Twiddling my Thumbs

Every time I start a blog post I think it should start...
"So it's been awhile since I've posted" or "I've decided to come out from under the rock that I like to hide."

I do, however, have a great reason (this time) as to why I've been absent from this online journal I call my blog... I have been studying for the last 4 months for the PHR (Professional in Human Resources) certification exam. I took the test on Tuesday and PASSED! I was so relieved, excited, and proud that all my hard work paid off! The passing grade was preliminary, I should get my official results in the mail within 2-4 weeks. The exam was not what I was expecting, so it should be interesting to see what my actual score for the exam was.

But now... I'm twiddling my thumbs. When I would normally have a book or flash cards out to study, I'm wandering around the house trying to figure out my next project. So... I'm gong to start working on my 2014 goals.

The picture I sent to my parents, Jeremy and a few friends to let them know I passed. :)

A couple of years ago, I worked on monthly goals that were all directed towards yearly goals. (In the HR performance planning world we would call these short term objectives and long term goals... obviously my mind is still stuck in my books.)

Without further ado... My May Goals

Since there is only 10 days left they are small but mighty...

• Read one book and write a review on it
• Have a garage sale - aka - get rid of our junk/clean the house/ORGANIZE!

Dave also had a big day on Tuesday... I should not let his graduation from preschool be diminished by my test taking... I didn't get any pictures on my phone, but did snap a picture of his "When I Grow Up" picture made with Aunt Boo, the preschool teacher. 

Dave's "When I Grow Up" dreams were: 

"I want to work at the new McDonald's in Topeka. I will probably make $101.00"

and

"I will be 70... that comes after 69. That is when I want to go to space, too." 

Yes - my son aspires to work at McDonald's then go to space. First, they must reinstate the space program. :)

 And just a few more pictures...

The boys love their Papa Sam. We are so lucky they have awesome grandparents (on each side) that love them and are genuinely interested in all that they do. 

Selfie Day at the park in AV

Big Boy Dave

Dave turned four two weeks after my Dillon turned two. It's so fun to watch him grow up, but yet painful to realize how fast time is flying by. For Dave's birthday party, we just did a low key cake and ice cream at our house. 

All David wanted for his birthday was a Mario cake. Mommy delivered... after crafting this amazing (ha) beauty into the wee hours of the morning. However, I will say that I used a marshmallow fondant recipe that I found here and it tasted pretty darn good and was easy to manipulate. 

After Dave blew out the candles I asked him what he wished for... "I don't know!" he replied. :)  - Photo taken by Papa Sam

Love this picture of the guys (that's Grandpa in the background) supervising.
- Photo taken by Papa Sam

 

PRESENTS!!!

Daddy gave Dave a tackle box.

I had been telling Dave that right after his birthday we would go to see a movie. I secretly and selfishly want the boys to love going to the movies so I have some movie watching partners. Jeremy is not one to go to the movies (we've only been to one since we got married!) and although I have some friends that like to go, it can be difficult to plan times out to do that. 

We saw Monster's University. It was good, not as good as Monster's Inc, but David was pretty good throughout the whole thing. I think if there wasn't 30 minutes of previews prior to the movie, he would have made it through the whole thing without any attention issues. 

Obviously we saw it in 3D. I wish we wouldn't have spent the extra money and would have just seen it in 2D because Dave wasn't that impressed and neither was I. 

The kid put away some popcorn. :) We have one of those popcorn buckets  (refills for $3.50) and I swear Dave ate 3/4 of it all by himself. Funny side note, he was a little bored towards the end of the movie and started freaking out because he had shoved popcorn up his nose! I had to use my phone to get some light so I could dig out a couple of kernels. I would have really hated to be the people in front of us!

The boys got these sweet bean bag chairs from Granny Lolly, Mike and the girls for their birthdays. They LOVE them. 

Just Like His Momma

When it comes to Dave, the apple does not fall far from the tree. And when I reference the tree... the tree is me.

Dave can be a handful and certainly isn't a replica of his mother when he's acting up (then he's just like his dad!) but sometimes I look at him and think, oh no... you have a lot of your momma in you.

Case in point would be Dave's preschool graduation. The kid sang. Loud as could be. He did the dances and pretty much put on a good show. Made his momma proud.



Accepting his diploma

Dave and his friend Marlie

The tree in front of my parents house. Every graduate in our family gets their picture taken here. :)

Aunt Boo

Snow Day

I don't really like the cold. Warm weather or warm fireplaces are my thing... which leads me to a quick comment about Jeremy and my Christmas present to each other this year. A new pellet stove! It is so pretty and well worth the crazy amount of $ we invested in it. We keep the house at around 70 degrees and i seriously can't wait to get home to it... Oh yeah, and to my McDiffett men.

Anyway, it snowed the other day and I was determined the boys were going to go out and play in it. I didn't really get many pictures but here are two of the boys.

On the way back from sledding... Dave asked Dill if he wanted to hold his hand. Pretty much the sweetest thing ever. 

Mario Bros aka McDiffett Bros

I need to get caught up on my blogging. So... I'm starting back from Halloween. I know. It's sad how far behind I've gotten. But - I'll try to catch up as best as possible.

 Dave so badly wanted to be Mario from Mario Bros., and it worked perfectly for Dill to be Luigi.

Alta Vista, as I've mentioned before, is a great place to live. For a small little community, we have a pretty awesome little parade for the kiddos to be in.

I am cheap. I refused to buy a costume for the boys so I tried to makeshift on on my own. They actually turned out okay. I wanted to get them fake mustaches but didn't think they'd keep them on so we just made do with some overalls, red and green long sleeved shirts and homemade hats.

Yes, poor Dillon is wearing white socks and black crocs. 

Santa brought a Wii for Christmas and Dave has been living the Super Mario Bros game. More on that to come.

CPR

I've been M.I.A. I'm aware. Life is busy. Summer is going by so fast and I'm lazy. I'd rather play with the boys, read a book, work, get some sun... anything but get on the computer. But here I am, with about two months worth of pictures. I'm trying to revive the blog... Jeremy said CPR might not do it, but I'm going to try!

June is about the craziest and most expensive months for our family. Both boys were born in June so it seems like we are just going and going this month. In chronological order...

 

In late May, we met up with some friends (Joni and Jeffrey) at my favorite outside bar area in Aggieville... Kite's. Also the best place to get a summer beer if you want one! :) We then headed to the new Japanese Steakhouse in Manhattan which was awesome!

   

I grew up the "baby" of most of my cousins on my mom's side of the family... They picked on me incessantly. Had a nickname for me as well... WB which stood for Whiny Butt. Needless to say, I loved it. I absolutely adored my cousins and am so glad I had such great people who loved me growing up. As an adult, I realize how easily it would have been for them to see me as a truly annoying little cousin (which I was), but they didn't. They all drug me around with them on vacations, tolerated me and even spent time actually playing with me. I think about those days with a big grin on my face and count myself very lucky to have these "cool" older cousins to be my friends. :)

My cousin Doug (who I nicknamed Conehead growing up) biked in a race in Kansas called the "Dirty Kanza". It was a 200 mile race on the dirt and gravel roads of Kansas. There was a stop in Council Grove so my family met up and waited for him to arrive. We only were able to touch base with him for a few minutes but I was so glad we made the time to be there.

My nephew, Josh, while we were waiting. He's a monkey and just climbed right into that tree. Dave was so jealous... I think he wished he could be "cool" like cousin Josh.



The boys waiting...

We had Dilly's birthday party at the park this year. It was very windy. There was supposed to be a caterpillar theme but it didn't go off as planned because of the wind. Apparently, I'm not set up to be one of those cool moms with a "Pinterest worthy" party. As you can see below... pretty sure the star of the day didn't care!

Poor kid - his cake was supposed to be red... not pink!

Probably my favorite picture of the entire day.



Pre-Smash



Cake was covering his entire stomach!

Smiling at Lolly

We opened presents...



The boys got a firetruck to share between the two of them from Grandma and Papa (my parents). Dill is currently sharing it with cousin Parker though. : )



He loves pushing his chair around, but unfortunately is just to busy to take a seat!

New crocs from Grandma and Grandpa (Jeremy's parents). For some unknown reason, both of the boys LOVE crocs. Maybe it's because they can get them on and off so easily? Not sure, but they both wear them all the time.

Water gun!

Cousin Josh

Granny Lolly and Mike

Running to Grandma

When I saw this picture of Lolly and Dill, I immediately thought of the picture of Troy and Dave at his first Christmas. It amazes me how different and yet similar the two boys are!

Awkward family photo #1

Awkward family photo #2

The girls.

My niece Abbey and Dillon swinging

Poor Dave gets the short end of the stick. Jeremy is not a fan of big birthday parties. So, until the boys get older and tell us what they want to do for their b-day party, we've decided after the 1st to just have cake and ice cream with family at home. Dave's birthday was on a Monday and Grandma Lori had to work and Papa Sam was having (and still is) back problems, so it was a small get together. Nikki and Josh made the drive from Abilene and Grandma Betty and Grandpa Richard were there.

Dave, like many other 3 year-old boys, can be a goober at times. It's rare that we get a decent picture of him. He's such a cute little guy but screaming "CHEESE" at the camera does not usually make for good pictures!

Dave blew out the candles 3 times... He was just having too much fun!

I made cupcakes in ice cream cones for Dave to take to daycare and I didn't have the energy to make another cake for home, so we had them for our party at home too. They actually were pretty good, although I would suggest making them and eating right away... ours were a bit soggy!





Reading very intently.

Jeremy and I are very likely some of the cheapest people I know... thrifty I guess is a better term. However, we splurged and bought the boys a gator Powerwheels toy for their birthday. We gave it to them at Dave's b-day because we knew Dill wouldn't care, but it was for the two of them to share. Now, when I say cheap... I also mean that my parents and Jeremy's parents both went in on buying the gator too. :)



Proof of a "cheese" picture.

Peek-A-Boo with Grandpa

Jeremy and I went to a Royals game with our friends Jeffrey and Joni. It was a Friday night game, which was awesome, except it went into 14 innings! Yikes... makes for a long game - and then we didn't even win!

The happy couple.

Big Beers. These were like $10 a piece! CRAZY!