Monday, December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you. We hope you have a great holiday with your families, filled with lots of love!! As the kids would say "Happy Birthday Jesus" and thanks for everything you have blessed me with.


























-J

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Vegas Baby!

Wow, almost a month since I posted. Bad blogger!! We have been busy. Thanksgiving weekend the Johnson family came to visit. As always, we ate way too much!! We had a great time and can't wait to see them at Christmas.


Greg had a work conference in Vegas last week. I joined him on Thursday. We spent 3 nights and four days away from the kids! It was nice to get away but we missed them. Of course they didn't miss us! Here are some pics from our trip:













-J

Monday, November 16, 2009

Overdue Post!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted last. We haven't had much going on which is nice! Saturday CJ and Ry spent the night with Nana and Pop. Greg and I went shopping and out to dinner. It was great! We haven't had a night alone in a long time. Before they were picked up Ry insisted on a ponytail. Her hair is finally starting to grow and is getting thicker. She is so proud, can you tell?


















I really don't think she can get any cuter! I just noticed hair was a big part of our morning Saturday. Ry had to have her "pony" and CJ got a haircut. He was good as he always is, he loves getting his haircut which the women at Great Clips find strange!! Since he was so good Greg took him to Dollar Tree for a cheap toy. He just had to have the hillbilly teeth. LOL.

Here is Ms. Ry singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star last night when she was coloring:

Next week is Thanksgiving and we are so excited. We can't wait to see Mamaw, Bapaw and Uncle Doug!!

-J

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Tricks, Treats and a Big Girl Bed

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. The kids had a great time. CJ was the only firefighter in his class so he was happy about that. Aren't they too cute?




















I told CJ Friday night that the plans were to trick or treat on Main Street Saturday morning with my friend Kristin's girls and then Saturday night in our subdivision with our neighbors. He responded and by ourselves the next night. Um, no that's not how it works! They got TONS of candy and since we only had 6 or 7 trick or treaters they got our leftover candy too.

In other exciting news, Ms. Ry moved to her big girl bed this weekend. She was soooo excited. Then when I put her to bed Saturday night, I said goodnight Ry and she said "Mommy, don't weeb me". LOL. The first night she wasn't so sure but she hasn't had a problem since. Here is her pretty bed:

I told her it was a pretty bed for a very pretty girl!
-J

Monday, October 26, 2009

Have you seen our kids?

-J

Punkins

Hi everyone! We finally got around to carving our "punkins" this weekend. When I say WE I mean me and Greg! Of course the kids were totally uninterested. CJ said the "punkin guts" were gross and when I tried to get Ry to help me clean out the pumpkin she said "no, I no yike it". We affectionately named our pumpkins Mr. and Mrs. Punkinhead. Here is my failed attempt at a picture of the kids with our new family members:



















Notice Mr. Punkinhead is bald? Well CJ and Greg decided he needed a toupe:

Thanks Ry for turning your back at just the right time!
We are so excited for this week! We have the daycare Halloween party on Thursday night, trick or treating on Main Street with some friends Saturday morning and then trick or treating in the neighborhood on Saturday night. Here's hoping for good weather!!
-J

Monday, October 19, 2009

Scrub a Dub-Dub

Remember the pretty hats I posted about a couple weeks ago? We finally got our order in the mail Friday! Here is Ry modeling her new hat:



















And headband:




















We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Saturday we made Christmas cookies. Yes, I said CHRISTMAS cookies. I had my Christmas in October stamp camp on Sunday so we rolled out the dough and cut out snowmen, Christmas trees and santas. We even dyed the santa dough red. Which made Ryleigh not so sure about eating them. She kept saying they were play-doh. LOL.

Besides the stamp camp on Sunday we had a pretty uneventful weekend. Ry and I needed some girl time last night so we did facials together. Here is Ry's before picture which includes reminents of red santa cookie on her face:























Scrub a dub-dub:


















And the result - Ry with glowing skin (but not real happy she had to stop playing in the soap and water):
-J

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Fighting Fires

Last night when I was making dinner I heard lots of "sirens" in the living room from our two fire trucks. I could hear them putting out fires. When I went in to check on them, this is what I found:



















They were "firefighters in their hats and boots".

-J

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mr. CJ's Special Day

Greg and I thought CJ needed a day by himself with us. He hasn't had a day with just Mom and Dad since Ry was born over two years ago! We knew just the place to take him. The Museum of Tranportation - trains, trains and more trains! We went there last year and he loved it. Since his train obsession doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon we knew that was the place for his special day!

We had so much fun. Not only did we get to have fun on the trains, but they also had a fire truck exhibit. I think fire trucks would be his second love, after trains of course. We got to ride up in a boom which was so fun!! Here we are getting ready to go up:



















And the awesome view from the top:


















We were there almost four hours. When we were ready to go Dad went to get the car and CJ and I rode the train one last time. I took this pic of us. CJ thought it was funny that I cut off his nose and I was amazed at how many freckles I have!! Seriously, that's not good!



















Then we rode the Metrolink to the Amtrak station downtown. I get a free Metro pass through my work and kids under 13 are free so it cost us $4.50 for Greg to ride. That was the best $4.50 we ever spent. CJ loved it. Here he is before his first ride:















We didn't get to see much at the Amtrak station since they are more particular about boarding passes than in the past. So we hopped back on the Metro to go to lunch. By this time we were all starving and sleepy. CJ fell asleep on my arm on the ride back. We went to Red Robin for lunch and then went shopping for CJ's Halloween costume. We found it and then headed to our last stop - Target, where he got Connect Four and Uno.


We ended the night with popcorn for dinner (yikes!) and a game of Uno. At one point our very funny son said, maybe next time we can play "dos". Ah, our little comedian!!


-J

Monday, October 5, 2009

Fall Fun

I love fall. Cool mornings, pretty trees and any food or drink with pumpkin! Friday night the boys decided a football game was more fun than making pumpkin bread so Ry and I were on our own.




















She was a big helper. She dumped everything in the bowl for me. She was surprised that licking the beater from pumpkin bread wasn't as good as chocolate chip cookies! She took one lick and said "here Mommy, I done". LOL.
Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch. The farm we visited takes you to the pumpkin fields on a really bumpy wagon ride!


















This is the best picture we could get with both of the kids and the pumpkins. The dirt was more exciting than picture taking!


















And yes, these pumpkins are HUGE! One of them weighed 30 lbs!!
Sunday we helped Dad in the yard and played on the swingset.


















Oh and Mom forced us to smile for MORE pictures!

Have a good week!
-J

Friday, October 2, 2009

Cute Hats, Good Cause

I just bought Ry a couple hats from the BriarClaire site on Etsy. These hats and headbands are hand crocheted. The clips are interchangable. I can't wait to get my order! For the month of October for every hat sold she is donating a hat to a children's hospital for kids with cancer. Take a look at her site http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6956412 . She has great stuff!
We're hoping this weekend to take the kids to the pumpkin patch. I'm so excited for fall. Dinner tonight is chili and cornbread and after dinner the kids are helping me make pumpkin bread. Yum!
-J

Monday, September 21, 2009

Happy Birthday Greg!

Friday was Greg's birthday, Happy Belated Birthday Babe! CJ wanted to have a "surprise party" for Dad so we made him a cake while he was playing softball Thursday night. When Friday came I had to explain to CJ when you tell the person ahead of time about the surprise party it isn't much of a surprise. LOL. Here is Greg blowing out his candles at his "surprise party" with a little help of course:














Saturday Greg headed to Iowa City to see the Hawkeyes beat the Arizona Wildcats. Go Hawks!! While him and Uncle Doug were having a good time, my Dad came over to watch the kids while I painted the basement bathroom. Greg hates to paint so I figured I would tackle it myself while he was gone. Dad also helped me finish some of the trim in the shower. I think it looks great. What do you think?





















































At least I feel like I accomplished something on our never ending to-do list!


CJ spent the night with Pop and Nana last night and Ms. Ry wasn't pleased. What can make everything better? A popsicle of course!


-J

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thankful

I read many blogs each day - most of them written by complete strangers. Some are funny, some are sweet and some make me thank God for what I have. The Maxey family lost their beautiful 11 month old baby girl to cancer last night. My thoughts today are filled with prayers and sadness for a family I have never met but who deeply touched my heart. Fly with the angels baby Annette. And THANK YOU GOD FOR WHAT I HAVE!!!!



I love you two more than words can ever say.
-Mommy

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Labor Day with Ayo Kitty

Don't you think every weekend should be a 3 day weekend? That one extra day is so great!

We started the long weekend with a bonfire at the Drury's (thanks guys!). We had a great time and the best part? The neighbor girls watched all the kids so the adults could have some grown-up time. The kids played great together! They stayed up until 11:30 which is SUPER late for our kids and they slept until 9. Yes, you read that right 9 am!!!! Amazing!

Saturday we did a little shopping. The kids needed fall clothes badly. All of CJ's pants looked like capri pants when he tried them on! Sunday we were lazy and didn't do a whole lot. Those days are the best.

Monday we had the Firle family over for lunch and then we celebrated Ry's 2nd birthday early. Her birthday is the 13th and we will be in Iowa (look out Mamaw and Bapaw we are on our way soon!!) so we had cake early with Pop, Nana, TT and Jeff-o. Nana got Ry an "Ayo Kitty" cake.






























She didn't have a nap all day so when she opened her Hello Kitty pillow and blanket from Nana and Pop she said "I go ni-nite". LOL.

I can't believe she is almost 2. Where is the time going? We love you little girl!

-J

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Big News for Mr. CJ

Hey everyone! This is just a quick post to wish our little guy well on his first day of Pre-K! He moved into his new room today and was very disturbed that his jacket had to be put in a different place. That's our little creature of habit! I know he is going to really love his second day because every Thursday his class takes a trip to the library for storytime. Thank goodness I've gotten him used to the library in the past 6 months!

We love you bud and know you will do great in your new room!

And because I hate posts without pics here is one of CJ from March 2007. He's always been so handsome!



-J

Monday, August 31, 2009

Someday she will be on American Idol!

Two posts in one day! Here is Ms. Ry singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and ending with her shortened version of the ABC's. Oh and a request for more cheese. LOL.

-J

Fevers, fireflies, fotos and fights! Oh my!

We had a pretty good weekend. Friday afternoon I got a call from daycare that CJ had a fever. Once I got him home and got some ibuprofen in him he seemed better the rest of the weekend. He did complain of a headache here and there.

CJ was feeling better Saturday evening so I got the bright idea for us to catch fireflies (or lightening bugs as CJ prefers they be called). The kids were all excited with the jars Daddy got ready for them:













For some reason the idea of putting lightening bugs in pickle jars was hilarious to CJ! After getting them all excited we saw two, yes TWO lightening bugs! Greg said it was probably too chilly out. We did get some good pics while we were waiting for the dark though.









































The fighting part of my title came on Sunday when the kids starting fighting the minute they got up. By noon Greg and I were ready to pull our hair out!! Good thing it was nice, we took them outside where we hoped they would wear themselves out and lose their frustrations. It worked!
Hope you had a great weekend!
-J

Monday, August 24, 2009

Wonderful Weekend

The weather was absolutely amazing this weekend! Greg and my Dad worked on finishing up the kids' new swing set area and I finally took some pics!












































Greg and CJ were going to "camp" Saturday night (in our backyard) so he put the tent up early. The kids played in it for hours. Of course they had to fight over which side they wanted and which sleeping bag they wanted, but such is life!! They ended up not camping because, strangely enough, it was too chilly out! I can't believe we can say that in August! Here they are enjoying the tent in between fights:















I want to wish my in-laws a very Happy Anniversary. Yesterday they celebrated 40 years together. Congratulations!!! We love you guys!


-J

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Baby Blues

Ryleigh has always had the most beautiful eyes. From the minute she was born she could smile with them. I remember she went through this stage where her eyes would get huge in a picture like this:











































Or my favorite:















How is it possible those eyes keep getting even more beautiful?

















Our little girl moved out of the nursery and into the toddler two room yesterday. Why is it they grow so fast??

And speaking of beautiful blue eyes, we can't forget these:
















Mommy and Daddy love you two so much!
-J