Zoo Lights

There are so many fun things to do at Christmas time and if you want your kids to see Santa there are lots of places to go. We headed over to Zoo Lights with Tammy and Grace and I witnessed my little boy growing up. If you scroll down the blog you'll see Johnny crying just like Grace on the big guy's lap last year. He did the same thing for the Easter Bunny in April. He was great this year though. Boy, these kids grow fast!

1st Sweater

I recently learned how to knit, and after doing a scarf and a couple of other little things I thought I'd tackle an article of clothing. My goal was to make this orange sweater for Johnny and have it ready to wear in the fall. I kept picturing him in a pumpkin patch with it on, but I just didn't get it done in time. Sad, but I'm so glad I didn't just not do it because look at how cute he is!!! He has pretty much already grown out of it, but I guess that's ok since I'll have another little guy that can wear it in about 2 years:)

When Santa asked Johnny what he wanted for Christmas, he replied, "STICKS!"

So, I chose mantel #3 and absolutely LOVE it!!

I'm so glad we covered the hearth with stone too.

After

Before

Here are a bunch of mantels I like. I should probably narrow it down a little better, but maybe you can tell me what you think of these. :)

Happy Birthday Johnny!!!

I can't believe it is already July!! And here my boy is already 2 years old! Where does the time go? We are so thankful Jonathan entered our lives 2 years ago at 6:13PM. He has brought us so much happiness that we don't know what we'd do without him.

Some special things about Johnny include:

His Smile- it absolutely lights up a room. And don't you just want to grab his cheeks?

The Way He Snuggles With You- you are supposed to put his blanky on your shoulder and then he curls up into it.

Going To Bed- after laying him in bed he says, "kiss," so I give him another kiss and then he says, "kiss," and so I give him another kiss. And he'll keep saying it until you somehow pull yourself away. (which is hard to do. I could kiss him all day.)

Trucks- Johnny loves "Big Trucks," and lucky for him there seems to always be work going on in the neighborhood and we'll see "DIGGERS" drive by.

Orange- This kid is so drawn to the color orange. Whenever he sees something that is orange, he excitedly points and says orange and wants you to acknowledge what he found. Whenever there is a choice (which crayon to use, what color plate or cup to give him, which free balloon he'll get at the grocery store) it is orange. I love that he didn't have to tell me that's his favorite color, just by knowing and observing him I know it is.

That's one of my favorite things about having children... I get to know these two little people better than anyone else in the world. I know their little likes and dislikes and what makes them happy and sad. I am the one who gets to see the first smile of the day, and the one who knows how to make them feel better when they get hurt. I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to have this amazing motherhood experience.

Spring 2010

A few glimpses of what has been going on around here this past spring. We're excited about all the fun times this summer will bring... including Johnny's 2nd birthday!!!

One of my children's favorite things to do is to throw all the couch cushions over the banister so they pile up by the front door. Then they create beds or jump on them over and over again from the stairs. They haven't been able to do it for a while because our couches are all stored elsewhere while we redo our living room (I'll show some before and afters once that project is done. I'm so excited!)

We went to the park with Tammy and Grace. Both of my kids love to swing.

Grace and Tammy

Alex is a great climber!

Johnny has no choice but to play with jewelry when that's what his sister is doing.

I just think they're so cute when they get out of the tub and their hair is all wet.

Grandma Nan took the kids for a ride out in the back yard in some sort of wheel barrow they have.

Alex is holding on to her cousin Grace as they ride around the yard.

Sadie and Taylor put "wings" on Alex and then they all started "flying" off the couches.

Jumping off Grandma's couches.

Easter Sunday

Johnny loves TRUCKS!! He has been in heaven as they've been building a house two doors down from us, because he can see BIG TRUCKS from our backyard everyday. And his favorite color is orange, so a BIG ORANGE TRUCK is all he needs to be happy.

Mother's Day

I've never done much gardening before but I wanted some planters to put on my porch this year, so I tried my hand at it. What do you think? I am excited to see how they look in the fall... that is if the deer don't eat them up first.

Happy 3rd Birthday Alexandra!!!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful little girl, Alex. We love you so much and are having so much fun watching you grow and develop your personality. We had a couple of parties for Miss Alex this year. Grandma and Grandpa Henry had to get on the road to AZ for my sister Melanie's 2nd wedding reception, so we opted to have a party with them at Chuck-E-Cheese the day before her birthday. (Unfortunately, Daddy and Johnny stayed home because Johnny had thrown up the night before and didn't feel well.)

Grandma and Grandpa Henry with Alex

Aunt Meagan, Alex & Aunt Jeri

Alex likes to give me a crown to wear. And when she does I am Majesty Mommy.

If you pay for this ride it will take a picture of you sitting with Mr. Cheese and spit it out at the end. We opted to pay for the activities that would produce tickets and took a pic with our own camera.

I was surprised to find that they do have games for a 3 year old to play. She loved the popcorn game where all she did was move a lever back and forth to catch the "popcorn" popping out of the popper. She earned quite a few tickets playing that one.

Enjoying her pink cupcake.

Chuck-E-Cheese came to say hi to the kids and then threw a stack of tickets for them to run around and grab. At the end of the afternoon, she had earned enough tickets for a necklace and a slinky (both pink).

(Aunt Tammy & Cousin Grace, Grandma Nan, Alex & Jenny)

The next day we had dinner and gifts at our house with the Thorups.