LoVe is in the air!

This year we went to Grandma "Her-bin-son's" as the boys affectionately call her, for Valentines Day. We had a great weekend with nothing in particular to do. The food was fantastic...I love my moms home cookin'! I just love going home in general. I love seeing the mountains that I grew up under, smelling the "bad air" (LOL!), feeling the cold. It's always nice to come home after a trip and get everyone tucked into their own beds, but I do miss home and it's nice to go there sometimes. We took tons of cute pictures and I've been practicing my editing...thanks to Steph' and all her support and help. These are a few of my favorites in no particular order...
Aunt Holly helping the boys with their Valentines. They love her!
Grandma had tons and tons of projects and fun things for the kids to do. Seriously...I'll never be the mom she was or the grandma she is. She loves this. She's totally in her element helping the kids make messes and talking to them. So fun. They are still talking about it.
Derrick. Need I say more. This is totally him! (A funny side note: He says the most hilarious things. The other day Julie was here tending and she told him it was time for bed. He stands up, stretches his arms in the air, yawns and says, "What a day. Good night Julie." I also heard he and Alex the other day playing on the stairs. Derrick sees something that sparked his interest and shouts, "Oh my gosh!!!" (They are NOT allowed to say this at or house and they know it, so Alex calmly tells him, "Don't say Oh THE gosh" Derrick says, "Oh, ok. Oh my heck!!!" I had to chuckle.)
What would I do without Tara and her ability to make me feel pretty. I owe her one. A full set and a pedicure too. I was totally pampered. Thanks "T"!
This is a darling picture of Zeke, but trust me he wasn't sitting there all calm and quiet like this picture indicates. About two seconds later we were all covered in bubbles and yelling for the both of them to get out.
Grandma planned a fun family night with stories and games and lots of laughter. Thanks mom for putting so much time and effort into all you do. It doesn't go unnoticed or appreciated.


Holly and Grandma took the boys to the park to run around. It was nice to have a second to regroup and I'm sure they were freezing, but they loved it. (Side-note: Just because you take kids to the park to blow the stink off doesn't necessarily ensure they will come home and want to take a nap. Sorry Mom, they never do. :P)
Classic Alex. Always watching from a distance. Very observant. Happy.
Zeke is one of the boys and he loves it! Look out world!
Dustin rocking the dog...I mean Derrick. Funny.

He LoVeS Me!

We are still at it...painting...RE-painting...and making our house a home. When we first moved in I found some "mis-tint" paint on clearance that I made do in our room until I had time to really focus and do it right. We I finally got a bee in my bonnet to "re-do" the room and started painting over the brown with blue. I started early thinking I could have the whole thing done by the time Dustin got home and he would be so proud and happy they he didn't have to help. Well I got it done and he came home, but neither of us were happy---the blue was HORRIBLE!!! So back the paint store and a hundred color swatches later we settled on a soft green. By this time I had to go to work for the weekend and new it was going to have to stay a mess and UGLY until I could get to it the next week. Well...Dustin to the rescue. I came home from work to find the whole room (not just the one wall I had messed up) completely re-painted and put back together and he was almost done with the bathroom as well. Hurray! Such a load of my mind. Anyone who knows me knows I can't sleep in a mess and where there is a lot to get done. Drive me crazy! The little room with the toilet and shower were still white so I go in there and he had painted "I Love Amy" on the wall! Cute!

zEkE...

Zeke is growing up! I must say I'm not unhappy to see the baby grow out of this kid. He's a lot happier being able to do a few more things for himself and he's got personality galore! These are some of the things he's been up to...

*He has decided he hates the high chair, he likes to sit at the table with the boys and feed himself. He get VERY mad if I try to help him. Fun for him...messy for me. My day includes a LOT more sweeping than it used to, but he seems to be eating better now that he's taken feeding himself into his own hands.

* Naps are few and very far between. I don't know what it is about my kids, but it seems like when they hit 18 months they think they don't need a nap anymore. I assure you they do and bedtime comes earlier on the days they don't.

*The other day I was calling him from his room to come and get a diaper change. He runs in the room, sticks his fingers in his ears and his tongue out at me, makes a funny sound, and runs away. (Pictured above) Where did this come from?!? I later found out Derrick was coaching him on the "Funny Face". Naughty!

*I can't seem to keep this kid cleaned up. Along with feeding himself comes the obvious messy face, but this boy takes the cake (and smears it all over everything!) It doesn't matter how many baths he takes a day he still seems to be messy. He jumps in puddles and walks through mud at the playground. Gets in the butter in the fridge, anything messy and you know Zeke is behind it. I've given up hope of having a clean kitchen and now I'm just striving for somewhat sanitary.

He's a little ball of fire and we love him to pieces!