Twenty-two Months

 Colton - you are 22 months old!!!!

In two short months you will turn TWO!!  I've started planning your second birthday party and Ryan's fourth birthday party.  Y'all are going to have a joint construction birthday party this year.  Seems like I was just planning your first party.  

You weigh 24lbs and wear size 5 diaper.  You wear size 18-24 months and size 5.5 shoe.

You are such a character!  You love to make us laugh.  I love your growing personality.

Your favorite thing to do is run into Ryan's room in the morning or after nap and play in his bed.  

You love and adore your big brother Ryan.  You want to do everything he's doing.  You try to mimic him all the time.  I watch you watch him intently sitting a certain way and you will sit the exact same way.  It's the cutest thing!

You are such an amazing eater!  So thankful!  You have a healthy appetite and will eat almost anything. 

You are definitely in the terrible two's.  Some days are better than others.  You squeal and stomp your feet when you get mad.  It's kinda cute actually!  I've gotten some practice with strong-willed two years old thanks to your big brother. 

You love to have monkey or a toy car in your hands at all time.  You always need to carry at least one - usually two with you every where we go.  

You are always smiling and happy.  You are so content and such an sweet boy.  You love to snuggle and be held but you also love to get in to everything.  You are one busy little boy!

You can be a little stinker when you see Ryan playing with something and will go up and grab it, then running off giggling! Oh boy!

You love everyone you meet!  You always wave and say hi and bye bye to everyone you see.  

You are the sweetest little boy and we love you so much.  It's hard to believe you are getting so big so fast.  I cannot believe how much you have grown in just a year.  I hate how fast time seems to fly but I can't wait to hear you talk more and watch your personality grow.

Happy Monday

 Our weekend started on Friday night by taking the boys to get ice cream after dinner.  The boys loved it!  We love the self service frozen yogurt.  Ryan's favorite is chocolate with chocolate sprinkles.  

 Ryan was so sweet to share some of his with Colton!

Saturday Matt took Ryan to Lowe's and to lunch.  That boys loves his daddy!  I know it was so good for them to spend some father/son time together.  Matt said they had a really good time and Ryan talked his ear off.   

Saturday afternoon we took the boys to Josh and Jake's birthday party.  They had the best time riding their bikes in the cul de sac and playing with all their toys.  Ryan's favorite part was the green cement truck birthday cake!  

 Saturday night we went on a date night with our friends the Krafts. We went to Stone Creek Dining in Montgomery.  It was all amazing and SO good.  We had the best time and always enjoy hanging out with them.

Ryan posing for me on Sunday morning.  He is so silly!  He makes me laugh all the time. 

We had a nice relaxing Sunday.  Matt finished up his first semester last week and he has a week off before summer classes begin next Monday.  We are looking forward to spending time together this week!

Throw Back Thursday!

 

 I've seen all these people do "throw back Thursday" mainly on instagram so I thought I would post my own throwbacks of the boys.   

This was last April!  Wow!  Amazing how these little things can grow so much in just 12 months.  

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 

It has been a rainy and cold day here! Yuck!  I am so ready for warmer weather and carefree days at the pool.  These boys always have something in their hands, usually a car, especially when we are leaving the house.  

I was cleaning up lunch and Ryan came in the kitchen with his vacuum and said "mommy, I have a job to do"!  So cute!  Too bad he is terrified of the real vacuum or I would really put him to work! ;)

This sweet thing came running in the kitchen saying "cheeeese" when he heard me snapping pictures of Ryan.  He is just the sweetest thing in the world!  Love him so much! 

I made these bright spring flowers for my friend Jayne.  I love the pretty colors!

Tea Time

 My neighbor stopped by last week and asked me to make some teacups and teapots for her grand-daughters birthday party that was this past weekend.  Funny coincidence since I was already making teacups and teapots for another Mops group on Monday.  

Loved how these spring pastels turned out!   

These are the cookies I made for another local Mops group!  Their meeting was themed Tea and Testimony.  Love them and I pray these ladies were blessed by some sweet treats!

I don't have any new pics of the boys today!  We are just doing our normal routine of school, Little Gym, Kroger and playing outside when it's warm.  Matt has been studying for finals this week.  As his first semester ends I'm gonna do a little update on him later this week.   

Our Weekend

 We had a quite weekend around here.  Matt has finals this week so he was busy studying most of the weekend.  I took the boys to the bookstore and lunch on Saturday!

 We have been wanting to get a timer our house glass for Ryan.  We need a timer when we tell him to pick up his toys or finish his dinner etc.  

Matt found this gooey 10 min. timer on amazon.  We call it the ooey gooey.  Ryan is completely obsessed with it and loves watching it.  My physics teacher in high school had a full size ooey gooey and it was always entertaining.  So far it's working well and gives him a visual reminder when we ask him to do something. 

Today was a day full of errands.  This morning I went to the gym early because Ryan had an appointment at the ENT during my regular workout class.  Matt meet me at the gym with the boys and we headed over to his appointment.  His ear tubes fell out earlier this year so he just needed a check up to make sure the holes have closed up.  They have and he checked out great.  Hopefully we have outgrown the tubes and won't need them again!

We finished up early and had about 45 min to kill before I had to meet a friend to deliver some cookies.  (I will post those tomorrow).  We had an early lunch at CFA and I let the boys play and run off some energy.  

This boy is serious about his ice cream!   

It was beautiful out this afternoon so we all went for a walk outside after naps.  I'm hoping we can spend some more time outside this week.  

Friday and Hello Kitty Cookies

 

This little boy is getting so big.  He is saying more words all the time.  I think Colton says more words than Ryan did at this age.  His favorite time of day is at bedtime when we read his bedtime story and Bible.  He loves to say Bible, Jesus, bird, and tiger.  

Ryan had a growing pain this week when one night he adamantly refused to clean up his toys before bedtime.  He was willfully disobeying so after two spankings he went straight to bed without puppy or jamas.  He was totally testing us and hopefully he understands the consequences of disobeying mommy and daddy.  

Thankfully he seems back to his sweet and agreeable self.  I have been smothering him with hugs and kisses lately.  I am beyond thankful for these sweet blessings in my life.  I catch myself looking at them and thinking "wow, I can't believe these two dumplings are mine and are growing up so fast".  

 Little stinker bear always grabs a stool or small chair to get on the couch or recliner these days.  It's good he figures it out himself.  He is also OBSESSED with buckles and snaps.  Seriously, he plays with the dog collars all day long.  

I made these for my friend Kristen whose daughter Georgia turns 5 this week.  She was having a pancake and pajama party.  Such a cute idea! Love!

These Hello Kitty cookies were for Georgia's preschool birthday treat!  They turned out real cute!

Bow Tie Fiesta

I first saw this recipe on blueeyedbride.com.  It sounded pretty good so I tried my hand at it about a year ago.  Matt (who loves all mexican related foods) loved it and demanded we make it a staple dinner meal rotation.  It's pretty easy to make and it makes a ton.  And it tastes really good!  I made a few ingredient changes from the original that suits our family better.  

Bow Tie Fiesta

Ingredients:

8oz bow tie pasta
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
Salt to taste
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Cook the pasta using package directions and cooking for 7 minutes, drain.

Brown the beef in a skillet, stirring until crumbly; drain.

Add onion and green pepper and mix well. Cook until the onion is tender, stirring constantly.

Stir in the tomato sauce, chili powder, and salt.  Combine pasta, ground beef mixture, sour cream, salsa in a bowl and mix well.

Spoon into a 9x11 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Makes 8 servings.

Rainy Day Tuesday

 It was cloudy, with rain clouds coming, after nap time but someone begged to play outside!  Sadly, it only lasted about 7 minutes before the thunder and rain started!  

Weekend Wrap-Up

It's finally getting warmer around here so I dressed the boys in the finest spring attire for church.  They looked SO cute and like little prep kids.  

Do you see this sweet little face?  It's the face of sneaky and mischief! Ha!  Colton has been keeping me busy lately!  He is into everything and a sneaky little thing.  If I leave the baby gate open he is quit to escape, he wants to walk everywhere and not be held.  He is just a little mess but he sure it cute!

He has decided he is too old for his high chair and has moved to the booster chair at the table.  So now Ryan is in a regular chair.  I had planned to move him soon but he decided on his own it was time, ha!  I am glad to clean up the high chair and store it in the basement. 

We had a great weekend!  Friday night we enjoyed a quit night just the four of us.  We needed to wind down and relax.   And all went to bed a little early!

Saturday night we decided to be brave and take the boys out to eat.  We went to Marion's pizza in Mason.  It was our first time and it was really good.  It's a thin crust pizza.  We all enjoyed it and the boys ate it up.  They were so good we decided to reward them with ice cream.  We went across the street to Menchie's.  It's a self service frozen yogurt place.  It was great and such a fun night with my sweet family.  

These two brothers love each other. They fight a lot but they wrestle, laugh and play all the time.   Ryan was putting his cars on Colton's head and C was just laughing.  Love these sweet boys!

Health/Workout Tips

 Summer is just around the corner!  I put on shorts for the first time this year and wowzers are my legs pale and white.  I need a tan bad.  Like everyone I want to get in shape and look good for shorts and swimsuit season.  

So most of you know that I've lost about thirty pounds in the last year.  It took a lot of hard work and dedication.  I'm linking up with Kelly today to talk about Show Us Your Life: Health/workout tips.  

I've done weight watchers online for about three years now.  I go through periods where I am really dedicated and other times I'm not counting points or tracking.  When I do track and count EVERY point I put in my mouth it works and I lose weight.  Right now I am really happy at where I am but would like to shed the last ten pounds.  I started tracking points again this week and hope to reach that goal soon.  

Also something that has helped me is working out.  I have been working out consistently for the last ten years or so.  I like to have variety in my workouts.  I do a cardio resistance training class three days a week and run 4+ miles two days a week!  I love doing group fitness classes!  They motivate me and push me harder than I would on my own.  I think the resistance training has been so good and what has made a big difference for me.  Cardio is so good but weight training is important as well.  The more muscle you have the better your metabolism.  

(Ryan saying "cheeeeeeze")

I think another tip for eating healthy is planning your meals for the week.  I go to the grocery store on tuesdays so on monday night I make my grocery list and plan out our meals for the week.  It makes it easier when cooking dinner in the afternoon/evening.  I use a lot of recipes I find on thepickypalate.com, skinnytaste.com and my friend Amber at thismommycooks.blogspot.com.  

I'm not always the best at eating healthy but I've learned to eat in smaller portions. I think that's why WW works so well.  You can eat what you want it just the amount that makes the difference.  

What are your top pointers for eating healthy and working out?

 

Random Wednesday

Just some random Wednesday thoughts.  

We have been enjoying the finally warm spring weather!  We have played outside every day this week.  

When I ask Ryan what his favorite thing he did today he always says "playing outside".  

Tonight Matt cut the grass when he got home.  The boys were enamored watching him from the swing set, especially Ryan.  Colton just kept saying "dadda dadda, dadda".  

I have changed out the boys closets and got them all ready for spring/summer.  I am so excited about their "new" wardrobe.  Colton's is mostly hand me downs and Ryan has new stuff. 

Now I just need to pack away the winter clothes that are pilled high on the guest bed.

I have yet to change out my closet.  Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

Not sure why but all of a sudden I feel the need to deep clean my house and get rid of clutter and just stuff in general.  Guess spring cleaning has hit me.  

I'm planning to do some major spring cleaning this weekend.  I've got a list and a mission.

I can hardly believe that Ryan and Colton will turn 4 and 2 in just two months!!!  They are both getting so big and growing so fast!  Time - slow down!