quin wears undies!

For the first time in almost 5 years, diapers are off of our grocery list!!! That's right, Quin is potty trained! This past weekend, on Saturday morning, he took his diaper off (normal) when he went #2 (sorry if TMI, this is what mom's deal with!) and he came and told me. Ryan said, "I think he's trying to tell you he wants to be potty trained!" And I couldn't have agreed more. Really, he couldn't have been more clear except to write it on my forehead --- "MOM PLEASE POTTY TRAIN ME NOW!" So we did. We went straight undies Saturday morning and he had no accidents that day, even at naptime. Very proud. We ran several long errands, went to a basketball game of Johns, and he stayed dry. Sunday was the same story, church with no accidents, etc. He has had an accident during the night everynight so far, but I can handle that, and I think it will get better, but I don't believe in pull-ups so we will deal with it. 2/3 nights I think he had an accident as he was waiting for us to get him out of bed, so when we make his crib into a big boy bed (soon, as soon as potty training is not "new") he will be able to get up and go as soon as he wakes up. We are soooo proud of Quinny! This was the easiest potty training ever....but I shouldn't expect anything less from Q, he's been SO easy from day one about everything. He's the cutest little thing in undies too, he fills them out better than his 4.5 year old brother! ha! We do still give him 3 m&m's after every successful potty trip, but it works and that is great! Way to go, QUIN!!! You're awesome and we love you and are so proud of your BIG boy milestone you've reached!

Whew! 2013 is Here!

2013 has started off with a bang, and hasn't let up yet. It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I have totally neglected this here blog. Time to catch up!

1. On the 2nd I started keeping a sweet newborn baby. Ryker is almost 3 months old, and sweet as can be. Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE newborns, or babies any age for that matter, so I was excited to tell our friends I can keep him until June. The boys love him and still can't quite get his name right. He's "baby titus" to the boys 90% of the time. One day he will always be Ryker! They are so sweet to him and have kissed him more times than I can count!

2. I tried to potty train Quin the first weekend of 2013 and failed. Not because of Quin, he did really good, but because of me. I did the '3 Day Method' and the first 2 days weren't half bad. Accidents, yes, but that is to be expected. Day 3 is usually when it clicks. Well, day 3, I woke up SICK AS A DOG. Tummy bug was here, along with a severe pounding headache. I couldn't get on my feet without getting sick to my stomach, so I stayed horizontal on the couch most of the day. Potty training wasn't happening. So, we postponed. He still asks to wear undies everyday, and I let him. He does pretty good, but I just need to get serious and do it. He's ready.

3. Speaking of undies and related items. Every night, and sometimes during the day, Quin will take his pj's (or clothes) off at bedtime (or in the middle of the day) and take his diaper off! Do they make jammies with a combination lock on them? Seriously. We will put him down in bed, and think he's off in dreamland, but 20 or so minutes later, he cries the "something is wrong" cry, and I'll go in there and he's stark naked, freezing, and usually has TT'd in his bed. This is fun, and is getting old. Keep your clothes on kid!!!!

4. Back to tummy bug day, my mom came over at lunch and saved my life. She brought me 2 Zofran and a sprite from Jess (amazing) and fed the boys and took Braidy for the afternoon. Seriously I am forever indebted to her for this.

5. School has started back, and John has been named STUDENT OF THE MONTH! He makes us so so so proud. He's also been chosen to be in the "Citizenship Club", and also only missed ONE question on all of his 6 weeks assessments combined. This kiddo is smart and is such a good student. Super proud of you, John!

6. I got away last weekend for Erica's Bachelorette Party! She's getting married next weekend in Cabo, and sadly, I won't be there. But we did have a great time at her Bach weekend. We went to my dad's house and hit up some of San Antonio and Greune, TX! We had a blast. It was so fun hanging out with a bunch of girls for a couple of days! Erica is going to be the most beautiful bride. I can't wait to hear all about it and see pictures! Keith, you're a lucky man!

7. Braidy has been quite the character lately....or always, I should say. Yesterday as Quin was coloring allllll over John's closet walls (I knew it was quiet in there), Braidy was coloring himself green. Yes, you read that right. Face, feet, arms, hands. I asked him what on God's green earth was he doing. Duh, mom, I was being the HULK. Shoulda known.

8. He also has begun drawing. I remember John was really into drawing at about this same age. I love it. He drew the sweetest picture of him and I, and of he and Ryan the other day. He has brought home many pictures of bears lately. Almost everything he draws has eyelashes, except boys. It makes me laugh. He said he put some "makeup" on me on the picture he drew. Too sweet. Here's me and B:

 Daddy and B:

OK, I feel a little more caught up. Now back to the NEVER ending to-do list.

Christmas with Lulu and Papaw!

Last but not least, the 26th, we celebrated Christmas with Lulu and Papaw....but not before my mom, sisters and I made a little Christmas candy...because it's NOT Christmas without a little divinity. We made a PERFECT batch our first try, and the second and third attempts were a total fail, due in part to me being distracted by several small human, but our first batch rocked. If you have ever made divinity, you know it's a pretty exact science, and you have to be on the ball to get it just right. My Memo would have been so proud of us....one of my most favorite memories is making and eating divinity with Memo. I'll carry on this tradition forever!

Onto Christmas (the 26th) night....Mom and Rach cooked a fantastic Mexican meal, and we all enjoyed sitting together, eating and visiting! After dinner it was present time! The boys were super excited but, surprisingly, very well behaved! ha! They opened in order at first and then just started tearing into the rest, but it was fun to watch them and see what everyone got. I must say that Ryan and I's gift from my mom and Les was the MOST special gift I might have ever received. It was a framed drawing of our 3 boys, and it's so so so special to us. I love it and cannot wait to get it on my wall. It is something I will have forever, and it will hang in my house when I'm 75 and my boys are all grown, married, and daddy's to their own children. Such a wonderful gift, I have such a thoughtful momma!

The night was a great time to be together. We are all so very blessed with wonderful family all around. We have had the best week with the people we love the very most. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas than the one we had this year. I loved every minute of it. Merry Christmas...one last time!

Christmas with Poppa and JJ!

After we saw what Santa brought us, we quickly unloaded a carful of STUFF and walked 2 doors down to my sisters house, where Poppa and JJ, Aunt Rachy and the Stone's were waiting on us! We ate a delicious meal and then opened gifts.

Braidy's highlight was his very own "Braidy's Breakfast Restaurant" supplies. Back during Thanksgiving, (I might have blogged about this already), but he would help JJ cook and make his own little pie, etc. Well he told everyone he wanted to open up a restaurant of his own and it was to be named "Braidy's Breakfast Restaurant". He talked about it the whole trip and the week after Thanksgiving, he would say, "Daddy's going to build my restaurant when he gets home." He's always been a little chef, but now it's serious. He has his own equipment. Measuring spoons, teaspoons, some spoons and spatulas, CARS cookie cutters and CARS pancake molds. He made us pancakes once this week and asks to every morning for that matter. Best gift ever for my little chef!

John got some awesome Under Armour (he's a fanatic) and Quin got an awesome little dump truck. We had a great time, although it was super short, as they had to head back the next morning. I am just glad we got to see them on the actual day! It was very special and we loved every minute we got to spend with Poppa and JJ. The boys are already asking when we get to see them again! Hopefully soon, I tell them!

Santa!

The minute we pulled onto Lynnhaven Drive, the boys were antsy to get to home to see what Santa had brought! There were some great surprises! Quinny got his train table and train set, Braidy got a new bike thing to ride, and John got a BB gun! He thought for sure that was for Daddy! ha!  They were all super excited, but I think Quin might have loved his the most. We haven't stopped playing with the trains yest (all 3 boys!). Good buy Santa! 

We were so glad Santa found us and left presents even though we weren't home on Christmas Eve. What a fun Christmas we have all had....and it's not over yet....2 down, 2 to go!

Merry Curry Christmas!!!

This Christmas the entire Curry clan decided to meet up in Angel Fire (techincally our cabin was in Eagle Nest). It was one of the best Christmases ever. I loved every minute of being together, in the mountains with lots of snow. It was a fun, fun time and I will always remember it as a wonderful Christmas! 

Our family drove from Lubbock, while everyone else flew from Dallas and Houston. We got into town and went to Taos for groceries. What we thought was a quick 10-15 minute drive was actually 45 minutes to an hour...so we had some boys that were SICK of the car, and I was sick of driving (or riding) on very thin, curvy and a little icy roads. After a crazy trip to the grocery store, we picked up a few pizzas and headed back to the cabin to wait on everyone else to get there! 

That night we played games, hung out, sat by the fire, watched a couple movies and enjoyed each other's company. John loved playing Battleship with Uncle Todd. The little boys tried to "help" Nena play SORRY, and the rest of us watched.

 Our first full day began with finding Braidy had snuck his way down into Nena and Pops' bed! It was small to begin with, and I'm positive adding an extra body made sleep nearly impossible for all parties involved, except maybe the 4 year old. We fixed a good breakfast, drank lots of coffee and started to get ready for the SLOPES! Everyone other than Nena, Pops and Quin were going to ski...or so we thought. We got there at noon, so we got half day passes and missed the chance for ski school for the boys, so we thought we'd take it upon ourselves to teach them. Mistake. Poor Braidy fell off the ski lift the first time he tried, so I knew he wouldn't be lasting long. He went down the bunny slope with dad and I twice, and said "I'm all done." Noah did pretty good with mom and dad but it was right at his nap time so he was worn out....and he, too, was all done after a couple runs. Nena, Pops and the 3 boys went home, while the rest of us stayed and skied the rest of the day. John caught on slowly but surely, and by the end of the day was skiing like a champ! He loved it and was so excited to come back the next day.

 Day 2: We ate a delicious breakfast, loaded up on some coffee and hit the slopes! John woke up in the middle of the night (about 1am) asking daddy if it was too early to go skiing! Ha! To say he was excited would be the understatement of the century. We left everyone else at the cabin to relax and nap (Poor Braidy was sickly...fever, lethargic, and not feeling good at all). I felt bad leaving him but knew he was in good hands. We started early, went to the back of the mountain, and our green route was closed, so we had to go down a blue. Poor John, his first time skiing, was being forced down a fairly steep blue. He was not enjoying this at all. Thankfully, at the bottom was a coffee shop and we stopped for some hot cocoa, sandwiches, and relaxed a bit. The rest of the day was spent skiing. We loved every minute of it. John did AWESOME. He really turned into a little skier that day. That night we went into Red River to Red's for supper....and I'm pretty sure everyone cheered when we left. Quin was OUT.OF.CONTROL. I have no clue what he ate or did that day, but was a MESS! Next time we will cook everynight. We will not be going out to eat....so not worth it!

Day 3 was Christmas Eve! Again, we began our day with breakfast and coffee! On the agenda today was snow sledding! We had heard of a place where we can pay and they have hills to sled and rent. Luckily for the boys, Nena and Pops had bought each boy their own blue sled, so we only rented one big one! The boys LOVED this. Braidy didn't want to do it at first, but once I made him he loved it. Quin and Noah were fearless and had a blast, and John was a daredevil, going backwards, on his knees, etc. The adults loved it too. Even sweet Pops went down, although he tumbled down the hill about 1/4 of the way down....lost his glasses, but came up smiling! Yay Pops! One of the funniest moments was when the 3 brothers decided to go down together....you should have heard the poor sled dragging - poor Dan was half on, half off, but there they went, all 700 lbs of them! 

That night we cooked dinner instead of going out. Steaks, asparagus, salad, baked potatoes, sauteed onions....the works! It was delicious. My sweet husband was out grilling the steaks in the blizzard. It was SO SO SO cold that night and snowing like crazy, but he got them done and they were delicious!

 After supper it was presents time. Pops read the boys the story of baby Jesus being born, and although none of them were super thrilled about that, it was one of the sweetest moments for me. We opened gifts, and then got Santa's cookies and milk ready. He was bringing us a stocking here, but leaving our "big gifts" at our home in Lubbock. Good thing Santa is a good, smart and organized man! I'd mess it all up if that were my job! That night after the boys were all in bed, the "big kids" (brothers+wives) stayed up and played Taboo and some Gin Rummy. So fun. Lots of laughs. Great memories with my hubby, brothers and sis!

Christmas Morning! The boys were excited to see what was in their stockings. Santa always brings useful things for their stockings (undies, socks, etc....along with a few fun things) so they didn't have a ton of stuff to play with. We had a yummy breakfast and loaded up the cars to head home. Angel Fire did get quite a bit of snow, so it took 30+ minutes to get the other Curry's rental car out of the driveway. It was a sight to behold. Finally we just butted Ryan's truck into it and pushed it out with his 4-wheel drive! 

Thanks to all the Curry's for such a wonderful Christmas! I am ready to go back and ski some more, but mostly I just loved being together! Merry Christmas!