I See Little People

School Started!

2011-08-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Colin started Kindergarten at Gilbert Christian on August 10th and loves it. Mom is not so sure she likes him being gone all day, but he is learning so much already. Alex also started preschool and is surrounded by all his friends! Naturally he did not have any separation issues and loves playing and learning his letters. Here's Colin ready for his first day of school!

Jen, Mikele, and I have a tradition of "sneaking" into the new Kindergartener's house the day before the 1st day and dropping off a poster and some treats to make their day extra special. Colin was excited to see his poster and loved the cookies... of course I gave him one before breakfast!!!

And of course since our best friends live seconds away from the school in Mayberry, we had to meet over there and walk to school together. We are so blessed that our kids can go to school together and see each other everyday. I loved watching all the kids walk together, it was so special. This made Colin feel MUCH better and he was so excited to see Miles, Kate, and Madison on the playground.

Colin was excited to see his desk and wanted Alex to stay with him. Alex would not have minded and truly thinks he's five and was confused why he had to leave.... The confusion of a second child! The first picture shows their brotherly love and the second one shows their personalities... Do not be confused, Alex is trying to put Colin in a headlock :)

Next was Alex's first day of Preschool! Thanks to Carrie, I am able to have some great pictures. I forgot my camera!!! Bad Mom! Alex loves having his friends in his class - Jordan, JJ, and Eli.

Little Man is FIVE!!!

2010-12-19T13:29:00.001-08:00

Well, he actually turned five on December 9th, but I decided it's better to post late than never! In our house, we really think celebrating someone's birthday on just one day doesn't do it justice so we celebrated the whole week for Little Man turning 5! He has grown so much over the five last years and I'm not sure if I will be able to let him go to Kindergarten next year. For his birthday post, I thought walking through the last five years was appropriate. This is one of my favorite pictures from his first year (or as he would say, this is when he was zero).
Here's when he was 2 and his Aunt TaTa is 7.And when he was 3, I decided to try to grow his hair out... Not one of my better decisions. However, with those big eyes, he looks cute with any hair style. And this gingerbread man is his favorite craft and every year he will ask where it is, so we can decorate the house with it. As you may know, I am not a collector of any sort, I would much rather throw things away, but this one I will keep as long the construction paper holds out!Here's Little Man in OuterBanks when he was 4.And then he turned 5!!! Little Man you are so dear to us and your tenderheartedness continues to grow throughout the years. You are conscious of other's and their feelings and pray for others when they are hurt. You are a special boy who desires to do the right thing and love showing how much you care for your family. You love your brother, even though he can be spicy, and would always rather stay home than venture out. You are 100% boy and can make anything into a gun to shoot the bad guys. You are curious and love to ask questions. We love you and are blessed to have you as our son! Happy Birthday Little Man!

Family Camping Trip

2010-10-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read the title right, Family Camping Trip. My type of camping is staying at a hotel close to a campground, but not this time. Little Man told me he would miss me bunches when they went camping and asked if I would go with them. How could I resist such a request? So, off we went camping for 24 hours up to Payson. In a Tent. Overnight. No Showers, No Toilet.

It didn't take Little Man long to find a leaf the size of his head! I guess this if proof that some places in Arizona have four seasons...We did find a sweet camping spot right by a stream where the boys were able to go fishing and play with the live bait. I did not touch any worms or bait any hooks, but watched closely as everyone else in the family did.... And I loved watching how happy they were! Just in case you were wondering what kind of bait we had...Here's Adam teaching Little Man Fishing 101...Little Man listened closely and truly loves fishing. So this time Adam let him bait his own hooks, casting the line, and reel in his FIRST fish all by himself!!! I was so proud of him! His smile could not have been any bigger! This picture will definitely be framed!Meanwhile, Little Ax was crossing over the rocks and he was so happy that he was able to walk in the freezing cold water until he realized the shoes and socks didn't dry as fast as they got wet! In the course of a few hours, the boys caught eight fish! Adam may have been a little excited..Overall, a great camping trip and who knows I may even go back again next time :)

Montana Vacation

2010-09-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

After Disneyland we ventured to Montana for some country fun! The boys loved running in the woods, playing hide and seek and seeing all the animals. We didn't have any apples to peel for apple pie, but we were fortunate to pick some zucchini from my mom's garden and make homemade zucchini bread (so homemade the flour was freshly ground from wheat grains)! Alex loved stirring and stirring and stirring..Until the boys discovered that eating the flour was more fun than helping make the bread :) While the zucchinis were not this large, this squash seemed to be on steroids...Our next adventure was Splash Montana. This was a community pool complete with water slides, kiddie play pool, and my favorite... Dippin Dots!!! The only thing it was missing was a heater for the pool for the Arizona wimps! Can you tell Little Man is freezing?And of course our ruler follower Little Ax decided to try the kiddie slide head first!!Cows were the next thing on the agenda. We met Bo Jangle, Hello Dolly, and the calf Sweet Sugar Plum. Here's Hello Dolly smiling for the camera!Little Man and Alex loved that Sweet Sugar Plum was just their size!

What better way to end a great family vacation than with a perfect picture with Big and Little Man?

More Disneyland Adventures

2010-09-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

Usually around August I am a little frustrated and annoyed with the heat in AZ and ready for a vacation. So this year we decided to go to Disneyland for five days and then go to Montana to spend some time with Nana, Pa, and TaTa. The first stop was Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater (if you are wondering our next trip to Disneyland/California Adventure Park will be in 2012 when Radiator Springs opens)

The next morning was the character breakfast. This is the ONLY way both the boys would come within a 1/2 mile of the characters. Which I am perfectly okay with and didn't have to worry about standing in line or elbow punching anyone who cut in front of us... Pa was reunited with his distant relative Brother Bear..

We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel and as hotel guests were able to get into the park at 7:00am and get into ToonTown an hour before it opened to the public! This was the best! Take a look at the castle and barely anyone was around it, it was great! The only downside is I was ready for lunch and a nap at 9:00am.... Here's the ToonTown Welcome!
Here's Little Man using all his body strength (literally) to open the mailbox...Alex was really excited about driving Toad's car, Little Man on the other hand was a bit frightened.And of course one of our favorite rides is Dumbo. Here's Little Man posing for his picture (this is very rare)

Most of the group pictures were taken by my mom's camera, so I will have to wait to post those, but this is one of the family shots.There's a new Disney collection that is called Vinylmation and you can buy a mystery Mickey Mouse figurine from various collections and trade it at designated stores in the Park and at Downtown Disney to collect different figurines. It was fun and we felt like it was a treasure hunt. And here's Alex's best pirate face...

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and we can't wait to go back to see Radiator Springs!!

Summer is Officially Over

2010-08-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

This summer has been filled with lots of fun such as swimming lessons. Check out the diving pose... TaTa was able to come out for a week and enjoy swimming lessons too. Little Man loves his TaTa.

The last day we brought brownies for the coaches. Here's Jordan showing me some love!

Spontaneous trip to Disneyland with our best friends (minus the Midwest crew and the newly relocated AZ residents). I am ready to go back anytime!

And now the first day of school, does that mean summer is officially over? If so, someone please tell Mother Nature it should be less than 100 degrees now!

The boys had mixed emotions about starting school. Little Man was nervous and really wanted me to stay with him the entire class, so I could be R2D2 and play Star Wars. Tempting as it is, I declined and he survived. Here's Little Man "attempting" to smile but kept telling me the sun was in his eyes... mmm that's weird being the sun is BEHIND him. Oh well, it's the first day jitters, so I wasn't about to argue.

Here's Little Man and Ax posing for the camera....This picture made me cry seeing my Little Man growing up to be such a big boy. He has grown up so much and I wish I could freeze time and have him be this small forever. Any ideas? Ax has always wanted to go to school like his big brother, so this year he was finally old enough to go. He was excited and could not wait to get in the classroom and rule the world. It only took about 5 minutes for him to climb on top of the play dough table and declare his territory. Sweet. Good Luck Miss Debbie, you have been blessed with Mr. Spice himself this year..... He sure is cute though!

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do for the month of June, but I thought I should start with the most recent events first. For the long 4th of July weekend, we headed up North to Show Low with Adam's parents to escape the heat and watch fireworks without twelve pounds of sweat rolling down my back. The weather could not have been more perfect, a breezy 80 degrees during the day and 65 degrees at night...... PERFECT. Here's the 4th of July crew complete with holiday attire. We stayed at a community called Torreon and they had various activities throughout the weekend and lots of activities for the kids. Fishing was first on the agenda..... or playing with the bait for Alex.
Next was decorating bikes... well for one of our boys. The other one decided chasing the dog was more exciting.And then the parade. Little Man wanted to catch candy instead of participating in the parade, but soon after he saw all the ATV's, he changed his mind. He said he wanted to be in the parade next year and decorate his ATV like this.....Here's our family picture and for some reason I forgot to bring all my 4th of July Flair!!!!
Good thing Adam was along, he made up for my Pink Shirt....

Last Day of School

2010-06-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and school is out! We have already started our swimming lessons for the summer and Colin had his last day of school celebration. He told me before I went to his celebration that he would only be singing the ballgame song because he didn't know any of the other songs. I think he doesn't know the other songs because he would rather lick his chin than sing...it's a special talent :)This is his friend Matthew who he loves to play Star Wars with.Yet another attempt at a family photo...no worries, this one will not be on our Christmas Card. However, I must point out that my husband has expanded his wardrobe to include shirts other than blue..Little Man and Mrs. Nancy.

Cupcakes at 9:00am, why not and of course we follwed it with more sugar at Krispy Kreme!

San Antonio Vacation

2010-05-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

We took our first summer family vacation last weekend and ventured to San Antonio to see our friends. Little Man and Ax were so excited to see Madison and Jordan. As soon as we arrived, we did the most authentic Texan thing and went to Chic-Fil-A... well, maybe not the most Texan thing. It was so fun watching the kids run and play and eat lots of ice cream right before bedtime:) But how can you resist with such a cute face like this???

While I was packing I thought that I should pack some "boy" toys like cars and muscle men, but what they really wanted to play with Madison and Jordan's cupcake set...

We had planned to go to Six Flags on Friday night, but after arriving at the park at 5:00pm we quickly noticed the park closed at 6:00pm. However, I don't think the kids cared because the mall nearby had a perfect jumping spot next to Cold Stone (yes, more ice cream right before bedtime). And for Jen and I they had a Buckle store for us to try on every pair of capris....

Check out these professional jump shots!

The second day we headed off to Sea World! The kids had so much fun and we attempted a group picture, at least the adults were looking in the right direction....

Alex was fascinated with Shamu and I loved seeing these cuties together in almost matching outfits.

We fed the dolphins at Sea World which was on the top list of favorite things. I thought the boys would be a little freaked out, but they did great. I may have been a little paranoid that they were going to fall in.... Nonetheless, it was so much fun and memorable!

Pure Happiness, the faces say it all...

The last day Little Man came down with a fever and stomache, so we stayed around the house until it was time to leave. He was a trooper and loved playing with the camera and attempting to smile real for the camera. Jordan has a true model smile and loved playing along....

I loved all the green outside and they have a perfect swing in the front yard!

Thanks Friends for a fanastic weekend. We love you and miss you bunches!

Awana Celebration Time

2010-05-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Little Man was in Cubbies this year for Awana and he loved every minute of it. He's not a big fan of new places (that's an understatement), especially when Mom isn't by his side, but he loved going to Awana. It was probably because he had a wonderful chaperon :) Thanks Kel!

During Cubbies, I realized what a sponge he is for God's word. I love hearing him say the verses and look forward to how God is going to use these in the future. Both Adam and I teared up seeing his name on the program (we are suckers, I know). He even sang on stage, which is A LOT more than he has done the past two years in his preschool Christmas program! Can you tell he is a little nervous???

Apparently when Little Man is nervous he likes to stick out his tongue and lick his lips... Neat trick.
Little Man loved being able to sit by Miles every week and enjoyed having Daniel in his class too. And it doesn't matter how old they are, it's still difficult to get them all to look and smile at the camera at the same time.

Little Ax really thinks he's one of the boys too, someone please tell him he has another year until he can be in Cubbies...

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to have our whole family in town for Easter this year and the weekend was filled with fun activites for everyone. The first stop was an Easter celebration at Adam's parents' community center. They had a lot of activites for the kids. Since a serious picture was out of the question, we decided a silly picture was a better way to start the festivities...

Ax didn't care for the rules of this game, so he made his own...Another thing they had was a machine like thisThat made cool things like this... Next was coloring eggs and Little Man was pretty serious about his egg coloring...
And of course a picture with his favorite Aunt TaTa.

Another round of Easter picture attempts... At least there's two things right with this picture...they are looking in the same direction and wearing matching shirts.Next up was the Easter Egg Hunt. Little Man had to check out the goodies inside the eggs to ensure it was worth continuing the hunt....Alex finding his first egg, can you find it too???And since the temperatures are heating up a little bit, we decided to turn on the sprinklers..We had lots of fun and are so thankful that we could celebrate Jesus' resurrection with family. We hope everyone had a great Easter!

Alex's Birthday Party

2010-03-30T21:32:00.001-07:00

Of course we started off the birthday right with a free pound of sugar, oops I mean donuts. Ax is trying really hard not to smile...
We are so happy to have NaNa and TaTa here to celebrate with us...
Kate and Miles joined in the fun and sugar experience as well, it was a true sacrifice.
Ax had more fun wearing the donut that eating it, but it is his birthday, so I won't correct him.

I'm not sure if the adults or the kids had more fun at Ax's Party, take a look and let me know....

Alex Is Now Two...

2010-03-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Ax has been two for a little while now, but I felt like if I procrastinated posting somehow he would stay one... However, the two year opinionated child has now taken over my sweet compliant infants body, so I guess it's time to celebrate him turning two. We started celebrating his birthday at the beginning of March, so it's no surprise that his favorite "lullaby" now is Happy Birthday to me. To start his birthday celebration, we ventured up to Sedona to visit some family friends and met NaNa and TaTa. Then I found out the little ones could go on a Pink Jeep Tour, so we signed up! The tour was a bit on the unadventureous side, but Ax and Little Man couldn't stop smiling, so that was worth the price of admission! Take a look at the red rocks, they are so beautiful, but Ax insists they are yellow.....
For part of the tour we stopped at this natural "lake"... They may have to work on the marketing of this stop for future tours... Since it has been such an unusual winter, Sedona still had a few patches of snow and the boys loved throwing snowballs at TaTa.... While we were in Sedona we stopped by a family friends' house to say hello. The boys loved one of their sculptures because it was just their size. Soon after this picture was taken Ax tried to wrestle it...... Stay tuned for more pictures of Ax's celebration.....

Weekend in Review

2010-02-22T21:46:00.001-08:00

This weekend was packed with a lot of indoor and some outdoor activities. Little Man had his last day of Sports Class with one of his buddies. He loved the class, but apparently really loved hugging the one girl that was in the class nicknamed Mater. Maybe it's because he thought of her as Tow Mater? Here's the full scene for you...

He had one of his best friends with him to share in the fun of having the coach put the stamp ANYWHERE the kids wanted. Can you tell what body part Miles chose?

I must admit, I took this picture earlier in the session, but I couldn't resist posting it.

And the class picture (Mater is not too happy because her father had just told her to pay attention to the game and not the boys... I would be upset too)

My dad came down to spend a few days with the us and we decided to chance it on Sunday and go fishing between rain storms. Ax was more interested in the fish food (WonderBread) than fishing, but I can't really blame him.
Little Man has started to enjoy getting his picture taken....
Now if this trend would rub off on his brother we may be ready for a family picture.

And since I was not interested in fishing, I decided to take lots of pictures, my models were very well behaved :) I thought this one needed a little artsy angle...
This one is my favorite.
Notice the rain clouds are a bit darker....And who needs an ocean when you have beachfront property in Gilbert?

Chicago Snow

2010-02-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

Little Man and I went to Chicago for a fun action-packed weekend to visit our friends. We saw the city and visited some really cool museums. The first day we started at 7:50am at the train station and ventured downtown to the "Bean" at Millenium Park. One thing you can't see in the picture is my backpack that I forgot under the Bean WIDE OPEN with my wallet on top! Good thing everyone in the City was honest that day and Katie sprinted to find it... Thanks Friend! Here's a picture of the cute kids by the Bean.

Little Man was a little unsure of the large stuffed animals at the Field Museum, but felt better when he saw this little crab.
Here's Sissy and Little Man in the bubble by the water fall at the Children's Museum.

Little Man could not get enough of the snow and couldn't wait to get back and bundle up and play in the snow. Macker was trying to sneak out and play in the snow too....

Little Man could not be happier in the snow :)
Thanks friends for a fun weekend - complete with lots of laughter, fun, coughing, runny noses, and occasional vomit!

AZ Snow Day

2010-01-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

Well, since everyone seems to be getting snow, we decided to bring some snow to Chandler, Arizona. It started with a Sno to Go kit that Adam and I found at the airport in Wyoming. The best thing is that you can play with it indoors and you don't need any snow gear :)The boys really enjoyed it, but I think they may need to experience real snow..... Time for a trip to the cold country :) Another, crazy thing about this Snow to Go was that it was cold to the touch, we have saved some for anyone who wants to come over and play in the snow...

Then, at Little Man's preschool last week they trucked in snow for Snow Day, so we decided to drop in and have a little fun as well. This video gives you a little glimpse of Colin's flirting technigue.... and thank goodness it's not that effective....

And of course with a snow day, hot chocolate and donuts is a must... This picture of the kid's face beside Little Man cracks me up!!!

See look real snow...we haven't totally lost our mind!Little Ax loved the snow, although he was a little upset that he had to leave with mom and couldn't stay with his brother. He is of course the same age, well he thinks he is anyway.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! This is just a small taste of the New Year's celebration (and maybe some foreshadowing for Little Ax, he couldn't put down the cup of apple cider for anything....) Stay tuned our friend will post more soon.....The first family event for the New Year was the Fiesta Bowl Parade, along with thousands of other families! We decided to head over the parade early to truly enjoy all its festivities.. like the potato shooters that are now sold on the same cart as cotton candy... I may be out of the parade loop because I really thought the guy was kidding until he showed me the actual potatoes (look close and you will too)!!! Needless to say we did not purchase one, but maybe next time...

Little Man had to fill up on juice getting ready for the big parade...

Ax did what he does best... SNACK.. SNACK.... SNACK .. SNACK (at least I brought noodles this time, yes actual noodles)

Game faces... These days this is the one of the only ways Little Man will look at the camera....

While I was watching the parade, I thought what could I do in a parade... play the tuba, no that instrument is bigger than me, and then I saw these women and thought my friends and I will definatley be doing this in about 20 years!!!! Look at those legs!

One of my favorite things was a costume club that is in the Valley for Star Wars fans. Made me think I was in Hollywood for a brief second...

And after the various balloons (because floats aren't the cool thing anymore) hundreds of horses and various marching bands, Little Man was ready to head home....

Batman Birthday Bash

2009-12-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

Little Man requested a Batman theme for his birthday party this year, which I was surprised because he still plays A LOT of cars and racing games. But this could be a year to break the mold... Pa, NaNa, and TaTa were gracious enough to let us have the party at their house and there were lots of activities for everyone! We started early with some horse rides....

TaTa was excited that Hannah was able to hang out for a little while.

We thought a group picture was a good idea before the treasure hunt and the special guest appearance!

Ax looks cute in this one and Little Man must be teething and checking his molars!And off to the treasure hunt....After a few clues we found the Treasure... .Nananananananan.... BATMAN!Little Man was a bit nervous about Batman, but I thought a family picture was a must (and Jen just for you I rolled my Buckle jeans, so they wouldn't get dirty!)

Happy 4th Birthday

2009-12-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Another year has past and Little Man is now 4! I cannot believe I have a child who is 4, where has the time gone?

One thing I have learned, among the many daily lessons, is that at the age of 4, a child knows exactly what they want to eat when you say, "you can have anything to eat for your Birthday"... So of course, Little Man requested french toast with whipped cream and sprinkles for breakfast, chocolate muffin for snack and pigs in a blanket for lunch with cake for dessert (I did strongly recommend that he eat three bites of eggs for breakfast, I had to control some part of the day!)

My mom, Marty, and TaTa were here to celebrate Little Man's birthday and he was really excited.... Ax was really excited to see the camera.

One of his favorte presents was a GIGIO.. Thanks Friends :)

As you can imagine he was a bit hyped up on sugar so we took him to ZooLights to burn off some of the sugar or at least crystalize it for later! And apparently they hand out 3D glasses to look at ZooLights in a whole new way. It made me a little dizzy and I felt like I was at a Grateful Dead concert, but these two seemed to like it.

It didn't take long to open the hot chocolate and enjoy the yummy snacks Grammie brought...

Happy Birthday Little Man. You are a tenderhearted boy who brings a lot of joy to our family! Thanks for your craziness and smiles that always brighten our day! We Love You Bubba!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

In effort to get in the Halloween spirit, we started with some scary faces....Watch out these are pretty scary....

After a bit of the scariness wore off, we started making some desserts for the Annual Halloween Party. Ax was much more interested in eating the "nails" than helping make them.
Next on the agenda was pumpkin carving! The kids were not excited about touching the pumpkin mess, but with the help of spoons it sounded like a great idea!
And the finished product... Little Man is so excited TaTa is in town.
Then off to the best Halloween Party... TaTa was Alice and Ax was.......

This year Little Man could choose his own costume and from the beginning he said "I want to be a Ghost". For some reason, I wasn't satisfied with this and tried REALLY hard to change his mind... took him to the Disney Store, looked at any and all superhero costumes online, promised lots of candy, and his response was... "Seriously, I want to be a Ghost".... So alas here's the Ghost of Halloween (he's a scary ghost too), Ax the Dino, and Big Man!

And in order to get the true representation of Ax's costume, you have to see it from behind.

And what happens when you combine lots of sugar with a tired dino.... a completely zoned out toddler :)

Always an Adventure at the Zoo

2009-10-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, for those zoo lovers there is a new exhibit at the zoo that we discovered this week. Feeding the giraffes! Little Man was so excited and he kept telling us how his friend fed a giraffe from a car and he wanted to do it too. We waited in line and received the specific directions, not to step past the line and do not pet the giraffe. Little Man had fun and would not pose for any pictures, so I managed to snap some from afar.

And of course Little Ax wanted to feed the giraffe too. I thought he would be nervous, but he pushed past me and took the biscuit and walked right up to the feeding line....

Next my desire was to have a picture with me and the boys, but the preschooler would not coooperate; so Little Ax and I posed for the camera while the giraffe sniffed our snack pack... that 18 inch long tongue made me a little nervous.

Another sight was the random peacock that was strolling around the zoo. Little Man was excited to see the peacock from a distance, but would not get too close. Although some of those feathers would look great on a headband! Maybe next time.

And the last adventure that I wasn't able to catch on film (thank me later) was the frisky baboons and their game of tag. I'm not ready to explain that lesson, so we quickly walked past that exhibit.

First Day of Preschool

2009-08-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's school time again for Little Man this year and he was more excited than I was. He is attending Risen Savior again this year and keeps reminding me that he is too big for Miss Debbie's class, so he will be in Miss Nancy's class this year. On the way to school this morning he told me how excited he was to be going to school and right before my very eyes I felt him growing up. Where did my Little Boy go? I was a bit misty eyed to drop him off and lingered around for awhile peeking in the window to make sure he was okay, then pulled myself away.

He was eager to take pictures before school for about 1 or 2 nanoseconds, so here is proof of him doing something ONLY because Mom told him to.....

Notice his cool hairdo, he did it all by himself, blow dryer and all :) Sniff Sniff.....

Here's my Little Pumpkinhead......

And as we were walking into the room he began to get nervous and ask, "So Mom we don't come here tomorrow, right, just right now." I assured him only on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he sat down at the table and drew this pretty picture. After I left the teacher said he asked for me a lot and a girl in his class sang him a song to comfort him. This definitely made me a bit more misty eyed :)

Montana Mountain Adventures

2009-08-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Surprise Surprise... we have ventured on vacation again. The heat in Arizona is a bit much this time of year, so we decided to take the family to NaNa's and Pa's for two weeks. We arrived on Friday night and have been having tons of fun playing outside (novel concept for us). The first item on the agenda was sweeping the barn... Little Man's request, I promise. He even convinced his brother to join in on the fun. I may have to start paying an allowance??

Up next on the agenda of fun and festivities was a mule ride. Adam and Dexter had some bonding time before the ride up to the round pen.Little Man was not shy about riding the mules, he loved Dexter, but asked "Why isn't Dexter a horse?" I said "Because God wanted him to be a mule. Why do you think he's not a horse" Little Man thought for a second and then said "Because he has small legs."Alex wanted to ride Dexter too after his brother, but wasn't totally sure he made the right choice...

The ATV has also been a big hit and an eye opening experience why Adam will not be allowed to buy a motorcycle anytime in the next 50 years!

And since it cools down here in the evenings, we decided to have a cook-out. Mostly because Adam wanted to roast marshmallows for his newest innovative dessert!
Alex really liked the pine trees and I couldn't resist taking several shots to capture how cute he is :)And Nana with her two favorite grandsons...
Jen's flowers have been such a hit that Alex even wanted to wear one... until Adam intervened!

And a vacation would not be complete without a little excitement and adrenaline rush. It started when Big Man, Little Man, TaTa, Alex, and I were heading down a little path behind the house and Little Man picked up this log for the next cookout. As soon as he lifted the log a swarm of bees were around his legs. Adam leaped over a mound of rocks and grabbed Little Man and ran up the hill screaming... Little Man was stung six times and alas is not allergic to bees. I resisted the urge to take pictures of the baking soda covered legs, but you can visualize it. Little Man was a trooper and now we can mark bees and scorpions off the allergy list!

Here's a picture of the hive inside the log.....

Everyone has recovered and we are heading to an indoor water park / resort for the weekend. Stay tuned for more pictures because I have started a new trend of only posting when I am on vacation!

San Diego Part 2

2009-06-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm a bit slow on the follow-up posting, but hold on to your seats you may see more than one post this week!!! Don't hold your breath, but there's a lot that has happened in the past few weeks to post about.... First, to finish up our San Diego vacation was the Smores on the Beach and Sea World. The overcast day was a perfect start to dinner and smores, but not in that order. We started with Smores because we are on Vacation, so we can eat dessert at anytime :)

Little Man was so excited about roasting marshmallows and was focused on the fire and making sure the marshmallow was roasted perfectly.

After carefully assembling the Smores, Little Man took a BIG bite

We tried to get Little Man to look at the camera, but his eyes would not leave the marshmallow roasting

So what was Ax doing while his big brother was roasting marshmallows??? He was either drinking milk posing for a picture in a seat made just for him or...

Engaging in a deep conversation with PaPa

Then off to Sea World the family went.... the boys loved all the animals and we spent most of the time at the dolphin interactive pool where the trainers continuously train the dolphins to perform in one of the shows. The park wasn't very crowded, so we were able to move through the park fairly quickly until Big Man harpooned Shamu....
Big Man won the Shamu in a Ring Toss game and PaPa also won Little Man a purple gorilla, so needless to say it was a good thing we drove to San Diego otherwise these animals would be forced to stay at the park. Ax was nominated to carry the whale and quickly became the topic of conversation among the visitors that we passed on our way to the car. We were even the subjects of several photo shoots..... fun fun :)

And who knew Elmo and Friends are now at Sea World??? Overall, we had a fantastic vacation. Thanks Grammie and PaPa for a great weekend! And the post would not be complete without the final beach and family shots :)

San Diego Fun

2009-06-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from the Bahamas (although I wish I was still on the white sandy beaches and taking two naps a day), but didn't stay in Arizona too long. We ventured to San Diego for a few days over the weekend with Big Man's parents. We had a great time at the Hotel Del Coronado and enjoyed the cooler weather. Little Man and Ax didn't want to leave the beach and the sand castle fun. Here's some pictures of the sandy fun.......

Little Man was so proud of his sand castles. He worked really hard packing the sand and resisting the temptation of Kung Fu fighting the sand castles over....

Ax on the other hand couldn't resist the temptation of destroying the sand castles, so Dad distracted him.....And the day would not be complete without a picture of the entire family :)

Welcome to the Bahamas

2009-05-04T10:03:00.001-07:00

We have arrived on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and it is beautiful. The time change was a little too much to become acclimated to, so we have stayed on Arizona Time and have the kids out until 11:00pm local time! However, I have become acclimated to Little Ax's schedule of a nap every three hours, that's a sign of a true vacation. The Cove at Atlantis has so many amenities for the kids and a water park for the adults - it is a great place for families!

We started the vacation with a shallow water interaction with the dolphins. Little Man and I were able to hug the dolphin and Little Man kissed Katie! I asked Little Man what Katie's skin felt like, he said "chicken salad".... hmmm that was a new one for the trainer.

Then off to the Aquarium and the Tunnel of Sharks! Here's what I thought was a huge Stingray... however, I was quickly corrected that it's a Manaray... I guess I will have to stay here longer to truly understand the difference!

For the celebrity watch, Miley Cyrus is arriving in the next few days for her concert here at the resort, we were in the elevator with a big name football player (I can't remember who) and the former Miss America is here. That's all for now, stay tuned for more celebrity news coming soon!

Little Ax is Growing Up!

2009-04-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Little Ax passed a few other milestones this week. The first was his first two word combination. In no time I will be taking orders from two small children.

This one cracks me up, Ax has discovered another body part. This trick will come in handy in High School

On another note, please pray that I start feeling better and my bronchitis and sinus infection icky virus do not spread to the rest of the family before we leave for our family vacation.

Big News

2009-04-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

No, I am not pregnant, the big new is our Little Ax is officially walking. He was taking 2 or 3 consecutive steps for awhile and then all of a sudden decided to take off and take 12 steps! Our little infant is growing up and way too fast. He could not be happier to be on the go, now if we could work on the communicating in ways other than screeching!

Being that it is Spring Training Month, Papa Kenny and Miss Mary bought us tickets to go to the White Sox and Dodgers Spring Training game. We of course were in the grass section, which Little Man and Ax loved. However, we did have a couple seats behind the dugout for whoever wanted to see the game close-up. Little Man and I sat there for an inning before he got bored and couldn't understand why he couldn't play baseball and why the players wouldn't say hi to him. .

Then the White Sox first baseman came running to the dugout and threw Little Man a BALL! After that moment, Little Man was a huge fan of baseball

*** I must confess though it was the lady sitting beside us that told me to put Little Man on the dugout because I would not disobey the rules*****

Happy Birthday Ax

2009-03-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Little Ax turned one on Saturday, if you can believe it. He is not officially walking yet, but has taken his first steps. He had a great birthday and loved, loved, loved his cake. I have learned that he is not the shy type when it comes to food (he gets that from my gene pool), especially sweets. His hand was WIDE open when the cake was served and he was digging in... I tried to get a piece of Elmo, with no such luck.... maybe next year.

Happy Birthday, Alex. We love you so much and praise God for you. Here's a picture of Ax one short year ago....

Stay tuned for some more birthday pictures....they are right around the corner

Move Over Mater

2009-02-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

It's not completely official, but it looks like Little Man may be growing out of the Cars phase and moving into a new one. He of course will still recite the Cars names and favorite sayings... you must ask him what DJ says. However, he has a new found love for non other than Kung Fu Panda.... check out these dance moves.

And Little Ax is slowly progressing to the walking stage, he will now stand up on his push bike and push it around the kitchen... How many weeks until you think he will be walking?

Little Man's First Soccer Game

2009-01-19T08:16:00.001-08:00

Big Man decided to sign Little Man up for a soccer league. Now, the last soccer event we signed Little Man up for all he wanted to do was drink juice and watch from the sidelines. So signing him up for another soccer league was going to be interesting, I thought. However, to our surprise Little Man was excited to play with Tio Mike and have Big Man as the assistant coach. This is way you stop the ball and prepare for the pullback, Little Man tells me.

It may have helped that the entire team is related to Tio Mike.... it's like a family reuinion every game! Here's the assistant coach giving some game pointers before the clock starts.

I really love seeing the boys and girls in their jerseys - they are so cute, regardless if they are just watching their shadow, kicking the ball into the wrong goal, or worried about their nails :) It was so much fun watching them play!! Here's Little Man kicking the ball in, just in time for the big orange team to score a goal.....

And it's been awhile, but Little Ax is clapping at everything and trying to take steps! He is growing up way too fast! It's too bad he's not happy when he eats.... take a close look at 4 tooth Jackson!

A Trip to the Snow

2009-01-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that the holidays have passed and it is already the middle of January. I have been a tardy blogger and Christmas pictures, along with New Year's pictures will surface sometime in the near future. In the meantime, I felt I should update you on our spontaneous family trip to the snow. It really is not in my nature to do things spontaneously, without detailed plans and spreadsheets, but I thought this would be worth it. Everyone has been talking about snow this season and I really wanted to take the boys up to the snow for some sledding and snowball fights. So we rented a small cabin in Flagstaff and headed north for a couple days. Snow was everywhere and our cabin was a few yards away from the sledding hill, aka driveway in the summer. Here's Little Man eating some oatmeal before his snow fun....

We forgot to pack Ax's winter coats, so I layered everything else I had to keep him warm. He was wearing a turtleneck onesie, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, and Little Man's jacket - along with two pairs of pants. He couldn't move and looked like the Michelin Man. At first he thought it was funny....
Then he fell face first in the snow, and didn't think it was funny...

Here's Little Man and Ax getting ready for the big hill.....
Here's Little Man sledding down the hill, he liked it, but eating the snow was his favorite part.

Eating the snow... he made himself breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. He didn't want to leave until he ate all the clean snow. The mind of a three year old!

Little Man's First Christmas Program

2008-12-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Little Man had his Christmas Program at Preschool, Risen Savior. He was nervous about being in big church and kept telling me, "I don't know those songs. I only know Cars songs". Truly a testament to our vast song genre! Despite that, he did a great job observing the crowd and waving to everyone who was there to see him. Here's a picture of him walking in and standing in front of everyone (can you find him?)

Here's Little Man looking for us. It was sweet when he found us, he took a deep breath and smiled so big :) We love you Little Man!

After his program, we ate lots of cookies and wished his teachers a Merry Christmas. Here's Miss Randy and Mr Scott. Little Man loves walking with Miss Randy and always plays with Mr. Scott on the playground.

Grammie and Great Grandma Hanson were able to come to the program, Little Man was so excited they came to see him. It meant a lot to us.

Little Man's Jungle

2008-12-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we had Little Man's birthday party at Bounce Jungle. I'm not sure if the dads or kids had more fun... Check out to the video of all the fun.

Thanks Mom for taking some great photos! Also, thanks everyone for coming to celebrate Little Man turning 3! We are truly blessed to have such loving friends and family around us. Thanks again.

Also, thanks friends who were with us in spirit, we love you and miss you bunches.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy 3rd Birthday Little Man

2008-12-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Little Man. Since the day you were born I have continued to learn how to be a Godly Mother, somedays are better than others. My love for you continues to grow each day and grows deeper regardless of the stage you are in. You have always been a little curious boy who loves to watch before engaging. However, once you are comfortable in a situation, you are a firecracker. Your favorite phrase at the beginning of this year was "Ahh Sure" but has recently been replaced with various dance moves and an occasional "I've been lookin for you". You love to snuggle, eat treats (not snacks), frozen pancakes and french fries, Cars, family, friends and books. You dislike bedtime, eating all your dinner before dessert, and reading only one book at naptime. You have a tender heart and melt my heart anytime you tell me you love me. And those big blue eyes.... what more can I say about those? You are a tough little boy who loves to trackle, play sports (by your rules of course), and Kung Fu fight. I love your smile and belly laugh, you always know how to brighten my day! Happy Birthday Little Man, I Love You!

Here's Little Man on his first birthday.

And his second...And then today at school, Big Man and I went to celebrate his birthday with cupcakes (notice the theme?). Happy Birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It was a great family weekend, hanging out with friends and family. We enjoyed everyone's company :) Little Ax really enjoyed getting dressed up for the cool weather....

Little Man was "helping" decorate the gingerbread house with his great grandma and Grammie, but in reality he was eating the frosting and candy. In fact, he ate so much frosting it made him sick (vomitting sick that is)... hmmm do you think that stopped him though, until the next morning when he asked for the green roof with gumballs...

This was Little Ax's first Thanksgiving and he is very thankful for the mashed potatoes, especially when you can wear them. It looks like we had a potato fight, but Little Ax did this all on his own :)

And since my holiday spirit kicked in during October, I couldn't wait to put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations. This year decorating the tree was so fun because Little Man was able to do more decorating than destroying. A novel concept for a preschooler. However, his brother is working on the destructing...

I promise there will not be a lot of posts with me in my PJs, but I love this one with Little Man...

The festivities would not be complete without a hometown parade with some friends. We had great seats at the beginning of the parade where the most candy was thrown, so much candy you would have thought it was Halloween. I can't wait for next year. My dad was in town for the weekend and loved hanging out with the boys. Here's Little Ax reaching out...

It looks like Little Man and O like color coordinating their jackets...

More friend fun... check out O's expression when more candy was being thrown!!!

What a Difference a Month Makes...

2008-11-16T20:04:00.001-08:00

I have received some feedback that with all the vacation and holiday updates I have not posted many updated pictures of the little ones. It is amazing to see how much Little Ax has grown over the past month. He has went from barely sitting up to crawling ALL over the place, including stairs. And Little Man is very eager to help in anyway possible, I love his brotherly love. Here's a picture of Little Man and Ax's first bath together. Ax was not quite sure what was happening and Little Man had to resist soaking Ax with every muscle he had....

Ax didn't seem to just sit for very long, he is constantly watching Little Man and really desiring to do everything he does. I just don't think he's old enough to be mobile, he's way to little. But how can I stop such a happy face???

And then there's the crib. I resisted lowering the crib until I walked in one day and he was almost hurdling the side. Big Man promptly lowered it and I came in to get him from his nap and found this unhappy boy... well, not exactly.

I am convinced that having two boys will force me to begin cooking or at least start going to the grocery store more often, because they already eat A LOT!!! Ax will eat baby food, but would much rather feed himself, however with only one tooth the options for solid food are limited; so Little Man decided to help him eat.....and I must note that I didn't have to tell Little Man to wipe Ax's mouth, he did that all by himself (another phrase I hear alot these days). I love my boys :)

Another milestone that Ax has reached was the appearance of his first tooth. Another one is poking through, but if you look closely at One-Tooth Jackson, you will see the little pearly white.

Last, but certainly not least are the boys showing off their Clemson Pride. I don't really keep up with football, but I know this has not been the Tigers season. However, with fans like these how can you not be excited to see Clemson play?

Halloween at Last

2008-11-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

For Halloween we went over to enjoy the 3rd Annual Halloween Extravaganza... and here's some additional snapshots to add to the fun night and Halloween season... I think this looks like a perfect arranged marriage :)

We went to Kate's fall festival and Little Man decided to dress up as Tow Mater... however, he is going through this phase of covering his face or doing ugly faces anytime the camera comes out.. Somehow I managed to snap an in between shot...
But I only had that luck once.....

Last, but not least was carving pumpkins... some friends came over to join in the fun of carving and then the boys had a pumpkin fight... unfortunately I was inside when that took place.

To celebrate the lovely carving jobs we had Popsicles for dessert and can you tell which color Squish liked the best... his ENTIRE mouth inside and out was glowing orange....And one last picture of my little pumpkin :)

And The Fun Continues

2008-10-30T09:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, now more about Disneyland. Our friends decided to take a spontaneous trip to Disneyland and meet us! It was so much fun having them there. We started the Day with a Character Breakfast that of course had to start at the brink of dawn (7:30 am)... Good news is that we had a private party with the characters because no one else at the resort wanted to get up that early! ... Here's me and the Boys and the Bear and Bell and the Bear ...

I love this picture of Squisher looking at Chip (or is it Dale, I always get them confused)

And of course a Bear Hug... although Robyn may take him out with that knife if the Bear makes any wrong moves.....

And then the Hair Styling begins....

Of course another grand entrance with a group picture

Can you tell it is fall? The Mickey pumpkin was one of my favorites, do you think one would fit in my front yard? At first we wanted to ride Indiana Jones, but it's opening was delayed, but this nice lady greeted us. Honestly, I am not sure why my mom took this picture of the fake snake (notice the tag at the end of the snake?). Either way, we ventured to the Jungle Cruise.

Ax was excited and had no idea what was in store for him....More fake animals, I didn't want to post all of the fake animals and it makes me laugh to think that my mom took roughly twenty pictures of the fake animals......

The next stop... Senior Pictures :)... Mitch was first, notice the hands???

Little Man thought he would try too... although the hat was a bit too big....and Squisher just wanted to eat his goldfish.

California Adventure was next on the schedule, just in time for the parade and HUGE candy corns. I have never wanted to eat candy corn so much in all my life, especially after seeing one the size of my head!

I think the only thing going through Little Man's head is Hmmmm, how can I get one of those candy corns....

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

And anytime we were at California Adventure, the Cars Parade was a MUST.... Junie this first picture is for you.....

Ax was such a good boy the whole time, he even started to smile at the parade....

After seeing this picture, it made me think that Little Man needs a haircut... However, a month has gone by since we went to Disneyland and sadly I report no haircut has been scheduled. Katie are you available next week for a trim for Little Man? Next is a picture of Tata and the very TALL man...Unfortunately the vacation had to come to an end, so as a wrap-up we took some final pictures with Mickey and Minnie before going back home. It was so much fun and we look forward to coming back soon!

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-10-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Our next vacation was to Disneyland for five luxurious days. Little Man had no idea what was in store for him, but he knew he wanted a big bagel. I have no idea where he got that idea, but none-the-less we were off to the Happiest Place on Earth......

Of course finding transportation to the hotel was an issue because there was four adults and three kids and lots of luggage... so the hotel sent us a limo. Did I mention how much I love vacations? Anyway, Little Man was in rare form on the way to the hotel because he could see himself in the mirror and he was so glad that he found a friend that looked just like him!

Ax on the other hand, was unfazed by the plane trip or the journey to the hotel. He would rather sleep.

So while NaNa and Pa were checking us into the hotel, Little Man, Adam, Ta Ta, and I ventured to Disneyland for a quick sneak peak. They were in the process of "Falltizing" Disneyland and it was incredible... We quickly ventured to Fantasyland and Little Man ran over to Dumbo and loved it because it could control Dumbo moving up and down, this made Adam a little queasy... but that's all part of the fun!

We saw in the distance Mickey and Minnie and Little Man wanted to see them, but we missed them and saw Mary Poppins instead. However, you may notice that Little Man is not in the picture, because it seems that he is scared of people that were dressed up such as Mary Poppins and ANY princess, but loved the characters.

Next on the agenda was California Adventure Park's Pixar Parade with none other than Lightening McQueen. Little Man was so excited and nervous at the same time. He loved seeing McQueen and still talks about it.

After our nap, we decided to go over Toon Town during the Disneyland Parade and it turned out to be a GREAT decision because there were only a few people in Toon Town, so it was like a private party.

Another benefit to being the only ones in Toon Town was when we saw Mickey at his house we could take multiple pictures, get autographs, and Little Man was able to give Mickey knuckles. I think we may have over stayed the welcome because Mickey started walking away and motioned "move along"....

That is only the beginning of our Disneyland vacation, stay tuned for the adventures when some special friends came to visit and the unforgettable Character Breakfast.

And First There Was Napa....

2008-10-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

This month has been filled with family visits and vacations, so I have been slacking on the blog updates.... my sincerest apologies, hopefully I will get caught up soon.

First, was our trip to Napa with these great friends. The company, weather, cheese, scenery, and wine were amazing. I had no idea that cheese and wine are the only two food groups in Napa! The first thing on the itinerary was relaxing in the bed and breakfast... it took us a little while to find it because the landmark that Google did not include was the La Tolteca grocery store on the corner. Nevertheless, here's the beautiful Bed and Breakfast. We knew it was going to be a great vacation when we were greeted by Jennifer at the front door by saying, "we've been waiting for you and will have the wine owner stay a while longer so you can have a taste of wine before dinner." Dinner.... who needs dinner????

Next we were off to the Farmer's Market to see Lars make some pancakes... We only had a sighting of Lars in the crowd, so no pancakes. However, we were able to find some gender specific tea to taste... Only in Napa....

A Bocce Ball tournament was underway and Adam was eager to participate, but we were only able to take pictures. I guess you need to know how to play the game before entering the tournament... details details....

The next day we were off to the vineyards to smell the roses and eat some more cheese. We stopped at the Beringer Winery and Adam had his own personal tour because the guide was only making eye contact with him. I wish I could've captured this on film, but you can image.... I may have been preoccupied with eating these grapes off the vine. While we were in Napa it was harvest time and we were able to eat as many grapes as we wanted off the vines, it was fantastic.

Kel, I love the earrings....

Cheers to all everyone who wants to join us on the next trip....

Next was back to the hotel for a nap and then off to a fancy dinner at the Martini House. Someone from Adam's work recommended this restaurant and it was FANCY. I wanted to take pictures of every entree, but only managed to get this one of the pre-appetizer.

The wine tour of a lifetime was next on the agenda.... We started the tour traveling to this vineyard and having a tour with the owner/winemaker, Chris Thorpe. He was like my grandfather and was pretty funny. He had the best tomatoes... I know, I am supposed to pay attention to the wine, but anyone who has green zebra tomatoes deserves a shout out...

And the cellar that he dug in his living room... that was a bit strange..

Next was off to Frasier and a tour would not be complete without a pose by a wine bottle that is just my size.....More breathtaking scenery from the winery Last, but not least some more pictures of us....We knew the tour was coming to an end when we had a wardrobe malfunction..... I know you are thinking Kel's pants, but it was her shoes this time...

And of course next on the agenda was a nap and another piece of cheese. Any takers???

Ax Is Talking....

2008-09-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly, but he loves to tell us he wants more solid foods.

2008-09-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

I love you guys and can't wait to get home!!!!!

I LOVE TRAVELLING!!!!

2008-09-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry its a little dark but these new mod hotel rooms don't apparently come with a lot of lighting!! I can't say that this has been the best trip just yet but it should improve. On top of not packing any of my slacks, I also did not pack any socks for running...so I will be running in dress socks. Thats right, dead sexy!

Love you guys and miss you!

Monsoon 2008

2008-09-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

First an update on Little Man : His nose is not broken or fractured - Praise God. It is swollen and he has two black and blue eyes, which are beginning to heal. Thank you everyone for your prayers. Now onto the Monsoon 2008 NewsFlash...

So everyone has seen the headlines and heard the "storm chasers", but this video is one that soon will be broadcasted statewide of the wonderful lightening storm we experienced the other night. Some people laugh at the talent, but it takes a lot of skill to capture such a superb video as this... Are you on the edge of your seat just waiting for the best show of your life??? Without further ado... I present "Monsoon 2008" Video of a Lifetime.....

And then there is the evening of a lifetime, which would not be complete without the peanut wars, blue cheese stuffed olives, UFU (unidentified flying underwear), profound questions like "what are your top ten movies of all time", non-stop laughter, and more memories that will last a lifetime.... Mac even joined in the peanut wars :)

The group picture with Mikele pondering what her top 10 movies picks are...and one glass of water to be shared by all of us :)

Sporting some style with a bandanna in the pocket....

And of the course the elevator ride back to the car.... We love you guys and had a great night!

Memories at Chick-Fil-A

2008-08-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

One of Little Man's favorite restaurants, second to Pei Wei, is Chick-Fil-A mainly because of the playground and the occasional ice cream. However, the playground seems to be my least favorite thing due the memories that have been created there... such as when Little Man learned the naughty phrase "Damn It"... Let me take you through this one... Little Man was playing in the play area and ran out and sat next to me at the booth, looked me straight in the eyes and said "MaMa Damn It" I looked at him in disbelief and asked him to repeat it, knowing of course he was going to say something different.... "Damn It" he said again. I was in shock and did not respond in the appropriate manner, instead I looked at him and laughed; then turned to my dear friend to ask what Little Man said. She of course told me the truth and said "Damn It".... Fast forward a few weeks and the "damn its" are heard less and less, it has now most recently turned into "Bamn it"

And then there is today when we ventured over to Chick-Fil-A once again and Little Man was playing in the play area and tripped and fell on the first step of the playground. He was crying and I just knew I would see blood... However, no blood just a good size scrape and lots of tears. The manager asked if he was okay and offered Little Man some ice cream and ice. As soon as he saw the ice cream, the tears were history. From this, I thought everything was great until he woke up from his nap with a nose twice the size as it is normally and bruising... YIKES... We called the Doctor and are going in tomorrow, they said it could be broken or just bruised, we will see and then maybe next time it will be a trip through the Drive-Thru.....

Please pray for Little Man :)

So Big

2008-08-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

I know people have told me to enjoy the time when your kids are young because they grow so fast.... my kids are still small, but I feel like the time is flying by. Little Man is beginning to tell stories and makes me laugh and laugh, here's an example....

Mom " Did you have fun at school today"
Little Man "Ahh Sure"
Mom "Did you have fun on the playground?"
Little Man "Sure, I saw Rico fall"
Mom "Rico fell, was he okay"
Little Man "Sure, I touched Rico's nostrils"
Mom "What, his nostrils. We shouldn't touch other people's nostrils. It's not polite"
Little Man "It makes him feel better"
Mom *Sigh* (Note to self talk to Nico's Mom and see if his nostrils are okay)

Other times he makes me want to cry because he is so incredibly thoughtful, like when Ax and I went to wake him up from his nap. As a note, Little Man is usually not a great waker upper from his naps. So Ax and I went into his room and I laid Ax on his back and whispered, "Ax and I missed you, so we are here to wake you up" Little Man turns over and hugs Ax and says, "I wuv you Ax." Ahhh, I love these moments. I couldn't catch that moment on film, but I did catch Little Man holding Little Ax after their bath....

And of course there is our linebacker Ax who is growing up so fast and has long surpassed Little Man's size at this age. The big milestones Ax crossed this week were rolling over continuously (I was not ready for any sort of mobility, he's just a newborn), eating solids, and touching the ground in his bouncy. Here's a picture of Ax eating his very own biter biscuit... I think he may have the same blue eyes as Little Man.Here's a video of Ax bouncing and for some reason his feet crack me up... take a peek...

Family Vacation

2008-08-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we ventured up North outside of Show Low with Big Man's parents for a great family weekend. The resort we stayed at was great, it had so many things for the kids to do. There was a family center with free play video games (including Ms Pac Man for me), tennis courts, basketball court, sweet playground, and a catch and release pond. The best thing was the 70 degree weather and rain every afternoon. We are so ready to go for another weekend! Any takers? This is really my idea of camping :) Little Man and Big Man had a great time at the pond fishing and feeding the fish neon orange marshmallows...

Little Ax is growing up so fast and is very happy about it. He has truly brightened the home with his continuous smiles and belly laughs. He is the most content and cuddly infant, of course I'm biased!

While we were up North he enjoyed his tummy time and looked forward to watching Little Man chase the dog around and around and around the house.....

Before we left paradise, we had to take a family picture... complete with Big Man's extra sassy pose and Little Ax staring at the ground....

Thanks King's for a wonderful weekend, we look forward to next year!

Another First for Little Man.. Preschool

2008-07-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

With mixed emotions from Mom, Little Man started his first day of preschool today. He was so excited to wear his backpack and see his teacher Mrs. Debbie. His new classroom had so many things to do... play with rice, put Chicks Hicks in the microwave, painting station, and of course the dinosaur tub! It brought tears to my eyes watching him play with other kids and even share his Lightning McQueen. Although the other part of my heart was sad to see him doing these things on his own, without Mom, that part wanted to take him back home and not bring him back. I kept asking him if he had fun, secretly hoping he would say no, but of course he kept saying "yeah"; so I guess that means I should take him back next week.
Here's Little Man with his favorite backpack, he was very confused why he couldn't wear it while sitting in his carseat????

Here's Little Man at the rice table with Chick Hicks

And of course playground time... He had a great time with some new friends flying on the airplane. It was a little warm, well down right hot, so we only stayed for 2 1/2 minutes....

Updated Pictures... FINALLY

2008-07-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

It is a whole new experience when you have a family of four and you want a family picture. How in the world do you get everyone to look at the camera, smile, and sit still??? Well, after 115 pictures, we found some that worked and of course some that will remain on the CD never to be printed. Take a look at the many animated faces of Little Man and Ax during the photo session.

2008-07-17T03:24:00.000-07:00

This is Julie (one of our trainers) catching one of about 100 fish that we caught. That may sound exciting but they were all the same kind (Mackerel) and all about this size. The worst day of fishing is still better than the best day of work though right. We did have fun and I think that I caught about 12 fish. Not bad for a long day.

DaDa having a good time. Wish you guys were here with me!

2008-07-16T03:54:00.000-07:00

I love you all very much!!! We have been working pretty hard here in Dover but it is definitely worth while. A pretty solid group of guys that I get along with well and everyone seems motivated to achieve the same goals. I can't say that I wouldn't be having more fun throwing Ta-Ta and little man into the pool though! I look forward to Saturday and Sunday just hanging out with you guys. Maybe we can have another dance-off in the living room! Talk to you all soon.

The fabulous Hampton Inn - Dover NH

2008-07-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

I just wanted you to see the absolutely GEORGEOUS view from my hotel room. They save the parking lot for only the most VIP of the VIPs.

After 3 hours of sleep and 9 hours in a conference room this is about the best I can muster! I love you guys very much and miss you!

Potty Training 102

2008-06-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Enough Said...............

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day, we slept in, well slept until 6:30 and hung out in our pajamas most of the morning. Pure bliss for Big Man. Then we went to meet his Dad for an early lunch, of course I had to dress the boys in matching outfits. For all those sports fans, our boys' future careers will be Linebacker and Receiver... can you guess who will be the linebacker?

Thank you Big Man for being you and being such a great father to these precious boys. We love you very much and thank God for you each and every day!

And for some updated pictures of Ax.... He is starting to grab toys and the day is quickly approaching when he will be grabbing Little Man's toys.... Fun times ... This picture makes me want to pinch those cheeks

This picture shows what big eyes he has... or the beginning of flash blindness....

Camping With Dad

2008-06-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Big Man, Little Man, Mike, and Aiden headed up to the rim for some camping fun. Little Man has been so excited and has been counting down the days on his calendar. In preparation, Little Man was "fishing" in the living room trying to catch "fish" aka Java the Cat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch this moment on camera, but trust me, it was hilarious.....more for us than the cat.

Here's a picture of Aiden and Little Man sword fighting.

Here's another picture of Aiden and Little Man hanging out having fun.
Big Man decided to try out his photography skills with this picture perfect shot. I think this should be in one of those motivational pictures.
And of course the camping spot, now if you were taking a picture of my camping spot is would look more like a hotel room.

Here's the fish that they caught and as Little Man tells the story, "We catch Big fish and I touch his mouth....it slimy. Mike catch little fish" I love him :)

I am so thankful that they were able to go camping and have a great time.

And you may ask what Ax and I were doing while they were gone???? Sleeping and finishing Little Man's first year babybook.... I was so productive!

Swimming Lessons

2008-05-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

This summer we decided to put Little Man in swimming lessons and he did a great job. The first few days he was a little timid and then decided to whine throughout most of the remaining lessons. The one thing that I noticed was that he would whine, but was completely obedient.... Hmmmm. Here's how the lessons started .... At this point, I wanted to jump in and rescue him, but I knew that he would begin to like the lessons (I hoped)

Here are some videos of him swimming and by the end he was smiling. He is such a good little fish. This one was the first time off the diving board....

And this was how he progressed off the diving board...

And diving for sticks off the bottom step was his favorite, he even starting instructing the coach what he was going to do....

And for some updated pictures of Ax Man. Little Man loves his brother so much, this morning he decided to read to him in his swing. I tried to get a picture of him smiling, but was quickly instructed by Little Man to go upstairs. Am I supposed to be disciplined by my two year old?

We have Ax's 2 month appointment today (He now weighs 12 lbs 12 ozs and is 23 1/2 inches) and he is now officially bigger than Little Man was at this age. Take a look at these pictures of Little Man and Ax, do you think they look alike???

One last note, do you like the new look of my blog... Thanks to Astraea for redesigning and giving it a fresh look :) I love it!!! (check out her website).

Why Not Try Spanish

2008-05-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Teaching a toddler can always be interesting. I have been trying to teach Little Man to count to five for awhile and he always seems to count... 1, 2, 3, 5 and smiles at me with this grin that totally says, "I know what you want me to say, but I don't want to say it". And then when my mom was in town she counted to ten in Spanish three times and guess what... Little Man has been running around the house singing Spanish numbers since then. Hmmm, maybe it all started with the Piggy Bank that I bought that only counts in Spanish......

And a post would not be complete without updated pictures of the two brothers.. Ax loves his activity gym almost as much as Little Man, especially when they can cuddle in it together.

Has it Been 5 Weeks Already???

2008-04-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it has been 5 weeks since Alex was born, but it has! He had his 1 Month doctor's appointment and now weighs 10 lbs 3 oz and is 22 inches long. At this rate, he will be taller than me by age 2!!!! Well, let's be honest, Little Man was half the size of me by 15 months, so the odds are in the boys' favor.

Here's some pictures of Little Ax Man, as Little Man calls him.... and yet another picture of Ax sleeping and what cute feet he has...

Tummy time has become a pastime for the whole family

Little Ax hanging outside getting some sun ...

Okay, I have finally accepted and completed the challenge

2008-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

I really read these tags and enjoy them, but never really complete one.... So as my bad habit list will confirm I have a habit of starting these and never finishing them. This time I decided not to leave the computer until the post was completed.... and here's the completed blog tag :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Studying to be an international finance guru at Arizona State University and deciding whether to move to Chicago to attend DePaul Law School or stay at ASU and study law. I wasn’t pursuing any job opportunities because I was sure that school would be my life for the following ten years….. wow how reality was so different than I had planned.

5 things on today’s to do list:
1. Call Astraea and ask her to create me a new blog design
2. Write a letter to the Maricopa County Court’s explaining why I can’t fulfill my jury summons
3. Eat Brownies
4. Put clothes in the dryer
5. Fold clothes and wait for the laundry fairy to put them away (or wait until this is on next week’s to do list and finish the laundry)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chocolate… really anything chocolate
2. Mikele's fruity pebble treats
3. Pita Jungle hummus and pitas
4. Frozen Thin Mints
5. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream

5 things I would do if I became a billionaire:
1. Payoff my mortgage and the mortgages of my family and friends
2. Go on a fancy vacation to a tropical island with all my family and friends
3. Invest and have Adam retire
4. Give to Make-A-Wish
5. Give to other charities

5 bad habits:
1. Procrastinating
2. Obsession of balancing my checkbook (I am a finance geek, this totally proves it)
3. Eating chocolate for breakfast
4. According to my husband, not changing the toilet paper roll when it is empty
5.Starting , but never finishing chain letters and get to know you emails

5 places I've lived:
1. Buena Vista, CO
2. Craig, CO (close to Steamboat for all those ski fans)
3. Disfunction Junction…. AKA Apache Junction, AZ (I still wonder how my family found this place)
4. Chandler, AZ
5. Scottsdale, AZ

5 jobs I've had:
1. A peasant girl at the Renaissance Festival
2. Baby Sitter
3. Night Manager at Bon Worth (an old ladies clothing store and YES I had to wear melon polyester pants)
4. Bank Teller at Wells Fargo
5. Commercial Underwriter at Bank of America

And now I challenge anyone who hasn't completed this tag ......

Life with a Newborn

2008-04-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it has almost been three weeks since Alex was born and we are continuing to learn how to function as a family of four. Here are some highlights of the last few weeks:

Number of diapers changed - 196

Number of wipes used - 256 approximately

Number of alcohol swabs - 34

Number of Doctor Copays - 4

Number of times Little Man has asked to see Alex - 21

Number of grunts from Alex when mom eats cabbage - tons and tons ask Big Man

Number of eye infections - 1 (hopefully this won't change for awhile)

The joy we have to be blessed with Little Alex - Immeasurable

And of course for the best part... here are some pictures to highlight the last few weeks.... Here's Little Man checking out Alex

Big Man decided it was his turn to watch Alex and of course take part in the napping...

Little Alex asleep ... shocking I know....

Alex says "I think I can, I think I can..."And here's a picture of Little Alex's eyes when they open.... Do you think he looks like Little Man????

And a little sneak preview of the Easter pictures that will be posted before next Easter !!!! This is a priceless picture of the proud egg hunter!

Announcing Alexander Scott King

2008-03-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

We welcomed our new little boy into the world on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 9:42 pm. Little Alex weighed 6 lbs 6 oz and was 19 ½ inches. We were very surprised when my water broke on Friday before my doctor’s appointment, luckily we had our bags packed and Big Man’s parents were close by. Here are some pictures that we wanted to share and promise to have more later. Thank you everyone for your prayers, labor and delivery was smooth and the Lord has blessed us with a wonderful brother for Little Man.

For the first time our family of four...

Proud Mom and Dad

Potty Training Fun

2008-03-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

Since Little Man turned two I have thought about potty training and realized that we are much more comfortable with the part-time potty training. Not as much pressure and stress, I figure. Since we are in the “awareness” stage of potty training, Little Man has decided he would rather go potty in public restrooms than at home. Of course this mortifies me, but as a good mom I encourage it and have purchased Elmo Potty covers to help me with my germ phobia tendencies. Well, to take things a step further, Little Man has decided that he likes wearing the potty seat covers better than sitting on them….. so do you encourage this as well????? Only if he wears a Kraft Single on his head, I figure....

A Little Bit of Family and Mud....

2008-02-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

My mom and Taylor were here last week visiting. We had so much fun, we didn’t do as much home cookin’ as we would in Montana, but none-the-less it was fun, fun, fun. The first day started with school. Little Man wanted to join in the fun, so he went to school too. He kept saying, “MaMa in school, see me sit”…. He’s such a good boy.

Taylor wanted to host a Valentine’s Day party with some of her friends that she has here. So she planned the party and we helped her prepare. She did a great job hosting and coming up with activities and a craft. Her friends had tons of fun… Check out her friend’s blog for more pictures...
And the princesses upstairs playing..

And a week of fun would not be complete without a little mud, right??? I wanted to show my mom where we are building our new house and wanted to drive into the “garage” which is only mud… how was I supposed to know I could get stuck??? Well, that’s exactly what happened, stuck in the mud with Little Man in the back a wee bit scared and saying “Stuck, Stuck, Stuck” . It’s a very good thing that the crew of workers were still there and they could push the truck out of the mud (although I couldn’t capture that on film), just imagine 8 nice men pushing the front of my truck out of this mudpit….

And to capture the moment, take a look at the tires...

More Montana Fun

2008-01-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

We went to Montana last week and had a great time spending time with family. We now have a new appreciation for 40 degree temperatures. Little Man did great on the plane rides, especially on the first flight because he had his own TV screen and could change channels. This was his first flight being in his own seat and he loved telling everyone on the plane… own seat, no lap… He’s getting to be WAY too big!

Of course our first activity when we arrived was to attend a wedding of someone we have never met (and since it's a small town, we were able to fit in and wear our best pair of jeans for the occasion)…. But it was a beautiful ceremony and Little Man had fun taking center stage
Here’s a picture of Taylor and her best friend Sophie
And of course Little Man wanted to sit with Pa….
Besides the stirring of the various bread batters, tortillas, and desserts, we did venture outside for some snow sports. It was quite the process to get everyone suited up for the below zero temperatures outside (of course the day before when we were relaxing inside the high was 40). I have to say Little Man and Big Man are ready for the cover of Sledding Times.....
The four wheeler was the main attraction at first…
Check out this four wheeler fun....

And then add one tube
Since we had so much fun in the driveway, we decided to venture to the moutain and try some real sledding action…. Again...we went on the day that it was 6 below zero… that’s without wind chill, so we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Native Montanas must have been more interested in sitting in front of the fire, but the sledding was worth the trip :) Here's a shot from the top of the mountain.

Big Man and Little Man went tubing first...

Once the run was a bit more slick Big Man decided to start the run at the top of the hill (of course Little Man sat this one out)

And a Montana post would not be complete without the family portrait and a picutre showing the pure joy on Taylor's face as Big and Little Man try to lay on her.

Big Boy Bed

2008-01-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

So Big Man and I discussed it and agreed after Little Man turned two, we were going to move him to a big boy bed in his new room. We wanted to make it a special transition before the new baby arrived. Well, the time came for the big transition and I have been waiting to post because I still can't believe my little boy is in a new bed, but he still looks so tiny :) So far the transition has been going well and it's almost been a whole week!!!

Christmas and New Year's Adventure

2008-01-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

This year it was great to see how much Little Man has grown, as evidenced by him opening his presents and saying "Wow", "Great", and "Next". He was a big fan of the toys and not so much of a fan of opening clothes... the clothes were thrown aside until the next present could be opened. However, when he opened the toys he wanted to play with them versus waiting until later when all the presents were opened. Here's a picture of him tearing into some presents....

And the look of joy when he opened "Tars"
Another adventure was opening presents with Grammie And when the present fun was over he decided to slip away into Grammie's office and try on her glasses and go to work... He was so proud when we came in to see what he was doing

After Christmas, Little Man found one of Mom's headbands and decided to wear it throughout the day (not one of Big Man's favorite things), but he was so adorable wearing the rhinestone headband. What do you think????

And another sweet smile with the caption....Got Cream Cheese?

What Does a Two Year Old Do For Fun?

2007-12-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

Little Man is growing up so fast and continues to make me laugh (on most days). These are a few new tricks Little Man is doing.... The first one was a new game of hide and seek. I was in the kitchen doing dishes and I heard a sound coming from my room. I went in my room and didn't see anything, but the sound was coming from the closet, I peeked in the closet and still couldn't see anything....Can you find Little Man

But then I looked a little closer and found him....complete with his hammer of course.

Another new trick could only be shown by a video... he may have learned this from one of his friends??? What do you think?

Little Man's Turning Two!!!

2007-12-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today is Little Man's official birthday, but we celebrated his birthday yesterday with family and friends. The original plan was an outside party at the park, however, due to Arizona only accepting rain on weekends; we moved the party indoors to the Casa de King! Little Man didn't seem to mind, he knew it was his party and he wanted to enjoy it.. hence waking up at 6 am to begin the festivities with a bath....

He has changed so much over the past two years.... his first bath was not as much fun as the one on his second birthday...

He is a wonderful gift that God has bless us with beyond our imagination.

After a little bath action, Little Man decided on a birthday attire change which included the birthday hat and continuous "Mine" statements.

How does MINE hat look now???

Then the family and friends arrived, so we decided to try and capture a group photo...

It took a few take twos....but I think most of the kiddos were looking in the same direction and Little Man and Brother were showing off their chests :)

Pin the Cable on Tow Mater was the main game attraction for all.... (the game was compliments of Big Man's creative mind and artistic talent)

Squish had the cutest look on his face when he was blindfolded... it must have been the thoughts of Chick-Fil-A in his near future

Of course cake and ice cream was a great part of the day... This year Little Man was a wee bit more civilized and asked for a fork to eat his pure sugar... Take note of the Lightening McQueen sharing his cake.

Even though we weren't able to have the party at the park, we were able to move the bouncy to our house.... check out the after party in the bouncy.....

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving Little Man got his very own blue tooth (no worries, it is only a play one), but he loved walking around and talking to people. His favorite saying was "Hi"... "Hi"....

For some holiday fun, Grandma King brought over the gingerbread kit for us to decorate. Little Man slept through most of the decorating, but joined in the taste testing of gummies :)

Here's the gingerbread castle.... lots of yummy frosting and check out Little Man's hand in the corner taste testing again.

Here's the men of the house... Papa Kenny, Big Man, Little Man, and Papa King

This picture is for my family in Chitown, who dream of going outside and swimming in the pool during this time of year. A nice Thanksgiving swim in the pool for Little Man, but he was way too excited to so much as glance at the camera.
And since the only food we have in our house is Turkey, we decided to venture to Einstein's for breakfast. Little Man was very excited about his bagel and cheese....

A Tumble of a Good Time

2007-11-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Little Man is enrolled in a toddler tumbling class. He mostly loves running around the gym, but this week we had a special visitor.. BIG MAN! It was so precious watching Little Man show his Dad everything he has been learning.. Check out his balancing skills....

And he can climb walls too.... I love it when he tries this trick at home.

One of the free time activities is the foam pit... it kinda makes my stomach turn and I get a little nervous about not being able to get out, but Little Man seems to enjoy it. Good thing he can move around all the foam to get out....

Since Little Man was having so much fun, Big Man decided to join in

And of course, my two favorite men tumbling around.

And class pictures would not be complete without a picture of circle time.

More Halloween Fun

2007-11-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

Little Man was an army sargent for Halloween, although some would ask if he was a ninja. My response is, did you not see the camo? Either way, we had a great time with friends trick or treating and Little Man loved the idea of going into other peoples' houses... were did my shy Man go? Here's a picture of Little Man getting ready and sampling the "cake".

Mr. Army turning on a show before we leave....

The group photo, but where are all those strollers? I am amazed at how big everyone is getting. Kinda makes me a little teary, but that must be the pregnancy.

We were trying to get Little Man to smile, but he was a little preoccupied with the goodies in the pumpkin... I can't blame him, I was just as excited as he was to eat candy :)

The three boys.....

The boys were a bit tired at the end of the evening, but the wagon was still going, so they decided to sit and enjoy the ride. And for those of you who were wondering who the crazy attack boy was in these pictures, I assure you it wasn't my Little Man. Here's how my Little Man plays in bouncies..

A Little Halloween Fun

2007-10-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we spent the night at Big Man's parents house and Little Man and Grammie King took in a Christmas show. Little Man was cuddled up to his favorite things... blanket, bear, and Grammie!!!

Last year Little Man was a wee bit too little for pumpkin carving, so this was the first year of pumpkin carving. First he played ring around the rosie clapping for Dad.

Then he decided to sit by the eyes and throw them to the dog. If you look very close you will see a small eye to your left...

About the time that the pumpkin was carved, Little Man decided to join in the fun... He was really interested in the slimy stuff inside. He kept saying .. see see hold hold.

And once he was able to see and hold the slimy stuff his face turned to this expression. For some reason, he didn't want to see and hold it anymore.Of course a post would not be complete without a picture of my two favorite men! Here's my pumpkin putting on his hat... I love these guys :)
The next Halloween activity was making cupcakes. Since we were in Montana Little Man has taken a special interest in stirring.. maybe because he gets to do this????

And Back to the Blog World

2007-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the last post, so I thought I would catch you up on the latest with Little Man and his fabulous use of utensils and the unlimited amount of food he can eat. I truly understand how parents of teenage boys say that they can eat you out of house and home. During the past few weeks Little Man has been doing that and trust me I am thankful. On most days, Little Man requests "cakes" for breakfast and noodles for lunch.... He does a great job clearing his plate or so I think he does until I look closely and find the last few noodles hiding out in his new do!

Another new trick of his is taking his "tat" also known as cat and dog to eat with him at breakfast... I'm not sure if he is actually awake or asleep with his eyes open???

Because Little Man had so much fun in Montana with the farm animals, the family decided to venture to Schnepf Farms for some country fun.....Little Man was so comfortable around the goats, he even let them nibble on his shirt....

Can you see the pure joy in his smile...at one point he did try to ride the sheep, good thing this one was docile enough to just lay there. I don't think the petting zoo coordinator was very happy with the example that he set for the rest of the kids. To us it was totally worth the price of admission.

Mule Apples… I Don’t Think We’re in Arizona Anymore

2007-10-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last week Little Man and I ventured to Montana to visit NaNa, Pa, and TaTa. The company was great and the scenery is a true testament of God’s wonderful creation. Fall was in full swing and the trees were beginning to change. On our first day, Little Man wanted to see the mules and horses, so off to the field we went. He was playing and throwing what I thought was a rock and was quickly corrected that it was a mule apple. Mule apples. hmmm….you definitely can’t buy those in the grocery store in AZ. (And sorry I didn't take any photos of the mule apples)

Another experience Little Man was able to do was make bread. NaNa was showing Little Man how to grind flour, but he was more interested in rolling his own dough “ball” and playing with the flour.

The next country experience would have been making spaghetti sauce with the boxes of tomatoes from the garden down the street; but we ran out of time. It’s amazing how much food you can gather in the neighborhood without venturing to a grocery store. Little Man had a great time cleaning off the dirt and throwing the tomato “ball”. Do you think he looks a little guilty?

Feeding the mules was the next adventure. Big Man arrived and Little Man couldn’t wait to feed the mules and horses some apple tarts. Little Man learned to stick out his hand for the mules to eat out of it… Brave soul, I was at least 27 before I did that.

A few more pictures from the farm. We loved being able to go outside and Little Man could run for miles without running into concrete walls. It was great. We miss being with family already and look forward to our next trip to the Big Sky Country.

Little Man playing in the grass.... And if anyone asks those are red gloves... well, really they are pink, but I thought I could try :)

My two favorite men....

A trip would not be complete without a puppy picture. Over the week we saw a variety of animals... dogs, cats, mules, horses, wild turkeys, deer, and cow...... Who needs the zoo when you can travel to Montana? Thanks Mom, Marty, and Taylor for the fun time, we love you and miss you bunches :)

Dining with a 9,000 lb Killer Whale....

2007-09-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

It's not everyday that you have the chance to dine with a 9,000 pound whale. As one of our excursions in San Diego, we decided to "Dine with Shamu". The whale's name was Ulysses and he is the biggest killer whale (weighing in at 9,150 lbs) at Sea World San Diego.... and he was quite large. Little Man wanted to be sure everyone had their badge, so it was a bit challenging to get him to look at the camera.

Here's our whale coming up to say "hi"

When the announcer said to get the cameras ready, Big Man promptly picked up Little Man and headed to the fence... Another women (without child) was heading to the same place, so as any good protective father would do, he passsively shoulder checked the women to grab the front row fence spot. I have to say, it was worth it. Take a look at the view. We could almost pet the whale... well, I'm not sure you would want to pet him, but feeding him snow would be an option.

Big Man's look of absolute delight....

That's the wrap for Sea World with the exception of the attached video of the Shamu Rocks show.... no worries, it's just to show everyone what a great time we could have on a Caravan trip to Sea World!

Well, and Little Man and I are heading off to Big Sky Montana, so stay tuned for some beautiful green pictures coming your way.

Paradise in San Diego

2007-09-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Every year my family takes a vacation and this year we decided to venture to the coast of San Diego. I checked the temperature and the high while we were there would be 74 degrees...I thought about what to pack .... sweatshirt, hat, and definately a scarf! We loaded everything including the kitchen sink into our expandable suitcase (which came in weighing 49 lbs... YIPPIE) and headed to the coast. We are very excited to be on the plane, well at least Big Man is... And of course don't forget the nap schedule.... Then off to the boardwalk for some fun on a bike ride, with the exception of the crazy driver. Check out the video montage of the bike ride and the first half of the day at SeaWorld. Little Man loved the animals, except for the sharks, those were a bit on the scary side.

How Would You Mix a Jar of Organic Peanut Butter?

2007-09-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I before I post our San Diego vacation pictures, I needed to post this time sensitive information. This afternoon some friends were over swimming and my mom came running to the back door screaming "Oh my goodness, I spilled peanut butter everywhere!". To most people this may be shocking, but my mom has done many things that don't really surprise me anymore. Also, for the record she didn't spill peanut butter, it was more like she attemped to use the electric mixer to mix it and it flew ALL over the kitchen. And of course being the wonderful blogger that I am, I decided to take some pictures before cleaning up the mess (a little against my OCD cleanliness, but it was worth it :)I promise the "stuff" on the wall is peanut butter, you should see the floor we are STILL sliding on the natural oil....
With the pictures posted above, the question that runs through my mind, is where is the silver spoon that I would've used to mix the jar of peanut butter? Hmmm. I love my mom, she keeps me on my toes :)

And of course I wanted to include some pictures of the crew playing out in the sand box while my mom, Jen, and I cleaned up the kitchen. Take special note of Little Man's muscle's....

And The Winner Is....

2007-08-30T20:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I tried a little trivia and the answer is: Picture number one was the Month and day Adam and I found out that we are expecting our second child! The second picture was the time of night/day it was. I will spare you most of the details, but the best part of the story was that I forgot about the test and Adam actually found out before I did. What a surprise that was. Needless to say it was 12:25 am and we did not get a whole lot of sleep that night because we were so excited!

Picture Number One

Picture Number Two

And about the fish.... Well, we were finally able to "calibrate" the water for the tank and found four beautiful fish. Until a few days past and now we have three. I didn't know that fish were so sensitive. I guess Little Man and I will have to pet them more often... or we will have to keep Java away from the tank....

That's not really Little Man's fish it was just a cool picture, Little Man's fish are below....

Cranium Anyone???

2007-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to update more than once a week, so I am easing into that trend with posting in 6 days versus 7...... Hopefully that will help a little. Well, for this post I thought I would make everyone think a little bit and look at the cropped pictures below and identify what the entire picture is. It's kinda like Turbo Cranium... so put on your Cranium Caps and let me know what your guess is......

You may have to squint a little for this one... it is definately an item that we are way too familiar with....anyone need another hint?

Swims Like A Fish.....

2007-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have struggled for months with Little Man to wear floaties or a swimsuit with floaties and he has refused, torn them off, and screamed; so we felt we would table this issue for another time. Out of the blue this week I thought, let's try floaties again.... To our surprise, Little Man watched intensely as Big Man put on the floaties... no screaming... no fuss....just watched....

Adam and I were a bit in shock and didn't say much as Little Man climbed into the pool... still no fuss.... And seriously within minutes, Little Man was swimming, jumping off the side, and having the time of his life :) Then he started holding his breath and chasing rockets in the pool and smiling the whole time. Adam and I still looked at each other in amazement and I had to take lots of pictures and videos of the blessed event, in case this was a one and only anomoly.....
Check out the video....

http://uncutvideo.aol.com/videos/df3def9651f1da489644d24890806694?index=0

And while we are on the topic of fish, we have decided to add another pet to the household. And since Adam and I couldn't agree on a dog or cat, we settled for a fish or two or three or four. We ventured to Petco over the weekend for the big purchase and apparently we have been out of the fish owning world for awhile because we have to let the water "calibrate" for three to seven days before adding fish.... So here's our new pet ......

OUCH!!!

2007-08-12T20:07:00.001-07:00

Little Man has a evening routine for getting ready for bed - I know the structured schedule is hard to imagine - which consists of brushing his teeth, grabbing his "hammers", and curling up with MaMa for a bedtime story. And since he entered into the toddler age of opinions he chooses the book. For the past several weeks, probably months, the book of choice has been Stanley Stinkbug Goes to Camp.

It all started as a normal night until Little Man started turning the pages super fast and ripped one. That's when the emotional connection with "OUCH" began..... He first started saying OUCH and then started crying and saying "OUCH BUG" "OUCH BUG"..... It took all my self control not to laugh and console him. I told him Stanley Stinkbug would be fixed tomorrow and everything would be okay. He continued to say "OUCH BUG" but cuddled up with Mom and finished the story.

Below is a small clip with Little Man saying "OUCH" (minus the tears)... it's priceless :)http://uncutvideo.aol.com/videos/d0dc830f0287abaf8eacd47e3848e930

28 Hours And Counting...

2007-07-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

In about 28 hours, I will be on my way home from the office and starting a new chapter - Stay at Home Mom, Part I. I am excited and nervous. The first few weeks will be the hardest, but I am confident that sleeping in and several trips to the mall will cure any longing for the corporate world that might creep up. In fact as part of my first duty (after taking Colin to his play dates and cuddle time) I will be planning a retirement / celebration party .....couple of cheese tables, appletini station, poker tables in the backyard.....hmmm

In order to get prepared for the big day, the family went to my office and helped me pack boxes. I love watching the movie Office Space because cubicle ville is where I have spent 40 hours a week for the past 11 years and we have a lot of "stapler" people who should be relocated to the basement. Especially the one that sits in this cube....

I will miss the view that I see while standing on a chair peering over my cubicle wall.... However, I will not miss the traffic or saying Bye-Bye to Little Man every morning.
The biggest thing I am looking forward to is spending more time with my team and putting together some strategic action plans (had to use that corporate jargon somewhere)....

SURPRISE!!

2007-07-22T12:37:00.001-07:00

It happens to be my birthday weekend and honestly I almost forgot. Adam and I were having a relaxing weekend and didn't have much planned..... so I thought. The only thing on the agenda was cleaning the garage, I know everyone wishes they could clean their garage when the temperature is 105 degrees with 150% humidity. Well, I should've suspected something else was planned when I found a chocolate cake big enough to feed 5,000 in the closet (hmmm), Adam ignoring his cell phone when it kept beeping (hmmm), and the fact that Adam kept reminding me that we were going to Costco at 3:30 (why 3:30 - is there a big giveaway that we need to go to??). But I was just oblivious and unknowing complied with his entire plan.... We went to Costco and came back to find a house full of guests waiting to SURPRISE me. I was completely caught off guard and hopefully didn't say anything that I will regret later :)

Needless to say, I was in shock and after that wore off, I was thankful that my husband was so thoughtful and my friends were there to wish me a happy birthday. I am truly blessed to have great friends around, it was a very special afternoon.

And what would a surprise party be without a little swimming pool fun?

And a little Hersey's Kiss snack..... Miles liked sampling the morsels, but was a little confused what the yummy brown center was..... But I assure you that he was more than happy to continue taste testing, right Robyn?

How could we capture the excitement without a group picture of the little tikes? Next time I will be a bit more fancy and create a collage, but I haven't finished my Blogging 101 class yet. Who do you think has been practicing their game faces???

Alas, we were able to gather the tikes and thanks to Jen's Portrait Innovation skills, we were able to get the majority of the kids to look at the camera.

Also, in attendance at the party were a few celebrities..... The Hammer Twins. Okay, I should explain the Hammer twins a little bit.... Little Man and Brother love their blankies, but of course it isn't manly to have a blankie, so Adam calls the blankies "hammers".

I know, they may be a little lost on construction sites.... but we are totally okay with that.

Thanks everyone for coming over to celebrate me turning another year older. It meant a lot to me. And of course, thanks to my husband for being so thoughtful. Stay tuned for the next King Surprise......

Who Said Cheaters Never Win???

2007-07-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours is moving to Minnesota, so the "family" crowd headed to Peter Piper Pizza for the going away party.

During the first part of the evening, I was making sure that Little Man was minding his manners, taking turns, and being respectful of the games....then the competitive Feather came out and things drastically changed.

Little Man had more fun putting the balls in the "zero" slot because of the funny sounds, but Feather helped him to get the high score of.....

And of course Little Man started a trend for all the kids to play the game with these new rules. The manager is so happy with Feather!

Our Favorite Pastime

2007-07-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

In our free time, we love to look at model homes, to get ideas and act like we live in the houses we are touring. During our last tour, Little Man wanted to take this pillow with him to every room in every house. He would carry it to every room and rest on it…..well; it was more like protect it because I was constantly trying to put it back where it belonged (that’s the OCD part of me kicking in).

Also on the tour, Lttle Man’s shorts were the center of attention with such names as “golf boy”, “snazzy pants”, and “trend setter”. I didn’t know the plaid shorts would get so much attention; I’m going to buy myself a matching pair.

We thought we could do some “remodeling” to our current house to make it look like this… anyone available next weekend to help?

This is where it all began....

2007-07-14T14:15:00.001-07:00

Well, some people probably thought I would never start a blog and they would've been right if I didn't locate this fabulous blog template! I began making my first post and thought, where on Earth do I start....birth... no... elementary school.. maybe... high school.. too incriminating. Then I figured I would start with one of the happiest days of my life, when I married my husband. Most people have not seen my wedding pictures because I have not actually ordered any to be framed! Okay, I haven't even gotta through the first post and I am already making confessions. I hope you enjoy the pictures and more to come....