Deer X-ing

North Carolina is very wooded almost everywhere. We regularly see deer, oppossums, raccoons, squirrels,and skunks on the side of the road, dead and alive, so we know there is always a possiblity to hit one. Well the other day, the boys and I were on our way home from a friends house at about 4pm. We came around the corner to see a deer run out in front of an SUV. The SUV tried to stop so there was smoke from the tires skidding. We saw the deer try to jump when the SUV hit the deer. The deer hit the SUV's front bumper, then hit the windshield on the passenger side, and bounce over the top of the SUV and land by the back tire on the drivers side. That's right...over the car! Then it jumped up, ran in front of another car (which stopped), and ran into the woods. SCARY!!! The boys saw the whole thing and talked about it for days. I was just grateful that the deer was able to run off the road so the boys didn't see it die. It helped me be more aware on the road, and I think it gave the boys a different respect for how dangerous it is to play in the street. I hope I never have to see that again.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

"Winds-day"

Last Wed. was the windyest day I have ever seen in my life. It was just like a scene from "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day." The wind wasn't too bad until I got back from picking up the boys from school. Then when we started homework the house was rattling so I looked out the back door to see our trampoline try to fly away. I didn't want it to crash into our fence that we finished about a 2 months ago, or hit our neighbors house or our own house, so I had Micheal help me move it back then as soon as we let go another big blast of wind tried to take it away again so Micheal and I jumped onto the sides to hold it down. Then Clayton told me the trash can blew over. Yep...it had to be trash day. So we raced out to the front to pick up the trash. We got back inside just in time for it to hail. Micheal was disappointed that he wasn't outside when it was hailing. He was "inexperienced" with hail so I told him if he wanted to see what it was like he could go out, he only opened the door a little and changed his mind. He was satisfied to hold a piece of hail. Poor Tanner was in a frenzy to keep us inside, he kept screaming/crying and holding the door shut. Totally out of character for him. If you can't tell, he has a huge paranoia about wind. He thought that we were going to blow away. The boys didn't get much homework done that day but we had fun running around outside. Thank heaven the wind only lasted until bedtime. We were exausted! Good thing they don't happen everyday.

Tanner's Bed

Jeremy has been working on a bed for Tanner since before Thanksgiving. Well it is almost done, and Tanner is getting more and more excited. Jeremy even let him help paint...a little.

The first picture is from when we moved it out of the garage to sand it. If you look closely at Tanners face he is a little panicked because he thinks the wind is going to blow it away. Cute!

Christmas and Beyond

For Christmas, the boys got lots of fun toys and they got new bikes. They got to play with their toys for a couple of hours and ride their bikes around the block once before we had to leave for Washington DC. Jeremy got some work out equiptment so that he can continue his physical therapy for his knee at home.I got a plane ticket to go to Arizona in March. YAY! I can't wait to see my family again! I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving in 2007 and that was a very short visit! I miss you and I'll see you soon.







Here are the boys at the Washington DC Temple for Rich and Caitlin's wedding the day after Christmas. We had a ton of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's after we got to Pennsylania. They had some snow on the ground before Christmas and then it rained so it ended up a solid sheet of ice. It was perfect for sledding! Sorry, I was having too much fun to take any pictures. It quickly melted but it was fun while it lasted.

We took family pictures while we were there and I thought the whole "family picture thing" was hilarious. If you have ever tried to take pictures with kids you know how it goes. They cooperate only so long and then you end up with pictures that include pushing, crying, poking, nose picking, no smiling, parents running in and out, bottles, binkies, etc. Very funny!
It was so nice to see everyone again and watch the kids have fun with each other. We'll miss all of you, until we see you again.

New Family Pictures

When we went to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving we asked Grandma Fowler if she would take some family pictures for us. She did awesome! What would we do with out you! We had so much fun over Thanksgiving seeing Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Rich and Miss Caitlin. Thanks for the fun! We look forward to Christmas!

"Fun" at the Dentist

OK, so the week before Halloween the boys had their semi-annual cleanings done. I know, before Halloween seems like a waste of a cleaning but it had to be done. Micheal and Tanners cleanings went without a hitch. But....during Clayton's cleaning, the dentist said that Clayton's permanent molar was stuck on a baby molar. Not good! Usually, the teeth come in without any problem at all, so they were watching it to see if it would take care of itself, but it didn't. He said that the little molar had to be taken out so the big molar could come in. (Check the xray above.)

Then he told me that Clayton isn't growing some of his permanent teeth on the top of his mouth. Not good! So, we have to try to protect and save his baby teeth on that side so that he has teeth. I didn't know that could even happen! All the problems happen to be on the top of his mouth. Poor Clayton! He'll be in and out of dentist offices the rest of his life. The dentist said that the baby teeth we are trying to save will only last until he is about 30 and then he'll have to have implants put in if he wants teeth to chew with. The good news: the dentist doesn't see any wisdom teeth pockets growing so Clayton may not get any wisdom teeth.

Well on Tuesday we had Clayton's little molar extracted and a couple of cavities fixed. I had to warn the dentist to not say the words "shot" or "needle" around Clayton unless he felt like getting into a knock-down-drag-out-fight, so he said "no problem, we can give him a little laughing gas and he won't even know." Sure enough, he doesn't remember anything except the dentist humming a tune. YAY! After a couple of hours and some children's motrin, you would never even know he had any work done at all. He can't have any hard foods like popcorn, peanuts, potato chips or hard candy for 2 weeks, which is a bummer for a kid but... he can eat as much mashed potatoes, applesauce, jello, pudding, homemade milkshakes/smoothies, and ice cream he wants for 2 weeks to compensate. He has been such a trooper! Way to go Clayton!