Internet Surfing

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/search/label/improving%20your%20blog%20tips
I found this ADORABLE family rules board on a blog that I regularly blog-stalk. Maybe this summer it will be a project to work on as well :)

Family Rules Board

My friend Bryn has made a few of these recently for her boys and I have been oh so jealous of this. Maybe someday I will learn how to sew and make a few of these jems for my two little boys......at least I can wish right??
Super Sweet Car Caddy

Super Yummy looking dinner that may make it onto our table the next few weeks:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

I have always been OBSESSED with smoothies and lately we have been making them multiple times a week. This one looks delicious and is on the agenda for today!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

 

my sweet little E

All of my children are literally growing up right before my eyes, but none so fast as my baby. How can this little guy already be almost sixteen months old. I am not ready for him to grow up and talk to me, get into mischief with the other two, have an opinion of his own, no longer want my cuddles, dress himself, and all the other things that happen with age.

The one good thing is that he is completely content to remain my little baby for the most part. He loves to snuggle and cuddle, he loves to be babied and loves to be held. he also has the most loveable little cheeks that I want to kiss and pinch nearly all the time. he patiently tolerates this as well. good kid :)

he has learned a few words so far which i do not want to forget:

mama

dada

bu-bye--along with a wave of the hand

hi

thank you

he understand soo much now and acutally follows directions part of the time. here are some fun facts about my little Eli:

he loves to throw things away in the garbage, i have had to pull out shoes, toys, toilet paper rolls, and even our home phone from the trash can.

he loves balls and loves to shoot hoops with our basketball hoop.

he loves to laugh and has the cutest full belly laughter that lights up our house.

he is such a softie and is impossible to be angry with.

he cries like crazy when he gets scared, or doesn't get his way.....which means he almost always gets his way :)

he loves playing with his siblings and doing big kid things (thus him attempting to ride Robby's trike in the pictures below)

he is a fantastic eater and some of his favorite food items include scrambled eggs, hot chocolate, PB and J sandwiches, juice, spaghetti, noodles of any kind, apple slices, pizza, buttermilk pancakes, bread, and of course ice cream.

he cries every single day at swim lessons. he only has 2-3 weeks of this torture left and then he will be an official ISR trained baby :) which is by the way the BEST program ever

oh and it totally broke my heart that he was so sad to have a babysitter to himself tonight when we took the bigger kids to "How to Train a Dragon" at the movie theater.

He will be a mess at some point when I am released from Nursery and he has to go on his own :)

I sure love my little E!

luv Momma

One in diapers

So this post is LONG overdue....but it is official I have only one child in diapers! Halle-freakin-luah! I potty-trained Robby in January and he has been doing so well.

I love that he loves being a big boy. He reminds me of this daily and gets so excited when he goes number 2. Although it makes me kind of sad. Since when was he allowed to get older...I am pretty sure I didn't authorize this. It's a good thing he still allows me to hold and baby him now and then {such as at the movie theater today when he was scared}

Here are some things I don't want to forget about my mini-Jesse:

he loves buzz lightyear, cars and trains....still

he reminds me daily that "I'm a good boy"

he loves chocolate milk and cereal every morning for breakfast.

he loves his pacifier---with a clip at nightime, along with his blankie.

he loves to take things apart and see how they work.

he can manipulate his way out of anywhere. when we attempted to lock him in his room with the doorknob turned around, it took him only a few days before he figured out how to open the door with the plug of his small fan.

he loves swim lessons with Miss Darla and particularly enjoys splashing her.

he loves to tease his sister. to the point that she is on the ground sobbing in her dramatic way.

he also loves to ride his new green bike and begs to ride it every day. all day long.

he loves to play with the neighbor kids. specifically Tyler and Matthew, because they have "the coolest toys" per Mr R.

he loves his new $0.40 squirt gun compliments of Fry's and thinks he is the coolest thing with it tucked safely in his underwear while playing outside.

he also loves Teenage Ninja Turtles and runs around yelling "Turtle Power" or "Boy Power" while playing.

he is in love with diggers, cranes, and any kind of construction vehicle. he loves when we drive by construction sites and will yell out all the different trucks that we see. he particulary likes the cranes. he also loves to play with his dump trucks in the backyard in all its dusty, dirty glory.

and although I was ready to give this child away to the zoo, he is really outgrowing some of his mean behaviorisms and actually likes to play with other kids now. imagine that :)

oh and i also love him more than life itself :)

Maddie and the Curls

This spring we have discovered how to curl hair with a flat iron. I honestly don't know what took us so long, but I have to admit that my little girl looks darn cute in ringlets.

She asks me pretty much every day if I will do her hair like this and then will patiently sit for the 5-10 minutes it takes to curl all her hair.

And then of course that is quickly followed by her asking me to get my camera and take her picture.

She is only slightly full of herself :)
it amazes me every day that she is going to be five this year. and that she will be going to school this year. and that she can somehow outwit us most every day.

some fun things about maddie include:

she is the number one drama queen in our family. hands down.

she loves her bike and would ride it from morning to night if we allowed her and has actually gotten pretty darn good on it.

she loves to love on mr E and pretty much gives him anything he wants.
{which is actually a standard thing at our house with the baby}

she is very giving with BOTH brothers. whenever she gets treats at school or gymnastics she always makes sure to reserve some for her brothers.

she loves her friends and is always trying to smuggle another playdate out of me.

she is OBSESSED with our neighbor girl, Abby. the sun rises and sets with this friend and Maddie already knows that Abby doesn't get home from school until after 4pm. Miss M will sit on the couch by the door and watch for her to come home so they can play.

she loves to sing. {obviously didn't get that from me} she especially loves to sing her primary songs and i enjoy having her serenade me in the car.

she is very crafty and spends most time indoors writing her letters, coloring pictures, or working on projects.

she is incredibly exicted to start at the "BIG" Cortina Tigers school in the fall and loves to play school with Robby.

she requires detailed explanations for why a certain rule is in place. if it makes sense to her logically she is VERY good about following it. otherwise you can plan on her not obeying.

she loves gymnastics and does cartwheels all over our house.

she is my big helper and loves to clean, organize and cook with me.

oh.....and I love her to pieces :)

Cooking Lessons

What's the first thing you do to celebrate being off of work for TEN DAYS?

Make cookies with the kids of course...and they were very happy to oblige! :)
Of course we had to whip out our aprons because every good cook where's one of these.
The kids were surprisingly well behaved and even patiently took turns adding ingredients and stirring for me (a miracle).
Their favorite part?
Licking the beaters clean. hands down.
My favorite part?
Sneaking pinches of cookie dough :)

I had such a good time cooking with my darlings that I may have to do this again. soon!

and what does the little man do during our cooking lessons?

walk around with the princess ride on toy of course...with a big smile on his face :)

Easter 2010

Doesn't it seem like the holidays just get more and more fun as your kids grow older?! For us that is certainly true. My bigger two kids were SOOO excited for the Easter Bunny to come and thoroughly enjoyed the pre-Easter egg hunts they were able to participate in. They went on a total of three this year: my in-laws ward Easter breakfast/egg hunt, my parents neighborhood egg hunt and our fun cul-de-sac egg hunt in the green belt behind our houses. We also got a very yummy package in the mail from Uncle Adam and some fun toys from Nona as well. The highlight of the whole holiday for our kids was the new bikes that the Easter Bunny dropped at our house.

My kids have been in heaven this week and beg everyday to go out and ride bikes together in our cul-de-sac. I am so proud of Maddie and Robby for being so brave on their BIG 18 in wheel bikes. They have taken many hard crashes and always pop up saying "I'm okay" and climb right back on. As for Eli....all he really cared about was snuggling with Momma and stealing ring pops from his siblings. I was a little disappointed that we didn't have church on Easter this year, so to make up for it we dressed up anyways and wore our Easter dresses/outfits over to the grandparents houses. I have to say that I think my kids look incredibly cute/handsome (not at all biased :)(a little blurry...but I LOVE the look of excitement on her face just after discovering the hiding spot of her Easter basket)
Eli showcasing one of the ringpops he borrowed from his sister while she was busy enjoying her new bike

Maddie and her official "big girl bike"

Robby checking out his new "big boy bike". FYI: yes that is a Tinkerbell backpack he attached to his bike. I think it might be time to go buy him one of his own that is slightly more manly :)

Princess Maddie at Four Years Old (and yes she does LOVE to have her picture taken now)

Robby at Three Years Old

(he always has a train, car, or weapon in hand)

Eli at One Years Old

Maddie absolutely loved these fake chicks that my in-laws had at their house on Easter

Here is our attempt at a family picture

I knew I was tired after sleeping only two hours in a 28 hour period, but I didn't realize how BAD I looked until I downloaded these pictures onto my computer. I loved how directly that Eli was staring at the camera, fought the urge to burn this picture of myself, and instead sucked it up and took one for the team. I am however, very grateful that I had Easter Night off work, even though I had to work the night before.

My Sweet Maddie

I am so far behind in the blogging world. I probably have 7-8 posts that at some point may make their way onto this record of our life. But in the meantime I wanted to write down a little something I NEVER want to forget about my sweet, loving little girl.

Yesterday we were loading up the car to run some errands. Maddie and Robby were already buckled in the car. As I loaded Eli up he began to cry like crazy. The day before we spend A LOT of time in the car and he was FED UP of being buckled in and restrained. Of course Robby then announces that he "needs to go potty" so I took him back in the house while Eli screamed bloody murder.

When I came back outside a few minutes later I stumbled on quite possibly the sweetest thing I have seen Maddie do. She was stroking Eli's face and singing to him, while he layed his head on her arm. When I mentioned how nice she was to calm her brother down, she sweetly replied "I love my Eli."

Oh how I wish I could capture that moment forever.

I hope that she never forgets this. And I know that it will live in my heart. always.

Guess who is officially 3?

......my rough and tumbling little man, that's who!

He had his three year old doctor checkup on his actual birthday, as well as Eli having a "nurses visit" for shots. Eli was MISERABLE to put it mildly; he screamed so hard he almost threw up by the time they finished the fourth shot. My poor little baby does NOT handle pain well :( Robby, on the other hand, was so grown up about it. He didn't cry at all through three shots and just said "Owie, my arms hurts mommy" after the first one and then sat still while he got two more. His toughness constantly amazes me. Here is Robby's latest and greatest stats:
Height: 40in (above 100th percentile)

Weight: 37lb (90% percentile)
*****pretty much same as always: BIG BIG boy

some fun little facts about our Rubba Dubba's:



1. Maddie and Grandma S call me "Rob" or "Robbs" most of the time, and I seem to like that just fine. Daddy calls me "Rubba Dubba's" or "Bubba" as well. Nona even likes to call me "Bobby", but my sister always corrects her.



2. I LOVE ice cream and am always scheming of ways to get into it. Once I make it out of the freezer with the carton, I like to hide either under the kitchen table or upstairs under the computer and eat it. My favorite kind of ice cream is Rocky Road and Cookies and Creme.



3. I am as tough as they come and Mommy sometimes even calls me a bully. I am bigger than all the other kids in Nursery and Mommy has to stand guard over the other kids to keep them safe from me. She keeps telling me I need to be nicer and softer with other kids, but I have so much more fun playing rough.



4. I am a tease and love to laugh and play tickle wars with daddy and sister. I also love being chased, particularly by Aunt Esther. If I like you, you will immediately know because I will tell you to "chase me."



5. My favorite things I say are "I love it", "To infinity and beyond", "I didn't do it", "give me a big squeeze....no mommy a big, big one", "I have a class" (every time we drop Maddie off at preschool and gymnastics), especially primary songs from Maddie. She teaches them to me


6. I love getting into the pantry and fridge. I enjoy eating butter, cream cheese, and hot cocoa powder particularly. Mommy just doesn't understand why I think these things are so good!


7. I love to play outside on my bike. There is a house across that has a fountain and I jump on my bike and pedal as fast as I can to that house and then enjoy throwing rocks into the water. Mommy tells me no, but it is just way too fun to stop doing.


9. My favorite food items are Chicken Penne Pasta, "brown" soda, popcorn, "eggies", Mickey Mouse pancakes, carrots, apples, McDonald fries, hot chocolate, Swedish fish candy,


8. My favorite color is blue; I am sure it's a coincidence that this is also Maddie's favorite color. I always ask for my Buzz Lightyear "blue" plate at every meal.

9. I still have an obsession with trains--this is why all of my individual pictures were taken in front of the train last fall. I have also recently discovered that I really like Buzz Lightyear and Cars

10. I also love my new fishing pole from Daddy for my birthday. I talk constantly about going camping with it and I like to throw the line over the upstairs railing to "fish". I cannot wait to go on a fishing/camping trip with my dad.



15.

Fire Station

Miss M's preschool class took a field trip to the fire station near our house today and had oh so much fun. While Maddie learned all about "stop, drop and roll", Robby loved wandering around looking everywhere for the "fire". He also really liked the alarm that went off in the dorm area and the big fire truck. Too bad they got a call before all the kids could tour the fire truck or see the firemen in their big bulky outfits. Robby was very sad that he wasn't able to climb into the fire truck, but hopefully we will be able to go back sometime for the end of the presentation. Either way, it was fun to take my two bigger kids to the fire station for a school field trip! Robby with all the "big pee-skool kids" (in Mr R's words)

Note

Yippee! Should be a fun night at work on New Years Eve....

note to self: NEVER sign up for 4 shifts in a row AGAIN

Happy New Years!

{hopefully I won't see anyone I know in the ER}

Miss M Hearts Ice Skating

We took the kids ice skating over the Holiday break for the first time with my parents. Miss M was practically in heaven. She loved every minute of it and we just about had to pry her little bod off the ice to leave afterwards. She was able to skate fairly steady with some assistance by the end! Robby on the other hand did NOT like ice skating one bit. I guess that is why under three is FREE for open skate. The poor kid could barely walk in the skates and walked like he was drunk with them on :) All he wanted to do was take off the skates and play by the video arcades.

My in-laws even showed up to watch their beloved grandchildren learn how to ice skate. When Robby [quickly] decided he was finished skating, my father-in-law followed him around as he explored the skating arena.

I have to admit I had just as much fun as Maddie, and this little outing reminded how much I do like to ice skate and ski. It is so fun to be able to experience things like this with my Maddie! Grandma and Maddie
Maddie, Mommy (me) and Eli

Robby {attempting} to walk in the ice skates with Daddy

Eli and Grandpa hanging out on the sidelines

{my dad had hip replacement surgery in 2008 and cannot ice skate so he happily played with Eli while we skated}

Eli started to get fussy part way through our Ice Skating experience, but once Nona bundled him up in the stroller and handed over the pacifier he was pretty content to just sit and look around!

Christmas at the Toronto's

We started out the week before Christmas with a visit to good old Santa at the mall. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the kids actually on Santa's lap because those darn pictures are so expensive. My kids were thrilled just to be able to give their lists to Santa and talk to him. Miss M cracked me up. She went on and on about what a good girl she was and how she always helps mom around the house and cleans her room. She is pretty good about helping out but I think she exaggerated just a tiny bit. Miss M's list with the most random things on it...Santa had to dig deep to figure out what to get her this year. Good thing I was able to brainwash her into adding a few things on her list, including: dress ups, coloring books/markers, and "fun toys please"
Robby on the other hand was much easier:
all he wanted was 1. trains 2. candy 3. Mater tow truck 4. Mack from Cars

If you weren't lucky enough to get a Christmas card this year from us....here is the finished product :). These suckers took much more time than I anticipated and by the time they were complete, I was more than ready to be done with them

This year I was so excited to have Christmas Eve off work. I was really worried that I would be put on that night shift because I didn't work any Holiday's last year...but I was lucky enough to have it off! It was wonderful to be able to assemble everything and play my role at night, followed by waking up in the morning and experiencing Santa's visit through my childrens eyes. Then it was a busy, busy day. First we looked at our loot and then ran to get ready. We made it over to the in-laws by 10am because Uncle Brett was calling from the mission. We ate breakfast, talked with the Uncle in Italy, and opened presents with them for a few hours and then headed over to the second grandparents house. We had more food, opened more presents and watched the kids run around at my parents before it was time to head home for a few hours of sleep. I was able to get maybe 1.5 hours sleep before we had to wake up again to get ready and go back to the Toronto's (in-laws) house for dinner. I brought all my work stuff with me and left from their house for another night shift at work :( I worked the next few nights so that was it for a Christmas for me. I am just so grateful I was able to have a little over a week off of work before Christmas. It was HEAVENLY to be able to shop, play, cook, clean, and spend time with family.

Miss M's Santa pile

Robby eating "candy candy candy" as he puts it

Eli had his first try at candy canes and seemed to LOVE it

Eli all ready for the day in his new Christmas outfit. Every year I like buying at least one new outfit for each child to wear on Christmas

Some of the madness at my parents house opening presents

This picture of Maddie kills me.....she seriously looks like she could be ten years old aaaghhh! I am NOT ready for my children to grow up

Eli's favorite things this year were Candy Canes, bows, Christmas ornaments, and wrapping paper