Merry Day After Christmas!

Hello family and friends! I hope that your Christmas holiday was as great as ours! We have been so blessed this year. Although it was hard to be away from both of our families this year, it was so much fun to spend Christmas at our own house and start to make some of our own traditions. Thankfully we are also surrounded by great friends who help to fill the void of family.

We took this cute little family picture after all gifts had been opened on Christmas morning. Kyle was SO happy! Yesterday was definitely a good day in his little book of life! Seriously, how much better can it get for a little one with the attention span of a knat? He got to open a gift, play with it for 30 seconds to a minute loose attention, and then get to open something new! We were afraid that he was going to be overwhelmed, but that wasn't the case. It was fun to see him so excited. Holidays are getting more and more fun as he gets older.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas this year was that Scott had a four day weekend! It was so much fun to have him home with Kyle and I. We really just enjoyed each other, played, shopped and cleaned as a family. It was great. Scott totally stepped up this whole weekend and helped extra with cleaning and errands and such. He really helped to make MY holiday so enjoyable. Thanks babe! I love you.

Blackmail!!....

One day when these two are older...this picture could come in all kinds of handy!

My childhood Best Friend, Jamie, and her daughter, Brynlee, spent this last weekend at our house. We had SUCH A GREAT TIME! (The kids not so much.)

Jamie and I have been friends longer than either of us can remember. Literally! We lived across the street from each other until 7th grade, and then they moved just a few miles away after that. Through attending different middle schools, high schools, boyfriends, college, a mission (Jamie), marriages, giving birth to children, and living on opposite ends of the country, we've managed to still stay great friends. It's not very often that you get to have a life-long friend.

Jamie's daughter Brynlee is turning two at the end of this month, and we haven't seen each other for over a year, so we figured we'd better take advantage of her flying free and get them out here for a quick visit. It was so worth any hassle it might have been. Jamie and I had a great time catching up, reminiscing, crying on each others shoulders, and just enjoying being together. We really didn't "do" much, no site seeing that is, but it was great. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Kyle and Brynlee found it impossible to get along...enough said! (Oh, except for the three minute window that this picture was taken of them in the tub on Sunday morning together. Jamie and I couldn't resist taking the shot. They'll kill us for it one day!)

Here is my quick blast from the past photo. It was taken our Senior year in high school. Is that matching shirts you think you see? Yep! You're not mistaken. We were dorky that way, but we also went to different high schools so it didn't matter if we had some of the same clothes. (We actually only had these because we went to a Garth Brooks concert earlier in the year together and wanted to dress alike.)


I love ya James! Thanks for the visit and thanks for being such a great friend.

Thanksgiving Week Advendures

This last Thanksgiving holiday was one of the best I can remember yet! It was actually a whole week of fun adventures and outings.

The fun began the Saturday before Thanksgiving, November 17th, with Scott's parents flying into town from Utah. They didn't get in until late in the evening, so when Kyle woke up on Sunday morning and I told him to go into the guest bedroom to see Grandma and Grandpa, he was SO EXCITED! And so the spoiling began!

After attending stake conference on Sunday we came home, ate dinner and headed off to Williamsburg, VA. (Scott and I have been there a few times, but we've never taken Monte and Sherry.) Our awesome friends and neighbors, the Arnolds, let us borrow their mini-van so that we could ride in comfort. We got Kyle all settled in his pack-n-play for bed time in our motel room and then went to the room next door to play much awaited games. (I promise we weren't irresponsible parents just leaving Kyle in the room by himself. We made sure to have rooms that are literally next to each other and had a door connecting them on the inside. Along with that we had a baby monitor.) Pinochle and Settlers of Catan were the games of choice that evening. (And every other evening they were here!)

On Monday morning we got up and headed into Historic Williamsburg for site-seeing and shopping. It was an overcast day, but not too cold, and there weren't too many other tourists there, so it was totally enjoyable.

After enjoying Williamsburg all we could, we headed over to Jamestown to watch the glass blowing demonstrations. (Which is one of my favorite things to do down there. It is SO interesting to see the people make glassware right there in front of your eyes, they are so talented.) Kyle's favorite thing was to toss rocks into the river!

The day ended with an uneventful yet enjoyable drive back to Bealeton.

The next two days were spent playing games, Kyle getting undivided attention from Grandma and Grandpa, grocery shopping for the big day, preparing any food that could be prepared in advance, and baking pies. (The pie part was Sherry's job, she did a GREAT job!) Our Aunt Wendy's family drove up from North Carolina on Wednesday to join us for Thanksgiving too! (Wendy is Scott's Mom Sherry's baby sister.)

Thanksgiving dinner was pulled off without a hitch! I was in charge of the main dishes (the Turkey, stuffing, gravy, and sweet potatoes) and I had Scott's mom and aunt in charge of rolls, mashed potatoes, and a fruit salad. Other than the Turkey taking about half an hour longer to bake than I expected, our dinner was AWESOME!

(Aunt Wendy & family sitting at our pretty table!)

Friday began VERY early for me! (In more ways than one) Kyle had a rough night and woke up a few times. (I'm thinking that he was just WAY TOO overstimulated. He is deinitely not use to six extra bodies in our house, two of whom are playing with all his toys!) I was out the door by 5:30 AM to hit JoAnn's 'Black Friday' doorbuster sales. I just couldn't pass up the $.99 cent/yd flannel. It was my first time doing the whole early morning doorbuster thing, but it was pretty fun and my trip to JoAnn's was successful! I got a ton of material for an unbeatable price. Luckily I was one of the first people in the doors and I knew exactly what I wanted, so 28 bolts of flannel later I was cut and out the door by 6:45 am! (Yes, you read that right, 28 different bolts of material. It's officially an obsession.) I was home by 7:10 am and as happy as could be! Scott's mom and aunt Wendy got up soon after and then we headed out again around 8:30 or so to hit a few other doorbuster sales up in Manassas. Overall, it was a fun day, but I was EXHAUSTED when it was all over! Luckily we had plenty of leftovers from our Thanksgiving dinner and we had that for dinner again.

Aunt Wendy and her family took off on Saturday morning. We were watching our friend's son for the weekend (Jack is one of Kyle's best buddies), and wanted to get out to do something fun. We ended up going to Great Falls Ntl. Park (the VA side), and had a great time. (Any of you who live in the area and haven't been there yet need to go check it out. It it totally inexpensive to go, and a fun outing for the kids and family.) Kyle and Jack loved climbing on the rocks and were totally mesmerized by all the falls. We even lucked out an got to see a couple of kyakers (I have no idea how to spell that and it is so far off that the spell check isn't even giving me ideas, sorry.) go over the falls. AMAZING!


Needless to say, after all our adventures during the week, Sunday, a day of REST, was very welcomed.

Scott's parents left on Wednesday, Nov 28th. We had such a great visit with them. One of the best I can ever remember. It was so much fun to have them for a week and a half. The length of time was just perfect...not too long, not too short. It only took Kyle a few days to warm up to them. He so enjoyed their visit that when they got out of the car at the airport he totally melted and started balling calling for Grandma and Grandpa. It was heartbreaking. I'm not sure we'll be able to top this Thanksgiving Holiday for years to come!

The next John Stockton...

This is a little shot that we like to call 'The Lazy Lay-Up"!



Kyle's Grandma and Grandpa Walters got this hoop for him when he turned two. He plays with it all the time and had actually gotten decently good. He hits this particular shot 8 out of 10 times! It cracks me up every time. There is just something oddly funny about shooting baskets while chillin' in the window seal.

This second video is inspired by my friend Jamie (Russell Family Blog) who posted an adorable video of her daughter (22 months old) rockin' out at their Halloween party. I just couldn't resist capturing Kyle's dancing on film as well. His new style is all about the head bang. (We have no idea where he came up with this, but it's pretty funny.)

Favorite Appliance!

Seriously, how much better can it get than being able to cook three sheets of cookies at once? I LOVE my convection oven!! Is it bad to say that one of my most favorite things about our house is the convection oven? It's great!

I pretty much use it for cooking everything but bread and cakes. It cooks things much faster and preheats in about half the time as well. Not only does it cook things quicker, but because the fan is circulating you can cook on all the racks and still get even heat. It has changed my view on baking cookies...because I can do a batch in 1/3 of the time that I use to be able to! No more cooking one sheet, and then the next, and so on. The only draw back is that like I said I can't use it for cakes or bread, because it cooks the outside too fast so the insides don't get the chance to cook.

I am totally looking forward to using my double oven to it's full capacity this Thanksgiving. I can cook my Turkey and stuffing in one oven, and rolls and pie and whatever else needs to be cooked in the other. It should be fun! (Yes, I realize that I'm pathetic saying it will be 'fun' to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but what can I say? I enjoy it!)

By the way, the cookies that are in the picture in the oven are THE BEST! Most of you who read this have already made them and love them as much as I do (I got the recipe, if you can call it a recipe, from Lynette following last month's card swap that I participate in.) If you haven't had them yet...give them a try, they're a cakewalk to make and taste fabulous!!

Low-Fat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 box Spice Cake Mix
1 15 oz. can 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/2 to 3/4 bag of Semi-Sweet chocolate chips
*Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix and pumpkin until WELL mixed. Add chocolate chips and mix. Drop by the teaspoon full onto uncreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until done.
(They don't make the 'prettiest' looking cookies, but they are so good that it's almost impossible to stop at just one!)

Ice Ispeees Chaleese......

Translation - Rice Krispies Please!!! This is Kyle's current food of choice. Nope, I don't even sweeten it with sugar or honey, and the kid LOVES them. He would have a bowl of 'ice ispeees' at least five times a day (okay, probably even more) if I let him. Bummer for him, I'm determined to not let him be a picky eater, so he only gets them for breakfast. What's amazing is that he can eat a 'man size' bowl of them! For those of you who have been with us from the beginning of his little life, you realize how great this is...yes, he is actually ASKING for food! I couldn't resist taking this cheezy picture of him this morning. He was so cute in his blanket sleeper overjoyed because he was eating his 'ice ispeees'!

On to Halloween...
Everybody has been posting such cute pictures of their little ghosts and goblins. I love seeing how everybody chooses to dress up themselves and their children...and the children who are old enough to choose for themselves! Halloween is such a fun holiday.

Anyway, I decided to make Kyle's costume again this year...

Destructo Boy
(Kyle's true alter ego!)

We get to meet 'Destructo Boy; every day at about 7:00 PM. He's had the nick-name for about a year now. Everytime destructo boy made his appearance this costume is what I imagined! Luckily he LOVED wearing it! It was pretty fun to watch him run around with the cape billowing in the wind behind him...it cracked us up every time.

These are a few other photos from our Halloween adventures...Trunk-or-Treating with our neighbors at their church.

*Halloween Night*

This is a picture of Kyle taking candy from our neighbors candy dish...over, and over, and over. We were all cracking up he kept helping himself one piece at a time in a effort to fill up elmo! (We gave the candy back...Kyle doesn't even like it!)

After trick-or-treating was done. Kyle and his buddy Jack Gledhill ran around our house racing their cars getting out every last bit of energy in their little bodies!

I've been tagged!

My friend Lindsey Bay tagged me...

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
* I was a Junior in High School (my fav. year in High School too Linsday!)
* Cheerleading for our not so good high school football team
* Falling down on a muddy field in front of a whole stadium full of fans during our Homecoming game half-time show. (that's a story I'll have to share later...it was HILARIOUS!)
* Clogging on a championship level team
* Being totally boy crazy!

5 things on my To-Do List today:
* Wash whites!
* Buy sandpaper
* Reach my goal of taking at least 10,000 steps (I've got a pedometer - Scott and I are doing this together)
* Take out the trash and sweep the kitchen floor
* Spend quality time and play with Kyle

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
* Save a bundle of it & make some trust funds for my child/future children
* Pay my house off
* Buy Scott a new car (so that he doesn't have to keep driving his little neon...it's not the most manly vehicle but he's a trooper!)
* Hire a maid service. At least somebody to come clean my bathrooms weekly!!
* Take a cruise on the Mediterranean

5 things I'll never wear again:
* Anything that shows my belly (not a pretty sight after pregnancy!)
* Pleather pants...yep! I had a pair in High School!
* Knit uni (I think that is what they were called. Do you remember them from the mid 80's? Those one piece knit outfits that you wear with layered waist bands. Those rocked!)
* Layered socks (why did I ever think it was cool to wear multiply layers of colored socks?)
* Anything florescent

5 favorite toys:
* Cricut Expressions die-cutting machine
* Computer
* Sewing Machine
* All my stamps
* Settlers game

5 people to tag:
* Lynette L
* Rebecca B
* Melissa J
* Melissa L
* Mary C

You're It!!

I'm not usually into these, but it was fun to do! Participate it you'd like!

A little something for myself!

I've been doing a LOT of sewing lately. Preparations for Christmas gifts has begun, a few birthday gifts here and there, and I'm also getting ready for 'craft fair season!' Anywho, none of it has been for me to keep. I decided to take some time out today and do something just for me!

I'm in Halloween mode. Not that I necessarily love the actual Halloween holiday itself, but I LOVE all the fun decorations. Halloween stuff is so cute and fun. I don't have a whole lot of it, so I made a little something. I drew up this pattern yesterday for a Bat table runner and it actually worked out how I planned! It was super fun and easy to sew, and I think it turned out great. (Not to toot my own horn or anything, but trying to live in Lynette's shadow is tough. *Sigh* Maybe one day I'll be as good of a seamstress as her!)

Whew! Time flies when your having fun!

It's been WAY TOO LONG since I've blogged last. I can definitely say we've had a lot of fun and done a LOT of traveling in the past TWO months...

Air Miles Traveled: 4100
Car Miles Traveled: 2464
States We've been in: 8 (not including flight lay-overs!)
Arizona, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia
Naps taken in the Pack-n-Play: 32
Berry Picking: twice

Whew! I think things are going to start simmering down a bit. We're pretty worn out, the house work has gone by the way-side, but we've had a BLAST! Kyle has held up really well (for being a terrible two.)

I can't wait to download our pictures and video's from this summer to share! Stay posted!

An evening at the Fair!

We were so excited to get to the County Fair this year. Now that we live out in the sticks it seems only natural to spend Friday night at the fair! We went with our neighbors, the Arnolds. The fair itself was seriously lacking (especially after having to pay $10 each for entrance), but at least Kyle did thoroughly enjoy the petting zoo. We probably won't go out of our way next year to attend, but at least now we know! If nothing else, we ended up with a few fun photo ops! (Always the scrapbooker in me shining bright!)

Speaking of scrapbooking, I'll have to post a few more the the LO's I have finished lately. I've still got the bug. I honestly think that by the end of the year I'll be all caught up with Kyle's book. I never thought I'd be able to say that, but I'm crusin!

The count down is on...we leave in six days for Utah!

Big Boy!

Kyle is Two!

Okay, so he's been two for almost a month now, but I'm finally just getting around to blogging it! He had such a fun birthday. Both Scott and I were gone to Girls Camp/Scout Camp, but Grandma Sandy spoiled him rotten! (Luckily he didn't have a clue as to which day was his actual birthday.) Once we got back we had a little Birthday BBQ with all of his little friends on our street and their families. Lynette and Carson Loveridge made the drive down as well! We did the "Incredibles" theme for his party...

He got so many fun little gifts. Thank you to all of our friends and neighbors who helped to make his 2nd birthday a success!

Off to Girls Camp!

Tomorrow morning I am headed to the great outdoors for the week! I was asked to go to girls camp with our church's Young Women a few months ago, and it seemed to creep up on me rather quickly! It's 11:00 PM, and I think that I am finally ready. A little procrastination is good for the blood...isn't it? Something like that!

Below are just a few quick things that are on my mind before I head off for the week...

• I owe my sweet mom a HUGE thank you. She is watching Kyle for the week while I am off playing in the woods. Scott is actually going to be heading off for Scout camp Wed. - Sat. too, so she'll be all alone with Kyle for a few days...PRAY FOR HER!!
• An Update...I asked the girl today who's fish Kyle went Ninja on earlier in the week if it was still alive. Yep! It has survived with minimal trauma.
• Why do toddlers think that when they fall is will be more comfortable for their head to hit the ground first, rather than catching themselves with their arms or hands? Kyle took a 'good' header into the sidewalk this afternoon. He's got a HUGE goose-egg to show for it.
• Will my son be traumatized for life because I am missing his 2nd birthday? The only reason I ask is because I missed his 1st birthday last year due to girls camp. Hopefully this will be the last trip to girls camp for a few years! I'd like to be around for his actual birthday one of these years. Because I won't get to do it on his birthday, Happy Birthday to my sweet Kyle on the 28th. Mamma loves you.
• Wish me luck and good weather for the week!
  

We'll just call him Ninja Boy

Okay, I am going to do my best to re-create what happened earlier today, because it is simply unbelievable. I swear to you this is how it happened...

I had a meeting today at family's house that we go to church with. I obviously had to bring Kyle along. They have three teenagers that love Kyle to pieces, and he adores them too. Anywho, their mom put them in charge of Kyle for the duration of our meeting.

At this point I have to make a side note that this family has a bench seat in their family room, and they had an angel fish in a vase-like tank on top of the bench seat.

Back to the story... at one point I heard Kyle come up the stairs, but thought nothing of it because the teenagers were supposedly watching him. All of a sudden we heard a big THUD in the family room, but no crying. In my mommy mind I thought "huh, I wonder what Kyle tipped over" I hopped up super fast and ran into the family room. There I saw Kyle sitting on the floor with the fish vase (which had to weigh about 8 lbs. - 1/3 of Kyle's weight!) but no, it wasn't tipped over, it was sitting upright, and there was no water on the carpet. While frustrated that Kyle had been playing with the fish vase/tank, I was pretty impressed that he had gotten it down without tipping out the water. But then...I noticed that there was NO FISH INSIDE the tank. After some squeals on my part about the missing fish, and not being able to see it, one of the other ladies found it, I scooped it off the carpet with a cup, and helped it back into its water safe and sound. Here's the thing...Kyle's arms were wet, but I repeat, there was no spilled water.

The rundown:

• Kyle's arms are wet
• There was a fish outside it's bowl
• No water on the carpet or window seat

Put two and two together, and this is what we came up with. Kyle must have climbed up onto the window seat, busted out Ninja Boy and caught the fish with his bare hands, lost his grip on the fish, climbed down from the window seat, and then for whatever reason pulled the fish tank down to the floor (I'll add again, without spilling a drip of water!) From there we are not sure what he would have done, because that is where we found him...

Crazy!! The kid has talents we are just discovering! Who ever said a two-year old couldn't catch a fish with his bare hands?

Orioles Game...

We went...
We saw...
We enjoyed...
We experienced...
We got very very tired...Overall, we had a GREAT time! Kyle's first trip to a professional baseball game was a success. It wasn't until the combination of extreme tiredness (is that a word?) and super loud fireworks that he had a meltdown. I think that if Kyle could tell you in his own words what he loved about the game he would say "sacks!" (Which means snacks...He ate TONS!)

I've had the itch!

I am LOVING to scrapbook right now! I seem to go through spurts where I am feeling creative, and then other times theres nothin'! The last few weeks have been one of those spurts. In my free time it's all I want to do. (Which is a bad thing for my laundry piles, kitchen counter, and bathrooms.) I am really chugging through Kyle's pictures. While I am only through the first six month of his life, I am definitely making progress. The photos below are of just a few of the layouts I have done recently. They are from December 2005/January 2006.

Maybe this post will give some of you talented ladies the itch too!

A "Real" Hero

I wanted to pay a special tribute to my Great-Uncle Milt. We took the opportunity a couple of months ago to visit his niche at Arlington National Cemetary.

You know in elementary, middle, and highschool how you always have to write papers and reports about your 'heros'? My Uncle Milt was usually who I chose to write about. He truly is a hero to me and our country. He was a pilot in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...and lived to tell about them. I am so thankful that we have/had such brave individuals like my Uncle who fight for the freedoms we enjoy in this great nation.

Beatin' the Heat!

When the temperature gauge reaches a steamy 100 degrees, and the humidity feels thick as rain, what do you do? Go to the water park!!

We had a blast yesterday afternoon. Kyle is a fish without gills - a.k.a. he LOVES the water! Even more than that, he loves the water slides going into the water. The kid has no fear.

We went to SplashDown Water park with a few of our friends yesterday afternoon. Scott was also able to meet us there after he got off of work. We had a fun family and friends outing and all the kids had a great time. Kyle's little friends...

Jack Arnold
and Amelia Hutchinson

We are lucky to have such awesome neighbors with kids the same age as Kyle. It helps that all of us adults are the best of friends as well! Anyway, the water park has a couple slides for the kids, a great play area with mushroom sprinklers and fountains, etc., six or so slides for adults, a lap pool, and a nice big lazy river. We actually got a season pass yesterday, so we'll be back often! - One of the awesome benefits of going to the water park is that it totally wipes out the kids, and they all sleep like rocks through the night.

Here are a few more fun pictures from our outing...

Angie, Scott, Lee, Kyle & Jack

Scott & Kyle after climbing the water net... Kyle can do it all by himself!

E - I - E - I - O !

Sister Seely had a farm, E - I - E - I - O!
And on that farm she had a Turkey, E - I - E - I - O.

And some goats, E - I - E - I - O

And a cow, and some chickens, doggies, horses, and more!

We had the opportunity to go to a super fun play group last week. The nursery leader at our church lives on a farm, and she invited all the little ones out to her farm to see, pet, and play with all her animals. The kids had so much fun. Kyle LOVES animals, so he was in heaven. The only problem that we had was that he desparately wanted to ride a goat...? Yep, a goat. For whatever reason as soon as we got into the goat pen he kept trying to climb on top of them. We obviously put a stop to it, but it was amusing to watch. It is times like that, that I wish we could read the little minds of our children. What could possibly make him think... hhuumm, I think I'd like to get on top of this goat!?

Proud of my girl!

Miss Amy Ferguson is now officially a high school graduate! She invited Kyle and I (Scott couldn't get out of work) to her commencement ceremony, and then out for a celebratory dinner. We are so proud of our Amy!

I realized how much of a mommy I've become, and how much I must dearly love Amy when I actually shed a tear or two when she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. She is such a great girl, we all adore her. Amy is one of Kyle's most favorite girls. We sure are going to miss her when she heads off to BYU-Idaho for college in the fall.

Whew! I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged. Time just seems to get away from me these days. Today is literally one of the first days that I feel like I have a minute or two to myself. Between my new calling at church, main street festival (a few weeks ago), craft projects, and my sweet Kyle...extra time is not something that I find in excess! Time management skills take on a whole new meaning with a busy toddler!

I am excited to be back on the blogging circuit! We have lots to catch up on, so check back often!

Visitors from Utah!

Scott's parents, Monte and Sherry - a.k.a. Grandpa and Grandma, left for home on Monday after a wonderful visit. We had such an enjoyable time, it was unbelieveable! We didn't necessarily do a ton of busy touristy things, just mainly enjoyed eachothers company and had a good time doing so. We were able to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival one afternoon, and we drove down to Winston-Salem, NC for Easter weekend (to spend it with Sherry's sister's family who recently moved there from Washington state.)

We put Scott's dad, Monte, to work while he was here. He helped us to get some suspended shelving and a workbench constructed in the garage. We can't wait to get it all organized! Our goal is to have the garage all cleaned out by the end of the week!

Kyle learned a few fun things during their trip...

Bumpa = Grandpa
Gama = Grandpa
we we we = The fifth piggie when playing five little piggies on his toes!
Nana (sounds like nay-nay) = Our cousin in NC, Natalie
KC = KC or Kevion or other cousin in NC
Egggg = egg (refencing our easter egg hunt)

I am sure there were other things... but these were by far the cutest!

Cherry Blossom Festival

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want it - oh, you do't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so.
~Mark Twain

A glimpse into our summer!

Kyle has only been wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts for about a week now. All his little bumps and scrapes have happened at different times...I figure this is par for the course! He really isn't that klutsy, he just plays hard! I must say that he's a tough little guy, little or no crying!

Boys will be boys!

The Meltdown...

Okay seriously, it does not get too much funnier than this...

This morning Kyle and Scott were playing with his new red ball (you know, those rubber ones that are about a foot in diameter and cost a $1.50 at Wal-Mart.) Scott had to take a quick time-out to change Kyle's diaper. His bum was a little red, so Scott let him run around for a few minutes naked (Kyle's favorite thing) to air out. As I am sure you all know what is coming next, Kyle stopped for a minute and started to take a wiz. I of course gasped, Scott started laughing, and Kyle completely lost his composure and started balling (standing in place in all his glory). Not because we were mad (it was our fault for not putting a diaper right back on) - you see the problem was, he had pee'd right on his red ball and was devastated that it was dripping wet. It honestly took us at least ten minutes to calm him down. All the while we were cracking up about his total meltdown regarding the ball...

Lesson learned:
The $1.50 red ball is the most important thing in Kyle's life right now.
The red ball must not get wet (being pee'd on or otherwise) to avoid meltdown.
Stain protector carpet is worth the extra money!

New Trike!

Kyle is stylin' with his new set of wheels! I figured that we could get by without buying Kyle a tricycle until his birthday...I caved! The weather has been BEAUTIFUL this week, and we just don't have too many outside toys yet. This trike is awesome! The bar on the back is so nice to have because I can push and steer him while he is tring to figure it out, but once he's got it down, it is super easy to remove. His little legs aren't quite long enough to really pedal, but he loves to sit on it and 'ride'. I took him down to the library and back this afternoon and he was happy as a clam. (as opposed to crying while trying to get out of his stroller)

Amazing Race

So, It's time to admit that we are Amazing Race junkies! It is such a fun show to watch, and Scott and I always have to comment on what we would do differently/better, etc. If nothing else, it is entertaining.

Can you belive that Rob and Amber got the boot tonight? We were definitely surprised. The way they were editing the show you'd have thought there was the Amazing Race, and then there was Rob and Amber's Amazing Race. You know what I mean? Anyway, I just wanted to share my thoughts...but I'm a dork!

Night Out

On Friday night Scott and I got to go on a date! This is monumental, because we haven't been able to do so since before 'the move'. (We've really miss all the wonderful young women from the Laurel ward who were such great babysitters.) Our neighbors, the Arnolds, watched Kyle for the evening so we could go out to dinner. Their son Jack is two, and Kyle and Jack get along really well. He had a GREAT time playing at their house, and we had a very nice evening out.

Thanks to a gift certificate we won last weekend at our ward chili cook-off, we went to a super nice restaurant in Warrenton called Claires at the Depot. Nice restaurant in Warrenton? Yep! It's true! Even in the stix we have nice places! We're talking NICE. I kid you not, we would compare the food quality to that of Ruth's Chris. It was AWESOME! I know that part of what made the dinner so enjoyable was that we got to go out just the two of us. It was a much needed.

Moral of the story...if you haven't done so in a while, grab a babysitter and enjoy dinner out with your hubby. Most likely, you'll enjoy yourselves quite a bit!

Black and Blue...??

Maybe purple. Play group was rough on Kyle!

My neighbor, Angie, hosted a play group at her house yesterday. There were tons of kids there both from her church as well as a handful from the neighborhood. Overall, a great time was had by all. Kyle loved playing with all Jack's toys and the other kids. Towards the end he took a tumble right onto a toy train. The picture was taken after we had been home for a while, so it doesn't quite do justice to how it looked right after it happened, but he got a pretty nice looking shiner. He only cried for a minute or two. I was proud of my tough little guy. I realize that this little injury (if we can call it that) is just one among many to come, but I thought it was pretty cool to share.

P.S. The redness spread throughout the night. This morning it looks like he got in a fight with one of his buddies! We'll just tell people that "they should see the other guy!"

Puddle Jumpin'

All of that snowfall from Sunday made some mighty fun puddles when the sun came out today! It was so warm that we had to take advantage of the great outdoors. Kyle had a blast just being a boy! He jumped in puddles for over an hour and a half. (It would have been longer if the darn sun wouldn't have gone behind the clouds!) It was one of my first mommy experiences where I held myself back from being too overprotective and let him just have a good ole' time. He was soaking wet from the waist down, and loving every minute of it! This toddler stuff is so much fun!

I have to apologize for the video angle. Dumb me shot it like I was taking a picture, not realizing that I couldn't just rotate the video. It was such cute footage that I wanted to share...just turn your head on an angle!

Snow Day!

Yesterday sure turned out to be a fun day. I didn't realize until we woke up Sunday morning that it had been snowing throughout the night. Not just snow, but FUN SNOW! (And LOTS of it!) It is rare that snow out here is the wet sticky stuff that you can actually play in. After we ate a warm breakfast we bundled up and headed outside for some shoveling and playing. Kyle was a little unsure of the snow at first, but eventually he 'warmed' up to the idea and had a fun time. Before long, others in the neighborhood started coming out of their houses too. We ended up having quite the enjoyable morning playing outside and getting to know our neighbors better.

Bless his heart, I think Scott spent about 3 1/2 hours shoveling. First he shoveled our driveway, then headed over to start helping the Jensen's. Then he and Jared realized that one of our neighbors was outside all by herself trying to shovel her driveway in a dress so they helped her...then two other neighbors received the helping hands of Scott and Jared. They then finally went back to finish the Jensen's. In the mean time another two to three inches more had fallen on our driveway again, so he re-shoveled ours. Needless to say he was EXHAUSTED! He finally came in and took a nice long hot bath.

There was a point yesterday, after Kyle and I had come inside, that I looked outside and was overcome with some very strong feelings. It has been my dream since we've been married to live in a 'real house' in a 'real neighborhood'. I realized yesterday how truly thankful and blessed I am to be living where we are. Being in the back of the cul-de-sac we have a great vantage point down our whole street. All of the neighbors up and down the street were all out shoveling their driveways and walkways. Neighbors were helping neighbors, it was really neat. To somebody who has lived in a neighborhood environment for a long time, this may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was just awesome! What a beautiful sight. I really am so thankful for our new house and the opportunity we have to live in this neighborhood, and I pray that I never take it for granted.

Can He Build It? Yes He Can!

Saturday's at the Pugmire house are work days! We've been wanting to hang these shelves since we moved in, and have just now decided where to put them and how to do so. It was quite the ordeal, and Daddy's little helper wasn't exactly the best asset, but we were persistant and finally got them up. Scott is definitely a handy guy to have around! (For more reasons than handy work, that just happens to be what I am thankful for today.)