We hardly ever saw these girls. They played together all day doing there own thing not once bickering.



G needs to work on his driving a bit before picking up any more girls. This didn't last long, he about threw little K right out of the car.



S. Thank you!!! I appreciate you making the trip up to hang out for the day. I enjoyed our visit together (especially our outside chat while the kids were all put away) and look forward to next time. (Bring those clogs!)

Happy Thursday

Make avatar

G update

Wow. You posters certainly came out yesterday.

Thank you for all of your "hang in theres". I NEED them!

Sooooo, I wanted to share that as I was changing G's diaper this morning, a little voice inside me tells me to check in his mouth. So, I did. I spot 2 bottom red and puffy/swollen gums in the back of his mouth. You can even see some ridges where those pesky molars are trying to pop through.

Ahhhhhhhh. It's not me!

I remember Allie going through the 2 year molars thinking it would NEVER end and I would NEVER get my sweet little girl back. Luckily, I was wrong. It did end, and for the most part, she is still sweet!

So I wait, hoping G's teeth come through soon, because he is wearing the heck out of me!!!!

Allie and I are off to Greenville for the night leaving G and S back home.

I welcome this break!

The not so good side of G

G is two. And terrible.

He has a very sweet, fun, silly side to him. But lately, I feel like I'm seeing more of the terrible come out in him.

Because of his behavior (tantrums thrown for not getting to push a button, having to share something with his sister, being looked at wrong, etc...) we have started taking away "things".

Things being his favorite snugnuts and stuffed animals...which we display front and center on the mantle in the family room where he is constantly reminded there are consequences to his behavior.



This was the scene when G woke from his nap and remembered he did not have his snugnuts. He sat in his bed carrying on like this for about 45 minutes until he finally calmed down.

I love my boy. But he is more of a challenge for me compared to his sister.

The snugnuts and monkey were returned to Gabe the following morning.

Judging from the past couple of days, I don't anticipate these things to be in G's possession very long. For once, I'm hoping I am wrong.

3/52

Theme: Shades of Grey

Double Bedhead

S grumbled slightly as I was taking this photo of he and G. The two of them were watching football together and had just woke from their Sunday afternoon naps (bedhead and all).

I reminded him that 99% of the photos I take end up sitting on my hard drive with nobody ever seeing them.

Buuut, I happen to like this photo of my boys. This is them...and what a typical Sunday afternoon looks like - a lazy afternoon spending time with our family.

Project 52

My mother-in-law introduced to me the idea of Project 365. Basically, you post a photo a day for 365 days.



This is a bit much for me, so have opted for a less ambitious, Project 52. A photo a week.



This I can handle!



I joined a group on Flickr - MCP Project 52. They give out suggested themes and you post your photos. Easy right?



I realize if you check my blog, you have seen these photos. But, to catch you up:



1/52

Theme: Around the House
Item: Piano





2/52

Theme: Illustrate a Song
Song: Baby it's cold outside

Check back later in the week to see 3/52, theme Shades of Gray.

Redfish

Meet Redfish.

He became a proud Patton on Allie's birthday, Jan. 3.

Now, let's all have a moment of silence to honor the little fish that was a part of our family for a whopping 7 days.

Gonna miss you red. Float in peace.

War Eagle on my mind...

A couple of pics from the snow today.

But, my mind is far from this snow.

I'm starting to get anxious about the game tonight. Excited. Nervous. Impatient.

S and the guys are already at the stadium tailgating. I'm feeling the energy here....I can only imagine being there at the game. Have fun babe.

WAR EAGLE!

Budding Photographer

Allie received her very own digital camera for her birthday from her Pappay (this was a typo but a much better name for you Pappy) and Grammy.

This is going to be fun seeing Allie's world through her own eyes. And I'll be happy to let you in on it too!

I think she's a natural.

Here is installment #1 of Allie photos.

Itchy Toe Remedy

I've seen a HUGE change recently relationally between Stephen and the kids. I believe this all stems from our 5 months living apart from him during our transition to Hickory. Now that we are all together again, both kids have been all about daddy and I take the backseat whenever I can and let him deal with the kids and all their kid issues.

Take for instance the other night when Allie came out of her room after being put to bed for the night complaining about an itchy toe.

I like to sit back sometimes and just see what solutions Stephen comes up with.

Stephen's itchy toe remedy, "give it a good itch and then blow on it and put your sock back on".

I looked at him and mouthed "BANDAID", so Allie would think it was all his idea.

Hazey Hickory sunrise

(SOOC)

Goooooood Morning/Day/Evening (whatever time of day it might be) from Hickory.

We've seen some pretty unbelievable sunrises the past few days.

Yesterday morning was a particularly foggy morning and as Allie and I snuggled on the couch watching cartoons, I couldn't help but step outside to try and capture with my camera what my eyes were seeing.

I pulled this photo in Photoshop, but my honest husband brought to my attention that the SOOC image was just as good as an edit.

However your morning started, I hope that it brought a smile to your face and a pep in your step.

365

I've got a mother-in-law (I just removed the adjective crazy hoping to not start a family fued).

Not only does she have a blog that she calls, "a burden", but she now has two blogs that will "burden" her. I had to call and give her a hard time about this on skype this morning.

Blog #2 is titled "Project 365". Basically, you post a picture a day for one glorious year! As a photographer, it will make you challenge yourself and think outside of the box to put up different interesting images every day.

As I sat this afternoon thinking of all the housework I should be doing, I decided to instead pick up my camera...and for once, NOT photograph my children. This was hard. They are my staples and constant subjects on my memory card.

Not today.

Here is my subject today.

My Piano.





I think I might just try Project 365....

....who am I kidding. I'm far from retired!

(love ya S! Really!)

Gone are the days...

Gone are the days of kidless downtown Nashville New Years Eve Bashes, and other exciting venues....

Enter diapers, poppin the top on apple juice, and playing boardgames....while ringing in the New Year.

It's official. We're old and boring.

This New Years we had some other old and boring (kidding guys, really....) friends of ours come for a visit.

We took the kids to the Science Center here in Hickory. It's one of the only things on the "things to do when company is in town" list. This is my other son Z, along with my two biological children, as we checked into the science center.



We played in the last lingering snow. Now I'm officially ready for Spring, but unfortunately mother nature is not.



Z watching our two ride a Christmas present from Santa. I hear Allie about threw him off the Gator...after that, he was done.



This is O. Such a content and sweet baby. I didn't hear her cry her entire visit....and she sleeps through the night. I asked to keep her, but her parents wouldn't let me.



This. This...I....really have no words for.

Besides...it makes me cringe. It's little cocoony body was contracting while breathing in and out.

Allie wanted to keep it. Uh-uh....NO WAY!



Here is O with her momma (you couldn't tell could ya? O is a mini me of her momma).

.....and we all barely held our eyes open for the clock to strike 12:00 a.m., and off to bed we went...quickly. Yep, we're old.

Happy Birthday Allie

My little girl turns 5 today. 5!!! Unbelievable!

My little girl also starts her first day of preschool here in Hickory today. She is super excited to finally meet and get to play with new friends.

My little girl is finally getting her very own pet today for her birthday present. A fish. I asked her earlier if she got a fish what she would name it. Her response, "If it is a goldfish, I will name it gold fish. If it is a purple fish, I will name it purple fish".

Happy Birthday my sweet Allie. You are loved. Forever!

New Years Resolution

I realize these photos are completely unrelated. I have so many of the kids from our snow this Christmas...that....you will be seeing many more.

This year, like the last, I will be aiming high for my New Years Resolution.

Last year my goal was to start recycling. Which we finally did in Nov....but I made it!

This year, I have 2 resolutions:

1. To take vitamins (I've been told I need them, do I need them?) And the kids will take vitamins as well. I remember popping Flinstones like candy when I was a kid. So I guess they need them too.

2. I plan on winning $10,000 on AFV. Our sweet friends bought us a housewarming gift - a remote control flying helicopter. I just so happened to be filming last night when S accidentally flew the copter right into Allie's hair....it quickly became a tangled mess. I deem it worthy of the $10k and plan on seeing if America does too.

Lastly, thank you to our sweet friends the Allens who drove a record breaking 2 hours to kick off the New Year with us. We enjoyed your company! Tell Z he can "go see Miss Bettany in Hickwee" anytime.