Inside-Outside Fun

I have been LOVING our crazy January (spring?) weather!  It has made for lots of great times with the boys outside, much earlier in the year than I expected!  We have been having all sorts of fun lately both inside and outside, and I just had to share some cute boys with you!

Yesterday I opened the baby gate (well one of them... there was still one blocking the stairs and dining room) and the boys had free range of the kitchen.  Ugg. They sure had fun-- crawling, walking, touching, opening, closing, pushing, etc-- and Mommy stayed quite busy holding cabinet doors, drawers, and the oven shut!  Needless to say, at naptime, the rest of the baby-proofing was finally completed on those previously mentioned items! =)

Our new stools are fun play toys/walkers!

Too bad... dishwasher was locked!

Then after nap, we were on to playtime on the upstairs deck.  This is such a fun and safe place for the boys to play, but we are definitely going to have to seal the deck wood.  We had it stained when we moved in, and the residue gets all over the boys' clothes!  At least it washes out!

J, W

"Mommy, can't we please let Betsy out?"
(I put her in because she barks like a
maniac at anyone across the street at the park!)

Watching big kids playing on the field

Jack figured out that he could see down through the cracks in the deck...
needless to say, his face and hands needed washing after this!

Such big boys!!

Then they boys helped me put away clothes in their closet.  They both played with an empty box for awhile, then Jack realized he could climb up one of the boxes of books that are still on the floor.  Boy was he happy!

Will still intrigued with the box... well, the
tape on the box I think!

What fun I get to have every day with these big boys! They are going to be 17 months old tomorrow, and I just can't believe it! I was watching a video of them and looking at pictures from a year ago, and I can't believe how much they have changed!!  I hardly can even remember them this tiny!

January 2011

Actually one year ago today... my how time flies!

Have a great week!

Oh So Organized!!

My husband did SUCH an amazing job organizing our garage last weekend, and I just had to show it off!  He worked so hard, and because of it, has thoroughly enjoyed parking his car in the garage all week long! =)

We had a spot right next to the back door into the house that I just off-handedly said needed something, like maybe our name or something.  And wha-la... a few minutes later, my artistic husband had created this!  (This weekend he's working on adding a border and more detail.)  I LOVE IT!

Oh how I love organization!  We still need to finish organizing the shelves a bit more, but other than that, isn't it beautiful?!

His amazing workbench that he made a few years ago!

What an incredible man I'm married to!  Thank you Justin for working so hard to make our house such a wonderful place to live!  I love you so much!  Great job, Babe!!!

Daddy Time

I just love watching our boys spend time with their Daddy! They just adore him, and they sure had fun watching their favorite show "Bubble Guppies" this morning all together!  I just couldn't resist snapping some pictures of the cuteness and cuddles!

J, W

LOVE!

They get so excited each and every time he comes home from work, and on the weekends they are so happy to have him home for two whole days! Next weekend I'm going to Colorado, so the boys will have an entire guys weekend--with no mommy! How fun!

~~~

The boys are getting so big and having so much fun playing lately!  They are both walking now, and seem to be having such fun with this freedom! Here are some pictures of their shenanigans! =)

They are loving their hard hat lately...

W

J

Will loves his tool bench...

Especially when he figures out how to open and close the compartments!

And their newest favorite thing to play in (all.day.long!)

The empty cabinet on the entertainment center!

What fun!

To Do List... DONE!

Holy cow-- we got a lot done this weekend!!!  The biggest and and most time-consuming project that completed (by Justin) was getting our garage completely put away and organized! (Yes, we've lived here since September, but it just takes awhile to get it all done!)  It looks absolutely amazing, and now is a home for both of our cars!  I will be taking pictures tomorrow in the daylight to show you all of Justin's handiwork! Seriously, it looks SOOO good!!!

I did a bunch of things too inside the house: all of our laundry, about 4-5 loads of dishes, planned out our meals for the next week, grocery shopped, cooked all our meals, cleaned the house (with Justin's help vacuuming), cleaned out and reorganized my closet, and worked out 6 of the 7 days this week!! Talk about productive!  I've been having a spot on my upper back that really hurts and keeps me from sleeping after about 6, so I've gotten up early and been super productive! I think it is from just sleeping wrong, but I guess it has ended up being a good thing! It feels good to end a weekend knowing that we got so many projects on our to do list crossed off!  We have just a couple more projects to finish up (decorating our master bedroom is the last big one) and then we'll finally feel settled in!  We just love being back in this house, so it doesn't bother us that it has taken us longer to finish everything here than it has in previous houses.  Spending our time with our boys has just been more important! =)

And just because I can't have a post (even a short one!) without a picture, here is a pic of the boys all ready for our family bike ride this morning!

They couldn't quite figure out what was on top of their heads!! =)

We rode 6 miles (Justin pulling the trailer), and by the end, Will was sound asleep!  I love fun family outings!!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Ryley Elisabeth...

I just have to do a special post for a very special young lady! 


I'm so proud to be her Aunt Aly... for the last 8 1/2 years! Oh my gosh, I just can't believe how much she has changed!

She's absolutely amazing with the boys...

And is just getting so grown up!

I love the young lady she is becoming... so smart, thoughtful, creative, talented, caring, fun, sensitive.  She loves Jesus and her heart is so soft in following His ways and sharing Him with others.  She thinks deeply about things, and I love to hear the stories about what she has come up with! She is a great reader, is very smart, and is always learning new things! She is a girl who desires to do her best, and even in hard or frustrating times, strives to do what is right! 

I just love her so much and am lucky to be her aunt!

I'm so proud of her that she has earned the lead part in her school's play, Cinderella!  (I told you she was talented!) I, too, was in school plays in elementary school, so I'm so incredibly excited that she has earned this role! 

And Ryley... guess what???????

I'm coming to Denver to see you perform!! 

SURPRISE!!!!!  

I can hardly wait to come and be with you for the whole weekend!  So practice hard, 'become' Cinderella, and I'll be there in 15 days!!!!  I love you so much and will see you soon!