Car Wash

Cory and I were putting Rafe to bed tonight and he was trying to gather all of his stuffed animals. Rafe bent down to pick one up and said, "Oh my goodness, Daddy. Your feet are SO STINKY. You need to take them to the car wash!!"

I about fell off the bed laughing.

Bathing Beauty!

This is Rafe's idea of shaving his "face"!

He shoots, he scores!

Today was a VERY exciting day for Rafe. He scored his first goal in basketball. I don't know if he has ever heard all of us cheer that loudly. Well, maybe he has, but needless to say his Daddy and I were very proud. What made it even better was Rafe had actually stolen the ball from the other team under their goal and decided to shoot it. Well, as luck would have it the ball went in - for the other team!! Of course Rafe did not know he scored for the other team and he doesn't need to. I will never forget the look on his face. He was shocked and excited all at the same time. Rafe's confidence has come so far since we moved in June. I would not have expected him to even be on the basketball court six months ago. What a special day. You would know this was the one game I left my video camera at home. I'm sure that's why it happened today. Congratulations, Rafe. We are so proud of you.

Closing Day

Today was a big day at the White house. (which one you might say??!!) Yes, as of today we have THREE places to call home. We currently live in one, we still have our house in Charleston (hopefully not for too much longer!!), and we closed on our new house today. Needless to say we were all filled with nerves and excitement today. We did not waste anytime cleaning up the outside of the house. There were HUGE piles of leaves in front of the house that were driving Cory crazy. So we didn't make it home from closing good until he was out there with his rake and in no time bagged up 8 bags of leaves. The bad part is he probably has at least 8 more to go, he just ran out of bags. Rafe absolutely had a ball outside. He was able to help his Daddy with his brand-new leaf blower courtesy of Santa. The highlight, by far, was all the worms he found under the piles of leaves. You have never seen so many worms. They were huge! Of course Rafe had to pick everyone of them up and they are now at our house #2 with his other worm collection. He is OBSESSED with them. My only regret about today was that I did not have my camera to take pictures of all the work Cory and Rafe did. Don't worry, there will be lots more to follow!

Such a sweet boy!

Today while I was getting Rafe ready for his nap we had the sweetest conversation. He grabbed my face and said, "Mommy, I love you so much." Then he gave me the biggest hug and kiss he had ever given me. I don't know where that came from but, of course, I started crying. That was one of the sweetest thing he had ever done. I did not have to chase him or hold him down to make him hug me, I did not tell him I loved him first, he just did it. I will never forget this!

Boys will be boys!

Rafe and I enjoyed playing outside this afternoon. It has been raining for too many days and Rafe was ready to be outside. After throwing the ball with Buck, swinging and playing with sticks, Rafe decided to ride his scooter. (he was trying to think of anything to keep from going in for his nap!!) After riding for a few minutes he "accidentally" slipped and fell right in a water puddle. Thankfully he was not hurt and was able to get back up only to "accidentally" fall in another mud puddle! He could not have been any happier. Boys will be boys!

We are moving!

Yes, we are moving, AGAIN. Hopefully this will be the last one for a LONG TIME! We are only moving two houses down so it should not be near as bad as moving from Charleston!! The house fit our family perfectly and we are so excited about it. Rafe will continue to be spoiled by both grandparents. My parents one mile to the left, Cory's parents two miles to the right! How great is that??!! We are hoping to move by the end of January. So, please forgive me if my blogging is delayed for a while. We are still here, just knee deep in boxes!!

Funny Quote

Rafe - "Gram, can you put a new video in my DVD player?"

Gram - "Sure, but you will have to tell me how to do it."

Rafe - "Why don't you just be a Mommy and then you will know how to do everything."

I love it!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Rafe got a Chia pet for Christmas. This is something he REALLY wanted! (only Rafe!!) Christmas day Cory and Rafe started the growing process. As you can see they carefully spread the seeds and placed them on Scooby Doo's head. Rafe is SUPER excited about cutting his hair and waiting on the hair to grow out is hard for him. I am just excited we actually have some hair growing. We must be doing something right!

One week later (courtesy of Rafe photography)

A Night Out With The Singleton's

Tonight we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Side Street Pizza, with some of our favorite people, The Singleton's. Rafe absolutely loves Bill, Margaret and Maggie and by the looks of the gifts they always bring him, the feelings are pretty mutual. Tonight we exchanged Christmas gifts with them and their present completed Rafe's list. Christmas night as we were sitting in a PILE of presents in the den Rafe said, "Hey!! I didn't get my alarm clock from Santa!" (don't even ask me why he wanted an alarm clock to begin with!) Leave it to the Singleton's to get it for him. He was so excited. It even made getting in the bed a little easier tonight. Now he may sit in his bed and stare at it all night, but needless to say he is in there! Cory and I told Rafe what time he can get out of bed now. Who knows, maybe this alarm clock will work to our advantage!!

In addition to his wonderful alarm clock, Rafe also got a bag FULL of grow and grows. Yes, we are still doing this daily. We get out of the tub, clean it, and fill it back up with grow and grows every day. The snake Maggie got him a few months ago ended up being longer than the tub. This really excites Rafe and he was very eager to put his new collection in the tub tonight. Once these animals grow to a certain size Rafe insists on getting them out of the tub and carrying them around with him. This is really gross to me because they are wet and slimy. Just when I thought we were through growing for a while Santa and the Singleton's loaded him up again!!

I don't know what we would do without our friends, the Singleton's. They are always there when we need them. The good times and the bad. Thank you Bill, Margaret, and Maggie for being such a special part of our family. You are definitely my "other parents" and the sister I never had. I love you guys!