Finger Painting with....

CHOCOLATE PUDDING!! Growing up I remember my Mom letting us finger paint with chocolate pudding. It doesn't get much better than that right!? I know, she's pretty awesome and I'm pretty lucky! So I always wanted to do the same thing with my kids. I actually did it with my niece and nephew when Tanner was a newborn, but now that he's old enough we went to town the other day! So fun...and DELICIOUS!

Just getting started

I wrote his name...he's not that advanced. Ha! But he can write a "T".

Cheese!

Painting away

Thoroughly enjoying himself

"T" for Tanner and a Tanner hand-print all out of chocolate pudding. YUM!

Loving us a rainy day...

Today has been a bit of a cold, rainy day...so we decided to make the best of it and build a fort! Tanner was super cute and insisted that Landon join us in the fort too. They are becoming better buds all the time. I think now that Landon can do more, Tanner sees his potential to actually be fun, not just a mommy hog. We even ate our lunch in our fort! It's amazing what a few blankets draped over couches and chairs can do for the excitement level around here!

This is serious stuff...we even have a crocodile guarding the entrance!

Mom and Landon

Eating lunch in the fort...grilled cheese and apples...Yum!

All of us...please excuse my pajama clad self...and if my hair looks like I've been crawling around in a fort it's because I was!

Kojo(Tanner's giraffe) even got in on the fort action...and of course a classic big-eyed Landon picture!

Update: They even let Dad in when he got home from work....and he was impressed by our awesome fort building skills. Ha!

Thoughts of a Mother

So I often get caught up in how crazy my kids are, or how little they sleep, or how much work it is taking care of them and the house...and a husband for that matter! ;) But every once in a while I push all of that aside and remember how blessed I am, and how much I LOVE being a Mom! Lately in his prayers, Tanner often says, "thank Thee that Mom could stay home." It always makes me stop and realize how lucky I am to be able to stay home and take care of my cute little stinkers. So many kids these days come from broken homes, or both their parents work, and I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to be at home with my kids and help them learn, and grow, and be there for every, little, amazing moment. I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Don't worry...

After that last post many of you are probably wondering if we're all still alive. Well, just as I suspected, we did survive. In fact we're all mostly better and Landon only woke up 3 times last night instead of 7 or 8 and Tanner only woke up once because he fell out of his bed! So I guess I'll take what I can get. Plus my wonderful Mother-in-Law handed me one of these on Sunday...
Meaning that when I'm at my whits end she's always there to step in and help and "save me from Jail". I had to laugh and was impressed at how clever it was. I'm so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family and that my in-laws are close and always willing to help!

Some days Rock!

So I'm sure things will look better in the morning, but I wanted to document that I survived this horrible day so when one comes around again I can look back and remember that it is indeed possible. It's been a rough week with all of us sick off and on. I thought we were just about over it when Landon woke up pretty congested and all around sick today...well, I don't know how you wake up from never sleeping...because I'm pretty sure he didn't sleep at all last night...a.k.a. I didn't sleep at all last night. Dean had a stake youth activity he was in charge of today so he would be gone from 1PM-11PM, so I already knew that I'd spend my weekend home alone with the boys AGAIN! I found out yesterday that I'm supposed to have some sort of display for our ward's Missionary Open House tomorrow night on top of the 4 dozen cookies I already needed to make. SUPER. I spent all morning helping Dean get things together for his activity and then I was somehow supposed to take care of all the sick kids and do all my stuff on my own. GREAT. And of course Tanner decided to be super naughty ALL DAY LONG. Not sure why, but he chose a great time to be that way. So I was scraping by tonight. I had dinner done and had thrown the boys in the tub. Landon was clean and chilling out...Tanner just needed to be rinsed off when Landon decided to unload one major POOP EXPLOSION in the tub. WOW. This was just about my breaking point. I grabbed Tanner and stood him on the rug-less (it's been down in the laundry room for days, CLEAN, but of course it's never made it back up to the bathroom) floor, dripping and shampoo in his hair. I pulled Landon out and layed him in his towel while I scrubbed out the whole tub. Then I had to re-fill the tub and re-bathe both of them. Tanner threw a fit for about an hour over going to bed. Landon can't breathe so he can't sleep unless I'm holding him and somehow I'll be going to church in the morning and then pulling off all the refreshments and displays tomorrow night. On the bright side things can't get much worse, (knock on wood) so I guess things are looking up! Thanks for listening to my rant!

3 Minute Microwave Fudge

First of all we've been sick around here this week. Tanner threw up a couple of times and I've sure felt like throwing up all week. I'm hoping we're past it now, but I'm still being cautious. I HATE being sick! Especially when you're a mom and have to still take care of everyone else! Anyway, I saw this delicious recipe
a few weeks ago and have been dying to try it. The whole sick thing kinda through a kink in that plan. But last night we whipped some up. We actually threw in half a bag of Andes Mint Chips so it's mint chocolate fudge. YUMMY! I wasn't sure how the whole microwave thing would turn out, but it's amazing. I have to warn you though it does actually take more than 3 minutes. Well three minutes to microwave, but then you have to wait for what seems like an eternity when you were imagining fudge in 3 minutes, for it to cool and set up. So easy and SO worth it!

New Suits

I'm the proud new owner of these...


I got them 1/2 off on a super Labor Day sale. They arrived this week and I LOVE them! Too bad I'll probably have to wait till next summer to use them. They're from www.limericki.com. Check them out! There's TONS of cute ones!

Making Strides

So it's been a bit of an adjustment for Tanner since becoming a big brother. Ok that's an understatement. It's been a BIG adjustment for Tanner! But I think we're finally getting to a point where he likes having Landon around. Yesterday I was on the phone with my Mom when Landon woke up from his nap. Tanner heard him making noises in his crib and went in to see him. I came in to find this...

He brought a book to read to Landon to make him happy. And it worked! Landon LOVED it! I was so proud of Tanner for being such a sweet, nice, big brother! We're getting there.

I {HEART} the Target Dollar Spot

So the other day I got really brave and took BOTH boys, by MYSELF, to Target. I of course had to peruse the dollar spot first thing inside the door. And sure enough I was not disappointed. They had these cute animal masks for, you guessed it, ONE DOLLAR! They entertained Tanner the whole time we were in the store and he's played with them every day since. Gotta love dollar toys! They were worth every penny!

Bug Eyes

Ever wonder where this kid got his bug eyes?
Well they're from his mom! And secretly I love it!

4 Months Old

It's official...Landon is 4 MONTHS OLD! It's crazy how fast they grow. He's mastered rolling from his stomach to his back. He's getting so much better at controlling his little arms and playing with his toys. He always has a big smile for us, and he likes to be in on the action and be a part of things all the time. Lately he keeps his Mom up all night and always wants to be held, and he also just discovered his feet...And tried a little rice cereal...
He didn't LOVE it, but he ate it anyway! We can't believe how big he's getting!! We love our little Landon man.

My Little Monkeys

My awesome friend Anna gave us this cute little monkey outfit before Tanner was born. I remembered taking a picture of Tanner in it when he was about Landon's age, so when I dressed Landon this morning I figured I should take a picture of him too. I love my little monkeys!

Dean Update

Well school is officially back in session. We miss having Dean around all day! Tanner asks a million times a day where Dad is. Sad! But we're definitely grateful for Dean's job and that we're lucky enough to have him around all summer. One of the great perks of being a teacher! Dean also resigned as a volleyball coach, so no volleyball for us this year. But it should be MUCH less stressful for Dean. He got a job on the senior project committee that will pay more and hopefully be less work...at least less work after school hours. He's also the new Computer Club sponsor which should also be a little more money but not too much work! Yay!

We also need to thank Dean for fixing the zoom on the camera. If you hadn't heard, Tanner threw the camera on the ground and the zoom has been out of commission for a while now. But thanks to Dean we have a fully functioning camera again! Woot! Woot! And for much less than a new camera would cost. Phew!
And last but not least....Dean is officially 32 pounds lighter than he was a month and a half ago!! He drives me crazy with his incredible self-control and calorie counting, but it's paid off! He reached his goal weight WAY faster than he planned and we're so proud! The only problem is he's swimming in all of his clothes! ;) Way to go babe!

A Pleasant Surprise

Yesterday I was planning on a slow day at home with the boys. I had nowhere to go and figured I'd be lucky to even get a shower now that Dean's back at school and not around to watch the kiddos while I jump in. I was lazily going about our morning when I got a text from Dean asking if we would like to meet him for lunch in an hour. AHH! I still needed to bathe Tanner and get him dressed and shower and get ready myself. But I wasn't going to miss out on a lunch invitation! So we scrambled and threw ourselves together and miraculously made it on time! We met up with Dean and Bill (his fellow teacher) and his wife and had lunch. It went well except for when Tanner told me he didn't want to eat his chicken and instead threw it across the table at Bill. Great! Thanks for making me look like an awesome mom Tanner! GRR! Anyway, since I'd already gone to all the trouble of getting out of the house with the boys(seriously more work than you'd imagine), I thought we should take advantage of it and stop at the local park on the way home. Tanner had fun on the playground and then we walked around the pond and saw a turtle and bunch of ducks. Other than the fact that it's SOO hot here, it was fun. I snagged a couple pictures at the park on my phone(sorry they're not the best quality)...

Mom and Landon watching Tanner throw rocks into the pond

Tanner throwing rocks in the pond (shhh don't tell anyone cause their's a sign that says "Don't throw rocks in the pond!") I told him that but he still managed to get a few throws in.

Playing in the sand

p.s. It's incredibly hard to lift your two year old into one of those super high child safe swings (where you have to get their feet through the holes) while holding your four month old and not hurting/smooshing either of them! I guess I'm still working on those super Mom powers!