Zoo Day

Today we headed to the zoo. It was the perfect day to go to the zoo. It was overcast and about 60 degrees. Perfect!

Our zoo has a cheetah run show so we went to the show today. It was neat to watch but didn't really keep Ryan's attention too well. He was not happy when it was time leave and basically screamed the entire way out of the zoo. Fun times! It was a fun trip except for the tantrum.

We did ride the train at the zoo and Ryan loved that! It was Colton's first train ride so I had to take a picture, ha! He's so handsome! Just love that little boy!

The outfit Colton has on was Ryan's. I remember Ryan didn't get to wear it much because it was small even though it's size 6 months. I'm glad I dug it out so hopefully Colton can get some more wear out of it! It fits hit just right right now.

Today is brought to you by the letter "A"

We didn't do anything special today. It's been raining the last few days so we can't do many activities outside. And who wants to lug two kids in and out of the store when it's raining! Definitely not me! This morning we did make a run to Costco for some essentials like paper towels and formula.

Ryan is such a busy little boy! He doesn't sit still for very long and usually the only time he sits is when he's watching Mickey Mouse. I do allow him to watch MM while I'm feeding Colton or fixing dinner but I don't want to make a habit out of it.

I decided I wanted to start doing to craft projects with Ryan. He is just getting to the age where he can and wants to do crafts. My friend Amber did a "letter of the week" craft with her boys last year and I thought that was a great place to start. Amber used the website NoTimeForFlashCards to get ideas for crafts with each letter. I plan to use the website too to get ideas.

So of course we are starting at the beginning with the letter "A". This was Ryan making his Alligator this afternoon. Obviously his favorite part was the glue stick! He enjoyed it and I did too!

And I just LOVE this picture of Ryan and Colton! Haha! We were winding down after dinner and I was trying to get a good pic of Colton but Ryan wanted me to take his picture. So I told him to sit on the couch and he could hold Colton. As soon as I put him in his lap he started crying and didn't want to hold him. Hilarious!

It's funny how Ryan doesn't pay Colton very much attention really. He doesn't come up to him or try to talk to him. The other night we were at a friends house and they have a 3 month old baby girl. Ryan went up to her like three times talking to her and trying to hold her hand. Ryan is just not sure about mr. Colton getting so much of our attention. I'm sure it's a phase and he will get past it soon enough.

Prayer Requests

My heart has been so burdened lately for some dear friends who are in need of prayer. I believe in the awesome power of prayer!

The Lord tells us in 2 Chonicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Please join me in praying for these prayer requests!

Randy is a dear friend I used to work with. He was trimming trees in his back yard over the July 4th holiday and had a terrible accident that left him with severe head trauma. He was found by his neighbors so they really don't know how it happened. He has been in a coma for the past 10 weeks. They are encourages his MRI shows good neuronal activity. Please pray that he wakes soon and that he would continue to heal.

Please pray for baby Zoey, she is a 5 month old little girl who they just found out last week has a brain tumor. She is having brain surgery tomorrow morning at 9am to remove the mass. Her mom Lisa is a new mom in our MOPS group. Please pray the tumor is not cancerous that they can remove it all without any damage. You can follow their blog at Baby Z's Page.

My friend Jessica and I grew up in youth group together. We are the same age and she is married and doesn't have kids. She was diagnosed about 2 years ago with breast cancer. She had full on chemo and double mastectomy. She was cancer free until about 6 months ago when they found a spot on her lungs during a routine MRI. She was doing well and responding to treatments and the spots were shrinking when two weeks ago she had a grand mal seizure. They found a mass on her brain. She had brain surgery 3 days later. They were happy the mass was very small and they think they got it all. She is SO strong and so optimistic, she's amazing. Please pray as she begins a new chemo treatment.

Jessica's brother and sister-in-law(Brodie and Amanda) were pregnant with their fourth child who was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. They were scheduled to deliver tomorrow but the baby passed some time over the weekend. Please pray for them during this very difficult time.

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday we started our day with college game day! I am so happy that it's college football season again! I LOVE this time of year! I was tossing the little football around with Ryan and teaching him to throw his hands up and say "touchdown".

The TN game wasn't on but we still sported our big orange! Excited to watch them place Cincinnati next week.

Sunday morning Matt ran a local 5K so I got the boys ready for church and Matt met us there after his race.

Ryan LOVES his stuffed animals. He sleeps with about 10 of them in his bed. They all have original names like monkey, frog and roo the kangaroo. haha!

Ryan wants to help us do EVERYTHING. He helps me do laundry, feed the dogs, he even will call for them to come back in the house. Sunday he decided he wanted to help feed Colton, or "Tolton" as he calls him. He did ok for a few minutes then he got disinterested.

Saturday we broke 100 degree temps and today it was a high of 71 with a low tonight of 53. Crazy!!! The weather has been nuts but looks like the temps are going to stay around the 70's-80's the rest of the week. Poor Ryan, he's going to have a tough time going to the gym and not going to the pool (our pool is at the gym). But it's perfect weather for the park!

We took Ryan to the park this afternoon after naps. He has been very hyper the last few days and he needed to run off some energy. It's so nuts how it was one of the hottest days of the year on Saturday and today I was putting a jacket on.

He had a blast running around. Matt was even running and chasing after him.

And this sweet little cutie pie hung out in his stroller. He is SUCH a good baby and just hung out happily in his car seat. He just smiled and cooed at me the whole time!

I wish every weekend could be a three day weekend! It's so nice to have Matt home for three days instead of just two. It was a great labor free weekend.

Friday Fun day at the Splash Park

We went to the splash park on Friday. It was our last time to go this season since it will be closed after this weekend!

It was SO hot and I worried about Colton in the heat but I made sure he stayed in the shade the entire time and stayed cool. I didn't think it would be crowded since school is back in but there were quite a few kids there.

Do you see that huge smile on that boys face??? Ryan had an absolute blast. He ran and ran and ran everywhere. He played so hard and had so much fun!

As I was watching Ryan play I thought about this time next year Colton and Ryan will be playing together. I'm so glad they will have each other to play with and hope they will be good buddies!

Since it was our last date to the splash park Ryan and I split some ice cream. It was a sweat treat on a fun and HOT day! Ryan played so hard he came home and took a FOUR hour nap. In fact I had to wake him up at 5pm so that he would go to sleep that night!

Happy September

I sent out Colton's birth announcement last week and I totally forgot to post it on here! I was really happy with how it came out.

The best part was I got them for FREE. I only have to pay for shipping. We use pampers diapers and you can collect reward points every time you buy them. I've been saving my points since Ryan was born... and that's ALOT of diapers, haha! I used the reward points to order announcements through shutterfly.

Hard to believe it's already September! I am really looking forward to some cooler weather (even though it was 100 degrees today). I love fall! I love wearing jeans, long sleeve shirts, eating chili, burning cinnamon flavored candles, decorating with pumpkins and the best of all...COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!! So excited about watching football on Saturdays!!!!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Crockpotalooza" on her blog today! What a great idea! I am so excited to link up and get some more slow cooker recipes.

It's SO hard to cook dinner with two kids! I SO need easy and quick recipe right now.

So I am going to share this recipe for Pot Roast! Kelly's BFF Laurie posted it a long time ago and it is SO good and easy! It's the only way I make pot roast now! Try it, you are sure to love it!

Get a tender chuck pot roast and place it in a crock pot on low.

Add one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix. Sprinkle it over the roast.

Add one packet of McCormick Aux jus gravy mix or you can use a brown gravy mix. Sprinkle that packet over the roast as well.

Then place a stick of butter on top of the roast.

Let the roast cook at least 8 hours and DO NOT ADD WATER!!!

Love my weiner dog corn holders. They crack me up every time I use them! So fun!