In my extra time....

So I enjoy a little craft project from time to time. However, I am by no means one of those really creative, and great at crafts kind of gals. I usually don't have a lot of extra time to spend on things of this nature, so I don't do it often. Usually I only do "crafty" things when the kids need help with some sort of project for school, and then I usually struggle with letting them do it themselves and not taking over so it is "perfect." What can I say....I am a work in progress. Any ways, I decided to do a little flower pot project for the garage sale. I thought I would make a few cute flower pots and see if people would buy them during our garage sale...since mother's day is the next day....I thought it might appeal to people like me that wait until the last minute to get things done. (In this case...a mother's day present.) And if no one wants to buy them....well then I guess I will just have some cute flower pots to find loving homes for ;-)

Addition to bike riding....

I forgot in my last post to include Aunt Lori (my sister.) She was over the other day when we were trying to teach Grace to ride her bike without her training wheels. Well, Grace was starting to protest and was becoming a little bit dramatic about the whole situation....so her wonderful Aunt Lori decided to lighten the mood a little and show Grace how much fun riding a bike is....

Thanks Lori for giving everyone a good laugh! Your nieces and nephews are so lucky to have such a fun loving aunt! You apparently need a little tutelage from TJ also ....I see you are still riding with your training wheel too!

Balance and determination required

We decided (TJ and I) that Grace and Ethan are old enough now that they should be able to ride their bikes without training wheels. So therefore....we should probably take the initiative to help them learn....So we took the training wheels off our little bike for them to learn. We...(I) decided that learning on the little bike would be less scary since it is smaller. So last weekend TJ and I were all pumped to take the kids outside and start teaching. Well....Ethan flat out refused to get on the bike and try, so that left Grace. She was not necessarily a willing participant either, but TJ and I persuaded her to try.

Grace is looking back after TJ "let go." As I remember, she was not exactly thrilled that he let go and wanted her to balance on her own..... Nothing like a little 7 year old drama to complete your day. ;>)

Grace having a little laugh when trying to keep herself balanced. (This girl just melts my heart!)

YEAH GRACE! GO GRACE GO!

Keep it up Grace! She could have this bike riding thing down very quickly if she would just try a little and stop with the "I can't" and the "it's too hard" attitude. As I recall, our bike riding tutorial ended very dramatically with her stomping her feet and refusing to try any more after TJ had let go again to encourage her to balance on her own. Oh well, I guess we'll just try again another day. I am confident that she will learn this sometime in the near future, and we will cheer her on however long it takes her. You can do it Gracie!

Gardening 101

My father-in-law was over the other night...so we decided to take advantage of his gardening knowledge. He helped us plan where we were putting the seeds that I had purchased. Ethan was very excited about planting in the garden, Owen didn't really have a clue what we were doing, and Grace was having an "off" night so she decided to stay inside and watch a movie rather than participate. We planted peas, onions, green onions, green beans, green peppers and several different kinds of tomatoes. We still plan on planting some pumpkins, but we are doing that on the area of our property that is not fenced in, as I have heard that pumpkins require a lot of space. I still want a strawberry patch also, but that means TJ removing more sod.....and he wasn't exactly excited about that idea. Here are a few pictures commemorating our first time planting a garden.


Yes, Owen is using a spatula....but he is wonderfully happy....so we just went with it!

Another pic of Owen digging in the garden with his gardening tool...(spatula)

Ethan and Mommy working at getting the peas planted.

I love this photo....look how Ethan sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating. And yes, I am aware that I am lying down on the job....

This is my favorite photo from the night. I think it is the lighting..... I just love it. Thanks Tom for all your help!

A little humor for your day

Ethan.....this boy seriously cracks me up. What a joy he is! (frustrating also...but mostly a joy) This will be a short one. Just wanted to share a few things he has said lately that have made me chuckle.

1- peen-gwon (penguin)

2- hotguys (hawkeyes)

3- ball geagle (bald eagle)

4- E-rifle (rifle...I have no idea why he calls it an E-rifle, but I have to correct him every time, that it is in fact just called a rifle)

5- hear phones (ear phones)

6-dandeflower (dandelion)

Have a great day!

Ornery boys

So I have been a mother of boy/boys for the last 4 and a half years. One of the many things I have discovered is......they are always coming up with something new to emphasize that, yes in fact, they are ALL BOY! My boys make me frustrated at times, they make me tired, they make me giggle, they melt my heart most of the time. (Don't get me wrong.....Grace does all these things to, but this post is about my boys.)

At the end of the day....no matter what they have done.... a sweet, sleeping child seems angelic don't they??!!

Owen being Mommy's big helper. I LOVE the chubby little baby tummy!

Melt my heart!

Another melt my heart moment.

Owen loves to help empty the dishwasher.

Ethan, pouting when he didn't get his way. It didn't at the time, but looking at this photo now makes me giggle!

Playing with dinosaurs.

Look at those innocent smiles. "We are being good Mommy, we promise." The picture doesn't show that there are balls from the ball pitt scattered and thrown all over the room.

This is what happens when you grab the camera to get a cute picture. Me-"smile boys" ...Owen instantly turns his back, and Ethan turns around and says "Take a picture of my butt!"

Growling at the camera and pretending that he is a ferocious lion.

He is being a "mean t-rex" this time.

Ethan riding his new scooter in the house.....what a boy!

And again, at the end of the day, when they kiss you good night, and give you their tightest little hug, and whisper "I love you." These sweet, angelic looking, sleeping boys just melt a mother's heart.

A first for Grace

A couple months ago we had our first bout with PINK EYE. It started with Grace, and spread like wild fire to EVERYONE else in the family. Grace looked the worst. The morning we discovered she had it (and believe me there was no detective work needed), she woke up with eyes swollen and crusted shut. Poor baby! So I made the call to the doctor.....and to my great delight they just called in a prescription for eye drops when I told the nurse about her symptoms! As quickly as it spread through our family I can understand why they don't want to bring these kids and their eye germs into the office. I took several pictures of Grace, but the newness wore off when everyone else came down with it.....so I don't have a picture of anyone else with their pink puffy eyes, but here are a few of our pink, puffy eyed beauty.

I cleaned up the drainage, but you can tell how swollen her eyes are.

On a positive note.....aren't her freckles cute!

Another view of our squinty eyed beauty.


Oh, Grace.....even with pink eye, you make me giggle!