"Mama, It's Your Happy Birthday Party!"

Will singing 'Happy Birthday'. Isaac trying to steal my thunder and blow those candles out himself.
Me, proudly displaying the most delicious desert on the earth.

"Mama, It's your happy birthday party!"

I was greeted with that phrase by both my boys today. 27 years old, and in some ways that seems very old--it at least seems like I'm supposed to be a lot more grown up than I am. I recently read a blog by a friend that documented all of the things that she had done in her 20's (she was turning 30). The list was staggering. My list would be piddly compared to hers, but I suppose that isn't what matters. Josh asked me at dinner tonight what the highlights were over the last year. Easy! My boys are doing well, we finished the second year of medical school, started grad school, and everyone is healthy, and of course I discovered tennis:) Going through all of this schooling, living the life of a student for such an extended amount of time is really a tremendous blessing. Over the last 5 years of being married, and with at least 5 more ahead of us as full-blown students, we have been taught an invaluable lesson-happiness is with the ones you love, the things we learn, and our relationship with Heavenly Father. Moving away from all of our family and friends has proved to be one of the greatest blessings of all. We cling to each other, we rely on one another, and we love and appreciate those back at home more than we maybe could have without experiencing this time without them.

My birthday wish is that I never forget this. Nothing else matters.

Gobble, Gobble

I know what you are thinking, "Why didn't you post a picture where all three of you are smiling?" Simple-doesn't exist. One smile, a smirk, and a wide open mouth are the best we can come up with.
Isaac's turkey. We believe there may be an underlying genetic disease associated with this bird.

Making the turkeys. Josh just got word that dinner wasn't going to be for another hour, and he was beside himself.

All of you Gardner's out there, you should be pleased to learn that gum drop turkey making was happening in multiple locations this year. Salt Lake, St. George, and Milwaukee. I especially like Will's rendition, if you look closely, his bird is in flight.

That's right, a turkey cake. I got the idea last night at about 7:00, so I was limited in what I could use to pull it off, but it must have been successful, because Will knew just what it was. We aren't big pie fans at our house, so this seemed like a worthy substitute.

What can we say about Thanksgiving...I'm thankful that it's over and the mess is cleaned up.

Bring on Christmas!

Stinky Feet

Alright girls, I'm going to really put myself out there on this one, and pray that someone can relate.

I got through another crazy Sunday. You know the kind where from early in the morning until late into the evening you and your husband are like ships passing in the night as you hand off the kids to one another and scurry back out the door to your next obligation. Today was just that kind of day. These types of Sundays often lead to not being able to even sit down at any point, let alone change out of your church clothes.

Now that Wisconsin has decided to go all sub-arctic on us so quickly, it is tights time and my big, clunky, black shoes pretty much every Sunday. This combination does well to keep my toes from freezing and to decrease the slip and slide effect in the parking lot that we are so famous for, but I'll tell you now--these shoes don't breathe. Non-breathing shoes combined with any form of nylons= what? That's right, wicked, stinky feet!

I was finally able to pull off the church clothes and put on my sweats, and Will happened to be there by my side when I went into the bathroom to wash my feet.

He looked up at me with his nose scrunched and twisted up to the side and said, "Mama, do you smell that"
Me: "Yeah, it stinks, huh?"
Will: "Yeah"
Me: "What do you think it is?'
(after a thoughtful pause...)
Will: "I don't know...maybe I pooped a little"
Me: (stifling a laugh) "Do you think that you pooped a little?"
Will: "Well...I guess that I maybe could have" (he said, puzzled and bewildered)

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, no!"

Isaac watching Thomas the Train.

Isaac was watching Thomas the other night, and from the other room I kept hearing him yell out, "Oh, no! Oh, no!" I came in and instead of finding his finger stuck in some odd crevice or a foot stuck in the back of our kitchen chairs (of which I have found on more than one occasion) I found this. He was really feelin' this particular episode.

Huh?

I was enjoying a particularly quiet moment this morning, when I decided to face the music and go see what Gigs was up to. I walked down the stairs having this imaginary conversation in my head..."I bet he is in the dvd cabinet, and is building a tower." The other me responds, "Nope, he is in the pots and pans, and finding just the right drum stick from the utensil drawer." Well, we were both wrong and neither of us expected to find him shirtless, in the bathroom, with half a loaf of bread, and my blender pitcher. He never ceases to amaze. When I walked in I said, "Isaac, what are you doing?" He said, "Look, Mama, at all the bread! I put it on the toilet." He said it with such a matter of fact tone that somehow he convinced me that this was a completely logical thing to do, so I just said, "Oh." I walked to get my camera, and then he preceded to hold up each piece, and asked me to take a picture of each one. When that was finished, he looked at me, and said, "All done. Bye, Mama." I took that as my cue and left him alone with his bread.

Vacuum Truck

The day started out very typical, very mundane.

The boys and I were on our way home from the store, and as we rounded the last corner onto our circle what we saw before us was almost too glorious to be conceived.

"Mama! It's a vacuum truck!" Will exclaimed.

"Mama! Can I please go watch it?"

We'd like to share with you what may have been the single most joyous moment in Will's short life. The only thing that would have made this better is if there was a parade of construction trucks, or all of the trains from the Thomas stories there circling our street.

A few months ago we checked out a movie from the library called "21 Trucks". This may be the single most boring movie I have ever watched, but to Will it is Oscar worthy material. He loves big trucks right now. He draws a mean monster truck, excavator, bulldozer, and vacuum truck (you can imagine), and one of his favorite things to do as of late is to practice writing his letter to Santa on our white board where he practices spelling and writing all of these construction truck names.

Well, when I saw the vacuum truck on the "21 Truck" movie, I thought to myself, "That is a totally made up truck." I stand corrected. Will has been asking us for a vacuum truck ever since he first laid eyes on it, but as you can imagine, TONKA hasn't manufactured a line of them yet. At least he got to see one with his very own eyes and spend a little time with it.

Potty Humor

I specifically chose a very pretty, dignified picture of Will to tell this next story, so I don't offend all of your senses at once. I will resist the urge to post a different picture, but may find that beyond my immature capacity.

Will is potty-trained, has been for a long time, but still requires assistance with the wiping of the "Big 2". For this I'm thankful, because are there really any 4 year olds that don't require assistance with this? They may not all get it, but nonetheless, still, it should be offered. Each time he finishes, he yells, "Mama, I need help to wipe!" Dutifully, I come, and then he bends over, I take care of business, and while this step occurs he proceeds to talk to be about what he sees in the toilet. Size, color, smell...you get the picture.

Yesterday, the following conversation took place:

Will: Mom, you smell that?

Me: Oh yeah, I smell it.

Will: I wouldn't want to eat poop

Me: NO! that would be really yucky. We don't eat poop.

Will: but, maybe if I ever did, I would just put it in my mouth, but not swallow it. Ok? and then I would spit it out.

Me: Gross!

Will: I won't swallow it!

Let's hope he never runs for office. Instead of "Yes, I tried it, but never inhaled"...the headlines would read, "What!? I never swallowed it!"

"I'm Back!"

Josh did the most wonderful thing ever for me yesterday. He sent me an email earlier in the day and said that he had been thinking a lot about my birthday. Strange. My birthday isn't until the 29th, and well, given his track record, I certainly wasn't expecting that. Last year, we went all day (he was even home) without so much as a mention of my birthday. My visiting teacher brought me flowers, and when he came up from his office to eat dinner (at 6:00pm) he noticed them, and said, "What's with the flowers? Is it a special occasion or something?" I had been quiet all day, but I could bite my tongue no longer, and I blurted out- "Are freakin' kidding me? It's my birthday!" What did he do? Laughed, and then laughed harder. He left right after dinner and went to buy me a card. In his defense he was inundated with homework and preparation for finals, so if I were in his shoes I likely would have done the same thing.
Well, he made up for it this year. On his way home from work he stopped at all of the nearby gyms to check out prices, and then was going to sign me up, but wanted to run it by me so that I would be happy with the choice. This is the best birthday present ever! Now that it is getting dark at 4:30 and my kids start getting crazy about then, it is so nice to know that I get that break EVERY NIGHT to go and work out after dinner. It's not just the gym membership, but his wanting me to have that time. Very thoughtful. I have been without a gym for 5 years now, and it was a beautiful reunion there last night, and the best part was when I came home, the boys were both in bed, and I didn't even have to get them there.