"Who hears these words of mine & puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, & the winds blew & beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine & does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, & the winds blew & beat against that house, & it fell with a great crash."

Matthew 7:24-27

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Kyler is 4!!

Four Years Old!!

This little man turned 4 on April 12th!  It's hard to believe we have a four-year-old in our house now! :)  Kyler had his four-year check up and he weighed 32 lbs and was 40 inches tall.  At four, Kyler is completely potty trained, and even wears underwear to bed at night.  He has always had a dry pull-up since we potty trained, but just within the last month he decided it was okay to sleep in underwear too. :)  Kyler is able to count very well on his own.  He can make it to 29, and then will need help remembering that 30 is next, then will go all through the thirties, but then needs help with 40, and then would go on up to 49, etc.  Kyler is very good at his colors too, and has been for quite a while.  I don't know if he could sing the ABCs all the way through, but I know he recognizes all the letters because whenever you ask him what a letter is, he always knows.  Kyler has been working on writing his name at preschool, and is doing a really good job.  The only letter he has trouble with is the "e", sometimes it's backwards or upside down. :)  Kyler really enjoys preschool.  The director subbed in his class the other day and she said that it has been so fun to watch him "come out of his shell" this year. ;)  Kyler is becoming very good at carrying on a conversation.  Erik told me that when he took him to his doctor appointment, he was talking and telling the nurses and the doctor all sorts of different things.  This is true at dinner too.  Sometimes Kyler will just sit and talk for the first part of dinner and not eat a single thing.  Then we are all done, and he still hasn't started eating.....we are working on this. :)  Kyler has an excellent memory.  There is no chance you can tell him something and say, "oh we'll do that later", hoping that he will forget, because he will not!  

Kyler is really into about three things right now, baseball (the Sandlot Movie), Cars and Cars 2, and Thomas the Train.  Kyler loves to play baseball and is getting really good at it.  He wants you to pitch him the ball, so that he can hit it and run the bases like Benny Rodriguez does in The Sandlot movie. :)  And yes, he gets hits!!  I am amazed at how many times he gets a hit when Erik or I are pitching to him, and they are good hits too.  Kyler also loves to play catch.  Although he isn't very good at the "catching" part yet, he is very good at the throwing and will wind up like a pitcher and send a fast one right at you. :)  Kyler also still likes the Cars and Cars 2 movies.  He still enjoys collecting the diecast cars from the movies.  Even though he has quite a few, there are still some he is looking for. :)  He will often get them out and set up different scenarios with some of them.  I will hear him "talking" like is one of the guys, and talking to another car. :)  Thomas is also another favorite.  He likes to build a track and drive his trains all along the track, pulling different cars and picking up cargo.

Kyler is such a fun-loving little guy.  He is so excited an enthusiastic about life and everything in general.  He does a great job with telling things that happened in the past, but everything happened "yesterday" even if it was a few weeks or days ago. :)  Kyler enjoys going to preschool and has so much fun with his "children", as he calls them.  He has quite the imagination and is really starting to get into pretend and imaginary play, especially with Norah.  Kyler and Norah are developing quite the relationship.  Like any siblings, they can be the best of friends, or the worst enemies.  I often hear Kyler giving Norah something and saying, "here Norah, you can have a turn if you want to".  Or other times Kyler knows exactly what to do to make Norah mad. :)

We love you very much Kyler and can't believe you are 4!!      

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Easter 2013

Our Easter celebration started the weekend before Easter on Palm Sunday.  After church, we went over to Erik's parent's house to celebrate Easter with his immediate family.  We enjoyed a wonderful but quick lunch, and then headed home for naps.  On Wednesday, we came back in the evening after dinner for an Easter egg hunt.  Kyler and Norah collected 70 eggs that were hidden all around the basement.  They had a fun time doing it!  Kyler and Norah each got a puzzle and big flower to put in the yard too.

On Friday evening we went to the Good Friday services at Naz.  We always enjoy hearing the different high school students give their testimony.

Saturday we did our Easter egg hunt here at home with just the four of us.  Since Erik works all Sunday morning, and we head to lunch with family right after church, it's easier to do it the day before.  So, when Kyler and Norah got up from their naps Saturday afternoon, they came downstairs to their Easter baskets and another egg hunt.  Once again, both kids were very excited to collect the eggs and knew right what to do. :)  They also enjoyed seeing some surprises in their baskets.  Here are some pictures form our egg hunt at home.

Kyler and Norah's Easter baskets

A picture with their baskets....doesn't Norah look thrilled? :)

Checking out what's inside...

Kyler got a new Twins hat!!!

And they are off!!!  Kyler collecting a few eggs

Norah finding some....

We finally convinced her to carry her basket with her :)

Kyler with his collection :)

Saturday evening we went over to my (Ashley's) parent's house and had a small Easter celebration with them.  Kyler and Norah opened their Easter baskets and then went on an egg hunt at their house.  Once again, the kids loved looking for eggs and were blessed with some fun surprises in their Easter baskets.


Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast, and then got ready for church.  Erik had left early in the morning, so we didn't even see him until we got to church a little after 10:00.  My parent's joined us for church, and then afterwards, Kyler and Norah headed went with them while Erik put things away after the services.  After church we all headed up to my aunt and uncle's house by Denver to enjoy a wonderful Easter dinner.  Kyler and Norah had one more Easter basket to open at my aunt and uncle's; and then after lunch, all of the kids (Kyler, Norah, and my cousins' four kids) went on an egg hunt throughout their house.  Kyler and Norah took a little nap in the afternoon, while the rest of us hung out and relaxed.  When Kyler and Norah got up, they played for a while, and then we had a small dinner of leftovers before heading home!  

My two kids in their Easter best!

Norah checking out her basket

Fun things!

Kyler checking out his basket

Bubbles!!!

Dinner with Ava :)

Older boys having dinner

Our family :)

My family on Easter


We had a wonderful week celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Although we had a lot of "fun" Easter activities, we want to continue to remember and teach Kyler and Norah the true meaning of Easter, he is risen!!  We hope you and your family had a great Easter too!



Sunday, April 7, 2013

End of February & March

After Norah's birthday and for the month of March, we didn't really do a whole lot. :)  Since there was still a lot of snow, we enjoyed going out and playing outside several times, and tried to occupy ourselves doing various things inside. :)  So, here are some things we did while we were stuck inside!

Feb. 23rd


Norah fed her baby Zoe dinner in Kyler's booster seat. :)  Norah still loves to play with her babies and take care of them.  She is usually doing something with one of them each day.  On this particular evening she decided the best way to feed Zoe was in Kyler's chair. :)


Kyler winding up for a pitch

Kyler pitching to Norah, she's in the doorway on the far left.

We play baseball inside!! Erik is pitching to Kyler.  Kyler is in love with baseball right now.  And since we can't go outside to play baseball, we play baseball inside!  However, the game usually ends when Kyler hits something he's not supposed to. :)  Kyler is also getting pretty good at hitting the ball when Erik pitches to him, so we are going to have to quit soon here and just play outside before something really gets broken. :)


Feb. 26th
Working on a snowman...

Two parts done...

We go outside to play in the snow!!  As you can see by this picture, it's getting dark out, but when the kids got up from their nap, they really wanted to go out and play in the snow.  So, while I made dinner, Erik went out with them and helped them build a snow man!  Both kids have really enjoyed playing in the snow this year and we have gotten good use out of our winter gear!


Feb 27th
I had to include this picture for memory sake...this is our picnic table, which I'm pretty sure was clear before this snow storm and a tape measure where you can see just above the snow is the 10" mark.  This is the snow storm that the meteorologists predicted we would get a "trace to 1 or 2 inches", and instead it snowed for about two days straight and we ended up with almost 10"...... :)


March 2nd
We helped Daddy in the basement!  I haven't really done a "basement" update in a while, but we are making progress!!  Here, Erik was working on putting up drywall on a wall he built so that our utility/furnace/water heater will no longer be visible when you come down the stairs!!  Yay!! 


March 5th
Take a look at what Erik is wearing...

Notice what Norah's wearing...

And what Kyler's wearing!!
Lol!  It was really funny because Kyler and Erik were downstairs, with Norah, but all of a sudden Norah came upstairs and "needed her hat and glasses".  I was so confused as to why she needed these things until I saw what Erik and Kyler had on. :)  


March 8th


More snowman building!  The other guy was looking a little sad, so we made a new one!  This time with Mommy. :)

March 12th


Today Norah thought her babies needed to hang out in the Cars tent. :)  As you can see, she has one in her seat to eat, there's another one laying down, and her carrier is behind her. :)  Lots of stuff in a little tent! :)


March 20th
And here's Miss Norah with her hat and Kyler's sunglasses on :)


Well that concludes the "end of Feb and March" update. :)  Next will be our Easter post.  Enjoy the beautiful day! :)