Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpfYt7vRHuY

Love my crock pot!

I bet you all know this, but I LOVE my crock pot! Here's my favorite easy recipe...
Crock pot Chicken Tacos
2lbs chicken breasts (boneless/ skinless)
2 cans corn (or one bag frozen)
1 can black beans
2 cups salsa (the yummier the salsa, the better this will turn out)
2 cups cheddar cheese

Mix 1 c. salsa, corn, and beans in slow cooker. Top with chicken. Top chicken with one more cup of salsa. Cook on high for 2 1/2 hrs. Shred chicken. Mix everything together. Top with cheese. Serve with taco shells or tortillas and your favorite taco toppings when cheese is melty! Serves 6. Yum!

My Boys

Busy Saturday!

Today was busy!!! I went to breastfeeding class! I know, I needed it! I am going to be a substitute teacher for the breastfeeding class at a local hospital! Yea! I am really excited! I'm also going to teach their baby care basics class in 2011! So, for 2.5 hours, the third Monday of the month, you know where I'll be :o) I'm hoping this will be a great way to get my foot in the door and possibly maybe even up my hours to 5/month. It might be too much of a stretch! I'll keep you posted!

This morning I left the house at 8:30 and I didn't get home until 1:45. I REALLY missed the boys, despite REALLY enjoying my morning. It felt kind of good!

Then, this evening, we had FRIENDS over for dinner. We met friends! Yea! They have a boy who just turned 4 and a little boy 4 days older than Ben. Their boys are very blonde and similarly complected to Owen and Ben. It was quite a pack of little blonde and wild men!

It was a very fun and busy day!

11 Months (+ 3 days!!!)

Where has the time gone??? How did 2010 go so darn fast??? Ben, you need to stop growing up so darn quickly because I'm not quite sure how we got to this point :o)

Yes, Ben is 11 months (+ 3 days.) He is getting pretty wild and crazy! He has taken one or two steps a handful of times in the last week. He is probably the super fastest crawler you have ever seen (other moms say this about him wherever we go... he makes quite an impression! I think they are all thinking "that lady has her hands full!") He continues to be a fantastic eater, this week diving in to lasagna (as you saw) and beef stew. I must say his favorite foods are a tie between pizza and bananas. Also this week, Ben has slept well (from 10:30 until at least 6 4 nights!!!) He gives fantastic kisses. He can climb so well it's scary. Here is his list of words: mama, da, more, hi, good, and yeah. This week, Mike and I both swear we heard him say "I need my mama" when he was particularly mad about Mike changing his diaper. He claps, waves, and does hooray/ touchdown/ so big. He loves "If you're happy and you know it," pattycake, and peek-a-boo. He LOVES to dance (Lesley, by the way, we are still working on the safety dance. We didn't forget. I promise!) He loves his big brother, too. But he has started to show his displeasure with Owen at times by squealing an/or trying to wack him. Go, Ben! I have to say that I have a whole new respect for Em and all second born children. I am so sorry for being such a pain probably for your whole life. He can drink water from a sippy cup and, he has 8 teeth. I don't mean to brag, but he is a pretty great little guy! We love you so much little Benny! We can't wait to celebrate your big birthday soon! I'll try to get some videos ASAP!

The Dentist!!!

Wednesday, Owen went to the dentist. He loved it and had a great time. This was his second visit, but his first visit to a pediatric dentist. They were absolutely fantastic! The hygenist actually sang a little song while she cleaned his teeth!

Finally, Fun with Cousin Olivia

Mike had to post last night. I was going to come down and do it around 10:30 and then Ben started crying so I had to feed him instead. I just knew I would not hop out of the rocker and come down to the basement to blog after 20 min of snuggling/ nursing in a dark room in a comfy rocker! Anyway, we had a fabulous weekend with Mike's Aunt and Uncle and cousin Olivia! Saturday morning, we met them at Montgomery Community College to see the musical "The Happy Elf." I think it was Owen's first live production (and Ben's, too.) Owen set great and was so engaged! It was really cute! The elves kept sitting on the table and he kept saying, "It is not a good idea to sit on the table," really loudly. Also, someone hit someone else in the show and he said, "It's not nice to hit." It is nice to know that the kid is listening (though he doesn't always follow his own advice!) Ben did pretty good, too. I was reluctant to bring him, but he spent a good deal of time watching. He also spent some time talking loudly and quite a lot of time nursing while doing gymnastics so he could still watch and then eating goldfish. All in all, I was amazed by how well the boys behaved! The kids got these really cute elf hats, too. Then we had a picnic outside because the weather was so lovely! Then, we went to the hotel and the boys and Olivia went swimming.

I didn't know what Ben would think, as he has been quite hot and cold on baths lately. He loved it, as did the big kids! Then we met everyone for pizza! What a day! Oh, when we got home we were greeted by a horrible smell! I finally found the culprit... a rotten sweet potato! It almost made me sick. Of course, Mike could "barely smell anything."

Sunday we had everyone over for brunch and then took Olivia to the "castle park" as we like to call it! What a great weekend!

Guest blog from Mike today. A picture of the newly shaven Lanie, Lola's dog cousin. She is a sheltie. What do you think of her new haircut?

Oompa Loompaitis or just a bad spray tan???

No, it's just veggie lasagna! Yummy! Ben gobbled it right down and then smeared the leftover sauce all over his face and hair! I took him straight up for a bath and scrubbed him really good, but I think he might still be stained a little orange tomorrow! I'll keep you posted...

The tractor and the combine...

Saturday morning, Owen velcroed his tunnel to the back of his firetruck and declared it was a tractor and a combine! That kid knows his farm equipment! Pa will be proud! Here are some pictures...

We had company this weekend and so much fun! I am wiped out, so more on that and more pics tomorrow!

Please don't judge...

For dessert at dinner cousin Olivia very sweetly shared a bit of her chocolate chip cookie with Ben... His first chocolate! She and her mom picked out a "not too chocolatey" piece of the cookie. You be the judge!


Yum!

What is this stuff???

I think I like it!

Uh-oh! All gone!
The lady at the table behind us was enjoying it, too!

Good Night!

I just got home from Knit Night at the knitting store. It was a lot of fun :o) Got a lotta knitting done, which I like. And, I came home empty handed, so Mike was happy, too. I haven't made much progress on my sweater, but I have made a couple of gift baby hats. I am reading the book "The Help" and it is really good. This week, I didn't do much knitting because I just wanted to read and I tend not to be able to balance doing both very well. It's pretty much one or the other. I better finish that book quickly because I need to get back to my holiday knitting!

Veteran's Day!!!

Well, thanks to all the Veteran's out there! We really appreciate all that you do/ have done! And, we love that Veteran's Day is a government holiday and that Mike gets a paid day off of work! Today was a beautiful day. We picked Police Officer Owen up at preschool and went on a picnic at the park. The boys had a fantastic time. It was a fun change of pace having Mike home during the week! Definitely a good perk of working for the government.

We even went on an "adventure hike" to find some ducks...

No ducks to be seen, but we found a gaggle of geese. Owen shared the bread from his sandwich with them, and they came right over so we could get a closer look.
We just wish Mike could stay home tomorrow, too!

I know, I know

I know, I know! I missed blogging yesterday. Please accept my deepest apologies. I was just so tired last night, I fell asleep without even thinking about it! Sorry!

I joined this Moms club. It is through the international Mom's club. Yesterday the boys and I went to a preschool fair they hosted. It was interesting to see what's out there. We were kind of rushed to pick a preschool after we found our townhouse but after yesterday and as far as our experiences have been so far, I'm convinced that we made a great decision. After that was over, we went to the playground. The boys had a blast! It was a beautiful day and we had to get outside!

Like you needed another reason to visit!

Southwest is having some good deals to BWI through Feb!!! Come see these boys in person!

http://travel.southwest.com/specialoffers/topOffers.html?RMID=L_101109_CNS&RRID=a3dhbHNoNzE3QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ..&src=MAILCNSTUES000000101109

Bounce U

Today we went to this place called Bounce U. Both boys loved it and had a blast, as did I! I honestly think Mike was jealous! It is huge and there were only about 10 kids there, so the boys pretty much had free run of the place. There were also 2 people who worked there helping the kids climb on things, running, playing, chasing, and refereeing, too. It will definitely be a good place to visit this winter.

I took Ben down the slide a couple of times, too! He loved it! I wish I had a picture, but he went down with his arms up in the air and had a huge smile!

Happy Haircut!

Picture of the week

Today we have a birthday party (I know! We made a friend!!!) and, courtesy of Mike's Aunt Rose, a date!!! This will be short and sweet today! Owen has stopped taking naps since we moved. Well, he didn't actually stop. He just started getting up at 3:30 or 4 am- for the day- everyday that he did take a nap. Yikes!!! Now he just has "quiet" time. It is really never quiet and he wakes Ben up from his nap almost every day. After a busy morning, he actually crashed on Wednesday afternoon and fell asleep!!! And he went to bed well that night and slept in the next morning until 6:45!

Silly Boys!

Last Thursday, Owen had a "Harvest" party at school. I really don't know why it isn't a Halloween party, but whatever. He fell asleep in the car on the way home. I eventually was able to wake him up enough to get him to walk into the house. He set down inside the entryway to take off his shoes and I put Ben in the high chair for lunch. When I came back about 1 minute later, this is what I found...

I tried to get him up but he slept there for about 15 minutes before I persuaded him to move to the couch!

Ben is a crusin' man!


Look how much of the bed I take up these days!


Enjoying the back patio


Chewing on some celery!


Owen had fire safety day at school. Please note his Jr. Firefighter badge!

For days he would only take that badge off at bedtime. Here he is napping on the couch... Ben is about to get his revenge for all of the times Owen has woken him up!


Bad Mommy! You're under arrest!


Still wearing the policeman get-up! Please note the white socks and Keen tennis shoes with shorts. Guess who picked out this ensemble??? Mike, of course!



Modeling some lovely new looks at Jo Ann Fabrics!


Neighborhood playground


I should have known this would happen! Ben and Lola's dream come true!

Baby in a basket!