First Wheels

Check out Ty's new ride.

I decided to take him to the park today for a test drive.

"Heck with that" he said. "I'm out."

Hayley and I had a good time playing basketball together while the little boy roamed free....and Tia....where was Tia?

Ah yes. In her own world.

Skipping to made up songs and carrying a box of goldfish crackers.

And here is Mom cashing in on the baby kisses.

Can you blame me?

iphone pics.

At Ikea testing out real cribs. Once we put him in, he didn't want to get out. Let's hope that means good things for night-times in our new place.

J's special birthday crown I whipped up for him in an extra extra large.

"There's no way my head is that big," he said

But as you can see, it fit him quite perfectly.

And here is the best one we got of the two of us that day.

A stunning couple. And he looks like he's so in love with her.

Or does she have him in a head lock?

It's hard to tell.

Hayley chose to do her fairy tale book report on the three little pigs.

She had to dress up like a character from the story, and she chose to be the 'smart pig'.

She did a fabulous job on her presentation.

Today was Tia's 6th birthday.

Our candles were nowhere to be found, so we had to make do with what was still left in our cupboards.

When she blew out the candle, Ty surprised all of us by exploding into laughter.

So we lit the same candle and had her blow it out again. Same reaction.

We lit the candle about 8 more times, and each took turns blowing it out and trying to get the biggest reaction out of Ty. He couldn't get enough.

I can hardly wait until his first birthday in a couple of months. He is going to have a ball.

Tia decided she wants to wait until we are in our new place to have a party with her friends, so I will keep you posted on that.

Moving day is getting closer. Exciting times ahead.

A few pictures...

I've been spending a lot of time packing lately. Once a box is all packed up, Ty likes to climb in and start pulling things back out....

thus ruining all of my hard work.

Hayley is 8 now, which means she gets to go to Activity Days at our church. She absolutely loves it. I had to sneak in and take a picture as they were making their cute little crafts the other night.

There is nothing that makes Ty happier than sitting in the swings at the park. He would sit there for hours if I was willing to stay that long.

And here we are at the Picadilly circus.

We have definitely seen more exciting circuses than this, but still a fun time.

And here is a portion of each of our faces.

It takes a pretty skilled photographer to take a picture like this. ;)

Pile

While walking through an Amish market a few months ago, I saw a Mennonite woman with three young children giving them a stern talkin' to. It looked like she had reached the end of her rope, and I still remember what she said.

"When we get home I'm going to pile you, all three of you!"

We laughed to ourselves, as parents do when we see others in the same predicaments we often find ourselves in....just glad it wasn't us that day. We have since adopted the phrase, "I'm going to pile you" even though we still wonder what exactly that means.

(I even googled it but got nothing)

If it means what I think it means, today I was definitely in a 'piling' kind of mood. Small spaces, loudness, crying, interrupting, messes, things broken, sibling fighting, button pushing, whining.

I wanted to pile everything and everyone.

Thank the heavens above for green smoothies, and consignment sales to lift a woman's spirits.

And also for the cute baby boy who somehow managed to remove his own shirt before he fell asleep in his bed tonight, (how adorable is that?)

the sweet girl with the beautiful singing voice that gets all of the lyrics to every song she knows wrong, but sings her heart out anyway...

and the freckled beauty who used the word "pardon" at the dinner table to demonstrate to me that she actually had been listening when we had our manners discussion the other night....

(even though I've probably only used the word 'pardon' a total of 3 times in my life, including the night we had our manners discussion.)

They drive me crazy at times.

Like pull out my hair crazy.

Like stick a needle in my eyes and ears crazy.

But man, do I love these kids.

laugh at THIS

My husband is a tough crowd. I'll say something that I think is hiLARious, and he won't even crack a smile.

"Did you even hear what I just said?" I'll ask.

"Did you really not think that was funny at all?"

Me constantly trying to gain his humor approval can be seriously exhausting.

I remember one day, long ago, that I actually impressed him 3 different times...on the SAME day. He laughed out loud and looked at me every time with an expression of shock. "Honey, you were actually kind of clever right there."

Insult of the century.

Who needs his laughter anyway? Recently, I found another crowd who is much easier to please and makes me feel like I'm awesome every time I do ANYthing. After a morning walk and a quick trip to Trader Joes this morning, I sat with my little boy and played blocks with him. I built a tall tower and he thought I was amazing. I picked up the little square blocks and started to juggle with one hand and he laughed for like 5 minutes. I did 50 jump squats and he was extremely amused. I did a hand stand and he laughed again. So I did another one, and he laughed just as hard. I did handstands until I felt like I might pass out, and he laughed every single time. I fed him a banana and he thought I was the best thing in the world. I got on my hands and knees and he crawled right up to me and smothered me with love.

I may not be FUNNY Babe, but I'm awesome.

And you're lucky I'm an easy crowd because your jokes are kind of lame too.

;)

Pinch and be pinched

I am generally not a happy camper in the mornings.

I am a mother, like many other mothers, who gets little to no sleep on a regular basis. It's my life, and I have to deal with it, but it doesn't mean I always have to do it with a smile.

On the morning of March 17th, as my eyes were just opening and acclimating to the light, I felt a sudden painful pinch on my arm. Ouuuuuuuch! What the heckkkkk?

My daughter, all caught up in the spirit of the 'holiday' that we call Saint Patrick's Day, had crawled onto my bed and found that in my SLUMBER I was not wearing green, and therefore felt she was perfectly justified in pinching the heck out of me.

As you can probably imagine, I wasn't laughing.

The ironic thing is that she didn't even know that pinching was a part of St. Patty's day until I told her two days earlier.

"Don't forget to wear green or you'll get pinched!" I said. She had no idea what I was talking about.

Next year I will be sure to emphasize that it only applies to people who are out of bed and have chosen their outfit for the day.

And pinching moms, no matter WHAT they're wearing, will result in a thousand pinches on her naughty little tooshie.

You think I'm joking kid?

Go ahead and try me. ;)

Man of the Day

Today my husband is 32. We watched some home videos of him just recently that had been recorded when he was about 7 years old. His hair was big and floppy and looked like a mushroom sitting on the top of his head. He told his sister she had blubber, and instead of handing her the object she wanted, he threw it just out of reach to push her buttons. It reminded me of my own children. Now we know for sure who to blame for their behavior.

I met Jordan when he was a young, strapping man, about 9 years later (He was my grandma's paper boy) and knew right away there was something different about him. I had never known another guy who was so 'together', genuine, thoughtful, FUNNY, mature, and solid.

I wanted him as my own.

He was not short of female attention in the least. He was a great catch! A HARD one to catch, and don't think he didn't make me chase. The day I finally caught him...and realized he was mine to keep, was the happiest day of my life. ;)

I mean look at him.

Happy Birthday to an amazing Daddy, Husband and Friend.

We love you like crazy. ;)