A Little Bit of Everything

We smelled a skunk while driving Saturday night and here is the conversation that followed.
Cyril III: Cyril was that you?
Cyril IV: No! That is a skunk and it stench!
Cyril III and I: Stench?
Cyril: Yes, stench is stink in French!

We or I should say Cyril has been working on the bathroom this weekend. Here is the progress on the tile.

Tommy has officially learned to sit on his own. Here are a few pictures of him sitting with his big brother who has chosen a mohawk as his new hairstyle :)

Bathroom Remodel

Well the demolition of the upstairs bath got under way on the 23rd of December. Thanks to the previous owner we ran into a few "issues." We found a major fire hazard, some illegal electrical wiring in the walls. Cyril also found some water damaged wood that had to be replaced. So we didn't get as much done this week as we had hoped by having to wait for an electrician to do some new wiring before we could put up drywall. Currently the bathroom has the floor removed down to the original hardwood and all of the new drywall and hardibacker is up for the tile surround in the tub. It will look amazing when it is done, and it is great to see some progress. Cyril is taking the day off from working in there today and we are just relaxing as a family. He has tomorrow off from work so we will probably work on tiling. Here are a few pictures of the progress so far...

Cyril helping his daddy with demo :)

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful family filled Christmas! My sister was in town as well as Cyril's youngest sister Amanda and her husband Matt, as well as his younger brother Evan. We woke up and Cyril was thrilled to see Elfy and delivered his messages to Santa of what he wished for. Tommy liked the tissue paper. We went to church with Cyril's family. Then went to my parents for some brunch and to visit and open gifts. Came home for a little rest then headed to Cyril's parents for more gifts and Christmas dinner. We had a great day. Even Hercules got some gifts from Santa. He was so excited he found them right after Santa came :) He wanted the rawhide right away, so of course we got it down for him.

The Holy Family and Their Cow

We had the honor of being The Holy Family in the Christmas pageant at church this year. Cyril continued to grow his beard to play the part :) Tommy was a very active "newborn" baby Jesus. I was Mary and little Cyril chose to be a Christmas cow. The pageant took a whole new meaning for me this year, being the part of Mary was almost overwhelming, such an important part of the story and I sure didn't want to mess it up. The service was very heartwarming. And of course my Christmas Cow loved baby Jesus, it just melted my heart :)

You Never Know Unless You Try It

Wow! Little Cyril is so smart and sweet. He just came back to the bedroom and asked my husband if he could make him some lunch, he replied yes. A few minutes later Cyril returned with a sandwich for his daddy, he said "Here is your mustard sandwich!" and of course my husband had to take a bite :) So thoughtful! Then little Cyril decided to make himself a sandwich and went into the kitchen, so I followed. When I got in there he had an applesauce in his hands and said he was going to make an applesauce sandwich. I said ewww that will be gross! He said you never know unless you try it! Haha...I guess he has been listening! So I helped him make it, and guess what...he ate it AND liked it :)

Where to start...

I am extremely behind in my blogging! Please forgive me as this is a very busy month for us as I am sure it is for you also.  Let's start with Cyril's birthday. He turned 5 on the 15th of December. He requested a Power Ranger theme for his birthday. So for his actual birthday I made Power Ranger cupcakes for him to take to school and we had a green power ranger cake at home that evening. Then on Saturday we had his party with some of his friends at the Bounce House in Knoxville. He had a blast!

He got a Kung Fu Panda card from his Great Grandparents and he LOVED it :)

This is his birthday hat he made at school and got to wear all day

Next we started getting ready for Christmas. I had already decorated the house for the most part. Little Cyril and I went on a lunch date to Ihop, then we went to the Boys Club to pick out our tree together. And yesterday we found a gingerbread house kit on sale at Kroger so we bought it and put it together. That was an adventure as I had never made a gingerbread house before! I have also been working feverishly with my wonderful Mother in law to make Tommy's stocking. Which is now finished!

Little Cyril is now on Christmas break and is enjoying his time off. He is looking forward to Christmas. At Thanksgiving we got a visitor from the North Pole and Cyril has named him "Elfy." If you have heard of "The Elf On The Shelf" that is what he is. So every night Elfy goes back to report Cyril's behavior to Santa and arrives back at a new spot each morning. We have had quite a bit of fun with him and Cyril is always excited each morning to go on an Elfy hunt and see where he has landed. Now I wish I had taken pictures each day. He has been places like Cyril's play kitchen where he was frying an egg. He has also decorated the Christmas tree with Cyril's underwear and socks. This morning we found him in with the TV on and remote in hand. I am sure Cyril will be sad when he returns to the North Pole with Santa for the year.

Tommy is scooting everywhere. He has the crawling movements down, but still isn't coordinated enough to move his hands and legs at the same time to go forward. He is a very happy baby and I am trying to soak in every minute. Hard to believe he will be six months old tomorrow.

My husband Cyril has been working very hard. They are finishing up a project that should have been finished a long time ago. He has taken the next week off of work to remodel our upstairs bathroom. The time has finally come, it has only been two years since I took the wallpaper down and half the drywall with it :) No worries, there will be a blog about it!

Now I am going to get busy wrapping gifts, that is my last task :) I am looking forward to some much needed family time. Excited to see family that is coming in for the holidays. I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas! May you remember the true reason for Christmas, it is not about the gifts or even the tree. It is the day that Jesus Christ our savior was born. Enjoy the time with your loved ones and cherish each moment. May the blessings of God be with you this Christmas season and always.

Where Did The Time Go?

Cyril is turning five next week...really?!?! When did that happen? When did my baby become a boy? I feel like we just had him last week. The time has really flown. Kind of gives me a glimpse of how my parents may have felt this past October when their "baby" turned thirty :) I remember as a child wishing my life away and wanting to be a grown up, live on my own, have a job, and take care of myself. Now I am here...and time is whizzing by. Can we slow it down? Let it come to a crawl, and cherish every second of this precious life?

And here are a few updates:
Mark passed away on the 28th of November with his family by his side. Please keep his wife Martie in your prayers as well as their children Hillary and Jeff. I cannot imagine how they feel with their husband/dad dying unexpectedly. I wish there was something I could say, but there are no words. All I can do is pray and ask you to do the same.

And Little Miss Brynn is doing very well. She underwent her second heart surgery this past Sunday morning and is well on her way to recovering! Please continue to pray for her as well as her parents Erin and Tony!