Boys and Their Toys

We hosted our church Lifegroup at our house tonight. Talk about a WILD time. There were a total of 14 adults and 7 kids (eight if you count the yet-to-be-born Pond baby). Yip - S.E.V.E.N. little fully energized bodies running around. And despite the large number of children under the age of 6 in the house, it really wasn't all too bad. The little ones tended to stay in Rhett's room and played with his toddler toys, and the bigger boys stayed in Grant's room and played with his big boy toys. There was lots of laughter and hollering coming from the kid side of the house which was a sign that everything was normal, and that meant that us moms could continue to sit at the table and talk and gab and laugh and enjoy our much needed Girl Time. It hit me in the middle of my second slice of pizza, however, that there was a bit too much laughing going on in Grant's room. You know the kind... the we-are-boys-doing-something-questionable laugh. I hopped off my barstool and quickly made my way through the living room and down the hall to check on the boys, all the while noticing that the laughter was getting louder and louder. As I held my breath and peeked around the corner, I was prepared to find three boys playing in a big mess of toys or something that was off limits. This hypothesis was based on the fact that the last time Ethan and Grant were left alone in a room, several plastic/rubber fishing worms ended up stuck to the ceiling. But instead of finding complete pandemonium of feverishly wild boys, I found this...

Grant, Ethan and Austin = Church Buddies

Three sweet little boys playing with Ethan's computer/phone/ipod thingy (can you tell I aim to keep up with the latest technological terms?) on Grant's bed. They were taking silly pictures of each other and then doctoring up the pictures with sounds and funny icons.

And to think that I doubted their self control cabalities... Just give them time though. I'm sure they'll once again prove that three little boys in a room alone can spell t.r.o.u.b.l.e. (At least this time I was smart enough to hide the fishing worms before everyone arrived.)

Scoodle Doots Chunky Monkey fun!

I just finished a Scoodle Doots order for a sweet little boy named Kason (aka - "Chunky Monkey") who is about to turn one. His very creative mom has a special "5 Little Monkeys" themed birthday party in the works, and she asked me to make a shirt and sippy cup to commemorate the occasion. She's also decided to turn one of the tables at the party into a bed (told ya she was creative), so she added to her order a coordinating pillow case. I gotta tell ya ~ I had the most fun with monkey, banana and lime green polka-dotted fabrics!
**I apologize for the picture quality being so poor. Both of my cameras are broken (thanks to certain 6 and 2 year olds), so the pictures were taken with my hubby's iPhone.

front of shirt

back of shirt

close-up of monkey playing Peek-a-Boo

pillow case

Oh, this pillow case is so precious. This picture just doesn't do it justice.
The spotted orange grosgrain ribbon and the orange thread I used to monogram the words "Chunky Monkey" really tie the orange dots of the lime green fabric together. In order to pull more of the spunky lime green into the pillow case,
I used lime green thread to sew down Kason's name which I realize is hard to see in this picture. You are just going to have to take my word for it when I say it is REALLY cute!

close-up of "Chunky Monkey" monogram on pillow case

coordinating sippy cup

Happy 1st birthday, Kason!!!

Yee-Haw

The Martin tradition of the grandfather buying boots and hats for the grandkids continues. Grant and Rhett and my dad took a trip to the boot store in Granbury over Christmas, and the boys truly surprised me. Not only did they want cowboy boots, but they were TOTALLY pumped about them!

Who knew boots could be so colorful? Call me a Texas dork, but I sure didn't.

How are we EVER going to choose which boots we love the best?

Rhett decided on a blue pair and was quite pleased with his choice.

Of course Grant chose a green pair and thought he was pretty cool. I hear you chose the same pair, Reed. Ah, yes. Great kindergarten minds DO think alike.

Let's check out some cowboy hats with Daddy.

You get one too, Daddy, and all three of us can match.

I dont' know... I really like the black hat.

Watch out, ladies!

Decisions, decisions.

I really liked the black one, but since I like to copy my brother and Daddy, I went ahead and got the hat that matched theirs instead.

I think this means we will have to go to the Houston Rodeo this year. I do not think it means I will be wearing cowgirl boots or a hat though - well -

maybe if they were pink...

with rhinestones...

To clear things up...

...no, we are not expecting baby #3. Many have asked if that was the case since I mentioned something about Grant wishing for a sister as he blew out his candles in the previous post, but that's all it was. The day I ever have a girl will be the day cauliflower actually tastes good and laundry does itself.

If we were to go for #3, we'd end up with triplet boys.

I guess it's all up to you, Kelly, Kory, Jess, Josh, Danni and Garrett...

Grant is SIX!

Yesterday we celebrated Grant's sixth birthday with Gramma and our neighbor, Ashlyn. Between Daddy being in Brazil, Dude-Dad having to attend a basketball game, and the fact that Grant's birthday fell on a weekday, we decided to have a little party yesterday and a bigger party later. Grant chose to go to Ruthies (does he have Martin in his veins, or what?) tonight, his favorite place to get "Mexico rice and beans". Then we came back home for cupcakes and presents. Sweet Gramma stayed and cleaned up a and helped me get the boys in bed before she headed back home.

At Ruthies

Placing the candles in the football cake.

Make a wish (for a sister...)

Gotta love that icing.

And the presents weren't so bad, either.

Happy birthday, sweet Grant. We love you!

And happy first birthday to Drew! I think it's so neat that you and Grant have the same birthday!

Scoodle Doots

Scoodle Doots continues to keep me happily busy. Keep checking my website for new designs. I have lots of baby orders coming in, so stayed tuned...

Ashlyn's Ribbon Hoodie

Avery's Ribbon Hoodie and Matching Skirt

I made this shirt for Grant to wear to school tomorrow on his 6th birthday.

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve

The annual family tree picture. I add these pictures to a special Christmas memory book each year. Sooooo fun to go back and look at year after year.

Grant enjoying the tradition of coloring in a Christmas coloring book. We were sure to give the date, time, temperature and artist's name under the picture as the Kilgores have done for 32 years. The coloring books are sooooo neat to go back and look at.


One of the funniest moments Christmas Eve... Rhett was throwing a fit and got his hand stuck in his pocket. He was M.A.D. and we just laughed and laughed.

Santa is coming to town! Grant and Rhett were sure to leave sweet treats

and cold milk for Santa. (I promise Grant was not drunk in this picture.)

Christmas morning

Did Santa come????

YES, he DID come! He brought a remote control tarantula (as specifically requested) and a tree house to Grant, and a rocket and blue bike (as specifically requested) to Rhett.

Grant mentioned several times that he "loves Santa"! I guess Santa did a good job!

Rhett did not give much attention to the blue bike he asked Santa for,

but he did spend time with the space rocket.

Still enjoying Santa's gifts.

Don't forget to check the stockings!

One surprise Santa left in the stockings were battery operated disc throwers.

Although the kids loved them, Daddy had a good time with them, too.

Despite Santa's score, neither Grant nor Rhett minded

when the time came to open the packages.

Grant and his drill-a-design set. And look!

The drill that came with his workbench works on the screws!

Rhett liked it, too.
Rhett and his Superman cape.

He loved run and feel it fly behind him.

Grant's lights and sounds Home Depot workbench. Daddy had a "good" time putting this together.

Rhett with his new Pat Pat Rocket and beloved Little Einsteins.

Rhett and Gramma playing with Handy Manny and the Grant's drill.

If you need help opening your sealed tight presents, just ask my dad.

Daddy texting Uncle Kory and Aunt Kelly in Australia wishing them a Merry Christmas. Uncle and Aunt K decided that that they would spend this Christmas in Australia instead of Japan. They had already done lots of sight seeing by Christmas Eve including a wildlife park where they saw dingos, kangaroos, koalas, wallabies and the such, and were planning on going to the Barrier Reef the day after Christmas.

Joy to the world! Christmas was a BLAST!

The boys received so many gifts, I spent today's entire morning cleaning out, vacuuming and reorganizing their closets of toys just to find a place for all the new ones. Oh, and it also included a trip to Target for more plastic storage containers to aid in the organization. I loved the whole task. I am a dork like that though, and I proudly admit it. Organizing and cleaning just soothe my soul. It feels really good to stand back and smile at those purty closets and their spotless floors when you're finally done.

After enjoying Christmas Day, it hit me that Grant would never be five at Christmas again, and Rhett would never be two at Christmas again. Yes, I knew that - DUH! - but it suddenly sank in our way back to our house after leaving Dude Dad and Gramma's. It sank H.A.R.D. Emotions swept over me, and I began to cry and cry. Rhett was in the back seat talking about how much he loved his gifts and Grant was joining him in the excited conversation. In the background you could Sunny 99.1 on the radio playing Christmas favorites. We passed house after house of Christmas lights and I was sure to slow down so that we could soak in all the sights and joys of Christmas one last time with a five and two-year-old. We turned into New Territory and the boys requested to drive by the houses that had "BaBaBeeBee" (Spongebob Squarepants), "Big Santa", the flying pig, "Egg Santa", "Egg Puppy", and the "Freaky Christmas Tree" for one last hoorah. And then the tears really came. I realized that Rhett would probably not call Spongebob "BaBaBeeBee" next year. He will most likely be able to correctly pronounce candy cane instead of calling them "kinndy kinns". He will probably be able to say Christmas lights and Christmas tree as opposed to the precious "Kimiss hights" and "Kimiss tee". He will probably say Ho!Ho!Ho! when impersonating Santa and not "Who!Who!Who!" I am telling you, these thoughts just speared my heart and the tears did not take my sadness away.

While I'm on the subject of special Christmas memories, I want to put in writing how innocent and sweet Grant is with his love and belief in Santa. He REALLY got the idea of Santa this year, and his eyes would just sparkle... I mean S.P.A.R.K.L.E. when he and I would talk about how cold Santa must be flying up in the winter sky on Christmas Eve and how dirty his perfect red suit must surely get with ashes and soot. How he probably hopes that everyone remembers to put their fires out well before they went to bed so as not to burn his feet on hot ashes, how he most likely loves sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles the most out of all the other treats he gets that night, and that surely once he arrived back home at the North Pole he would be resting by a crackling fire with a big cup of hot chocolate on Christmas morning while he thought about all the good girls and good boys he and his elves would be building toys for again for the next Christmas.

Oh, that look in a little one's eyes when talking about Santa is priceless. Not only do the eyes react to the idea of it all, but Grant will get a big smile on his face - one that crinkles his chin, and then he'll purse his lips together as if he's trying his best to hold in all his exploding excitement, and then he'll let out the most joyful laugh. Oh, what I'd give to box that up and pull it out fifty years from now... to see my precious first baby as a five-year-old loving Christmas for all its wonder and magic. I hope he'll always believe.

And with these thoughts, I cried and cried and cried some more. The more I cried, well, the more I cried. It wasn't like most times when the tears somehow heal the sorrow your heart feels. It was deep. Soooo much deeper than that. So in order to cheer me up, Kerry and I watched "Four Christmases" once the boys went to bed. It really helped get my mind off of the emotional aspects of Christmas with my sweet boys. That Vince Vaughn is one funny guy! He very much reminds me of my cousin Jeremy which made the movie even funnier! And only if you grew up knowing Jeremy, would you EVER truly understand just exactly what I mean by that.


I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and all you moms out there took mental snapshots of your little ones that on that special day that you'll hold in your heart - forever.