Another great Craigslist find!!!

Justin and I have been exercising a lot more lately, and have been trying to find things we could do with the boys. So, we decided to watch for a bike trailer so we could enjoy some family bike rides.We got a good deal on a practically brand new bike trailer for the boys, and they love it!

We stick them in there with a few toys and they just laugh and play away! We went on our first ride all together tonight, stopped at the park for some play time, then rode home. We love our new toy!

Boys and their toys!

I know, I know! We've been pretty busy lately, so unfortunately the blog has been neglected.

Last week was one of my good friend's birthdays, so I watched their boys so she and her husband could go out to dinner. They had a great time riding together in the "Monster Truck!"

I LOVE Austin's face in this picture!!!

Here's a little video of them enjoying the ride! Notice Austin's new tricks of clapping and waving.

Once it started to get dark we headed in side to play in the clubhouse. These boys always have a great time together!

Our Spoiled Rotten Boys And Their Fun, New Toys!

This past weekend the boys and I headed up to my mom and dad's house. They were kind enough to watch the boys for us while I went to a training on Saturday and Justin worked on his Master's project. While they were there, Ryan finally got the lawnmower that he's been begging for, and spent the ENTIRE weekend playing with it!

We have also been watching craigslist for a climbing structure for the boys to play with outside. We finally found the one we've wanted for a while and went to get it for the boys. THEY LOVE IT!!!It's currently taking up our garage until we get the concrete poured in the backyard. Ryan loves "driving the ship" and even had to eat his dinner in his "big playhouse!"While we were at the people's house buying the climber, their little boy came driving out in an electric Gator. It turned out they were trying to sell that too, and Ryan fell in love with it! We couldn't watch him having so much fun and not buy it for him. They gave us a really good deal, and I think we've already gotten our money's worth.

We love seeing our boys have fun and watching them enjoy things! They are growing up so fast, and we are enjoying every moment we have with them!

Smart boy!

The teacher in me wants to teach Ryan (and Austin eventually) how to read, write, spell, count, add, subtract, you name it! But, the Mommy in me wants to keep him home, protect him, coddle him, and keep him little. Fortunately, I can have both, for a while!

Ryan has been asking a lot about preschool and wanting to go to school, with his backpack, and ride the bus, and learn with his friends. We've decided to wait on that until next school year, but I'm going to get a head start on things. I bought some preschool practice books at Costco, made some copies, and started working in them with my little "stinker." He was so exited when he made the lines straight and I praised him like crazy. He said "Mommy, are you proud of me?" after nearly every page we did after that. He can recognize his name and tell you how it's spelled, so now we're practicing holding a pencil so we can get to writing it. I really am so proud of him!

My son is such a...

STINKER!!!

Ryan's new favorite snack is Fruit By The Foot, which we've never actually purchased until recently. Yesterday he was relentless in asking for his "Fruit roll up" for every meal and every hour in between. By 4:00 PM, he was no longer having the "you've already had one today" and "It's almost dinner time" responses which turned into repeated timeouts from tantrums requesting "fruit roll ups."

Fast forward to 5:00 PM. Justin comes home from work and heads up to our bedroom where the boys and I were. Ryan proceeds to pull Daddy into the hallway and locks Austin and I into the bedroom. Here's the best part, this is word for word what he says to Justin.

"Okay Daddy, here's the deal. Mommy is being rude and won't let me have a fruit roll up. Soooo, you go downstairs and get me one! Okay? Okay!"

Did I mention he's a stinker?!?

The Birthday Festivities ~ Part II

On Sunday we had some family down for the continued celebration of Austin's birthday. Nana, Papa, Auntie Ashley, Uncle Steve, Auntie Aubrey, Uncle Trevor, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa all came over for some fun. It was a beautiful day out so we barbecued and enjoyed the sun.

Austin all ready to open his presents!

He got some fun presents and enjoyed opening them, with some more of Ryan's help!

His favorite was his new quad that Nana and Papa got for him. Ryan would tell you that it matches his at Nana and Papa's house because it's green!

What would a first birthday party be without the naked baby digging in the cake? We stripped Austin down to his diaper and let him go!

Here's a quick video of the Birthday Boy!

Ryan quickly became concerned that Austin was going to eat all of it, as you may have just heard, thus leaving none for him. So, we let him join in and help out his brother.

They had a great time! Until Austin got tired of cake and made a mad dash to crawl off of the sheet and covered Mommy and nearly the carpet in cake crumbs and frosting!

But, Ryan continued to enjoy the cake!

After getting the boys cleaned up, I took a few pictures of them with their Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Callaway!

Austin was so comfortable on Great-Grandpa's lap! He just sat there watching everyone else around him!
Thank you all for coming and celebrating Austin's birthday with us! We had a great time!

The Birthday Festivities ~ Part I

Austin had a grrrrrrreat birthday!

He ate, played, slept, then ate some more. What else is new, right? Later, for his birthday celebration, we had our some our friends the Naven's over for one of Austin's favorites, PIZZA! After dinner, we headed to Go Bananas, which is a place in town that is full of blow-up bounce houses and slides. On Friday night they have a "pajama party" for kids 6 and under, so we decided that would be fun. We got dressed up in our jammies and headed over to the party.We had fun going down the slides...chasing the bubbles...playing in the ball pit (Austin's favorite)...and just being together!After all of the fun, we headed home to sing "Happy Birthday" and have some cupcakes. Needless to say, Austin thought they were the greatest thing ever!He also opened up some fun presents, with the help of Ryan of course.Thank you go the Naven's for celebrating Austin's birthday with us, and for all of the phonecall's and text's Austin received wishing him a "Happy Birthday!" We're lucky to have such awesome family and friends!

Check back later for "The Birthday Festivities ~ Part II."