The Night Watches

The past week has been a busy one around our house!!! We recently acquired a new room in our house, when our dear friend and renter moved out after 2 years of living with us. We loved having her with us, but her departure came at an opportune time for us- as having two boys has led to our living room becoming overrun with toys! So the big project was to paint the room and move all the toys downstairs. This was a bigger task than it might sound, as the previous owner of the house painted this room purple and magenta- even the trim was painted! So a trip to Home Depot, few coats of primer and paint later, and a lot of moving things around, we have a playroom/office in the basement! It has made a huge difference in the whole house! Tyler loves his new space! We also gave Tyler his belated B-day gift- a tool bench complete with a workman's outfit... He loves playing tools with dada! We also rearranged all the furniture in the living room and it just seems so much more organized and b...

Time flies when you are busy, sleepy and having fun! Some pictures to commemorate the little boy turning 8 weeks old! He has gotten so big! I cant wait to weigh him when we go for his 2 month visit. But from my scale, he weighs 13 lbs already!!! Sheesh! I love those first smiles... still havent caught a big one on camera yet.. but they sure do make my day! I am playing with color in iPhoto here... my sweet boy.

So this was the dramatic moment of the day yesterday.... I came around the corner to hear Jack choking and gasping... only to pick him up and find a nickle in his mouth and a guilty Tyler running away.... Yikes! Praise God, it was only a moment of gasping for the baby and I was in the room to hear him! Having a toddler sure keeps things interesting! He is keeping me on my toes! I feel like I am constantly his body guard from Tyler!!! I am sure this is just the beginning of the mischievous things Tyler does, but what another great thing to teach me to trust in the Lord for my children's lives!

When I bought Tyler's snow boots this past December, I was hoping and praying that it would snow at least once this winter, so that they would not have been purchased in vain! Today I got my wish! If only his snow pants had arrived by now, but they did not.... so he ended up resembling the little boy from "Christmas Story." But boy did he have fun....

When I had Jack, a friend of mine brought over a yummy pasta dish that we loved. I asked for the recipe , but she said that it was prepared the way I tend to cook- Sans Recipe .... so after an inquiry of the main ingredients, I think we might have made something similar to what they brought us and it turned out just as yummy! The best thing, was that it was so easy, and such a nice change from the normal heavy pasta sauces, so, I wanted to share: 1 box Zitti /Rigatoni (any long noodle will do) 1-2 Chicken Breasts 1 Green Pepper - sliced 1 Handful of Sun dried Tomatoes- quartered (or more if you really like them) 3-4 Tbls Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste Garlic powder to taste Mascarpone Cheese Sour Cream Pine Nuts (optional- but I think they are a delicious addition) Cook noodles. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and saute in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and green peppers. Saute for a few more minutes. Add a large spoon full of mascarpone cheese and mix u...

As I sat on the couch, my left side of the front of my shirt covered with spit up, my hair pulled back in the remnants of a pony tail, my head stuffed up from a cold, a baby at my breast, and a toddler screaming from his room.... my eyes began to fill with tears. I begin to think, "I cannot do this. I cannot be patient, loving, kind, and carry on today." I am weary. I began to cry out to God- I had just read Psalm 4- and it helped...but the tears still came. This scene followed the most tempting grocery experience I have had in my life as a mom... two kids, one cart, and temper tantrums.... I started with Tyler pushing his own little cart- bad idea to begin with. The car seat balanced precariously on the handle bars and basket in the front of the cart... that had to change, so I put Tyler in the basket and Jack in the cart... now there is no room for the milk and toilet paper and other things we needed... "How in the world am I going to do this," I ask my self? Th...

My little baby is no longer in the newborn phase of life...he is getting so big and so precious to me. Tomorrow he will be 7 weeks old. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone by. How I love his little smiles, and the way he coos and "talks" to me. I am amazed how the my heart seems to grow each day I hold him. He has been a great subject for me to learn some of the functions of my camera on... the latest batch of sweetness... Oh I love this boy.

We spent the better part of an hour yesterday outside on a trike.. well, Tyler was on the trike, I was pushing it, and Jack was strapped into his Snugli! What a great Christmas gift this turned out to be! Tyler has loved every minute on his trike, and I am getting some good exercise walking around our neighborhood pushing him. Just some picts of my big boy on his new toy... oh how I am enjoying my new camera!!!

What do you think? Do you know which is which? Top is Jack, bottom Tyler!

The past two nice days have been a little bit of heaven for us! Being cooped up in the house has gotten a little tiresome for Tyler, so the opportunity to go outside and get dirty was a welcomed one for him. It started with a little running around in the front yard... where he found a mulch pile and laid down in it... thew it all over himself... that mess took approximately 5 minutes to occur! We are still trying to wash all of the dirt off of his scalp! After cleaning him up from that, I let him play on the back deck, while I made lunch. We have a hot tub, and it has accumulated a small pool of water on the cover. I came out to check on him after a few minutes, and he was hitting the water with a stick.. harmless I thought to my self... 5 minutes later this is what I found... A little stomping in the water couldn't be a bad thing.. so I let him keep playing. It was the first nice day in weeks... so I couldn't tell him no! Ah, but a moment later, he was laying down in the pool...

Loved this picture from last night... daddy gets home to be with his boys... I love it!

Last week we celebrated my big boys 2nd b-day! Here are some fun pictures of the celebrations! We did a joint b-day for Kenzie and Tyler- their birthdays are only 2 days apart! Then on Tuesday, we had a little party for Tyler with Grandma and Grandpa, balloons and all! Tyler LOVES balloons. That was really all the gift he needed. They entertained him for days afterwards! My mom always makes things as fun as she can for Tyler, complete with a silly hat! Tyler loved it! And he LOVES his Grandma! The birthday boy in his special hat! One of his gifts was a fun little costume - safari outfit. He is a cutie! Maybe it will still fit for the Harvest party next year! The costume came with some pretty cool shades! I made a banana cake with banana butter cream icing. It was super yummy and very moist! Tyler loved his cake! This concluded the present opening for the season! Thank goodness! We had so much celebrating the gift that Tyler is to us!

Tyler has been funny to watch as he learns to interact with Jack... below is a typical scenario we have had to monitor... but make me laugh so much! Tyler trying to share his apple... I turned my back for one minute and found a sticker on Jack's face... I asked Tyler to lay down next to Jack... it was quite entertaining... I had to protect Jack more than anything... but the boys faces in these are fun... Many more fun times to come. It seems Tyler is excited to be able to play with Jack.. he tries to play catch with him, hold him, and play peek-a-boo with him... we are so happy he likes his little brother! 6 weeks old today! My how time flies!