Oh Happy Day!

If you were Ryder, it might be hard to imagine a better day than today, in your entire two year life span. He got it all started with a breakfast made for champions. No, not Wheaties. Try some ole' fashioned, sugar filled Little Debbie Snack Cakes. Yep. The heart shaped ones with chocolate icing and the white cream in the middle. The one's that Gran sent home for Valentine's. The one's I feel certain were sent home so he could be on a non-stop sugar rush, under my watch, until the box is gone.

Here they are. Nothing says go get 'em like a Little Debbie does. We washed these bad boys down with some strawberry milk and then headed to Mommy's Bathtub for an extra deep Bath. Mommy's bathtub is a super big treat that we only use on special occasions like today.

He got dressed in his finest Elmo T-shirt and we took Rustin to Grandma's house. Rustin was far too little for today's extra special outing. Grandma graciously let him stay with her.

Back in the car...next stop...Sesame Street Live!


Some of his best little buddies met us at the show and we saw all of our favorite characters.


Elmo, Ernie, Bert...even Abbey and Mr. Noodle!


We got to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly while we watched the show and the best part....he had no desire for the $10.00 Balloon they flaunted in front of his face during intermission. Oh Happy Day, indeed!

This and That

We've been up to a little of this and a little of that this week. Monday we went back to the Children's Museum with friends. I told Matt I was going to the Museum with Mary
and Heather...and then explained that I only knew Mary through her Blog and Heather I had not seen in 15 years. His response to this outing..."That's gonna be weird.". I am so happy to report that he was wrong! We had a blast and I think all of our kiddos did awesome for their first time together!


I stole this picture off of Mary's Blog. I realized after I was at the museum that my camera was at home...on my desk. Perfect place for it, right? Ha!

Yesterday I was in a funk and didn't get anything on the Blog. It had to do with things not working out in my master-plan. Didn't I blog about that last week? I need to get over that stuff. Long story short, the registration process for Ryder's preschool didn't exactly turn out like I was expecting. Life is good though and in the grand scheme of things that shouldn't be anything that causes distress. Seriously.

Today we soaked up the sun. I am pretty sure it isn't scheduled to be back out for another week. Have I mentioned that I am really over Winter and very ready for Spring? I am.

This post is all over the place, but since I missed Tasty Tuesday yesterday (remember I was wallering in my funk over preschool) I thought I'd throw something in here. Ryder is a junk food addict. The only foods he consistently asks for are Cookies, Cupcakes, Ice Cream, Crunch Berry Cereal and Raisins. That being said, we are trying to implement some healthy eating habits here at Ft. Smith. Knowing that Ryder absolutely loves ice cream, I decided to freeze some yogurt. I threw it in a bowl tonight (after slightly defrosting it) and told him it was ice cream. He ate the entire bowl! He won't touch yogurt in its normal unthawed state. If you haven't tried that one with your kids, it worked for us!

Disclaimer: I did not say that this was a clean snack/treat. We had to head straight to the bathtub when he finished.

A Sleepy Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

Instead of a recipe this week, I thought I'd give a bakery we tried out for Valentine's day some Love! If you live in the DFW Metroplex you must give Dallas Affaires Cake Co. a try. Matt brought home my favorite, red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, for Valentine's this year. It was so, so yummy! We ate on it for three nights straight. I loved it so much that I am thinking of having them do Rustin's little cake when his 1st Birthday rolls around.

Give them a try..that's my Tasty Tuesday Post!

Imperfections, Taxes, Potty Training & More Venting

I have my fair share of problems, imperfections, annoying attributes....whatever you want to call them. One of these reared it's ugly head today. It is my desperate need to be in control of every situation.

I despise tax season and the dreaded preparation of our income tax return (even as easy as turbo tax makes things). Four years ago, I made the proclamation that calculating our taxes had gotten more complicated than we could handle and sent them to an accountant. I have done so every year since. Poof! My dreaded tax preparation problem is solved. Nope, not so much. Here is the scenario that faces me every year (including yesterday and into today):

Matt: Do we have everything we need to send to Snuffleupagus in order to get the taxes done? (You read correct. Big Bird's best friend, Snuffy, from Sesame Street. The name he has so graciously bestowed upon our accountant. There's a back-story for another post.)

Me: Ummm... I think so. I just need to organize it for him.

Matt: I'll take care of the boys. Go gather it together and we can take it to him this week.

Me: I'll look at it tomorrow.

Matt: Just do it now and then we'll have it done.

Me: ok....(Now imagine me going to my office, head hung low, sorting through a pile of papers and mail. I start piecing it all together and then decide that since I have it all here I might as well quickly "guesstimate" what our return will show. Wait "guesstimate"? No, I better just calculate it to the penny. My way of checking the accountant's work. Seriously.

Yes. What was supposed to be a ten minute document gather turned into two days of tax preparation. So really, problem not solved. I didn't press send and electronically mail the return off to the IRS. Instead, I'll take all of the documentation to the accountant tomorrow. He can perform the work he is professionally paid to do, and will most likely come up with a number that is right on par with the number I calculated from the same pile of papers. More likely, he will find a minute item I forgot and I will feel justified in sending our taxes his way. The cycle will then be complete, until next year when it will surely repeat itself.

As if taxes aren't bad enough, I thought it would make the experience a little more fun if we threw some potty training boot camp into the mix.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling that it was the day to start actively potty training R.

Why yesterday?

I have no answers. Seriously, he gave me no signs. We were running low on diapers and I didn't want to buy anymore. My great fix: Potty Train him. No diapers means he'll have to start using the potty all of the time. (See he is great about using it some of the time, when he wants to. Really there is no rhyme or reason as to when he will or will not use the potty. I totally can not figure it out.)

We are now approximately 30 hours into the task. My need to control keeps telling me to forge ahead, but some setbacks are leading me the other direction. Poor thing....sigh. We gave it everything we had. Even though I feel like we have failed...Out of the mouth of Matt just seconds ago: "We didn't fail and we are not giving up. We are just postponing.".

That is why I love him so much. I have an amazing husband who loves me even when I say things that I don't mean. He has been home since Thursday afternoon. This was due to inclement weather and his office picking President's day as one of their flex holidays. Although I value every second I have him here with me, I may be guilty of telling him that I didn't ever want him to work from home. I know. That sounds terrible. I can't believe it as I type it.

Wait. Do you remember all I just typed about above? Add a screaming "Plus One" to the scenario. This all was happening as the words exited my mouth. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will.

What I meant was that I think we (and all couples) benefit from some time away from each other. I think it makes us value our time together even that much more.

What I meant was that I think the Man I married thrives at work, on a job-site, making sure everything flows perfectly inside and out. The fruit of your labor puts food on our table...a Blessing which I thank God for everyday. Not only that, you get something a lot of people don't with their work. A true physical end result that everyone can see. It must be amazing to say: Because of me, this building stands. The space you are spending countless hours on right now will one day serve a huge purpose. HOPE for people with cancer. You are amazing and I can't even begin to imagine how you balance it all.

What I meant was that you are wonderful.

That is what I meant. I love you.

Five Months

Did you know that our little "Plus One" turned five months old this week? He did! Amazing how time flies. He is now sleeping through the night (and has been for some time now), rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy, holding himself up really well and eating some big boy food! I think his favorite place to be is right on my hip, but having his big brother in his face is a close second. I love you, Rustin!

Snowy Greetings!

Snowy Greetings from North Texas!

The Love Truck

Ryder came home with a note from school last Thursday stating he was to bring a decorated box to school today that his favorite stuffed animal could ride in for a huge "Teddy Bear Parade". Obviously, they don't know Ryder and that he could care less about any of his stuffed animals. I actually thought about putting a phone or a remote control in his box since those are the two things he truly loves, ha! We settled with Ming-Ming. He does Love her...I assume she is a girl. We've had discussions in our house about the gender of the Wonder Pets. Ming-Ming, I am pretty positive is a girl. Tuck, I am pretty positive is a boy. Lenny...well we go back and forth on "it".

Anyway.

I always got upset in school when you could tell that the other kid's parent absolutely did their project. My stuff would look like dog poo next to some colossal super project. That said, He's Two. Obviously it was going to be Matt and I building this box. I had a creative block, totally at a loss with absolutely no ideas. All I knew was that I wanted his to be the BEST! Only kidding...actually I'm serious. Matt said, "Babe...its not about winning. This isn't a competition.". He was right. So I got past "googling" lavish valentine boxes and we put our heads together to come up with "The Love Truck". Actually that's a lie. There was no collaboration here. It was totally Matt's idea. I can't take any credit for the design of Ryder's Parade Float. I was pretty proud of what Matt came up with, all from supplies we had here at home! Ryder, this is your first Valentine's Box!!! Hope you loved it!

This is a picture of Mr. Ryder before we left to take his "Love Truck" to school. We woke up to all of this snow this morning. It is so soft!! Ryder didn't want to go to school because he was soooo mesmerized by all this white stuff!

A Ryder Post

Oooooooohhhh...

I had no idea my day would begin by weighing all of these blocks. It was pretty amazing!

Once they were all balanced out it was off to the store! Look at all these yummy things...it was hard to believe that they weren't real and we couldn't actually eat them. Not only was it hard to believe, it was slightly upsetting.

Cha- Ching!! All is good in life again...a grocery belt, a scanner and a computer with HUGE BUTTONS!

What is better than your own grocery store? Your own "Fire Truck". Really its an ambulance, but we won't burst his bubble.

This stuff would look amazing scattered all over the floor.


And seriously, Mom, I could make these Pinwheels spin for hours if you'd let me.

Courtesy of: The Ft. Worth Children's Museum

A Prayer Please....

Ryder loves his Grandpa Smith more than life itself. Please send up a quick prayer for healing and answers. He had an incident on Saturday afternoon and after every test the hospital has to offer (not really, but pretty close) there are still no definitive answers about what happened. He remains in the hospital, but we hope that he will be released soon.

Senior Moments

Matt's cousin is a Senior in High School this year...thank you Joseph for letting us share this moment with you! Ryder had fun tagging along behind you and playing at the park... you are about to embark on an adventure that will prove to be the best time of your life. We wish you the Best of Luck at the University of North Texas!

Some Daddy Love

Absolutely one of the Best Dad's Ever...We love you!

Some things he loves...

These boots. He can't walk in them, but he is guilty of sleeping in them. When Matt checked on him before closing things down last night he had "one" of them on in bed and was sound asleep.


This "mote". Our do everything remote for upstairs that is apparently very interesting for a 2-year old. No need to play with a room full of toys when there are gadgets like this to be found.


His Brother's Bed. He sneaks into Rustin's room and climbs on in whenever he thinks nobody is watching. "Ryder, Mommy's always watching" is something said daily around here.


Our microwave, your microwave, anybody's microwave. Really just buttons, anything with buttons that you can push and something will then turn on...he loves you.


"Toothbrush....Toothpaste....where are you?" are also words spoken daily around here. By Ryder not me. Seriously...he is obsessed with brushing his teeth.


His Baby. Rustin...your brother loves you so much. You are the first thing he asks for when he wakes up and the last name he speaks before he goes to bed. Believe me when I say You are so loved baby boy.

Pictures to Come!

No pictures with this post, but I have taken some this week and will post them this weekend. I have worked a LOT this week which has been unusual over the past year. Its amazing how it throws me out of whack. I really had come to the conclusion at the end of 2009 that I was going to throw in the work towel. It makes me cranky and I really just want to be a Mom ALL of the Time.

But.....something in me just can't give it up completely. That and I have a hard time saying "No" to anybody regarding anything. I suffer from wanting to please everyone all of the time and most of the time it ends up biting me in the rear...ahhh...but that is for another post.

As much as being a Mom to my two boys is purposeful...keeping my brain sharp with numbers, talking to adults on the phone and getting to see something come to fruition all from a 2-dimensional drawing on a piece of paper still drives me. I feel blessed to be able to do this some of the time and still be with my monkeys most of the time! So. That's where I've been this week.