Gingerbread house

Last year I went all out on the gingerbread house. This year, not so much. I do enjoy doing them though, so I bought a cheapy kit at the store on impulse. I think it turned out okay considering what I had to work with. Next year I want to go more elaborate again but this worked too. Just thought I'd share. And since I'm so proud of the one we did last year, here's a picture of that one too.

I'll do it when I'm ready!

Riley is pretty laid back and snuggly. At 16 months old he is still not walking around unassisted. He's close though. I got him to take about 4 steps yesterday on his own so I know we're THIS close. He got a few things at Xmas to walk around with and that's helping his stability, but here is what he normally does....

Yummy....Paint!

I thought I'd try letting Riley finger paint. As you can see, he wanted to eat the paint and smear it all over himself. He does pretty good with crayons though. I need to get him some of the big fat ones to make it a little easier, but he likes to sit at the table and color like sissy. I think I'll wait a bit longer before I try the paints again.
Of course Lily had fun with the finger painting too. She normally paints with a brush, but because Riley was using his fingers, she thought she should too....
And for your enjoyment.....Miss Lily-poo back in the day. I think she was about 2 years old in this picture. And one more, just because it's so stinkin' cute! My how they grow...

December is here...

I am getting pretty good at bundling the kids up for the walk to school. Obviously Riley isn't thrilled, but he keeps everything on cause it's cold. Mommy just needs to get some gloves and a scarf and we'll be set.A random shot here, to be sure, but look at how big Riley is getting. He kept wanting to do everything that Lily was doing so I handed him a crayon. It's going to take a little more work, but he is interested in scribbling. He is starting into a very fun stage. He still isn't quite walking. But I haven't been working very hard with him on it either. He pushes a chair around the house and walks behind it, he just hasn't ventured into the unassisted stage yet. So much fun stuff is coming. I'm so lucky to get to be around to see it all!

And finally, a shot of the tree. Pictures don't do it justice. We bought a new prelit tree this year and it is so nice. I can handle 35 bucks too.....seriously, you gotta love Walmart sometimes! Here's to a great December!

Faces of Lily...

Just thought I'd share a few random shots of monkey #1. Enjoy :)
Lily and her cousin Grace were chefs creating their masterpiece personal pizzas at Graces' birthday party. She still wears the hat around cause hey, it's cool!
She also got to be an Indian at school for their Thanksgiving party. Here she is acting stoic.
And just for fun, here's a flashback to 3 years ago. Wow, how time flies!

Bonk...

Riley is a climber. He likes to explore and climb. I don't get it, but still think it's pretty cute. Unfortunately with height comes the ability to fall. He fell and gave himself a nice bruise which developed into a black eye two days later. After the initial "OWWW" reaction, he was bouncin' around like before. BOYS!

Time for the Warm P.J.'s...Yeah!!

One of the things I love about fall is putting the kids in their warm jammies. They're just so stinkin' cute!



Riley was really enjoying those pumpkin seeds we roasted!












Lily in her monkey p.j.'s










The two of them love to play together. Not always nicely, but that's what having a sibling is all about :) Riley is very snuggly and loves to give hugs. Of course right after I took this picture he tried to kiss sis and ended up biting her instead. (Guess we'll have to work on that one). Don't they just look cozy in their footie pajamas?

I Know... I've been Slackin'

I haven't been making the time to blog...sorry people! I am going to try and get back into the swing of things and start blogging more frequently again.... So, here we go.

"Hi my name is Riley and I'm addicted to Chex...or, since my mommy is cheap, Corn Squares".


For everyone who is convinced that I have the perfect, well mannered baby...here is proof that he throws fits when he doesn't get what he wants.



He was very upset that his favorite cup was in the dishwasher.







As you can see, he really, REALLY wanted that cup!!!






And we can't forget about Lily. Here she is in her costume...playing with Daddy's lightsaber. I think she made an adorable Minnie Mouse.



And to cap it all off, a slightly creepy, but pretty cool shot of the kids enthralled with the lightsaber...

Snip Snip....

So, I've been wanting to update my hair. It's was driving me crazy. It's long, that's about all I can say about it. So I decided to chop it off and donate the length to Locks of Love. So, here are the before and after pictures....




Before.....











After....







When all is said and done, I am donating an 11 inch ponytail. I love the new 'do! I even threw in a pink streak, just for fun...

Just a little randomness...

I had to share a few new pictures. They aren't of anything really cool. Just us, being us...Now, first of all, you are all sworn to secrecy that I posted this picture. It's not the best picture of Dylan, but what could I do, it's hilarious. Riley was attempting to climb over Daddy to get the Cheerios he was eating. It was an epic battle over the breakfast cereal. I'm a little embaressed that Riley doesn't have pants on either, but I was lazy after a diaper change, and he has an easier time crawling with his knees bare so I left the pants off.


Lily decided she wanted to pick a lemon from the tree that hangs over the fence....












Thinking very hard how to get it off...














Ta-da! A green lemon! I have no idea why she wanted it. Most likely reason...she's five :)








After proudly showing off her picking skills she handed it to Riley who promptly took a bite, rind and all. The expression on his face was priceless as was the whole body shiver. His nickname was lemon breath the rest of the evening.
Hope you enjoyed the few new random shots...till next time.

Citizen of the Month...

Here is a video of Lily receiving her first award at school. Her teacher picked her for the Citizen of the Month in her class and the principal presented the award. They broadcast the "ceremony" into all the classrooms, instead of doing an assembly. It was pretty cool! She also got a nice book out of it. Makes me proud :)

Give me FOOD!!!

Riley LOVES to eat. His favorite right now is oatmeal. So, I thought I'd see if he would feed himself instead of me sitting there and spooning it in. He had no interest in the spoon at all which made the meal a bit messier than normal. Oh well, that's what bibs are for...

Jog-a-thon

Lily participated in her first Jog-a-thon at school. Here she is lined up with her class right before the start. She ran the equivilant of 2 miles in a 45 min period (on top of the 3/4 mi run to school and the walk home). She was a tired girl that evening....


Running, running, running...just like her momma :)And finally....Lily and her buddy Faith. They have become fast friends since the first day of school.

The Boys...

My sis got this shot of my dad holding Riley and her son Andrew. Wouldn't you know it, we couldn't get a picture with all of them looking at the camera at the same time. This one is the best... I think it's cute that they all kinda match.

One Big Party...

The kids' birthdays are so close together that I decided one big party was in order. Since they only get a party every 5 years, it worked out perfectly that Riley was turning 1 and Lily turning 5. I didn't plan it that way, but it worked out :) Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and here are some shots of the event...
Lily was bothered by the strap on the hat, so I couldn't get a nice smile.The cake and the "cake pops"....I'm so glad I didn't scrap the cake pops. I was somewhat frustrated by them the morning of the party, but they were a good addition.
And here is Papa, explaining the intricacy of plastic horse shoes.
And then the post pinata scramble. We let the kids each take a whack at it and then Uncle Donny busted it open with a few mighty swings.
This is how we ended the day...with two very tired monkeys. I don't bathe them together very often anymore, cause this is what happens...

Hope everyone that came had an awesome time. If you couldn't make it, now at least you have a glimpse of the fun you missed :)

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Oh how fast a year goes! I love, love, LOVE watching you grow!

Kindergarten!!

Though it still seems a bit surreal, Lily started school today. My baby is a big girl now! She even decided this morning that she didn't need her blankies anymore...she thought Riley should have them since he's a baby and she's not.
How cute is that!

She sat right down and started playing with the other kids. And, she's excited to go back tomorrow.
Here she is with her teacher Mrs. Ott, saying goodbye. I was really impressed by the pictures she brought home today and I can't wait to start a collection.

Now, I just have to get used to having one child for a 3 hour stretch during the day. How exciting :)

Tiffany vs. the Shed...

This was our shed before I went at it yesterday with a sledge hammer and crowbar. We've been wanting to remove the shed since we moved in 2 years ago, but haven't gotten around to it...along with lots of other things. So, since we need it gone to get to the trees that are behind it, I decided to take matters into my own hands and rip into it. There is video of me wielding the tools of destruction, but I'm too embarrassed to post it :)And here we are halfway done.
Ta-da! All done. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the pile of debris, but that's for another day... It does make me happy though that we have a nice large double gate to make the removal process easier. Next thing is tackling the volunteer trees that were growing behind the shed, and pushing on the fence. And of course the weeds, and maybe the 7 pallets of cinder blocks in the backyard. Yikes, we're gonna be busy!
In case you're wondering, I didn't do all of the manual labor by myself. Dylan did help a little :) But, I ain't afraid to get dirty or wield a sledge hammer...

Here comes trouble...

I think I'm going to start calling Riley "Trouble". He loves to play with the cupboard doors. There's just something about the banging he can accomplish :0) I turned around from doing the dishes and saw him pulling stuff out of the cupboard...He was so proud of himself. It wasn't a big deal until he found a package of noodles that was opened. Thankfully Mommy swooped them up before he could dump them out.
Unfortunately I didn't think of the Cheerios. And, when I walked out to do something for a second, this happened. I guess he was really hungry...

My little Artist...

Lily LOVES to paint! This is her latest creation. We went to the Art & Wine Festival last weekend and they had lots of creative things for the kids. The aftermath from this was a little messy, but she had a blast flinging paint.