February birthdays.. there's 4!

For those of you who have been counting, that's three February birthdays. Bobby's was Feb 18, so I guess I should mention him too. He bought his own gift though , motorcycle racing boots. Guess I can't sell the bike now, huh?

Any offers?

Happy Birthday Travis!

Travis turned 7 on Feb 26. He celebrated with a trip to the Monster Truck show on Saturday. Tanner and their friend Devin tagged along. Travis had been looking forward to this for a month. His favorite part was when Grave Digger "did a burn out in a circle". Tanner said, "you mean, a donut?" LOL

Then on Sunday, Grandma and Uncle Travis took him out for pizza, all by himself. They went to Cici's Pizza Buffet. Travis told me that they had "deep dish pizza that was really good".

I had to work on his actual birthday, so we celebrated last night with cake and ice cream. Aunt Krista came over and brought her gift. The boys have been collecting dinosaur gifts for the last couple years. Travis was pretty impressed with the one Tanner got for his birthday. Krista showed him the pic on the box of the one she picked out for him and asked him if it was cool. He said no. A week and a half in between didn't change his mind, he still thinks the Mastodon is not cool. Luckily, Tanner said they could swith because he likes it better. He also got a Hot Wheels race track, a Robo Reptile (just like Uncle Travis who apparently bought one for himself too), and a Grave Digger RC car (truck?). What is a Grave Digger, anyway?

Getting the house ready

We tiled the floor and painted the kitchen.

Painted the family room
Painted and put down hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms

Painted and carpeted the master bedroom

The upstairs bath is completely new, walls, floor and all.

We put our house on the market at the beginning of February. We haven't had any interest yet, no thanks to the horrible weather, I'm sure. For those of you who remember, we had a house fire in Aug of 03, and have done massive amounts of remodeling. These are a few pics of some of the things we've done.

My big boy

Teagan has a new bed. I'm not quite sure he was ready to be kicked out of his crib, because it took him no time at all to figure out how to climb out of this bed and open the bedroom door. But, since we are trying to sell our house, I thought losing the crib and changing table might make the room look bigger. Bobby says I am trying to make him grow up too fast. I know I'll regret it later. I need to enjoy this one, since it's so hard to remember the older kids at this age. Yep, that is a doll in the pic, swiped from big sis. At least he's finally given up on Dora. Here he is before he took the clippers to his head. Bobby had to clean his hair up some after that incident. I'll have to snap a pic of his new do.
As cute as ever....

Tanner is 10!

Tanner had a birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe that ten years ago, I became a mother. My oldest, my first born, the start of it all. We let him pick a restaurant to go to, and while he initially picked his favorite, Golden Corral, he eventually changed his mind and decided on Mexican food. Of course, he had to order off the adult menu, since he's not a little kid anymore. After eating, and finishing enough food on his plate that he surely could have ordered off the kid menu, Grandma and Aunt Krista surprised him with a birthday cake and presents.

I can't believe how much he has grown. He is almost as tall as me, and has gone through three pant sizes in the last year. He is one smart kid too. Although he hates to do math in school, he is a whiz at it. He LOVES video games, and finishes them pretty quickly. Of course, you can't communicte with him while he's playing because he enters a trance like zone where human communication is impossible.

I adore this boy. Tanner is intelligent, sensitive, independant, and witty. He taught me how to be a mother. He was my first, my practice model. I only hope, that the learning process didn't screw him up for life.

It's still Feb 13!!!

Today is my big sis's birthday. Unfortunately, the snow is the only party she is getting today. Hope you enjoy it Krista!

I have to say, despite the fact that we did grow up together, we are nothing alike. She was the typical older, "I'm bigger and going to terrorize you" big sister. Sure we had our fun, but she enjoyed making me cry too. But, we stuck together, through all the ups and downs of our chaotic childhood. I think we have a much closer relationship because of it.

She is a strong, independent, sensitive, compassionate, loyal, generous woman, and is really one of my best friends. She is a super aunt to my kids who just adore her. And we all can't wait for her to be a Mom.

Happy Birthday Mia's Mom!

Snow days

Who remembers eating snow?



The kids have been off school for 3 days now due to the weather. Monday was below zero, I think -10 with the wind chill. Tuesday it snowed all day long and today the snow sits. They got outside for a bit yesterday and played. I had to let Buddy in after awhile. She was so excited, she kept knocking the kids down. They seemed to have a good time, except for when Tatum took a tumble and got snow in her face. I was surprised she didn't try to make snow angels because she talks about it all the time. Of course, they wanted hot cocoa when they came in. Oops, no instant packets. I tried making the recipe on the cocoa tin, but eww, the kids didn't like it. Warm chocolate milk is so much easier. :op

Painting

Did you need some help, Krista? Tatum loves to paint. Of course, I did have to go behind her and even it out. She told me, "I'm a good painter, because I'm 4. When I was a little kid, I wasn't very good. But I'm 4 now. When I'm 5, I'll be a really good painter."
Later, when I was getting Teagan ready for bed, I told her to talk quietly. I swear the girl doesn't know what whisper means. She tells me, "I can't talk quietly. My stomach will push the red botton that makes me loud." Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up.