thehenleyclan

Tyler's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Daddy were getting ready to head to Legacy for Tyler's first day of Kindergarten - I was so sad to miss this, but I was heading back to work myself.

I am told this was the Bowser pose from Mariokart on the Wii - not too sure about that, but okay.

What a big boy! My, how time flies.

Tyler is in the zone

2010-08-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

So I downloaded a new game on my phone for Tyler that involves dinosaurs - I know, shocker! and he sat like this for I kid you now, 3 hours. I let him play for that long because it was the Friday before he was going to school, so we had a lazy, stay in our jammies, and do not a whole lot kind of day.

He did, at least, look up for a picture.

Swimming with Grandma

2010-07-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

Talk about jumping through hoops! These boys didn't stop. Nico was a little fearful at first if the noodle hoop was too far out...

On the other hand, Tyler was not!

Nico was starting to get the hang of it.

Now Tyler is just showing off for Grandma.

Rangers with the boys

2010-07-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here we are on our drive to the ballpark - the boys can not believe how big the stadium is - but they are a little distracted by the silver monstrosity right behind also known as JerryWorld!

Here they are in front of the field - taking it all in.

These were our seats and during batting practice - way too many balls came flying in our direction in my opinion. There was no one in front of us to block the ball - I was very afraid for my knees!

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it is a foul ball that is coming our direction - any why am I not ducking? No, instead I am risking my life to take a picture!

Nelson Cruz was near us and was playing a very impressive game - he caught a 'should be home run' right in front of our seats, and then hit the winning home run hit in the 10th inning.

Here are two boys that are tired, sweaty, and ready for bed! They both had fun at their first mahor league baseball experience!

Day 6 with Nico

2010-07-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

We started off today with a good breakfast of banana french toast and plums. The boys scarfed down breakfast and were off to the Wii. This seems to be the morning routine.

We headed over to Alison's parent's house to swim for the morning and got some pictures of all four boys in mid-air. I think Jonah is on his way to a belly flop here...

Nico is doing some twirly jump here that they call the drill...

Here Tyler is trying to jump into the tube, but went straight through instead....

Here Luke is jumping in his safe area - he likes the shallow end even though he can swim just fine.

All 4 boys had noodles and were trying to blow the little torpedoes out of the back end by blowing into the front end - only Nico was successful with this - he must be full of hot air!

After swimming for a couple of hours, they decided to take a break and play the Wii - Harry Potter.

Grandpa and Daddy to the two boys to the driving range to hit some golf balls. Nico looks like he knows what he is doing here.

Tyler likes to play (not correctly according to Grandpa) but he still has fun and I guess at this age, that is important. Maybe someday soon he will listen to Grandpa or Daddy about his grip on the club.

Fossil Rim with Nico

2010-07-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

After Dinosaur World, we headed to Fossil Rim to feed the animals. Tyler makes a friend here...

The 2 hour drive around the 9.5mile journey took a lot out of us, we had to stop for a popsicle and an orange Fanta.

Grandpa made a really good friend here - we were told not to feed any animals out of our hands except for the giraffes, but this zebra wanted to eat out of the bag that was in the console of the car. He tried to nibble on the steering wheel - but it must not have tasted that good - because he stopped.

Tyler was most excited about the rams(or whatever they are called) because they looked the toughest.

Talk about needing a shower after an exhausting day of dinosaurs, sweating, animals, animal food, and animal slobber. Sorry dad about the windows of the car.... I am sure the next rain will take care of Zebra spit and snot!

Dinosaur World with Nico

2010-07-21T16:14:00.001-07:00

Two crazy boys ready for their surprise outing to Dinosaur World with me and Grandpa. The two hour drive there went very well, the boys played on Tyler's DS and Leapster and we talked about what dinosaurs we might see...

They really liked the Spinosaurus - they actually stopped underneath them - the rest of the dinosaurs they just flew by each one seeing who could name the type first.

After going through the park once, they decided to play at the park until the Dinosaur Dig started. I actually didn't get any photos of that because I was using the video cam at that time.

Here Grandpa poses with the boys and the Stegosaurus family.

Tyler looking out through the T-Rex...

Nico in the T-Rex now.

Grandpa and Nico enjoying the Picnic lunch we packed...

Mommy and Tyler getting ready to eat lunch too.

Checking out their loot from the day...

Nice score!

Day four with Nico

2010-07-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

We started off Day 4 with a nosebleed for Nico. This was new to me, so I was ready to call 911, but thought I would check with my mom who has nose bleeds all the time to see what I should do. It seems it is not a 911 emergency like I thought...

The boys then decided to have a friendly water balloon contest to see who could get the other the wettest.

Tyler's corner was looking wetter than Nico's, but Nico realized if he aimed for the Tyler's feet - the balloon would pop and get him wet. Tyler did not figure that out and kept throwing them at Nico's waist, they would not pop, and Nico would pick it up and throw it back at Tyler.

Then we were on to the sprinkler volcano...

After Tyler's karate class, the boys started playing with the dinosaurs. They were battling each other, Rescue Heroes, Megablocks... it was pure chaos in the playroom - but they were having so much fun!

Day Three with Nico

2010-07-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

Grandpa took Nico and Tyler to eat at McDonalds today to enjoy a happy meal, ice cream and a little Pokemon. I had to go to the dentist and I thought the boys would enjoy an outing with Grandpa as opposed to going with me. I think they had fun!
Self picture taker here got a hold of the camera and decided to take a few pictures of himself...
and of Nico, too! But this one turned out great! Nico looks 15 by the angle of the camera.

We were invited over to a friend's house for a swimming party and the boys had a lot of fun. They played with Jennifer's water guns and had a blast. Jennifer's house is actually in our neighborhood so the boys were so excited to walk to her house - until we were about halfway there, then they decided it was too hot and too far of a walk. They asked if we could turn around and go get the car.
Here they are on the walk back home racing the whole way to see who could touch the door first - I think I caught them on a walking break to catch their breath.

Day two with Nico here

2010-07-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today we started the day off with breakfast and then to church. Both boys went to their age-respective classes and both said they had a lot of fun. Nico even got to pick something out of the treasure bag for knowing the correct answer to a bible story question, which he forgot what the story was by the time we picked him up.

The boys spent a lot of time today playing the Wii which was a blessing because Tyler had someone other than mommy to play with. They played just about every game we have (except for Resident Evil and Call of Duty - which are completely inappropriate for them and I am not even sure why we have them - they must have come with the Wii which daddy ebayed for?!) We also made a batch of sugar cookies which the boys helped with and even had a chance to decorate the few they were able to eat. Yum!

Day one with Cousin Nico

2010-07-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Nico are playing with the Zhuzhu pet and creating a bed for him - they were quite creative looking for something to wrap him in, but finally decided to use a Costco receipt and an address label (the tape wasn't sticky enough says Tyler so they needed the label instead).
Pool time was miserable because we jumped into a huge bathtub - the pool was so warm there was no relief from the heat. The boys still had fun - it is amazing what they can conjur up with torpedoes (missiles to get the aliens) goggles (secret vision binoculars that shoot 'stuff' out of their eyeballs) and the water ball (the bomb is pictured above) and I, apparently, am the enemy right now!
Imagination at it's finest - Nico was creating a hospital to help all the people that were in need and finding a suitable place for the grave yard where all the cats can be placed to get to heaven. Tyler was racing all the cars on the tracks while plotting to blow up the city.
All the boys are in the 'movie theater' watching Big Poppy face the Rangers while they eat their popsicles as we wind down for the night. What will be in store for tomorrow? We shall see!

Going to the Movies...

2010-06-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

So, yes, I was one of those moms today that let my child walk out of the house with a costume on, which I swore I would never do. Tyler would not change his clothes and after asking him about 15 times to get dressed, he asked if he could wear the costume to the movies and I said 'why not?!'

Luke's Rollerskate Party

2010-06-13T16:44:00.001-07:00

Luke wanted to have his 5th Birthday Party at the Roller rink - so that was a lot of fun. Daddy even put on a pair of skates to show all the guys how it is done.

Tyler is in line for the Limbo which would prove to be difficult with that skating bar apparatus thing that he was skating with.
He proved me wrong until the bar was lowered enough so that the skate helper would not fit under the bar.
Here is a picture with all the kids invited: the Mortons, the Keisers, the Amezcuas, the Fankhausers, the Millers, the Prose kids, and then some of Luke's classmates. Overall the kids did very well - some were determined to get skating down and tried really hard.

Baseball Season for the Red Sox is officially over...

2010-06-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here are all the coaches and dads and kids - Tyler is in there right by Kevin, but you just can not see him.
Coach Jason handing Tyler his trophy. What a fun party at the Capitel's house for swimming, pizza, and trophies.
One last coach's talk to the boys about what a great season they had and he hoped they all learned a little, had a lot of fun, and made some friends. Tyler was so excited to go to the game today because he said this was the last time he was ever playing baseball. We will see what Daddy says about that....

Future is so bright at VBS

2010-06-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Tyler started off the week at VBS at Elevate Life and had a lot of fun. They had fun snacks, sang some really cool songs, made a compass necklace, and got to see some friends. Camp one of six!

Karate Graduation

2010-06-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Tyler is getting his Blue Belt in Karate today. He is now on the Storm Team with the 5-7 year olds who now focus more on the sparring and wrestling part of karate. He still hates to go every time, but when he gets there and does well and gets a prize, he has so much fun.

This is the whole graduating class this time.

Swimming Season has begun

2010-05-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tyler catching some waves at the kiddie pool - enjoying the shaded water in the 97' heat! Tyler has completed two weeks of swim lessons and can now do the doggy paddle exceptionally. So glad I spent money on lessons when he will not even practice the strokes.

Tyler's last day of Preschool Party with Mrs. McCollum

2010-05-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

The boys of the class are just being silly here - not quite sure what Tyler is doing there. The Boys of the class are Tyler, Jacob, Grant, Landon, and Carter. I think these boys will be friends for a very long time.
Tyler received the Dandy Dinosaur award for always pretending to be a dinosaur in class.
Here is most of the class at the performance where they sang some of the songs/verses they learned in Chapel this year. I didn't realize they would be singing or I would have brought/used the video cam instead of the 15sec. video on my camera.

Child for Sale

2010-05-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Anyone looking for an adorable 5 year old that loves dinosuars, pizza, ice cream and wearing pajamas ALL the time - he is on aisle 12 at Costco!

Second Season Soccer Party

2010-05-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Another Soccer Season ends and there was great improvement in skills and actually having fun. I think the coach has the patience of a saint - 5 year olds do not pay attention, do not do what they are told - in fact they usually do the opposite, and have minds of their own.

Feeding the Ducks

2010-05-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

Tyler was watching a turtle bob up and down after feeding the ducks and swans.
This one particular bird decided he was still hungry and a finger would do - he chased Tyler all the way back to the picnic table and this of course freaked Tyler out. After I shooed the bird away, I told Tyler it is important not to try to pet birds - you never know if they are hungry or not.

Home For Sale

2010-04-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, Tyler is trying to be helpful as I start to pack the house up and get ready for Mom to stage it.
It is official, we have a sign and everything - now the pressure is on.
I will miss our 'first' house, but bigger and better things are in store for us!

Back to the Childrens Museum

2010-04-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tyler I went back for our monthly trip to the Childrens Museum to see and play with some of our favorite exhibits. We usually spend about 1/2 an hour at the bubble tables - these are our favorite! We try to see who can make the biggest bubble or who can make the bubble arch last the longest.

Tyler enjoys playing with the ping pong balls and the air thingy. He doesn't understand yet that 4-5 balls can not stay up in the air above the orange cone, but he will spend 10 minutes trying to make it happen.

We always seem to find the water table, and there always seems to be some class there and they always seem to splash that nasty water all over everyone, but that makes it so much fun!

At the Mall

2010-04-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Tyler are waiting for their turn on the Carousel.

Before the ride starts...

Coming around a turn, Tyler was so distracted by all the kids riding, he never looked my direction.

Football with the Fellas

2010-04-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

Daddy has some fast moves! Nothing can pass him!
Here Tyler is showing Uncle Artie how to play foot/baseball - you use the football instead of a baseball.
Grandpa would do the catching and Tyler would then throw the ball to Daddy or Uncle Artie. A nice game of football is the perfect way to end the evening after dinner, especially when it is nice and cool outside. Love Spring!

Digging for Dinosaurs!

2010-04-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

Tyler, Grandpa, and Uncle Artie worked very hard on Tyler's Digging for a T-Rex project today that he received for his birthday from Nana and Papa.
Tyler thought he might be able to see a little better wearing Uncle Artie's glasses instead of the goggles provided with the kit. Looks like a 70's man!
Here Grandpa is giving it a go and showing Tyler how it is done.
Now it is Uncle Artie's turn. They worked on this project for almost 2 hours and found some of the bones, but were not able to get them out. Tyler completed the project later that day with the help of mommy.

Spring Soccer with the Sharks

2010-04-05T05:29:00.001-07:00

Tyler is resting here after playing a quarter.He is on the move, his team did quite well as a whole, but there was one little boy on the other team that scored about 10 goals himself.
Tyler is making a corner kick here getting the ball back onto the field.
Tyler just scored a goal and is doing a little victory dance. He scored two goals today, and daddy bought some candy as a reward.

Red Sox in Action

2010-04-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

This season, Tyler is playing in Frisco on the Red Sox team which is age 6 coach pitch. He has done very well - he is showing great improvement after the last two seasons in McKinney.
Besides the yawning, he is more focused and pays attention most of the time instead of making patterns in the sand.
Daddy has been playing the third base coach to help the boys run home and giving them little pointers about the correct way to stand and when to run.

Pole Dancing Anyone?

2010-04-05T05:21:00.001-07:00

Wow! Who knew pole dancing could be so much fun? Ms. Barbara seems like a natural.
Shannon shows Kevin how it is done.
I think the flair and natural ability runs in the family - Maddie seems like a pro at this.
Kevin doesn't look as uncoordinated in this picture as he did in the room - but he is strong!

Austin got the hang of it too. Too bad no one was there to see me do the teddy bear, upside down eagle, airplane, etc. I AM SO KIDDING - I didn't go anywhere near that thing.

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's

2010-04-05T05:15:00.001-07:00

The Easter bunny planned a funny Easter Egg Treasure Hunt this year for Tyler. He left the first clue with Grandpa which led to the first egg and second clue. Daddy helped Tyler read the second clue.
Grandma helped Tyler read clues too. He got the hang of it pretty quickly and couldn't wait to find his Basket of Goodies.
The Easter Bunny is very clever - who would of thought to put the Easter basket in the dryer?
We had a great day starting off with church at 7:30, then off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to search for eggs, eat a great brunch and then relax and hang out until it was time to go to Aunt Shannon and Uncle Matt's house for Austin's birthday.

Easter Egg Hunt and party at school

2010-04-01T06:44:00.000-07:00

Tyler and each of his classmates had 12 eggs to find that spelled out Jesus t(cross) Lives (heart). They had a lot of fun running around the courtyard and picnic area trying to find their eggs. They were all filled with fun things like playdoh, stickers, erasers, money, balls, and Easter trinkets.

Here is a picture of Carter, Tyler and Jacob - these guys like to play together at recess and at gym time. Jacob is probably Tyler's best friend at school, and Carter and Tyler are on the same baseball team.

Here is the class all together for their picture. What a bunch of hams! They all yelled Happy Easter so no one actually smiled. How funny. Tyler was singing songs he had learned all day about how Jesus has Risen and Jesus is alive. It was so cute.

Tyler's Birthday Party at Going Bonkers

2010-03-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

Tyler had so much fun this year for his birthday. We went to Going Bonkers which is a huge place that has climbing structures that are 5 stories high with trampolines halfway up, slides that are 3 levels long and bridges connecting various areas together. Daddy even went up to check things out. The place was a mad house so of course I had trouble getting pictures in the climbing area because once the kids went in, I couldn't find them amongst all the other kids

We had pizza, dinosaur cake, and ice cream. Each child was given tokens to go play in the arcade after eating to win some tickets and choose a prize or two.

Tyler's Birthday Party at School and Dinner

2010-03-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Tyler's 5th Birthday at school on his birthday. He asked for donuts for his party, so I made cake donuts with chocolate or vanilla frosting and sprinkles. He was so excited when Daddy walked into the classroom - what a great surprise. We went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner - this was Tyler's choice and he spent almost all of his tokens on the Jurassic Park game. He and Daddy actually beat the game and won- which Tyler has never done. We had a lot of fun.

Kevin's Birthday at Varsity

2010-02-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

While Tyler had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house, a few friends and family met up at Varsity to celebrate Kevin's birthday. For some reason, Marc decided he wanted to try and arm wrestle Shannon. It was a close one - Shannon is a brick house. So then there was another taker too - men! We had a lot of fun, had some good food, and lots of laughs.

Tyler and his Great Grandmother

2010-02-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Mama Henley watches Tyler play when we go to Nana and Papa's house because he usually plops down in between her and the T.V. so she really has no other choice. But this particular day, he decided to hop up on her chair and watch Fox News with her.

Daddy's Birthday

2010-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we celebrated Daddy's birthday in style. When I asked Kevin where he wanted to go for dinner, Tyler quickly replied the place where he wins the bouncy balls on the soccer game (Cici's Pizza) Kevin then thought Gattitown would be fun for all, so we packed up and headed there for dinner.

Here is Daddy and Tyler playing a drum competition game that was hilarious because Tyler has quick fingers and they ended up playing the expert level and both lost very quickly.

Here Daddy and Tyler are trying their luck at Guitar Hero. Tyler needed my help but he picked a great Coldplay song and did very well playing the bass guitar.

After Gattitown, Tyler had a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa and Kevin and I got to go to a Dallas Mavericks game with a coworker of his and his friend. We had great seats and a great time.

It's a Snow Angel

2010-02-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

What fun this winter has been. We had snow in Frisco Texas three different times and this last time was the best. We had snow on the ground for 3 days and Daddy and Tyler's snowman was around for 6 days. This is unheard of in Texas. Tyler and Daddy dressed the snowman in Mardi Gras beads, a life jacket if he started to melt, he had golf clubs for arms, jacks for eyes, a kazoo for a nose and a snake for his mouth. It is not that clear in the picture below. I hope Tyler remembers this snow because we may see more, or he may not see it for many years.

Tyler's Weekend with Leo the Lion

2010-01-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

Each child in Mrs. McCollum's class at Legacy gets to take home Leo the Lion for a weekend and take care of him, take him everywhere the child goes and they document his/her weekend with Leo. Leo played games with Tyler and mommy and even won one round of Land Before Time Dinosaur game. Leo had breakfast with Tyler and even got to sleep with him. They cuddled together on the couch to watch some of Tyler's favorite shows. It was fun to watch him love on and care for Leo.

Leo got to make a trip to Nana and Papa's house to watch Tyler play the Wii and hit many homeruns and 'out of the park' hits. We documented the whole weekend and printed out pictures of their adventures together. Tyler hopes to be able to do this again before the year is up. Tyler was the last student chosen, so we had a lot of fun reading through all the other students weekends and looking at their pictures.

A Day at the Heard Museum

2010-01-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

Today Tyler and Luke Morton headed to the Heard Museum to see the dinosaurs before they left (there was only 2 days left) and we were cold, wet, but still had a lot of fun. Here the boys are walking along the path to see the Carnataurus - one of Tyler's favorites.

Here they could climb on the babies and Luke is making his classic photo pose - apparently many of the kids in his class at school do the same thing.

The boys are digging for bones and lining up the dinosaurs for battle. To be young again and actually enjoy the feeling of sand everywhere...

A Trip to Costco with Grandpa

2010-01-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

You can always have fun no matter where you are - Costco is not Mommy's first choice of places to play hide and seek - but Tyler was having fun with this. Bless his heart he is not that good at hiding among the Ziploc bags - but he did listen to Mommy as I told him to stay on the same aisle and give me hints...

Christmas with the Memphis Clan

2009-12-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Kim, Drew, Brandon, and Tiffany came up after Christmas to visit and we had a lot of fun even though Kim, mom, and dad were sick. We still had lots of time to catch up, hang out, and just relax. Michael came over to have dinner with us all and also to pick up the big kids and take them home with him.

Debbie and Nico came in also to visit so we had the whole family together for a few special hours. Nico went to Austin to visit his daddy and Tyler was beside himself for the 4 days he was not there. They got to have 2 sleepovers to maximize their time together and they had a lot of fun.

Someone must have said something funny to make Tyler laugh - I am sure it was Aunt Debbie - she is full of the best one liners.

Time passes too quickly when you are with out of town family, but we still had so much fun.

Christmas Morning with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-12-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tyler actually enjoyed Christmas this year - I don't think he liked opening all the gifts last year (if only that would have lasted a little longer)

The majority of Tyler's gifts were dinosaur related - I know I was only fueling the fire, but I couldn't resist because he was so infatuated with them.

Tyler was excited about this movie (can't tell what it was). After we opened up our gifts, we had a nice quiet brunch in anticipation of the chaos to be expected later in the day over at Nana and Papa's. Tyler and daddy watched WallE on the new Blu-ray player while mommy cleaned up and got ready for the second half of the day.

Cookies with Santa at Autumn's House

2009-12-21T08:10:00.000-08:00

Well, this was one cool Santa that visited a Mean Girls' House this year - he can even do a herky just like Daddy can! (hehe) What a fun day we had at Autumn's house with lots of yummy cookies to be had. Tyler had 5 different cookies - he insisted on trying all of them that were nut free and he did. Mommy got to sit in Santa's lap this year, but Tyler wasn't interested because he sat on Santa's lap last week, but this Santa played along and told Tyler he remembered seeing him last week and didn't Tyler ask for Dinosaurs. Tyler was so excited to see that Santa remembered his request. (Little does he know that Daddy remembers hearing the story of cookies at Landon's house.) What a fun tradition Autumn has started.

It's the Annual pajama picture with the Morton boys

2009-12-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

The Morton boys and Tyler receive pajamas every year that match, and this year Alison found some too, so they actually got two pair of jammies each.

The boys were being silly during the picture taking, but what do you expect with 4/6 year olds.

This was a good one! They are getting so big!

Being Creative even we feel a little sick

2009-12-15T09:11:00.001-08:00

Tyler is busy making his Christmas garland out of foam candy pieces. He enjoyed stringing them for about 3 minutes and then mommy worked on the rest.

We have tried to make a lot of decorations this holiday season, one to be crafty, and two to help pass the time while we are not feeling our best. Today Tyler had an upset stomach (and thank the Lord - nothing ever came of it).

Cookies with Santa at Landon Bounds house

2009-12-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Tyler was invited to have Cookies and Cocoa at his friend from school's house - Landon Bounds. He had so much fun because the 5 boys from his class were all there, so they were excited to have no girls there from their class.

Here is Jacob and Tyler being silly waiting for the special guest to appear.

The boys were all lined up while Mrs. Bounds led them in Christmas carols waiting for Santa to appear.

Santa was really happy to see so many kids coming together to celebrate the season.

Tyler got to have a little lap time with Santa in which he declared his desire for more dinosaurs for Christmas - surprise surprise.

Early Release again...

2009-12-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Tyler had early release the first Friday in December and we decided to head to Chuck E Cheese. This is one of Tyler's favorite places to play games, eat pizza, and pick prizes. We are very sad that the Peter Piper Pizza chain has closed - at least that was not a 25 minute drive. We still had fun and Tyler ate 6 of the 8 pieces of pizza after he gave me the two smallest pieces.

Tyler realized he could be on TV singing along with the Christmas songs Chuck E was singing after he watched a few other kids do the same. We had a lot of fun and he played for about 2 hours - seeing as I was feeling under the weather - I was very grateful for all the games.

It feels like Christmas

2009-12-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally had some weather worthy of a fire. It has snowed here, we have freezing temperatures, the Christmas Decorations are up and it feels like winter outside.

Tyler loves the Christmas decorations and has a countdown until we get to celebrate Jesus' birthday. He is excited about having a birthday cake for him - we will see what flavor he picks for us to make.

We wish everyone a very happy healthy holiday season.

Fort Worth Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-11-26T05:46:00.001-08:00

We headed to the Fort Worth Zoo on Thanksgiving eve because the weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was half price day - bonus! We saw what all can fit in the stomach of an alligator and the importance of not throwing trash into any body to water. Tyler did not believe me when I told him he could fit into that alligator.

Tyler looks so big walking on ahead of us all by himself.

This orangutan waved at Tyler but I missed the photo - I took one anyway just to remember him. This guy was hilarious just watching all the people up above him wave and try to get his attention by hooting and whistling. His friend came by a little later to help pick his nose and clean his teeth.

Tyler and Grandpa enjoying a little play time with sand and building a sand castle. Grandpa showed Tyler how to stuff and flip over and dump. Tyler did not pack in the sand that well, but he got the idea.

We also saw the penguin exhibit - which was neat because they were getting fed by their caretaker and were all busy eating and then swimming around. They were very talkative too.

Tyler couldn't wait to see the flamingos - he even asked if we could have our picnic right by them. He didn't remember how stinky they were until we were right by them. What a wonderful way to spend the day before Thanksgiving.

Playdate at Frisco Commons

2009-11-23T15:08:00.001-08:00

We met some friends from school today at Frisco Commons and had so much fun, we stayed there for over 3 hours. We packed a picnic lunch and played all morning with Andrew, Gabe, Ollie, and Jacob. Mommies had a break and got to catch up with Holiday planning talk. It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and the temperature was 70'. Could not ask for more beautiful weather!

Playtime with Ashley

2009-11-22T05:59:00.000-08:00

Ashley Yarbrough and her mommy and daddy came over to play last night and I couldn't resist this picture! The kids were playing with puzzles while dinner was being made and looked adorable.

Colonial Day Feast

2009-11-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

Tyler had his Colonial Day Celebration today at school in which the class learned the importance of celebrating Thanksgiving each year. The kids had quite a feast: turkey, cheese, apples, carrots, grapes, peppers, crackers and cupcakes dressed as turkeys. They rotated rooms within the preschool and made necklaces with twine and beads, played with games that were handmade typical of what children would have played with at the first Thanksgiving celebration, they put stickers above their favorite fruits or vegetables on a food graph, and heard a couple of stories about the First Thanksgiving and the Plymouth Rock.

This Cat is about to drive me crazy...

2009-11-12T06:15:00.001-08:00

So, he's back and Tyler is in love. I am going to start taking donations for tuna fish. I told Tyler that when the doctor says he is no longer allergic then Blackie can come to stay. This cat is all over Tyler and Tyler loves it!

The Shoe War is On!

2009-11-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, for those of you who don't know, Alison Morton and I have known each other for about 25 years now. We have played together, written each other for 7 years while living in different states, lived together, worked together, and now our children are growing up together. What more could you ask for in best friend. Now, to let you in on a little secret game of our - we will go shopping together and almost inevitably end up in Ross, TJMaxx, or Marshalls. We try to find the ugliest shoes possible, put them on and surprise the other person. The only problem is we usually end up almost wetting our pants from laughing so hard. We have been doing this for it seems 10 years or so, and now she has taken it to a new level by emailing me a picture of a pair. She thinks she won, but I say NO because the picture is of the shoes on the rack, and not on her feet! HA! You lose Al! Better luck next time. Although this pair is hideous!

Soccer Party for the Sharks

2009-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight Tyler had his end of the year Soccer party for the Sharks Soccer team. The party was at Main Event and included bowling, pizza, cake, a trophy, and games. Tyler had a lot of fun with his friends. Coach Doug said he hopes all the boys return next season to play together again. Tyler said that's awesome!

Logan's Birthday Party at Strikz

2009-11-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

Today we had a birthday party to attend at Strikz Bowling Center. The kids bowled most of a game, enjoyed pizza, cake, and a little dancing. Not to mention some game playing in the arcade. Happy 5th Birthday Logan!

Chuck E Cheese after Early Release

2009-11-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today Tyler and mommy went to Chuck E Cheese because it was early release for Legacy. This is one of his favorite restaurants and we had a lot of fun. He played the Dino Dash game first (and used quite a few tokens on it), ate 3 slices of pizza and picked out some cool toys with all of his tickets. He won 115 tickets on one game and mommy won 50 on one game so he had a lot of tickets to turn in. Chuck E was even wandering around the restaurant and we had a photo op and took advantage of it!

Stars Game in Style

2009-11-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I were able to go to the Stars game tonight and we had great seats - we were behind the glass. A friend of ours, Marc Yarbrough, came to have a couple extra seats that were awesome and invited us to go with Lauren and himself. We had a blast and saw a lot of action being that close to the goal.

The things our kids say...

2009-11-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Today as I was getting ready to work in the Preschool, Tyler came in to the bathroom. I was in the process of straightening my hair, when Tyler said to me "Mommy, that hot thing crushes and burns your hair, you should use the 'Instyler' instead."

Talk about a walking advertisement for an infomercial! Wow! I had to catch my breath from laughing so hard, and Kevin heard this from bed and started laughing too. Thank you Nickelodeon for having infomercials between shows!

2009-11-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

"Uncle Artie, this is the best gift I have ever got" Check out the loot that Uncle Artie brought the little guy - it was even wrapped in Dinosaur paper. Uncle Artie is on the top of Tyler's list now! We will have so much fun playing the puzzles, learning to write letters, using the magic marker in the dinosaur book, playing with the rocket, and playing with the sticker book. Thank you so much!

Tyler and T-ball

2009-11-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

Uncle Artie, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy cheered Tyler on at his Tball game last night. He had a hit off of the coach and 2 hits off the tee. He had fun and so did we while he played.

2009-11-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well it is Halloween and we had great fun this year getting ready. Tyler helped Grandpa carve a pumpkin, Daddy carved a pumpkin too. We even had a jack-o-lantern pizza for dinner while waiting for the trick-or-treaters to visit. Tyler was very impatient waiting for the doorbell to ring. He was dressed as a triceratops and loved greeting all our 'customers' as he called them. Grandma and Grandpa came over as usual (now a tradition) and Grandpa made fun of our 'nut-free' treats to hand out. (Halloween shaped pretzels). What a fun night!

2009-10-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Way to go Kevin - quite a pumpkin carver I must say. Tyler will be so excited to see Mickey tomorrow when he wakes up. I think Kevin may have found his new career. This will be a wonderful addition to our Halloween decorations for tomorrow nights' festivities.

Happy All Saints Day!

2009-10-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

Guess who's back?! We get back from picking Tyler up from school and while we are unloading the truck, the front door is left open. Imagine my surprise when I am in the kitchen and hear a meow! I turn around and there is Blackie making his way through the downstairs. I open up the garage to show the rest of the family what I have found and they both welcome him with lots of love and petting. I am sure he is wanting more tuna from Daddy.

2009-10-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well, lamp #2 broken this week in Tyler's room. The first one was broken on Tuesday due to Tyler showing me what he and daddy do during puppet show at night (this is what it is called when Kevin takes Tyler to bed) and the second lamp was broken tonight by daddy doing the puppet show. Puppet show used to mean acting out the voices of 2 sharks that Tyler has, and now is apparently means something totally different like throwing the stuffed animals as hard as possible. I guess when I say to both daddy and Tyler we do not throw in the house, I am just saying that to waste my breath it seems. But I can say this, Kevin did a fabulous job vacuuming Tyler's room for the broken glass.

2009-10-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished project! Tyler drew on the pumpkin face (with ears) and Grandpa cut it out. Grandpa evened things out a little as Tyler had one eye twice the size of the other and the mouth was just a big oval. I think he had fun with Grandpa!

2009-10-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight Grandpa came over to help Tyler carve his first pumpkin. Grandpa first cut the top off, then Tyler scooped out some of the seed and daddy went in to get some of the slimy hair stuff out.

2009-10-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I went to the Pumpkins at the Prairie Pumpkin Patch yesterday and we had a lot of fun. He jumped in the two bounce houses for about an hour with some of his soccer team friends, we had a hay ride around the church, we tried to find the biggest pumpkin they had and then the ugliest pumpkin too, and Tyler found his way through the maze of hay. Mommy didn't try this because I started to sneeze as we approached the maze and thought I better not get any closer. What a way to welcome fall and the Thanksgiving season!

2009-10-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

Tyler had a T-ball game last night on the Washington Nationals. Here he is showing us the correct stance while waiting for the ball to be pitched by the coach, a silly face with a huge helmet on, and scoring a run in the third inning. He does really well and seems to enjoying playing. Last night was his first night to tag someone out (by hugging him while holding the ball) I wish I had gotten a picture of that. This has been a very raining season - our season was supposed to end at the end of October and now we will be playing past Thanksgiving due to the rescheduling of games.

2009-10-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

As Tyler was eating a new flavor of Dannon yogurt tonight for dinner, I asked him if he liked it and he said yes. I asked him what it tasted like (it was a seasonal flavor of cantaloupe) and he turned the cup, pointed to the picture of the cantaloupe, and said to me "well it says it is cantaloupe, so what do you think it tastes like mom?"

He means business if he calls me mom - I think this may be a hint for the future - he may say 'mom' when he thinks mommy is not being too smart! Little smart aleck! He must get that from his daddy!

2009-10-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Luke Morton came over today to play with Tyler while Mommy baked cookies for the firemen. The boys took a break from playing puzzles and dinosaurs to watch a little T.V. Luke thought it would be funny to stick his rear end in the air and of course I captured it on film! I am sure his mommy is so proud!

Trouble at Toys R Us

2009-10-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

So, we know Tyler has a little problem with Dinosaurs - he has an infatuation with them. While at Toys R Us looking for birthday gifts for 2 friends, Tyler stumbled across the dinosaur isle at the toy store. Needless to say he was there for 45 mintues lining up the dinosaurs (OCD is in full effect when it comes to the order of them) and then having them battle. I think the Dragons might have actually won.

Afternoon with the Dinosaurs

2009-10-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

After much anticipation and making a calendar to countdown the days until Tyler could return to the Heard Museum, the day finally arrived. Tyler and Mommy headed to the museum after eating lunch out and had a great time enjoying the trails, the outdoors, and the dinosaurs in McKinney. Tyler had already been to the Heard with Grandma and Grandpa so he gave Mommy the official tour and told me who all of the dinosaurs were and how tall they each are. He loves dinosaurs, that is for sure!

2009-10-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so what is wrong with this picture is that this little black cat is not ours, and Daddy thought it would be fun to give her/him a little tuna fish because he/she may be hungry. So now we have probably adopted a neighborhood cat and will see him/her everyday because he was fed in our backyard. Fabulous! Now Tyler wants a pet with four legs instead of his fish that he can't pet and play with.

So it has been almost a year....

2009-10-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I found my password, yeah! Tyler and I made Pumpkin bread today and I asked him if he wanted to put in raisins or cranberries. He told me no cranberries because you can see them. I asked him to explain and he said "who wants to eat fruit when you can see it, make it invisible and it is better". So he picked the raisins. I should try this with vegetables too!

Here we go!

2008-12-29T07:34:00.001-08:00

I apparently signed up to start this in July of 2007 and I am just now getting started! Talk about procrastinating at its finest! Forgive me while I figure this blogging thing out.

We just had a wonderful Christmas Holiday with all of our family in town (except the NJ crew) and it was great. Aunt Debbie and Nico will be moving New Year's Eve to Georgia and we will miss them terribly and the impromptu trips to Round Rock. Kim and the TN crew were here and we had so much fun catching up with them and playing games. I do not know when the family will be all together again so we cherished this special time.

Tyler decided to finish off the Christmas week getting sick with Croup like coughing, fever, and now vomiting. Fun! I hope he gets to feeling better very soon, but I sure do enjoy the "mommy hold me" phase of his puniness. We will most likely be laying low for New Years unless he kicks this bug today.

I wish everyone a very healthy Happy New Year and look forward to making (and documenting) lots of memories.