Thankful

What a month this has been! I have so much to be thankful for that I thought I'd list a few.

I am thankful for my husband's patience, understanding and faith in me. After 10 years I still think he's pretty hot!



I am thankful for Tyler's perseverance and determined mindset. This child is self driven and motivated.



I am thankful for Dylan's playfulness, love, and quick witted comments. He keeps me laughing and never ceases to amaze me at how quietly perceptive he is.



I am thankful for Cayden's laughter, curiosity and patience. This toddler is an amazing sleeper, eater and my buddy during the day when his brothers are at school.



I am thankful for the little one growing inside of me and for second trimesters because my fatigue and slight nausea has subsided.



I am thankful for our WONDERFUL friends, new and old. Thank you for all of the support you give me and our family. I appreciate and love you!

I am thankful for my family. Through special times we share and even after tears, happy or sad, we continue to grow. You ALL have a special place in my heart!

I am thankful for my Decaf Barnies Santa's White Christmas Coffee in the morning in the Daughter mug my mom gave me for my birthday.





I am thankful for the beautiful sunsets from our back porch in the evening.



I am thankful for all of the blessings God has given us!



I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Umm, Umm, gugashla, Mine, No, Da-Da-Dah!

Cayden is our household #1 fan of Star Wars with Dylan coming in at a close 2nd. Cayden does not play with age appropriate toys for that matter. He took it upon himself to skip several phases of his developmental growth and has self proclaimed himself to be around the age of 3, I'd say. Talk about keeping up with his big brothers!

Dylan recently celebrated his 5th birthday. We had family over for an early dinner so they could run for the hills before 10 little boys came over for a backyard camping adventure. Dylan had a great time and was the first child asleep that night in my bed of course! The majority of the boys stayed out in the tents and crashed around 12:30am and were awake by 7:00am. Just in time for a waffle/pancake feast. Todd and all of the fathers who stayed to help out and slept in the tents with the boys get all of the credit! It's hard work drinking beer till four o'clock in the morning around a campfire!





Soccer season started last Saturday. Dylan is in "Little Kickers" which teaches the fundamentals of the game and is an opportunity for him to have his daddy to himself. Tyler plays actual games and has a some of his good friends on his team who he has been playing with for over a year now.



Tyler is in Cub Scout. I've gotta get a picture of him in his little shirt! He LOVES it and it's right up his alley, with Todd as his Den leader. I've got to get a picture of Todd in his shirt too:) Tyler is learning all about the Cub Scout motto, "Always do my best!" This is such a positive experience for him while letting boys be boys!

Quick Summer

Wow!!!!!!!!! Time is flying. I agree Jenn, it's time to blog again. Here goes. Tyler is having sinus surgery, the date is TBA. He lost his second tooth the other day and is excited to start first grade! Dylan is great, the kid has the best summer tan despite my sunscreen efforts. He had mixed feelings about starting school in 3 weeks. The baby is fine, he is saying some words and thinks he is a big kid like his brothers. Is he even a baby anymore? Well, he's my baby, almost 18 months going on four. Todd loves having the summer to fish on Saturday mornings (we elected to take the summer off from sports for Tyler and Dylan, hence freeing up Saturdays) I'm doing well. Some days I want to pull my hair out, some days I feel this peaceful happy vibe and all runs smoothly, most days are a combo of both, pretty much a never ending roller coaster! Never a dull moment, that's for sure. Just ask Aunt Becca and my friend Amy about blueberry blowouts:)

I'll attach some pics that I took the time to take (I haven't been too great at remembering my camera these days).

Tyler and Dylan at Busch Gardens










This visit to Busch Gardens, Karena and I alone braved 5 children, 2 double strollers, and a gazillion bags - on and off the trolley and through the rain. Actually it's times like that when I know in 10 years we will look back and miss - crazy!
















We had a Fourth of July Party with friends and family:






























During our Fifth of July recovery day, Aunt Karena, still never ceased to amaze me - yeah, she is playing bowling on the Wii and still kicked our butts



We have done two different weeks of VBS at our church in Largo, which was a lot of fun, a lot of work and a lot of gas. We regretfully need to find a church closer to us - it took us so long to find a church that we felt at home at so wish us luck!

BTW, one of our dogs, Kayla, was put under last Wednesday. She had cancer in her mouth and it rapidly spread. Her brother, Keito, is adjusting better than we thought and he is getting a lot of attention and love from us and Dylan especially.

Oh, and for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of witnessing my choker Cayden.... When I finally feel like we are out of the woods from this child choking on random items.... The other day he took apart the computer mouse and was walking around with the ball in his mouth. He sees that I see this weighted ball in his mouth so I choose to take the higher road and ignore his attempt to freak me out. Okay, not satisfied with my reaction, he proceeds to throw his head backwards, again and again, as if forcing it down his throat. SERIOUSLY, DO I HAVE THE ONLY CHILD WHO TORMENTS THEIR MOTHER LIKE THIS!!! I casually get up so he doesn't think that he has gotten a reaction yet, then I quickly grab him by his feet and dangle him upside down. Out falls the ball, with a heavy BLOP, on the floor. Someone please tell me this is all normal.....

And here is an attempt to get a video of the boys when they should have been in bed.

Flashbacks

I just heard the great news that my niece, Payton, is now potty training! That got me looking at pics of Tyler and Dylan when they were at that stage and then I started watching old videos......

Don't worry Todd, yes I'm procrastinating, and yes I'm still gonna clean the closet.

Enjoy!

Tyler and Dylan in their playroom at our old house. Just plain cute.



This is sometime in October, before Halloween of '06. Dylan's trying out the cowboy hat and horsey that my mom had just brought over. His smile still lights up a room!



And the final finale - this is great - I don't even need to explain it, I'll call it the Oh Yeah Dance

Father's Day

We had a busy and fun Father's Day weekend. We miss Todd's father who is in Europe this week! I hope you guys are having a great time!

On Saturday we celebrated Father's day with my dad, Mom-Mom, brothers, Karena, lil' Michael and Mikaela. It is so nice to have Uncle Brian home again! We had fun swimming and had a nice dinner, courtesy of Michael's chicken and hot dogs on the grill and Karena's zucchini,squash & cheese dish - YUM! Karena if you read this I want to copy the pics you took, especially of Dylan and Mikaela - Dylan can't get enough of his baby cousin. He'll say, "Mikaela is a girl, we don't have one of those."

On Sunday, Aunt Becca came over and we went out on the boat. Todd had two days in a row on the water! He caught a bunch of fish on Saturday morning and had fun with the kids on Sunday. It's great what a little R&R&Fishing will do for him! Here are some pics of Sunday on the boat.




Cayden and Aunt Becca when we just arrived to the island or Peninsula - we're not too sure what it was.












We were greeted by this huge cement cross and a rain cloud. For a moment I thought we should head back but the weather cleared up!











































As soon as we arrived to our destination (about a 20 minute boat ride) Tyler was determined to go fishing - he loves it!


















Dylan likes fishing but really enjoyed the luxury of wearing a life jacket in the water.

































Cayden prefers fishing in the bait bucket. Both Dylan and Cayden would put the bait fish in the bucket with their bare hands. Tyler observed from a distance and thought they were both crazy.


























Oh, Cayden will not keep a hat on his head so Aunt Bec took the proper precautions of applying the sunscreen.


















Take note to Cayden's mouth in pictures. Honestly, that child rarely keeps his tongue in his mouth.








Love that little face!























A rare shot of me with C & D, I'm usually the photographer!



Now lay your left ear onto your left shoulder to enjoy this clip.








We made it back to the boat ramp in time for Aunt Becca to rush home to dinner for her dad and brother, but not before the boys relieved themselves.



We are left with happy memories of the day and I came home with a souvenir!

Nice Weekend Getaway!

This past weekend we went to Orlando. It was so nice to get away and have a change of scenery! Our hotel room had a full kitchen, balcony, dinning room/living room, huge bathroom and a separate bedroom. So nice! I wish we had a whole week! We went to Sea World for two days and ended the trip at Downtown Disney. Our neighbors were there that weekend too so we met up with them and had a great time! The boys had a blast exploring Sea World and LOVED the Lego store in Downtown Disney! Here are some pics of of our trip.

Tyler lost his tooth and many other happenings!

GEEZ, what a crazy month of May, and now it's June - WOW! May was Tyler's birthday, Dylan's graduation, Tyler lost his first tooth, our 10th Anniversary, Mom-Mom's 87th b-day, Mother's Day, Todd's sister and her family were in town for vacation, soccer wrapped up for the season, and Tyler has 2 more days of kindergarten left! We have been dealing with Cayden's allergies - not as sensitive as Tyler but allergic to things Tyler is not - and Tyler's too of course. It looks like Tyler will need tubes in his ears and sinus surgery. No biggie, right, just an hour and a half of being under! It has been a rocky ride for us since we moved, adjusting to our new rural surroundings, having Todd, Tyler and Dylan all in different places during the day and bringing home different germs to share with the family! We are anxious to welcome summer! But hey, each day brings different joys and obstacles and each day ends with a truly "unique-to-that-day" sunset from our backyard! By this point, I'm usually reflecting on the day thinking, What did I learn today? What can I do better tomorrow? Then I'll catch a glimpse of the sunset as I'm walking by or doing dishes and the beauty of it has a welcomed calming affect on me - just breathe..."

Funny quotes

The boys got the Wii for Tyler's b-day. The house rule is that their rooms must be clean (including under the bed and closet) and the family room has to be picked up before it's turned on. Sunday morning was a nice quite (mmmm, breathe in, soak in kinda morning) and the boys were playing the Wii and Todd and I were enjoying the morning together. When I went in Tyler's room I saw a bunch of stuff crammed under his bed. I told him to stop playing and to put his stuff away. Obviously, it must of been at a critical time in his Wii game because the mama of meltdowns began forcing him in the fetal position on the floor kicking and crying. Well the domino affect took place from there - sent to room to clean, stay and think, and Wii off. So here's Dylan who has been quietly observing the drama. He looks up at me with his big green eyes and calmly says, "Hey mom, I'm not freakin' out." I look at him trying to make sense of what he just said. He continued, "So can I play now?"

So then yesterday morning I am in the height of the normal rat race to get the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door with me successfully finding matching clothes to throw on and baby in tote. I'm drooling waiting to have an opportunity to take my first sip of coffee that has been waiting for me, poured and all, in my nice new red cup. Dylan calls out that he needs help with his shoes. No problem, helping with shoes comes before personal indulgences like sipping coffee. I ask him to hold my cup. He takes it and asks if it's hot, I refrained from telling him, No it's pathetically luke-warm but instead I muttered, "It's not hot - warm." He holds it up under his nose and sits there breathing it in. He looks at me with lazy, happy eyes and says, "This just smells delightful!" I LOL, wondering where he got the word "delightful" from, I asked and he said Gigi. That kid says the cutest things.

Then yesterday afternoon I'm at a medical building getting a CT of Tyler's sinus. Never having a CT myself I wasn't sure how to prep this one. So I really didn't prep at all. We get in the room, they have him lay down and stay still. He is told that the bed will move his head into this large donut like tube, will take some pictures and he'll be done in 3 minutes. He looked perfectly calm but I knew the internal battle he was having, fighting off his fight or flight instinct because his fists were clenched so hard at his sides that his knuckles were white. I was asked to leave the room and watch from a window. Tyler did wonderful, stayed very still and it took less than 3 minutes. When he was done we got to look at the pictures of his skull, teeth and sinuses, which was really cool for him to see. So we are walking to the car and we are both smiling and relieved that it's over and I say, "Wow, piece of cake!!!" He looks up at me and then all around startled and excited, "WHERE!"

If I had my choice, I would rather of had to researched the CT procedure to properly prepare Tyler than to try and explain what English language idioms are. I'm not sure how to explain to a very "black and white" personality type, such as Tyler's, that words have a meaning, but there are times when they are used in a phrase and take on a completely different meaning that makes no sense, but it's okay because everyone knows what the "other" meaning means. Whew!

Along side of this blog are random recent pics of the boys!