Marley and Me

The last couple of months Seth has been playing in an arena football league again. I was really hesitant about him playing because I was worried he would get injured, but he convinced me that you can't hurt steel. ;) We went to his game last week and it was really fun! The boys loved it!

Had to snap a picture of Doran and his girlfriend!

Doran and Brock each made money delivering Grandma Geneal's neighbor presents. They thought they were so cool! I was proud of them for helping.

Uncle Joel had an awesome birthday party the other day. It was at a church and there was dodge ball and basketball. The boys had the time of their lives! Brock has been telling me every day since that he wants a birthday party like Joel's. I will have to get planning!

Last night Doran inadvertently had learned a life lesson and had his heart broken at the same time. The boys had seen a commercial on tv for Marley and Me and asked me to record it. I thought they would absolutely love it, so I did! They started it in the morning and ran around barking and pretending they were Marley. They thought he was so funny. We had to pause it for awhile. When we came home I let them finish it. I was sitting on the couch at the end where Marley gets put down. I started crying and was thinking of Sampy and looked at Doran to see what he was doing. He was sobbing! His chin was shaking, his face was red, and tears were streaming down his face! He said, "I wish Marley didn't die!" I held him and he cried and cried. I tried to make him feel better by telling him everyone dies, people and dogs and that it is ok. We just always have to be nice and make people feel happy and loved. Then I had to leave to go pick up a Christmas present. It was about a 20 minute drive. When I pulled in I looked back and he was crying again. I pulled him up front on my lap and tried for 5 minutes to get him to talk. Finally he agreed he would answer yes or no if I would guess. So after a couple guesses relating to Marley I switched to Sharky. He told me he is sad that Sharky is going to die too. I tried to explain to him that as long as we take really good care of him he will probably live until Doran is Brooks' age. He was still crying. So then I told him we will go get Sharky treats and he can give them to him and have a sleep over with him. Finally he stopped crying. Since then all he has talked about is Marley and Sharky. He wants to make sure Sharky is on the nice list so Santa will give him something too. So even though we lost Sampy last year and we lost Poppy just a few months ago, he just now understood death. It is so sad. Brock on the other hand said while Doran was crying, "They just need to get a new dog." So simple :)

Here he is ten minutes after the movie ended still crying his eyes out. Poor little sweetheart!

Dentists and Santa

This week Brock got his first cavity. It was between his two back molars and was in both teeth so it was technically two cavities. He did so good with the hygenist and loved the dentist! He woke up the next morning and said he wanted to go to the dentist again... Little did he know, he was going to! It just wouldn't be nearly as fun! We bought him a little toy to hold in his hand to help him be brave and tried to explain to him what would happen. He started out on the laughing gas and after a few minutes he was giggling and telling the assistant how much he loves Jayce's far away house and that he wants to go there. He did good through the shots and through the drilling. He started to freak out once they started filling the cavities and it got pretty intense. He was freaking out and was so scared. The dentist left for a bit and we finally got him calmed down (we thought) enough for her to smooth them out... He lasted about ten seconds and then would not do anything more. We were happy that we got it all done without sedation, but now I am worried he will be terrified to go back. Hopefully he never gets 'sugar bugs' again!
When we got home from his appointment the rashses were back on his cheeks. I spoke with the dentist and she said he is definately allergic to latex and put it in his file. They said a latex allergy generally gets worse and worse with exposure. Later, when I was brushing Brock's teeth I noticed a huge sore where the assistant was holding his lip with her gloves. It was so huge, red, and puffy. He didn't even complain about it! It was the whole inside half of his lip. I will need to make sure he never blows up balloons!
This weekend Seth's work held a Christmas party at Boondock's. We knew Seth had to work, but decided since it was a little kid party I would just take the boys anyways. We had a lunch with Santa and the boys got to talk to him and get a gift bag from him. Brock was excited to tell him that he wants hungry hungry hippos for Christmas. Doran wanted nothing to do with him . He was hiding behind me the whole time Brock was talking to him and was absolutely terrified! I finally got him to give him knuckles.
After we played tons of arcade games and laser tag. The boys had so much fun! I just wish Seth was there. :)

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was so much fun for us! It past by too fast! Ryan and his family, Jen and the girls, Brooks,and my dad and family all were in town! The boys loved having all their cousins around to play with and some of their uncles too! We tried to see everyone as much as we can because we never know when we will see them again. We had dinner at Los Hermanos on Wednesday night and I thought it was so funny to see Brent pull a bowl of salsa up for himself! He is my knid of kid!

On Thanksgiving morning I ran my first ever turkey trot. It was so much fun! I had terrible time, but I was so glad I did it. Jake, Brooks, Coleen, and Miss Julie ran it too. Jake got second place in his age group and won a pie! He was 8th or 9th overall. Brooks has never really ran before and he got 13th or so too! I was sure proud of my brothers! :)

On Thanksgiving evening I was planning on doing a little black Friday shopping. I found out quickly that the lines were insane. Jake and I went to Walmart at 9:30 to see if I could grab a couple of the things that went on sale at 10... No way! It was a mad house. We ended up walking around and then leaving. At 11:45 we went to Target and the line wrapped all the way around to the back of the building! Luckily for us Seth's sister Angie and her family had been in line since 4 and were willing to pick up the stuff I was wanting! (So now I got Seth's birthday present!) The line didn't finish going into the store until about 12:40! It was nuts! I don't think black Friday shopping is for me!

We had sleep overs with Jayce, Cassie, and Clairebear. Jayce was the last one to sleep (including me!).

Saturday night was Granny's Christmas party. Doran has been looking forward to it for over two weeks. He would wake up in the morning and ask how many days it was until her party. The day it finally came he was so excited! (It was also the day he had to get stitches.) I was a little nervous about Granny's party because it was the first family get together without Poppy. It was really sad to not have him there. Things feel so different without him.

I had to take a picture of Jayce's plate of food. Only Jayce would have a plate that looked like this: A sandwich and a ton of peppers!

Here are all the little kids waiting for Granny to call their name in the drawing. Doran was crossing his fingers that he would get called first so he could get the awesome Luke Skywalker action figure! Luckily he was number 2 and he got it!

Sunday night we had one last little get together at Ryan's hotel. We got pizza and soda and watched football and movies. I poured Brock's sprite in a champagne glass, mainly for the reaction. I wasn't disappointed! When he looked at it he laughed and said, "Mommy! How do I hold this?" It was too cute!

The next morning everyone was gone before the boys got up. When they woke up Brock walked around the house calling out names trying to find everyone. It was sad and sweet. We had a great week and were so happy to see everyone!