Evolution of a Family

Happy 4th Birthday Tyler!

2011-10-29T08:10:00.003-05:00

Tyler on his official 'birth' day 10-29-2007

Tyler on his 4th Birthday 10-29-2011
Tyler - you've come a long way in the last 4 years! You are the sweetest little boy and can be so very sensitive at times. You are extremely strong willed and independent. You are one very strong little boy and you say the funniest things and make everyone laugh each and every day!

We are proud of you and so happy to be your parents!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Tyler's first day of Preschool 2011

2011-09-06T14:21:00.001-05:00

He was very proud after school and had a great day!

He couldn't wait to go this morning!

Zac's Baptism

2011-09-04T07:12:00.002-05:00

These are backwards but on August 21st Zac was baptized and we had a party at the house afterward. The kids went swimming and this is 6 of them all on one raft!

His cake
Pastor Chris and Zac
Lunch with friends and family

10 yr anniversary trip

2011-07-21T16:26:00.002-05:00

Grandma Gail came down and stayed with the boys for a week while Tom and I took a trip to the island of Roatan Honduras to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary.

Tom caught a 200lb shark
I caught a little baracuda
It's not every day you have a monkey on your back - or maybe it is!

Kindergarten Graduation

2011-06-11T16:13:00.001-05:00

Zac's Graduation. He is in the front in the dark blue shirt

Zac with his friend Luke
With his teacher Mrs. Stepler

Memorial Weekend 11 in San Antonio

2011-06-02T07:06:00.004-05:00

We ended up in a very posh hotel the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio thanks to Tom's reward points! The poor kids will forever think that this is how all hotels are!

We took the kids to Sea World and it was SO HOT and SO crowded! Luckily the water stuff back at the hotel gave us something to go back to!

They rode a shamu rollercoaster

Lounging by the pool at the hotel

This is the tube water slides at the hotel

We got to go star gazing at the hotel and were able to see Saturn and the rings around it!

The tower for the slides

Easter

2011-04-26T13:24:00.003-05:00

Tyler's class ready for their Easter Egg Hunt

With his bunny whiskers and nose frosting a cookie

Cousin Laura came over to help the boys color eggs

Grimaldi's For Dinner

2011-04-26T13:12:00.003-05:00

Zac decided he wanted pizza for his birthday dinner so went to Grimaldi's and we had a wait for a few minutes so we walked down by the water and found some duck statues.

Followed by the real thing! Mommy and baby ducklings

The Birthday boy with both of his Grandma's!

Ty playing some pizza dough

Zac's 6th Bday Extravaganza

2011-04-26T08:36:00.003-05:00

On his official birthday his kindergarten class went to the Dallas Zoo and Mommy got to be a chaperone! He was UBER excited!

Brotherly hug!

Sitting with his friends for lunch at the Zoo

Everyone sang Happy Birthday to him!

You can hardly see it but his favorite animal the Cheetah is lounging behind them beneath the shelter

His whole class

His request for his bday was to drink out of a wine glass! Don't worry - it's just water!

First Glen Oaks Carnival

2011-04-16T20:35:00.005-05:00

The PTA puts on a carnival each year at Zac's school so this was our first one. Here is Tyler throwing a pie at Zac's teacher Zac throwing a pie at Mrs. Stepler. If only high school kids got this kind of oppurtunity!

Tyler bouncing

Zac bouncing. Where was this kind of stuff when I was a kid?

Riding a train with Zac's friend Tarryn

Zac in the giant hamster wheel

Zac. Tom wanted a couple of these for the boys for the backyard

Tyler

Zac got his face painted with a baseball of course!

Spring Activities

2011-04-11T07:23:00.004-05:00

We took the boys to the Museum of Nature and Science while Grandma Gail was still in town. They loved it and the best part was, it emptied out at the Children's Museum which they also loved!

Here they are digging for fossils

Tom helping Tyler make giant bubbles

Zac's bubble

Milking a cow

Zac started playing baseball and he's doing amazing!

And the boys were in the pool for the first time on the last day of winter in March! The water was a whopping 58 degrees!
They helped Daddy build a frame for a vegetable garden and planted veggies of their choice
Finish product pics to follow!

Spring Trip to the Arboretum

2011-03-12T16:12:00.001-06:00

Tyler is trying to get in front of Zac for the picture

Don't look so sweet and innocent? Good thing I know better!

Broken Butt

2011-02-17T08:21:00.003-06:00

I was getting ready to give the boys a bath last night and I realized that Tyler was stinky. Zac was brushing his teeth so I lay Tyler down on the floor of the bathroom to change him. I was talking to him about how it is way past time for him to start to going poop on the potty. I mean he is almost 3 and half and wants nothing to do with it!

I hadn't realized that Zac was paying such attention to what I was telling Tyler but he finished his teeth and looked down at Tyler to say "You need a new butt". Tyler was very worried and relied, "Noooooo". I asked Zac why Tyler needed a new butt and he replied "Because his is broken".

At first I thought he was referring to the joke that goes: Hey, is your butt broken, cuz it has a crack in it! He surprised me though and said very matter of factly, "It's broken because it doesn't work on the potty". I giggled!

Zac's First School Dance

2011-02-12T08:15:00.002-06:00

Zac's school had a Valentine's Day dance and we got the boys dressed to go and this is how we found them - watching tv

Zac was very proud to be wearing a shirt and tie like Daddy
The knuckleheads
This is what Ty did the whole time
Zac dancing with a girl from his class named Tarryn
Zac with his friends Charlie and Tarryn

Late Christmas

2011-01-16T19:09:00.002-06:00

We had a late Christmas celebration with Cousin Laura. Zac had been wanting a Dairy Queen Blizzard maker and he was SO excited to finally get one!

So we had to immediately make blizzards. Followed by more blizzards the next day!

And then I was messing around with the boys and Tom caught a shot of me 'flexing my muscles' by holding the boys up with my biceps! They were all too willing for this!

Fun with the Fam

2011-01-04T16:46:00.003-06:00

We went to dinner one night - just the adults! Tried a new place called Guy Harvey's and it was great!

We tried ice skating one day...Zac was a little better than two years ago but he just wanted to mess around!

Tyler was NOT impressed!

Whole Family Shoot

2010-12-29T13:33:00.000-06:00

If anybody can help me figure out how to flip these, please let me know!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T16:39:00.002-06:00

This was what the tree looked like at 5:10am when Zac got up! Santa brought Tyler a pillow pet and Zac Mariokart for wii

Zac LOVED his stuffed Sonic that he found in his stocking!

We have rather non traditional Christmas dinner tradition of cheese fondue! We were lucky to have Laura and Eric join us. And my parents were in from NY to spend the holidays with the family.

Tradition lives on....

2010-12-23T12:19:00.002-06:00

I can remember quite a few Christmas' as a kid where I got sick for the big day! That nasty tradition seems to be living on. Zac hasn't felt well for two days now. He's had a fever and then last night came down with croup as well. We took him to the doctor this morning and he has the flu in addition to the croup! Caught a picture of him sleeping on the couch. Not that unusual to most parents but VERY unusual for Zac. I actually don't think he's ever done that before! Hopefully with some meds he'll be better in time for Christmas morning.

Grandma got the boys their favorite monster trucks as ornaments for the tree this year. This just seems SO wrong to me!

And a funny picture of Shadow laying in the drier! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I accidently turn it on while he's there!
And a completely seperate funny moment:

We were sitting around the breakfast table and I gave Tyler something he had asked for AGAIN and as I did, I called him 'Your highness'. He turned to Grandma with a serious face and as he pointed to his front, he said "This is my penis" and pointed to his bottom as he said "and this is my highness" Grandma just about peed her pants!

Hope you all have a HEALTHY and very Merry Christmas!

Boys with Santa

2010-12-03T08:11:00.001-06:00

I took the boys to the mall last night for some fun and shopping and Zac HAD to see Santa! Tyler wasn't so thrilled with the idea. He told me he didn't want to go in there. I tried to explain that he should tell Santa what he wants for Christmas but he wasn't having it. There was no line so I couldn't turn it down! Once Tyler saw Zac up there and Santa talked to him, he was feeling much more confident. He sat up there, smiled and told Santa what he wanted! Mommy was very proud!

A visit with Aunt Melissa

2010-11-17T11:29:00.002-06:00

Tom's sister Melissa came out for a weekend visit from NY while Grandma was here as well! The boys LOVED having her!

Zac is showing off his reading skills

Aunt Melissa came with shark tattoos!
We all went out for hibachi one night with Laura
The boys both used their chopstix!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-02T16:18:00.003-05:00

Scooping the guts which Zac is NOT a fan of!

Shadow the Halloween cat is appropriately right in the middle of the pumpkin carving action!
Lightning McQueen and Mario

Checking out their loot the next morning!

TX State Fair 2010

2010-10-10T15:47:00.002-05:00

We made our annual trip to the State Fair this morning. Last year I remember wearing sweatshirts but not this year! It was about 80 degrees and beautiful! The boys enjoyed rides:
Cotton Candy

Corny Dogs

Standing next to Blue Thunder!

And Zac's favorite was the games! He won Pikachu and was SO thrilled!

Here they are going head to head in their Buffalo Bills jerseys which earned some questioning comments!

Mommy and Daddy were tired out and poor by the end!

Animals make me laugh

2010-09-25T16:26:00.003-05:00

We put up the Halloween decorations and I thought it was cute that Shadow the 'black cat' liked the spider hanging above our table so much!

Gotta love the spunk of a kitten! Scaring a 75 pound Boxer away from his own food bowl!
And climbing right in...

I love Jake's look here: "A little help please!"

The boys LOVE Shadow!

Balloon Fest Plano 2010

2010-09-19T09:00:00.002-05:00

Tom was out of town but I braved waking the boys up early and taking them down the Balloon Festival because they LOVE hot air balloons!

We watched the balloon glow first.

This was what Mommy would have liked to have been doing!

I sware they both make the goofiest faces whenever I ask them to pose for pics!

They both really liked the lady bug balloon

Big day

2010-09-12T20:13:00.003-05:00

Zac lost his first tooth tonight! Funny story: He was eating an ice cream bar and didn't want any more cuz it was hurting his loose tooth. I told him to give it Daddy and checked out his tooth. He didn't want to try and pull it. He wanted to wait and just let it fall out while he slept! Ha ha ha! I suggested that he take another bite of the ice cream so he went over and asked Daddy for one more bite. He came back over to me chatting away and I heard Tom groan. He had taken another bite of the ice cream bar after Zac and bit down on his lost tooth which had come out in the ice cream! Zac didn't even know he had lost it!

He's pretty excited!
And we got a new addition to the family. We adopted a three month old kitten from Petsmart! Zac named him Shadow and I think the boys actually tired the kitten out playing!

Tyler's first day of Preschool

2010-09-08T11:09:00.003-05:00

Tyler has been anxiously awaiting this day for two weeks now since he watched Zac go to school. Finally it was HIS first day of school!

For a comparison, here was Zac on his first day of preschool in 2007!

Both of my boys going to school!

Standing beside his cubby in the Minnows class!

Holding the fish with his picture on it!

Visit to Fire Safety Town

2010-09-03T15:44:00.002-05:00

Zac had school so Grandma, Grandpa and I took Tyler to a nearby Fire Safety town. He LOVES fire trucks and ambulences.

He got to sit inside a truck

He saw a stuffed dalmation while we were walking around the little safety town
Then he got to meet the real Sparky!

Zac's first day of Kindergarten!

2010-08-23T12:27:00.002-05:00

He was very excited all morning!

Posing with Tyler outside the school

Showing off his back pack. He did cry a little when we said good bye but hopefully he has a great day!

Who cares what's in the ice cream!

2010-08-15T13:09:00.002-05:00

Tom gave the boys each a bowl of ice cream after dinner the other night. I had gotten a new flavor - mint brownie:

Tom was cleaning up some dishes and when he looked over at the boys, Tyler had a wash cloth in his ice cream dish. Tom asked him what he was doing. Tyler told him "I'm trying to clean up the poop" Concerned, Tom walked over and realized that Tyler thought the chunks of brownies were poop and was trying to 'clean' his ice cream! The funniest part to me though is that even believing that there was poop in it didn't stop him from eating the ice cream!

Fun with Family

2010-07-26T08:06:00.005-05:00

We had a picnic/family reunion at Great Grandpa Walt's house. It rained a little bit but that didn't stop anyone from swimming! Zac loved playing bocce with his cousin Miles, his cousin Alex and Alex's girlfriend Alex.

Jim and Tom

Mia and Stephanie

We went to the Rochester Zoo with Grandma Gail, Jim, Stephanie, Mia and Jakks. Here's Tom as a turtle with Jim and Zac on his back!

Jakks, Tyler and Zac watching the sea lions

Jim and Mia playing at Grandma Gail's

Jakks, Tyler and Zac tired of getting their pictures taken!

The cousins eating pizza

Picnic at Melissa and Jeremy's house. The cousins had SO much fun playing together!

We celebrated Stephanie and Quinn's birthdays. The kids love any excuse for cupcakes!

Hamlin Beach

2010-07-21T09:39:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Grandma, Grandpa and I took the boys to Hamlin Beach. We swam, played in the sand, played on a playground and ate a picnic lunch.

Grandpa trying to stay in the shade

Montage To Grandma Pam

2010-07-19T08:23:00.004-05:00

Grandma got jealous that all of the new blog posts didn't contain pictures of her so here she is! The funny thing is though, every time I get the camera out she complains that she's not ready for pictures!!!
Tyler helping water flowers

Livy, Izzy, Gramdma, Ty and Zac (doing his impression of blue steel)!

Watching a ride at Seabreeze

Fly in Breakfast

2010-07-19T08:06:00.002-05:00

Each year the Rotary club puts on a Fly in Breakfast and all kinds of small planes fly into a small air strip. Grandma Pam was helping to cook the breakfast so we went over to eat!

The boys got some balloon animals

And the best part was we got a ride in Cessna 206! The boys and I flew around Hilton and out over Lake Ontario.

Zac LOVED getting to ride up front with the pilot!

This one type of plane that I jumped out of years ago so I enjoyed actually sitting in a seat for a change!

Bufferfly Garden

2010-07-19T07:45:00.004-05:00

Tom and I and both Grandma's took the boys to the Strong Museum of Play and they had a butterfly exhibit that was awesome. It featured the Blue Morpho Butterfly as seen on Go Diego Go!
There were turtles and birds in there as well

You can barely see the butterfly that he is looking at but I LOVE the expression on his face!

This one was blurry from the humidity on my camera lens but I still liked it!

Adventures in New York

2010-07-19T07:21:00.003-05:00

We arrived in New York and the boys have kept their Grandparents VERY busy! Here is Tyler with Grandma Gail
Tyler on the diving board at Aunt Melissa's house. He kept everyone entertained there!

Zac in mid air!

Zac and Tyler watching Grandpa's giant train

We all went Seabreeze amusement park with David, Andrea, Isabel and Alivia. Zac LOVED the tower drop and getting to ride on some of the bigger rides finally! (Mommy enjoyed that too)!

Future drivers

Ty, Zac, Alivia and Isabel

Ty helping Grandpa mow the lawn

Bubbles!

My Birthday

2010-06-19T17:25:00.002-05:00

The boys took me out to Bucca DeBeppo's to celebrate my birthday yesterday.

They brought out a desert that the boys made quick work of!

Then we came home and had a cookie cake to add their sugar rush!

Memorial Day weekend 2010

2010-06-01T08:19:00.003-05:00

My brother and his family drove over from Mississippi to spend the weekend with us and it was great! The four kids LOVED being together! We swam, got ice cream from the ice cream truck, went to a huge splash pad and playground, had a camp fire with smores, and had some steamed clams on the patio. In other words, we ATE ALOT!

My First Preschool Graduate!

2010-05-19T12:53:00.002-05:00

We attended Zac's preschool graduation last night!

In this pic he is in the very closest low corner with the brown and white striped shirt on.

Here he is getting his diploma and telling everyone what he would like to be when he grows up: A crime fighter!
Hugging his teachers
His class with their diplomas
And the goofy grin!

ICE CREAM TRUCK!!!

2010-05-15T20:11:00.002-05:00

For a couple of weeks now the boys have been 'tempted' by the infamous sound of the ice cream truck driving around our neighborhood. Inevitably it's always at dinner time and they want to run to the window to see it rather than eat their dinners. Finally tonight, Tom and I were working around the yard and the boys were getting ready to go swimming and they heard the truck! I figured it's now or never and grabbed my wallet!

Tom thought I was crazy but I look at it this way: I grew up out in the country and there was no ice cream truck so I thought they should be able to enjoy it at least this once! And they certainly did!

I'm sure I'll be complaining about them hounding me now every time they hear that music!

Rainbow

2010-05-04T12:41:00.002-05:00

We had a quick rain shower pass through yesterday evening and just as the boys were getting ready to head up to bed, Tom discovered a huge rainbow out the window. Both of the boys were thrilled to see it!

Happy 5th Birthday Zacary!

2010-04-21T20:57:00.002-05:00

This photo was taken in Zac's classroom this afternoon when Grandma Gail, Grandma Pam and I took in cupcakes to celebrate his birthday with all of his friends from school!

Zacary: It was five years ago today that we brought you home from the hospital and embarked a brand new journey that was your life!

I cannot believe that you are five years old already! We are so very proud of the boy you have grown to be and all of the wonderful experiences you've brought into our lives. You are one of the funniest five year old boys that I know! You already unique in so many amazing ways.

You make everyone around you laugh each and every day and you get such a joy out of bringing laughter to others. You are so very smart and you learn new things so fast that sometimes we feel more like we are chatting with a fifteen year old! You have unending energy that makes those around you just stop and smile.

I couldn't even begin to count how many people comment daily on how adorable you are and of course we think they are spot on! You are willing to try all new things with such unending enthusiasm and excitement. You are a natural born leader and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

Your Daddy and I are so very proud of you and love you so very much!

Mommy

Tyler moves to a toddler bed...

2010-04-13T13:24:00.002-05:00

Tyler has been getting in and out of his crib for a while now. What's funny though is, after his initial escape, he never get out anymore so we decided to just leave things alone! It was finally time to give it a try. On Sunday, Tom converted his crib to the first step of the toddler bed and he's done great! He still doesn't get out of it! We moved Zac into his big boy bed when he was just 2 and he never got out of it until he was about 3 and half! Brothers!

The best caramel Easter Egg EVER!

2010-04-05T13:21:00.002-05:00

Tyler thoroughly enjoyed a Cadbury Caramel Easter Egg as you can see in the following shots. And Mommy enjoyed cleaning him up!

Finally took the leap!

2010-04-03T07:10:00.002-05:00

We finally got in the pool that we have been working on and looking out the windows at all winter long! April 2nd Zac started us off by sitting down on the first step with his clothes on! I think he was trying to tell us something! So we went ahead and got their suits on and let them try it even though the water temperature was only 68 degrees!

I couldn't let them have all the fun!

It was too cold for Tom though!

Is it Winter again?

2010-03-21T12:41:00.004-05:00

This is what it looked like at 11:30 last night. It's funny if you scroll down to my last post and look at the difference. You would think the seasons were going in reverse!

And this it what we found this morning! About 6 inches of snow and the typical last freeze here is around March 13th!

Jake's contribution to the photos!

And Zac couldn't wait to come in and have hot chocolate! He's a real Texas boy!

Spring!

2010-03-16T15:27:00.003-05:00

I must have spring fever because I've been planting flowers like crazy! I NEED some color already! Not much longer and I'm sure I'll be complaining about how hot it is!

Tyler helped me plant some flowers under our front trees. Really he just played with a worm!

And Zac helped me plant some bigonias which you can't hardly even see in this picture but they're there! He really did help too!
These aren't actually planted yet but they are in their spots beside the pool!

My pool boy .... Tom!

Dentist Camp

2010-02-22T19:58:00.002-06:00

I've noticed lately that Zac and Tyler have been 'pretending' to be certain people. Sometimes they'll point to characters or people on television and one of them will say "That's Zac" or "That's Tyler". Yesterday afternoon I happened to hear Tyler say "That's Ty Ty" and when I looked up at the tv screen where he was pointing, the news station was showing a mugshot of a criminal in an orange jumpsuit. I laughed and told Tom that Tyler is aiming high!
Then this afternoon, we were headed to the Doctor's office where we've been frequenting lately and Tyler said "I be doctor". I thought this was much more encouraging than a criminal so I said "Tyler, you want to be a doctor?" He replied "Yeah" and Zac spoke up to say "Well, I want to be a dentist". I was offering words of encouragment for both of them and Zac said "Will you send me to dentist camp this summer?" He went to a couple of week long camps last summer with themes like Hot Wheels and Cooking so I knew what he meant but thoughts his thought process was cute. I explained the process of what he'd need to do as far as school and that he would have to go to Dental School in college.
Tom put Zac to bed tonight and came down shocked because Zac had explained to him that he wanted to be a dentist. Tom had asked him if he knew what he'd have to do to become a dentist but Tom didn't realize that we'd just had this chat. Zac surprised him and explained the whole process through 'Dental School'.

Is it really February in Texas?

2010-02-11T12:18:00.002-06:00

This is what we woke up to this morning. There is easily close to two inches so far and it's supposed to continue to snow all day! I feel like I am in NY again! I have been having to go outside, climb a small ladder and brush our satalite dish off with a broom in order to allow the kids to watch tv! Good times!

Anyone wanna go for a swim???

Dumbfounded and not even sure if that's how you spell it!

2010-02-02T19:10:00.001-06:00

Zac was in the bath tonight and informed us that "armpit" was a compound word made up from the words "arm" and "pit"!

We asked him where he learned that (because it wasn't us) and he said his Diego Tag book! Needless to say, I am a huge fan of the Tag system! Does it teach fractions as well???

Carnival cruise of the Eastern Caribbean

2010-01-17T18:05:00.005-06:00

Okay, there's a few pics here so I'll be brief. This is Andrea and I leaving the hotel in Miami to get on the ship. It is rainy and very cold!

We're on the ship now and drinking already as we sail out of Miami.

This is the pool with rain drops on it!

Leaving the port of Miami. We even saw a few snow flurries! Luckily the weather did improve!

This is the beach at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas looking out at our ship.
Even though it was still a little chilly, we got in the beautiful water!
Andrea and I at dinner.

Mom, me and Marni at dinner
Andrea in front of another ship in St. Thomas
Getting ready to parasail.

Magen's Bay in St. Thomas.
Carnival's area on the Island of Grand Turk.
Heading out for some snorkeling on a speed boat.
Another island in the Turks and Caicos islands

The view from my beach chair!

Day after Christmas drive to Mississippi

2010-01-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

The boys in front of Cracker Barrel in Tyler, TX. We met some friends there who were visiting family on our way through.

Tom, Tyler, Tracy, Zac, Lynn and Dom. It was great to be able to see them!
Tyler, Zac cousins Isabel and Alivia with their new handcrafted banks made by Grandpa!
The four kids with their friend Marcus playing outside
Grandma reading to Tyler who was borrowing a pair of Alivia's pink pj's cuz they were warm!

Christmas

2010-01-04T09:10:00.002-06:00

Tyler got a Thomas the Train set from Santa

Zac got a new bike from Santa

We had a white Christmas in North Texas. I saw on the news that it had been 83 years since the last one!
Tom making Christmas dinner fondue and sampling the wine!

Like Mommy, like boys!

2009-12-12T08:40:00.003-06:00

Tom traveled a fair amount in early December but knock on wood, he is done with that now at least until the new year! Needless to say, the boys have had a lot of time with Mommy and Mommy got pretty stressed out here and there!

I made some cookie dough for Christmas cut outs and Zac loves to help out! Here he is 'helping out' with licking the beater!

And Tyler is talking like crazy now and repeating EVERYTHING! This morning he and Zac were fighting over 'helping' me with making frosting and I was telling them to stay out of certain things. Tyler all of sudden said, "Mommy, driving me nuts"! Wonder where he ever heard such a thing!!!

Some of his other favorite sayings right now are:

"Tywler do it"! (Tyler do it)

"Wook, Wook" (Look, Look)

And when he's standing in front of the Christmas tree "No touch. Just wook"

Guess we need to work on the "L" sound!

This makes him look like a magician but he's really just dropping his toy snake!

Grandma and Aunt Gail arrive like 'Cousin Eddie' in the RV!

2009-12-07T15:46:00.002-06:00

Grandma Pam and my Aunt Gail have been driving from NY and heading down to Brownsville, TX in a small motorhome. They've been visiting family along the way and we were their latest stop. They stayed for the weekend and enjoyed the boys. We went to downtown McKinney for a Christmas lights parade (and I forgot the camera). I had too many warm clothing preperations to worry about! I am out of practice and proud of it! It was 38 degrees outside that evening! We also celebrated Grandma's birthday and she got a photo op with both boys! They look so thrilled but really enjoyed the visit!

Tyler is REALLY excited about something!
Zac giving Grandma love!
Tyler's turn!
And who would have thought that you'd see Tom cleaning the plaster off the sides of a pool in below freezing temperatures in TX? I don't think Tom did!

First Snowfall in Texas!

2009-12-02T08:34:00.002-06:00

It's pretty rare that we see snow stick to the ground at all here in Texas and even more rare for it to be this early in the season. The boys loved it of course but I was just reminded that I am thankful that I don't live in NY anymore! This was all before Zac went to school at about 7:45am!

Thanksgiving and finished pool

2009-11-28T18:50:00.005-06:00

This is a surprising photo. They were wearing matching monster truck shirts and that seemed to bond them!

Zac helping to make pigs in a blanket for Thanksgiving appetizers
Zac helping stuff the turkey. Tom looks a little warm in the background!

Tyler enjoying pigs in a blanket!
Thanksgiving dinner with Laura and Eric
Anxiously waiting to decorate the tree

The pool is finished!

Cats out of the bag - or Tyler the crib

2009-11-23T06:47:00.002-06:00

Tyler woke up really early this morning and was making a lot of noise playing in his crib. He must have woke Zac up and Zac got tired of staying in his own room so he went in Tyler's room to play with him. They've done this the last two mornings and it's really cute to listen to them giggling together.

All of sudden though, Tom and I just stopped what we were doing and looked at each other. Tyler's voice wasn't on his monitor anymore. He was out of his crib! He's never done that before. I went running up the stairs and found both boys on their way downstairs! I said to Zac "How did your brother get out of his crib?"

Zac smiled and very proudly told me: "I told him to just swing his leg over the side"

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T15:00:00.002-06:00

Tyler turned 2 on October 29th. He had the swine flu the poor guy but he was still willing to pose on his new fire truck couch!

He looks sick standing over his frosted brownies!

But they sure tasted good!

The boys carving pumpkins. Tom decided to make one a pig in honor of the swine flu!

Zac was a Ninja

Tyler was Nemo and we couldn't get his costume on him before Halloween. That night though, he seemed to know what was going on and put it on without a problem! He was a trooper! He walked right up to each house and said "trick or treat" and "thank you" every time! The boy will do anything for candy!

Here they are trying to trick or treat from Grandma and Grandpa at their own house!
Checking out their loot the next morning...

Pumpkin Patch and Pool Construction

2009-10-17T14:11:00.003-05:00

The boys in their matching Halloween shirts from Grandma Pam

Zac's 4th annual trip to the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch

Tyler looks like a giant in front of these tiny pumpkins!

Today is also the first day of our pool construction.

Today is digging the hole...

I'll continue to update with progress shots!

Third annual Texas State Fair for the Younkers

2009-10-11T18:36:00.004-05:00

Watching a dog 'jump' show
The boys looking at a 13 week old baby giraffe!
Swine flu anyone???
Eating their corny dogs
Sitting on the tire of a monster truck
Tyler LOVES monster trucks!
Playing some games

They each won a prize!
Zac riding race cars
Zac and Tyler riding motorcycles

Zac on the canoes
It was a much different experience than the last couple of years! It was actually chilly this year! Only about 55 degrees and overcast! Usually we sweat like there is no tomorrow! It was a nice change. Incredibly expensive however, I think we'll opt for Six Flags next year!

Weekend at the Lake

2009-09-21T12:26:00.005-05:00

We traveled out to Longview, TX to stay with my friend Jacki's parents on Lake Cherokee over the weekend. They have two girls who are the same age as Zac and Tyler so we all had a great time!

The four kids swimming...

Zac and Tori going for a drive
Enjoying some colored icing!
Fishing
Tyler couldn't get enough of the minnows!
Zac and Tori tubing together
Tommy and Jacki playing Cranium
Tom and I playing Cranium

Kati tubing all by herself!
Tyler and I
Tori burying Tommy in the sand

Me and Jacki!

Zac's first day of his 3rd year of preschool!

2009-09-09T07:42:00.002-05:00

Fun in Mississippi

2009-09-08T14:58:00.002-05:00

We went to Columbus, MS for Labor Day weekend to visit my brother and his family. My Mom flew down to Dallas and drove over with us. We rented a pontoon boat one day, went swimming on the AFB pool and had fun watching the cousins play together!

Swimming off the pontoon boat.

Grandma with Tyler and Isabel. Yes, that's Tyler in pink - it actually looks great on him!
Zac was ready to try kneeboarding but Tom got nervous that he wouldn't let go of the rope so he didn't get to do it. Maybe next year.
Tom trying to do a 360...
But I was actually the first one to pull it off!!!
Zac and Tyler
Tyler sleeping in the pack n play on the boat and Alivia resting beside him.
Zac jumping off a diving board
Of course, Tyler had to do it too!
Alivia, Zac, Isabel and Tyler eating cake.

Late Night Fun

2009-08-22T08:02:00.002-05:00

Tyler started getting sick yesterday. He had a REALLY runny nose all day and threw up a couple of times just because of all the mucus. He woke up around midnight and sounded really strange. Tom went up and we realized that he had croup but he wasn't breathing normally either. We tried giving him a nebulizer treatment but he wasn't breathing in enough to get the benefit and he was becoming unresponsive. We ended up calling 911 and thankfully the operator told us to put him on his back and that ticked him off enough that he started to cry. The crying got him breathing a little better so that was a huge relief. He ended riding to the ER in an ambulance. They did a chest x-ray just to be sure and that was clear. He got a breathing treatment there and an oral steroid which really seemed to help. He is doing better this morning and we are very relieved!

Now, both of the boys have had their chance to experience an emergency ambulance ride so hopefully that means we are done with that now!

Fun with Friends

2009-08-17T08:28:00.001-05:00

We had some friends over Sunday afternoon and the kids had a BLAST! Zac and Tori are 6 weeks apart and Kati and Tyler are about 6 weeks apart as well!

Laughter

2009-08-10T17:33:00.002-05:00

This is the boys watching Wall E and LAUGHING when he introduces himself to Eva - for some reason!

Zac swimming

2009-08-10T17:27:00.004-05:00

The Boys Photos 4-09

2009-08-07T08:03:00.001-05:00

We had these photos taken back in April of this year but I don't think I ever posted any of them. A little late but they are cute!

Sounds like...

2009-08-04T16:16:00.003-05:00

I was down on the floor playing with Tyler this afternoon when he decided he wanted me to sit on the foot of the chair. He can be very demanding when he wants a person in a certain place right now - it's quite funny. One of his favorite words is "Move".

So, he was pointing to the ottoman and trying to tell me to sit up there. I said to him "ottoman" so that he would learn what it was called and he stopped and looked at me for a second. Then he pointed to the candy dish on the counter and said "Please......M&M's". Apparently the word ottoman sounds like M&M's to a 21 month old!

Vacation at Seneca Lake, NY

2009-07-13T15:56:00.005-05:00

Zac got to tube with his cousins Brett and Alex
Aunt Kim helped him fish
Hector Falls was literally two cottages away from ours!
Grandpa, Grandma Pam and Grandma Gail all came down to visit us for a day while we were at the lake.
Stephanie and I at the campfire
Zac enjoying his smore!
Zac LOVED his friends Lauren and Cassandra!
Zac and I in front of the falls

Zac jumping off the end of the dock!

Visiting in NY and 4th of July

2009-07-13T15:37:00.006-05:00

Watching our own fireworks

Me shooting clay pigeons in the backyard. For those of you who don't know I grew up in the country!

All the kids going for a wagon ride on Grandpa's tractor - including David

It never got above 80 degrees for the two weeks that we were in NY! A very refreshing change from the 110 degrees that we will return to in TX!

Words of wisdom from a 4 yr. old

2009-06-16T18:33:00.002-05:00

I was making dinner tonight and Zac was sitting at the kitchen table playing with some of his cars. I asked him to move the cars because I was getting ready to put dinner on the table. This pretty much happens every night so it was no surprise to him. He was quick to give me attitude though and a nasty face. I told him not to look at me that way. The conversation then went like this:

Zac: "You don't look at me that way!"

Me: "Zac, I am the parent and you are not allowed to talk to me that way."

Zac: "When I'm as big as you, I'll be the parent then!"

Me: "Yup, and then you can ask your kids to take their cars off the table."

Zac: "That's if I grow any!"

I just thought it was so funny - his take on the way that children happen - the parents grow them! Pretty insightful actually!

Always somethin goin on!

2009-06-06T20:30:00.003-05:00

We took the boys out for hibachi tonight. It was Tyler's first time and he wasn't a fan of the flaming volcano but neither was Zac at that age! Zac loved it. He used chopsticks to eat the whole meal!

Tyler LOVES edemame!!!
Yes, that is a DVD player in front of Tyler. We will do anything to be able to eat in a restaurant right now!

The boys at the neighbors pool

Tyler had a double ear infection and a ruptured ear drum this week. His ear tubes had fallen out in only two months and he is scheduled to have them put back in on Wednesday. Then he fell yesterday (AGAIN) and caught his eye on the low window sill in our kitchen. Poor kid is more than accident prone! I finally put some bumpers on those things today! Don't know why I didn't think of that sooner!

All about staying cool!

2009-06-02T19:45:00.003-05:00

It's starting to get HOT here in Texas but at least there are plenty of ways to cool off!

Memorial Day weekend 2009

2009-05-24T20:07:00.004-05:00

We spent some time in the water this weekend! The boys loved every minute of it! We played in the pool here at home and the community pool. I'm actually scared that Tyler may be even more of a fish than Zac was!

Today we went up to Lake Ray Roberts with the Laura and the Apligians. Tyler didn't hold still the entire time - except for when he was eating!
He pulled his chair right down into the water. Maybe he didn't like sitting directly in the sand with the waves pushing sand into his diaper?

Entertainment for boys

2009-05-15T07:06:00.003-05:00

This is what the boys did to entertain themselves at lunch time the other day. I find it funny that even at this age, noises like this make them laugh. Such a boy thing!

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T19:00:00.002-05:00

I had a great Mother's day! Tom made breakfast for all of us and I got to go to my class at the gym on Sunday mornings. They all got me a spa package at a local spa that I like. All the mom's know what a rare treat that is! We went to lunch at Panera Bread and then Tom made fondue for dinner! All three of the boys wanted to help out...

Tyler: the boy LOVES cheese!

Laura came up too - as if we didn't have enough cheese in Paris! You can never have too much right?
Even Jake wanted in on the action!

The best part of Mother's Day though was that Zac and Tyler actually played TOGETHER in the kitchen while we were making dinner. We thought this was some quirk of fate but then... they played together in the backyard after we finished dinner as well! It was so nice for us to sit down and chat while they played! I hope this is moving in the direction of older children...

Girls Weekend in Paris!

2009-05-06T18:38:00.004-05:00

We all had an AWESOME time on the trip - definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

This first pic is on our flight over to Paris and I can't NOT share it! This guy actually wore a helmet only during take off and landing!

Champagne toast at the top of the Eiffel tower
These are our empty bottles from late at night in the hotel room after everything was closed!

Summer begins in TX

2009-04-26T15:50:00.003-05:00

We're kind of crazy being from NY and all and we usually put the little pool up on St. Patrick's Day weekend but this year it just wasn't warm enough yet. We finally got it up last Sunday and this is always a fun day for the kids!

This year they enjoyed playing in the plastic tarp...

I think they always enjoy filling it up more than anything!
I know he'll kill me later but way too cute to pass up!
We even broke out the sprinkler and Tyler STILL couldn't manage to keep his suit on!

4th Birthday Party

2009-04-18T16:36:00.002-05:00

Zac requested a 101 Dalmations themed birthday party. The truth of the matter is, he asked for it last year but I knew you couldn't find decorations in the stores so I talked him into Cars instead! So, when he asked again this year I couldn't deny him again! Therefore I personally had to make ALL of the decorations. It took me about a month and a half since I would have about 10 min. each day to do it if I was lucky!

Here is Me with the birthday boy

His friends singing Happy Birthday

Dog relay races
Food that looks like dog food - even in dog bowls!
I totally lucked out and found a dalmation pinata on line!
All homemade!

And the cake!

The boy knows too much!

2009-04-09T18:05:00.002-05:00

Zac's 4th birthday is coming up at the end of April and of course he's very excited about this! He watches commercials now unfortunately and he now wants every toy and utensil that is advertised. Way to go Marketing on that stuff!

I feel like all he talks about is wanting this and that for his birthday. A couple of days ago, he and I were playing and he came out of the clear blue asking when MY birthday was. I told him it was in 2 more months. I jokingly asked him what he was getting me for my birthday in retaliation. He got this look of deep thought and was silent for few seconds. I was pretty interested to see what he was going to come up with. He said "Hmm" and I saw him start to look around the house. His reply was "We're going to go to Target and get you some new wine glasses". I don't know if I should be proud or scared of that! I guess he knows me pretty well after all!

First Easter Egg Hunt of 2009

2009-04-08T19:43:00.002-05:00

Tom's office had their annual Easter Egg Hunt this evening. Both the boys had a blast!

Zac met the Easter Bunny

Tyler seemed to know exactly what to do even though this was his first Egg Hunt! He wasn't so great at the waiting to begin part though!
The boys with their loot
Tyler found the Golden Egg and won the top prize of a giant Easter basket that was almost bigger than him!

Still buying diapers for 2!

2009-03-28T07:34:00.002-05:00

I'm really writing this to find out if my child is normal or not!

Zac will be 4 in less than a month now and he still wears an overnight diaper to bed. He's fine at nap time and he's been doing great during the day for about a year and half now so no complaints there!

I realized the other day that he is almost 4 and still wearing a diaper so we started talking to him about wearing underwear to bed as well. He thought that was a great idea. I know he's not quite ready because his nightime diaper is still fairly wet. Zac tends to be a little lazy though and if you don't push him to do certain things, he just won't. So I thought if he wet his bed and felt it a couple of times, he would learn.

Last night was our first try and I fully expected to be changing his bed in the middle of the night. He woke up about 6:30 and came to the top of the stairs to call us. His bed was wet but when we changed it, we realized that it was almost dry. He hadn't JUST peed the bed, it had happened some time during the night and he never bothered to get up!!! I find this kind of troubling because it shoots my theory of "letting him feel it to learn" out the window.

We may keep trying it for a few days to see if he catches on but maybe he's just truly not ready at almost 4.....

Random Funny Pics

2009-03-19T09:27:00.002-05:00

Tyler has started sitting in his booster seat instead of the high chair. I'm not sure yet if this is a good thing because it seems like he now feeds more to the dog than he does to himself! He seems to like it however!

Zac all of a sudden wants me to "spike" his hair every morning! He started out with the faux-hawk and now he likes an over all spike!
Here is the only picture I could get them to sort of sit still for wearing their St. Patrick's Day t-shirts. They look thrilled I know!

When your sons feels sorry for you!

2009-03-16T16:32:00.002-05:00

We've had rain here for about 4 days straight (I know that really doesn't sound like a lot) but when you're used to sunny day after sunny day you take that for granted! The kids and the dog were crawling out of their skin to get outside and as a result, I was also going crazy!

So...the rain finally let up yesterday and we went to a park to feed the birds. Tyler loves animals and points up to the birds all the time so I figured he'd love it!

The ducks were sweet but then these huge, ugly geese came over and they didn't feel like waiting for us to get the bread out of the bag or our hands for that matter! The kids were a little scared of the geese - not that I blame them! They still had fun though. I didn't get any pics of the geese because the battery in my camera died!

Zac also said something really funny yesterday. Tom and I were playing a game on wii called Dr. Mario. It's probably one of the only games that I am better at than Tom. He is very competitive so he loves to keep trying to beat me anyway! So we were playing when Zac came down from his nap. Zac sat there watching for a while and finally he said "Daddy, after this can we play something easier for you"?

He was trying to make his Daddy feel better about getting his butt kicked by his Mommy!

Tori's Pony Birthday Party

2009-03-07T13:56:00.003-06:00

Zac's very best friend Tori had her 4th birthday party this morning. They celebrated at a preschool that offers pony parties. They give the kids pony rides and pony cart rides and there are animals to pet.

Here is Cowboy Zac

Tyler LOVED the bunny!

Tyler's first pony ride!
Zac is an old pro - this is his third horse back riding experience!
Here is Zac with the Birthday girl Tori and her horseshoe shaped cake!

Growing Up

2009-03-06T09:03:00.001-06:00

This is what Zac is working on at school now. He can trace his whole name and he can write his nickname without the tracing pages too!

First Stitches (of many I'm sure)!

2009-03-01T07:08:00.002-06:00

Tom had to travel to Miami yesterday so I took the boys to Gatti Town Pizza in Frisco along with Zac's best friend Tori and her family. We hadn't seen each other in a while so it was nice to finally get together and catch up. It was also funny how Zac and Tori took right off playing as though no time had gone by at all!

Here is Zac and Tori on a Dancing machine

Tyler fell off the side of the above machine and caught his forehead on the sharp corner of a metal electrical box! Scared the heck out of me of course - and always when Tom isn't around! I am SO thankful that Jacki and Tommy offered to keep Zac while I headed to the ER with Ty!

I rushed him to Acute Kids and they put some liquid sutures on the gash. I was worried about his skull but they weren't concerned because he didn't loose consciousness, seem disoriented or vomit.

Here he is after his trip the doctor with a bandage over it to keep him from "bumping" it again!

All seems well though, he is still smiling!

Spring in Texas

2009-02-26T08:37:00.002-06:00

So, it's February 26th and it feels like spring already in Texas. Don't worry - the 80 degree weather is not supposed to continue - for a little while anyway!

Tyler out "mowing" the lawn at 8:30am - can't keep that boy in the house!

No, he's not smelling something gross - that's his "cheese" face!

I saw this the other morning because our sprinklers had turned on and all 3 boys were enjoying the spray through the open window!
Yup, those are buds opening up on the trees in our back yard!

Sierra strikes again!

2009-02-16T20:00:00.002-06:00

Both of the boys have now had run ins with our cat. Sierra is GREAT with the boys! She is VERY tolerant of little hands pulling on her and little feet chasing her but she can only take just so much! This is what happens when she gets cornered but small boys!

The first one is Tyler - just today!

And this one is Zac from back in 2007. He was around 2 at the time so I think he learned his lesson and he is actually really good with her now. Tyler however is too young I think to have learned his lesson!

Pool Party in February

2009-02-16T10:14:00.003-06:00

For Valentine's Day this year, we had a birthday party for a friends little girl at an indoor pool in Frisco. The kids LOVED it! I guess they'll really enjoy our vacation this year to a lake in New York!

Here is Zac licking about 3 solid inches of frosting off of a cupcake. Thank God they went swimming afterward to burn of all that sugar!

This is a shot of about half the swimming area!
And here is Zac, Daddy and Tyler in the "river"!

"Eease"

2009-02-05T15:19:00.002-06:00

Tyler has started to really begin saying words now. They're not all recognizable yet unless you know what he's talking about.

One of the cute ones though is that he now knows what the camera is for and puts on a ridiculous scrunchy face and says "Eease" - Translated as I'm sure you can guess, he means "Cheese"

Here's the spaghetti picture that probably every baby has in their baby books. Too cute not to snap a shot!

And the three of us snuggling in our Pj's at bedtime

Valentime's Day

2009-01-30T17:11:00.003-06:00

No, I didn't make a spelling error in the title! That is how Zac says Valentine's Day. He was playing with some Valentine stickers and our conversation went like this:

Zac: "Valentime's Day means I get lots of PRESENTS!"

Me: "No, Valentine's Day is a celebration of love and showing those that you love how and why you love them".

Zac: "Oh,.....love........yeah" in a very dry, rather sarcastic tone which I chuckled at!

Me: "You are such a MAN"!

Zac: "I have no choice" and he throws his arms up in the air

So, I learned from this that men are born with a distaste for all things "love" and a gene that desires presents instead!

Dallas World Aquarium

2009-01-24T15:25:00.004-06:00

Bear with me because these ended up all jumbled and out of order!

Looking at some penguins

Flamingos
Tyler watching as giant turtles, huge fish and even manatee swim by

This is the advertising van outside the aquarium which was also pretty cool

Grandma Gail had actually never been to downtown Dallas and we were looking for something fun for the kids to do yesterday. We decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium. Zac has been a couple of times but Tyler hadn't been yet either. We had SO much fun and both boys really enjoyed it. Grandma was also very impressed. It's really more of a biosphere as she said. There is a lot more than just fish and the way it is designed is really amazing. The best part was that it was Friday so there were hardly any people there! Usually when we've gone on the weekends it is very crowded and annoying to move around with a stoller!

Here is Zac looking at some sting rays and turtles

This is a tunnel surrounded by aquarium that you walk through with all different types of sharks and rays. Zac is really taking it all in!

Zac posing by some fish

The highlight for the boys and me too was the Jaguar!

Early Taste of Summer

2009-01-23T06:36:00.002-06:00

I know most of you Northerners won't appreciate this - especially with how cold this winter has been for you but it was 80 degrees here yesterday! Tom had to travel this weekend and thankfully his mom is in town to help out. The boys are both sick AGAIN! Zac had a cough and seems to be better already. Poor Tyler started with the runny nose and then a fever. He's miserable when he's sick like that because when his nose is stuffed up, he can't suck his thumb to soothe himself. This makes everyone miserable actually. Yesterday was beautiful though! I even sat out and got some color - in January!

Zac is a little more of an "indoor" kind of guy - Just chillin watchin some Cartoon Network

But Tyler - he would live outside and never come in if you let him!

He was doing some grilling out on the patio -

And he learned to do cheers with Mommy!

A Day at the Doctors

2009-01-13T19:47:00.003-06:00

Tyler's surgery went very well this morning. He was in for pre-op, surgery, and post-op all within an hour! He wasn't too happy about waking up from the anesthesia but other than that, it was just another day for him. Except for the fact that he was exhausted very early tonight. He's a guy who CANNOT hold still and doesn't fall asleep on us anymore but here he is a few minutes before his bedtime.

I haven't been feeling all that great lately either and thought I was getting a sinus infection. So late this afternoon, I lugged both kids to the Doctor with me to find out I had a really nasty sinus infection which required a steroid shot and antibiotics. The Doctors made good money on us today!

Tyler Gets Tubes

2009-01-12T15:09:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow will be an interesting day for the family. Tyler goes in at 6:30 in the morning for 7:30 ear tube surgery. I've heard from everyone that the surgery is very quick and simple and that they immediately feel better. That part I am very looking forward to!

The thing that I am DREADING is Tyler's appetite! He can't have any food or water starting at midnight tonight. Anyone who doesn't know Tyler, as soon as he gets carried downstairs in the morning, he heads right over to his highchair and basically demands to be fed immediately! The boy loves his food and has no patients when it comes to his tummy.

So, the drive to the medical center and whatever time we have before they put him under will be pretty interesting! I will be bringing his full breakfast with us for when he wakes up!

Tomorrow is also my brothers last day of training in San Antonio (finally) - he was supposed to finish up in mid Dec. but weather and the holidays put him behind. He will be driving up here and picking up our dad who has been hanging out with us since Christmas. The two of them will be driving to my brothers house in MS so we will be without any house guests:(

Not for too long though - Tom's mom arrives next week and we're excited to see her again!

Just another weekend

2009-01-10T10:04:00.003-06:00

Zac is very interested in cars so this morning he went out to help Daddy and Grandpa change the brakes and rotate the tires.

And here is the youngest of the wii Fit competitors. Check out that physique! It looks like Tyler has a lot of work ahead of him! I know how much he'll love this photo at his High School graduation!

Fun with Grandpa and Grandma Caswell

2009-01-06T09:09:00.002-06:00

We all enjoyed having my parents here for a visit for both Christmas and New Years. My dad helped Tom put an actual roof on the kids playset. We've gone through at least one canvas cover each season so it was time for something that would hold up to the elements a little better!

Grandma got to snuggle the boys.

We all went to Chuck E Cheese...

And Grandma became a great play toy!