I can't believe it is already that time of the year! We went to cut down our Christmas tree on Friday!! It was a beautiful day! We joined the Johnson family at the tree farm. We enjoyed a hay ride, roasting marshmallows, and of course impossible family pics around the new tree! The boys loved helping daddy cut down the tree. Dylan loved the freedom of running around and hiding behind every tree. It was a fun family day!!

On Sunday, Daddy was able to coax Aunt Ashley into helping hang the outside lights!! She did a great job wrapping the pillars. Way to go Aunt Ash, we love you!! We are for sure well lit and the boys love it. They say it looks like Christmas! Well, Dylan just says "ooohhh." Love it, love it!!

Ok, so here we are to today! Nothing too exciting has happened today! It was a beautiful day and we spent it outside without any injuries!!! Go Swineharts!!!

What a treat! This Thanksgiving we got to dog sit Hobbes!!! He was so well behaved, we thought about keeping him!!! The boys had so much fun walking him around the house, feeding him from their hands and putting him on pillows and under blankets like a baby. I mean really, I think we should get a dog! After all, as Ty says, "they are great at cleaning up the mess on the floor!" For sure mommy appreciates that!

Dylan of course loved the doggie too and went around the house barking all day long! He is getting so big and is doing great at keeping up with the big bros. His newest "big boy" thing is to push the dump trucks around the house. He was so proud of himself. Now if he can get a little faster so he doesn't get lapped 5 times!!

We are still amazed that this is Bryce's first major injury!! The boy is all over the place. He has no fear and will jump off anything. He almost made it three whole years without a trip to our favorite Dr. George. ( the team Dr.) Bryce and Ty were outside playing in the leaves (where else). Bryce was burying himself in them while Ty was trying to find the perfect place to stick a corner soccer flag. Unfortunately, they were in the same place. Ty got the back of Bryce's head instead of the ground. Sent Bryce screaming into the house and Ty crying right behind him. Bryce was tough, just a few tears. Ty was so heart broken about hurting his brother, he cried a lot more than poor Bryce. After a quick home visit from the Dr. We followed him to the hospital to get his head fixed. Thank God for new technology, Bryce didn't have to get stitched up, but glued back together! He was a champ!

Go Bucks!!! You could say we were a little excited for the Bucks victory over Michigan. The boys were so into the game! Ty was all over the place telling people inside and out what the score was and if the Bucks scored or the "Michigans" as he called them. We had about 20 ish people over to watch the big game. We had the game on in the garage on the "big screen" or the projector and guys playing baggo! So much fun! Dylan loved jumping on the Michigan flag!! Daddy loved it too ;-)

The boys and I ran out before half time to go to a dinosaur birthday party! It was so much fun. The boys painted Christmas ornaments, opened dinosaur eggs, and of course ate lots of cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday Rodgers! Your mommy sure threw a great party like always! We still wear our hats and dinosaur feet around the house!!!

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves.......the boys have for sure enjoyed playing in the leaves. They have been a great help in bagging the leaves!! Our leaf blower has sure been a life saver! Thanks Grandma for that sweet house warming gift. Here are a few pictures of the boys playing in the leaves. The boys were laying down and we were all over top of them screaming at them to look at us. We must have been so loud because our neighbor came out to see what was going on and asked if we saw snakes. So funny when we said it was our kids and we were trying to get them to smile......

been way too long.....................

Wow, I don't even know what to say...sorry for the delay in blogs, time seems to fly when you have three little boys to chase around! So let's see, where to start, so much fun stuff has gone on, I don't want to leave out a thing.

The weather here has been amazing! We have loved being outside everyday in the warm sun! The park is one of the boys favorite places to go. We joined our friend Tait one afternoon at our favorite park. We have 5 boys between us and they keep us moving. Jamie and I turned to see the 3 big boys hiding under the climbing wall all too quiet. We went over to see what the deal was and saw 3 puddles of pee pee and faces that looked guilty as could be. It took all I had not to laugh and I scolded them and Jamie walked away laughing. In the end, I lost it and took a picture to remember!

Prayer Requests

We would really covet your prayers as a lot seems to be going on in the next few weeks. Pray for high school kids to get excited about YL club. For kids to sign up for Windy Gap (1st weekend in Dec.) Charlotte area needs about 350-400 kids to sign up to make ends meet. Pray for the Eagles Banquet that is Nov. 13. Pray it would reach a lot of people and pray for Dustin as he is the MC this year! Pray for my family as we are entering the holidays without Mom for the first time. Pray for hearts that are soft to the Lord and sensitive to one another. Pray for my Grandfather who had a stroke two weeks ago and is in rehab. He is doing great! Pray for his endurance and pray for my Grandma as she comes along side him in this time. Also pray for Dustin's Grandfather as he is back in the hospital for heart stuff. Pray for good health in general. Pray for Dustin and I as we continue to seek wisdom in raising our three precious boys to love Jesus. Pray for us as we strive to put Jesus first then our marriage before our kids and ministry. Thank you for praying for us and with us. Let us know how we can be praying for you!

Here lizard, lizard........

All I can say is GROSS!! Sometimes I wonder why God made me a boy mom. I am finding out I am much more girly than I thought!!! Ty has a new love.....LIZARDS! He loves to catch them and bring them into the house for all to see. It is so fun to watch his quick hands reach down to capture the poor scared creature. His first "catch" was Monday at the park. He was so excited! We went through the "jungle" to look for more only to come up empty handed. Wednesday we went back to the park in attempt to find more little lizards. The first one Ty saw, he got! Only this time to his utter surprise, the tail came off right in his fingers! He wasn't sure what to think about the tail still wiggling in his fingers, but didn't hesitate long before he made another attempt at lizard catching. He caught six that morning, I let him bring home 3 in a water bottle to show daddy! Thursday Dustin and I are talking in the kitchen while the big boys were playing in the play room. We hear Bryce yell and go to check out the commotion.....There to my utter dismay are FOUR LIZARDS crawling around in my play room! The boys were so excited as they all try to catch them and take them outside. Ty turns around and there on his back is one of the lizzards holding on for dear life. We get them all outside only to have Ty and Bryce carry them around on their shoulders. Never would have thought lizards would have enjoyed going down the slide!! The weather here has been more than amazing! We have spent everyday outside enjoying 70 degree weather and great sunshine! We made a fun craft with leaves this week (our sweet friend MC climb on her car to get the 'pretty' leaves for us!) The boys loves craft time and this seems to be the most perfect season to do it! Dylan has officially decided that he can now walk everywhere at all times, the boys are loving it!! Have a great weekend, love to all!

Young Life, Halloween, Play group...Wow a busy week!

We have had an amazing week! It has been jam packed with loads of fun! Mondays are typically PJ day, one of our favorite days. The boys and I stay home all day in our PJ's, make crafts, bake, play, color, and of course sleep. This Monday our sweet friend Jaden came to play with us. We made a fun craft with all the leaves we collected on our walk (same walk as the dead squirrel). Dylan learned how to feed himself oatmeal, which he of course loves! Now won't let anyone feed him! Wednesday is our play group day. It was at our house this week. It was a small group this week, but we had a blast with Bryce's best buddy Tait! We danced on the table, played with stickers, jumped about in the castle, and wrestled like crazy! Wednesday night was All City club for Young Life. It was great! All the schools in the city come together and have a HUGE club. It was a country theme, so kids came in cowboy hats and boots. We had great country music led by Dustin and his sister Ashley. Hilarious skits put on by many of the staff and ended with an amazing talk given my dear friend CC! It was so much fun being a part of that night where kids got to hear about Jesus being the life of the party! Friday night we were all off to Angie's house for our first annual (it will be annual right?) Halloween party! It was great, about 500 hundreds screaming kids running around on a sugar high!!!!! Ok, really, it was fun to watch the kids make spider webs out of Q-tips, decorate cookies with way too much icing and sprinkles, and games where they got to THROW stuff (my boys fav. Thing to do). And how cute they looked in their costumes. All our boys were of course Ohio State Buckeyes!! Dylan learned how to climb on and off of his new horse! He was so proud! (Thanks G-Ma for the cute horse, he loves it!) Enjoy the pictures (sorry, I just couldn't leave them out) Hope your week was as fun as ours!!

Fun Pictures

Dylan LOVES to climb inside anything he can find. He pulled out all the clothes in the drawer and made himself at home. Ty and Bryce playing so nicely together ( I took this picture b/c it was the first time all that morning they had played nicely) Daddy and Bryce driving at the ranch and the boys at the "ghetto pumpkin patch" located between McDonalds and the BP!!

Boys, Boys, boys....

Hello friends, thought today we would just give you a few of our favorite quotes from this week! It sure has gotten a bit chilly down here, not sure what is going on....the boys love to take walks, so this is the perfect weather. Tuesday morning we were walking when the boys saw a dead squirrel in the road. After we talked about it for about ten minutes, we decided it is best to obey our parents and not play in the street so we don't "get deaded" by a car like the squirrel. When Daddy got home, we took another walk and they boys just wanted Daddy to see the dead squirrel, so as we were coming up to it, we noticed the poor thing had been run over again. Ahh, it was really nasty, but the boys loved it. I was so appalled, but Dustin kindly told me that it is a boy thing. Oh my, do I ever need a girl!! Wednesday morning the boys were doing a wonderful job playing together. Dylan was napping and I was getting some much needed cleaning done. About an hour had gone by and I was thanking Jesus for what great kids He had blessed us with when I hear two screams. I go in to see what the problem is. 1)Bryce: "Ty bit me" Mommy: "Ty, did you bite?" Ty: " I did not bite him Mommy. I tried to, but he wouldn't stop moving!!" Ok, so how do you NOT laugh at that. 2) The boys love to play the matching game. I over hear them talking about who won that time. Ty: " It was a tie" Bryce: "It was? Yeah!" Next game...Ty: " It wasn't a tie Bryce" Bryce: "It was a Bryce?" Ty: "No, not Ty, me, but a tie. It means we got the same score!" Ty and I were both cracking up!! 3) We were all sitting around coloring and putting stickers on paper when Tyler had a sticker with hands. He looked up and said "mommy can you write 'praise Jesus' on the hands, because when I get to heaven I am going to praise Jesus all the time." 4) Mommy: "Dylan say mama." Dylan: "Dada!" Oh the joys of boys. They can put a smile on our faces and a smile in our hearts. Thank you Jesus for the blessing of our precious little boys.

ok, lets' finish the Ohio tour trip

So wednesday, we are off to cincinnati to see Papaw and ALL the cousins! The boys were so excited to see everyone. It was fun to be home and be with my family. On Friday, we went to see the Senff kids, it was wild, but fun!! Saturday we took our first family trip to Kings Island!! Thank God for the good weather, it was perfect. The boys enjoyed riding all the rides, expecially the roller coasters. Saturday night, Dustin watched the bucks game with my Dad, while I went to a wedding with my dear friend, Devon! It was so great to catch up on life, as she lives in Tennessee. Sunday morning, we were off, back to NC........ enjoy the pictures! Dylan with Papaw, the boys at Kings Island, some of the cousins, and Devon and myself......

Happy Birthday Dylan!!

Ok, so we have to skip ahead a little bit.....Will come back to Ohio, because there are some super cute pics I am sure you'd love to see! Yes, it is true!! October 3 has come and gone and with it Dylan turned ONE!!!! Ahh, can't believe that my sweet baby boy is already one! Dylan had two celebrations for his big day! That morning we made chocolate muffins for breakfast, which his big brothers loved. He wasn't too sure. But he LOVED it when we all sang happy birthday to him! We sang it a few extra times throughout the day just to see that huge grin on his cute little face! Then Sunday, the 8th, we had a big bash! His sweet Aunt Angie made his birthday cake since I and Dylan were in Ohio again that weekend. We made it back just in time for the party. Anyway, Dylan still loves doggies, so she made a super cute dog cake and a little dog bone for him! Ah, loved it, thanks Ang!! Aunt Amanda, who is living with us for the month, made the white bean chicken chile, which was perfect! Thanks Amanda. Dylan enjoyed opening his gifts, only to be taken by his big brothers! His favorite gift.......little frogs to put in the tub. He loves them!! Dylan is by far the laziest little guy we have had so far. He CAN walk, but likes to crawl better, but we did get a few steps out of him on his big party!! We love the little booger. Oh speaking of, he has discovered his nose and greatly enjoys sticking his finger up it. Today, he pretended to throw it and then just stuck his finger in his mouth instead. Oh, sweet, sweet Dylan. Dylan is one....let the fun begin!

Continued.....

We finally return to the big boys at lunch time Sunday. It was so great to see them!! We had a laid back night; the boys went with Daddy and Grandpa to the golf course. They love to golf! Monday, we all went to the zoo! We had a great time. Ty and Bryce loved seeing all the animals and asked if each animal would eat them!! Well, they would if we were in the cage with them!! SO we decided it was best to just stay on the outside and watch! The boys got to touch a snake. Ahhhhh, not my favorite thing to do. They were so excited. Ty, of course, asked the zoo lady a million questions about the snake. Such as, will it bite me? Why not? Does it have teeth? What does it eat? Oh sweet Ty! The boys loved the monkeys with the pink bottoms! So funny, Bryce was so sure it was poo poo on their bottoms. The lion was a big hit as well. It was so loud, it was kind'a scary. I have never heard a lion roar before. It was clearly agitated by something, so glad we were on the other side of the cage!! The last place we stopped was the aquarium. They were all intrigued by the huge fish tank, the stink ray, and the manatee. It made for great photo opps!! Tuesday we went to see Great Grandparents. It was so good to see them. The boys loved all of Great Grandpas big cars and trucks! Last night in Worthington......Last night with the kitty and doggie. They loved the cat at Grandpas, even though it scratched and bit them nearly everyday! Wednesday morning, Cincinnati bound........