Can't believe its been so long!

Oh, what a last couple of weeks it been! I think I would be here all night if I were to completely catch up with everything that's been happening around here. Don't worry, I'll just hit the highlights!
My parents were able to stay for a week visiting with us, we had so much fun together! Brianna of course remembered my parents but Tyler was a bit hesitant at first. It didn't take him long though and he was in my Dad's lap listening to stories or being sung to. Yes, although my Dad doesn't sing in public, he does sing to his grandchildren and he also plays his "trumpet", a sound that has been entertaining kids for years! Mom and Brianna had a lot of fun too, writing on the sidewalk making "treasure maps" and cooking together in the kitchen. One morning while Tyler and I slept in, Brianna was in the kitchen with Mom making her own little concoction. She wanted to make me a birthday cake and had water, milk, bits of cheese, and little pieces of a tortilla torn up in a bowl and was trying her best to get a cake made! Needless to say, while she went to the grocery store with Mom, I quickly got rid of her "cake" and she was none the wiser when she got back! I have so many pictures to post but our computer is down, yes AGAIN, so they will have to wait for a later post! Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit and for making my birthday so special! The blizzard ice cream cake was great!

Ready for company!

The house is clean, the laundry done, the fridge is full, and a cake is made especially for Dad and Mom. Dad loves white cake, and I enjoy decorating, I'm certainly not a professional by any means, but just love to make cakes. Today my parents are coming to visit, we are all very excited to see them! Brianna got up this morning asking about them, she loves Grammy and Grandpa, they take a lot of extra time with the grandkids playing with them and reading lots a books. It is so hot here right now that we'll probably be inside most of the day, it is a really dry heat here and it cools down considerably in the evenings, that's the only time to be outside! Of course, I'm sure Mom and I will have to squeeze in a shopping trip or two, can't forget the important things in life! :-)

Not sure when I'll post again but when I do I'll have lots of photos to share!

Backyard Snapshots

Sometimes it seems like unplanned photos end up turning out the best. That seems to be the case with my children anyway. That's what happened today. Tim was out washing the truck and Brianna headed out to help him, but since he was already done and I had my camera with me I figured a couple pictures wouldn't hurt! Brianna's hat didn't match her clothes at all, so I had to change my camera to black and white, I'm so glad I did, I like how they turned out! Tyler was very intrigued with our little cocker spaniel, Sophie. She really seems to like him, loves seeing him and wants to get as close as possible to him. It's a good thing she's pretty small, she accidentally sat on his leg while I was trying to get this picture! He seemed more annoyed than hurt, I think he was getting tired of her in his personal space!

Rice Krispie Ice Cream

This is probably the simplest dessert that you could ever make but it's also really good. Great for summertime.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 lb. marshmallows
5 cups Rice Krispies
Vanilla Ice Cream

Melt butter; add marshmallows. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and add Rice Krispies. Press into greased pie plate. Fill with ice cream and freeze. Top with pie filling of your choice. (I used blueberry, it was really good.) Take dessert out of freezer and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving, this gives the Rice Krispies time to slightly soften.

Playtime Pals

Brianna and Tyler really like playing together, that is, most of the time! It's really interesting, Tyler has a distinct fussing sound that he makes when Brianna has done something to him or taken a toy away from him, thats usually when I have to intervene! Even at this age, I try to let them figure things out on their own if they can, I think it will help them,(and my sanity) as they get older and encounter different ideas and opinions. This little tent was Tyler's Christmas gift from my parents and even though Brianna hardly fits in it they somehow squish together and have fun!

Nothing Much

OK, I know I really shouldn't be on this computer right now, I should be putting the 3 loads of laundry away that I did yesterday and are still sitting on the dining room table, SHHHHH, don't tell anyone! Or, I should be washing the rest of the laundry that didn't get done yesterday, or should be giving my house a good cleaning! It really seems like there is always something to do, like I just never get completely caught up. I know this is normal with 2 small children but knowing it doesn't make it any less frustrating at times! Never mind me, just my time to vent a little bit! :)

On the bright side we are so excited that my parents are going to be here next week! Brianna is really looking forward to them coming. She got a prize the other day while we were shopping, for being a very good girl. She's been asking for sidewalk chalk for a while so I used that as an incentive to be good and it worked! I don't do this much because I feel that my children should be good just because that's how we have taught them, but neither do I think it hurts to have something to look forward to. Anyway, she is really looking forward to drawing pictures with her new chalk with Grammy! I'm sure Tyler is looking forward to seeing Grandpa and Grammy too, he is just too busy napping at the moment to care!

Happy Anniversary Joe and Calista!

I guess I should say a very belated Happy Anniversary! You guys make a great couple, and even greater parents! Magnus is very lucky to have you guys, may you have many more happy years!
( So sorry this is late, I'm just now uncovering some of my photos that have been in storage for several years!)

Ever had one of these days?!

This and That

Tyler had his 9 month check up yesterday. He is such a happy baby, nothing really fazes him at all. Thankfully he didn't have to get any shots, just a routine check. He weighs 20 lbs. and is 29 1/2 inches long, where did my little baby go? :( He was hamming it up for me sitting on the exam table, he loved sitting on the paper and kicking his legs really fast to make quite a racket! Tyler also had his first blood test, nothing major, just a finger prick to test his hemoglobin which came back fine. We were in and out of the office pretty quickly, love Dr.'s and offices like that!

We also went to a Demolition Derby last night that a friend of Tim's was competing in. Afterwards Brianna was allowed to choose which ride she wanted to ride. She probably would've been allowed to ride more but she had some obedience issues earlier that day so was limited to just one! She certainly enjoyed the little cars that went around in a big circle. They reminded me of an antique little car that my brother used to have, they were cute.

Mmmmm,Mmmmm

There's nothing like the taste of fresh peach pie in the middle of summer! It helps to chase away the blues from being all cooped up inside the house because of the triple digits heatwave outside!

Sears Portrait Studio Shots

For those of you who know me well, you know that I LOVE to get my children's pictures taken. I think I took Brianna once a month for her first 12 months, I haven't done that well with Tyler, mostly because he's not that crazy about strangers and especially when they're making funny faces at him and trying to get him to smile! I believe my Mom bought this dress for Brianna in Mexico before Tyler was even born. Since then I have wanted to get these pictures but was waiting until Tyler could stand with Brianna's help. I was so elated that they turned out well, I splurged and purchased a 20x24 of the one to the right. They're only little once, right?! :)

Brianna - 4 yrs. Tyler - 9 mo.

Tyler's 9 months pic

Computer problems fixed!

Wow, I certainly had my doubts that I would be posting this soon, but Best Buy managed to get our CPU fixed yesterday, I fell connected to everybody again! So happy! My dad sent me this and I just had to share it.

Property Laws of a Toddler

1. If I like it, its mine.
2. If it's in my hand, its mine.
3. If I can take it from you, its mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, its mine.
5. If its mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, its mine.
8. If I saw it first, its mine.
9. If you are playing with something, and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If its broken, its yours.

Computer failure! :(

Well, it's bound to happen one time or another. This happened to be my time, I guess. The hard-drive on our computer is really messed up, it's not responding at all. (Can you hear me sobbing as I write this?) I'm totally going through withdrawals without my computer and it's only been 1 day! Just so everybody doesn't think I've dropped off the face of the earth I came down to library to post today, I know, I was really desperate! We're planning on taking the CPU back to Best Buy where we bought it Sat, hopefully they'll be able to fix it that day, if they don't I guess I'll get lots of extra housecleaning done in the time when I would have been blogging!
I 'll defintely be keeping busy tomorrow. A friend offered Tim all the sweet corn that we want, right now we have about 10 dozen or so sitting in the garage waiting to be husked, cooked and put into freezer bags, I don't think I'll be sitting around wondering what to do!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who comments on my blog, it's so great to meet new friends this way and stay in touch like this!