Tyler's Art

60 in January

I absolutely love where we live. Colorado is beautiful with un predictable weather. As they say here, wait 15 minutes and the weather will change. We went to my Mom's house today and spent a good 2 hours outside in light jackets. Fabulous!

Tyler & Nana

This little man absolutely adores his Nana. He was tickled to death when she showed up for his class party.

A Few Fabulous Photos

Just adding a few photos of my little family. Life is fabulous and God is so good to us.

Tyler loves hats, puzzles, super heroes and garage sales. He's a little man after my own heart!

Little Liam is determined to get comfy in his swing.

Randy and Randi Keira at a really cool little restaurant, True Grit, in Ridgway, Colorado. The original movie filmed quite a few scenes there. 

Look at me! I'm squirmy!

Keira loved being a flower girl at her Auntie Joanna's wedding.

Tyler was all grins in his little tux walking down the isle as one of the ring bearers.

I can't believe this uploaded sideways, but I love the photo so it's staying. Liam is always holding his hands in front of him. We call him a "little Buddha".

Camping in Ridgway, Colorado. One of my favorite places. Full of special memories for me.

Again. Not sure why this uploaded sideways, but this is an early morning shot down at Memorial Park. We enjoyed the hot air balloon festival and some glazed doughnuts.

Recycled Band Aid

Poor Liam had his 2 month old shots yesterday. He was not a happy camper. The nurse went as far to say, " Wow, I haven't had one get this angry for quite a while!" His screaming got so bad later in the day, that I had to call my mom at work and ask her to rush to the store, buy some infant Advil and infant Tylenol and bring it home. After 3 hours of screaming his head off and a dose of Advil the crying finally eased. He ate a total of 4 times yesterday and slept the rest of the time away. *sigh* I hate vaccinations!

On another note, let me explain the title of this blog entry. Liam had his vaccinations and they put 3 band aids on his little chubby legs. They just happened to be "Captain America" band aids. Tyler went crazy over them.
He asked me first thing this morning, "Mama, when Liam's done using his band aid can I wear it?"
Of course, I just laughed and told him that the sticky side wouldn't work anymore and that he probably wouldn't want them because they had baby blood on them. Oh, the things children say!

Overwhelmed and Looking for the Finish Line

I am sitting here sipping my coffee and looking outside and I just realized, this is the first time in months that I have been able to sit in silence (except for the baby swing ticking away) and take a deep breath! Too bad it ends in about 5 minutes.

Life has been absolutely chaotic the last 2 months. Not necessarily bad, just chaotic. Liam was welcomed into this world the last of May. We painted and readied the house for my second Mom, Kathy, the first week of June. We entertained Kathy the second and third week of June. The third week of June, I started watching the Watz children again and my Nana had a massive stroke. The fourth week Nana decided she wanted to dance with Jesus and Gramp Art. Randy ruptured his distal bicep tendon and worker's comp decided to be difficult. July came. The first week of July family from California and Indiana flew in for Nana's Memorial--beautiful celebration of life that lasted 4 days! How I miss her voice. Confirmed with an MRI, Randy completely ruptured his distal bicep tendon and needs surgery ASAP.  July 7, Randy has his surgery. Tendon is fixed, but he is in a splint for 10 days (at the least). He has no use of his right hand--yes, he is right handed.

Yes, this 5 minute break is much needed and I regret that it ends soon. I will be plunged back into the craziness shortly, but first a few pictures for my "journal entry" and loyal followers.

Washing the chairs for Mommy. They had a blast! More to come on this project.

My little Rock star, Tyler. He is my precious miracle baby and is always smiling.

Randy's bicep before surgery. Notice the 2 inch gap between his bicep and his elbow? Yeah...that's not normal. It should be connected at the bend in his arm, not spaced.

Watching Sam's video slid show of Nana at her memorial. Great memories and many laughs.

Did I mention that Keira learned to ride her bike during this month? She was one determined little girl! We are very proud of her and her commitment to learn!

May 2011--A Few Memories and Projects

May 6th was my 30th birthday. My husband Randy did an excellent job getting my family together for a yummy BBQ. Being 9 months pregnant I decided to kick my feet up and relax while everyone played softball and cornhole. It was a great time! Interesting side note-->We had our first child the year Randy turned 30. We are having our 3rd and last child the year I turned 30!

Poor Tyler being framed! If he could paint that nicely (let alone write his name) I would have him enrolled in a professional art school! Randy has taken on the challenge of remodelling our "froggie" bathroom. It's well overdue for a paint job and new floor. Hopefully, I can post more pictures down the road as he works on the room.

Randy has been taking Tyler outside to the garage to help work on a few of his projects. This is Tyler's "house" that he built, while Daddy's picnic table sits in the background.

Tyler watching himself dance in the mirror. He LOVES to dance and isn't too shabby at it!

Of course I have to add a photo of Randy's finished picnic table! Isn't it beautiful?! We are going to have some great meals at that table. I can foresee it now!

Daddy's Arm is Gone!

My son's imagination can definitely run wild when he desires.
To set the stage...my husband was off for the day and decided to take a nap in our room. After feeding all of the children their lunches, I sent them to the potty and their assigned rooms. (I care for my friend's children and they each get their own bed/room.) Tyler is assigned to my room.He went to his bedroom, grabbed his pillow and a toy and proceeded with the task of going to sleep in "mama's bed".

I was down stairs cleaning up the kitchen before finalizing nap time and heard a blood curdling scream. Of course, this 7.5 month pregnant mama, bolts (if one in their 3rd tri-mester can move that quickly) up the stairs thinking that something horrible has happened to one of my babies! (Yes, I include the children I watch as my 'babies'. They have simply won over my heart!)

Tyler is running down the hallway screaming and crying saying, "His arm! His arm is cut off! His arm!"
All I can think of is, "Whose arm? Paige's? Chloe's? Are the girls okay Tyler?"

And start heading toward the girls rooms. When I crack their doors open, they seem nice, safe and snug in their beds, just with confused looks on their faces.

Tyler keeps screaming, "His arm! Mama, his arm!"

By now, I'm thoroughly confused wondering who "he" is....Miles was downstairs in his bed asleep. (How he managed to sleep through all of this I'm still unsure!)
Then I remembered! My husband, Randy, home for the day and must be in our room. I quickly go into our room to check on my husband only to find him under the covers snoozing away...with only his arm sticking out of the blankets.
I turned to Tyler and said, "Tyler, are you talking about Daddy?"
He screams, completely scared out of his poor little mind, "YES! His arm His arm!"

I tried to pick Tyler up to show him that Daddy is only sleeping, but he jumped out of my arms and about fell down the stairs. By now I was trying desperately not to pee my pants laughing. Poor Tyler with a confused look on his face and tears down his eyes obviously wondering why Mom isn't taping Daddy's arm back in place or calling for help.

After much hugging and holding, I was able to calm him down enough to lead him back into the room and show him that Daddy was only sleeping and his arm was 100% attached to his body. Randy, not much help until now, rolled over assuring Tyler that he's quite okay and that Tyler should snuggle up on Mommy's side to take his nap. Tyler, with his adorable nervous laugh and a big cheezy grin, crawled up on my side of the bed and cuddled with his pillow to take his nap.

Awe Struck

I don't remember every taking note of my belly when I was pregnant with Tyler and Keira. I know that sounds horrible, but if you were around, I was extremely ill and never thought I should study my belly. The other night while getting ready for bed, I caught my reflection and just dropped everything! I can't believe how big my stomach is! It is magnificent! I ran to the top of the stairs to show off my pride and joy to my husband who was also stunned by the size my belly has gotten this time around. When I started the 'trek' back to the room, my son Tyler called me into his room for a hug and kiss. I walked in, he flipped over to look at me and was instantly stricken with awe! The look on his little face was priceless: jaw dropped open, eyes wide, and a gasp! He proceded to say, "MAMA! You're belly is huge!" All I could do was laugh. He then asked me if God was going to let his "baby" in his arm get as big as my baby in my belly. (He believes that he has a baby growing in his arm.) I let him down softly and informed him that his "baby" wouldn't get much bigger. The conversation continued for five more minutes with his little eyes as huge as saucers the entire time. I love my little man. :)
On another note, the girls that I watch crack me up on a regular basis. They are so good for my heart.
I was taking them to our weekly circle time at the local Chic-fil-a and asked them, "Can Ms C.j. take a nap and drive at the same time? I'm so tired!"
Paige was quick to say, "No, I think that's a bad idea. You're so silly Ms C.j."
To which I replied, "yeah you're probably right. It would be a bad choice. I could cause a wreck and hurt a bunch of people."
"Yeah! Let's do it!" replied Chloe.
Cue Ms. Cj's laughter. :D

Well those are the great memories of the week. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!

Counting and Ice Cream

We were sitting around the table the other night talking about our day(s). Randy said he was walking out to the car and heard Tyler just counting away, the little booger! "7....8....9...." Mind you, we've been working on Tyler's counting for years with no luck. It is always..."1.....2.....1!!!! I did it!"
Well, as Randy was telling his story, Tyler commentted, "I do it again!"
Of course we encouraged him and gave him the spot light. I was estatic! My son was finally going to count to 10 for me!
Tyler holds up his fingers and counts..."1...2...3...4...10! I did it!!"
Yeah, to say the least my excitement vanished, but then...
Tyler says, "Now I do it backwards!"
The family replies, "yeah! do it Tyler!"
Tyler..."1....2....3....4....10!!! See I did it!"
Cue laughter and applause. 

On another note a friend of mine posted a blog about single ingredient icecream! Impossible...right? I'm all over it the next time I have some overly riped bananas! Check it out here. Oh and while you're at it, check out all of her other recipes--yummilicious!

way too long

It has been way too long...I know. And I'm sorry.
I've been watching 3 adorable little kiddos since last March and my creative time has been reduced drastically! This weekend I did get a few things done, that I've been wanting to complete.
1. My Roman blinds now have a liner hiding the back side of them--so my husband has stopped complaining about their "ghetto" look.
2. I went yardsaling and found some AWESOME deals. An old mirror=$1, a butcher top rolling island=$7, a sweet chalk board=.25, pillows for my couch=$1, and some sweet crates that I'm using as book shelves!
3. I've started refurbishing my parents cabinets! Yes, the dark ugly cabinets are going to a nice white glaze. Mom and Dad have been so wonderful to Randy and I this spring and I wanted to give back to them, so this is my next HUGE project that I'm taking on.
4. I'm on the hunt for some "French" inspired fabric....white and dark brown or white and black theme. Until I find the fabric, I don't want to work anymore on my new favorate chair. Yes, it's pink for now, but not for long!
There are SO many other things going on, but they are not quite finished/started. Depending on how you look at it.
Keira is now 6 years old, crazy about Mickey Mouse, and in first grade! My little girl is REALLY growing up quickly. My 5th project will probably be her room. I may change it one of these fall weekends to Mickey Mouse as a suprise for her.
Tyler is attending preschool 4 times a week for free. Sometimes, I love our government! He's receiving 3 therapies through the Child Find program. This also gives me one day a week of alone time for about 3 hours!
Besides that, I'm looking into P90X. I just finished the Insanity work out and need something new to grab my attention and keep my body in shape.
I hope this quick update finds everyone well. God bless!

Constant Changes

This week has been full of Changes. All good! Tyler had his dental work completed today. Today was the first time he didn't throw a fit around doctors! He was cool and collected. After he woke up he was a bit grumpy but who wouldn't be after being "knocked out"?

Below his the "before" photo. He was one happy little boy!

The second change that stands out is the antique chair I refurbished. Do you remember it? It used to be white! I thought the black looked a LOT better. :)

I hope this blog finds you well and your life full of positive changes! Take care and as always email me if you have questions. :)

J is for Jaguars!

I watch two little girls along with my son Tuesday thru Friday and I'm always looking for cute little projects for them to complete. I hate not developing skills and doing creative art or science. Three year olds are so easy to entertain. Something that seems ridiculously easy to us can be very educational to them! For example--melting ice in a cup. Who knew that ice was actually water when it gets really really cold? I know I didn't! (Insert sarcasm obviously.) When my friend told me about this awesome website, "Totally Tots", I fell in love! I was already completing science projects and making up my own "letter of the day" projects, but Totally for Tots made it much much easier.

Last week's "letter of the day" was "J". We used "J" for jumping, jungle, jaguar, and jack-rabbit. (note: get 3 three year olds trying to jump in one room--hilarious!) I decided to try out "Totally for Tots" "J" project. Here are the results.

I'm poor and didn't have foam so I adapted and used construction paper. The children loved the project and at one point said "This is kinda hard!" (They had to use pincher fingers a developing technique for all three of them!)

                    I started with drawing a simple block "J" and then little heads to go with them.

Then I dug out my trusty hole puncher and started punching holes for the Jaguar's spots. 

Now that's a lot of holes!

 This is my son Tyler. He thought this was a great project and quickly put black dots all over his Jaguar!

What a ham!

 For the tails I cut off of piece of short yarn from my knitting and had them thread it for the tail. Make sure you tie a knot in the back or use tape to hold it in place. I normally keep their projects hanging in my home for a while, but they loved their Jaguars so much they took them home the same day!