The Katie Special

Katie LOVES to help me do things in the kitchen. Anything requiring measuring, pouring, stirring and dumping she's all about. She also likes to make sandwiches. Today she said she was making the Katie Special.

Whole Wheat Bread and Mayo


Cheese!


Lettuce (I was shocked...she said she likes the crunchy. Good call)


Turkey (Notice the concentration...this is serious business!)


Close her up!


You might think you're done. NOPE! Cookie cutter time!


Ta-da! The Katie Special


And Mommy's lunch...nice


Mmmmm..mmmm Good!


She's special all right...

Blooming Ballerina

She's the big girl in class now...the "veteran." We have a new teacher this year that makes her well aware of her important role. She's expected to be still and follow directions or no sticker at the end. I'm ok with the increase in strictness...I think it's good for her as long as it's still fun. So far so good!

Some birthday videos!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pinkies Up! and Hitting the Links

Last week we went to a friends SUPER CUTE tea/dress up party at the Rosy Posy Tea Room in Old Town Spring. It was so stinkin' cute and even the boys got into it. Ryan at least tried on the hat and Jackson was so proud to be dressed like Daddy :) Of course Katie was in heaven!


The other day Katie went golfing with Daddy. She was beyond excited. She came downstairs dressed the part (excuse the unbottoned buttons on her shirt!) and couldn't wait to go. :)

Let's Party!

We had Ryan's party yesterday! I'm totally exhausted but I think it turned out pretty great!. Saying Ryan had a blast is an understatement. He bounced in the bounce house and ran around so much he wouldn't even stop to eat his Cheetos which is saying A LOT! Having a party always makes me stop and think about all the people who love and care about my kids. I am so grateful to have all these friends and family in our lives!

On to the pictures!

Grandma on the Lake always does an awesome job on the cupcakes! I got these cute signs and cupcake sticks from 10Candles on Etsy! LOVED them! The party gifts were red bandanas, conductor hats, train whistles, and custom cookies from Vicki Kelly!


Bouncing in our bounce house was a huge hit! We need to take this thing out more than once a year!


I had a craft for the kids to do too. They made a passport with a patchwork train on the front. Then they had to fill the pages with stickers from the different stations.


The party people!!



Happy Birthday to You! and CAKE!



How could I not take a million pictures of sweet Brooke!


Present time! I think we now own everything Toy Story. You're welcome Disney!!!


And to top it off...all my favorite people and me (ack...I can't believe it!!!) in the same picture :)


Thanks again to everyone who took time out of their day to come celebrate with us. We love you all!!

The Birth DAY

Ryan had a pretty exciting day on his birthday. After dropping off Katie at school we headed to good old Walmart to get some last minute party supplies and decided that since Ryan didn't get to open any presents that morning that I'd let him choose something. Surprisingly (not!) he went straight to the Toy Story aisle and picked out these very cool wings. He WAS Buzz Lightyear!!!


Ryan also had his 2 year well check! One would think with an appointment at 10:30 and not needing to be anywhere until 12:00. You'd have plenty of time. Uggh...at 11:40 the doctor finally came in...we chatted quickly and I ran out the door to pick Katie up at school. He didn't even get his shot. Oh well...I guess we get to go back next week for more fun :P We did find out his stats though....

Weight - 30lbs 75%
Height - 36 1/4 92%

So blessed to have a happy healthy boy!

I made a dinner that I knew he'd like....Spaghetti! Grandpa from the Lake...yes that's his official name...came to celebrate! We missed Grandma but she's down helping with baby Brooke. We followed it up with singing happy birthday and cupcakes from Frost...YUMMO! They make Gluten Free ones on Wednesdays so Daddy even got one!


Finally PRESENTS!!! My mom continues the tradition of my grandmother of getting the sibling a present as well :)


He had so much fun being the center of attention...something his sister usually claims. Tomorrow....PARTY! Can't wait to celebrate our sweet boy with friends.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Wow...how in the world did this happen? My baby is 2! Can I even call him a baby anymore? Well, of course he'll always be MY baby. :) Gosh, what to say about Ryan....he's his own guy. He continues to be very different than Katie in just about every way. He and Katie have a love hate relationship. He loves to be around her but he definitely has a threshold that Katie pays no attention to. He plays very well on his own and can beebop around the playroom playing quietly for hours. He has one true love right now....Buzz Lightyear and anything Toy Story. He would watch it everyday if I let him! You are sure to see him running around the house with a buzz toy yelling "To infinity and beyond!" He has a crazy vocabulary for his age! I'm still shocked at what he says sometimes because Katie was nowhere near this verbal at 2. The other day he said "catastrophe" and I did a double take. You would think with a good vocabulary the tantrums would be less....unfortunately not. He's got quite a temper and wants what he wants when he wants it and if he doesn't get it he'll make sure you are just as miserable as he is. He's a pretty picky eater. If it's not pasta, cheese, crackers, fruit or gerber cereal bars he's not a fan. The kid won't eat sandwhiches...what kid doesn't eat a sandwhich??? Haha...oh well. He's getting some nutrition somewhere as he's growing like a weed. I predict 31 pounds at his doctor's appointment tomorrow...we shall see! I'm interested to see what percentage his height is because he's really sprouted up in the last couple months. Mama's boy is definitely a term that describes Ryan. He loves his mama, which I'm ok with...I know at some point hanging out with mama isn't going to be #1 on his priority list so I'll enjoy it while I can.

And without further ado...my way to long (but at least not as long as the one year videos!!!) birthday montage I do every year on the kiddos' birthdays. Turn on the volume to get the real musical tearjerking experience :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Terrible 2's?

I promise I did manage to get some way cuter ones...after a bag of marshmallows and this...

I love him...

Labor Day

We had our family over for Labor Day and although the weather wasn't an A+ the food and the company was!

We all loved getting baby snuggles all day...Katie sure loves Baby Brooke and loves to make sure the attention is not too far from her. The Aunts and Daniel were very nice to participate in a little water coloring :)


Lots of sleepy baby snuggles...


She's getting so big! Starting to smile BIG too! I didn't catch any big ones but a few small ones :)


I loved these too....Uncle Mike getting a lesson in playing with dolls. Soon enough!


Grandpa and Ryan matched!

J&K

Awww...