Heyborne Habitat

Pumpkin Fun

2011-10-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Our pumpkin creations.

Dylan really wanted to carve one of the pumpkins but he wasn't so into helping clean it out (look at his face). Too funny.

This is what our pumpkins look like sitting on our front porch this morning. Surprise! Everyone has snow on their pumpkins, right?!

The snowy view from our front door.

Look Who's 2!

2011-10-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to blow out the candle.

We celebrated Liam's birthday a few weeks ago. It's still hard to believe he's 2 years old. He's such a fun and funny kid; always doing things to make us laugh.
Happy Birthday Liam!
On to the terrible two's :)

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Paige took a field trip to the pumpkin patch with her preschool class. She was so excited to bring her little pumpkin home.

The New Digs

2011-09-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Front door

View from the street. The yard is all torn up getting ready for some landscaping. Lots of fun!

Living Room

View from living room to the stairs and into the kitchen/dining room

Kitchen on the right, dining room on the left. Door out to the back yard.

Kitchen - I love all the counters and cupboard space

Pantry - I love this too!

Guest/hall bath just off the living room.

Master bedroom w/bath on right and walk-in closet on left

Master bathroom

Family room upstairs.

I've had quite a few requests for pictures of our new house. I kept waiting to take pictures until all the rooms looked nice and clean, but lets be realistic, that just isn't going to happen. So, I hope you enjoy these pictures of our lived-in house, which we absolutely love!

Some info on the house. It's 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. 2100 finished square feet with another 1200 unfinished square feet in the basement. Living room, 1/2 bath, kitchen, dining room, laundry room and master bedroom on the main floor. Three bedrooms and a full bath upstairs, we use the largest room as the family room.

We're really enjoying having so much space and it's nice to have the option for more space in the future. It has no yard so that has been quite a project to get going. I think it will be a work in progress for awhile. Let us know if you're ever in the area. We'd love to have visitors!

Caught Red-Handed

2011-09-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

I love this picture, both mouths wide open!

One morning last week I wasn't able to get my shower in before Bill left for work. This usually means trouble because it's really not a good idea to leave Paige and Liam unsupervised for any amount of time. When I got out of my warp-speed shower this is what I found. Paige had moved one of the kitchen chairs, climbed into the pantry and got a container of frosting. At least she was sharing with her brother, how nice :)

Turning 8 is Great

2011-09-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dylan had his 8th birthday a few weeks ago. It was quite a busy weekend. He turned 8 on Friday, had a little party that night. Got baptized on Saturday, had another party that afternoon. And then had a friend party at the bowling alley the next week. It was quite the week of fun.

And.....We're Back.

2011-09-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it here to Utah. It was a long and busy summer but I think we're finally starting to get settled and into a routine with our new house/ward/job/schools etc. Here are some pictures from our recent visit to the petroglyphs near our house. The kids enjoyed exploring and climbing on all the rocks.

Good News

2011-06-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

We accepted an offer on our house yesterday. So it looks like we'll really be moving to Utah...and soon. The closing date is July 8th. We started going through things to get ready and wouldn't you know it, we found the camera cord. Yeah! Not that we'll be using it much over the next couple months. I have a feeling we're going to be a little busy :)

Never say never

2011-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize it's been a long time since my last post. And no, I'm not pregnant. But there are plenty of other changes coming in the near future. Drumroll please.......

We are moving to Cedar City, Utah. Bill has accepted a faculty position at Southern Utah University and will start in August. Even though we said we would never live in Utah, it seems that is where we are supposed to be. We will be less than 2 hours from all the grandparents and much closer to all our family. Needless to say, our kids (and the grandparents) are very excited!

Its been a busy couple of weeks since we decided to make the move. Our house went up on the market this weekend and we're just waiting to see how long it will take to sell.

We love living in Sioux City and are very sad to leave here. Although we are moving closer to family we feel very at home here and are sad to leave our friends that have become like family over the last 4 years.

Wish us luck as we wait for our house to sell and get things ready for the big move. Maybe I'll even find the camera cord that has been missing since January!

She Has a Good Point

2011-03-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

This morning while I was getting ready to take Dylan to school, I put my boots on and found yet another rock in the bottom of my shoe. After many days of this same routine I wondered out loud why I keep finding these rocks in my shoes and would it please stop. Then Paige says, "but mom, it's a good hiding place, Liam can't find them there."

And she's right.

Paige Turns 4!

2011-01-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2011-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures to enjoy from Christmas morning.

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

2011-01-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

Bill's aunt sent the kids a Christmas rice krispie kit (thanks Wendy!) They each had fun designing and decorating their house.

Dylan showing his finished house

He wanted the candies to look like Christmas lights on the house. I think he did a great job!

Paige showing off her finished house

She had a little help from her dad

A side-by-side comparison. Notice the lack of candy on Paige's house. She ate most of hers before it even left the bag :)

2010 Christmas Letter

2010-12-22T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and Family,

We hope this letter finds you healthy and happy. We have enjoyed an especially busy year. Besides all the normal happenings of a family of 5 we also had our share of unexpected events, including: a wind storm that toppled our tree onto our garage (we built a new one!), a hail storm that pockmarked our van, a drunk driver that hit the van while it was parked in front of our house, a second wind storm that knocked a large limb onto the back window of our car (we replaced that too), and a deer that decided to run into the side of our car while we were driving 55 mph down the highway. After all of this, we're looking forward to an uneventful 2011!

As a family we enjoyed a 10 day vacation in Utah visiting family and a camping trip along the Mississippi River. Here are some individual highlights:

Liam-turned 1 in October, learned to walk, and is cutting teeth. He is a happy kid who is quick to smile and loves to make others laugh, but he also has a devious side. He knows what "no" means but often decides not to listen. He's such a cutie, but we still can't decide who he looks like.

Paige-Oooohhhh our little Paige! She keeps us hopping every minute and has enough energy for two kids her age. Paige will be four in January, is in pre-school and gymnastics and attends speech and occupational therapy once a week. She loves dogs and babies and will be friends with anyone.

Dylan-turned 7 in September and is in the 2nd grade. He is our braniac who frequently gets extra assignments at school to help keep him interested and motivated. He loves dinosaurs, reading, video games, and baseball. He is growing up too quickly and already resists having to spend Saturdays (his "only day off!") helping around the house instead of playing all day.

Jen-is busy being the full-time mom and part-time music teacher. Besides running the kids to their various activities she has 18+ piano students and is serving in the Young Womens presidency at church. She has become quite serious about running as of late and puts in multiple miles on the treadmill each week.

Bill-continues to enjoy teaching at Morningside College. He was recently awarded one of three excellence in teaching awards from the college. Travels this year took him to San Diego for the Entomological Society of America Meeting (aka the bug nerd extravaganza!) and to India for two weeks with students. He also rode RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) putting in over 500 miles for the week and has plans to do it again next year. He is still serving as 1st counselor in the bishopric.

We hope you each have a blessed and peaceful Christmas season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, the Heybornes

Who Stole the Candy from the Christmas Tree?

2010-12-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Notice days 16 through 23 are missing the little gold candies?

Notice the pile of empty gold candy wrappers?

Wonder who could have eaten all those in the 2 minutes it took me to go to the bathroom?

Nativities

2010-12-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

A few years ago our church started an annual Nativity Exhibit. Bill and I were in charge of it again this year. This is the 3rd year we've done it, and it was by far the best. We had a total of 99 nativities and a few hundred people that came through to look. We also had quite a few people ask to include their nativities next year- we're already planning a different layout as we are expecting over 100 nativities next year.

Here are a few pictures from this year's event.

It's definitely a lot of work but well worth the effort.

For the Grandparents

2010-11-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here are a few short videos of Liam's newest skill.

Liam's 1st Haircut

2010-11-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

We finally took Liam to get his first haircut. I didn't get to take a before picture so you'll just have to enjoy the cute after pictures.

He looks like such a little kid now - he's quickly outgrowing the baby stage.

Deja Vu

2010-10-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We've had a whole week of Halloween fun. On Wednesday, the kids all went trick or treating at the college where Bill teaches (all the students decorate their halls and pass out candy). On Thursday Paige had her preschool party, on Friday Dylan had his class party and on Friday evening we went to the church trunk or treat party. Lots of fun and lots of candy.

I asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween. Dylan wanted to wear his transformer costume from last year and it still fit so that was easy. Then Paige saw her tiger costume from last year and she said she wanted to be a tiger. Luckily the 2T-3T tiger costume still fits so that was easy too. Then I dug out the frog costume that each of the kids have worn when they were younger and it was the perfect size for Liam. Presto - 3 costumes without spending a dime!

Once again we tried taking pictures of the kids. Some turned out, some didn't. You get what you get, I guess.

Pumpkins

2010-10-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight for our family home evening activity we decorated our pumpkins. I found this great sticker kit so the kids were able to each design their own pumpkin face. It was quick, clean and fun and I think they turned out really cute!

We tried to get a picture with all 3 kids and their pumpkins. Out of 20+ pictures, this was the best one. At least we tried.

The Birthday Boy

2010-10-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Liam's 1st birthday. I still can't believe that he's already 1. He's finally started teething and he's getting 6 teeth at once so the last few days he hasn't felt that great but we managed to open presents and have cake and ice cream so that's the most important part I guess.

Enjoy the overload of pictures!

Reading a birthday card (that looks like it's bigger than his head) :)

Getting some pointers from his older brother and sister on the proper way to open a present

Digging into the frosting

Enjoying some cake

The end result

Happy Birthday Liam!

I Can Play the Kazoo, Can You?

2010-09-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Liam is such a fun and funny kid. He literally cracks us up every day with his funny faces and mannerisms. The other day we discovered he can play the kazoo, really loud, and he loves it.

Look at his puffed out cheeks blowing - so cute

All Things Dinosaur

2010-09-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today was Dylan's dinosaur birthday party. We had it at a local park and it was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, which was a relief, because its been rainy and cold the last two days. My plan was to get pictures of each activity to include with this post but I found myself a little busy trying to manage a very active group of boys.

The dinosaur cake

The dinosaur fossil dig

The boys showing off their dinosaurs

Other activities included decorating dinosaurs, dinosaur bingo, and making dinosaur fossils, along with opening presents, of course. Then they went and ran off all their energy on the playground. It was great!

Paige's 1st Day of Preschool

2010-09-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Paige started preschool this week, so we took some pictures on her first day. She had a busy first day. So busy, in fact, that she fell asleep on the couch at 7 p.m. So we put her in bed and she didn't wake up until the next morning. That has never happened. Usually she lies in bed every night talking to herself for at least 30 minutes and then is awake well before 7 the next morning. There's a first time for everything, I guess.

Her favorite part of preschool: playing outside on the playground. That's pretty much all she talks about when she comes home.

Happy Birthday Dylan!

2010-09-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

I'm a few days late in posting these, as Dylan's birthday was last week, better late than not at all, I guess. We had fun celebrating Dylan turning 7. He opened presents, got to pick his lunch (a pizza luncheable), picked McDonald's for dinner and ate cake and ice cream for dessert. He told me it was the best day ever, almost as good as Christmas, he said.

Since his birthday usually falls around Labor Day and a lot of friends are out of town, we are having his party this weekend. He picked a dinosaur fossil theme - should be lots of fun. We'll have more pictures to post soon.

9 Years and Counting

2010-09-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Bill and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary today...and by celebrating, I mean, he's at work all day and I'm running kids back and forth to various activities and getting ready for Dylan's birthday tomorrow. But we did text a Happy Anniversary to each other. Romantic, I know :)

Ready-Set-Tumble!

2010-08-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

We signed Paige up for a 3-4 year old tumbling class. Today was her first class and she was really excited to go.

She was so excited to get to wear her "gymnastics clothes", as she calls them.

Practicing on one leg

Up on tip-toes

This was so cute. She's suppose to be grabbing her ankles with her hands and lifting her head off the mat. She couldn't quite get her head to stay up but she tried really hard.
( Sorry for the slightly blurry picture)

She was really cute and had a lot of fun. It was fun to watch her. Dylan and I kept laughing at how cute she was. She really was trying her best to do everything the teacher was showing them. We hope these classes will help strengthen her muscles and help with her coordination. If nothing else, at least she's enjoying them.

Bedtime Stories

2010-08-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Dylan loves to read and Paige loves being read to. So we've combined the two and have Dylan read Paige a book before bed each night (or at least on nights when it's not too late and everyone's still somewhat happy).

Tonight's selection was poems from Shel Silverstein's "A Light in the Attic".

Getting Back to Normal

2010-08-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

The kids have been asking us to take them miniature golfing all summer. So we braved the mosquitoes and made it our end of summer/back to school activity.

Here's Dylan posing for a picture. We kept having to remind him it was golf, not t-ball :)

Paige with her usual "cheesy" smile.

We had lots of fun and I only ended up getting 18 new mosquitoe bites (and that's with bug spray). No joke!

It seems things are finally settling down and we're getting back to normal around here. The van is fixed and the rental car returned. Dylan started school last week. Paige is starting a tumbling class this week and preschool next month. We had a fun and busy summer. We're sad it's winding down but are looking forward to a lot of good things to come this fall.

An Invisible Bulls-Eye

2010-08-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Could someone please tell me if there's a gigantic target above our house that we just can't see?!

Last night we had another sever thunderstorm with high winds and heavy rain. We noticed a large limb from our tree (the same tree that damaged the garage, by the way) had fallen and was laying in the driveway. Upon further inspection, we noticed the limb had fallen on the back of our car and shattered the back window.

Bill and I had a good laugh over it, because honestly, it's really unbelievable, and what else were we going to do? Fortunately the estimate to get the window repaired wasn't too much, so we won't have to claim this on our insurance. The van is in the shop being repaired and we just pray that nothing happens to the rental car in the next 2 weeks.

Good News

2010-08-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

We found out today that the drunk guy who hit our van is insured. Not only that, but his insurance company says they are going to take care of everything plus they're reimbursing us for the cost of a rental car until the van is fixed. So now we're just waiting for them to set up a time to come assess the damage on the van and let us know if it's fixable or totaled. We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

Claim 2, Get 1 Free

2010-08-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately for us, our insurance company has heard from us very often this summer.

Claim #1: Hail damage to the van. As we were driving to Utah in early June to visit family we got caught in a terrible thunder storm in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The hail was huge and of course we were in the middle of Wyoming where there are no overpasses, bridges, trees etc., so no where for us to take cover. Our van got pelted with hail and has hundreds of tiny dents all over to prove it.

Claim #2: Storm damage to the garage roof. Less than a week after we got back from Utah we had that crazy wind storm. Several large limbs from our tree went through the roof of our garage. We are still in the process of getting all of that fixed/replaced.

Claim #3: Drunk driver hits our parked van! Tonight after dinner we were sitting in the living room and heard a loud crashing sound outside. We weren't sure what it was so we went out front to look. About 4 houses down from ours there were 2 cars, 1 which had a lot of front end damage so we assumed the two cars had been in an accident. As we were watching people drive by and look at this accident we noticed they were also driving slowly by our house and seemed to be looking at our van which was parked out front. We soon realized that the loud crashing sound wasn't the two cars hitting each other, it was the one damaged car hitting our parked van!!! As if this wasn't bad enough, which it was, the driver of the other car turned out to be drunk and spoke very little english. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated and taken to jail. We are still trying to figure out if he has insurance as he didn't have any documentation in the car and the car is owned by someone else.

So tomorrow, I will yet again, be calling our insurance agent to file a third claim. Three claims in less than 3 months and none of them were our fault. Some companies have accident forgiveness, maybe ours has claim 2, get 1 free (more like, claim 3 get your rates hiked). Such is life, I guess.

Getting ready to have the drunk guy's car towed.

RAGBRAI 2010

2010-08-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Bill just finished his week-long bike ride across Iowa. RAGBRAI is an annual event here in Iowa. It always starts on the west side of the state, ends on the east side and takes seven days to complete. This year they estimate 20,000 riders participated. Crazy!

Here's Bill at the end; Dubuque, Iowa.

The route ends at the Mississippi river where each rider dips their bike tire.

Bill doing the tire dip.

The kids and I drove to Dubuque to pick him up. We toured Dubuque a bit, went to the aquarium and camped overnight. Sunday on our way home we drove across the bridge to Illinois and then to Wisconsin so we can add those states to the list of ones we've visited.

Overall, Bill had a great week. He rode over 500 miles and had a blast. Anyone interested in joining him next year? He's already wanting to put a team together and ride it again. Mark your calendars for the last week in July and let him know!

Is This Heaven?

2010-08-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

No, it's Iowa! If you've seen the movie Field of Dreams, with Kevin Costner, you may remember this line from the movie. As part of our weekend trip we visited the Field of Dreams movie site which is in Dyersville, Iowa. It was pretty fun.

Dylan and Paige running the bases (notice the corn field in the background)

Short and cute

2010-07-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, the title does describe Paige, but it also describes her new haircut. I decided to make it easier on the both of us and cut it short. Here's some before and after pictures:

What we've been up to.

2010-07-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying our summer so much the blog has been neglected. So here's a quick attempt to get you caught up.

Bill: took the summer off from teaching classes, it has been so fun to have him home more this summer, we've been spoiled. He's currently participating in RAGBRAI (registar's annual great bike ride across Iowa). He and about 15,000 other participants will spend this week riding across Iowa. He's been training for a couple months and was way excited to go.

Jen: just finished teaching a short set of summer piano lessons to a few students. Is gearing up for the 20 students she'll be teaching starting in the fall. She is also gearing up (more mentally, than anything else) for the 5 hour drive with the kids to Dubuque, Iowa this weekend to meet Bill at the end of RAGBRAI. Should be loads of fun!

Dylan: just finished t-ball and had a lot of fun. Enjoyed being a junior paleontologist at the dinosaur/fossil camp he attended. Has been having fun at the pool and really enjoys the water slide. Is about to lose another tooth, getting ready to start 2nd grade, and celebrate his 7th birthday.

Paige: is still keeping us on our toes with her busy-ness. Is working on potty training and makes it to the potty before she needs to go about 50% of the time. It's a work in progress. Has started physical and speech therapy which she really enjoys (more on this in a later post). Looking forward to starting preschool in the fall.

Liam: just had his 9 month check-up. He's in the 25th% for weight and the 75th% for height. Crawls like a champ, is walking while holding onto furniture and drooling like crazy (as you can tell by the drool dripping off his chin) but still, no teeth.

So there's a quick run-down on what we've been up to. Busy, busy, busy -but having a great summer!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of the kids this morning and of course none of them actually had all 3 smiling and looking at me. So you'll just have to take the best individual picture of each kid and put them together in your mind to make a decent picture of all 3 together.

Here Dylan and Paige are looking, and mostly smiling, but Liam looks a little afraid of Paige.

Liam, still looking scared, not sure what Dylan is doing.

Dylan and Liam looking pretty good, not sure what Paige is doing.

Bill brought the boys' matching tiger shirts back from India.

We hope you all had a great Father's Day. Thanks to our dads for their great examples as dads, husbands, grandpa's etc.

And Happy Father's Day to our daddy - we think you're the best. Love, Dylan, Paige, Liam & Mom.

It's T-ball time

2010-06-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Dylan had his first t-ball game yesterday. It was a lot of fun. He had 3 great hits and got to play lots of different positions (1st base, 3rd base, short-stop and "the middle guy").

Here he is getting ready to hit...and yes, he did open his eyes before he hit.

Standing on 1st, waiting to run to 2nd.

Crossing home plate.

Playing 1st base, which I think was his favorite because he got the ball a lot.

We are already looking forward to next week's game.

Irony

2010-06-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

I thought of a few things from the past few days that are too ironic not to post. So, here goes.

1. On the night of the storm, our neighbors parked one car in their driveway and the other in the garage. The one in the driveway survived the storm just fine. The one in the garage, it was damaged by the limb and debris. Ironic.

2. One of the projects we have planned for this summer is re-roofing our house. The shingles are in terrible condition. The garage roof, however, was just fine so we weren't planning on doing anything to it. Now, we get to re-roof the house and the garage. Ironic.

3. Liam is 8 months old and has yet to sleep through the night. We've been doing the 'let him cry himself to sleep' method for the past few days. The first time he actually slept through the night was the night of the storm. But I was still up at 3 in the morning due to the crazy storm. Now that's ironic.

More Storm Pictures

2010-06-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from the storm.

Bill standing next to the limb that's going through the top of the garage.

Here's the tree that used to be in our neighbor's yard. Crazy!

A few of the broken limbs from our tree.

Free Firewood for anyone who'll come get it!

2010-06-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

At about 3:00 a.m. Friday morning Bill and I were awakened by a very loud sound. There was lightning, thunder, pouring rain and crazy wind. I wasn't sure if it was a tornado or just a bad storm. We looked out our window and could see that a bunch of limbs from our huge tree were laying on the ground. It wasn't until later that morning when we woke up and saw the real damage:

This was the view from our bedroom window. You can see the limbs sticking through our garage (on the left) and our neighbor's garage, plus the tree filling up our entire driveway.

The top of our neighbor's garage.

The view behing our garage, looking down where the alley should be.

Limbs hanging over utility wires.

Another view of our garage and driveway.

The limbs that harpooned our garage roof.

Notice the limb is sticking through the top and coming out the front of the garage.

Crunch!

Our new double skylight inside the garage (with the limb still sticking through)

Limb sticking through the top and front of the garage

The winds were measured at over 75 mph, which is equivalent to a category 1 hurricane. I think we're lucky the damage wasn't worse.

We spent most of the day yesterday cleaning up with the help of a few really good neighbors. I think it was a win/win situation - we got some of the mess cleaned up, they got free firewood. The tree removal company was here today and all the limbs/branches are gone. Our insurance estimator will be here Wednesday to assess the damage. So now it's just a waiting game to see how generous they will be with their coverage :) Let the games begin!

Summer Vacation

2010-06-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

After Bill got back from India, we packed up and headed to Utah to visit family. Even though it was a looooooong drive it was worth it and we're glad we could make the trip.

Liam enjoying a graham cracker

Having fun in the pool

The cute cousins!
Desirae, Liam, Dylan, Paige and Bella

Singing karaoke with grandpa-grandpa's such a good sport :)

A group photo at the aquarium

We had a great time and it was fun for our kids to get to hang out with their cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. Lots of fun times and good memories.

Tigers and the Taj Mahal

2010-06-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

So last year Bill took a group of students to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. This year he went with a group of students to India. It was an amazing trip for him. Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures he took.

The Taj Mahal at dawn.

Another view of the Taj Mahal

One of the tigers they saw while in the National Park

Another tiger walking very close to their jeep

Welcome Home Dad!

2010-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Bill just returned from a 12 day trip to India. The kids and I were anxious and excited for him to come home.

Paige and Dylan waiting and watching.

We'll post pics from his trip soon! It was quite an amazing experience for him. We're glad he got to go but we were definitely ready for him to be home.

This and That

2010-05-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few recent pictures of the kids.

Dylan and Paige enjoying a summer treat.

Liam having fun in his walker, which he loves!

Motherhood, A Summary

2010-05-09T19:50:00.001-07:00

Bill is great at finding cards for special occasions. He always seems to find just the right one. But the Mother's Day card I got today is the best one yet.

(In case you can't quite read it, it says "Motherhood, A Summary")

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers who have the hardest "job" there is.

Watering the Plants

2010-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I noticed Paige making repeated trips from inside the house out to the back yard. Each time, she would come inside, get some water in a cup, then head back outside. After a few trips I asked her what she was doing. She said she was watering the plants. So I went out to look. Sure enough, she was watering the plants, just not the ones we want to grow. Here she is diligently watering the weeds by our back patio.

Such a helper!

Featured Artist

2010-05-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Dylan had his artwork chosen to be on display in the community art show last weekend. Here is his drawing of a clown using markers and weaving:

Here's my attempt to get him and his artwork in the same picture. He had to stand a few feet away so just try to ignore all the other artwork.

Liam's New Trick

2010-05-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Liam is now 7 months old. He hasn't quite mastered sitting on his own yet but he has learned a new skill. He pushes himself up on both arms and then scoots backwards. Here's a few shots of him in action.

Rock Hound

2010-05-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

The other day Dylan was outside playing. When he came in he said he had found a special rock for me. I now have my very own heart-shaped rock.

I love it and put it on the kitchen window sill where I see it every day.

Dylan & Paige cook

2010-04-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why the last few posts have all revolved around food. While I was putting dinner together tonight Paige and Dylan were working in their own Play-Doh kitchen, making some delicious treats.

Little Miss Betty Crocker

2010-04-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here's Paige in the cute apron that Granny sent her. She loves to help cook, as mentioned in the previous post :)

Making Cupcakes All By Herself - Not the best scenario!

2010-04-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

The other day Paige decided she wanted to make some cupcakes. So she pushed one of the dining room chairs into the kitchen, climbed onto the counter, got into the cupboard with the baking supplies and helped herself to some ingredients, which she promptly took down to the basement.

Here she is after having taste-tested her creation.

Who wouldn't love some vanilla pudding cupcakes?!

Caught red (or yellow) handed.

She looks mightly proud of herself don't you think?

When I told Bill what happened he said, "Where were you?" to which I quickly replied "I was upstairs probably trying to feed Liam, or go to the bathroom, or get dressed, or pick up, or.....who knows." She's a quick one and she waits for the exact second when she knows I'm busy or pre-occupied to make her move.

At least she only got into the dry ingredients. It would have been much worse had she added eggs. Oh wait.....that was last week, which is why our fridge now has a bungee cord keeping it shut. Any ideas on how to lock our cupboards?

Mmm, mmm, good.

2010-03-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

I realized today that its been a month since my last post. Nothing really exciting is going on, but here are a few new pictures of Liam.

Enjoying some rice cereal.

The Beach

2010-02-21T20:19:00.001-08:00

After we got home from church today, Dylan decided to turn our living room into a "beach".

So, he set up this sparkling blue water (aka - the blanket)....

...and he and Paige went for a swim.

If you couldn't tell, we're just a tad bit ready for winter to end and spring to begin.

Sleeping Beauty

2010-02-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

This is how I found Paige the other day. Sound asleep, in her princess chair, holding her baby. She must have been exhausted because this never happens.

Practicing for the Circus

2010-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

Bill and the kids have been practicing some tricks for the circus. Do you think they're ready?!

A Trip to the Emergency Room

2010-02-12T18:36:00.001-08:00

With a title like that I'm sure you're curious. Here's the latest excitement at our house.

Wednesday afternoon Paige and Dylan were playing in the living room. I was upstairs feeding Liam. I heard a big bang and then Paige immediately started crying; a real cry, not like the kind where she just wants sympathy. I asked Dylan what happened and he said Paige fell and hit her head on the floor. As she started to make her way upstairs to me I hear her start to cough and it sounds like she is growing to throw up. Within a few minutes she did throw up and was having a hard time staying awake. Her head was bobbing all over and she could barely keep her eyes open. So I made a quick call to her pediatrician, explained her symptoms and asked if she could have a concussion. They told me to bring her in right away. Luckily, Bill was already on his way home from work. We got to the doctor's office and met with a nurse who said we needed to take her over to the hospital for a CT scan.

When we got to the hospital they asked if I thought she would lay still for 30 minutes during the scan. Uh....no. Well then she'll have to be sedated, they said. So we headed down to the ER so they could prep her for the scan. When we get down there we meet with the doctor on-call who proceeds to tell me that he really wouldn't encourage a CT scan due to the high level of radiation and having to sedate Paige. He did think she had a concussion but didn't see anything overly alarming and said we should take her home and keep a close eye on her. She slept well for a few hours and the vomiting even stopped. Then around 2:00 a.m. she woke up and decided she didn't want to sleep anymore and she starting throwing up again.

Yesterday was miserable, for her and us. She puked every 30 minutes for 12 hours. It was a long day. Today she is doing much better and has even been able to keep some popsicles and water down without throwning them right back up. She's even been bossing the dog around, so it looks like she's getting back to her old self. Thank goodness, it's no fun to see one of your kids so sick. We're grateful for the prayers from family and friends, we're sure they have helped in her recovery.

The Game King

2010-02-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

Dylan and I have been playing a few board games recently. This kid wins all the time. Over the past few days we've played 2 games of Yahtzee, 4 games of Battleship, 1 game of Jenga, and 1 game of checkers. He won every game, fair and square.

It's fun to play with him, even if I do lose....every time.

Update

2010-01-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

*This is an extension of the previous post, you may want to read that one first*

It's 9:22 a.m., I just discovered Paige with no diaper on and the basket full of laundry that I folded last night is now un-folded and strewn all over the basement. I guess that's what I get for updating the blog while she's awake.

I give up!

My Morning

2010-01-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

It's only 8:30 a.m. and I'm already feeling like I want this day to end. Liam has a little bit of a cold and so he was up every 2-3 hours last night, unable to sleep and having a hard time eating. He pooped through his pj's early this morning and so I just wrapped him in a blanket because I was too tired to go get new clothes for him. Paige woke up a few minutes after 6 and didn't want to go back to sleep. Then Dylan woke up, which actually was helpful as I asked him to go put a movie on for Paige. I tried to lay in bed for a few more minutes. Then Paige comes upstairs and I can smell her stinky diaper before she even gets to my room. So I give up trying to stay in my warm bed for a few more minutes and go change her. Then I go downstairs to get the kids breakfast and find that Paige has gotten into the container of muffins that were on the counter and the wrapper and crumbs are all over the floor, so I clean that up. I get the kids breakfast then head back upstairs to change Liam as he has another poopy diaper. As I am getting him dressed Dylan yells that the dog has just thrown up. So I tell him I'll be right there to clean it up. I go downstairs and clean up the dog mess and notice that Dylan didn't eat all of his cereal but Paige comes to finish it off so I don't think too much about it. I head back upstairs to finish with Liam and get the rest of Dylan's school stuff ready. Then back downstairs to get the kids' coats/hats/gloves on to take Dylan to school. I happen to glance into the dining room and notice Dylan's cereal bowl is gone and it's not in the kitchen sink. I follow the trail of spilled milk and cheerios from the dining room down to the basement where Paige is sitting in a puddle of milk and cheerios. So I quickly clean that up, get the kids coats on and head out to he van. And of course it's like negative 8 degrees so by the time we all get in the van Paige is crying cause she's cold and the garage door won't open because it's too cold. I finally get the door open and we're off to take Dylan to school. We drop him off and head back home. As I'm getting the kids out of the car I notice Liam has spit up all over his car seat cover. I guess it's good there's a pile of his laundry that still needs to be washed. It's now almost 9:00. Liam needs to be fed, again, Paige is wanting a snack and I realize I'm hungry too because I still haven't eaten breakfast. Heaven help me!!!

The Birthday Girl

2010-01-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

We just celebrated Paige's 3rd birthday. It was a lot of fun. It's still hard to believe that she's 3.
Happy Birthday Paigey girl - here's to another fun and busy year!

I thought I had put the frosting back far enough on the counter. Evidently not. :)

"Bone Chillin' Cold"

2010-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is the term the locals use to describe our extreme weather. Here are our current weather conditions:

-3 degrees, blowing snow and windy, feels like -30 degrees, winds at 30 mph. Don't you wish you lived in the midwest?! Ha ha ha!

These are the ice crystals that form on our windows.

This is our neighbors house across the street. Notice the amount of snow in front of her garage. She's been parking on the street :)

On a side note, I realized I didn't have any Christmas pictures of Liam. So here's a picture of him in his new chair.

That smile will brighten any day - even a bone chilling cold one!

A Visit from family

2010-01-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a New Year's visit from Bill's sister Mindy, her husband Walker, and Walker's sister Bonnie. Even though the high never reached above zero on a few of the days we still had fun while they were here. Our kids ran them ragged but loved playing games, watching movies and exploring with them. Thanks for making the 18 hour drive, in the frigid winter to come spend time with us. We miss you already and are looking forward to the next time we can meet up (hopefully next time the weather will be more cooperative) :)

Bonnie, Mindy(holding Liam) and Walker

Digging Out!

2010-01-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Here is Paige helping Bill shovel our front walk. This girl LOVES playing in the snow. She spent over 2 hours outside playing in, shoveling and eating the snow.

More Christmas

2010-01-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from our Christmas morning festivities.

Thanks to our grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends for spoiling us this year. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Our 2009 Christmas

2010-01-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Due to a winter blizzard we were treated to a very white Christmas. Between the 24th and 26th of December we got 20, yes TWENTY inches of snow. Thank goodness the kids had opened their presents and had plenty to keep them busy, otherwise Christmas might have come early.

Even with the snow Santa was still able to make it to our house. Dylan got a leopard gecko, Paige got a play kitchen and Liam got a new rocker chair.

Paige admiring her new cabbage patch doll.

Opening her new bedding for her big girl bed.

Dylan's cool new winter coat.

Paige with a present almost as big as her.

Our Double Stroller

2009-12-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Before Liam was born we debated whether or not we should purchase a double stroller to make life easier. Being that I walk Dylan to school everyday I thought it would be nice to have a double stroller to contain 2 kids at once. But, we decided against it. Mainly because they're so darn expensive and because as soon as we buy one Paige will decide she doesn't want to ride in the stroller anymore she wants to walk. So here's our solution...

We put Liam in the stroller all bundled up and Paige rides on the front. Luckily she doesn't weigh very much so it doesn't make it much harder to push. Plus she thinks it's a lot of fun to ride up front so she doesn't usually throw a fit about having to ride instead of walk.

Problem solved. For now at least.

A Comparison

2009-12-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here are Dylan and Liam spending some time together.

Notice Liam's face. He looks pretty relaxed in these pictures.

Now look at his face when Paige is lying next to him.....

Not so relaxed anymore.

Poor Liam. I think sometimes he fears for his life when Paige is trying to cuddle with him. She usually ends up smashing some part of him because she just loves him a little too much. Good thing babies are so resilient!

The 6 week smile

2009-12-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Now that Liam has reached (and passed) the 6 week mark he has started to smile a lot more. Here are a few pics of his sweet smile.

Just in case you're wondering...

2009-11-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

We are still here and I actually have a lot of cute pictures to post but I seem to spend A LOT of time holding a little someone who is quite attached to me lately. So between being mom to a newborn and two other kids plus all the extra activities the holidays bring, it seems the blog has fallen by the way-side. I hope to post new pictures soon, preferrably when I have more than one hand to type with :)

A Cute Paige Story

2009-11-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

I tried taking pictures of the kids together but it's nearly impossible to get any where they're all actually looking at the camera without making some weird face. I guess these will have to do for now.

So here's the cute Paige story:

Today in church Paige made a picture of things she was thankful for. Her picture has the words: house, church, water and family. On the way home I was asking her what she was thankful for (I was curious to see if she would say the same things that were on her paper). Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Paige, what are you thankful for?

Paige: Family

Me: What else are you thankful for?

Paige: T.V.

Me (chuckling): What else are you thankful for?

Paige: Chocolate

At this point Dylan and I both burst out laughing.

New Pictures

2009-11-15T13:05:00.001-08:00

Paige and Liam are both asleep right now so I thought I better hurry and post some recent pictures before either of them wakes up. Hope you enjoy.

Liam just relaxing in his car seat.

I think this picture is cute - I caught him mid-stretch.

Paige in Liam's car seat. She thinks she's so funny.

Lions, Tigers and Transformers....Oh My.

2009-11-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween. Here are some pictures from our Halloween weekend.

Liam was a lion. I realize it's hard to tell from this picture and I'm not sure why his little face is so scrunched up but he was pretty cute in his costume.

Here are Paige and Dylan with my mom (all the grandparents are here for the weekend). Paige came down with a bad cold which is why she looks the way she does.

Our cute tiger.

Dylan taking an inventory of all his goodies.

Pictures!!!

2009-10-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Liam with his big brother and sister.

It's A.......................

2009-10-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

BOY!

Liam Conner Heyborne was born Friday, October 9th @ 8:36 a.m. He weighed 8 lb. 2 oz. and was 21 inches long. The delivery went well, although it was longer than both Dylan and Paige's births, combined - so it was a long night. We're now home and everyone is doing well. I can't find the camera cord so there aren't any pictures but I'll add some as soon as I find it.

The Countdown Continues

2009-10-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

I'm now 38 weeks and 2 days - only 12 days to go until my due date. I had my 38 week check-up today and the doctor said I'm dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. I've been having more contractions since the appointment and my doctor said she would be on call this weekend so hopefully I'll get to see her before my appointment next week...and hopefully this is the last time I'll have to post any belly pictures!

Early Arrival?

2009-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

If you look at the baby ticker on the side of the blog it says I still have over 20 days until this baby is due. But....at my doctors appointment on Friday the doctor told me the baby is head down, I'm dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced. Of course she also said I could have the baby this weekend or in 3 weeks. So the waiting continues.

Anyone want to guess when this baby will make his/her debut. My due date is October 13th.

My next appointment is on Wednesday - we'll keep you posted.

Labor Day Fun

2009-09-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the kids to the zoo and butterfly house on Labor Day. The weather was perfect and there weren't too many people so it turned out to be a great day.

Bill is trying to coax Paige into petting the camel - she didn't want anything to do with it.

Here are a few shots from the butterfly house. There were literally hundreds of butterflies.

Dylan turns 6

2009-09-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

Dylan's been 6 for a few weeks now but I've been slow in posting his birthday pictures. Here are a few from his birthday festivities.

Thanks to all the grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. who sent gifts and wished him a happy birthday. As you can tell from the pictures he was quite a happy kid.

As for school, he is really enjoying 1st grade. He came home last week and informed us that he had been chosen as the student council representative for his class (who knew they had student council in 1st grade?!). He was very excited and is looking forward to the parade he will get to be part of next week.

8 Years!

2009-09-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago today, Bill and I were married. I can remember the day well. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday and sometimes it's hard to believe its only been 8 years. We're looking forward to a dinner out without the kids and then getting ready for Dylan's 6th birthday tomorrow.

A Birthday Party

2009-08-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

We had Dylan's birthday party this afternoon and thank goodness it's over because I think the anticipation was a bit much for him. He couldn't get to sleep last night and spent all morning bouncing off the walls, waiting for his friends to get here.

We had lots of fun playing water balloon games, breaking the pinata, eating cupcakes and playing on the trampoline. It was a fun and exhausting two hours.

Dylan opening presents.

Dylan taking a swing at the pinata.

Opening more presents.

Paige enjoying a sucker.

All in all, I think Dylan had a fun day. We'll have more pictures after we celebrate his actual birthday this week.

33 Weeks

2009-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

No wonder people keep asking me how I'm feeling, when I'm due, how much longer I have etc. I look like I'm about ready to pop and I've still got 6+ weeks to go.

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy

2009-08-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

Dylan reached yet another milestone this summer. Not only did he pass level 1 swim lessons and learn to ride his bike without training wheels, we can now add losing a tooth to that list. He has had a loose tooth for quite awhile now and has been waiting for it to come out. It finally got really loose and he just pulled it out himself. He was so excited and thought it it was "fun and cool" and that was before the tooth fairy even came to visit. Here are a few more pictures of the missing bottom tooth.

Dylan also started 1st grade this past week. He really likes his classroom. He has his own desk with a drawer underneath to store all his school supplies and his teacher has a ton of books in their room so he's excited about that too.

We're getting ready to celebrate his birthday next week and he's looking forward to his party. Hard to believe he will be 6 years old! Even more hard to believe that I'm the mother of a 6 year old 1st grader who lost his first tooth, is learning how to swim and can ride a two-wheeler. What a kid!!!

Paige Update

2009-08-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally adding another post. It's really not all my fault that it has been so long. Our computer has been having problems lately and it finally decided to die on us. Fortunately we were able to buy a replacement through Bill's school at a very reasonable price. So onto the update.

Paige has been doing very well since having her tubes put in. We've noticed many improvements in her speech, in fact, it gets better almost every day. She is using more sounds and putting multiple words together so it's getting much easier to understand and communicate with her. It's quite fun to say a word or sentence and then see how close she can come to repeating it. She still has a lot of catching up to do but we are encouraged by the progress she is making.

We also finally got rid of her beloved binky. It actually went quite smoothly and she has learned to put herself to sleep without it. Next goals: potty-training and moving her into a "big girl" bed. Wish us luck.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. Hope you enjoy!

This was my attempt to french braid her hair. Pretty good for a squirmy 2 year old.

Enjoying a mini-popsicle. They're perfect for Paige - mini, just like she is :)

Two Wheels!

2009-07-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

One of our goals for Dylan this summer was for him to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels. Bill has been taking Dylan to the church parking lot to practice and lo and behold he's figured it out. Well mostly. He still has a hard time turning without falling over but he can ride in a straight line like a champ. He's been pretty excited and proud of himself. Way to go Dylan.

Swim Lessons

2009-07-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

We signed Dylan up for summer swim lessons. He has done really well. His teachers have been great at getting him to try everything and not be so timid in the water. He's been having a lot of fun so we're glad he's enjoying himself. Here are few pictures from lessons.

26 Weeks

2009-07-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been getting many requests for pregnancy pictures, so here they are. These were taken with the self-timer so they're not the best but you get the general idea.

Slip Slidin' Away

2009-07-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Crow recently bought a slip 'n slide for the kids. Here are a few pictures of Dylan enjoying his new toy.

Note: The suggested age for the slip 'n slide is 5-12 but someone just couldn't resist.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

2009-06-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

For the past few months now we've had some concerns about Paige's hearing and speech. When we took her in for her 2 year check-up in January she only had a couple words and none of them were very clear so her doctor referred us to the local Area Education Authority for testing. Based on her results she qualified for speech therapy, which we have been doing for a couple months now. They also wanted to have her hearing tested. She failed her first hearing test because there was no movement in either eardrum. The audiologist explained that this is usually due to some fluid in the ear and we should bring her back in a month to re-test. So we did. One month later, she failed the hearing test again. Again, no movement in either eardrum. So we took her to see her pediatrician. He explained that in order for us to get a referral to an Ear Nose & Throat specialist, Paige would have to fail four consecutive hearing tests, each one month apart. So we took her two more times and the results were the same; no movement in either eardrum, so we finally got the referral to the ENT.

Her appointment with the specialist was on Wednesday. They tested her hearing, checked her ears and reviewed her development. After going over everything they recommended putting tubes in her ears to clear the fluid. We had been hoping this would be the recommendation, especially since she has a speech delay. We feel very strongly that her speech will improve once the fluid is able to drain properly and she is able to hear better. The way they've explained it to us is that the fluid in her ears muffles the sounds, it's kind of like hearing while under water, everything is mumbled. Which would explain why all her words sound alike and she has very few clear words that she uses.

Her appointment to have the tubes put in is this coming Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed that the procedure goes well and will work. We'll keep you posted!

Saturday Chores

2009-06-13T19:35:00.001-07:00

Today we spent most of the day working on projects around the house. Dylan was so excited to get to help Bill mow the lawn. What a great kid!

Paige's New PJ's

2009-06-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

Paige desperately needed some summertime pajamas. Her pj's from this winter still fit but they were just too warm. Thanks to a coupon from Granny we were able to get her a few sets that will last her through this summer.

Good-bye morning sickness (I really don't miss you)

2009-06-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

I'm now 22 weeks and have been morning sickness free for over a week now. WAHOO!!! (Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself).

Bill's South American Adventure

2009-05-27T11:30:00.001-07:00

Bill had the opportunity to take 12 of his students to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for 12 days. As you can imagine he was in complete heaven. Here a just a few of the hundreds of pictures from his amazing trip.

Standing on the roots of a giant tree.

The whole gang spanning two hemispheres.

Bill having a chat with a giant tortoise.

The Campo Chocha Community kindergarten class ganging up on him.

The Galapagos Islands: too cool for words!

Overall I think he had an awesome trip and can't wait to go back. Check out his facebook page for even more info and pictures of his trip.

What a Cutie!

2009-05-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

We had our 20 week ultra-sound yesterday. We asked the technician not to tell us if it's a boy or a girl and even though the baby was very active and kicking all over the place we still don't know. Everything looked good and the baby seems to be healthy and growing right on track so we're grateful for that. Here are a few pictures:

Here's a profile picture. You can also see the knees tucked up by the stomach.

Here's a picture of the little hand.

Now if this little bugger could somehow get the morning sickness to stop things would be great.

Mo the Caterpillar

2009-05-24T14:10:00.001-07:00

Dylan found a cute green caterpillar and decided to name him Mo. We were going to keep it but we weren't sure what kind of caterpillar it was and what to feed it. So we decided the best thing would be to let it go. Dylan was very sad to have to let it go so I told him we'd take some pictures and post them to the blog.

Hopefully we'll see Mo again once he's turned into a beautiful butterfly (or moth).

Sprinkler Fun

2009-05-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Dylan has been asking me for weeks if we can hook up the sprinkler. I keep telling him it has to be at least 80 degrees or he'll be too cold. Well last week we had our first day of 80 degree weather and a few days of 90 degrees so the kids had fun finally getting to play in the sprinkler.

Paige uses this big bucket to haul rocks all over the yard.

Baby Ticker

2009-05-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

I just added the baby icon to our blog page. According to this, I have 149 days to go until my due date. I don't know about you but does that just sound really far away, or what?! I have been feeling better lately so that's great - only got sick twice this week. Our ultrasound is scheduled for May 26th - but don't get your hopes up - I don't think we're going to find out if it's a boy or girl. I know it drives most of our friends and family crazy but it's just more fun that way.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there. I have to say I have been very spoiled today. Here is a picture of all my goodies from Dylan and Paige.

Dylan made me a book of coupons. They include: one walk together, help with the dishes, and breakfast in bed, among others. What a great gift!

Paige made me a "bouquet" of flowers that are cutouts of her hands. So cute!

Thanks for all the calls, cards and gifts. It was a wonderful mother's day!

BUSY...BUSY...BUSY!

2009-05-05T09:32:00.001-07:00

If I had to pick one word to describe Paige it would be: BUSY. She is constantly on the go. Here are a few pictures from the past few days:

Paige has recently discovered that she can now open the spice cupboard by herself. This makes cooking a challenge as she is always offering a new spice to add to the meal. Saturday, I was just coming down from upstairs and this is what I see at the bottom of the stairs:

Paige is smiling from ear to ear because she found the bottle of sprinkles in the spice cupboard and was helping herself to a little snack.

Here is the cupboard after she had rummaged through it. Fortunately she had only gotten to a few of the spices before she found the sprinkles and not everything had been dumped out.

I now have a freshly cleaned spice cupboard :)

Yesterday I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up and Paige was again trying to "help" (which is code for following me around and un-doing everything I had just done). So, I put her upstairs and put the gate up, thinking she could just play in her room until I got done. After I was done in the kitchen I went upstairs to get her. This is what I found:

Paige had gotten into the closet where we keep the pet supplies and dumped out a whole container of dust. I'm sure you're wondering why we even have a container of dust. Well, Dylan has two little pets in his room. They're called Degu's (pronounced day-goo), they're kind of like hamsters. Anyway, these degus take dust baths and so we buy dust at the pet store. Crazy, I know. Well Paige had managed to find the container, open it, dump it, and then track it all over the upstairs bedrooms and hallway. Lets just say I was less then impressed.

So not only do I have a really clean spice cupboard, I now also have freshly cleaned floors upstairs. My life would be so boring without a helpful, curious, into-everything, adorable 2 year old!