Ohio trip and Birthday fun......

Makenna celebrated her 11th birthday on Monday. She saw all three of her grandmas and got exactly what she wanted, peanut butter and money. Unfortunately she also got a trip to Grandma's local Urgent Care for a severe headache and rash that spread over most of her face and body. She is finally on the mend this evening.

Ty was also celebrated at Grandma Carol's. Greg saw his surgeon and is happy to report he doesn't have to go back for another year. I spent an evening with my friends and enjoyed the relaxing time out. We saw old neighbors and distant relatives. The older girls went on a brief shopping trip with Greg's mom and we all saw our favorite beautician, Miss Beth. Our nephews stayed with us. All in all, it was a good couple of days.

Brennen is swimming now...and loves being free of his life vest

Ty was not sure about the water this year and hung out on the side lines rather than join the splashing

Kate practiced back flips and can barely touch the bottom of the pool. She is looking forward to being without her life vest next year too.

Check out Kate's expression! Cracks me up!

Our neighbors decorated our mailbox as a birthday surprise for Makenna.

Her Mother's Child

This girl has been a mess. She has been grounded more often than not. She likes things to be her way. All the time. She is persistent. She is strong and determined. She is just like her mother.

Give her a craft or project to channel that energy and she is at peace. Did I mention she is like her mother? She loves the fabric store and has been talking about a "sewer" since she noted the kid's sewing machine at JoAnn's.

Today I started the "cloth napkin" marathon because they will be needed in one daughter's lunch box this year. Kate took the opportunity to play with scrap pieces I couldn't use to make baby doll clothes. She was in her glory and needed to dress up for this "special day". She wore her flower girl dress! Now that is special. I love how she plans outfits and accessories for any given activity and so much of the time, I just have stifle my giggle and go with it.

In elementary school I remember tying a sweater around my neck in the dead heat of the summer because the new JCPenney Fall catalog showed a really pretty girl wearing hers that way. So it appears that practical dressing may also be a gift she's been given from her mother!

We've struggled with bedtime battles for quite awhile now. She isn't afraid. There doesn't appear to be any anxiety. She just wants to see if we are as persistent as her! We are. So I started a responsibility chart on Monday. I can't honestly say what prompted it, but it turns out that girlfriend likes to mark things off a list! No reward. No incentive. No bribery. Just a list that includes "go to bed without crying" and I'll be darned, she is going to bed without crying so she can mark it off her list! Now, I happen to be an index card junkie because I LOVE to make little lists reminding me to do everything from menu plan, laundry, clean the house (which has sub-sections, of course!), appts, errands, etc......I need the reminders at this season of my life, but it all started because I get great satisfaction marking things off my list.

The cloth napkin saga started when I read the teen commitment letter from Lauren's new school stating they require cloth napkins in their packed lunch everyday. Apparently they are "green". Me? Not so much. I suppose I will be learning a little along the way too. However, once I started making them, I realized this would be pretty simple to apply at home. I made quite a few today and have some additional fabric Kate and I plan to use tomorrow to make more. They are so small that I believe I won't notice the additional laundry and I could certainly afford to cut back on my paper product purchases at Sam's Club each month. Who knows, paper towels could be next to go???? I may just have to put that on my list.

Two Year Check Up

Ty saw Dr. Rezaei today and was ready to leave from the moment we arrived. He had a great check up and left without any blood tests or vaccines, so as far as he was concerned, it was PERFECT! Our little man is up to 35" (70%) and 25lbs 8ounces (20%). He is projected to be around 5ft 11inches as an adult. She wants us to start a protein shake every night with Lactose free milk since he is still not tolerating milk and has only gained one pound in six months. His language meets 3year old criteria as does his physical ability.
She also agreed our Infectious Disease doctor made the best decision in ceasing his acyclovir treatment. If he still deals with cold sore outbreaks in a few years, we have another medical option, but we hope he establishes antibodies to fight it on his own before that becomes necessary.
I had the idea that this would be a fun post with some two year old photos. Ty had the idea that my chasing him around would be more fun. I snapped a few shots but was wiped out in the end! I really should be thinner!

Naptime.

Greg couldn't resist a photo today when he checked on Ty at nap time. Do you think he has enough toys in that bed?

Busy boy

Ty has a new found interest in breaking off pieces of his window blinds. Lovely. I first hear, "Greg! Mom! Help!" As I enter the room, I firmly say his name and he replies with broken pieces in his hand, "uh-oh, what happened?" I'm not impressed. So, I plan to put the curtains from our bedroom over his window until it is safe to replace the blinds. Greg is not pleased. He likes the curtains over the blinds in our room for the daytime darkening effect.

Tonight Ty was busy once again at bedtime and when he was finally quiet, I checked on him and discovered this scene.

He dug his birthday gifts out of the toy box and brought them into bed with him. The drum is full of musical toys from Makenna's friend and he picked out the cell phone with his birthday money from Uncle Brad. They are not particularly cozy for sleeping, but apparently too much fun to sleep without.

Why not?

Happy 2!

Ask him, "how old are you?" and Ty replies, "eat cake" every time! And now Erin has declared that she wants to be "eat cake" too! He helped make his cake and of course had to clean the bowl afterward!

We celebrated Ty's birthday early to include my parents when they visited last week and Lauren who is in Florida this week. He loved everything and kept saying, "wow" as he opened each package. We gave him two tee shirts with his favorite characters on them and a really cool toy that recycles bath water to provide a continuous stream. Mom and Dad decided upon a basketball hoop that will grow with him when he tried to make a basket into their kitchen light fixtures Easter weekend. Good call! He is so much exhausting fun.

A truck load of dirt.....

After adding a truck load of dirt and rearranging some existing plants, this is where we are as of today. We still need shrubs and the final rocks but it looks great so far. Can I just say that I have a new level of respect for anyone who does this for a living? Holy cow this little project is back breaking, exhausting and oh-so-hot!
And by the way, Greg asks me on a regular basis if anyone is commenting on his landscape so feel free to leave him some encouraging words! (Comments on previous posts about his hair would be fun for me though!)

Irony

So the irony is that as soon as I finished writing our anniversary post last night, I set it to post at midnight and went into wash my face and prepare for bed. You know the post where I mention hair and growing old? I found my first and second gray hairs! They are hanging out in my hairline, being covered by my bangs (which I now think I will keep!). I was amused and had Erin check them out. She called Greg at work to tell him and was immediately accused by my sweet husband of causing them! I love that man! But nothing is sacred as Erin and Makenna both had to quickly post my update on their facebook walls! Seriously. Greg says I have to feed them anyway. It's a good thing he loves us......gray hair and all.

17 years and counting........

Who is the young couple with all that hair? Starting out seventeen years ago was anything but easy. We had more than our fair share of bumps in the road, but praise God we were in His hands. I can assure you we had not invited God to the wedding or our marriage at that point. We were so young and selfish. Once we finally decided to be on the same team, life still threw us curve balls but we faced them together and grew to a place of comfort, unconditional love and true friendship. We are so blessed. But 17 years? Really? Isn't that a milestone for old people?

Politically Incorrect

We replaced Greg's lawn mower this weekend. Ty was as excited as Greg. New toys are fun and the older the boy, the more expensive said toys.....anyway, there is a large warning on the instruction manual declaring the lawn mower illegal in California because the emissions are harmful there (it honestly says they are harmful there as opposed to everywhere?). Greg and I had a simultaneous eye roll and random statement about the craziness that comes out of California. We then mentioned the illegal light bulbs that are made in the USA (specifically Kentucky) that are cheap, easily disposed and easily attained. Instead, Californians have to use the light bulbs that are expensive, made in China, contain mercury and have a 15 step disposable process on the EPA's website. Most will not follow those steps and therefore mercury will be found in landfills all over California. Erin then ads that she has a friend spending the summer in California and has posted on Facebook that he's seen pot smoking on the streets because it is legal there. We indicated that we knew that too. Then Erin said, "it sounds to me that a bunch of pot smoking politicians are making the laws in California". Well stated.

The boy who cried "poop"

Ty suddenly showed some interest in wearing big boy pants and using the potty. We've had a few sporadic starts in the past but this time, he seemed really excited. Marshmallows were a real incentive, unlike the sticker chart he threw away a couple of weeks ago! However, after nine accidents in which he declared, "look, I put pee-pee on the floor", we opted out of potty training for today! BUT, it is now bedtime and little man is yelling from his room that he needs to go potty and that he has pooped. I checked it out the first time but will no longer fall for that one!

Erin and I took him to Target the other night where he worked diligently to pick up the cement balls in the front of the store. He kept declaring them "stuck" and didn't appear to notice the audience he collected as other customers chuckled at the cute little boy determined to play ball. So, when we found a clearance bouncy ball, we couldn't resist. He is a crazy man with that thing! He throws himself onto it and bounces all over the house! I worry he will injure himself but he is having a blast.

And I caught him standing like this yesterday...so stinking cute! He typically crosses his arms in front of him or clasps his hands behind his back when he is standing still (which is clearly not often!) but the hand in his pocket is new.

 

Our house is eery quiet. Greg took Lauren to my mom's and Kate to his mother's for a few days. Makenna has been staying at her friend's house and Erin is always out and about. I had 24 hours of keeping Ty alone and hardly knew what to do with myself. Greg's home now and we've taken care of some errands and such but we have both commented more than once that it just feels weird around here without all the energy the kids add. I miss the chaos!

Locals are planning fireworks tonight. It appears that God is too. Simply beautiful!