Dr Seuss's Bike

Okay so this is rather rediculous, but I have to include it because it made us laugh. Sorry about the silly commentary. Matt's brother Aaron (second on the Bike) had this idea to create the longest "bike" possible and have enough seats for the entire family to ride together. So this is what they spent Christmas afternoon doing.

Introducing the six-seater-super-mega-bike.

That is Matt(My husband)and Aaron (his brother) on a tandem Bike. Savannah (my 10 year old) is being towed behind and has Adam (my 2 year old) in a child seat behind her. Inside the trailor at the back is Isabelle (my 7 year old) and Logan (Aaron's 2 year old). Six people total. The balance was a little off and the white section with Savannah and Adam wobbled quite a bit, but everyone survived and the experiment was deemed a success.

If i can get it to upload the entire video will follow.

Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas we had. We feel so blessed and really enjoyed spending the day with Matt's family. Adam was especially fun this year. Two is a great year for Christmas! He was so funny all day today. When he opened his stocking he said "I have a present! and another present!" then jumping up and down with his hands in the air said "Woo ooh! Woo ooh! Woo ooh!" And that was just the begininning. here are a bunch of pictures.

Waking up

Too Tired. (6am!)

"I too tired to open presents." and "My boot is bery heaby"Isabelle had to go check to see if the reindeer had eaten our "reindeer food" on the lawn.Adam Beating the water out of his spiderman punching bag...

Literally. It only lasted about an hour. He loves these kind of games. Does that promote violence? : )Likely his favorite present (from Santa) was this gun and holster combo where the guns make noises and light up. He wore the holsters all day. (again... violence?) Opening gifts. Check out those holsters!
The "rodent" we have temporarily adopted Savannah's class guinea pig (only during the Christmas holiday while the teacher is out of town.) Savannah insisted that "sammie" get a Christmas present so Matt had to make a special trip to the pet store on Christmas eve.Enjoying a cookie with his cousin.

We didn't take many pictures at grandma's house, but he got a huge set of Thomas trains! He and Logan played trains for hours!

Redemption: I realized this blog so far sounds like I only have one kid. I guess I kind of got lost in the joy and excitement of the two year old, but believe me the other two kids were not neglected! They each got a nice digital camera for christmas and a digital picture frame to display their pictures. (That is why i didn't take any pictures at grandma's-- the girls camera's were charged by then and they were being the photo-journalists.) They also got games and movies and books from extended family.

All in all it was a beautiful day, spent with great people, and eating excellent food. I love my family.

Matt's Trip out West.

Last summer Matt took his Mom and Dad on a road trip out to Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming.

They had lots of fun, made lots of memories, and took a few pictures. Here are some.

On the road somewhere they met "Tow-Mater"

In Arizona: Matt was very impressed with the Cactus.

Arizona Red Rocks!They Stayed in Arizona a few days with Matt's brother Michael and his family. We miss them a lot and it was fun to see how much his girls have grown. My camera has no flash, so the pictures they took inside the house didn't turn out.

From there they went to Utah to see LouAnn's family. They spent a few days there, but again no pictures. After that they headed up to wyoming where they drove through Yellowstone and spent a day or two touring the sites.

Mudpots

Old Faithful

Buffalo

And even a Bear.

They spent a few days in a rustic cabin with an incredible view.

And i have no idea where this is, but it looks cool.

So They had a great trip and were ever so glad to come home!

Meanwhile I had all four dogs, so i was very happy when they came home too. : )

Better late than never... School Pictures

Isabelle 6, Savannah 9 first day of school.
First day of 1st grade.

First day of 4th grade (she looks upset, but was just trying not to blink into the sun.)

So glad grandma takes them school shopping and helps them pick out cute outfits.

Popcorn

A few nights ago Matt and I were sitting on the couch talking and finishing off a bowl of popcorn. Adam (who had been in bed but got up because he smelled the popcorn) climbed up onto the couch between us, took the bowl from Matt and started to eat. Several minutes later I looked down to see him playing with his nose. I noticed a few popcorn kernals sitting on his shirt and as I pulled his hand away from his nose another kernal fell out and he started to cry. I sat him on my lap facing me and could see that there was a popcorn kernal in his right nostril. I was able to work it loose, but as it fell out I noticed something in the left nostril as well. After working that one loose he sneezed and another one came into view. Eventually we cleared six popcorn kernals from his nose! SIX! What prompted him to put six popcorn kernals in his nose is still a mystery. I can't imagine the leftover salt felt good. He sneezed for the next hour. The workings of a two year old mind...

"Ride for Heroes"

Last weekend we participated in a 25k bike "Ride for Heroes"

Uncle Aaron came out from raleigh and rode tandem with Savannah, and Matt rode tandem with Isabelle. These cute pictures were in the paper.

Aaron and Savannah just starting out.

Matt and Isabelle

Matt and Isabelle

Isabelle (see the grin!)

Grandma watched Adam and Logan so the rest of us could go. Thanks Grandma! The girls were real troopers and we had lots of fun. I think the favorite part for them was the snack stations. Savannah admitted to eating 6 krispy cream donuts by the end of the race! It was pretty cold and Isabelle's cheeks were constantly rosey but always smiling. We had a great time and i was really proud of my girls.

Boys are Gross

I mean really really gross.

Okay lest you think i'm a terrible mother and call social services it really isn't poo. It is just a dirt clod. BUT the fact that he THINKS its poo and yet is still playing with it... Gross.

: ) okay, Seriously though. Adam has had such a fun time having his Dad home this summer. They've fixed cars, lawn mowers, line trimmers,

Gone Shopping (adam's favorite places are the stores with lawn tractors where daddy patiently lets him try out each one.)

Sanded, nailed, screw-drivered, (built a dresser) cleaned stuff, fixed the toilet, learned to use compressed air,

Gone swimming, Boating, to the Zoo, and The Bird Sanctuary.

Spent countless evenings at Grandpa's having what we call "Testosterone Time"

(Adam calls it cookie time)

It has been a seriously awesome summer for a little two year old dude.

He has gone through MAJOR with drawl this past week since Matt has gone back to work.

Little does he know how much worse it will be when the girls go back to school next week.

Spring Break 2011

We were so blessed to get to go to Disney World during spring break. It brought back so many memories and made lots of new ones. We had so much fun i forgot to take many pictures. Here is the girls on the tea cups with grandma.



and the Kids digging for dinosaur fossils at Animal Kingdom.
We also made a trip to the beach where we met our old friends the Chavez's. Savannah and Vallee picked up like we had never left. (Isabelle and the others were mostly too young to remember when we left.) It was fun to get all the kids together again.

L to R: Archie (6) Isabelle (6) Vallee (9) Savannah (9) Isabel (8) Henry (4)

(Brandi if i got ages wrong you better tell me!)

Adam was asleep in the car. Miss you guys.

We had a great vacation. We played hard and came home tired. Adam was a little trooper and happy to be doing whatever we were doing. It was kind of fun to go "home" again, but also interesting that it no longer feels like home. I guess that part of our life has past. So it was also good to figure that out. Here is to the future.

Fun Run for Charities

Our family ran in the fun run for charity's a few weeks ago. Savannah and Matt ran together in a 5-K. LouAnn Walked a 5-K. Aaron ran a 10K then ran with Isabelle in a 1 mile run. And Tricia and Adam ran a 1 mile (at Adam's pace) We had lots of fun. Aaron and LouAnn both medaled! LouAnn got FIRST PLACE and Aaron got THIRD PLACE in each age group. At the end of Adam's race everyone ran out to finish the race with him. He loved it. Just after the finish line was a huge bucket of ice sitting on a table and filled with water bottles. Adam ran right over, stuck his little hand up and for a water bottle and said "I hot, I hot."L to R: Tricia, Adam (age 2 next month), Matt, Savannah (age 9), Isabelle (age 6)

"I Wanna Run!"

Last week our running club started its spring session. So after a long cold winter we were ready to get off our behinds and run. Since Adam is so much bigger this year I thought I would let him run to wear himself out then I'd piggy back him the rest of the way. The girls run a track that is about a half mile each way, so they run one way then turn around and head back for a total of about a mile. We set off with all the other kids and despite Adam's best efforts he quickly fell behind. He chugged on and on. about halfway to the turn around he started to walk some. thinking he was wearing out I'd ask him if he was all done. Immediately he'd start running again and say "No! I run." So we got to the turn around and headed back still running most of the way. Within sight of the end of the trail I stopped at a bench to tie a shoelace. Adam walked over to the bench leaned against it and threw up. Then said "I no run. I walk." I guess he does have a limit. : ) Even then he didn't want me to carry him, so we walked to the finish.

Silly Adam Moments

March 2011


In church last week... WAY past naptime... Adam walked up to me and said "pow,pow,pow" while using me for a punching bag. Then on the back swing bumped his elbow on the pew and immediately needed mommy kisses to feel better. I made him kiss my owwie too. :)



March 2001

This morning my not-quite-two year old son and i had this converstation.
Me(for the 3rd time): Adam, come here!
Adam: I tumin!
Me: you're coming? (shocked that he even knew how to say that AND got the pronoun right.)
Adam: uhuh. I tumin. Sheesh!

Where did he learn to be such a sassy pants?

Then we went to walmart. I just needed milk but adam was still in his pjs. Normally he loves to push the cart for me. (mostly he pushes and i just hold on so he doesn't crash into anyone) Since he was still in his pjs today he didn't have any shoes so i explained to him that he couldn't push today because he didn't have shoes and he would have to ride in the cart. I thought he understood until we walked into the store and he started saying "I pushy, I pushy!" So i explained again that he couldn't push today because he didn't have any shoes and added that if he rode in the cart i would buy him a treat. as soon as i said the word "treat" he said "uhuh." and willingly sat in the cart.

So I said. "You are a good boy. You sit right there and I will buy you a treat." He said "A ball." me: "You want a ball instead of a treat?" him: "uhuh."...

yeah so i WAS going to buy him like a $.50 treat (and split it with him) and he talked me into a seven dollar ball!
Oh well, I guess it is better for his teeth.