Flash Back Friday

When we lived in McKinney, I sold ads for the community magazine with the Chamber of Commerce.  I recently found these, which were ads in the magazine:

Here's Connor at 8 months.  He had learned this new trick with his lips.

After school I had a conversation with Connor regarding his spelling test:

Me:  Connor, did you take a spelling test today?

C: What's a spelling test?

Me: It's when the teacher says a word and you write it down on paper.

C: Oh yeah we did that and Ms. Gardner gave me 100 points!

Here's a picture of the two of them--Reid at 8 months and Connor at 2 years.

 Connor loved crawling into bed with Reid whenever he woke up! They were so excited to see each other!

Reid at 18 months.  Look at those cheeks!!

Tonight as I was closing Reid's door at bedtime, he yelled, "Mommy I love you stickier than the stickiest lollipop there ever was!" I'm not sure where he gets this stuff but it makes my heart happy! :)

Love them so much!! :)

OUCH!!

A few weeks ago the boys were playing and running wild through the house (like everyday) and I heard Reid start screaming.  I was in the kitchen and Connor ran in panicked saying that Reid was hurt and we needed to go to the hospital.  Connor is known to be a bit dramatic so I didn't think much of it...until I saw Reid.  Blood was dripping everywhere and was all over his neck and shirt.  I tried to stop the bleeding the best I could, but there was a lot of it.  I put in him in the shower and calmed him down while I washed off all the blood.  Connor was so sweet and kept offering to call the doctor, call daddy or just help any way he could.  After getting him cleaned up, I put a back of frozen peas on his head because it immediately started to swell.  Thankfully he soon began laughing and seemed okay. Oh, and the way he cut it??  He hit it on the edge of the wall!!

 I am not one to rush to the doctor for anything.  In fact, both of the boys went a full year without one doctor's visit last year! Yea for good health!! So to me, the cut seemed fine and I'd just continue to watch it.  Then I showed my neighbor and she thought I should take him into an urgent care.  I was hesitant, but she thought he needed a stitch.  For the next 30 minutes I kept going back and forth on what I should do.  Finally, she convinced him to go because she thought the cut looked deep.

 But I should've gone with my gut and not taken him because there was nothing to it.  The cut was not that deep and they just needed to wrap his head and put neosporin on it!  

Even banged up, he's still cute!

So now that same neighbor calls me when there is something health-related going on with her kids because she knows I'll calm her down & talk her out of going to the doctor! ;)

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Also this summer, Reid took swim lessons. Now he and Connor swim all over the pool and I don't have to worry...too much.  They are great swimmers!!

Connor came with me to all of Reid's lessons...but this day, he'd had enough!

 My cute partner!

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One morning I woke up sick with a stomach bug and just wanted to stay in bed.  But, as any other stay at home moms know, we don't get a day off.  Thankfully, I was in good hands with Dr. Reid.

 The boys were being very sweet because they knew how badly I felt.  In fact, they fixed my hair for me that day!! :)

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And lastly, it's no secret that my boys do not sleep much, and never have.  One morning this summer, Connor slept in, so he wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to me because it was so "late!"

An Exciting Week of Firsts

A few weeks ago we had an exciting week of firsts---First day of 1st grade then...

Connor lost his first tooth!!!  

I noticed on his 2nd day of school that he had a loose tooth.  We wiggled it all week, then on Sunday morning I had him eat an apple.  Josh and I twisted, wiggled, pulled and finally we let Connor have the last tug and out it came!  We were so excited for him!

I bought him a tooth fairy pillow 6 months ago and had it stored away until now!

 The tooth fairy brought him five one dollar bills along with this certificate. Now he has the cutest smile!! :)

Fun in Colorado

Ahhh Colorado.  My 2nd favorite state in the U.S. (but very favorite place to visit!!)  We had our annual  family vacation to Estes Park recently, and as usual, had a wonderful time!! (I've linked all the places we visited, which is why they appear brown.  Click on the word and it will take you to that web site giving more information on those places.)

This is how we roll.  Both boys had their own earphones and dvd players!!

I was so proud of the boys.  We drove 11.5 hours and only stopped ONCE for lunch!!  Here we are stopping for the night at our hotel in Trinidad, CO.

The boys woke up very early the next morning (like before 5am early.) So while I stayed behind to get ready and pack up, Daddy and the boys went downstairs to breakfast.

We're off!

We left Trinidad and headed to Colorado Springs, where we stopped at Garden of the Gods.  

The weather and views were great!

I don't think he had a clue as to what he was looking at...

He's taller than the mountains!!

We then stopped by Cave of the Winds

The boys were getting a little too close to the edge!!

They loved climbing through this "caver's challenge."

We made a quick stop in Lyons before heading up the mountain to Estes.

 These 3 big elk welcomed us when we came into the neighborhood!

 Connor couldn't wait to get out the baseball pinball game.  Some of you might recall what happened last year with this game: This Too Shall Pass

Connor L-O-V-E-S to go fishing, hence him wanting to be a professional fisherman when he grows up!  So going to Trout Haven was the top thing on his list.  

He caught a big one!

Showing off his big catch!

It was a success!!  We all enjoyed trout for dinner!

Mr. Cool

Next on the list was playing putt putt, which is Reid's favorite thing to do!

The "Hole in One club"

The  next day while Daddy was fishing, MeMaw, the boys and I rode the Estes Park Aerial Tramway to the top of a mountain and looked around.  It was beautiful.

Can you tell it was a bit windy?!?

While we were exploring the mountains, Daddy was fly fishing with his friend, Jerry. 

The next morning, Josh and I hiked Twin Sisters Peak.  I love hiking in the mountains and even though it was a bit steep, the views were amazing!

Wearing my ROAR shirt for sweet, Harper, who has SMA.

We came to the side of the mountain where the horrible flooding was last September.  It was sad to see so many trees washed away.

My mountain man!!

There are so many unique trees in the mountain.  This trunk was completely twisted.  I saw some that had grown around rocks.  Very cool.

That afternoon we went down the big slide downtown.  This is another favorite of both the boys!

MeMaw, the boys and I also did bumper cars, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures.  Reid rode with his big brother since he was too small to drive. We had so much fun and laughed so hard!

After sliding, it was time for another game of putt putt on a different course this time.

Josh and I were able to slip away one night and play darts.

 I was doing a Josh look.

We had fun spending the week with MeMaw!

MeMaw's best friend, Marne

The boys woke up early every morning, so one morning we bought donuts and sat out by the river downtown.  We are bundled up in August!!!

Stopping to play the chimes and make beautiful music.

It's hard to see, but the boys are standing on the bridge.

I love this of Daddy and his boys.

Each afternoon or evening after supper, we would walk around the neighborhood.  I could walk all day and night while I'm there!

One day Connor was out sweeping off the driveway when he started screaming and ran inside.  He had been stung a few times by bees.  After we calmed him down, he took his shirt off and a bee was still in his shirt.  Poor guy, but he quickly felt better!

 Looking at the deer

The day before we left, Josh and I wanted to embark on one last hike.  We chose to climb Estes Cone.

On our way, bright and early!!

Love that I'm married to an outdoorsy, adventurous man!

 

 We made it to the top! Over 11,000 feet.

Check out these breathtaking views!

 We had a picnic on top; I don't think I'll ever have a more beautiful picnic setting!

We fed some chipmunks!

Here's the street view of Estes Cone:

After we climbed down, we met up with the boys and hiked a family favorite, Lily Lake.

Daddy found walking sticks for the boys, which they thought were so cool. (Look at Mr. Cool)

 Another view of Estes Cone from Lily Lake

 Look closely for Connor and me!

 There we are!

 The boys LOVE getting to spend time with Daddy and going on fun outings!

 So sweet!!

 There's that fisherman, scoping the water for fish!!

After a week in beautiful Colorado, it was time to go home :(

The boys are very interested in volcanoes, so we stopped in New Mexico at the site of Capulin Volcano.

 Standing at the bottom of the volcano.

 They were given an activity book and if completed, they could become Jr. Park Rangers.

 Standing on the lava rocks.

 Working on their books.

One of the activities Connor had to complete was interviewing a Park Ranger.  This man was so nice and Connor did a great job.

 Then it was time to take the pledge to be an official Jr. Park Ranger

 They did it!!

We promised them we'd stay at a hotel with a swimming pool and they swam until almost 10:00pm!

Back in the car for our last leg of the trip.

As always, we had SO much fun in Estes Park and can't wait to go back!!