I'm sad to report...

I'm sad to report the craft my son and I completed today to work on his name has been destroyed by one little boy who also dumped out all his blocks, put all his puzzle pieces on the floor, who has chased and hit the dogs relentlessly today, as well as peed in his tent after an unsuccessful 8 minutes on his potty.

Better luck next time....

*******This little boy's father would like you to also know that now his drawers are empty of thier clothes as well as all the wipees being in the floor with all the diapers too. It's not like we had anything better to do tonight?!********

Make sure you scroll down to read all the updates from this weekend!

I mean, come on y'all....

Is this not the cutest picture you've ever seen? This is my dear, sweet cousin Katie or "Kaayyie" in our house. She loves Reese as if he was her own and he adores her as does her fiance Keal. Reese loves boots, wait, Reese LLOOVVEESS boots and his sweet Kaayyie let him put hers on and help him walk around for a bit. I got to snap this picture and I love it....maybe because Reese never smiles and in this one he is, or maybe it's because it really captures the relationship between these two.

We can't wait to be in your wedding this summer Kaayyie....We all 3 are very honored to be part of your special day!

Ok, so next....I try to do some sort of learning activity/craft with Reese at least 3 times a week. Sometimes we make that many, sometimes more, sometimes less. Either way, he loves to "pay" (paint) and "coor" (color). We did some really cute, cool things during Christmas that would've been great to post, but remember I was doing all the hanging out and not posting.....



Well, today Garrett and I were both painting some stuff around the house and so Reese felt like he needed to help out. So, we made this name banner for his room.



I drew each of the letters and he colored every page. I then cut them out while he helped me punch holes in the top. We then strung them and hung them from his top bunk. (Please excuse the unmade bed filled with his no less than 91223877473929290 blankets he has to have). We rarely let him get on his top bunk, but thought this was a good time to let him play up there for a bit.....



When we moved into this house, the kids room had these awesome shelves that will one day be so neat to display some of his stuff, for now, he's just a little boy and so they aren't all filled. Reese's room has 2 shelves and I haven't really gotten in any big hurry to fill the one above the bunk bed because it's harder to see. Anyways, for now, it will be a sitting spot for some of his bigger craft projects and some of his daddy's old sports balls....



Anyways, I get a lot of my ideas from No Time for Flashcards . Such a great site for moms of little ones..... Enjoy what Reese did today...

Some of the pictures turned out blurry - don't know why!?

Can you believe it?

Can you believe it? Two posts in two days! I know, I know...calm down, and don't expect this to become a regular occurance. However, my sweet Reeser had so much fun this Christmas. We had Christmas Eve with my sister and her family and my mom. Reese got this super cute little 4-wheeler from my mom that he couldn't wait to get on! He was trying to run the baby over while it was still in the box! He LOVED it! The next morning, Santa brought him a tool bench. I sadly don't have too many pictures - I was holding the video camera while Garrett had the camera and he is sooooo not interested in taking pictures. Anyways, I sat on the couch and Reese came through the living room - running and he made it about 3/4 of the way through and realized there were toys everywhere! It was so cute to watch him stop dead in his tracks and go straight for his toys. He couldn't decide to open or play and so we had a long morning of opening Santa's loot!

It was a great Christmas, we are extremely blessed and so lucky....

Hey Y'all! It's me, Tiffany!

I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been...somedays, I have too! The fact is, school's out, my husband took off the WHOLE Christmas vacation to spend with me and Reeser, and I've been taking advantage of having us all together as a family for this long! I could definately handle being independently wealthy so we could all stay home all day, everyday together!

Which, leads me to my next point....it's my 100th post! What a monumental occasion...well, not really, but kind of cool nonetheless!

I don't have any insightful words of wisdom, any great tips or advice, no great lessons learned over the holidays, but I do have some looking back to do over 2008. Take a stroll with me, if you will.....

February saw the First Birthday of our precious son, Kenny Reese. What a milestone! I look back at pictures from that time, and I see a kid about the same size (honestly guys, we've been hovering around the 20 pound mark since 9 months old! He currently weighs 22.), but, I see a kid who has grown and learned so much in just 8 short months. Reese knows his colors, some of his numbers, a few ABC's, and in just this last month started putting phrases and sentences together. It's amazing to see all he soaks up. He's such a studious little boy, taking in everything, really studying things, and always asking "arsh mamma?" (Reesey speak for 'what mamma?')

April gave Reese his first cousin, a precious little boy named Kenny Joe or at our house "JoJo". This bald headed little boy just melted my heart from the moment go. I was so very privilaged to be in the delivery room as he made his debut. My sister asked me to be there since she knew I would never get to experience childbirth of my own - so she gave me the next best thing - the birth of my nephew. I look at that little boy and I see the little sister I picked on for years...and just the other day I got to witness my son dragging JoJo by his feet, just like his mamma used to do to her sister!

Summer saw Reese's first two weekends away from mom and dad - he is such a big boy. Absolutely no tears, no whining, and always being a perfect gentleman. He's such a big boy! It also saw a trip to Sea World, swimming lessons, and lazy days with mom.

The start of this school year has been good - I can't believe I looked up and it was December. I have a great group of kids whom I adore and I told Garrett tonight I was excited to see them Tuesday!

I can only hope God blesses our family as much as He has in 2008.....

Not me! Monday

To start off with... I AM NOT up way too early on this first morning of my Christmas break watching "Cars" with Reese. I AM NOT enjoying him playing with his blocks and hitting any and everything off of his baseball tee. I DO NOT and AM NOT enjoying these moments with my son, even though theycut my sleep short.

I AM NOT excited about having my mom here for 3 days. I NEVER enjoy her time here and I ALWAYS wish she would head home!

I DID NOT let Reese have juice after dinner last night only to have him NOT tee-tee through his diaper and onto his sheets because he was on juice overload.

I AM NOT excited about being off of school for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! I mean, I AM NOT excited about not grading papers, not getting to shove my lunch down my throat in 15 minutes, not getting to see the darlings who don't stop talking when the announcements are on. In fact, I LOVE to remind them over and over that the six weeks is drawing to a close and they have to stay for tutorials to get caught up. I AM NOT excited that two weeks of no school means TWO WHOLE WEEKS with my sweet Reesey!

There you have it....all the things I am HATING to think about and the things I AM NOT looking forward to...

There are 4 days to Christmas!!!

Christmas takes on a whole new meaning with a child....while Reese isn't old enough to understand Santa and the story of Jesus, it is so fun watching him take in "Shesus" and "Claus" and beginning to see the wonder and amazement in his eyes.

We started off December with Christmas Lane at the State School. We let Reese get out of his car seat and sit in my lap as we drive through. It's so fun to hear him point out the figures he knows and to hear him say "Aweshome" in excitement at the really great displays. About 3/4 the way through, you can park and get out and go inside to an inside display and to see Santa. Reese of course produced a screaming picture - and my mom sat with him to try to get him to stop screaming. Our picture this year is comical! Here are two pictures of Reese looking at the insde display of Disney figures and the Santa scene...

Garrett and I are starting traditions with Reese, ones that we want for our family from here on out. We started with Christmas cookies. Reese helped me cut out some sugar cookies. He really enjoyed using the cookie cutters and "poosh"ing the cutters in the dough.

I iced the cookies and then we decorated them. We made snowmen, trees, candy canes, and gingerbread men. We decided to decorate snowmen as a family.

Our Rasor family of snowpeople.

I have a serious child. He is very inquisitive and uses every moment he is awake to study something. He is always looking, always studying everything around him. Therefore, he makes serious faces almost always. Now, don't get me wrong, he laughs those deep belly laughs all the time, but he is very much a serious child. We've been working with him on saying "Cheese" when someone wants to take his picture. Sometimes he does it, and sometimes he won't. This night, he was all about the "cheese"!

And with having an inquisitive child, I have a child who tends to get into things he shouldn't. So, while I'm cooking or cleaning up the kitchen, it's nice to have his magnetic alphabet and numbers out so he can stay in my sight. He LOVES his "nas" and loves for me to write equations for him.... he must know I like solving equations (come on guys, I AM a math teacher!). This night, he again is working on "cheese"!

We had our Rasor Christmas this weekend. We headed to Midland to see his Nana and Bobo/JBo/Reese hasn't decided on a name yet". I thought I left my camera at home, so I didn't get any pictures of Reese opening his presents, or him playing with Noble, or "Coco" (Lola). Then, we decided to head to Starbright Village and Garrett found my camera in Reese's backpack. So, I got pictures of our last 2 hours in Midland.

One thing I always get sentimental about is my dad not ever getting to be a grandfather. I know in my heart Reese would've adored my dad, would've loved every moment they were together and I get emotional thinking of the times Reese will miss having his PawPaw there. Of all his grandparents, PawPaw was the first one Reese said. With all that being said, if I had to handpick another grandfather for Reese, I couldn't pick a better one than Garrett's dad. He is so excited to see Reese, ALWAYS! He is a big kid himself, and so they are perfect friends! When Reese and Jimmy are together, there is always giggling, and so I think these pictures of Reese with Bobo are so fitting because in all of them, Bobo is grinngin from ear to ear (and most have his eyes closed)! Thanks Bobo and Nana for being so great to us!

Reese got some Clippo blocks from his Bobo and Nana yesterday. From the moment he got up today until we put him to bed, he played with those blocks! WHAT A GREAT GIFT!!!

Not Me Monday

I found this, and decided I wanted to participate. Here is my Not Me Monday list...

I DID NOT spank my son for peeing in the middle of the living room floor. Never mind that we ran to the "pawwey" after he said "rurry! rurry! rurry!" and he sat and then got up and ran away.

I DID NOT yell out his full name as I swatted his bare little behind so he wouldn't do it again, even though he didn't know better since he would normally have a diaper on!

I DID NOT cook a delish new recipe tonight that my husband fell in love with!

I DID NOT give my son some extra Cheez Its because I wasn't ready to fix his supper

I DID NOT continuously feed my son snacks so he would stop crying on the trip home yesterday.

I DID NOT hug and kiss that little boy a few extra times this morning because he slept late for me!

I DID NOT do any of these things.....what DID you NOT do?

Fab K....

is giving away blog makeover on her Creative K site. Head on over and enter to win a free blog makeover!

I just love.....

Saturday mornings when I get to lay in bed with my boys, enjoying dinosaur cinnamon toast and homemade chocolate milk....

It's just good for the soul.

Telling the truth never hurt anyone...

I got this idea from my friend Kelly and I really liked it, so I am following her lead...

Things I'm not crazy about....

I tend to gripe at Garrett when he doesn't do things my way. Even though his way might be perfectly fine, I don't like it if it's not my way.

I'm obsessive about the bed being made. So much so that we have to make hotel beds. Yeah, I know.

I don't always answer my phone when I see you call. Sometimes, you just don't feel like talking.

I'm not easy to please. I'm picky about everything - EVERYTHING.

I'm not open to new things. I'm not open to change.

I don't let people in so easily. And I'm sad about this because I missed out on a great friendship possibility (from near) by keeping my heart to myself.

I don't like to vaccuum or sweep, but I sure like to gripe at Garrett for the way he does them.

I gripe still when I think my sister gets more.

I get tend to blow up. Sometimes over very silly things. I let things "fester" inside me and then boil over at very inopportune times.

I am a planner. I want to know what, where and when several days in advance and if I don't and you just happen to "pop" in, I'm NOT happy about it - not one bit.

And as for "popping" in, I need about two weeks notice. Seriously, what if we have plans?

I'm a jealous person. Well, I am.

And selfish too.

Garrett is 100 times more patient and nice than I am.

However, there are somethings I'm proud of:

I spend quality time with my son daily. Even if it's just a craft we do together, or stopping at Starbucks for "Cay" on the way home, I cherish those times with him.

I go to church. It feeds me spiritually and emotionally and I pray it is doing the same for my son.

I make my husband dinner 5 nights a week.

I try very hard to be the best wife and mother I can be.

I'm a planner. (Hey, it can be a good thing too)!

That felt good - try it yourself!