A Bucket Full of Fun

A boys childhood would not be complete without the simple toy of army men.  A bucket full of army men can provide hours of fun.  It is the simple things in life that truly make a young boy happy.  The simple pleasure of watching your son use his creative abilities, imagination, pretend, explore...that's what truly makes a mommy happy.

Snowklahoma

Yesterday we received record breaking snowfall.  The official amount ended up being 21 inches with up to 8 foot snow drifts.  We were pretty much forced to stay inside all day due to the blizzard conditions.  However, later in the afternoon after the snow stopped falling, we did get out some, but not for long- it was so cold!  The boys loved being out in the deep snow- but were very ready to come inside and thaw out after only 15 minutes or so.

First Snow Day of the Year {January 10, 2011}

***I am just now journaling the snow day that we had back in January due to some issues getting my pictures off of my camera.

The first snow day of the year was January 10.  There wasn't very much snow, but the boys made the best of it and had a few snowball fights.  These pictures were taken while the snow was still falling.  My camera battery died so I didn't get any pictures after there was more snow.

It's kind of crazy looking at these pictures with the "limited" amount of snow on the ground.We are currently snowed in because of the Oklahoma Blizzard of 2011.  The snow I can see out my window right now make this seem like nothing.

A Genuine Cowboy- Sort Of

Koen had cowboy day at school recently.  He was decked out.  He wore a western shirt, bandanna and genuine cowboy boots.  All he was missing was a genuine cowboy hat.  He was so cute.  I'm not sure the cowboy hat could have added any more cuteness though.  I just love seeing his hair.  I hope it's red-ish forever!

Not so Bad...

This is my official apology to my parents (Mom in particular) for how much I hated shots as a kid.  The boys both had shots today and lets just say that I will NEVER take them to both get shots by myself again.  Gannon cried the whole way there and as soon as we were called back to the room the boys started full out fighting about who was going first.  I was mortified.  The nurse assured me that she had seen worse.  I finally was able to sort of convince Koen to go first.  I did however,have to pick him up and put him on the table.  At one point the nurse asked me if she should get another nurse to help hold him down.

So, meanwhile Gannon was standing in the corner of the room shaking, crying his eyes out begging them to DON"T DO IT!  I encouraged Gannon not to watch and he very quickly covered his eyes and sobbed louder.  Just for memories sake, although I am not sure how I would ever forget it, he sounded somewhat like a mix between a cow giving brith and who know what else.  Once I was able to lay across Koen with his hands under me, the nurse administered the shot and he barely even flinched.  He didn't cry or anything at the actual poke of the shot.

Gannon was just as hard if not more to get up on the table, but even though he was kicking with all his might, not having another child that was having a nervous breakdown (remember that sound he was making) in the corner made things a little easier.

By the time it was all over I was completely sweaty and my necklace had been pulled off.  We got our things together and left the room to check out.  The boys both said with swollen tear streaked faces "That wasn't so bad!"  Really?!?!?!?!?

{This was one of their better moments.}

The Language of a Brother

The boys are so close to each other in age and relationship.  Sometimes they fight alot, but I have to think that they really love each other too.  I know they would stand up for each other if need be and I like to think they will be the best of friends as adults too.  At dinner tonight we talked about our family being a team and that we are for (rather than against) each other.  This talk came on the heels of some disagreements that the boys had while building with Lego's this afternoon.  Gannon was not wanting to agree that we were a team.  Him and Koen got into discussion about it after I had tried to explain what I meant by that.  Koen very easily got the point across by saying, "Gannon we have been a team since the beginning."  It seemed to satisfy Gannon, as he no longer disagreed with the "family is a team" idea. I think they understand each other alot, maybe even more than I understand them. They speak each others language and seem to figure each other out so quickly.  Later I was looking through older pictures and found these.  How fitting.

A team since the beginning for sure.

This Is Me Today

Today I am...

six (and a quarter)

in kindergarten

full of energy

a momma's boy

an eye roller 

growing quicker than my mom would like

learning basketball

wishing for snow

full of big ideas

me.

Less is More

It is 2011 which is hard to believe considering it seems like just yesterday that so many were sure that things were to go awry come 2000 aka Y2K.  But , time kept on ticking and another decade has come and gone.  It is interesting because we are starting another decade in the sense of calendar years, but I am also starting another decade of my life.  I feel a sense of excitement about the starting of both new decades.

I am not one to make New Year's Resolutions, nor do I plan to this year.  I do feel like this year holds a lot of potential in the Bruski household.  There are some exciting changes on the horizon that I am looking forward to see unfold.  I just feel so good about 2011 and I will do my part to keep that good feeling going.  I believe that attitude is THE most important part of the outcome of your day to day life.  I hope I can instill that in my boys as well.

The attitude that I want to keep at the forefront of my mind this year is that less is more.  This could go many different directions, but to begin with, our family is going to slow down.  Maybe the success of a simpler Christmas has spurred this idea on, but I feel that we need more of a sense of simplicity in our home.  In order to simplify we will likely have to turn down activities or invites,  prioritize with much more scrutiny and be intentional on doing the things that truly matter.  Another way I plan to simplify is by decluttering our house and being more picky about what comes into our home by considering: Do we really NEED it?  Will it add to our home or simply take up space?

I can't wait to see what this year holds for us.  Soon I am going to attempt to recap what the last decade has brought our way.  It's kind of fun to reminisce and evaluate where you have been and where you would like to go.

This year will be super busy, but by intentionally focusing on making our life simpler in the areas that we can control, I think I will be able to embrace more of the carefree attitude that my two redheads have mastered so well!

Blurry, but this captures the personality of my boys so well!

Christmas Simplified

I can truly say that we had the best Christmas that I remember in years.  SO many lessons were learned this Christmas from various events that happened. Each lesson learned helped to make this Christmas fabulous! I really am just journaling this for myself so that I can remember how making Christmas simpler this year helped to make it one of the best on record. This post is rather long so consider this fair warning.

To begin with; going into the season I made the commitment to myself that I would not over commit myself or try to over extend myself.  I began by simplifying my decorations.  I have yet to take them down, but I bet I will thank myself when it comes time to take them down as well. Since I originally started this post I have taken them down and as we were hauling things up to the attic I was very glad at how quickly I was able to get everything put away,. I cut down on how many sweets and goodies I cooked.  And last I let go of many expectations  for Christmas.  In years past I have expected my children to act perfectly as we madly rush from place to place and spend time with  friends and family.  I expect them to act overly thankful and happy with each gift, which is different from grateful I have now realized.  In years past I have expected to be able to jam pack our days leading up to Christmas with happy Christmas activities that will get us in  the Christmas mood, when all they really do (in such large quantities anyways) is cause burnout.

This year I listed all the activities I had done in the past and then choose my favorite 5 and stuck with those.  I turned down many invitations for holiday parties and such and just stuck to a few get togethers and mostly family time.

As Christmas grew closer I was letting myself fall back into old habits of hustle bustle and began to find myself very frazzled over all the things that needed to be done before Christmas.  A few days before Christmas Koen became very ill and we had a couple of very scary days wondering what the outcome would be.  This really gave me a reality check and I quickly realized what was important.

When Christmas did arrive I was so thankful for a healthy (mostly) family and what a miracle that was considering what had happened just earlier that week.  As an adult, I do not believe I have had a happier Christmas.  I was just truly overjoyed to be with my family and nothing else seemed to matter.

I did not get all of my Christmas cards out due to Koen's sickness, but I did get some out to mostly those that live away and that don't get to see the boys often as I included their picture in the Christmas card.

Like I said before I wanted to journal this in order to remember my feelings of this Christmas and keep things in perspective for years to come!

I didn't take hardly any pictures on Christmas, which I kind of regret, but I do have very good memories of my own, so I am OK with that.  Here are a few I did get.

Love Notes

 I received a love note today...

It melted my heart!

In The Summertime...

There's a song by Mungo Jerry that goes something like- "In the summertime when the weather is hot, you can stretch right up and touch the sky..."   Well, here in Oklahoma it goes like this- In the summertime when the weather is 105 with a heat index of 115...

We just JUMP right into the pool!!!

The Little Plant

In  the heart of a seed,

Buried deep so deep,

A tiny plant,

Lay fast asleep.

"Wake" said the sunshine,

"And creep to the light."

"Wake," said the voice 

Of the raindrops bright.

The little plant heard

And it rose to see,

What the wonderful,

Outside world might be.

{poem credit}

Summer Highlights {Post Vacation to Mid July}

We have done so much since we have been back from vacation.  Here is a quick recap.

We went to a super fun birthday party at the Kiddie Park in Bartlesville.

Wayne, Shelly and the girls came over for a beautiful fireworks show and concert at Stone Canyon.

We went to Owasso Stadium to see the city of Owasso's fireworks for the first time ever!  Also for the first time in history(that I know of) Gannon fell asleep about 2 minutes into the fireworks.  They were so loud- I do not know how he slept!!

We enjoyed hosting a few friends, family and old and new neighbors for a cookout and some fireworks(in the rain) on July 3.

On July 4th after church we enjoyed some time with my parents and then we watched and lit fireworks with our neighbors.  We were introduced to a new firework this year that is definitely my favorite- the sky lantern.

We took the kids to see Toy Story 3- 3D.  SUCH a good movie!  Very sad, but what a great way to end such a good 3 movies!

Brandon and I went to see Grown Ups- HILARIOUS!!!

Had to give our guinea pigs ( Moose and Fibble) away due to allergies and such, but thankfully Susie and Erin agreed to take them so we can go visit when the boys want to see them.

Had a great week at VBS at church- Treasure Quest.  The highlights for the boys were  the puppets, great music and seeing Bubba get inside of a 6 foot balloon and tell the story of Jonah from inside.  It was so cool!

We celebrated my Mom's birthday!  At this time last year she was taking radiation.  She is once again cancer free, although she still struggles with some stomach issues that prevent her from eating some things.  We are so thankful that she is cancer free and super glad to celebrate her birthday!

My Aunt Carol came into town for a family reunion so we headed to Fort Gibson lake a couple of days to spend time with her.  The boys really enjoyed getting to spend time with her and she SPOILED them!

I know that there are probably things that I have missed and I would like to add pictures to this post, so this may be a post in progress for a while.  It has been so hot the last week or so and I can hardly stand to be outside.  I was looking through pictures and found this one- I needed to see this to remind me that the seasons will change and before we know it this "Oppressive" heat (as one of our weather men has been calling it) will be long gone!

Summer Vacation 2010 Part 2

On Wednesday morning we headed to Manitou Springs. We took the Cog Railway up to the summit of Pikes Peak.

{ Isn't this the cutest little train depot you have ever seen?! }

{ Getting ready to board the train. }

{ All Aboard! }

{ This is the view known as Inspiration Point.  This was the view that Katherine Lee Bates saw when she was inspired to write "America the Beautiful." }

{ Our train making a turn at Windy Point.  It was just after this that we were asked to put our windows up as the temperature dropped quickly.  At this point we are above timberline. }

{ It was really starting to get cold.  Notice the view behind Koen- there are no longer trees, just rocky soil. }

 { We made it to the top. }

 After one and a half hours on the train we arrived at the summit of Pike's Peak.  This was a breathtaking experience. You could see for miles! We were all bundled up as it was 35 atop the mountain with a wind chill of 32!!

{ It was so windy that Gannon was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. }

{ The view was simply unbelievable.  The pictures really do it no justice. }

{ I really like this picture because if you notice slightly to the right of center is a very red rock formation sprouting up out of the middle of nowhere.  This is known as Garden of the Gods and we were also able to visit here while we were on the trip. }

We were allowed 40 minutes on the summit due to the risk of altitude sickness.  At the top we were at 14, 1115 feet in altitude.  We learned so much neat history about Pike's Peak.  Once we got on the train and started heading down I caught this great shot of the moon while we were still above timberline.

Thursday we explored Garden of the Gods. Before we headed there we ate at The Hungry bear in Woodland Park, CO. It was so yummy!

{ This is the site that you see upon entering Garden of the Gods. }

 { I wished I knew how to use Photoshop and I would take these people out of this picture. }

 

 { See Brandon in this one...} 

 { Can you find all three of my "boys" in this one? }

After Garden of the Gods we began our journey home. We stopped and had lunch in Pueblo, Co at the river walk, stopped and got gas in Trinidad, Co and then we briefly drove through New Mexico- which was a very pretty drive. During this portion of the trip we were able to see the Sangre de Cristo mountains as well as a beautiful mountain range in new Mexico.

{ This is the only picture that I took in new Mexico.  It's not a very good one, but the mountains were pretty. }

 We made it to Guymon, Ok out in the Oklahoma panhandle and we stayed the night there.  The kids were able to swim at the hotel to get some energy out.  We drove home the next morning.  We had such a great trip!  We would love to go back to the Colorado Springs area again because there was so much more that we could have done.