Goodbye Fall....Hello Winter!

I am so sad to say that my wonderful fall is now at an end. The lakes are already starting to freeze and when we woke up this morning there was snow on the ground. Now it has already snowed, but that melted about a week or two ago. For some reason today, it just feels like this snow is going to stick around for awhile. This winter is going to be more fun than last year, atleast I hope. I don't think I was prepared last winter. Tyler was just a baby last winter and I was stuck inside all winter. My only was outing was to the grocery store. It was our first winter in the frozen tundra and I didn't know what to expect. We didn't even have the proper snow gear. We are so prepared this winter and I am looking forward to it. I have learned either you love it or hate it. Last year I hated it and this year I am going to try to love it! I am going to try to be as positive as I can this year. Now, when it gets to be about twenty to thirty below, that is ridiculous cold, so don't ask me then if I love it!

So today, we are going to decorate for Christmas! Or, I should say I am going to decorate for Christmas. Bill is deer hunting this morning and he is hoping to get one. He said it is perfect conditions for a deer kill today. Have funny honey!! I am going to stay nice and warm!!! I am so excited to get my Christmas things out. I probably won't go all out this year to decorate for one, we don't have much room, two, we don't have much room, and three, TYLER!! My cute, little destroyer!! He gets into everything!!! Plus, Drew now knows how to get anything he wants by getting a kitchen chair and climbing. So, now I can't keep anything away from these boys. There is never a dull moment in this house! Speaking of that, I must go get Drew off of Tyler again!!

Family Traditions!

Well, it is that time of year again to get our decorations out, start playing that wonderful Christmas music, and gain that fabulous 5 pounds of winter weight! This year is exciting because Drew is starting to understand Christmas this year. I am trying to teach him some Christmas songs to sing for everyone! It should be great!! This year we are going to celebrate our family Christmas the Saturday before we go to Indiana. We really want to start doing Maynard family traditions. I have heard of other people doing this too, celebrating Jesus' birthday by baking a cake together. We are going to do that this year and I am so excited to be able to start a tradition with our family. I want our children to understand the full meaning behind Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus! I want them to of course, enjoy getting gifts, but also giving too. I want them to be able to share the Love of Jesus with their friends and people they meet as they grow and get older. I hope they will never lose sight of the true joy of Christmas!

I am supposed to enjoy "EVERY" moment?!

I am glad to be a stay-at-home mom, you know to not miss any moment in their life. Well, poor Tyler has had diahrrea for like 4 days now and yesterday was a day that I could have missed! I feel bad he is sick, but he doesn't have a fever, if he is still has it tomorrow, I will take him to the doctor. Anyway, last night I decided to give Tyler a bath alone (thank goodness!), because he has a sore bum and I thought it would be a nice and calming before bed. Well everything was fine, he was all clean and I was letting him play, then all of a sudden he had that look of "I have to poop!", on his face and then it happened.....HE POOPED IN THE TUB!! I could not believe it. I was like you have got to be kidding me!!! It was the grossest things I had ever seen!! I quickly tried to get him out as he was trying to play with it! YUCK!!! I am just glad Drew wasn't in the tub too. So, I am now on a sanitizing kick!!! This was definitely a moment in his life I could have missed!

Fun Times at Home!

I thought I would share some new pictures of the Maynard family and let you know what we have been up to. Some are of Tyler coloring for the first time, well he really just wanted to eat the crayons instead of coloring, but it is a good start. I think he might be left handed, he kept picking it up with his left hand. Of course, they say you can never tell this early, we will just have to see. We also have baked brownies, Drew's favorite thing to make! I think he just likes licking the spatula!! We also carved our first pumpkin. Actually, this was the first time I did it myself. I think it turned out pretty good! Oh, and the last are of Tyler in the bathroom. He has this fascination with the bathroom. I have to always keep the door closed. Well, this weekend I was drying my hair, in my own world, and I didn't notice he came in and unrolled the entire new roll of toilet paper!! He had fun!! Oh, and he loves sitting on Drew's potty. He cracks me up and goes in and gets it and sits right on it. I am thinking maybe I should start training him, he might be easier!! :)

My Attitude Stinks!

I am really missing my family and friends right now. This week has been hard since they boys have been sick and I am sick. Bill has even worked nights this week and it has been lonely in the evenings. I must say I don't know how single parents do it. I never really realized how much my husband does help out in the evenings until he was gone. This week I realized something that I don't like about myself. It is my attitude. Even though I don't have any family or friends around, that is no excuse for me to be so negative. I have noticed that I set the tone for the family. It is true what they say, "If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy!" Well, I don't like it and I must change it. I guess since the Lord has opened my eyes to this I must really try to work on it. Lord please help me to look for the good in every day and not the bad. Please help my attitude line up with Your Word and to only glorify You! I want to create a joyful and peaceful home in which You are the center! Amen!

You can learn a lot at Wal-Mart!

Well, we ventured out to Wal-Mart and yes it was accident free! And pertaining to my last post about venturing out to Wal-Mart with just my underwear on, was pertaining to Drew!! My brother-in-law pointed that statement out to me! Thanks Jess!! :)

Well, as I was shopping at Wal-Mart in my own little world, with Drew running down the aisles picking every box of food that he wanted out and trying to put it in the cart, this old lady was beside me and said, "Those were the good old days." I said, "I hope one day I can think that." She said, "Well, I think of it a lot now that I am old and alone." That really hit me, that I really need to start loving where I am at in life and not wishing it away so quickly. I sometimes tend to think about when they get older how much easier it will be, but they will be grown up and married before I know it. And then I thought too, that was a good opportunity for me to minister to her. I was not thinking about that at the moment, but I really need to start thinking more about Wal-Mart as my mission-field, since I am there about once a week. There are alot of people around me hurting and I am so oblivious at times. Lord open my eyes so that I can see other people around me. Help me not to be so consumed with myself and my own life. Amen!

An Accident Free Day!!

Yipppppeeeee! I am on cloud nine! We actually made it the whole day without an accident on the floor or in his pants! I am so proud of him, but we still have a long way to go! Tomorrow I am going to venture out to Wal-Mart with just underwear on. This will be a true test, but I am bringing a change of clothes, just in case! Also, another break-through, he wants to wear underwear now. When I tried to put a diaper on him, (I still use diapers at night, pull-ups don't work well, I've learned that!!) he screamed because he wanted his Thomas underwear on! Just a month ago he didn't want to wear underwear and I thought he would go the rest of his life either never wearing underwear or wearing diapers. I was praying for a miracle and the Lord has answered my prayers!