photo sites?

I love our smug mug site for storing pics, but I realize that it is nice to have something to physically show people and for my boys to look at later. I have come up with a new plan. Gone are the days of scrapbooking!! I am a pretty fast scrapbooker and can knock out a year's worth in a couple of days, but who has a couple of days to work on pasting and cutting. Not to mention the fact that Danny likes to "help" with the pasting and cutting!
So, my new plan is to do a hardback book every year with the BEST photos. I am still going to hand make the baby books...working on that...but our family books will be smaller and not handmade. I have a list of a few online options, but I want YOUR input. Does anyone have a site that they absolutely LOVE? Important stats would include: inexpensive, easy to upload, easy to save and continue to work, easy to organize....I guess the keyword is EASY!
Anxiously waiting for your input!

Time flies when you are having fun?

I am so sorry. I have been a horrible blogger lately.

The boys have been sick. That means LOTS of hugging and holding snugly babies. It seems like we will start feeling better, but it takes a while to get past the bad habits we develop during sick times. Like the excessive hugging and snuggling. Of course, snuggling isn't bad, but it can't go on all day. At some point I have to shower and put on real clothes and do house work(or blog). Also, we have had some busy days with the cable guy here and playgroup and bible study and laundry. I know, I know, you are jealous of my exciting day, so I better stop bragging.

I think I also haven't been blogging lately, because I feel a little frazzled. This past few weeks has been a hard time to be a parent and I feel like I haven't been very joyful about my daily events. Normally I have so many funny things to share and photos to upload, but the past few weeks have been about surviving.
Maybe it is the weather...cold and gloomy.
Maybe it is the lack of fresh air and exercise due to the weather.
Maybe it is the fact that we have had so many sick days and it is hard to recover from that.
Maybe it is the new stage that Danny has entered...why? why? why? That's what I hear all day long. What a blessing it is to have a child who is curious and creative and full of wonder. But sometimes I just don't feel very patient and willing to answer the whys. I know this is a normal thing to feel as a parent, but I feel guilty. I want to be a patient and kind parent.
I really do have the sweetest, most wonderful kids in the world. I love them dearly and I love our family. I have a wonderful husband. Scott is my best friend and he is an amazing daddy. Every year is better than the last. BUT....
How is it possible that I can be experiencing the best time of my life and the hardest all at the same time?

hmmmm.

Did I mentioned that I have the cutest kids ever? I can't remember if I posted these photos already. man, I AM frazzled.









I took a few photos of the snow this week and will write about it soon. We had at least 9 inches and it is still on the ground! Pollack loves it!

Celebrity sighting in Walmart!!!

OK, so not quite a celebrity.
Kids say the funniest things.
Here is the scene....
We are strolling down the rice and pasta aisle looking for some starches for our next meals. I have Danny "yelling" his way through Walmart on the extra large blue double seater cart(moms, you know the one I am talking about). The cart is really long due to the additional plastic section of seating and not the easiest thing to push. Josh is on my hip, due to the fact that this special cart has blocked off the child seat to make room for the extra seats. I would have gotten a normal cart after discovering this fact if Danny wasn't so happy after we found it. Sometimes a little pain is worth it for a happy kid. As I struggle to push the cart, Danny yells out "Look mommy, it's Nobama" I scan the lane looking for a black man that I will have to apologize to, since now it seems that my child thinks all black men are named Obama(or nobama). Then I noticed what he saw....
Uncle Ben.
Yes, the rice guy.
Apparently the President is not only on every magazine and newspaper cover, but he is also on our rice box.

Danny cracks me up.
And suddenly, my load seems lighter. Smiling can do that to you!

I promise I don't feed my kid hotdogs and ice cream all the time

.....just sometimes. When we visit Sams. ok, so maybe we do go to Sams once a week, but I promise every other day he is a very healthy eater. We actually worry sometimes that he eats too many fruit/veggies and not enough bread. Good problem to have with a two year old.
so, back Sams. This morning Danny was making a pretend meal in one of my pots. Usually he asks me if I want ice cream(of course I do!) and then proceeds to stir some blocks in the pot. Today he called across the room and asked me if I wanted....
...a hot dog combo. haha!
I really think this is funny since I don't ever call it a hot dog combo to him. I just ask him if he wants a hot dog or pizza to eat, to which he usually responds "I want ice cream". Ahhh, a boy after his mommy's heart. Apparently he is always listening, even when I order the food.
I do think it is funny how kids repeat the things they hear. Like how Danny always says "of course" when we ask him to do something. Or how he calls out "Anne" or "Scott" when he needs one of us. He is just repeating what he hears us say. We remind him that he calls us Mommy and Daddy, not our first names. But what I want to know is how little boys know that certain things are funny to say, despite being inappropriate. Like poot. That one cracks us up. And butt. We really have to work on using other words to describe some body parts. Is this a boy thing or just a kid thing? I guess it is just one of the joys of childhood that I have to look forward to!

maaahhhhh

Today we took a trip to Maymont with Grandmommy while she is here in Richmond with us. Maymont is a great property on the James River that has gardens, barns, rescued animals, and beautiful scenery. It is open to the public and is a wonderful place to spend a few hours strolling around with the boys.
Today I brought cups with us to hold the seeds for feeding the goats and sheep. We were having a blast petting the animals, but Danny was refusing to give any of his food to the animals. We kept telling him that the food wasn't for people, so he needed to share it and he would reply "no thank you". At least he is polite! Finally, after about ten minutes, we convinced him to share his cupful. He was smiling and laughing and sharing his seeds until all of a sudden....
THAT GOAT TOOK HIS CUP!!!
Danny screamed out and threw a fit. You would have thought it was a priceless cup, not a cheap paper coffee cup. Of course, in the mind of a 2 year old it was a precious item. And to think that he had tried to keep it to himself, but Mommy and Grandmommy "coerced" him into sharing. Fortunately mommy had brought two cups and he was quickly calmed down. Other than that mean goat, we had a blast and took some fun photos.

here is the goat in the process of stealing the cup, prior to Danny realizing what is happening.

We....need....to.....get....away!

So, I know. It has been a looooonnnngggg time since I posted. I am so sorry, but fortunately I have an excellent excuse. Scott and I took advantage of our Christmas presents from my parents....gift certificates to the ski resort near their home. Add that to the promise of childcare for the day and night and you can bet we were anxious to redeem our gift. We realized it has been over a month since we have had time away from our boys. We love them so much, but I know that personally I treat them much better when I get breaks. And I think a marriage should always come before parenting. And we need a little time together.

I haven't gone skiing in a few years, so I knew my skills were a little rusty. And all of my skiing experience has been in North Carolina(I am not counting that ski trip in North Alabama...ha!), so I know I am not that good. But I distinctly remember being proud of myself for going down MOST the black diamonds in my previous trips.
Here is a photo of the whitetail trails for reference during this story.

We started out slow. First trip down was on the bunny slope just to get our balance on skis figured out. I noticed early on that my skis were so much faster than Scott's, but I just figured it was due to my superior skiing skills(hahaha, funny) Then, we headed up the green circle. For good measure we went down that slope a few times, trying out all the different routes from the top. I knew I was ready for the blue square. I was feeling so confident on account of my "skillz" as I flew by my husband. Scott agreed that we could try the next level and we headed up our third lift option. This lift gave you plenty of routes. After we were spit off the lift, I glided around to check out the slopes to the left. I couldn't even see of the edge. That was the highest point I had ever skied from and I was starting to get nervous. There was no turning back now, so we headed down the hill. It was about 1/4 of the way down when I realized that maybe I wasn't as skilled as I thought and that actually I DID NOT want to go as fast as my skis seemed to want to take me. I know how to turn pretty well(I enjoy cutting a spray of snow behind me) and I understand how to stop myself, but for some reason I was out of control. After two big falls just short of a yard sale(my gear almost came off), I was shaking in my rented boats. When we got to the bottom, I was determined to never go back up that lift.
I was really scared.
After a break and a ski length change I felt much better, though. I never knew what a difference the length of your skis can make on the experience you have. I told the gal that checked me out the first time that I didn't want to go that fast, but somehow I still ended up with longer skis than Scott. My next few trips down the green were much better and I did eventually go back up the blue. But I never set foot on the black diamonds. Maybe I am getting more afraid in my old age(I AM almost 29) or maybe I am more afraid now that I have two little children depending on my survival. OR most likely it is just that we were at a better ski resort than I have ever been to and my previous black diamond trips were not as impressive as I had thought.
We did have a blast and can't wait to start teaching our boys how to ski. And some day we want to go out west and take a trip. I want to try this powder everyone talks about instead of the groomed icy mix that we have in the east. Smiths? Gaskills? Maybe a trip in 2012? HAHA, I could never plan that far in advance. But let's keep it on the possible family trip list.
And maybe after a few trips I can try those black diamonds. I will keep you posted.

that's a big bird

We live in a wildlife sanctuary. Everyday we enjoy our meals at our breakfast table, while watching birds, squirrels, moles, chipmunks, insects, bunnies, turtles, dogs(that's just Pollack, though) and other animals. Sometimes we will look out and I can count over 50 birds in our yard. But one bird dwarfs the rest. It is our hawk mommy and daddy that like to sit on our fence and in our trees watching over the yard. The pictures don't do justice to their size. They are four times bigger than the average bird sitting in our grass. I am almost afraid to send my two year old out for fear of him being chased and pecked by this beast. Do hawks do that? Of course, it is so cold that we really aren't going outside at all right now anyway. We can safely watch from our window. I don't think birds like this are supposed to hang out in neighborhoods.



Anyone know what kind of hawk this is? Any bird watchers out there?

ahhhhhh...sleep.

I figured after I sent out a prayer request for sleep at the Gaskill home, I better update you. Yes, we did get sleep! The first night of boot camp was about 5 hours of crying....uggghhh. The second night was about 1 1/2 hours of crying....better, but not good. But our third night was great. I woke up at 6am and realized that he was crying for the first time. Praise the Lord!!!
I do believe God made babies so cute so that it would make up for the lack of sleep and trouble that they cause. And they are trouble. With a capital T. But we love them!

Danny has been saying so many cute things lately. I really should write them down when he says them. It always seems like I sit down to update the blog and I draw a blank trying to remember what ever it was that had me rolling with laughter. I think my favorite moments lately have been watching him play with his little people toys. He has conversations and the little people interact. It is hilarious. Eddie and Max and the crew have a whole world of their own that Danny has created. What an imagination!
I also caught a cute moment today that made me smile. We were at a gas station with Jada and Michelle and Michelle had gone into the store. I peeked in the window and saw Danny holding Jada's hand and talking sweetly to her. He has been so excited about their visit. While we were at the gate, he got so excited about them walking up the hallway. I asked him if he would run to them when we saw them and he said he was going to give them a kiss. What a sweetheart!!

Go to sleep already...

well, the new year has begun and it is with great sadness that I am updating the blog. Of course, I have things to share and pictures to post, but I am not ready to move Scott's blog down one slot. I think he did an amazing job recapping our past year and I enjoyed sharing our adventures. I was exhausted when I finished reading it though, because it brought back full force all the memories of 2008.
Really? I mean, who tries to change jobs, travel lots, have a baby, move into a new city, and lead a busy life with a toddler all in one year? I guess we do. I am excited to start 2009. We have lots of trips planned and events coming up, including: a ski weekend for Scott and I, a trip to Boston with ADPis, a Virginia beach weekend with the boys for Joshie's first birthday, Scott and Anne's last year being in their twenties(yikes!), and many other fun events.

---
I have to make a confession.
Many times in the past I have looked unapprovingly upon moms and dads that gave into their babies nighttime requests. I would say to them to be tough. Don't let that baby be in control.
but...I must apologize.
I have become one of those parents.
ok....you can tell me I'm wrong. You can tell me that letting a baby snuggle and eat every time they whimper in the middle of the night is the easy fix. And you would be right. But try telling that to me when it is chilly out, the bed is soooo snugly, and my sweet little 8 month old is reaching out for me. Of course, I make excuses. "We don't want to wake up the two year old." "He does have a little cold." "He is cute and won't want to snuggle me forever(like it happened with his brother)!"
But the truth is I have created a little snugly monster.
I am a wimp.
But nobody is perfect.

oh, and Danny has figured out how to open door knobs. We learned that last night when pitter-patter feet came to the top of the steps and waited to get a reaction. Fortunately, just a loud "Danny" hollered up the steps fixed the problem, as the pitter-patter feet ran back into their room and jumped quickly in the bed.
And I guess locking doors goes hand and hand with this new skill, as our oldest proceeded to lock his daddy out in the back yard this weekend. Don't worry. Mommy was home or we could have had a repeat to this early blog post. yikes!

Guest Post: 2008 Year in Review

Hello, is this thing on? Oh.

This is my first post on the Gaskill Rascal blog. I’ve kind of made fun of Anne for doing it, but I guess I have to admit it is pretty cool to have, even if only like 3 people read it. A few days ago I was reading one of those “Best of 2008” lists that are usually pretty good for no more than a timewaster. But this time it kind of got me thinking about all the events of 2008 that took place in the Gaskill Rascal home. It wasn’t a boring year by any stretch of the imagination. So I asked Anne if I could make a “guest post” on her blog to talk about what 2008 meant to me. The irony was that I had to go back and look at all her blog posts to remind me of what actually happened. So I guess the blogging thing is pretty cool after all.


They say (whoever the heck “they” are anyway) that some of the most stressful events in a life are (1) death in the family, (2) starting a new job, (3) moving to a new city/house, and (4) having a baby. Well, we had all of them all packed in one single year. But looking back, it was probably one of the best years in recent memory. Yes, stressful at times, but like being on a fun adventure at others.

So with that said, let’s look back at the major events of 2008 for the Gaskill Rascals:

December, 2007 – I know, this is supposed to be a look back at 2008, not 2007. But, it’s my blog post and I want to start with the end of 2007. That’s when I started my new job at the Big D. For about two months, I was living the big life in Richmond while Anne and Danny were still in Atlanta. Not cool. We didn't decorate for Christmas because we were selling our house (plus I wasn't there anyway) and it was just tough being apart for that much time. But in the end I absolutely love my new job. There’s no travel, very few long nights at the office, no taking my laptop home to work, and I’m working for a company that I really love. So the job change has been a real positive experience for everyone.

Jan 1, 2008 - The best New Year's of my life. Anne’s uncle Gary gave us 8 tickets to the Sugar Bowl so Anne, my brother, mom, and some friends went to New Orleans. I’d never been there before and I definitely want to go back when I have more time to see it. What a cool place. Plus, the game turned out pretty good too!

February, 2008 – Closed on our house in Richmond. Yeah! We loved our house when we bought it and still do. One thing about our house is that it’s 20 years old so there’s always little things to do. Problem is that I’m not real handy. And when I say “not real handy”, I mean “not handy at all in any remote sense of the word.” But it has been fun trying to learn and I’ve got a father-in-law that loves projects (at least that’s what he tells me) and has lots of patience with my tool-challenged ways. Oh, and there was THAT little incident. Probably the best thing about our house is our neighborhood. Last time I counted, we were approaching about 1.3 million kids in our neighborhood. Or maybe it was more like 50…I can’t remember. Either way, our neighbors really welcomed us from day one and we’ve gotten to know them real well. That’s something we didn’t have in our old neighborhood in Atlanta and has been a blessing to us.

April, 2008 – Let’s see. Anything exciting happen in April? Oh yeah, that. We got to bring home our second bundle of trouble joy. Josh was born the night of April 25. Looking back, that was a really fun time leading up to the big event. Anne had been having contractions for several weeks and we were convinced he was coming several weeks early. Max and Nana (or as Danny now says, “NanaMax” as if they’re one single entity) drove up from Atlanta when it looked like he was coming early, only to go back when he wasn’t. They took Danny back home with them in what would turn out to be the last quiet moments of the year in the Gaskill Rascal home. Oh, good times. Then Josh came. He’s been so much fun to watch grow and to see Danny learn to be a big brother. Definitely the highlight of the year.

Summer, 2008 – I’m not going to do a month-by-month breakdown of the summer because it all kind of runs together for me. But it was a lot of fun. One of the great things about Richmond is that there is always a lot to do. The summer was filled with trips to Virginia Beach, a visit to Belle Island, multiple visits to the neighborhood swimming pool, playing in the backyard, being chased by a hurricane, Danny's 2nd birthday, and learning how to keep up with two little boys instead of one. Fun, Fun, Fun.

September, 2008 – September is usually my favorite time of year. Not coincidentally, that’s when football season starts. This year was a little different. I think this fall was actually probably the hardest time of the year for Anne and I. We kind of hit a point there where the “newness” of Richmond was wearing off and we were kind of homesick. My sister had her baby Jada in August and we weren’t there to meet her. We had to watch football games on TV or internet instead of getting to go to the games every week. That’s not a big deal in itself, but going to football games with my brother and the sounds and smells of the game just make it “feel” like fall. It was just a point where we both kind of questioned whether we made the right decision to move. I still loved my job and we liked our new city and all that, but we just missed the familiarity and family of Atlanta. There were definitely some fun times too - I took a trip to Arizona with my brother, we picked apples in Charlottesville one weekend, and the fall leaves and weather in Virginia are hard to beat. But overall, if April was the high point of the year, this was probably the low point for both of us.

November 1 -7, A Week That will Live in Infamy - The first week in November was a disaster. Maybe one of the worst weeks in history. There was this. Shortly followed by this. To quote the great Forest Gump - That’s all I got to say about that.

The rest of November was great. NanaMax had moved to Maryland the month before and were only 2 hours away. So seeing them more often kind of helped ease the homesickness a bit. We had a fun trip to D.C. with Max, Nana, Danny, Josh, and Bob the Builder. We drove down to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and had a great time with our family. So after the disaster that was the first week, I guess November turned out okay after all.

December 2008 – A month of mixed emotions. The buildup and anticipation of Christmas is always fun. And its even more fun now with a two year old. Just getting to teach him, not just about Santa, but also about the birth of our Lord is fun. On a different note, Anne’s grandmother passed away last week so that has been tough. We’re heading to the funeral this week. It will be great to see all of Anne’s family again, but we all wish it were under different circumstances.

Overall - What a year! I don’t think the word “exciting” quite does it justice. But I don’t know what other word to use so we’ll just stick with that one. It was filled with lots of highlights - New Job. New City. New House. New Church. New Josh. New niece Jada. Along with some lowlights - missing family, UGA going 9-3 after being ranked #1 in the preseason (even worse, the gayturds are in the national championship game), losing 30% of our savings as we watched the stock market collapse, and the passing of Anne’s grandmother.

But if every year was like 2008, I probably couldn’t be happier. Indeed, the state of Gaskill Rascals has never been stronger. We wish everyone (all 3 of you that read this blog anyway)

a great new year and hope it is filled with as many blessings as we had in the previous.