Ramsey's Notables for 2017

Kids say and do the craziest things.  I've said this a million times.... "I wish I would have written that down" when Connor said something or did something crazy when he was a little tot.  ("I got milk down my juice lung!", as some milk went down 'the wrong tube'.)

I'm keeping track of some of Ramsey's crazy things throughout each year.   Sorry, but there may be a bit of a "potty theme" in many of these excerpts.

So, for 2017, we'll start out in January of 2017.
Ramsey was still in-training for the potty.  I was changing his 3rd messy pull-up of the day (he'd had some accidents and his tummy must have been messed up).   Not to be gross, but they were very... mushy.  As I was changing him, I said to him, "Ramsey, you're having some pooping problems today!".  He then exclaimed, "YEA, diarrhea!!!".  I wondered how the heck a 2-year-old would know what that was?!?

Fast-foward to June 9, 2017:
Ramsey was crawling around the floor, playing.  He shouts, "I'm a puppy!  I want to go outside."  Then, he says, "I'm going to go POOP outside!"

August 8th, 2017:
Ramsey was digging in his nose (yuck).  He turns to Nana Karen and says, "I have a snot mustache!".

Also that day, while we were blowing bubbles on the deck with the bubble guns and wands, Ramsey asks, "Do you know where bubbles go?  Bubble heaven!".

August 13th, 2017:
While Ramsey was sitting on the potty chair, he shouts, "I have RAISINS below my pee pee!"

August 13th, 2017 (I must have really been keeping good track in August, huh?!?!):
While we were outside firecamping, Connor found a leopard frog and showed it to Ramsey.  Ramsey petted it, sniffed it, then said, "Hey, this frog smells like chicken!"

August 14th, 2017:
We were sitting at the kitchen table eating.  Ramsey tells Eric, "You need to grow down and be 3, like me!".  Everyone was also told to "grow little" like him too.

September 2017:
Ramsey was on the potty chair, playing with his little boy goods.  I told him, "Ramsey, please stop playing with your testicles."  He stopped. I asked, "Why are you always playing with them?"  He replied, "Because they are so squishy!!"

October 14, 2017:
Ramsey was playing with his mini light saber.  Riggs was laying there nicely.  Ramsey takes the saber, puts it by Riggs's rear and and says, "I'm gonna check out your butt!!"

December 17th, 2017:
When I asked Ramsey what kind of a cake he wanted for his birthday, he told me, "I want a dead loser birthday cake!".  *sigh*    He also said a minions cake or a Minecraft cake.

December 24th, 2017:
I was preparing the cookies and milk for Santa.  Ramsey was playing in the living room.  Eric was looking at the Santa Tracker.  As I was walking into the room, Eric made a crack that "Santa better not fly over North Korea; they will shoot him down!".  Without hesitation, Ramsey snaps his body at Eric, points his finger at him and said, "Hey, stop saying sh*t like that!".   It came out of his mouth so naturally, it was like he'd been saying it for years!
I was laughing (and crying) so hard, I had to turn around and go back into the kitchen to compose myself.  It took Eric much longer to be able to calm himself down and get his laughter and tears under control.

Cheers to another new year of funny comments and retorts!

Our Northern Christmas

Our Christmas up North this year with Eric's side of the family was on December 30th and 31st.  With BLISTERING cold weather (about -15 degrees), we piled into the jeep and headed off to Nana and Bumpa's house.

For the first few miles, we could barely see out of the windows (our five warm bodies in the vehicle and the crazy frigid temp outside drastically inhibited our views!).  But, with a few scrapes of the windows (from the inside) with a credit card, some wipe-downs with Ramsey's winter stocking hat, and then a turn to head North, the issues subsided and became manageable.  COLD, but manageable.  :-)

We arrived to warm greetings and hugs.  And food.  Lots and lots of food!!

Before things got too crazy, we wrangled the kids and got a few pictures.

Then, we wrangled the grandparents (*wink*) for a few more.

 Good thing... because it did get crazy (in a good way)!   Isaac became Connor's airplane and was getting spun around.

Ramsey was using The Force on everyone.  The lovely Miss Sadie sat back and watched the chaos.  :-)

Soon thereafter, we chowed down on the holiday tradition (pizza!) and headed downstairs to open presents.   Of course, the kids goofed around even more (Isaac was some sort of a "pet" to Connor in the pic below).

Isaac had to make sure he could still fit inside the end table.  I'm not sure if he will make it next year!  

 With what could be a case of mild claustrophobia (!!), Isaac needed to escape.

 Ramsey gladly took his place.

 Then decided ten seconds inside the standing chest was enough!

 There were times for happy smiles, intermittently throughout the evening, of course.

 Uncle Troy told Ramsey "secret stories" about Star Wars too.

His reward was a bow on his head.

 Uncle Cory was anxious to open presents (as was everyone else!).

 So, the kids doled out the gifts to everyone and made their piles.

 Since Ramsey is the littlest, he got to open up the first present of the evening (a V-tech music mixer).

 After each gift, hugs and thank-yous were given.

 As was "The Force". 

 Since pre-teen boys are a bit difficult to buy for, we gave Isaac a money tree.   He'd been wanting to get a hedge hog for a pet (not sure if that's still in the mix or not).

 Regardless, we thought cold hard cash could go towards his "hedge [hog] fund".   Bad pun?  Wuh wuh.

 Connor was excited for his gifts!  His gift from Uncle Troy, Auntie Sarah, and the kids was a bluetooth speaker.  We spent much of the evening listening to tunes, provided by "DJ Connor".
He was pleased to get two new games for his XBox One (Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and Call of Duty WWII).  They definitely gave him big smiles!

While watching others open gifts, Ramsey and Eric played Star Wars.  Ramsey sat between Eric's legs and steered the Millennium Falcon, using Eric's feet as the blasters.

 In this picture, I think Eric thought one picture was enough! ha!

 More gift-opening....

 By the time all of the presents had been opened, the kids were exhausted... and very very happy!

 That evening, we enjoyed the time together, hanging out.  We watched TV, played games, and visited.

 Ramsey wanted to learn how to play Skip-Bo too.  Sadie and Nana amused his curiosities and gave him his own pile of cards.

 New Year's Eve day was another hang-out/fun day with the fam.  The kids played in the house (lots of Hide & Seek, Star Wars, and general gaming).

Riggs was in heaven to be able to play with Max and with the kids.

Ramsey has an affinity for butter.  At one point, he grabbed Nana's butter dish and took some bites off of the stick.   After it was taken away from him, he found it again and and tried to "hide" underneath a chair and snarf more of it.  He really thought he was being sneaky.

The drive home was another frigid experience!  It was -15 when we were getting ready to leave Nana & Bumpa's house.  The poor Jeep was crying and didn't want to start and had to be jumped (odd that it started just fine the day before when it was colder).

We drove home with the heat and defroster on high the entire way home.  And, when we did arrive that evening, it was -22.  Brr!!!  

(Incidentally, New Year's Day was -28. Egads!)

Nonetheless, we are so thankful for our family and the blessings that we have!  We are thankful for the time that we have with each other. I may say that a lot, but it comes from the heart.

Happy New Year!!!  Our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2018!

Gifts Made and Sent with Lots of Love

For Christmas each year, the wonderful grandparents in the boys' lives get some special gifts. 
I am posting this one after December 30th, which is when were to see Nana & Bumpa up North.  We can't ruin the surprise!  :-)

This year, Connor's gifts to them were Russell Stover's chocolates.  Mmmmm! 
With Ramsey still being a little guy, we decided to make home made pictures, with frames.

I found a fun little post on Pinterest that I decided to copy; Rudolph with Christmas lights, tangled in his antlers.  Rudolph's head and antlers were Ramsey's little hand.

We did a practice run on a regular sheet of tablet paper, to ensure we had adequate paint coverage.

 We did enough for the grandparents, plus an extra for our fridge.  I drew on Rudolph's eyes, nose, the Christmas lights, and a little greeting.

 Then, I put them in some 11x14 frames with 8x10 mats, which I had customized for the grandparents.   I figured new art work could be placed in the frames later on.

 And, a gift from both boys were snow globes with their pictures inside, with "Merry Christmas 2017" written on the base.

 We had a few different pictures of the boys, but the one below was my favorite.  They were actually singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (and enacting the twinkling stars with their hands) during picture time.  When you shake the globes, it looks like they're reaching out and grabbing for the glitter and "snow".

Christmas is such a special time of year, no doubt.  We are very thankful for our special parents/grandparents who have guided us and been there with us every step of the way.