05.17.09 My Cowboy Boy

Grant has recently discovered Chris' cowboy boots. He LOVES them and several times a day, I will hear the clonk, clonk, clonk of the boots as he scuttles across the tile to come find me and show me that he's a cowboy. He's quite the ham, isn't he! Most of the time he has on the cowboy hat, as well. Silly kid.

These pictures were taken back in May. I've been intending to put them up for a while, but somehow, time is just escaping me! Whew!

Good Morning!

One of my favorite things about our new house is waking up in the morning and watching the sun rise over the perfectly still water of the pond behind us as I snuggle with my warm, freshly awakened babies in the rocking chair. The water is like a mirror it is so still. Isn't it refreshing and invigorating? It makes me ready to start my day, and reminds me that God's creativity in his Creation is awesome! What a way to start your morning - in fellowship and awe of my Creator!

Reward Chart

We have recently begun a reward chart for Grant in an effort to motivate him to contribute to normal family life. It has various chores listed for him - making his bed, cleaning the toy room, brushing his teeth, setting the table, clearing the table, and going poo-poo in the potty! Each chore has 12 spaces that are longing to be filled with stickers! I took Grant with me to find the perfect stickers to mark these milestones and he insisted on finding the perfect Mickey Mouse heads to use. After each column is filled completely, he gets a small treat - like an ice cream cone, etc. But once the whole chart is filled, he gets to go to Chuck E. Cheese! How's that for motivation!?

He's so excited and is working hard at filling up his squares! A few weeks ago (yes, I know I'm running way behind on updating this thing!), he figured out the whole potty training thing once and for all! He had been doing great, but he still woke up in the mornings wet and he would never go poo-poo for me in the toilet. But once he saw these Mickey Mouse stickers, how that did change! Grant did great and in less than one weeks time, filled up all twelve squares, resulting in him getting to pick a special treat in addition to the great pride and newfound freedom that he found! He decided he wanted ice cream, so we called daddy at work, who brought home all the fixings to make his famous cookie shakes. After dinner, Grant and daddy were going to make these special shakes to commemorate Grant's great achievement. Grant even got to dip the ice cream! Mason wanted right in on the action, too, and climbed the step ladder all by himself so he could push the buttons on the blender right along with his big brother. It was definitely a moment of whole family pride!! Very cute! We all enjoyed the spoils for Grant's hard work. And we're well on our way to Chuck E. Cheese (I know - Oh, boy!)!

Recipe Hiatus

After a several month long hiatus, I'm ready to begin my recipe blog again. I've intended to, I really have, but between our computer crashing, house hunting, packing, moving, vacation and unpacking, life has been hectic! I made Foccacia bread this week, and if you want to check out the recipe, click HERE.

Happy Birthday, Grant!

It is so hard to believe, but our little Grant turned THREE years old yesterday! How time does fly! Isn't it amazing how much he's changed through the years?

Grant at Two Weeks:Grant at One Year:

Grant at Two Years

Grant at Three Years

He had a busy day - filled with VBS both in the morning and evening, grilling out his requested hamburgers and macaroni and cheese (yes, he is his mother's son!) along with fresh fruit and chocolate cake, opening gifts and swimming at our pool and topping it off with a special ice cream treat at Dairy Queen way past his bedtime. What fun we had!

Grant was absolutely adorable Thursday night - the night before his birthday. I was rocking him in the chair, telling him that his birthday was the next day and asking what he thought we should to to celebrate. I told him we would open presents to which he responded, "It's Christmas!" I explained it was LIKE Christmas, but Christmas was celebrating Jesus' birthday and June 19th was celebrating Grant's birthday. That seemed to satisfy him, but he wanted his presents now! So I told him first he had to go to sleep, then when he woke up in the morning, it would be his birthday. He said, "Grant's birthday is when we open presents and eat cake?" (Amazing what sticks with a kid, huh?) I laughed and agreed, upon which he jumped out of my lap, ran to his bedroom and shouted to me, "I love you! I'm going to bed!" I laughed and went about my business. It was only 6:30, so I knew he wouldn't go to sleep. A few minutes later, he came running out with a huge smile on his face shouting, "Mommy, it's my BIRTHday!" I wish you could have seen the joy and innocence on that precious child's face. It was precious indeed.

After going to bed for real, he got up at 3:00 AM, came to my room and told me it was his birthday. I agreed, told him it was still time to sleep and took him back to his bed where he told me he was just "too excited." Then at 6:30 he came back in, smiling big and telling me it was his birthday. Chris and I stuck him between us, sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him a big hug. But he'd have nothing to do with snuggling. The kid wanted cake! Of course we waited for that until after lunch, but boy, was he excited! Everyone he saw, he'd tell them, "It's my birthday!" whether he knew them or not. What a special day he had. What a special boy he is. He's growing up to be such a gentleman, and mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud!

05.30.09 Walt Disney World - Mickey's Backyard BBQ

What fun we had! After a restful day playing at our resort, we all got dressed in our white shirts, red bandanas and bag of "gold" (actually, it was golden nuggets of chewing gum), boarded a bus and headed over to Fort Wilderness Lodge for Mickey's Backyard BBQ. Chris wasn't sure how he should wear his bandana, so it changed periodically through the night in the most ridiculous fashion, but my family's favorite way was by far the bib. I was embarrassed, but everyone else thought he was hilarious, so I was sadly outvoted. :-)

We got to meet Goofy and Chip and Dale before the show started. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, bbqed chicken, corn on the cob, wonderful watermelon, beans, salad, and unlimited Mickey Ice Cream Bars! Though I must say, the popsicles seemed to be the popular choice because it was so very hot and they were so refreshing! Grant was pretty afraid at first (he practically choked poor Grandma) but he wanted to see what was going on. And as soon as Mickey Mouse came out, Grant jumped out of our laps, and ran to the dance floor, pushed himself through all the other children clear up next to Mickey and danced the night away. He had a ball. And I don't think I got a single picture of Mickey that Grant wasn't right beside him! The music was great (country, but great just the same), there was a man who did some fabulous lasso-ing tricks, and Mickey Mouse even came to our table to meet us! Grant was in my mom's lap when he arrived, saw Mickey, climbed over Uncle Jason and snuggled right into Mickey's lap for our pictures. He was so funny! I tried to take him to see Goofy, Chip and Dale and Minnie Mouse, but he'd just say, "No, Mommy go. Grant stay with my Mickey." He didn't even care if I was there or not! So we've found a new love for little Grant: Mickey Mouse!

05.30.09 - Walt Disney World - Caribbean Beach Resort

This morning we were up and ready, the kids went and got their treasure for the morning - cool stickers since we were going to Hollywood Studios...Grant got Buzz Stickers! We ate breakfast and went down to get our tickets for the Backyard BBQ for tonight. While we were standing there, we all got to talking and decided that instead of trying to go to Hollywood Studios today, we were going to take it easy at the hotel and enjoy the pool, playing together, take pictures of the kids in their pirate costumes that we made, etc. We all just needed a day to rest. I think it was a great decision. Everybody was so relaxed and happy! I ended up spending a lot of my day in the room with sleeping kids, but even I got a nap in, along with getting us all packed up so we could leave the next day and looking at the pictures from our trip, so it was worth it!

Once all the kids were finally awake at the same time, we dressed them up in their pirate costumes and walked over to an island on our resort to let them have sword fights and plunder the island! We had so much fun taking pictures. Grant sure is a fan of his sword and pirate hat that was his treasure for today. He and Jaybin came running into our room from Grandma and Grandpa's room shouting, "Arrr, Matey!" and swinging their swords at us. It was hilarious!

Our Fun Pirate Themed Swimming Pool

Grant decided he wanted to go down the big slide...but when he came out, he was upside down and not very happy about it!

Our Cool Pirate Themed Rooms!

The Four kids in their Pirate Outfits. Aren't they cute?

And of course, the biggest Pirate of all!