Lost loved one

A week ago today we lost a family member.  My 16 year old cousin, Kyle went home. 

I have never been to a funeral for someone younger than myself.  It was a very surreal and sad time.  As time passes it gets a little easier to celebrate the life he lived and the fact that he is home in heaven now.  I am sure that he is cracking jokes, being silly, and talking sports with who ever will listen up there.  Down here we are all blessed with having known Kyle and each of us has our own memories that will live in our hearts as the days move forward.

A very thankful time of year

Wow!  I can not believe that Thanksgiving is this week!  I have mixed feelings about my favorite holiday this year.  While it is still my most favorite holiday, it is just that little bit tinged by my dad's news of cancer that came last year at this time.  We actually found out on Black Friday through a phone call from one of my dad's doctors.  So it brings to mind all of the things that I am so thankful for this year.
 I am thankful for getting to spend time with my dad and family in general this past year.  After the initial diagnosis, we were not even sure that he would make it to see Griffin's birth.  This year we will be spending the holiday together as a family.  Eating delicious foods, stratagizing about the next mornings shopping adventures, maybe a Wii tournament of some sort, and watching some football.  Things that maybe got taken for granted a little before will be treasured this year as memories.
 I am thankful for all the things Chris and I have been blessed with.  We have a happy, loving marriage.  Our two boys are happy, healthy, and growing.  We have two vehicles to drive, a house to live in and keep us warm, food in our refrigerator and cupboards, and jobs that allow us to be a little extravagant at times.
 I am thankful for relationships.  Relationships with family and friends.  I am thankful for old relationships that have been stable and reliable for years.  I am thankful for newer relationships that are blossoming and spontaneous.  I am happy for friends that are childless, fellow parents, and grandparents for all the wealth of knowledge they provide. 
I am thankful for new experiences and opportunities. 
So as the Thanksgiving holiday gets rushed through to Christmas, I just wanted to say that I truly am thankful and grateful.  I am blessed beyond measurements and am happy to have the chance to acknowledge it.  We hope that your family's Thanksgiving is blessed!  May your turkey be moist and potatoes lump free!

Griffin is on the move...

So our little Griffin is all about doing things in his own time and as a second child I can appreciate this.  It does make me paranoid over those silly milestone "standards" and all, but Easton was a little like this too and I should know better than to generalize all children into one category.  Each child is their own person and develops at their own pace.  Anyway...  On Tuesday he turned 7 months and had previously rolled over from front to back and back to front a handful of times but that was it.  Well low and behold, this weekend he figured out that if he rolled over and then rolled again he moved a bit closer to what ever he was trying to get.  And he hasn't stopped since!  He rolls and rolls and rolls until he gets stuck at a wall or piece of furniture.  It is pretty funny to watch, but we remember very clearly Easton doing this same thing before he started crawling.  So it is a little bitter sweet since Griffin is our last that he is moving out of the baby baby stage and into the almost a toddler on the go stage!  Watching your children grow and learn new things is a great joy in life and we fully intend to enjoy this new stage with Griffin!

#2 Trip to Florida

The whole family on the air plane...our first family trip out of state.  Can I just give a little plug for SouthWest Airlines....they are so family friendly and fabulous.  We had such helpful people making our 4 flights (yes, we switched planes on the way there and on the way back) that made the trip so easy!  We also have the best children ever, as there were absolutely no issues with their ears!

This is the back of our villa, we had 2 large patio doors, with the patio, and a grassy area that was part of the golf course.  It was perfect for playing (although it was so HOT and HUMID that by 10:00 if you were outside you wanted to be in the pool) and getting a little extra energy out.  Not to mention the beautiful views of the golf course.

Easton and Daddy hitting the pool!  We spent hours everyday at one of the fabulous pools at our resort.  There were 7 total, but we favored 2 of them.  One was super fun, with a little cabanna restaraunt, a dj, and other fun family activities.  We also liked one of the other pools that had a little kids water slide that Easton loved.  He went down forward, backward, on his tummy, on his back, and on his bottom! 

Easton and Shamu.  My big boy has outgrown his fear of people in costume!  YEAH :o)  We spent two days at Sea World and had a blast.  It was the best place for our family.  There were so many fun things for us to do.  We saw the Shamu show (which was so amazing), Easton played in a splash pad, went on kiddie rides, saw all the animals, went on the Manta Roller coaster, fed seals, sting rays, dolphins.  It was a blast!

Unfortunately for Griffin, there was still a lot of napping going on.  At only 5 months old, he won't remember taking this trip, but I am so glad we brought him with us! This was at Sea World.

At the pool in his swimming gear!

We drove to Cape Canaveral and spent a day at the beach.  We had the best time.  It was cloudy, over cast, and a little breezy, but wonderful.  Easton loved the sand, waves, sea shells, the sea gulls....everything.  It was a magical fist trip to the Ocean for sure.  An added bonus was that the water was really warm (bath water warm) and so we could actually swim and play in the water.

Awake at the pool.  One of the pools also had a fountain area, which Griffin really enjoyed!  This is by far my most favorite picture of him.  His smile (tongue & drool included) is so infectious!

Our resort also had several family friendly activities going on while we were there.  One of them that Easton truly enjoyed was a character breakfast.  Here he is dancing away with Swampy the Alligator!  Needless to say there wasn't a whole lot of eating breakfast going on, but it was fun none the less!





It was a great trip.  It went quickly, but not too quickly and we really had time to relax and enjoy being a family.  Traveling is something we hope to be able to do with the boys as they grow older.  This was the best first trip we could have hoped for!

Playing Catch up! #1 First day of school

Easton getting out of the car on his first day of school!  Chris picks him up after lunch and takes him to his preschool class.  He goes in the afternoon with the 3, 4, and 5 year olds two days a week.  You can see the excitement on his face about going to school.

Opening the door to school, because he can!  He has gotten so strong and is capable of doing so much for himself now.  How did he get so grown up?

Already found something great to play with!  Easton also has a friend from summer camp in his class which he was so thrilled about!  So far he is loving going to school and asks daily if it is a school day.  It amazes me how much he has learned already.  His teachers say he is so enthusiastic about learning new things and is very passionate about the things he already knows!  It is so fun to see his passions and excitement for learning.  I hope that it continues throughout his schooling years!

He also got to go on the school bus in October for a field trip to Berry Hill Farm!  We love Berry Hill Farm, we go each year to the pumpkin patch and ride on the hay wagon pulled through the woods.  Chris was a chaperon and had Easton and a little girl with him.  It was a gorgeous day for the trip and fun was had by all!

August went by in a whirl-wind!

"So it has been over a month since I last blogged" is how a friend recently started her post and I am doing the same!  August came and went in a whirl-wind and I never blogged about it! 
I have to admit that having 2 children has in some regards completely turned my life upside down.  The addition of another infant besides Griffin to our daycare days leaves me very little free time to do anything except breath and keep moving forward.  I find myself wanting just those few more mins. of sleep in the morning (pushing the snooze button, not taking a morning shower and doing it in the evening instead, and just plain laying there until I ABSOLUTELY have to get up) is a very new thing for me.  I have always been a morning person (thank you dad) and love to rise early when the day is new and the world is just waking with the sun.  To sit quietly and ponder my day sipping coffee is one of life's simple joys in my opinion.  Wanting that little extra sleep and not taking joy in being up early has put me in a little of a funk.  I simply am exhausted from being the household caretaker, parent, teacher, friend, daughter, cook, maid, and wife.  I forget to take a few mins. for me, as a mom I think it is a very common problem.  We are so focused on everyone and everything else in our lives we simply do not have time for ourselves.  Well that changed today!  I joined a local MOPS group (at the urging and recommendations of a couple friends) for me.  I dropped the boys in their perspective classrooms today and marched toward something new for me.  2 full hours of time to be me, Tanya.  Yes I am still all the afore mentioned people too, but it was so nice to be me.  To talk about me and have others genuinely listen.  I met 7 other wonderful women today that I will very soon call my friends.  What a truly wonderful feeling!
But, I digress!  August brought a lot of great things for the boys and I.  We attended the local parish parade in my home town, seeing a lot of old familiar friends and their families.  We had a weekend adventure in Duluth with Grandma, Papa, and the boys' cousins~ staying at a hotel, swimming in the pool, going to museums, parks, and the Superior Zoo.  We also spent a (very chilly) day at the MN State Fair taking in all the sights and foods on a stick :o)  Easton finished up his first summer of camp (and is already asking when he can go back!).  And Griffin is sitting in a Bumbo seat, playing in the exersaucer, and eating rice cereal!
We are very much loving the cooler weather and all that Fall in MN promises to bring.  I will keep you posted :o)

Ordinary, everyday life...

I have been meaning to blog for a while now, but have had nothing special to write...or at least I thought.  Then I realized that our ordinary, everyday life IS special and worthy to write about.  Chris and I have been together for 13 years, married for 7 and have a truly amazingly blessed life.  We are walking down this path of parenting together, raising two unique and very lovable boys.  Everyday is different but the same.  The days turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into seasons, and then into years.  It happens so mundanely yet unexpectedly and it is all so wonderful.
So everyday we wake up to the sounds of "Mom...I just woke up now!"  We eat breakfast, watch cartoons, read books, drive trucks, make messes, clean up toys, have naps, play outside a lot, and go to bed exhausted.  The best part is we wake up and do it all again the next day!  We drive to and from swim lessons, summer camp, and soon to preschool. We have this new little blessing that has started smiling and laughing and tries to sit up all on his own.  We get to cuddle and give kisses, get hugs and hang the moon! 
It is a wonderful, crazy, exhausting existence.  I wouldn't want to do this with anyone other than my adoring husband.  And so our journey continues!

Summer Schedule

So I am not sure how many of you know that I do in home daycare, and have been doing so since Easton was 10 months old.  So needless to say we don't get out of the house much to do special activities except on the weekends.  Well, somehow I managed to have my schedule changed this summer with the two fabulous families I care for and ended up with Mondays and Fridays off for the months of July and August!  This has been so fabulous for Easton, Griffin, and I.  Easton is going to summer camp on Tuesdays and Fridays and so Chris and I have been able to split up the taking and picking up schedule so that we each have a day.  It is so fun to drop him off and pick him up after...I can not believe he is old enough for a drop off camp already.  Time really does fly with kids!  This new schedule also has allowed us to do some fun things like go to lunch with Chris, a trip to the library, a ride on the Wayzata Towne Trolley, and playing at the beach and play ground!  The special time the boys and I are spending together can never be replaced and I hope that we are making memories that will last their life times!

Summer Fun

My little fish, Easton has had a blast this summer playing in the water.  We have done the sprinkler, the lake, the blow up pool, and the regular pool...not to mention all the splashing going on in the bath tub these days!  It is so fun to see.  As a child I lived in the water all the days of summer vacation.  I would beg anyone who would listen to watch me swim in the pool or go down to the dock to watch me swim in the lake.  I love seeing this in Easton and hope he holds on to his new found hobby. 

He decided it would be fun to add a water slide!

SPLASH!

 

Week at Lake Mary

This picture sums up our vacation very well!  Easton spent the entire week in the lake swimming, fishing, and going for boat rides.  We had a wonderful time.  There were no electronic interruptions for us to worry about and I have to admit we did not miss them.  We woke up early to have breakfast and spent the days outside just enjoying each others company.  My parents, brother Travis and his significant other, Sara, my niece Taylor and nephew Tucker were also there.  It was a quaint old cabin that had four bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a little kitchen, and small sitting area, but the best part was the large deck with picnic tables that overlooked the lake!  We were right up the hill from the lake with the swimming area and little dock clearly visible. The kids spent hours swimming and splashing and going down the slide into the lake. We played on a jet ski, went fishing, sat in lawn chairs outside all day, roasted marshmallows over a camp fire, and bought ice cream treats from the little store.  It was the bliss of days gone by!  The resort was quiet and the weather was amazing.  It really was a fabulous vacation. 

Easton's first fish!

Driving the jetski with daddy!

Easton and Taylor eating smores for the first time...what a gooey mess!

Griffin was happy to be at the cabin too :o)

pictures of previous posts!

Happy Father's Day!

HHMMM...I need to think about this playing on the floor thing...I am not sure if I should enjoy it or cry about it!














Griffin snoozin while we enjoy a picnic lunch at the park and watching boast down by the River!

Easton playing Hockey and Gorillia as the goalie!  (No More TV Fun)

Easton and Daddy checkin out the  boats on the Mississippi after enjoying a picnic lunch at the park.

Easton and little Miss "A"...walking and holding hands like new best friends!  (Memorial weekend)

The synonym for parenting must be ironic!

Every now and again it hits me...this thing we call parenting is so ironic. 
There are some days I just need a break form my sweet, talkative, always going 3 year old.  Usually he goes to play at Grandma's house once a week so I get that break and he and Grandma have bonding time.  It really is a wonderful situation we are truly blessed with.  Yesterday was one of those days that Easton got to go to Grandma's house for the day, but then also got to have a sleep over.  While I have to admit it has been truly busy around here with the daycare kids returning and adding Griffin to the mix, I was looking forward to the quiet day.  But somewhere between enjoying the quiet and getting things done that sometimes get over looked with an infant and 3 year old needing all my attention, I realized how very much I missed my son.  He is what makes up my days and nights and it is truly too quiet with out him here.  While Chris and I were enjoying a nice dinner of steaks and salad last night, we looked at each other and Chris remarked about how quiet dinner was.  Easton is so social and verbal and curious about everything that there is never a moments peace until bedtime.  But through out the last 2 years of all this conversation we have become dependant on it.  When he is gone we miss it!  HOW IRONIC.
Today, as things were getting busy and hectic with the kids I looked at Griffin and how much he has grown.  Again, I have to admit that I am way OK with him growing quickly out of the infant stage, as it is not my favorite.  But, as I am trying to get him to sleep since he is obviously tired, I stare down at my youngest son and just watch him.  I think to myself I could probably just hold you and watch you sleep all day.  So cuddly in my arms and the sweet innocence of his face.  The sleeping eyes with lashes resting so peacefully on his cheeks.  The way his rosebud lips part ever so much and the sweet smell of baby's breath flowing out.  The way his dimpled fingers are splayed across his face so delicately!  Chris and I are done having babies and I am so OK with that, but it was truly a bittersweet moment.  Again, I say HOW IRONIC!
Anyway, those are my sappy musings for today!

NO TV = Very Busy!

I have to admit that I had no idea that not having TV would make my family extremely busy.  We have made it a whole week TV free and everyone is still happy and thriving...if not more so!  Last week we had fun playing, laughing, and entertaining each other the old fashioned way.  (pictures to come soon)  It was Father Hennepin Days here in Champlin and so we enjoyed that fun as well.  We went to our first parade of the summer which Griffin slept through (of course) and Easton loved.  He especially enjoyed the fire trucks, marching bands, and any trucks pulling trailers!  We also hit up the carnival rides and watched some boat races.  It was a fun way to end a fun week.
In other news...  Griffin is already 8 weeks old!  Where does the time go so quickly?  Not that I am complaining too much...infant days are not my favorite part of raising children.  He already is sleeping through the night, smiling at us, and trying to talk/laugh.  It is amazing how much he is changing each day.  Easton is definitely his older brother, making sure he has his nuk, blanket, and rocking him in his car seat if need be.  He talks to him often and refers to him lovingly as "Buddy".  It is very sweet to watch the two of them interact.  Griffin often returns the affection with smiles and "quietness" (ie. stops crying) for his big brother.  It will be amazing to see the two of them grow up together in the years ahead.
Well, duty calls...I will get back to this blog again soon...I hope!  Until then, hope everyone is well ;o)

Can We Do It? ... YES! We Can!

We did the unthinkable....we disconnected and cancelled our cable!  Can you believe this?  I think I may still be in shock that I got Chris to go along with it.  The "cable guy" came yesterday morning and so it has been over 24 hours with no TV.  There haven't been any with drawls as of yet, but it is currently raining and not supposed to clear up so this evening may be another story.  Now, you may be asking your self, why did they do that?  Especially with the basement finally all cleaned up after having to move things around with Griffins room and being able to use the space that is lovingly called the family room with the huge HD TV in the wall.  Well one reason is that I am trying to cut expenses and spending over $200 a month on TV, phone, and the net was unacceptable to me.  I have to have phone and Internet for my job, so logically I said "hey, let's get rid of the cable".  Now mind you I had no expectation of my husband going along with this....but low and behold he surprised me once again!  The other reason we decided to ix-nay the cable was to spend less time in front of the screen and more time as a family doing things together.  We can read books, play outside, and even play the Wii that we hardly ever use because we had cable!  So wish us luck on our new TV Free journey.  Easton hasn't yet realized that the Disney Channel is no longer with us...there may have to be another post when the realization that Handy Manny is no longer available sets in!

For your viewing pleasure

Easton riding his Thomas scooter at the park.

And of course the 2 wheeled bike had to go along as well!  Such a big boy now.

Griffin's favorite sleeping position, especially with his blankie!My boys!  Easton 3 years and Griffin 3 weeks."Hello Everyone!"

Memorial Weekend 2010

We had a wonderful holiday weekend with the boys, despite Easton having a fever the whole time.  Saturday we layed low at home playing, resting, and even being productive and getting a few things done around the house.  Sunday was another day for just hanging out and then to a friends for a BBQ.  Easton had a blast playing with "A" and all her toys.  Being we have a house of boys, there are no babies, strollers, Dora trinkets, etc.  He was intrigued, despite Daddy's thoughts on the matter!  Monday was Chris and my 7 year wedding anniversary.  It happened to fall on Memorial Day this year.  We packed up and headed to the Elm Creek Park Reserve for a hike on the trails and a picnic in the woods.  It was a beautiful and sunny day with a light breeze to keep you cool.  Picture perfect way to spend our anniversary with the boys.  Of course, Griffin being Griffin slept through the whole thing and missed all the gorgeous scenery.  Easton walked and rode in the stroller since he was still feeling a little under the weather, but had a good time.  He especially enjoyed the new phrase Daddy taught him to say to all the passers by...."HOWDY"!  He thought it was hilarious....3 year olds, what can ya say?

The new "normal"

At 5 weeks with Griffin we are now settling into our new "normal". He is starting to sleep longer stretches at night, making the days go a little more smoothly as we navigate our way into the summer months. Easton now refers to Griffin as his little brother and has taken to calling him "pumpkin pie" on ocassion as well! We are still working on our patience when Mom or Dad has to help Griffin with a bottle or diaper change, but it is getting easier each day. Luckily, Griffin saves his fussy time for the hours of 8-10 PM when Easton is in bed.


Easton has been loving the nice weather as it means we can spend a lot of time outside. Griffin doesn't seem to mind taking a nap outside and I have enjoyed the fresh air as well, so it has been great. Easton finished up his first season of T-Ball which he liked. He is still taking swimming lessons at FOSS and will be finishing up on level 1 and moving to level 2 in the next couple weeks. He is definately a fish, just like his mom was! We went to an ice cream social last week at his new school, which renewed his interests and so we are doing a lot of talking about preschool again. It is hard to believe his is so grown up already!

Sorry it took a little while for the update...I had to figue out how to upload the photos from our old camera so you all could see pictures, too!

***(This post was copied from a different site.  Original date was May 22, 2010)***

Life with two little boys and one big boy!

Ok, so we are 2 1/2 weeks into our new family of 4. So far so good. Griffin is a champion eater which in turn makes him a great sleeper, we are very blessed! Easton is adjusting as well as any 3 year old can... showing a lot of affection to his little brother and helping mom and other times asks when Griffin will be going home.


Chris was home for the first week with us (which Easton and I loved) and is now back to work full time. I am on maternity leave for a couple more weeks and then the house will really be full again with the daycare kids here, too. Easton will be happy to have his buddies back though and we will once again adjust.

I promise to update my blog often with new pics of the boys and funny little stories that are sure to come! So check in often and wish me luck living in the house of boys!

***(This post was copied from a different site.  Date posted was May 3, 2010)***