The Murtie Memoirs

Uncle Tim and Ashley

2012-01-25T13:43:00.001-08:00

My brother and his girlfriend were here visiting us this past weekend. We were a pit stop in their Caribbean cruise vacation. They spent one night with us last week in route to their cruise then 4 days with us this week in route back to reality (aka: Jersey). :-)

We got to treat them to a Bulgogi dinner, Jack's favorite. We wore them out at Blazer's then went on a Bourbon tour. We even cashed in on the Christmas gift they gave us, a night out at Louisville Improv to see Pauly Shore while they babysat. Sweet!

We had an awesome time with them! Ty made Ashley read his favorite book only 274 times per day. Jack made sure Uncle Tim would get a good night's sleep after playing on the trampoline. Bodie showed off his mad crawling skills and taught them what being "hangry" looks and sounds like.
We all had so much fun with them, we can't wait to see them again! If they weren't scarred by anything. Hahahah!!!We miss you guys already!!! Thanks for the great times!


Weasin' with Pauly Shore and Sandy, the comedienne that opened for him, not Tom. Tom prefers to be behind the camera. :-)

This is how Ty got up all the ladders in the back of the bouncy slides. Ashely even carried him a few times!

Big excitement on the Dino ride.

Jack and Ashley playing the deer hunting game...it was an unfair match since she hunts! :-) Hahaha!

Sharing a Slurpee

Ashley and Uncle Tim

The coolest part about Blazer's is that the adults can go down the slides too. This is Ashley in action. :-) I totally turfed it on one of the ladders and showed my lame age! hahaha!

Ty hit the ticket jackpot on one of the arcade games! He's a pro! :-)

I had Bodie in the carrier at the Woodford Reserve Bourbon tour, but it was so windy, I had to tuck him in. I had pregnancy flashbacks.

Uncle Tim and Ty waiting for the distillery tour to start.

My entourage.

My lazy boys taking advantage of a free ride.

Ty's turn on Uncle Tim's shoulders.

After the tour we grabbed lunch and Ty took over Ashley's drink. He ate her lemon then preceded to "dunk" it in her water. She was very tolerable and far kinder than we would have been if he went to stick his grubby hand in one of our drinks. :-)

Cozy

The end of Bo being my little, tiny, cuddly, baby is rapidly approaching. This is his new favorite adventure; pulling himself up on everything and anything! He's also been caught climbing right over our dogs. I wish I could FREEZE time!!! :-(

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Helper

2012-01-19T19:55:00.001-08:00

There's no way Ty will ignore the fact that there's a tool of some kind being used. He's in the stage where you can't do anything without him helping or you'll hear, "me do it"!!!! 100 times over.
The other day we got a new gym bench and while Tom was putting it together, Ty was right there helping. He really gets into his work! He likes to become one with the project. :-)
(and yes those are handcuffs, Jack's been "arresting" us and his animals so we thought we'd help him out and get him actual, toy, handcuffs.

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Stories to Tell

2012-01-19T12:26:00.001-08:00

Bodie is mastering the art of babble. The noises/words this kid comes up with crack us up. He loves telling stories to anyone who will listen and give him a laugh. His brothers are a great audience! He even takes requests, he's been mimicking pretty well too.

YouTube Video

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2012-01-19T09:05:00.001-08:00

We signed Jack up for swimming lessons. The group lessons filled up quickly so we had to take private lessons which, I think, were a better choice anyway. He had his first lesson last week and did great! His instructor is really nice and makes the class a lot of fun. Last week he went under 3 times, which was huge since he did it willingly! :-) There's a little slide in the shallow end which he went down twice last week with going under. This week he was a little hesitant. How do you explain the "don't think about it, just do it" though process to a 4 year old? :-) Even with the clinging on to the slide, he's doing great and really enjoying swim class.

YouTube Video

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2012-01-14T08:02:00.001-08:00

Winter finally hit KY yesterday. Our temperature was 18 but we had a wind chill of 0. We got a dusting of snow as well.
Last week it felt like April here. Our temps were in the mid 50s. It was nice to have the kids play outside and not come in frozen, like a Popsicle in January. But it was a little eerie! We did, however, make the most of the sunny warm days. We headed to a new playground on post which is conveniently adjacent to a Starbucks! Well done Ft. Knox!

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Go Bodie!

2012-01-14T07:50:00.001-08:00

After many weeks of the military low crawl, Bodie has finally figured out how to coordinate his hands and knees. He's a crawler now and I'm realizing how much I need to re-baby proof in the house. He's everywhere and gets there quickly! Go Bodie!!

YouTube Video

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The scoot

2011-12-21T14:32:00.001-08:00

Bodie is getting so close to crawling. He is one determined little man! He'll squirm and scoot for any type of matchbox. He's a little partial to the helicopter. :-)

YouTube Video

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Computer crash and the Latest

2011-12-09T20:16:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been anti-computer. Mainly because I'm pretty sure electronics HATE me. While I was on the computer last week, doing some very serious work on Pinterest, the computer went bazerk! Apparently we got a virus, which the anti-virus picked up but not before the hard drive got wiped out. :-( So after many hours of labor, Tom got the computer back in working order, almost like brand new....with nothing saved on it. So now that we're becoming friends again, I'll get back to blogging.

Can anyone believe that Christmas is 2 weeks away?? Ummm....wasn't it just August? I'm not one that usually gets stressed around the holidays. I usually eat every bit of the holidays up annoying everyone around me. However, this year, it snuck up on me and I'm feeling a little stressed. There's nothing worse than heading to bed, so tired and ready to sleep to only have your head hit the pillow and your mind run crazy with those to-do lists. Even though there's a ton of things going on and things yet to do, we have gotten a few things done.....
We decorated the inside and outside of the house. Our good, old, fake tree is up and looking as good as it can. :-) The boys loved decorating. You can tell they helped since most of the ornaments are on the same branches towards the bottom. It was a good look, so we kept it! :-) We made bouncy balls, which turned out more like flubber, but anything that makes a mess is a big hit in this house. We had Tom's brother Bruce visit for a few days. We got to hang out with him and take him on the Maker's Mark bourbon tour and through the Louisville Slugger museum. We've also had Spider Man, Peter Parker and the naked cowboy (ya know, the NYC, Times Square guy) make guest appearances here in the Murtie house. Jack's imagination is running wild and I love it! When he wears the Spider Man mask, we have to address him as Spider Man, when the mask is off, he reminds us that he's Peter Parker. Then to explain the naked cowboy, I have this to say.... For 3 weeks Jack's worn nothing but his skibbies around the house. (we did feel victorious when he wore clothes while Bruce was here, but that ended as soon as we walked in the door from dropping Bruce off at the airport) So one day Jack asked to see my cowboy hat, found a vest from a pirate costume, put on his snow boots and added a stuffed animal snake as his "rope" to finish out his cowboy costume, no other clothing but the skibbies. (I can't post a picture of this, but it was pretty darn creative!) Bodie's taken up the art of raspberries, spitting everywhere, and he's trying to crawl. It's not a graceful attempt, but it's getting there. He hates being held right now and wants nothing more than to be able to roll and wiggle around. Feeding him has become a wrestling match. hahahah! We also upgraded his exersaucer to the one where he gets to walk around the play center. Putting that out today was like Christmas came early. It's funny what entertains the boys. Well, that's a quick summary of some of the things that have been going on here. Now to get a move on and tackle my ever growing list of to-dos.

Spider Man prepping for making bouncy balls

The purple bouncy ball

Watching the bottling process at Maker's Mark

Batting practice

Batter up!

Outside the Slugger museum in front of the giant bat

Right there, on the street, in front of a history museum, there were 2 cannons. Score!

Bodie's crawling/mountain climbers/Mogley move

YouTube Video

Best toy revisited

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Mini Volcanoes

2011-11-23T04:39:00.000-08:00

The internet is an amazing thing! Especially when it's raining outside and I'm out of kid activity ideas and the boys are sick of play dough! The other day I saw something I thought would be a huge hit.....mini volcanoes! The boys had so much fun! I took a cookie sheet, dumped out a box of baking soda, then gave the boys vinegar with their choice of food coloring and a medicine dropper, and whhhaaa-laaaa.....mini volcanoes! It entertained them long enough for me to feed Bodie AND make dinner! And with baking soda at a whopping $0.60/box, the supplies for this activity will be well stocked from now on! :-)

Bodie's started making squishy faces! Hahaha! I was laughing too hard to get his first squishy face....I'll have my camera ready next time!

Bodie Fun Facts

2011-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Bodie had his 6 month well baby exam this week. He was great at the appointment as well as his big brothers that got dragged along. :-) Bodie checks in at 19 lbs. 6 oz. and 29 1/2 inches long. That put him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He's right on track with all the other stuff too! :-)
After the appointment we made our way to the dreaded immunization clinic. I loathe this place! This time wasn't the worst though, we only waited about 30 mins and the nurse we had was actually really nice. (not the experiences we've had in the past) After Bodie got his shots, including his flu shot, it was the big boys' turn. They needed their flu shots too. I was so thrilled to hear that they do the mist for 2 year olds and older. This was a huge relief since I had anxiety about it all morning. Jack is fully aware of how shots feel. When we were talking about possibly having to get a shot I asked him if he'd be brave like he was the last time he got a shot and he told me, very matter-a-factly....."NO!!", with a look on his face like, "Mom, you must be smoking something if you think I'm letting them stab me with that dagger of a needle!". Hahahah! Once he made sure there were no needles involved, Jack went first with the nasal mist and did great. And since Ty will do anything Jack does, he did great too! So now everyone's up to date on shots and now we're feeling the after math. On top of the regular side effects of the shots and nasal mist, Ty's cutting his 2 year old molars. He's been pretty bad about eating lately and all day yesterday he was drooling like a bulldog! Hahahah! He has one molar that finally broke through but I'm sure the others aren't far behind.
And for Bodie's 6 month highlights......his favorite thing right now is rolling every where. It's now pointless to put a blanket down for him to lay on. He's 8 ft away from it in 3 seconds. :-) He's also been fake coughing for a few weeks now. It's so funny. He'll cough and then wait for your reaction, then once you notice, he'll cough again and again, and again. He's also starting to rock the Mmmm sound! Since Tom and I are one for one with the kids saying Mom and Dad first, I may come out the winner with Bodie! :-) Of course me trying to get him to say mama all day long is an unfair advantage, but that's neither here nor there! :-) Bodie's also been enjoying some fruits and veggies. His favorite veggie seems to be carrots and for fruit, it's definitely the bananas. Who doesn't love those baby bananas?? Bodie is such a great baby! He's so happy, loves talking and is amazed when watching his brothers and the dogs. They crack him up! He is so much fun and I can't wait to see what he does next! :-)

(I have no idea why my pictures are all glitchy!! grrrr!)

randoms

2011-11-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

I take way too many pictures with my phone, then I forget about them. These are my favorites of all of those random pictures. :-) (Not sure what's going on with the picture glitches. Sorry about that.)

Every time Bodie wakes up from a nap, Ty helps me get him up and the first thing he says to Bo, is, "nice to meet you Bodie!" and shakes his hand. It's so sweet!

Lola and Jack chillin' out and watching some cartoons. They are best buddies!

When Tom was training for his half marathon, Jack wanted to run with him. So Tom took him along for a quick jog to the stop sign and back. He was so proud!

This is Ty's favorite playground ride. Can't you just see the excitement in his face! I love it!!! :-)

Jack rocking his Nutella mustache

Bodie is one happy kid, and I love this picture because it looks like he's wearing the horns on the wall. hahah!

Bodie chowing down on some peas. Funny thing...carrots seem to be his favorite and Jack and Ty HATED carrots They fought eating them so much, I gave up trying to make them eat them.

I don't remember the last time I sat on the recliner by myself. hahahah! There's always a tiny hiney squeezing in next to me. :-)

Cool points

2011-11-06T13:52:00.001-08:00

First I'd like to say happy 6 months to Bodie today!!! I seriously can't believe it's been 6 months! He us such a happy baby! Constantly smiling and talking up a storm. Unless he's hungry. And he doesn't just get hungry, he gets "HANGRY"!! He finally started rolling over consistently Thursday. He's been rolling over everywhere and even sleeping on his belly now. And I think he may be starting to teeth. Although I just assume he's getting a tooth with no actual proof just yet. :-) So happy half birthday Bodie! We love you and your chubby happy cheeks!!

In other McMurtrie happenings.....I think I earned myself some cool points in Jack's eyes this afternoon! Since he didn't nap today (or for 3 other days this past week) we made a catapult out of a box and some rubber bands. I saw it on a website and have been talking about it for a while now. It's pretty cool and actually works! He loves it. I think I'm going to have make another one for Ty. I also consider it a total success because I used a utility knife and didn't cut myself! :-)

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Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

We made our rounds begging for candy from strangers last night. Hahaha! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I do! The boys had a good time. Bodie was a billy goat. This has been the first Halloween costume for each of the boys. Jack was supposed to be a pirate, but he saw his spider costume from last year and out went the pirate idea. He also wore the spider costume everyday for the past 2 weeks. Ty was supposed to be Elmo. (the hand me down costume from Jack at age 2) Every time we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween he told us "Garbage truck man". So I played along and got one of Tom's old reflective vests that he'd wear when riding his motorcycle, to make a little garbage man costume but Ty would never wear it. So for a little while he jumped back on the Elmo band wagon.....until it was time to put on the costume! Hahaha! He freaked and begged for the bat costume that he wore last year. Of course this melt down was after he got to skip his nap and go to the movies for the first time with Tom and Jack. He was pretty sleepy, but was definitely NOT putting on Elmo. :-) After a little chaos we got everyone ready and I headed out the door with the big boys in a wagon and Bodie and Tom stayed at the house on candy duty. The boys lasted about 2 1/2 cul-de-sacs, then I heard, "where's our house?" a few times and that was it. :-) It was a great Halloween!

Bodie the Goat 2011

Ty the Goat 2009

Jack the Goat 2007

Carving time

2011-10-31T05:17:00.001-07:00

We carved our pumpkins on Saturday. Jack chose a spider (go figure) and Ty wanted a "happy face". Hahaha! Jack was NOT a fan of de-gutting the pumpkin. He told me at one point, "Mom, I don't think I like this very much, you can do it." Ty on the other hand found the guts hysterical and would dig right in, grab a handful then scream...."eeeewwwwwww" and then laugh like a hyena. I carved Jack's spider but the boys carved Ty's happy face. I think they came out pretty well. I had plans of carving this huge pumpkin we got but the pumpkins were outside and the insides were freezing cold. So we'll let the big one survive as a fall turkey day decoration until we decorate for Christmas! :-) (Scary to think that's only 8 1/2 weeks away.)

Ty and the guts. :-)

Loving the grossness

Jack's face sums up his pumpkin gutting experience.

Ty carving a happy face.

"I DO IT! I DO IT MYSELF!"

Spectator Bodie

Jack and the Jack-o-Lantern

He was a pro.

Poor Dad, he moonlights as a jungle gym.

The finished products...

Mr. Blue Eyes

The Happy Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Lesson of the pumpkin patches....stick with what you know. We tried a new pumpkin patch this year and it was SCARY. Not scary in the spooky Halloween kinda way, it was scary in the "let's get the hell outta here" kinda way. hahaha! So to make up for the worst pumpkin patch ever, we went to the one we visited last year, Hinton's. It was exactly the same, and lots of fun, and not one overheard conversation about Xanax. YEAH! Plus they had pumpkin ice cream which was a big hit! Yummm! Here's some pictures from our pumpkin pickin'! :-)

Ty loved pulling that wagon!

Total action shot...

Not only was there a BIG tractor but there were little ones too!

This kid needs a farm!

The BIG one!

One happy pumpkin!

Trying to get a picture with all three of them looking AND smiling at the same time is almost impossible...

Who Needs Waves?

2011-10-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, when the weather was warmer than 46 degrees, I saw Jack doing this.....

He told me he was surfing. He was actually getting the horse swing to glide back and forth too. I was pretty impressed. I'm actually surprised it took this long for him to stand on that thing! :-)
(And a little side note: If you click on one of the pictures that I post Blogger will now open all the pictures in a slideshow format. You can click through the pictures and see them up close. I just figured this out, who knows how long you've been able to do that. hahaha!)

For the Birds

2011-10-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

The other day we made little bird feeders for our feathered friends. Peanut Butter was involved so Ty was very willing to participate. :-) The boys got to smear their own peanut butter on a good ol' TP roll. Jack loves using a knife (even if it's the little kiddie one) Ty ate most of his PB before it got to the roll. Then they rolled it in seeds and we stuck the rolls on a few branches of our pear tree in the front yard.

I love this picture because of Ty's little evil minion face! Hahahah!

Since Bodie wasn't game for the bird feeder craft here's a few pictures of him NOT rolling over. Hahaha! This kiddo rolled over once for Tom about 4 weeks ago, I saw him roll once 2 weeks ago and he hasn't done it again since. I don't think he likes the pressure since all we do is cheer him on to roll over. Hahaha! He teeter totters from side to side on his back constantly but just won't go the whole way. He's already 5 months and VERY stubborn! Or lazy, hard to tell! :-) He's actually grown quite fond of being on his stomach too. He doesn't roll from belly to back either but he's pretty darn close to crawling. He gets his legs under him and scoots forward all over the place. So, on his own time I guess, or we'll just skip rolling all together. He did it twice, why over do it? He's a pretty chill baby so I guess he'll do it when he wants to do it! I wonder who he takes after??? :-)

All the way up on his side....

Ty was showing him how to roll over! hahah!

And back to the favorite position.....just relaxing horizontally.

Reject Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured out to a pumpkin patch. Last year we went to Hinton's Farm (about 45 mins away) This year we opted for a place that I found through Google that was a little closer. This place was such a bummer. It was advertised as having a petting zoo, farm animals, bouncy houses, hay rides, and a maze. This was FALSE advertising at it's best. Hahahahah!
This was NOT a farm, this was someone's house. We parked in their drive way and walked around on their lawn. There weren't farm animals, there were a few miniature horses and 1 donkey. There was no petting zoo, no hay rides, no pumpkin patch. There were picked pumpkins piled on pallets. There was a small bouncy house which was the highlight of our trip. We were there 20 minutes tops.
What rounded out this trip for me were 2 things. #1: the lady running everything was very scary and was walking around, talking pretty loudly on her cell phone to a person (for what I could make out, just got arrested) saying, "we don't give out Xanax." I must have heard "Xanax" about 18 times. There was a sheriff's car parked in the driveway as well so I'm not sure if he lived there or was there on business. hahahaha! #2: I bought a few pumpkins and when I went in to their little shed to pay the other scary lady, I noticed they were selling MEAT. Not just regular cuts of meat you'd find in a cooler.....oh NO!!!! This was sliced meat in a ziploc baggie, sitting on an upside down tupperware bin, with a $0.50 sticker on it. This was not jerky. This looked like some kind of bacon product. It was raw and NOT refrigerated. I was trying very hard not to judge, but this place was screaming for it! This was not the pumpkin patch experience I was looking for! Sooooooo we're heading to Hinton's next weekend to make up for it with some clean, farm fun, including hay rides, a corn maze, pumpkin pickin', no drug talk, no mystery meats, just normal pumpkin fun ! :-)

I wonder if they counted this as a farm animal and the petting zoo??? Sadly, this is the only picture I took.

Beach Bums

2011-09-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

It was a little late in the year but we made it none the less......to the beach! YEAH! I LOVE the beach. Who doesn't really? But I really love the beach. Every year growing up we went to a beach for a summer vacation. Over the years we started out in Cape May, NJ, then to Myrtle Beach, then the Outer Banks. My mom was a teacher so every summer there was some family beach adventure.
Last week Tom, the boys and I went to Myrtle Beach with my parents. This was our first family vacation to a beach and I was beyond excited! I haven't been to Myrtle Beach since 1996. (that was one family vacay for the books! HA!) Anyway, Tom and I were talking about doing a vacation over Labor Day. I googled some beaches and it turned out that Myrtle was the closest (only 11 driving hours away, it took us 13 hrs total). So one day I called my Mom to ask her where we used to stay when we went there years ago and she told me, her and my dad were going to Myrtle on Sept. 17th and invited us to join them. SO we totally crashed their vacation but it was so much fun! Plus it was really nice having the extra help with the boys on the beach!
We stayed in a condo directly on the beach which was awesome! It had 2 pools, a lazy river (which Jack was obsessed with), and a kiddie pool. Since we went late in the season it wasn't too crowded. We still had to claim our spot on the beach everyday so I can only imagine how crazy this place would be in the prime season. The condo was really nice and lots of room for all of us. It had a full kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 3 bath rooms. We cooked dinner a few nights so we could hang out on the beach longer. It was great! We got rained on a few days but we were on the beach everyday and the ocean was so warm, not like California! Plus we were there for Tom's birthday! I think every birthday should be spent on a beach somewhere!!
The boys LOVED the sand! They built sandcastles, dug holes and got buried in the sand. Jack was a huge fan of the ocean. He was actually pretty fearless with the waves. Ty on the other hand took a good 4 days to warm up to the water. He wanted nothing to do with the ocean when we first got there. By Thursday though, he was loving it too. Of course, Bodie enjoyed himself too. He got to put his toes in the water and take lots of naps in the beach tent! He wasn't too crazy about the breeze but totally got spoiled by Oma walking him up and down the beach until he fell fast asleep in her arms. One night we let the boys stay up late and went down to the beach to hunt crabs. Tom actually caught one, as well as a fish, with a little bucket. I was pretty impressed!
We also went shopping, had the traditional feast at an all you can eat seafood buffet, and walked the board walk. I'm also proud to say that we turned Tom into a shell finder. hahaha! Growing up in my family there was always an unspoken competition for finding the coolest shell on the beach. On the first day we were there, Tom thought this was ridiculous and actually had Jack throw back the shells we collected that day. This totally blew my mind. Then I remembered....he'd never been on a Davis beach vacation. And of course, the man who was against shell finding found the first amazing shell and got hooked! That's all it took. I'm not talking about the clam shells or oyster shells. I'm talking about the conchs and long spiral shells. The stuff people buy at the gift shops. We found some amazing shells. The best I've ever found. We never did declare the winner, but Tom found the most in the ocean where my Dad and I found some cool ones in the dry sand by the dunes. So, even with the rainy weather it was a blast!! Tom and I even got to walk on the beach at night while my parents stayed in the condo with the boys when they were sleeping. I think that was my favorite part! There's just something so serene about the beach at night!
Well, here's a ton of pictures from our adventure....

This was at Barefoot Landing

Oma was the architect and Ty was on demolition.

At the Cpt. Benjamin's Seafood Buffet. Ty really loved his ice cream and getting photo bombed by his Dad! Hhahah!

This was Mr. Crabs. We returned him on our nighttime crabbing adventure. (notice the miner helmet)

This was a really cool rain storm that we watched come up the beach.

My luau boys

Doing a Sudoku with Pop Pop

Ty my beach angel! Aaaah! (that's a reference to the Travelocity commercial we keep quoting)

Our boys! Jack was channeling Arthur Fonzarelli. :-)

He's so photogenic

Bodie Boy!

Baby bird mooching cereal off of Pop Pop.

Running through the waves

Ty's action shot. With his beach buddy Kaden. (I love how easily kids make friends!!!)

I love this pic because it looks like Tom's checking out the lady in the yellow but he's really just trying to dodge being in the picture. hahahah!

Oma and Bo

Bodie in his favorite spot.

They were trying to splash Tom. They looked like little ducklings chasing him all over.

My other beach angel. Aaaahhhhh!

It's like they're thinking....now what?

And this is our cache.....I still can't believe we found these types of shells. These are just a few too, we have lots more. The first cool one that Tom found that turned him was one of the long pointy ones in the top left corner, an auger shell. We found bits of coral, chunks of huge sand dollars and granite.

And last but not least.....Oma, Pop Pop and the boys. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us join you at the beach. We had such a great time!! Love you!

More of our time in PA

2011-09-16T10:28:00.001-07:00

I still have a zillion more pictures from our trip to PA. I was hoping to get everything written about and posted before today, but that didn't happen. I could really use about 3 extra hours in a day!! Well, We're leaving tonight for a family vacation to Myrtle Beach. YEAH! This will be our first family trip to the beach. The last time we were at the beach (not including our time in Monterey because it was too stinkin' cold to swim in the Pacific) Jack was about 9 months old and Tom was in school in VA and couldn't join us. I'm so beyond excited! Plus my Mom and Dad are going too. Jack wants to bury Pop Pop in the sand and make him a mermaid. Hahaha! Hope Pop Pop's ready! Anyway....back to our last trip.....Here's a few more pictures from PA. I'll have another post or 2 when we get back about PA since we celebrated Jack's 4th birthday there. (I sort of miss the days will old school film cameras, I was much more cautious about what I took pictures of since I didn't want to waste film, now I take a million pictures because I want to capture everything. I may need to hire someone to go through and organize all my pictures. I think I'm a picture hoarder!)
Enjoy....I'm off to finish packing!

Here's Ty and his Uncle Luke

Just chilling.

Katie and Ricky pulling the boys around the pool.

Bumper boats with Uncle Yuck and Chris with Aunt Lisi throwing in a water obstacle. (Jack's on the penguin)

Aunt Ree Ree and Bodie

Dragging a tree out of the woods with Umpa.

Story time with Aunt Lisi and Lex.

Ty riding with Umpa

One tuckered out coal miner

Jack was hiding...hahahha!

I grew up in Anthracite country. We went to Pioneer tunnel and took a train ride. (this is also a coal mine that you can ride down into and see)

We had the caboose all to ourselves.

So excited for the train ride!

Having a picnic with PopPop.

MeMe got the boys these cool miner helmets. (These are actually packed to come to the beach with us. They love these things!)

The helmets are great for hunting lightning bugs.

The County Fair

2011-09-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

I love fairs!!! While we were home, the Schuylkill (skoo-kill) County Fair was going on. The boys and I went with Tom's Mom and Dad and had a great time! The last time I was there I was in high school, so it's been awhile! Hahaha! I love everything about the fair. We saw the animals, got to pet and feed the animals, had gyros for dinner, climbed on the tractors and front end loaders, tried a fried oreo, didn't love the fried oreo, went on a few rides, played a few games and finished off the night with milkshakes from a local dairy. We had so much fun!

Petting the cows.

Ty was a little intimidated by this giant pig!

And even more intimidated by this goat that was squealing for its buddies.

Umpa and Ty feeding the goats in the petting zoo.

This was a pretty cool petting zoo....it had a mini albino kangaroo, and Jack and MeMe got to feed it!

Milking the fake cow! hahaha! Love this!

A sweet little brotherly moment I got to witness! :-)

Ty would not pet the horses.

This was after Jack's riding lesson, so he was so excited to pet another horse!

Bodie having a good time at the fair!

Tractors that they could climb on?? This place is better than Chuck E Cheese!!!

This blew their little minds....not only could they "drive" this tractor, but it had a street sweeper attachment on the front! You should have seen their faces! And yes, poor Ty had to settle for sitting on the floor of the cab. Jack was in heaven!

Dinner, so yummy! Not as good as the Haci Babba place in Schweinfurt, but pretty darn good. And FYI, I only ate 1. :-)

Jack on the burlap slide. They said Ty was too little....not cool!

Playing a shooting game with Umpa.

Dottie

2011-09-06T05:11:00.001-07:00

Jack had a solo adventure with Tom's Mom on our trip home. For his birthday, (my baby turned 4 in August) Sandy, (AKA: Boobie/MeMe) took Jack for a horseback riding lesson one day. He had an amazing time and did really well. The thing I loved about this lesson was that he did everything. It wasn't just a show up, hop on and ride, lesson. He got to brush Dottie, clean her hooves, spray her down, feed her and everything else that goes with caring for a horse. So cool. He's still talking about it! Thanks MeMe and Umpa, Jack LOVED horseback riding, and I was so jealous!! :-)

By having Jack spin around on the saddle, she taught him how to mount the horse the right way!

So proud!

Cleaning her hooves.

Jack and Dottie

Knoebels

2011-09-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

While the boys and I were in PA we went to a local, old school, amusement park called Knoebel's. (Pronounced Ka-No-bels. This is important because their commercial has a catchy tune saying...."Come have some ka-fun, ka-food and ka-fantasy at Knoebels amusement resort." which we sang and mocked all day!) This place is a staple from where I grew up. My Dad used to have his work picnics here every year. It's been forever since I was there and it hasn't changed much at all and it was a blast!!
My Mom and Dad, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Lexie and Ricky came along too. The weather was rainy but it was the perfect day to go. There were no lines so the kids got to ride their favorite rides over and over again. Plus since we were wet from the log flume ride, what was a little rain?? :-) Knoebel's is great because it's not expensive and there's tons to do. It's basically a big park/camp ground with picnic groves all over and it's free to get in. You can buy an all-ride pass, or just use tickets per each ride, you have the choice. So it's totally affordable and the food is so yummy! I loved going here as a kid and it was so much fun seeing Jack and Ty love every bit of it too, of course it helped that there was a ball pit and huge moon bounce. Bodie got to sit this adventure out and spend the day with Tom's mom with the weather being cruddy and the lack of 'brand new baby' rides there. :-)
Thanks to my parents and most of the Jones' for hanging out with us on that rainy day. I was grateful that the boys had help on the rides thanks to Lex and Ricky!!
We had a great ka-time!!! :-)

The Ball pit was cut out after 3 times because the lady sitting in the chair was the MEANEST ride attendant EVER!!

On the log flume...the seating went...Jack, my Dad, Lexie and Me.

Jack loved it so we went again. Then my mom, Lisa and Ricky soaked us with the water guns. Not cool! hahahah!

Captain No Beard. (earring and all....arrrr matey!)

Aunt Lisa joining in the pirate fun! Hahaha!

Doesn't your favorite park have a frozen metal pole in it? That's right, it was a big ol' frozen ice ka-pole. Why ka-not?

Jack loved the bumper cars!

Kozmo's so lucky!

Rain delay moment

Lisa and I squished on the little train ride!

Riding the Tank just like their Dad used to.

Jack's favorite ride! Ty wasn't a fan of the rides that went up high.

These were really cool!

Ricky and Jack on the helicopters.

Lex and Ty.

A night away then hittin' the road.

2011-08-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

On July 30th Tom and I spent a night away from the kids. This was the first night ever being away from Ty and Bodie, except when I had Bodie. Tom's mom flew down and spent the night with the boys so we could go. We're so lucky to have family that helps us out in big ways. Not only did we need a baby sitter but we needed her to babysit 680 miles away.
So on that Saturday morning we drove 5 hours and got to Toledo just to have enough time to get ready and head to the wedding. We met up with fellow friends of ours from Germany that I haven't seen in 4 1/2 years. It's crazy how we've all morphed into grown-ups over these last few years. The last time I hung out with Bridget and Mike Kennedy, a time before we all had kids, we went to a fest in Schweinfurt and Bridget and I rode an awful carnie ride and where we screamed like little sissies and almost lost our lunch. Hahah! Our old group has gotten together over the years but we've never seemed to make it to the same event as them so it was awesome to hang out again! And what better venue than Jason's wedding!
The ceremony was outside on a golf course, and it was short, sweet and so, so hot! I felt bad for the groomsmen in their suits! Jason and Erin looked amazing and the wedding was beautiful! Who doesn't love having a reason to get dressed up? I think it was the first time I wore a fancy dress in 2 years. Plus I love seeing Tom in a tie. It's so different from his uniform. :-) So congrats to Jason and Erin! I'm so glad they let us celebrate with them and thanks to Sandy who let us have the best date night we've had in a while! :-)
After Tom and I got home Sunday night I finished packing for our trip to PA. Sandy drove there with me to help me with the kids and it was SOOOO needed! I'm forever grateful that she helped me out! The kids benefited, I kept my sanity and it was great having someone to talk to on the 14 hour drive! The boys did amazing in the car. They are great travelers! And I love my mini van! Hahahah!
We stayed at my parent's house. Jack and I shared a room and I shared a room with Bodie. It worked out surprisingly well! I wasn't too sure how Jack and Ty would be as roommates again, but they did great. Plus I'm sure it helped that they were beyond exhausted every night! Here's a few pictures from our first few days in PA.

Here's Tom's grandmother with Bodie.

Great Gramme Fels and the boys.

The sleeping arrangements

Bodie spun himself sideways every night in the Pack N Play.

Of course there were rides on Umpa's Zero-turn. (no worries, the blades were off!)

Oma's going to need a bigger chair the next time we're home!

Back on the blogger wagon

2011-08-28T17:51:00.001-07:00

Once again I've fallen off the blogging wagon. I put it off and put it off a little longer and the next thing I know a month has gone by. And of course during that month tons of things happen. For example, the boys and I spent 2 weeks in PA and we had lots of fun adventures there! So just to say that I'm back on the blogging wagon, here's a quick video of Jack making a bubble snake. I saw this on the internet and it actually worked! Its a quick one but it will have to do until I have the chance to go through the 700 pictures I took while we were home! :-)

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tid Bits

2011-07-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

(**This is a long one, but there's lots of pics at the bottom!!**)

Life has been slowly getting back to normal here over the past few weeks. Bodie hits 11 weeks old today. It's hard to believe he'll be 3 months old soon. I have these moments of sadness because I'm 99.9999% certain he's our last baby and therefore have many thoughts like, "this is the last time I'll have a 2 month old." Hahah! Self torturous....I know. He has been an amazing baby and I'm getting close to finding my "groove" again. Hahah! Not that I ever had this ship running like a well oiled machine, but it ran fairly well.... most of the time. I like schedules that are kept and a little bit of predictability. This week we haven't left the house so we can get Bodie on our regular schedule. I let him develop a habit of napping in the baby swing. We're heading to PA for 2 weeks, next weekend, and I didn't want to have to take the swing along with me. So breaking him of that habit was part of my mission this week. After a few rough days, no more naps in the swing! Yeah! He's been napping in his crib all week, and the time line is better too. He now wakes up around 7:30am, goes back for his morning nap at 8:30-9am, sleeps til around 11:30am. He then naps again with the big boys from 1 to 3pm or 4pm. Then it's bath around 6 and bed around 7. It's amazing how nice it is to have them all nap at the same time in the afternoon. I can workout, shower, prep for dinner, hear myself think.....hahahha! It's nice! We also have been working on him taking a bottle. After weeks of refusing it, one night Tom tried again, and he just took it like he's been doing it forever. Wwhhhheeewwwww! I was worried about that one! Plus now Tom gets to help feed him which he loves doing!
Of course, since we love chaos, Ty decided he was ready for a big boy bed this week as well. He's been begging to sleep in a bed forever and we've tried it a few times and he just stays up and plays so he landed himself back in his crib. But last Thursday he was throwing a full on hissy fit wanting to sleep in the bed at nap time so I let him. Once again, it turned out to be a disaster. (We had Jack and Ty sharing a room so Ty not sleeping = Jack not sleeping which then = CRANKY boys!!!) So after around 30 minutes of going in and making Ty lay back down I put him back in his crib. Well, he proved he was part monkey because in 2.6 seconds he was up and over the side and his tiny hiney was running back to the big boy bed. GAME OVER!!! So I waved the white flag of motherhood and rearranged the guest room and that is now where Ty is sleeping. I was pretty sure this would backfire in many ways. Jack and Ty have been sleeping in the same room for months now. I assumed they would miss each other. Apparently that is NOT the case. It actually seems like the bed time routine has smoothed out a little. In time, when Ty gets this -going right to bed- thing down, they'll be roomies yet again. But for now our little set up is working and I'm so proud of Ty!
And we can't leave Jack out of the chaos either....we've been trying to get him potty trained overnight too.He's 100% during the day but doesn't always make it overnight. He's been wearing pull-ups to bed for a while now and we think they're letting him be lazy. So last week we used our last pull-up. There was a short period of time where he was waking himself up to go through the night but it's been a long time since he's done that. So when Tom and I head to bed we wake Jack up so he can go to the bathroom one more time. It's been over a week and last night was his first accident in his sleep. Poor guy! He's not waking himself up when he needs to go but we're hoping by him not wearing a pull up he'll get the idea. He really hates when his stuffed animals need to get a "bath" so that should help too. :-)
So putting Bodie on a new schedule, getting him to take a bottle, Ty in a big boy bed, and no more Pull-Ups for Jack has been what's keeping me busy lately. I feel like I am starting to function normally again, and feeling human is always nice! Hahaha! Tom and I are going to get to celebrate all these feats of ours with a little R&R next weekend. We're heading to Ohio for 24 hours, for a wedding for one of our close friends! Tom's mom is flying down here to watch the boys for us. The last time I was away from my family was when I was pregnant with Ty and working in CA. I had a business trip in NC for a week. So this will be the first time I'm away from Ty and Bo overnight. I'm a little nervous, only because Bodie's so little and Ty's pretty stubborn. I know Sandy is highly qualified, having raised 3 boys of her own, but I just hope the boys are good for her. I'm so excited about the wedding! Not only will it be great to see our friends get married but I get to wear a dress and makeup and NAIL POLISH!!! I've rediscovered a love of nail polish! hahhahaah! Its really the little things!!! Then after the wedding, the boys and I are going to head to PA for 2 weeks so every one can meet Bodie. Sandy is going to ride with me to help with my traveling circus! HAhaha! Then my mom's going to help me drive back to KY and fly back to PA. I'm so grateful to have our parents! I can only imagine how it would be trying to get into a bathroom stall with 3 children at some scary rest stop in West Virginia on the way home. Hahaha! Like I said....SOOOOOO Grateful!!
So that's the latest and greatest from here. It all doesn't sound exciting but in our little world it is! :-)

Playing Head-Bandz

I discovered the "Instagram" App for my phone...love this!

Why wouldn't Ty stick his head in the Bumbo??

My boys (instagramed)

Jack and our neighbor Brook's hermit crab.

The recliner is no longer big enough!! :-)

The double decker bus tour...

Ty LOVES holding Bo.

Sporting the snow boots in 115* weather.

He's so smiley! He was trying to fit both hands in his mouth!

I love instagram!!

A week with Oma & Pop Pop

2011-07-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Dad (AKA: Oma and Pop Pop) drove down from PA to spend some time with us last week. This was the first time that they got to see Bodie, who is 2 months old today. We had such a great week! The weather was great here, no rain, hot and sunny. We spent a lot of time in the kiddie pool and running through the sprinkler toy. We went to the zoo one day, I was pretty sure I started to melt walking around there. It was HOT. We tried to cut it a little short but we couldn't leave without Jack seeing the vampire bats and snakes. Jack has that place memorized and knew that we walked right by the herpaquarium. He could be a tour guide there for sure!

It wasn't all fun and games though, my poor parent's definitely earned their stay. They spruced up the outside of our house too. We got rid of mulch and some grass and laid rock and planted some more trees around the front of the house. It looks really great and I'm so appreciative of their help! Having 3 crazy boys hasn't helped me be very productive on many days to say the least!

Half way through the week my mom and I sent my Dad and Tom to Chicago for the weekend for their Father's Day gifts. They got to see 2 baseball games at Wrigley. For one of the games they had seats 8 rows behind the SF Giants dugout. I was really jealous!! They had a great time, other than getting caught in a torrential down pour at Navy Pier one night. And my mom and I had a blast being entertained by the 3 monkeys. Jack even got to go to another movie with my Mom. They saw Cars 2 and he loved it! (a whole bag a twizzlers and all...hhahhahah!)

Of course I've spent this week detoxing the boys from the attention they had with Oma and Pop Pop. They were definitely spoiled! All the boys had to do was say "Oma" and my mom was melting all over them! Hahah!! I wish we could see family more often!!

Thanks Mom and Dad for spending the week with us! We had a great time! I love that we're at least close enough to drive to see each other now. The 3 boys and I will be heading to PA in a few weeks to visit everyone else and we can't wait!!

It was HOT, so there was a lot of time in the pool!

Oma and the boys

Watching Wall-E

Our day at the zoo...

He was so proud of his red dragon!

Bodie passed out on Oma, and Ty couldn't let him have all the attention.

Bubbles!!

Oma and Pop Pop brought a sprinkler toy along...it was a huge hit!!

Nothing beats a story and popsicles with Pop Pop.

Helping Oma with the landscaping.

Bye Bye Mulch!!! Hello pretty rocks!

What's more fun than real wheel barrow rides??

Ty would NOT cooperate for pictures on the morning my parents left.

Here's Ty running away from the camera! My bribe of M&Ms didn't even work!

The Ty-less group shot! He's so stubborn! :-)

Swing set

2011-07-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

The boys got a swing set for their birthdays. I've been looking at play sets for MONTHS trying to pick the right one and of course get a good deal. (Thank you to Boobie and Umpa, and Uncle Tim and also to Wal-mart and your free Site to Store shipping!) It's insane how expensive it can be to buy one that comes with installation, which was a bummer. So the task fell to Tom to build it. Poor Tom, for not being that guy who loves tools he's had to build a lot of things lately. I helped with a few parts but 95% of it was Tom. He did a great job too. Since it was raining here when the play set came in, he built most of it in parts in the garage. Then we moved the big pieces outside and assembled it into 2 big parts. When my parents came into town last weekend they helped us move it to it's final location and put it all together. My mom even added some accessories to the swing set, a telescope, a wheel and a swinging Tarzan bar. The boys LOVE it, and I love it because it's right there in our back yard and we don't have to pack up everyone and find a playground. The highlight for Jack is going down the slide first thing in the morning when it's still covered in dew. He flies down the slide like a rocket and finds it hysterical when he launches himself about 5 feet away from the normal landing spot. Ty loves climbing up the ladder. He's up and down that thing constantly. It's definitely a good addition to the yard!

The boys took off running when they saw it set up in the yard for the first time.

7 weeks....almost

2011-06-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

Bodie will be 7 weeks old on Friday. He doesn't feel that old to me. My days seem to be flying by. He's such a great baby! Tom and I have been very blessed with our kiddos. They're great eaters and sleepers. Sleep is so important!! Hahah! Jack slept through the night at 6 weeks, Ty was at 8 weeks and Bodie wins with starting to sleep through the night at 5 weeks! I feel like he's been consistent enough that I can talk about it out loud without jinxing it! (but I'm still going to knock on wood!) Bodie goes to bed around 10 or 10:30 and will usually wake up between 6-7am. I really don't know how we got so lucky! His day time schedule is pretty great too. He's usually up for about an hour and half and is napping for 3-4 hours in between.
Bo's also starting to get a little personality too. He has an amazing smile! Of course I haven't been able to capture his big smiles on camera yet, but I did get a few little ones. His feet and shoulders are ticklish. He LOVES bath time and staring at himself in the mirror. He always calms right down when Tom holds him and seems to really like being outside. Like every newborn, he knows exactly when I'm about to eat dinner because he wakes up screaming. hahahah! He definitely wants to be fed ASAP when he wakes up and his angry cry is pretty scary. And just like Jack...he loves the swing!
Bo is a great baby! He's let me feel like a human again pretty quickly. I've been fortunate too because I didn't have any postpartum blues with him. I had them with Ty and Jack. I didn't realize that it could be possible to not feel all crazy and sad after having a baby. I thought it was how you were supposed to feel after giving birth and letting your hormones balance out. But I never had the down moments after Bodie. It's been really great not having anxiety attacks and crying to Tom every night for weeks. I'm not quite sure how he put up with me after we had the first 2 boys. He is such an amazing husband and Dad!! Tom-I love you and thank you for everything you do and put up with around here! :-)

Jack and Bo (Ty was napping)

A little smile

His common serious face. :-)

And since Ty wasn't available for the new Bodie pictures here's 2 videos of Ty holding Bodie the other day. The first one is just Ty being entertaining. We've been trying to get him to roll his tongue. When we asked him to stick out his tongue he just keeps his lips closed and hums, like his tongue was really sticking out. Of course when I'm videoing him he does it right. Hahah! Then the 2nd video is of how he wouldn't give Bodie back to me without putting up a fight. He had a bear hug of a hold on him too. Hahah!

Gone fishing...

2011-06-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Tom and I took the boys fishing for the first time yesterday. We met one of Tom's co-workers at a little lake in E-town. I haven't been fishing in over 20 years and I believe the same goes for Tom. We had such a great time.

The super hot weather broke here over the weekend so it was a cool 80 degrees and overcast which was nice. Ty wasn't into fishing so much but throwing rocks into the spill way was all he needed. Jack fished for awhile and actually caught a blue gill. His attention span didn't last too long. He'd cast his line, then go help Ty throw rocks then when something bit, he'd come running back to reel it in. His little Transformers fishing rod did pretty well. I think Jack's favorite thing was making friends with the worms. Hahahah! He would dig a worm out of the container, play with him for a little bit then give him a new home in the cup holder of the folding chair. One time I looked and there were 4 worms in the cup holder. I was actually really surprised that he was all over the worms like he was. Ty's more fearless than Jack, but not when it came to the worms or even the fish. Jack touched all the fish we caught and even threw back a few of the blue gills. I was pretty proud of him. He does have a huge interest in all kinds of animals and bugs. He had a great time! Ty loved helping me reel in the line but would take off when we'd catch a fish. He wouldn't hold a worm either but did spend about 20 minutes chasing and picking up ants. Of course he was as gentle as a 2 year old could be so my apologies to that ant colony. :-) Tom started out a little rough with his first cast going straight into a tree and having to break his line free. hahahaha! He did redeem himself though. First off, he surprised me with baiting his own hook. If anyone knows Tom....he doesn't do well with needles. I don't think he could let his boys see their mom hook a worm and not their dad. Hahahah! So this was a pretty big deal. Of course he was also the lucky fisherman of the day with the biggest catch. He caught a large mouth bass that was around 18 inches long. I caught a large mouth as well but it jumped off my line as I was about to pull it onto the dock. Bummer! Those were the only bass we saw, everything else we caught were little blue gills. We threw everything back but I think Tom would have mounted that bass he caught if we kept him. :-)
We had such a great day! I can't wait for all of us to go fishing again!

Bodie letting me know he wanted to fish too.

Prepping the rods

Throwing rocks

Ty picking up ants

Hooking the worm

Jack's first cast.

Ty helping me reel

Ty's alter ego...Elton John having a snack.

The first catch....and Ty's snack all over his sweet little face.

I love Jack's face in this picture!!

His friend Wormie #1.

Tom's big catch. Can you tell how excited he was??

Jack's big catch.

I think they were recapping the day's events.

Carnival

2011-06-12T05:37:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago we went to a little carnival in town. It was pretty small and not too crowded which was nice. It was also one of those carnivals where you don't get on the big rides, all the games are a rip but it was something to do that got us out of the house and they had funnel cakes. Hahhahaah! It felt good to get out of the house and the boys had a great time going on all the kiddie rides. Jack had a little break down when we couldn't win him the gigantic stuffed snake at the ring toss game, but we took the experience as a life lesson. Hhahahaah! Bodie had fun in his stroller and Ty loved going down the slide on the burlap sack and throwing rings at the bottles (he helped us not win the big stuffed snake) But I think the highlight for Jack and Ty was their first candy apples! Yummm!

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Happy Birthday Titus!!

2011-06-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Titus turned 2 today! I can't believe he's 2 years old already! I seriously have no idea where the last two years have gone. Time just seems to be flying by and I want everything to slow down! :-) Happy Birthday Titus!! You are total entertainment day in and day out! It's amazing how you've grown over the last year and I can't see what you get to accomplish next! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

He's obsessed with Elmo right now.

Make a wish!

Yummmmm!

Bodie wasn't having the hat.

Or 3 hats....

Jack was more than happy to help Ty with his cake!

Num Num!

Let me see your hands....

In deep conversation about cake and how to open presents. Hahah!

With NEVER seeing any Spider Man cartoons or movies, he really loves Spider Man!

Rain drops

2011-05-27T08:51:00.001-07:00

When you can't beat 'em, join 'em!.....

Our weather has been so cruddy lately we all have cabin fever. The other day I spent an hour preparing our basement with all the essentials because the terrible storm that went through Joplin was heading our way. Thankfully the tornadoes missed us! Yesterday we had some more rain without thunder and lightning. Jack made a request and so we played in the rain. Ty really wasn't a big fan. Jack had a blast though! He even made a "leaf boat" and was floating it down the "river". The "river" being the drainage ditch in the front of our house. Hahaha! Needless to say we followed up our outdoor rainy fun with a nice warm bath!

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New Wheels

2011-05-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Jack got a big boy bike last week. Of course I think he was more excited about getting a Spider Man Helmet that came with a matching bike horn. (Oh how we loathe that bike horn!!!!) He really does love his bike though. He does pretty well riding it too. He got the hang of the pedal brakes pretty quickly which I was impressed with. His biggest challenge is paying attention to where he's going. Hahaha! He gets distracted by that dang horn, his shadow and watching his feet pedal. hahahah! A few days ago he was out riding with our neighbor's son and Jack crashed into the drainage ditch. The good thing was he hopped right up and got back on the bike! Go Jack Go!!!

Big Brother and Bigger Brother

2011-05-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

The boys have jumped right into their roles as big brothers. Jack must ask us 100 times a day if he can hold Bodie. Ty is constantly walking around saying, "Baby Bo?", looking for him, wondering where he is when he's napping. Jack's new favorite saying is, "isn't it fun having a new baby brother?" Of course our response is...."it sure is, especially at 3am." hahah! They absolutely LOVE being big and bigger brothers! I wasn't sure how Ty would be and if Jack would act out in any way with the attention diverted away from him, but they've been amazing! Jack is my super helper and Ty just gives Bodie kisses and pets his head all day. I love seeing them interact with each other. I think Bodie even knows how lucky he is already. :-)

Baby Boys

2011-05-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

So here are all of our babies as tiny babies. It's so crazy to me how they all look so much alike. Jack and Ty definitely resembled each other when they were born. Of course now they look very different. Jack's got the olive skin tone, brown eyes, darker hair. Ty's fair complected, and a blondie with blue eyes. At first when we saw Bodie we thought he looked exactly like Ty as a newborn. But as a few days passed his face morphed into Jack's as a baby, at least we think so. :-)

Here's Jack.....

Here's Ty.....

Here's Bodie....

Welcome....

2011-05-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 6th, Boden Davis McMurtrie came into this world. Bodie arrived at 9:52am at a whopping 9 pounds. I'll save the crazy details of my labor for the next blog! Here's a ton of pictures to tie everyone over! Welcome to the world Bodie!! We love you!!!

Frick and Frack

2011-05-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Jack and Ty are becoming quite good friends. I love watching them play together and actually get along. Most of the time they even share and take turns with toys! (hope I'm not jinxing anything)
Jack has assumed the big brother roll and is trying to teach Ty everything he knows. Ty's a little lacking with his speech so about 100 times a day you can hear Jack say...."Ty can you say"...."Pickles", "drink", "pizza", "garbage truck", etc. The hilarious part is that Ty says everything Jack tells him to. If Tom and I try to get Ty to say something, we have no such luck and usually end up asking Jack for his assistance. Hahaha! Crazy, right? They are pretty inseparable and I love it! I hope that it stays that way for a very long time!
The other night we got to witness a sweet brother moment. Every night when Tom and I go to bed we sneak in and check on the boys. (We have them sharing the bonus room as their bedroom so we can have a guest room and a nursery.) Jack's usually hanging off his bed half way and we like to make sure Ty's still wearing his diaper. Hahaha! But the other night we found Jack camped out on the floor right next to Ty. We put him back in bed and called it a night.

Then 2 nights later we found him that way again. This time with his blanket and all of his animals. He looked too comfy to move so we just let him go. How sweet?

We're really not sure why he's been sleeping there. When we ask we get the response; "because I wanted to". So that's that! Frick and Frack, total buddies!

The Picasos of Eggs

2011-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that we dyed our Easter Eggs. With Ty being the crazy kid he is, I wanted to do it while Tom was home for the extra set of hands. That was a good idea on my part! Hahaha! He was not happy that he couldn't hold the cups of dye. There were a few tears, a mild hissy fit and a tug of war match over a cup of green dye, but he snapped out of it and joined Jack in the fun of it all. Jack did a great job decorating his eggs. I was actually really impressed. It's been awhile since I had our paints out, we'll be doing that next week. Ty really likes painting, hates crayons, but loves painting! Anyway, We had a great time dying our eggs. I'm excited to have an egg hunt tomorrow. It will have to be inside since the weather's a little crazy. One night this week we were awakened by the tornado sirens at midnight and they went off again today around dinner. Luckily we only saw the wall cloud and the the funnels happened past us. They are expecting another band of severe storms to come through the night again tonight, so we'll see. We're supposed to have these intense storms for the next 6 days. It's pretty crazy. For not seeing any lightning or hearing any thunder for over 2 years while we lived in California we're definitely in the right place for a big storm now. Tom and I are amazed with the clouds here, they're incredible to watch. But back to the eggs......I'm off to consult with the Easter Bunny on where to hide them all. Have a great Easter everyone!!!

The safety goggles were all Ty, he was wearing them most of the morning. But it's always good to put safety first! :-)

Here's the hissy fit over not being able to hold the cup and dunk his egg. (Notice all his new teeth!)

I can't believe how big Jack looks in this picture. (and please remember that I'm 39 weeks pregnant.....puffiness is my new look)

He's very serious about his art!

Once the crying was over, Ty did a great job painting his eggs.

Tom assisting the artist!

Jack made sure to use every color! Very festive!

His masterpiece!

After Ty managed to dunk his whole hand in the green dye he was done with the eggs. With that there was no more need for the safety goggles and he moved on to his 2nd choice for head gear....the iron man mask! Hahahah! For some reason every time he sees a super hero, Spider Man or Iron Man in particular he does the evil "Ah AH AH AH' laugh. Not sure why but it's so funny!

Here's a pic of the wall cloud we saw this afternoon... just for fun!

Splish Splash

2011-04-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our weather's been a little crazy lately. Thunderstorms, high winds, tornado warnings, all kinds of precipitations and temperatures. This past weekend however we had a very summery day. On Sunday it was sunny and 87 degrees here in Rineyville. With that kind of heat we busted out the kiddie pool! The kids had so much fun and we didn't mind putting our feet in and getting splashed either! Ty really wanted to be the naked swimmer, we did however compromise and he finally left his swim diaper on. The trunks only last about 30 seconds. hahaha!

Jack checking out the sunscreen in his robot towel from Meagan.

Ty used to look like me.....not so much anymore.

The jump shot. Pop Pop should be proud.

Ty was fearless on the slide!

Visitors

2011-04-01T06:44:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had friends visit us from PA. I've known these girls for over 10 years now and it's amazing to me that I have such amazing people in my life that are willing to drive 10 hours to KY with their children for a long weekend. Hahahah!!

I met these ladies when I was in Radiography school at Penn State. Carisa was my classmate, Christy was a year above us and Karen worked at the Hershey Med Center. They have always been amazing friends to me! What they may not know is how much thier friendship helped me through Tom's time in Iraq! When Tom was deployed I moved back home from Germany and worked at Hershey again. They kept me very busy and gave me so much support that helped me make it through that year! Over the years we've all changed so much, getting married, starting families, etc. But through all of that we've always kept in touch. It may not be every week or constant phone calls because life does truly take over, but I know that we can pick right up from where ever we left off whether it was 3 days or 3 months ago. Ladies....I love you and thanks for being such amazing friends!

While everyone was here in KY we made a trip to the Louisville Zoo, and 2 pretty cool playgrounds. The boys (we all have boys which is hilarious) had such a great time playing together! Carisa's son Ethan is 1 year old, and Karen has 2 boys, Cooper who is 18 months, and Aiden who will soon be 3. Cooper was definitely missing his Dad and our big plans of keeping 4 boys bunked in 1 room together didn't go as planned but otherwise it was a great weekend! My favorite part, aside from seeing all of our kids play together, was after they went to bed we all sat up and just talked like we used to do before we had kids and we were all still living close to each other!

Jack and Aiden climbing at the playground.

Ty wondering, "What the hey is that thing?", at the petting zoo in the big zoo.

Karen and Cooper on the carousel at the zoo.

Myself, Jack and Ty at the zoo.

Ethan taking a ride in the dump truck. Hahaha! :-)

I love Carisa's face in this so I had to post it!!! :-)

Our group shot in front of the zoo.

Ty and Aiden at the playground.

My 2 boys and Aiden

Ty trying to take out Ethan....no cuties were injured or thrown from the slide in the taking of this picture.

Ty keeping Christy company while sporting the Spider Man helmet.

Aiden, Ty and Jack sharing a snack of Craisins

Enjoying lunch on the back deck with Christy.

Helicopter

2011-03-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I've been having some technical difficulties with my computer so I've been blog-less for awhile. I like blogging with pictures. My computer is holding most of my pictures hostage so that's a bummer! I have lots to blog about too! I had friends from home visit with their kiddos, a great new use for duct tape in our house and just all the other not so interesting to anyone but us kind of stuff. Hahah! :-)

So while I use Tom's computer......I do have pictures of this....

The boys are pretty lucky kiddos. They have very cool and creative grandparents. Tom's Mom and Dad, A.K.A. Boobie and Umpa, sent the boys a helicopter teeter-totter. I really wonder where all these toys were when I was a kid. :-) The weather hasn't been so cooperative here so we, and in "we" I mean Tom, built the helicopter in the garage. It's pretty cool and the boys LOVE it!! I'll have to video them on it because it's hilarious when they sit on the wings and actually try and teeter-totter. Jack doesn't exactly get that he weighs more than Ty so for him it's just a teeter. My favorite part of the whole helicopter is the fact that it has 2 steering wheels! One for each! Yeah! :-) The kids love it..... THANK YOU Boobie and Umpa!!

A long few weeks

2011-03-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. Our house was under quarantine. The last 2 1/2 weeks have been a little crazy with everyone sharing their diseases. After all, what is the ONE thing the boys are more than willing to share.....germs! :-)

Ty's had it the worst, with Tom pulling a close 2nd. Two Mondays ago I took Ty to the doctor. He had virus that was coming out like the worst cold in the world. His eyes were gunky, boogers everywhere, fevers, coughing, he was miserable and I couldn't blame him. It also didn't help that he's cutting 7 teeth right now. This kid is a trooper. I really can't believe the amount of teeth coming in for him. He hasn't had any new teeth for MONTHS! And now, he gets 7 all at once, 2 of which are molars. So the doctor gave us Zyrtec and sent us on our way. Of course at this point most of his virus was working its way out since he had the worst of it over the weekend. He seemed to be doing better, other than the normal teething symptoms.

Then Jack had preschool on Tuesday and when I picked him up his teacher asked me...."Have you seen his eye?" Uh OH!!! On Wednesday we were back to the doctor for Jack and he had the dreaded pink eye. Normally I can handle sick kiddos and the lack of sleep that comes with the coughing through the night but I got stuck with a sinus infection. Let me just say I REALLY miss being able to take the good drugs! Advil Cold and Sinus and NyQuil are my go to cold busters but being preggers I get stuck with plain, nothing fancy Robitussin and Sudafed which doesn't seem to help my cold, just makes me jumpy. So I wasn 't at the top of my mommy game when all this was going on and Tom wasn't able to hold the torch either because he had a bad cold then got Strep throat last Tuesday. Tom NEVER goes to the doctor, so you I knew he was hurting! And then 2 days after his doctor visit he got Jack's pink eye. Like I said....the boys are great at sharing germs! So our house was hurting for awhile. I'm pretty sure if anyone else got pink eye or strep we were going to have to fumigate the house!

The weather was pretty terrible while we were all sick too. Lots of rain for days! When this past weekend rolled around everyone seemed to be doing so much better along with the sunny weather. There were full nights of sleep, no puking episodes, medicines were running their courses and the moods of all were turning to happy, and the sunshine was GREAT!! We went out to breakfast, did lots of errands, and ventured to the playground.

On Sunday we bought trees for our barren yard and finally got to put Tom's new ride to use hauling them all home. Some how Tom managed to dig holes and plant 6 pine trees and 3 weeping willow trees in a few hours. Plus he gets to do it all again this weekend with our 2nd load of trees. I was no help since these things weighed a TON and we're not exactly ready to have "Pickles" pop out just yet. :-) The trees look great and the yard looks so much better already.

While we were enjoying the great weekend I of course said, "I think we're on the mend" out loud and jinxed us!! We noticed this thing growing in Ty's right ear canal. It's much bigger than a pimple, and looks like a piece of puffed rice sitting in his ear canal which was about to close off if it grew any bigger. He didn't seem to be pulling or itching at it so we just watched it for a few days. It didn't get any smaller so I made him another doctor's appointment for yesterday while Jack was at school. We had a real asshole of a nurse (a male nurse) which just ruined the whole visit. Ty's usually really great with doctors but this guy freaked him out so bad that Ty was everything but cooperative. Anyway, the doctor got a look in his ear and ruled it as a bacterial infection of a gland in his canal. So Ty's now on antibiotics and ear drops for a week. After one dose of each last night, the growth is getting smaller and it looks like it's opening up and the nastiness is leaking out which is great....and gross! Hahaha! He was up through the night a few times but I'm sure he was uncomfortable, how could he not be? When he's awake, he's his normal happy self so we'll see how tonight goes.

Hopefully this is the end of our unhealthy craziness since we're going to have a full house starting tomorrow. Three of my best friends from PA are coming to visit with kids in tow. Christy, Carisa, her son, Ethan who is 1, and Karen and her 2 kiddos, Aiden and Cooper who are 2 1/2 and 1 will be making the drive to Newtucky. I can't wait to see them. Who has friends that are willing to drive 11 hours for a long weekend with KIDS?? :-) Hahahah! It should be a blast though! Jack is very excited about having a sleep over and we're heading to the zoo! I can't wait to hang out with them for longer than the occasional dinner together! Should be a great girls weekend....Tom's looking forward to planting 8 more trees. Hahahah! :-)

So that's the latest with the McMurtries. It's been a long few weeks but we're getting there! Not sure how I'd be without Tom through everything. He's been amazing! He's been keeping me from breaking....pregnancy hormones/mood/crazies are in full swing and I don't know how he's putting up with me. I think he really enjoys going to work! Hahahah!

I lied....more Ding Dings

2011-03-04T17:54:00.001-08:00

I totally forgot about the group pictures I took of the Ding Dings before we headed to the airport. I blame baby brain. Ooops! :-)

Ding Ding Trip - final pics

2011-03-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

When we weren't chasing the boys at Blazer's the Ding Dings and our little crew were just hanging out at home. The weather was pretty good for most of their time here so we got to play outside and use the trampoline and blow bubbles. It was really great for my aunts to see the boys in their regular element. My mom's witnessed the boys at their best and worst so now it was Lisa and Maria's turn. Every time we'd go home to visit they'd see the kids for a short time, or at a party type event where the kids weren't really themselves. I have a HUGE family on my mom's side and nothing we do is in small doses. Hahah! So, it was really fun for the boys to just be their crazy selves and for the Ding Dings to witness it all and be a part of their day. We LOVED having the Ding Dings here! We have tons of memories that I will cherish forever! I can't wait for the next Ding Ding Adventure!!! Thanks Oma, Aunt Lisi and Aunt Ree Ree! We love you guys and miss you tons! We had a great time with you in New-Tucky!!!

The bubble guns were a big hit!

Love the loader

Ty's preferred mode of transportation.

He got Oma again, we need to break out the motorized 4x4.

Who could jump the highest?

Oma doing a successful pop-up. The first attempt was an epic FAIL! Hahaha!

Yeah, she stuck the landing!

Jack's face says it all for his love of bubbles.

Ty even mastered the bubble gun.

Getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time and keeping Lola out of the way was also an epic FAIL! hahhaha!

This is Ty's better side. hehehe!

Oma and the boys.

My favorite picture! Can you tell she's a Pre-K teacher??

Ding Ding Trip - Day 2

2011-02-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

The second day that my family was here we started our off by going to Jack's favorite and most requested place...Blazers. He loves that place!

My Aunts, Lisa and Maria, were "lucky" enough to get to run through all the bounce houses with the boys. I'm out of commission to go through those things. Although....I may take a run at it if this baby is one day late! :-) So, my mom and I hung out and were on picture duty. Anyway, Ty really does think he's a big guy which makes him think that he can do everything Jack does. He is one determined kid and nothing stopped him! He went through those bouncy castles and mazes like a champ, with some help going up ladders and steps. Thank you Aunt Lisi and Aunt Ree Ree, I know the boys loved every minute of their afternoon at Blazers with you all!

Aunt Lisa doing more bouncing than sliding down the slide.

Jack and Aunt Maria

Getting ready for another round through the maze with Ty.

Whhhheeeeeeeeeee!!!

Ty and Aunt Maria

Ty having way too much fun! :-) I was jealous!

The reward at the end of the maze.

And when one pair of sunglasses just isn't enough....go with three!!!

Ding Ding Trip - Day 1

2011-02-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my Mom and my 2 aunts, her sisters, Lisa and Maria, flew down here from PA to hang out with us for the weekend. It's kind of become a tradition for The Ding Dings to visit us wherever we end up. Ding Dings.... you say?? Well, I believe it was my Dad who named them. I think their first trip to see me was around the time the Ya Ya Sisterhood movie came out and this lead to my Dad naming them the "Ding Dings"! Hahhahah! It fits and the name has stuck after all these years.

When I graduated from college I moved to Greenville, NC. This was the first "Ding Ding Trip". After NC and marrying Tom I moved to Germany. The Ding Dings actually flew to Germany and ventured to Poland with me and friends to go pottery shopping (that was quite the adventure! hahahahah!) They never got the chance to make it to Monterey but they're 3 for 4 so far, and that's pretty cool!

Before this trip to New-Tucky was planned Tom had gotten me an awesome present for Christmas. He got us tickets to see Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, and Jerrod Neiman in concert in Louisville. It just worked out that the Ding Dings flew in Saturday morning and we had the concert Saturday night. So, basically they flew to KY to babysit. Hahahha! They were here until Tuesday so we had 2 more full days to wear them out! Hahahah! (After I blog about the Ding Ding weekend, I'll have to blog about our big crazy date night in Louisville.)

So the boys and I picked up the Ding Dings at the airport. The boys love the airport! It's an amazing place. There was a parking garage, escalators, moving sidewalks, elevators and of course airplanes and the Ding Dings! :-) When we got back to the house the boys wasted no time in making the Dings Dings jump on the trampoline.

And push them around on little tricycles.

Then Tom and I got ready for our night out and off we went. The Ding Dings were on their own. This is apparently what went on while Tom and I were in Louisville.......
Hahahahaha!!!!

It's a game called Head Bandz that my mom brought for the boys. You have to ask questions and then guess what's on the card stuck to your head. According to my mom, Jack played pretty well. Even asked his own questions. They had a great first night.....more to come.

Pooptastrophe

2011-02-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

This weekend my Mom and 2 Aunts came to visit us in "New-Tucky". Before I can get into the amazing time we had and all the fun details, I have to share a story about Jack.

Jack has been completely potty trained since before Christmas. He hasn't had an accident in months but for some reason we totally regressed this past week. He woke up from 2 naps wet and then had a pooptastrophe on Monday. Let me just say I hate poop!! I know that out of all of my fellow moms out there no one likes poop, but I'm just saying!

On Sunday we built a fort in Jack's room and we let him sleep in it for his nap. When he woke up from his nap he trotted downstairs as always and I noticed that he was wearing different pants. I asked him why he changed and he was reluctant to tell me. Of course I knew....wet again. Bummer! We go back up stairs to his room when the stank hit me like a slap in the face. Of course this odor was blamed on Ty but it originated from Jack. (nice try Jack!) I asked Jack to tell me what happened and he said he had an accident and that he changed himself! This little monkey pooped and tried to hide it all by changing and cleaning himself up. This is where the story gets nasty.......Of course he didn't want to get in trouble, or was embarrassed, so he just took his dirty, soaking, stinky clothes and just put it them in his hamper like nothing of it......poop ball included! EEEWWWWWW! Half of me was impressed that he tried to clean up everything himself, the other half was gagging! So my mom took Jack to get his bath while I cleaned the hamper, carpet, blankets from the fort, and everything else that could possibly have come in contact with the unwanted surprise in the hamper!!

After having a long talk and going over why we go in the potty and how if he does have an accident, it's OK because..."accidents happen" but you still have to tell Mommy so she can clean it up, we moved on with our day.

(I believe this regression stems from me being hard on him for coming out of his room a million times and fighting the thought of having to nap. He's very creative with his stalling tactics....band-aids, drinks of water, chapstick, the crazy quetions, "Is it going to be a long nap or short nap?", "How long? 2 Hours?"....on and on and on. So after really scolding him for a good week about NOT coming out of his room and staying in his bed and going to sleep I think I had him thinking he wasn't even allowed to come out to use the bathroom. Oy Vey!!! So lesson learned by me.....)

So after an afternoon of playing and heading out to dinner with my family we come home and get the kids ready for bed. When we go upstairs there's still a pretty raunchy stink coming from the boy's room. (They're now sharing the bonus room in prep for the baby coming) so......we scour the room again. We didn't find anything but the smell is still there. I'm left to assume that the smell is just embedded into the carpet by the hamper so since it was late we put the boys down and I promised that I'd shampoo their carpet the next day. The next day was Tuesday, we woke up, got ready, could still smell the stank and took my family to the airport. When the boys and I got back it was late and time for nap, so being the horrible mother that I am I put them back to sleep in that stinky room until our schedule opened up for a good carpet shampooing. When the boys woke from their naps I went on inspector duty. I got down on my hands and knees, which isn't so easy being 30 weeks preggers, and pretty much sniffed every square inch of their carpet trying to find the spot that was radiating the stink. I looked for little turd nuggets under their dressers, in their toy boxes....EVERYWHERE. I had no luck finding anything but I could still smell the smell. YUCK! So I sit Jack down and have him give me the play by play of what went down with the pooptastrophe. I needed locations of where the deed was done, where he was when he changed and I really needed to know where IT hit the ground when he was getting changed and everything he touched in between. He was very proud to tell me that it never fell out of his skivvies but he tried to clean it up with baby wipes. Hhhhhhmmmmm.....interesting.......I never found any wipes. Oh My God!! Where are these said wipes??? So he told me "Up there", pointing to the top of his 5 drawer chest that's 5 feet tall. I stand up, look and there are 2 little wipes laying neatly on the top of the dresser. With fear in my eyes I move the wipe and there it is.......a big ol' nasty turd ball staring me in the face, laughing at me that I NEVER looked UP in my search for the cause of the lingering stench. Seriously.....how did my 3 year old put THAT way up there?? Well, He climbed up on the foot board of his bed, leaned over and placed it there proudly thinking he was being a big guy and cleaning up his own mess. I was relieved to find the cause of the smell without having to burn down that part of our house. And I was mortified that I was such a bad mother to NOT have found the lone turd that was pretty much "right under my nose", that I had left both of my children sleep in their room in the company of the lone turd over night and again for a nap the next day, and that the whole situation was just soooooooo gross! I can laugh about it now because it's just so ridiculous and of course, my Mom and Aunts were here to witness our pooptastrophe. This will definitely be one of the things that Jack will not be allowed to forget when he gets older!!! Hahahah! Oh My Goodness!

Everything is now cleaned and sterilized in the boys room and the stink is NO MORE!! YEAH! We've been having many conversations about how it's OK for him to come out of his room if he needs to use the potty, etc. We may have back tracked a little but we're working on it! So here's to hoping that there are no more pooptastrophes for us......ever, ever, EVER!!!!!

Cheetos

2011-02-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

Cheetos are a favorite snack for the boys. Who doesn't love Cheetos, right? Well, Ty loves them A LOT! They are definitely his favorite! Ty's one lucky kid when it comes to having his own stash of Cheetos too. Our neighbor works for Frito Lay and he's very good at sharing their stash of pulled off the shelf items. :-) (When the dates expire the snacks get pulled from the stores and find new homes. Hahah!) The only problem I have with Cheetos (other than the obvious that they're not fat free and not considered a health food) is the cheesy stain that is left on my child. That dust gets everywhere! Since the weather has been so nice Ty gets to enjoy his Cheetos outside! YEAH for no orange finger prints on my walls! :-)

My Valentines

2011-02-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken during Saturday morning cartoons. I love this picture. Tom was sitting there and everyone just piled on the love seat with him, garbage truck and all. Tom just loves when I take his picture! Hahahahah!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Sunshine

2011-02-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

We had really nice weather here on Sunday. That of course changed through the week with snow that then turned into bad ice and then that ice was topped with some more snow. So we were HAPPY to get outside on Sunday! The boys actually got to jump on the trampoline, we threw around the football, played with the dogs, gave the boys a big lesson on sharing and Ty walked down the steps like a big guy, on his own without crawling and no tumbles. So proud!!

We really love living in KY!! While living in CA I complained about not really having seasons and missing the snow and winter. I still LOVE the snow but it was nice to have 65 degree weather all year round when you have 2 boys who love being outside! (Beth, I seriously don't know how you're doing it all in Alaska!!) It was 16 degrees today and somehow it's supposed to get to 50 degrees on Saturday. Here's to hoping for another sunny Sunday!!!!

This is what led to a BIG lesson on sharing. I'm not sure we got through to Ty!

You can't really see Jack's face but he was screaming/crying as well. How could I not take a picture? Too bad it wasn't at a better angle!

Ty loves playing fetch with the dogs! He's got a pretty good arm for being 20 months.

Playing with his new baby garbage truck.

Ty had a little run in with the play place at Chic-Fil-A. He actually cut himself right on the corner of his eye.

Everyone chasing Tom.

My little Air Jordan.

My Bigger Air Jordan...

Taking a break, just chillin'

Working on his form.

First Day

2011-02-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Jack had his first day of preschool on Tuesday! We were so proud of him! He did so great! I of course was expecting tears and a fight for me not to leave when I dropped him off. He was a little hesitant at first then he saw Mr. Washington playing with kaleidoscopes with a group of kids and with that I got a kiss good bye and he was off. Funny how I was so proud and so heart broken in the exact same moment. hahahahah!

We decided to send Jack to preschool so he'd have something to do. I've been striking out with getting him into activities here. (We miss the gymnastics class in CA.) It's a bummer because there aren't any kids his age in our neighborhood. The only gymnastics class he could join is at 5:30-6:30pm on Wednesdays. Who would go to that??? Do they not know what time 3-4 years old eat dinner and go to bed??? He's too young for the karate classes in the area, and so on and so on. Anyway, we figured it was time to get him involved in something. We have been talking about sending him since we moved here. When we got back from our Christmas vacation I went in to CYS to sign him up and ended up putting him on a waiting list to start in February, even though there were openings right away. I know....total mom moment! Don't judge me!!! But I'm ready now, and he definitely is as well. :-)

The "first day of school" picture

Ty marched right over and stood next to Jack after I took the first picture. How cute!!?

This picture cracks me up because Ty's hair is out of control and already in need of another trim!

The Bro Hug! (Can you tell there's something interesting on the TV?)

Pretty Boys

2011-01-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

Last week while we were "making soup" with the play kitchen we discovered a new use for the basket liners that it came with. It's funny because they fit their heads so perfectly like they were meant to be worn as frilly little bonnets. Hahahahh!

I'm 99% sure this picture will be in Jack's senior yearbook somewhere! :-)

So pretty!

Who turned out the lights??

Pre-bonnet

The Show

2011-01-29T16:56:00.000-08:00

My grandmother, Jack's Great-Grandmother, is a seamstress. She had her own drapery business for YEARS. She made my mom's wedding dress back in the day. The woman is VERY talented!!! I wish I had her skills. If she saw the curtains that I made for our sunroom, she'd probably slap my hands with a ruler for shunning the family with my lack of sewing talent. Hahahah! For Christmas she made Jack this really awesome puppet show stage that hangs in a door way. The boys love this! Ty laughs hysterically whenever there's a puppet in sight, and Jack thinks he's pretty funny with making up conversations between the puppets. Of course all the puppets ever say to each other is......"what's up, chicken butt?", "How you doin'", and his favorite question...."What's your favorite color?" WHO KNOWS! But it is pretty funny, none the less. It's so much fun watching the boys put on a puppet show! Where was all this stuff when I was a kid??? :-) THANKS Grammy Spotts....the boys love their gift!!

Jack Lightyear

2011-01-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

We started our day by spending the morning out in the snow. We had a few inches over night and the boys had fun while I shoveled. Ty wouldn't keep his gloves on so we didn't spend as much time outside as planned. That was OK though because when we came in Jack wasn't feeling great. He took an uber-long nap this afternoon and just didn't seem like himself. So when the boys woke up from their naps it was movie time. Jack voted for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Ty gladly went along with no protest. I'm sure that will change once he starts talking! :-) When Jack snuggles in for a good flick he's accompanied by his Buzz Lightyear Snuggie. The snuggie was a Christmas gift from his Aunt Lisa.....Jack loves that thing!

Always a favorite!

2011-01-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

It's very true that the box is always as much fun, if not more fun, to play with as the toy. Here's a left over box from our move that has gotten a lot of attention over the last few days. Tonight while I was making dinner, I threw in a Baby Einstein video for the boys mainly to keep Ty occupied. He's cutting molars and isn't his normal chipper self. :-( Anyway, when I popped my head around the corner to check on why the boys were so quiet (never good) I saw this....

It cracked me up because they were both straining their necks to see the TV out of the box. Hahahaha! I love when they have their brotherly together moments that are NOT screaming fits over not sharing a toy or a wrestling match. :-)

The Doh!

2011-01-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Play-Doh! So I'm very excited that my boys love Play-Doh too! Once again....one of the ways I get to relive my childhood through my kids! :-) I can sit there and play while they play. Or while Jack chops it up into tiny bits and Ty licks it..hahahahahah! Either way it's loads of fun and occupies all of us for at least a good hour or 2. YEAH for Play-Doh!

Jack "chopping up the worms"

The scissors were the favorite Play-Doh gadget

Ty trying to figure out the scissors

Ty wanting the scissors back......

He's pondering if he should lick the tiny bit of Play-Doh AGAIN, for the 18th time.

Very focused

I love this picture because I think he's starting to look like Tom. I know I'm biased, but....so cute!

Pickles

2011-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

I had an ultrasound today for a gender check on the baby. I had an anatomical ultrasound right before Christmas but the tech was SUPER weird and rude about telling us the sex of the baby (long story). So the Army hospital that we're going to on post has an OBGYN ultrasound department separate from the ultrasound in the radiology department so.....they do gender check appointments where the whole family can attend. We wanted the kids to be a part of it so we all got to go to the appointment and the boys got to see the baby, AKA: "Pickles" (name given by Jack.)
So, anyway......."Pickles" is a BOY! Apparently McMurtrie's can only make boys. We are the 3rd generation who has 3 kids, all boys. Tom's dad was 1 of 3 boys, Tom was 1 of 3 boys, and now we will soon have 3 boys as well. I think that's pretty cool. It would have been fun to mix it up and have a girl, but I'm actually pretty psyched that we're having another boy. I know what to expect, have all the boy themed things and hopefully the teen years won't be as bad as I predict they'd be with a daughter. Hahahahah! (knocking on wood, crossing fingers, hoping I didn't just jinx myself by saying that!!!!!!)
I'm 25 weeks along already. It seems to be going pretty fast. Tom's been able to feel him move for a a few weeks now, which I LOVE! Pickles is a healthy mover, this kid is all over the place, very active!! He kept moving during the ultrasound and even threw an arm up like he was waving at us. Jack saw it and actually waved back. It was such a sweet moment!! :-) Here are the latest pictures of Pickles.....

Here's the wave!

The side shot

The non-censored pic. :-)

It was time...

2011-01-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

Ty had his first haircut today. He was super fuzzy. I was reluctant to cut his hair because he had these 2 little curls that would form on the back of his head. Jack never had curls. I didn't want them to go away, but it was time. His hair was past his eyes when it was brushed down in the front. And it would get so static-y that it morphed into a live wookiee. It was crazy.
Ty was lucky enough to have me cut his hair for his first haircut. hahaha! The kid would not have survived getting his hair cut out somewhere. I can barely cut his toe nails. So Tom had him on his lap and we watched a baby Einstein movie and wa-la......hair cut! Since the clippers were out, Jack got a trim too. Bye bye baby curls, hello big guy! :-)

The Before fuzzy head pic

The After buzz cut

The post hair cut celebration that no one got nicked with the clippers by mom..... ring pops. :-)

Blazer's

2011-01-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

Tom told Jack about this place called Blazer's on Monday. Jack asked me everyday, at least 8 times a day...."Hey Mom, you wanna go somewhere really cool, with these crazy bouncer things?" hahahah! Well, as the week went on and we learned the days of the week he patiently waited to go to this "really cool place" and today was his day.

Tom drives past Blazer's on his way to work everyday. It's a huge warehouse that they turned into a "fun zone" with a roller rink, arcade, mini golf and HUGE inflatable slides and bouncers. There's an area for smaller kiddos which was perfect for Ty. Since the kid's were under 6 years of age, Tom and I got in for free. We went right when the place opened since it was a Saturday and we figured it'd be crazy. We were there from 10:30 to 1pm and had a blast! They have a food court like a baseball concession stand so we even took a break and had lunch. It started to get pretty crowded and the bigger kids were taking over the bouncers so we headed home with 2 very tired kids! Mission accomplished! Tom scored big in the idea of the day contest! We all had such a great time and will definitely be going back because it was good, cheap fun and I don't think the kids stopped smiling the whole time we were there!

The "really cool bouncer things"

In the little kid bouncer

Jack gearing up for a big jump...

Jack in mid-flight

Ty climbing up the ladder like a big guy!

Jack going down the dragon slide

The dismount

The calmest moment of his day.

Ty rode this thing for a whole 5 seconds, the longest he sat still the whole time we were there.

He got stuck on the top of the gear.

Guns are like magnets for boys....no matter their age.

Only 14 more years before we have to worry about "the Tornado" behind the wheel.

I got a pass for helping Ty through the bouncy maze due to being with child....so the job fell to Tom. (I was a little jealous...there was a cool slide at the end.)

The cool slide at the end....

Little Chefs

2011-01-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

The boys got a play kitchen for Christmas. I'm secretly living through them with this toy. I love this thing! Hahah! Good thing is they love it too! Here are my little chefs making some delicious treats....... Doughnut soup, grilled burgers, and lots of coffee with ice. :-) Ty's a very good taste tester and loves being on the phone. Jack's partial to anything he can make while using the tongs and the big spoon. It's the little things! :-) (Oh and Jack's been going through a thing where wearing a shirt is not cool apparently! He goes to bed wearing one, and when we check on him when we go to bed he's shirtless. When he comes out of his room in the morning he's wearing it again, however, by the time he's eating, the shirt is back off and stays off until we get dressed for the day. Who knows....we just go with it! :-) )

Snow Day

2011-01-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

We got some snow today. YEAH! Not near as much as our family and friends in other parts of the country, but we got snow! A whole whoppin' inch of it! The big storms seem to keep missing us. We're always on the outer edge of the storm whether it goes above us or below us. I love the snow, so I'll take what I can get! Tom actually got out of work early today because of road conditions so that was a nice surprise. We all had a blast in the snow. We needed a good day playing outside. The boys and I have been battling colds since we got back from the holidays and the temperature has just been too cold to have any fun outside without snow. So 1 inch of snow equals one pretty cool day! :-) (Be warned: I have LOTS of pics)

It took a little while for Ty to want to play in the snow. He stayed at the border of the snow in the garage for at least 20 minutes. Jack kept trying to lure him out with the "snow plow". AKA...shovel. Hahahha!

My little state puff marshmallow baby.

Jack on his "loader" from Boobie and Umpa. The boys have been playing with it in the garage, it was much more fun outside!

The snow hug!

Ty loves the loader too.

Ty telling Jack that he missed a spot.

This is love....when your feet can't reach the pedals...you can count on your brother!

Jack's snow angel in the making.

The final product.

He couldn't get off of the loader. hahaha!

We don't recommend driving in these conditions...

The only thing that could make the trampoline more fun....a layer of snow.

Bumper boys.

Ants and Cooties

2011-01-09T17:05:00.001-08:00

Today turned into a game day for the boys. Ty and Jack got Ants in the Pants and Cooties for Christmas and we played them a lot today. The best part was that Ty was actually playing Ants in the Pants and flinging the little ants like a big guy. He got a huge kick out of watching those things fly. Cooties was a blast too. Jack was very proud of his "Crazy bug". It brought back memories of me playing that game at my Gram's house when I was younger. Jack does pretty well with board games. He's such an honest kid....if he cheats, he tells you before you can bust him. HAHAHAHA!
I look forward to many more game days!!!

Our Holidays in a Nutshell

2011-01-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

We spent our holiday in PA this year. With our recent addition of a mini van it made the drive super comfortable, and we even had enough room to bring the dogs along. We got to PA on Thursday night and spent a week at home with our families. Our holiday was busy but so much fun! We started Christmas morning with my parents and brother, then headed to Tom's parents for the afternoon with his parents, brothers and grandmother and finished it off at my Grandparent's house with my huge extended family for the evening with our tradition of Dirty Bingo(Yankee Swap). It was really an amazing day.
The boys were beyond spoiled by our families. The attention they got alone was crazy. Jack definitely loved the spot light. It took Ty a while to warm up to everyone, but once he did, it was game on. Hahahah! The boys really don't know how lucky they are having so many people who love them. They essentially had 4 Christmases (we celebrated our own little Christmas when we got back to KY on New Year's Day). Our families went way beyond what they needed to do for the kids. I really hate being so far away because I wish family gatherings could happen more often in their everyday lives so it would be more common for them! Just seeing everyone on the holidays isn't enough! I miss stopping by my grandparent's house on a weekend when she makes her homemade pot pie or meeting my mom and aunts for lunch and shopping or going to my cousins sporting events or just seeing everyone more frequently and not having guilt when we run out of time and have to head back home. But enough about missing everyone, it goes without saying....

All in all we had a great holiday!!! I have over 600 pictures from our week at home. I'm not sure how to narrow them down so I'll do my best to pick out a few to post. But before you get to check out the pics I have to tell you about one of the greatest gifts we got this year and it was from Jack....he's POTTY TRAINED! YEAH!! We started potty training in March. That's right....March. I think we pushed him before he was ready and that's half of why it took 9 months, but by golly, he's got it now! When we got to KY I had to get the boys physicals to get registered for day care in case we'd ever use it. The pediatrician gave me great advice about potty training. See, Jack got #1 down pretty well months ago but #2 was a huge fight with crying and hissy fits of all kinds. He'd go once on the potty then we'd regress completely for weeks. So the Dr. told me to give him a prune at breakfast and by dinner he'd have to go. Do this every day with making him sit on the potty a few times a day just to get used to it. Well, with that advice and a special reward of these gummy strawberry things I found Jack is now pooping on the potty like a champ! We're so proud!! It's been a few weeks now, but I didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud. :-) Even with traveling over the holidays he went at other people's houses and even at a Wendy's on the trip home! We don't even use the prunes now, he's got it! I assume that your first kiddo is always your guinea pig, right? Ty you're lucky, I have a few things we'll be doing differently when your time comes! Hopefully with less tears for all of us! :-) So......... YEAH for Jack!

Hope everyone out there had a great holiday too! Here's to 2011!!!

Jack got to open the first gift. It was a very special gift that Santa left at Oma and Pop Pop's because it wasn't going to be left at our house (ya know what I'm sayin'??).....a purple unicorn pillow pet. He's been asking for that thing for 2 months. He LOVES it!

Oma and the boys

Tom was REALLY excited about his coffee! Ty....not so much.

Pop Pop in his new fancy hat! Tom was jealous!

Tim demonstrating the straw glasses he got for the boys.

Building towers with Uncle Tim

Boobie and Jack tearing into a present.

Ty and Uncle Luke

Uncle Bruce was on battery duty.

Uncle Bruce and Ty

My extended family with a few missing...

Who doesn't love Mouse Trap?

Poor Lexie.....This gives a whole new meaning to the "I've got your nose" game.

Aunt Lisa bribing Ty with a jelly filled munchkin! He was pretending to be shy. A donut hole can cure anything for that kid! :-)

Back in KY, Santa left a few gifts that were from Oma and Pop Pop and Boobie and Umpa. This rocking horse was from Boobie's house. Ty LOVES it....

He loves it so much he did NOT want to share with Jack.

Ty demonstrating "Safety First"!

The boys discussing what they should grill first on their new kitchen.

A cement mixer and dump truck....I'd say he loved them!

A ride on loader.....like I said, the toys are growing just like the kids....we need a bigger house! :-)

Entertainment

2010-12-19T14:14:00.001-08:00

We discovered a new activity in our house this weekend. It's great for wearing out the boys (young and old-er) and also cleaning my floors. Of course this was Tom's idea, and the boys loved every minute of it.

(please excuse the disgusting 3yr old with a whole slice of Italian bread shoved in his mouth....he must be raised by wolves!)

I HEART Chick-Fil-A!!!

2010-12-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

This past week was a weird one! We had some crazy weather. No snow....just ice. I've never heard of freezing fog before but we had it yesterday. hahaha! We got about 1/4" to 1/2" of ice that is still coating everything outside. The temperatures haven't gotten above 29 for the past 4 days so it's been chilly and slick to say the least. Before the crazy ice this week we woke up to our power going out at 6:30 am Tuesday morning. It kicked back on after a few seconds but it did that about 8 times before lunch that day. At 10am we lost power for over an hour. Along with our flickering power we lost all service from Comcast for 2 days. No phone, internet or TV..... Bummer! With the temperatures being too cold to play outside and all of our crafts exhausted I decided it was time for a play place outing. We have a Chick-Fil-A with a play place in E-town. This is very exciting to me because Chick-fil-a is yummy. I believe everything should be dipped in their Polynesian sauce! But back to why I really love them..... The workers there are amazingly nice and helpful! They actually have floating workers that just walk around and take your tray when you're done, offer to get you refills on your drinks and even ketchup. This is amazing. See, it was just me and the 2 boys. Now, I've gotten pretty good at the 2 baby juggle. There's many creative ways to get through shopping, eating lunch or a doctors appointment with 2 very mobile boys who want to go, go go!! However, The woman who took our order asked if I wanted help, I said, "That's OK, but thank you". I've never had someone ask me if I wanted help carrying a tray at a restaurant. She didn't listen to me and actually carried our tray to a table for us, got us straws, napkins and ketchup along with a high chair! How NICE!!! I LOVE CHIK-FIL-A!!! Not only do they have Polynesian sauce, and a play place, but the people who work there are helpful, while being NICE and Friendly, and more importantly, accepting of a mom with 2 boys! Thank you Chick-Fil-A!!!! We'll be back!!!

Ty was a big fan of the little man area of the play place.

The loungey way to slide.

It only took Ty one time to learn the lesson of NOT standing at the bottom of the slide...

Cooooookies!

2010-12-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

The weather wasn't supposed to be so great this weekend. Last week we had freezing temperatures (Beth I know you experience what "freezing" really means up there in AK, so ignore me) and then they were calling for 1-3 inches of snow over Saturday and Sunday. We love the snow so we were ready. The boys have coats, boots, hats, mittens, a sled and an innertube..... we were ready to go. Also I thought ahead (this really doesn't happen often) and I decided to stock up on our cookie dough so we could bake and decorate our cookies this weekend. Well, the snow didn't really happen like they predicted. We did get over an inch but the wind is so crazy that it's just blown all over the place and it really only snowed last night. So my plans for a snowy weekend of snowman building and sleigh riding was a bust but we still managed to knock out some cookies. Since I denied Ty the experience of working with colored sugar crystals, due to his glitter glue fiasco, he got to enjoy a lollipop with Tom while Jack and I worked or better termed...made a huge mess. Hahha!

The infamous McMurtrie, I'm getting my picture taken, face.

He's one gross kid!

Glitter Glue...

2010-12-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

....Oh how I loathe you!!!

Pre-dinner time is always craziness in this house. Entertaining 2 whack-a-dos while cooking dinner before Tom gets home is a BLAST (sarcasm!!!) Hahahah! Tonight I decided to make Jager Schnitzel because I was feeling special, like I could pull it off. Silly me! So while I was prepping I set out a bag of crayons, markers, stamps (all washable) and paper for the boys and let them have at it, at the dining room table. This is all of 10 feet away from where I was cooking. Jack was working with the stamps and Ty was all over the crayons happily being artsy, then I looked away. See....you can't ever look away....EVER! Especially with TY! That kid has tiny devil horns sprouting I swear! He found the glitter glue sticks that I seemed to have forgotten were in the stinkin' bag. Glitter Glue!!! Really? Oh yes! In a matter of seconds he squirted it all over the floor, rubbed it on the table, on his face and all over his clothes. And being the mother of this whack-a-do, the first thing I did was laugh and get my camera! Then, while barefoot (that's right barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen), I stepped in a puddle of glitter glue and I immediately stopped laughing!

These pictures really don't do the glitter justice. It was everywhere!

After I stripped him down and hosed off all the glitter the conga line started. Ty held on to the back of Jack and they ran around the house giggling hysterically while I over cooked dinner. :-)

O Tannenbaum

2010-12-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

We are all decorated for Christmas. Last weekend we did the outside lights which I'm thankful for because it took Tom and I the whole 2 hours the boys were napping last Sunday afternoon. Plus it was a lot warmer last weekend than this weekend.

Oh yes....that is an inflatable yard decoration! It's an RV with a Santa that pops out of the door! The kids LOVE it! Hahahahah! Don't judge us!

Then this weekend we did the inside decorations which included the tree. Since we're heading to PA for the holidays we went with what is becoming our little unwanted tradition. The fake, bought at the scary German Wal-Mart, Christmas tree. Oh, how I loathe this thing! I really really LOVE real trees. But with going home we put up the fake one, then we don't have to worry about getting rid of it before we travel or not and waiting for it to shed off all of it's needles while we were away. This tree is so lame! It leans and wobbles, has a missing branch and you can see through it. hahahah! For how much I dislike this tree it has been used for 6 of our 7 married Christmases together. I'm sure most of my friends in the military are in the same boat and can relate. Being so far away from family all year round, we usually spend Christmas somewhere other than our own homes. I'll take a huge family holiday over having a real tree any year. Anyway, we are all decorated and the house looks pretty good. The boys did a great job helping with the tree as you can see....

Cookies

2010-12-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

I started following The Pioneer Woman blog a few weeks ago. This blog led me to The Tasty Kitchen blog. I love recipes. I collect them really, not using all of them, but collecting them because one day I'll have the time....one day! See, I secretly wish I knew how to cook with crazy ingredients, had knife skills like an Iron Chef, could create dishes with random stuff I have in my cabinets and everyone would eat every last bite while rubbing their bellies and humming a good ol' "MMmmmm". So I surf through recipe sites and remain jealous of the people who submit these yummy looking creations. But back to this...I'm a total sucker for a quick meal or dessert! I found this cookie recipe on Tasty Kitchen. Jack basically made the whole recipe, he really likes cracking the eggs and is pretty good at it too. Anyway, I used Devil's food cake mix and peanut butter chips. These cookies were a big hit and didn't last long ..... just wanted to share my find! Also...these cookies are really good too!

One of those...

2010-11-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we've crossed over to the dark side. We are the proud new owners of a mini van. With baby #3 on the way we weren't quite sure how the car seats would all fit in our Subaru. To be honest, I was the one fighting the mini van idea. But it all really does make sense for us and mini vans have come a long way! They're pretty impressive now. Our new ride has "Magic doors" according to Jack. I do love the idea of heading to the car with kids in tow and a cart full of groceries and the "magic doors" just open for us. The amount of space and moving seats will make visits from family much more comfortable when we go places too. Instead of everyone squeezing in between the car seats, they all get their own roomy seat now.

We haven't gotten to try it out too much just yet. The only time we've used it was on the ride home from the dealer last night. Of course it rained here ALL day so we stayed in and didn't get to venture out anywhere, but maybe tomorrow. Don't judge us....it's our swagger wagon! :-)

Turkey Days

2010-11-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving here in New-Tucky. We were expecting to host 3 others from Tom's office but it ended up being just us. Which, to be honest, was perfect. I of course was expecting the extra stomachs with eating the 22 pound turkey that I bought, but my freezer is full now. Hahahah!

We had ourselves a lazy holiday. We ate our spread for dinner so there was no rush on the cooking which was nice! The food was yummy and we quickly fell into our food comas and watched the old school Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It goes without saying we have A LOT to be thankful for this year, starting with these two ham bones and the next one that's on the way!

This is the before shot...

What?!?!?!

The after shot...

Friday was a good day too. We slept in (thanks to the turkey coma the night before the boys slept til almost 8:30). Now, I admire those of you who can brave the "goat rodeo" that is Black Friday.....I just can't do it! (for all my fellow military spouses you can get the uncensored meaning of goat rodeo from your hubbies since that was Tom's description) The craziness and chaos gives me a near anxiety attack. So we had no shopping plans, just plans to move the bedrooms around, decorate for Christmas and hangout. Along with sleeping in, our day started out with another surprise. When Jack crawled out of bed and woke us up he peaked out of our window and announced that there was snow out there. It rained here for what seemed like 48 straight hours before and during Thanksgiving and they were calling for a wintery mix Thursday night. We just assumed we'd get more rain and our yard would continue to turn into a clay swamp. But Jack was right....we had snow! We bundled up the boys and headed out to play in the 1/2 inch we got. Ty wasn't too sure what to do. He was like a deer in head lights, he just stood in the same spot where I set him down and didn't move unless someone was holding his hand leading him around the yard. Hahahah! Jack on the other hand, ran all over the place making footprints as he screamed at us that he was making footprints. He really is Captain Obvious! :-) The dogs loved it too. Sadie's always been a snow lover and this was Lola's first experience in the snow. She enjoyed it WAY more than Ty. So we had a great Thanksgiving, and a great. non-goat rodeo, Black Friday. :-)

The pretty snow before all the footprints.

Poor Lola was Jack's target in the snowball war

Happy pups

Trying to get a picture of both of them looking is impossible....I think Ty saw a "SQUIRREL"

Our frozen cutie

Manners

2010-11-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

When having a fancy lunch of PB & J one must come to the table with ALL of their manners! Pinkies out when drinking from the sippy cup, make sure to dab the corner of your mouth with a napkin and absolutely NO elbows on the table! We chew with our mouths closed, never scream and definitely never play with our food. We should lead by example. Apparently that example was not set at our table with our fancy PB & J lunch with a side of apple slices. A mother can only hope that when the boys start venturing out of the nest and going to their friend's houses for dinner that these "manners" will be out grown and no where to be found! :-) One can only HOPE!

Rainy Day Project

2010-11-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

On Monday it rained/poured all day. I had some errands that I had to run in the morning (bummer) so while we were out we picked up a kit for a gingerbread house. We needed something new to do since we were stuck inside. (Even though it was raining and we were home all afternoon I didn't have the energy to make my own gingerbread, there is a reason they make the kits, right??? hahahah) Building the gingerbread house went as smoothly as it could having a 3yr old and 1 yr old helper. :-) Jack and Ty focused on eating all the decorations as I icing-glued it all together. Ty managed to sneak his first gumball, surprisingly he chewed it with much success and was very sad when I finger swept it out of his mouth. Jack found his new favorite candy...Skittles, and we had a great time eating the heads off of the reindeer. :-)

He kept tasting every line of icing. Hahahah!

Blondie didn't need the extra sugar!!

I caught them licking the icing off the table when I was cleaning up.

Comfy!

2010-11-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while I was making dinner, I threw in a Baby Einstein video to keep Ty occupied. Baby Neptune is the only thing that will hold his attention for more than 2 minutes. The problem is...our new house has an open kitchen so there's no way to barricade myself in while cooking and keep little grabby hands away from a hot stove. So while I cook I also play zone defense. Tom got home a few minutes later and saw the boys watching TV like this. Jack didn't have Ty pinned down, and there was no wrestling going on, it's just kind of how they landed in their comfy spots. I love these moments!!!

At the Races

2010-11-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

We had visitors this weekend. Tom's mom and her friend, Jean Marie, drove down to KY for a long weekend. We had a great time! Tom and I had a date night....love those! We all went to the Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, roamed amongst some old tanks, then hung out at Church Hill Downs on Saturday. I love Church Hill Downs. The horses are amazing and it's so easy to take the kids along. We didn't win big on any races but we did win a speeding ticket on the way home. All in all it was a great weekend and we had a blast! The boys LOVED having Boobie here and Jean Marie spoiled them with extra attention. We can't wait for whoever visits us next.

Can't be at the house and NOT get on the trampoline, Jack's very persuasive!

Checkin' out what's under the hood.

The boys loved seeing what Dad used to drive, it was better than a playground.

Ty at the races and Jack hiding from the camera.

Jack scoping out the ponies. He wanted to bet #5 every race. I actually listened to him once and won $5 bucks.

This is Jack not so entertained between races....He was happier riding the escalators inside. Hahaha!

The only single moment Ty sat still the whole 4 hours we were there. (And that's my hair flying behind him....he is not sporting a mullet to fit in here in "New-Tuckey". ) Hahhahha!

Peek-A-Where??

2010-11-12T18:28:00.001-08:00

Hide and Seek is a must do, daily event in this house. It's a game that can entertain for hours here. There's a million new places to hide in this house too which breathes new life into this game. Hahahha. The other day Jack discovered a great hiding place and Ty (since he is Jack's shadow) took to this new hiding place as well. I was cleaning up the kitchen the other day and turned around and saw this....

Of course Lola didn't help Ty's case with his new favorite hiding place.

He kept screaming Peek-A-Boo every time he opened the door.

So proud of his new spot, our little game lasted at least 15 minutes, which is like 3 days in toddler time! Hahahha!

Attack of the Fluffernutter

2010-11-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love a fluffer-nutter sandwich? They're a big hit in our house. The boys had that specialty for lunch today and they both chowed down. The aftermath wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but it still wasn't pretty! HAhahahah! (Yes, Ty's still in his po-jammies because let's face it...he was eating PB and Fluff. I try to keep his wardrobe changes down to 3 a day.) (Also, I swear they're brothers!!! When I went back to proof this blog I couldn't believe how much they DO NOT resemble each other. Wonder who # 3 will look like?)

Get in my Belly!!!

15 Weeks

2010-11-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if being pregnant has truly hit me yet. The past few months have been a blur with moving but I hit the 15 week mark today. I'm pretty anxious to find out what we're having in a few weeks. I'm one of those....I HAVE to know! My extended family all believe (or are hoping) it's a girl. Jack also would like a sister, he'd also like to name the baby "Pickles", so we'll see about that. Hahaha! I finally got around to scanning the ultrasound pictures. Here's our little butter bean. If you look close enough you can make out the arm buds and head on the last one. Can't wait for the next ultrasound! I miss the every-visit-ultrasound in Germany!

Trick or Treat

2010-10-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I spent last week in PA visiting family. We had such a great time with everyone! It's been over 6 months since we've seen everyone (other than grandparents). I chose to drive to PA, it wasn't too bad. 10 1/2 hours of driving and with stops it was a 12 1/2 hour trip. It was nice to be able to make a last minute decision to drive home for a change. I'll take a 12 hour car ride over flying by myself with 2 children ANY DAY! :-)

Here in KY trick or treat was tonight. We had about 20 kids, 20 more than I thought we'd get. :-) We dressed up the boys and they pretty much just wrestled in the grass while we handed out some candy. In Pottsville, you trick or treat on the Thursday night before Halloween. The boys got to experience what I did as a kid on Halloween! My family came over to my parent's house and me, the boys, and a bunch of my cousins went out begging for sugary snacks. Hahaha! I had such a great time! I love Halloween! Jack was a spider and Ty was a bat. They had a blast! I'd like to send out a BIG thanks to my cousin Lexie and her boyfriend Chris who dressed up like Jessie and Woody from Toy Story to take the boys trick or treating! They're braver than I! :-) Hahahah!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!!

Kenny, Katie, Jack, Lexie, Ty and Chris

The boys and Oma

Aunt Lisi and Jack

Ty hamming it up for the camera...That's the Glore crew in the background.

Runaway spider

Tom and the baby bat.

Brothers

Best treat...his thumb. He also wouldn't leave the area of the candy dish. :-)

The Neighbors

2010-10-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors are great here in KY. We have a dual military couple expecting their first baby on one side of us. On the other, a really great family with a daughter who is all ready to babysit for us. Now the neighbors to the back of our property are a little loud. They don't seem to care how early it is when they start with all of their crazy noises. I swear there's 30 of them too and they really don't smell the best. If they weren't so damn cute we'd have a huge problem!

(If you click on the picture you can see it bigger)

Who doesn't love cows? There's a cattle farm that backs up to our yard. There's a little creek and a fence that separates us but it's so cool that they meander over to our property line and hang out in the shade for a few hours. I don't know what type of farm it is exactly. There's a lot of little baby cows so I'm just going to think that it's either a dairy farm or the farmer just keeps them all as pets. (ya never know!!) The boys get a kick out of them and I have to say, I do too. They really aren't that noisy and we only smell them when the wind shifts. Hahahah! All in all we like all of our neighbors, especially the 4 legged ones. :-)

Pumpkin Pickin'

2010-10-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

We took a little road trip today to Hodgenville, KY today. (Tidbit: Abe Lincoln was born there) We went to a pumpkin patch and orchard. It wasn't the most thrilling pumpkin patch but it was fun! There was a hayride, a tractor to climb on, a corn silo turned into a play hut with corn, a playground, an old school water pump for rubber duckie races, swinging ropes on a mound of dirt (who knows) and lots of apples and pumpkins. It wasn't crazy crowded so the boys had a blast being able to run free. Ty had a hard time walking through the vines in the pumpkin patch but loved climbing on everything else. My highlight.....it was 86 degrees and we cooled down with pumpkin ice cream. YUM!!! We also found our new favorite apple. A mutsu apple, it's kind of like a granny smith without the bite, so good!

The tractor

The corn silo with corn to play with.

On the hayride

Found a good one

Back at the market hut, Ty trying to pull the wagon....he's very determined!

Pumpkin with a pumpkin

The water pumps...aka...the mud pit

The random mound of dirt with ropes....of course, a big hit.

Ty was a HUGE fan of the pumpkin ice cream!

Num Num Yummay!

Jack opted for vanilla, and only suffered brain freeze twice...not too bad. :-)

And just as a tiny preview of the house. We hung a few pictures, paintings and these above our sunroom this weekend......I tried to fight it.....I lost. :-) hahahaahha!

Priorities

2010-10-14T17:51:00.001-07:00

It's been WAY too long since I've blogged. I have tons of things to blog about and lots of pictures to share but I have to get organized first. We've been going non stop trying to get the house done before Tom goes back to work. (He has to sign in tomorrow.) With the last 2 weeks flying by, I've come to the conclusion that the house will never be "done". There will always be some type of project, something to be updated, something to be cleaned and don't even get me started on the dreaded laundry pile. Hahahah. There's still a lot of things we need to get for the house. Of course something that we absolutely needed was this......

Of course we bought a trampoline before we bought a ride on mower, but hey....entertaining the boys is a priority!!!! :-)

Boxes

2010-09-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. Oops! In my defense we have had a lot going on. Hahah! Our movers came today. Yipppeeee!! We are now living in a house full of boxes but I'm stoked because we're that much closer to living in "New-Tuckey"! The movers packed up our whole clutter filled house in one day and they'll be picking it all up and loading it on a huge ol' truck tomorrow. Then for the next 2 weeks we'll be living on air mattresses and lawn chairs. Hahaha! We've been prepping for the last few weeks with burning through the random groceries that accumulate in the back of the cabinets. My dinners have become very creative! :-)
Tom's wrapping up his thesis. It's actually done, just in the hands of his advisers waiting for signatures! (Have to say....I can do without ever writing a thesis!) He's worked very hard on it! I'm so proud of him!
We're also getting excited to see family again. Tom's parents are coming out for Tom's graduation, then my parents arrive to help us with the move. The boys can't wait to see their grandparents. I really hate being so far away. Thankfully KY is only a 10 hour drive and I love a good road trip! :-P!!