Blaise... and more Blaise

Blaise playing... maybe this is where the obsession with basketball hoops comes from? (For the whole story, read the other blog linked at the right, it has more details.) Oh, and Scott was helping out in this one, trying to pass the ball back to B. Unfortunately, B can't catch well yet.

Okay, not really the best/safest idea he's ever had- but it was too cute to resist pulling out the camera. You can even hear him saying, "Walk, walk, walk..." And don't worry, I had him get down after I finished taking pictures, and I'm sure he'll never try it again, right ;)

Why I Love My Front-Load Washer...

This is especially helpful now... and, for the record, they are usually faster.

Camping at Table Rock

Admittedly, not the best video... but hysterical because 1) Scott always refuses to sing and dance, but here he was singing AND dancing in circles around me and 2) He would completely stop and just stand beside me when he noticed that Cullen had turned the camera on (so we have about 9 of these less than 10 second clips of him singing and dancing.)

No trip anywhere near Clemson would be complete without a Frisbee lesson... he's well on his way to playing disc golf :)

They were playing nicely, until I got the camera... but you can see B being a perfect 2nd-soon-to-be-middle child and Scott learning self-control :)

Time Flies... Oops :)

We went up to Maryland for Scott's birthday... yes, that was way back in February (I'm told I can blame everything on pregnant brain.) We had a very nice, although short, visit with Cullen's grandparents... I think Scott wore them out getting dizzy!

After visiting there, we headed to Cullen's parents house. We had birthday cake, but apparently no video of Scott trying to blow out the candles on his strawberry -i.e. pink- birthday cake. The boys had fun playing in the COLD basement with Grandpa.

A lazy Sunday afternoon, playing with Daddy... Scott's imagination (and love of cooking) is really taking off these days!

More and more and more playing....

Sorry, you'll have to turn your head for this one... too funny though. Scott has started sticking his stick/screwdriver/hammer/whatever down the front of his pants as a "sword." For the Snider's reading, much like Mike and his stick in the "Hammer, Grandpa, hammer," video.

Playing together, nicely! Someday, B might kill me for actually posting this though.

Finally... playing football with Mommy. He's pretty good. He caught it as many times as he dropped it and when he caught it he frequently would fall down. I asked why and he said, "That's what the Tigers do." Go Tigers :)

That was just last week, so now we're all caught up :)

Disney World!

Finally... sorry for the delay, we've been thinking about Scott's birthday and plenty of travel this month too.

Are you dizzy yet?

Or bored? This was Blaise's favorite ride... for a long time he was tapping his hand in perfect rythm on the side of the boat :)

This is the Magic Kingdom parade... you would have thought the boys were both IN the parade with all the waving they were doing!

Playing at the Boneyard in Animal Kingdom.

Our favorite character breakfast... at the Cape May Cafe. Goofy, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse in the best atmosphere for actually interacting with the characters and getting a good chunk of time with them. Plus, the food is good. Unfortunately most hot breakfast foods don't agree with pregnancy for me (TMI probably.)

Maybe he has a crush?! ;)

Snow!

We woke up to snow on Tuesday morning. Both the boys were very excited to look outside and see all the white... they were also very anxious to go outside and play in it.

So we ate breakfast and headed out pretty early. It was probably around 8ish, still coming down (though not very hard), and still very cold.

It actually took a few minutes to convince them to touch the snow at all. Apparently they thought they would just look at it?

It was funny how they tried to shake it off their mittens and how apprehesive they were about stepping on it. This might be an important note: Scott insisted on wearing his rain boots from last year- they are probably 2 sizes too small. However, he didn't complain about his feet at all, just his hands being cold.

And here's our somewhat disappointing, tiny snowman on the car. It was cold, did I mention that? And we got powder! It wouldn't pack for anything. Oh well. Maybe next year :)

Lots of Playing

Blaise thinks it's really funny to get this toy shaking and put on his tummy. It is entertaining!

This was cute too. Scott was still napping and Blaise was riding his truck around making sound effects... turn up the volume! And you have to chuckle when he sees the camera and stops to say, "Cheese."

A cute new game they played together over the weekend... hide in the closet and surprise people! It's so fun when they play together so nicely.

The Second Christmas

The one with all the people from NY :)

Okay, admittedly, this video is not of my children... but it was amusing none the less.

This was one of the favorites from the 2nd Christmas... you can't see it real clearly in the video, but Blaise was getting really excited about it and dancing and flapping his arms all around. It was very entertaining.

Scott's favorite game these days, "Run with me!" And he doesn't seem to care who he can coax into running with him, be it Blaise, me, Nana, Aunt Jesse... whoever is available. Incredible energy reserve... and for the record, I do take him running with me (not that I'm actually running now) he rides and then gets out and makes me run the cool-down-I-would-rather-be-walking part.

And finally, we took a little trip out to Landsford Canal State Park and Scott had a blast throwing sticks into the water. He ran a good chunk at the beginning and we sent Darrell to keep up with him. When we caught up they were happily throwing sticks into the water. Blaise actually ran/walked for quite a while too... then threw a fit when we put him in the backpack. Of course, as soon as Jessica (who was carrying the backpack) managed to walk for a good stretch he was out cold.

And there you have it... my video blog is finally caught up. Now we'll see how many videos we can post in 2009 and maybe we'll broaden our purpose and include some pictures too.

Christmas Day

The cash register... now to qualify the video: They were playing very sweetly together and Blaise was putting his groceries on the counter and Scott was checking him out... then I went to get the camera... Blaise left the store. Scott followed him to collect a few things to scan. Blaise came back to the store to take back his groceries and then Scott got annoyed. I missed the really cute part, but oh well, you get the picture they really like playing with the cash register :)

The Little People amusement park was the big toy we got the boys this year... I think they like it.

Christmas Card

2008-

Hope. When we lit the advent candle last Sunday, we were reminded of the hope we have in the arrival of the Christ child.
Reflecting on this past year, we must remember the hope of heaven that is ours only through faith in that same Christ child, the Lord Jesus- who loves us more than we can imagine. Cynthia’s dear grandmother, RoseMarie Gardner went to be with Jesus this year and we miss her terribly, but know that someday we will be reunited with her in heaven. Grandma’s losing battle with cancer defined much of our year, as we traveled back and forth to NY 4 times and spent many precious moments with her. Days before his 1st birthday in May, Blaise took his first steps to Grandma. Now he runs and is starting to talk well. Scott, the avid reader at 2 years old, enjoyed sitting with Grandma and having her read book after book - I don’t know how she did it. He also loved playing baseball in her big yard. Cullen missed most of the trips to NY. He spent his time studying and taking all 9 of his architectural licensing exams. We are waiting on results from the last 2 tests and he will be a licensed architect!!!
As you reflect on 2008 and the birth of Christ this Christmas, we pray that you will remember the hope of heaven that comes through faith in Jesus and that your lives will reflect that hope to others.
Isaiah 9:2 – “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” The light is Jesus. Try drawing a picture in the dark; then turn on the lights and try drawing it again. What a difference the light of Jesus can make in our outlook of the world around us.