Jingle Bells!

Of course singing Jingle Bells in front of the Christmas tree ends with punching. 

Oh - sorry, I spoiled the ending.

Merry Christmas.

Merry 2012 Christmas!

Your once yearly digital Christmas card.

This year, we are fully stoked about Christmas.  Both boys helped cut down our tree, a very sharp blue spruce, helped decorate by hanging lights and ornaments and generally cannot help themselves when it comes to those odd Christmas toys that we use to decorate our house.  Christmas music has been on a constant repeat since we cut down the tree.  Ed and I are drunk on holiday cheer.

Not one ounce of Christmas spirit is lost on Jr.  He is so excited and he is nervous about getting on the Naughty List.  P.S. He is not.  He has been excellent lately.  Ed and I try to tell him constantly how proud we are of him.  We got rid of the TV in the dining room and he eats all of his dinner and visits with us about the ins and outs of Rocky Mountain Pre-School.  Below is his letter to Santa.  He later clarified that he wants clothes made of garbage.  So there is that.

On the other hand, his brother may be on the Naughty List.  He is a lovely child with a sweet voice and angelic looks that can turn on you in an instant.  He is two.  That is what they do.  He will move on, I know he will.  We just try to distract him and change the subject.  There are so many things I want to remember about him at this age though.  He tells me secrets, he pulls me close and whispers in my ear and says "Mommy, you are my best friend."  He gives the best hugs ever and isn't stingy with kisses.  He rubs my back every night and sings songs to me.  He is goofy and sings and dances for no reason whatsoever.  He has moments where he is so damn sweet, so damn cute, so lovable.  Just not during meals... 



Photo credits - the lovely Kim Moog

Photo credits - the amazing Kim Moog.

We are still mourning the end of our Florida vacation around Thanksgiving. It was an awesome trip - we were gone for 10 days. Ed and I didn't want to come back. The boys were great on the plane and loved visiting their grandparents. We went to the beach every day, played in the sand and the ocean. We went to the zoo, we went to the dock, everywhere we went, they had fun. Especially when we got to hold a little alligator. Jr. still wants a baby alligator. The boys LOVED harassing their Uncle Ock!  Grandma and Gramps, thanks for spoiling us - we miss you!



You just can't keep clothes on that kid.

On the bay!

In Everglades City.

Daddy holding Ali.

Everglades City.

Holding Ali the alligator.  She was very cool.



Feeding the giraffe.

Feeding the giraffe.



Beach baby.

Watching a man cut down a palm tree.



Turtle club!  Yum!

Monkey boat at the zoo.

We hope your holidays are merry and bright.  Love - the Colemans!

Holy Cow

It has been a very long time.  I think about this blog a lot and then the time I have at night to put key stroke to screen vanishes into thin air. 

Garden gnomes.

Life around here in the summer is nutty.  I work long hours and we try to maximize fun in the off hours.  We love to get these two to smile and play nice together.  The four year old is so cool lately.  He loves his pre-school we bask in his intelligence.  He has some sweet buddies and is quickly becoming the king of the school.  The two year old has a couple of good buddies and is pretty jolly.  Add them together and let the fighting commence.  Sibling rivalry is alive and well in the Coleman house.  Just when Ed and I think we are going to go crazy, they play so nicely together, so quietly. 



Jr. and his dragon carrots.

Graham and the tomato harvest.



Graham's first day at Jr.'s pre-school.

September was marked by the passing of my grandmother, Jeri.  I was gone working on a fire near Bozeman when I got the call that her liver was failing.  They gave her 2 weeks to 2 months to live.  All of the family was assembling in Chinook to wish her well on her journey.  Jr. and I busted a move to get up there just in time to see her hours before she passed.  It was easily the most surreal and intense experience of my life.  Jr. was great, he rolled with all of the activity and fully understood the gravity of the situation.  I was so grateful to get to see her one more time and wish I could have talked to her while she was still lucid. 



I miss my grandmother so much.

I came home, picked up Ed and Graham and headed back to Chinook for her funeral.  Everyone was there, all of my cousins minus a couple and we had wonderful celebration of her life.  We decided to stay a few more days to hang out with my poor grandfather.  The boys had a blast.  We were a little bit nervous about rattle snakes nearby, but the boys got to do all of the fun things we got to do as kids.  They love it there and were sure pick me ups for my aunts and my dad and stepmom.  Even my grandfather described their sweet voices (?!?!?) as music to his ears.  Ed worked for my uncle Scott on the Ranch.  We attended a homecoming volleyball game and watched as the Chinook Sugarbeeters beat the Centerville Miners in a Friday night game of 8 man football.  It was so fun to watch my cousin Courtney and Gavin play sports.  We are excited to head back soon.




The boys at my grandmother's funeral.

Dancing outside of the funeral.

Ed and I after the funeral.

Baby on the 4-wheeler.

Big boys on the four-wheeler.

Papa Bill up on the prairie.

Jr. shooting at cans with a bb-gun.  Both he and Graham knocked the can over (with mom's help...)

Jr. with his shooting eye protection.

The boys and my cousin Gavin.

Ed driving the tractor.

Spiderman and Batman.

The boys with Grandpa.

We came home in time to celebrate Ed and my birthdays! Ed and I got to go to dinner for his birthday with some friends. Then my mom came to town this last weekend to watch the boys while we went to camp and hot spring in Norris. We were tickled pink to camp just the two of us - well, plus my cousins and Cissie - but still, no boys. Don't get me wrong, we missed them, but this was the first time EVER we have had a night to ourselves without either child since Jr. was born. We may have gone a little crazy... Happy Birthday to us!

What Summer?

I know! It has been a long time since I posted anything. Not much has changed, just crazier than ever.
Here is how summer works at the Coleman house. We scramble to get home from work/pre-school/daycare, immediately strip out of our clothes and celebrate another day done by bathing ourselves in the cool droplets of the sprinkler. Graham is back to being pretty darn sweet, unless you expect him to eat, but other than that, the salty baby is back to sweet.

His brother has been a challenge this summer, it is like they go back and forth, mean, nice and back.

There are a lot of photos in this one, but a picture tells a thousand stories, right. Our summer at a glance... so far.


See the Corral Fire reflected in the door.  Yeah, it was huge.

There was a MEGA huge fire across the valley from our house.  It was a big deal.  We were safely out of harms way, but it made us look around our own house at all of the dead trees... 

We spent the fourth of July with the Shoquist clan in Seeley Lake.  It was a BLAST!


Graham waiting patiently for the candy at the 4th of July Parade in Seeley Lake.

Rainey Lake.

Family photo at Rainey Lake.

Burying Benan at Seeley Lake.

Princess Leah the Army Worm.

My sweet little baby is TWO.  I can't even believe it. 

Dear Graham, I love you so much.  I love how snuggly and cheery you are.  You are a great little boy who is excited about everything.  You love Selma, you idolize your brother, you are always easy to please.  Thank you for blessing all of us with your laughs, songs and fantastic dancing.  Two years of the best years of my life.

Happy 2 Years Baby Graham!

Birthday Goons.

Moustache Medley.

Dootie.

We took a week long camping trip across SW MT.  I called it the mining and minerals camping tour.  The kids were OKAY, the places we stayed were great.  It was fun and refreshing to spend a week as a family.  It helps us reconnect ourselves and fall in love with eachother again.

At the Prison Museum In Deer Lodge.

Lost Creek State Park.

Waterfall Baby.

2 year-olds aren't so bad.

Coleman dudes.  Pioneer Mountains in the background.

Boys in Lupine.  Pioneer Mountains.

Jr. with my bouquet, handpicked by my boys.

Very cool.  Very.

Virginia City.

Giant Lolly pops from the old time candy store.

Panning for gold and garnets.

Fishing in the Alder gravel pit/pond.

Maybe the best photo of all time.

Ed, Cissie and I took the boys to the fair.  Jr. was WAY into the rides this year, for the first time ever.  He was such a great sport.  Here he is riding the mechanical bull, he LOVED it.  Graham went on one ride with his brother, only after watching Jr. go on 6 rides.

The FAIR!  T-Bone the mechanical bull.

Then Grandma and Gramps came to town.  So much fun.  We hung out in the yard, fished at Park Lake (where are those photos?), planted trees, and just hung out.  We celebrated Gramps' 71st  birthday.  It was so fun.  They boys were spoiled with all of the attention and love.

Tizer Gardens with Gramps and Grandma.

Prickly Pear Creek.

At the garden.

Tizer Cabin.

Tizer Gazebo.

Aren't they cute?

Graham at the meditation garden.

Climbing trees.

Check out those blue eyes!

Happy Birthday Gramps!

It was an awesome visit!  Miss you guys!