Rustin's Car

This was a post I turned into a scrapbook page.  After getting the idea from my very creative friend Heather I had visions of doing this with all of my posts starting from Ryder's first year...I have about 10 done.  I am thinking this is not going to happen as planned unless I spend a week away from reality and do nothing but scrapbook.

Anyway, this car has been Ryder's prize possession for approximately two years. It is commonly referred to around our house as "Ryder's car". We passed this beloved toy onto Rustin over the weekend.

The transition was surprisingly smooth. Ryder was absolutely excited that Rustin could drive the little red car.

We had a moment of withdrawal as Ryder pulled on Rustin and said "Ryder's turn....Ryder's car.".

But wait...pushing Rustin is so much more fun than riding in the car ... no looking back.  Ryder's little red car is now officially Rustin's little red car.

It is all yours sweet boy and you look precious in it! Aren't stripes and plaid a fashion no-no?  Just noticed that...sorry superman!

Cupcake Ideas

I have been totally distracted the past week and it feels like the poor boys spent the entire week riding in the car for hours on end. Rustin screams when he sees his seat, poor baby.  I totally fell off the weight watchers wagon while we went around in circles looking for new home prospects. At last, we have a game plan should we get any bites on this house (which we have not). Soooo...back to reality!

Ryder has his pre-school Easter Party on Thursday and all of the Mom's are bringing some kind of craft/activity for the kids. I'm not a very creative girl, but I do love me some cupcakes. Plus...what 2-year old doesn't love cupcakes? I've decided cupcakes will be my contribution, but I need some cute ideas. Last year I made these:

I suppose I could recreate them, but if anybody has any other ideas let me know! I'll do some searching on my own, too.

Ryder and Rustin are both asleep right now, Matt is playing a video game and I am eating red hots while catching up on blogs. I do love Sunday afternoons!

Crazy Impulse

Do you ever get impulsive? Do you ever do really crazy things...like decide to put your absolutely perfect house on the market for no apparent reason? That is what we did this week and I am still not totally positive why. I am not worried for whatever reason. I am at peace. We have no plan, we have no idea if the house will or will not sell. If it does, we have no idea where we will go. All we know is that we want a yard big enough for a swingset and a larger kitchen. It has been a whirlwind of a week and I am still not sure what to make of it all.  I am a person that doesn't like change and I LOVE my neighbors, so this is all a little weird for me.  I said a little prayer on my way into have lunch with Matt today that God will throw up some little road blocks if this impulsive decision isn't in his plans! I'll keep you posted on what comes of it all...

Fun with Photoshop

For fun I decided to play along (by myself) with Constructive Criticism Friday on the I Heart Faces Blog. I didn't get around to getting my link posted to their site in time.I think I mentioned the other day, that I really do not know much about my camera or photoshop.  I just click away and pray that I get something good.  I do a lot of reading on blogs and pick up things here and there and that is about the extent of my knowledge.   Anyway, I loved this picture of Ryder from playing outside yesterday and thought it would be great to frame, minus the dirty face. I played around and came up with a color and BW option.  Neither are perfect and I would hate for somebody to actually "grade" the edits...I am sure there is all kinds of wrong with them and sometimes actually hearing that can be brutal.  To be perfectly honest that fear keeps me from ever really playing the constructive criticism game.  I  mess around with the photos for fun and who knows what I will come up with...it can be kind of like an addictive game.  If you mess up you can always just start over!

We ♥ Spring Break

Spring Break has given us a glimpse of summer...a time spent outside most of the day...a time to get endlessly dirty.

A time for Pony Tails...this is the first spring my hair has been long enough to get one up since Ryder was born. I got chopitis right after he was born and have struggled to get any length back ever since. I forgot how nice they are!

A time for jumping and jumping and jumping!

Alright so this one is on here merely for the shot of the keys. Ryder was carrying these around so I jokingly attached them to his jeans. It was awesome because I always knew where he was from the jingling of the keys. Thank you Aunt Kara and Anna for letting us spend the day with you!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Alright so the real St. Patrick's Day picture is in the Wordless Wednesday Post, but I loved how when I was going through the pictures (when I take pictures I just snap, snap, snap...kind of like the paparazzi and pray that I get something worth while) that there was one of Ryder looking at Rustin...and one of Rustin looking at Ryder. They absolutely love each other right now! I am cherishing it because I know the day will come when the wail on each other!

Sorry for all the randomness today!

Wordless Wednesday

Update: Had to add some words. O.K....I am new to boys...I did not realize it was possible to get this dirty from playing outside. This picture doesn't do it justice...his face was literally black with dirt.  Wow. That's all I can say!

Tasty Tuesday

Courtesy of the Hungry Girl here are some Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting. For those of you counting, they are 3 Weight Watchers Points a piece. You will need:

For Cupcakes:
2 Cups Moist-style Yellow Cake Mix
1 Large Banana (mashed)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

For Frosting:
3/4 Cup Fat Free Cool whip (Thawed)
1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. In a small mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and cool whip. Stir until well mixed. Refrigerate until cupcakes are cool and ready to frost.

Combine cake mix with baking powder and 1 cup of water until well mixed. Add banana and stir thoroughly. Spray 12-cup muffin pan and pour batter evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I refrigerated these until I was ready to serve with dinner.  They were so simple and Ryder and Matt loved them.  I haven't tried one yet! 

This one helped me clean up the mess...love him so much!

They Call Me Superman....

....because my bib always ends up back here.

Wonderful Feeling

It is truly a wonderful feeling!  I have read about it before on friend's blogs who have more than one child.  I just never realized what a cherished moment it actually is until it happened to me.  Today, right this very minute, both boys are asleep at the SAME TIME.  Wow...I have no idea what to do with myself.  Just might go enjoy some of this sunshine.  I feel sure it is sheer coincidence and I won't trick myself into believing this could become a trend.  But, I just had to say!

BTW...you all know that my Ryder can be trouble (with a capital "T").  We love him more than life itself, but he keeps us on our toes.

You may not have known that he has a partner in crime.
 

He lives two doors down and when they get together...umhum...the things they can think of blows my mind.  Double Trouble for sure.
 
In the bottom picture, Ryder is convincing his little buddy that it is fine to play in Daddy's shed....probably not. Prior to hitting the shed out back, I had just let the two of them play in the garage.  Our water heater is in our garage.  This morning Matt comes to me as he is leaving for work and says, "Don't let your son play in the garage.  He turned the water heater off.  My ice cold shower was amazing.".  Shoot!  I didn't mention that the water heater incident occurred on the heels of Matt finding five dvd's stuffed in the slot of his playstation 3.  Ryder...seriously...cut me some slack.  You are makin' your Mama look bad!

Tasty Tuesday

We had lots of popcorn left over from our popping fun on Sunday. We packaged it into a Tupperware and later I turned it into a Snack Mix. Here is what you will need:

Popcorn (Popped)
Chocolate Cereal (I used Chocolate Cheerio's)
Marshmallows
Tootsie Roll Midgets (I only used about 10 of these, but sliced each one into about 4 pieces)
Small Pretzel Bites

UPDATE:   The ingredient list does not call for one used chocolate cheerio.  It calls for any type of chocolate cereal you'd like.  I happened to pick Chocolate Cheerio's because that is what I had in the pantry.  I measured out 1.5 cups, but you could use more or less.   I had a friend say she had to read twice on the Cheerio's and when I went back and looked, I could see how she read one used Chocolate Cheerio.  Ha!  As I told her, that probably wouldn't be too out of the norm around here, but it wouldn't make the snack mix very chocolatey!

Place all of the above ingredients into a large sealed container and shake. I divided the mixture among several snack-sized zipper bags and now I have a snack already measured out for Ryder in the afternoons. I had a bag this afternoon with him and it was Yum!

Dear Rustin...

...You didn't get the note and Ryder obviously did not fill you in. You should not be this happy after getting three shots today. This is the day you are allowed to fuss non-stop and nobody can say anything about it.  You chose otherwise, the sun is out and you're happy as can be.  Fits you to a "T" little man.  I can't believe you are 6 months old! You have forever changed our lives and I absolutely can not imagine "Us" without you. Here are the stats for your virtual baby book:
Weight: 14 lbs 15 oz
Height: 26 in.
Head Circumference: 41.91 cms.

Rainy Day Idea

Pull out the Air Popper and watch the Magic!

"What's This?" A common question around our house these days.

With a magical rub of his hands, things start popping!


Abracadabra! A magical popcorn snack and a good half hour of indoor fun!

Hungry Girl

That usually describes my demeanor...Hungry Girl. I am hungry all of the time. My husband and my sister call me "Snacks" because all I do is snack. I get grouchy when I don't eat. Have you seen the Snickers commercial with Betty White? That is pretty much me when I am hungry...the transformation happens in a split-second. I would post that commercial here, but I am totally not tech-savvy and have no idea how to put a Youtube video on my blog. So.

Really all of the above is not what this post is about, but in a way it is. Matt and I have been on Weight Watchers since the first of the year. Really it was just about trying to get healthier. I had/have not been working out since I was around 36 weeks pregnant with Plus One. Exercise is one of those things that is addictive, but once you stop it is REALLY hard to start back up again. That being said...I was still holding onto some baby weight and we decided to take the plunge together. It has been really good, because we hold each other accountable. Lets face it...I would cheat all of the time, but I feel really guilty doing that when my husband is eating totally healthy every second of the day.

Slowly, I am getting to the point of this post. I was sharing Weight Watchers tips and woes with one of my girlfriends a few weeks back and she told me about the Hungry Girl website.
She said it has lots of really good ideas for low calorie, low fat, high fiber snacks. All of those three factors are pretty much what Weight Watchers is. I had been meaning and meaning to go check out her site, but never did. Yesterday I was in Bed Bath & Beyond buying refills for our Keurig. (We LOVE our Keurig...if you like coffee but do not drink a lot of coffee it is perfect. Wow, I promise this is not a product placement post). As I was exiting the store I saw this Hungry Girl Cookbook. I wasn't going to buy it since I knew she had a website, but then I did. It is so much more convenient to have recipes in the Kitchen instead of having to search online, deciding to print a recipe only to be reminded that I have no ink in the printer, you get the picture. Its a mess. Anyway, this cookbook is great! It is really more about small meals. I don't think you could prepare a huge family style meal out of this cookbook, but if you want fast/simple/healthy ideas this is the book for you! You can even preview the book through Google Reader and get an idea of the type of recipes in the book. Enjoy!

A Paper Towel Can go a Long Way...

This post is dedicated to my beloved sister-in-law, Mindy. Anybody who knows Matt and I, is aware that we can go through a LOT of paper towels. Anybody who knows us, also knows that there is never a tissue to to be found in our house. If you need to blow your nose, toilet paper will have to get you by. Mindy has always thought our lack of tissue was weird...well she probably thinks we are weird in a lot of other ways too, but this one I know for sure she thinks is weird.

That being said, Ryder just came up to me and said "Blow Nose, Mommy!". He then ran to the Kitchen for me to grab him a paper towel. Yes, Min...Ryder already understands that if he needs to blow his nose, he'll at best be using some Charmin, but more likely a paper towel. After all, paper towels go a long way around here.

Wordless Wednesday

Oh Ryder...

This morning you insisted that you must have Cocoa Krispies for breakfast. As I carried the box to the table, you were absolutely certain that the box of Cocoa Krispies was Doggy Fooood. I poured some of the cereal in a bowl and you leaned down to take a bite with your mouth. You were so very proud that you were eating Doggy Fooood (just like a real doggy) and for once nobody was saying, "Ryder No. That is Yucky!". I love you sweet boy and I love that you love Doggy Fooood.
~ Mommy