Household Hazard

I think I go up and down my stairs about 400 times a day - and while good for my heart, I have to defy death every time as I tackle my "oh sure, this will keep Ethan off the stairs" booby trap! Yep, I'm so lame, that this is my 'baby gate'!

I do have a real baby gate at the top of the stairs, to alleviate the toppling-downward-motion, but this bar stool has proven to be the perfect length to provide me with a temporary blockade from our incredibly long, straight-shot staircase. I know I could get a gate (though a bit tricky) to fit on the wall and the banister post, but I am convinced that with just a little more practice (and a little more understanding on Ethan's part) he'll master the 'coming down the stairs' as well as he has the 'going up the stairs' skill!

But until then, I am pretty sure that I am going to severely harm myself by hurdling both this bar stool and the gate at the top! Garrett loves the extra obstacle and glides over it with a huge and graceful leap - often adding an impressive commando roll at the bottom. Even Ethan loves playing in it...just picture a really basic jungle gym! Me, I about trip over it every time! In my attempts to keep my children safe, I will probably break my neck! Hmmmm... the things we do for our children...and the things I do to avoid buying another gate that will only be needed for about a week!!! :)

Good Morning

This is what happens when I sit down to post...poor Garrett gets an early morning wake-up call!!! Ethan is always so anxious for his big bro to wake up that today, he took matters into his own hands and took advantage of me being distracted!!! He toddled right in to Garrett's room (silly me, leaving the door open a bit) and started poking and doing his 'pay attention to me' grunts!!! Good Morning, Garrett!!!

And don't pay any attention to Garrett's too small & mismatched pj's...I figure he can where whatever he wants to bed! I have enough trouble trying to make sure he's (somewhat) matching during the daylight hours, while still giving allowing him to have some say in the matter. His logic is amazing - you should hear our debates about 'matching and non-matching'...he is adamant about things matching if they start with the same letter! Think grey and green, brown and blue...aaahhhhhh...it's often a battle I choose not to fight! :)

Older and Older...

One might think that this is a post mourning the fact that both Steve and I are both now 30, since, the last post was the b-day post...but no...instead it is a post dedicated to the fact that I am fully aware that my children are growing up way too quickly! Can't they just slow it down a bit...for my sake?!?

Am I the only mother out there who mourns the fact that time does not stand still? These boys are growing faster than I can keep track of and while I usually embrace that fact and completely enjoy each new phase, today it makes me a little nostalgic for some reason!

Like the fact that Ethan's little toothless smile has morphed into a lopsided, one-tooth grin. And, he is soooo good on his feet now and quite often seems to be running to keep up with his brother! And while I know he's still completely dependant on me, he seems so independent too...how that is possible, I'm not quite sure!

And Garrett seems to be taller and taller every time I see him today - is it possible that he is growing right before my eyes!?!? Today, he just seems a bit more mature and a bit more like a little man than my little crazy kiddo! The conversations we've had today were so amusingly grown-up! I'm sure tomorrow, he'll be back to the craziness and act like a 2 year old just for good measure...but for this moment, he seems so old!

So here's to you kiddos...you will never know how much I adore being your mommy and how blessed we are in our little family! And thanks for helping me slow down and take the baby-steps with you (or the giant leaps as in Garrett's case! That kid can jump like no other!) :)

Notice the bumps/bruises/scrapes on Ethan's forehead! I guess growing up is painful for him too!

My sweet boy...do they come any cuter than that???

Happy Birthday Steve-o!

Today is the big 3-0 for Steve! Wahoo! Now hopefully, Garrett will quit declaring, "Really Mom? You're older than Dad?!?!?! You don't look bigger than him!" I guess age is a hard concept...funny since Garrett eats, drinks and breathes his birthday. He plans his next birthday party almost daily...and yes - we have to wait all the way until January for his big event!

So here are a few celebratory pictures...in honor of the current birthday boy!

And yes...the shirt says 'hug me'...how cute is that???

Hmmm...glad to see the mischievous little grin has been there since the beginning!

Happy Birthday Steve! We love you so much!!!

Friday Favorite

This week I've been thinking of so many different food favorites...probably because it's getting so hot here that I find I'm not cooking many big meals...just finding little snacky meals to make instead. So here are just a few random snacky faves I've come across lately.

Okay...so has anyone else tried the Chocolate Chex??? They are soooo yummy! They're good in a bowl with milk in true, cold cereal fashion, but I LOVE them as a snack...it helps that chocolate craving I get so often...and I don't feel as guilty grabbing a handful of those than I would grabbing a snickers bar or making a batch of brownies or cookies or something! Besides, it's cold cereal, so it's fortified, right??? Basically, you're doing your body good by eating a handful of them every day - how else would you get all those extra vitamins and minerals?!?!?! Okay, only kidding...but they really are a tasty treat!

Another thing I've been eating like it's going out of style is chips and salsa. Seriously, I can not get enough of it! For some reason it seems like the perfect summer snack! I am usually not a bottled salsa fan, but I've stumbled across one that I just can't get enough of...and it's a generic HEB store brand so it's a very frugal option, to boot! So if you're ever looking for a new salsa...give the HEB Roasted Pepper Salsa a try - or any roasted pepper version - I think I saw a Pace version too. I am absolutely in love with the almost smoky/roasted flavor. It balances the heat perfectly!!! Another one type I tried the other day was from Walmart - it was Sam's Choice (I think) and it was something like Mango, Peach and Pineapple salsa. It too was very good...but I had to be in the mood for it - it was almost too sweet sometimes! We've also been making salsa too lately...got to put all those tasty garden tomatoes to good use!!! Needless to say, I think I have consumed my weight in tortilla chips over the past two weeks! :)

So happy snacking everyone...and have a fantastic weekend!!!

What???

So, every week, on the way home from church, I always ask Garrett about his primary lesson. He used to just blow me off and say (with complete attitude!) "we just talked about the same thing we talk about every week!" When I ask what that is...he responds "Jesus!" Like duh...don't you know that by now??? Too funny - though I usually tried to bring home the point that there are lots of things to talk about at church!

And then the past few weeks, when I ask him, all he says is "I don't really remember." Which only means that he can't remember every single thing to tell me, so he won't even try. I swear...I have never met a more detail-oriented little boy in my life! Now I tell him, and remind him each week that we're going to talk about his class afterwards, so he needs to remember some things to tell me.

So this week, we get home and Garrett starts talking about his class...his lesson...and all the stories that they had talked and songs that they sang in primary. He pulls out his paper that he's carefully brought home...usually adorned with a picture to go along with the lesson or something...but this time the paper holds nothing but the words, "No - Yes - Not Now." He shows it to me like it should make perfect sense and asks if I know that story???? Hmmmm....I'm desperately wracking my brain trying to think of any scripture story to go along with those three phrases, but sadly, I come up blank! He is utterly disappointed in me...and I can tell that he's basically thinking I'm a total heathen and haven't listened in church ever! I ask him to tell me the story, and he starts telling some random story about a boy who had lost some gold coins and said a prayer. Ahhhh...it's making more sense to me now...and while I didn't know the exact story, I managed to save face a little bit and start asking questions about the story that I knew would have been covered...like, "oh, so he lost his gold and then prayed for help? Why'd he do that? Were his prayers answered? Can your prayers be answered?" Aren't I smooth!?! I love being a mom sometimes..it definitely keeps you on your toes!

The Boys

Here's a pic of Ethan and his posse. These are 'the boys'...all born within a month or two of each other and the best of friends. Okay, so maybe not the best of friends...do you even have friends at 1 year old?!? But, these little guys are together more often than not, so they're bound to become best buddies before too long! I just had to post this because I thought they were all so cute! And of course, we all had our other kids who loved the new splash-pad...but my camera battery died as soon as I got the older ones into their cute little pose...yeah, well prepared mom, huh?!? Oh well, at least I captured part of the moment!

I love these pics because in the first one...they all look like they're each planning their move and deciding which toy to go for first. Then the second pic tells it all...they're all diving for the same thing! hmmmm...I wonder who will win!