Snow Day in TEXAS?!

Melissa, Ben, Brooke & Becca sent Riley a 'snow day', straight from Utah, for Christmas and we got around to making it 'grow' a couple of weeks ago. It can take up to 10 days so I took a few shots and wanted to share! Riley thought it was really neat, he loved checking it every morning to see if the snowflake was bigger. After you are done, it shrinks back when it dries and you can use it over and over again! So fun! Thanks Y'all!!

To Open or Not To Open

Now that I have a son and we are attending more and more children's birthday parties I am finding that things have changed since I was attending as a child. The biggest change is that it seems opening gifts during the party has become optional. Has anyone else experienced this?
In all honesty, I have always enjoyed seeing someone, especially a child, unwrap and open the gift I have specifically chosen for them. It's fun to see their reaction...even more so when Riley has helped pick out the gift.
I understand that there is a big trend now to have 'destination' parties...Pump It Up, Chuck E. Cheese, etc. and maybe because one is on a tight schedule there is not time for gift opening. I also thought the reason might be the age of the kids, as it can be difficult to hold a 2 or 3 year old's attention for that long. I even thought another reason might be the size of the party and amount of gifts recieved, as it might be difficult to hold a 30 year old's attention for 40 presents!
I've obviously given the issue some thought and still have not come to a decision on what to do at Riley's party next month. We are having a destination party, so I may just be at the mercy of their time table and if there is time, great, and if not, well, I just hope we don't offend anyone.

Valentine's

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, that was almost 2 weeks ago!!!

It was a week filled with love, gifts and of course, CANDY!

Riley received a Disney Cookbook for Kids and a mailbox filled with treats from Mommy & Daddy and a wonderful surprise box full of treats from Brooke & Becca. He also had a V-Day party with his play group that was a huge success.

Digging in on Valentine's Day

All his goodies!

Action shot of play time during party

Snack time - Ella was sitting at the table by herself (she's the only girl, btw) and Riley was orginally at the big table with the rest of the boys, but then he saw her there and asked if he could sit with her. How sweet is that?!

Decorating mail bag for card/treat exchange

'Delivering' his homemade cards

Digging in to HIS mail bag!

He had a great time and got even more treats!

Trying to catch up!

Okay, going to try to make this as short and sweet as possible.

Over the last week or two a lot has been going on. We've done some minor 'improvements' in our house (and have a few more planned): peep hole in front door (I feel SO much safer now!), new drains in master and upstairs bathtubs, new flag for our mailbox (it's been broken since we moved in) and a new showerhead! I LOVE the new showerhead! I wanted a massager kind to make it easier to bathe our dog and to clean the shower, and then we found this!

I also never got around to mentioning that we purchased several storage totes around Christmas and REALLY organized our decoarations closet upstairs as well as the half of the garage that is now being used as 'baby stuff' storage. For less than $100 (I did my research and we found a STEAL at Big Lots for 50 Gallon tubs) we really utilized the space we have much more efficiently. I'm reminded of an old George Carlin skit about a house just being a place for your stuff..."Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there.That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. " We definitely have TOO MUCH STUFF...but at least it's organized now!

We had another set of visitors last week...C's dad and step-mom, Patricia. They came in Thursday afternoon and stayed through Saturday morning. It was a very relaxing visit and we just talked about so many different things. Riley enjoyed EVERY MINUTE of it. He was also so excited when he would wake up from nap or in the morning and remember that FaFa and Shisha where here!

Riley was so curious about FaFa's blood sugar tester

Drawing on doodle pad with Shisha

Chris having his blood sugar tested - what timing I have!

I've been reading a lot lately, and keeping up with my chore planner. I LOVE that I have expanded the types of books I now read, because it really opens up conversations. However, the bad side of that, is that I keep adding MORE AND MORE books to my list! For example, I mention to Melissa that I was reading The Notebook, then she suggests 2 other Sparks books I need to read! Patricia and I had several lengthly conversations about books and we were both recommending tons of books to each other! So far this month I have read 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel (definitely recommend), 'The Thorn Birds' by Colleen McCullough (LOVED it, another definite recommendation), 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks (good, quick, easy read, will try more), and I am currently reading 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini (so far, so good).

Chris and I celebrated our SIXTH anniversary on February 2nd. Well, we actually celebrated the following weekend by going to lunch at Texas Roadhouse and a movie, 'Fool's Gold'...ALONE! Stephanie babysat Riley for us and it was wonderful. I LOVE my son, and I know you all know that, but it certainly is nice to have a relaxing meal (without the throwing of crayons or spilling of milk) and I actually haven't been to see a movie in the theater since our THIRD anniversary the month before Riley was born! I know, crazy! I think it's something we will start doing more often.

More to come on Valentine's Day, Riley's first Valentine's Party, the planning of his 3rd birthday, etc. but this has already passed 'short and sweet' so I better end for now! (I'm in a hurry, so please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MELISSA...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy birthday to one of my oldest...and I mean by years know, not age *wink*...best friends...who I am lucky enough to also call my sister. Wish we could be there to celebrate wtih you!

I hope you have a wonderful day, and I know your 'true' present will arrive home tomorrow!

*HUGS*

Heather, Christopher and Riley

Great, Easy Recipe!

I know, I know, I need to blog about our weekend with family visiting...our anniversary date...even the tiny home improvements we've done over the past week...but...I don't feel like it! Ha ha ha. So in the meantime, I wanted to share a recipe. I've made this several times and shared it with a few people who also love it. I found it in a Target coupon book. The approach they used was to provide several recipes and then for the ingredients they specified specific brands and provided coupons. Anyways, I tried it and loved it! It's so easy! I LOVE chicken tortilla soup, and I do make a totally-from-scratch variety, even baking my own tortilla chips, but for a quick, delicious, weekday meal, this is great! Hope you try it and enjoy!

3 cans chicken broth (I used Swanson's 99% Fat Free)
1 cup salsa (I use mild so Riley can eat it, then we can spice it up as needed after served)
chicken (I've used 1 boiled chicken breast shredded or 1/2 bag frozen fajita strips, thawed, or 2 large cans of chicken...I'm not a big fan of canned chicken, but in this recipe, you can't tell and it makes it even easier...just try it and see what your family likes, and how much chicken, as some people like more meat, others more broth)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (yes, I use Fat Free of course!)
Tortilla Chips (I use light if I can find them, if not, portion control!)

Bring the broth, salsa and chicken to a boil, so chicken heats through and becomes tender. Then serve in individual bowls with crushed up tortilla chips (as desired) and top with cheese (as desired).

Yep! It's as EASY and FAST as that, and it's REALLY good! And you can change it up as you like; add some veggies, forget the chips, use tortilla strips instead...whatever floats your boat! You'll be surprised how well it tastes...at least we were!

Enjoy! And I'll get those other posts up soon!

Riley Reflections

When we sit down for dinner in the evenings Chris will almost always ask Riley, "So, what did you do today?". Over the past couple of weeks Riley has begun to ask this question of other people. It is SO adorable to hear him say those words.

Riley is definitely NOT shy, no doubt about it! When we are walking through a store...any store...he proceeds to ask almost anyone within earshot: "HI! What's your name?" Most people are considerate enough to answer and ask him the question in return. It's such a window into his personality.

As most of you have heard by now, my family is slightly addicted to Xbox Rock Band. We get together at my mom's house often to play. So much so, that Riley is strolling around the house singing some of the songs now! It's so cute to have him belt out: "I'm a cowboy.... Waaaaaanted...Dead or Alive" or "It's just a SHOT away, it's just a SHOT away"

Riley's favorite games to play these days are Simon Says and Hide and Seek. He hides from everyone who comes to visit...if he stays in the car and someone runs into a store, he'll cover with a blanket and hide until they come back...the examples go on and on, let's just say he hides all the time! So if he's not around, you better go looking! Luckily he's still not very good at it, so if you say, "Riley, where are you?" He'll reply, "I'm here in the closet" or wherever he is. As far as Simon Says goes, I think he loves it so much because he gets to do silly things...like jump, roll around, touch his toes, etc.

He is getting SO independent! And gets frustrated if you attempt to help him when he doesn't feel it is necessary. Examples include using his stool from bathroom to turn on lights, getting on and off our bed (it's really high, but he uses the side rails to climb up and down), even playing play doh by himself (he may need help with ONE part, but we better not do more than that or we hear, "I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF!"). Oh how fast they grow!

I recently got some pictures and videos of Riley playing with some new toys. He received a Spiderman punching thing from Christmas from our Grandma Doris, and Uncle Justin got him the ESPN Better Batter Baseball for his 2nd birthday, but we just put it together on Superbowl Sunday. He will play baseball for HOURS if we let him! He LOVES it! And he gets better every time. We are trying to take him out with every nice day we RANDOMLY get. I hope you enjoy the videos!

I've also included a video of my nephew, Xander, playing 'Boo!' with me! It's so cute that he says it back, I just love it! He is now 10 months old!

And on a sad note...Riley received his first ant bite on Friday, and unfortunately, it ended up being SIX at once! :-( He picked up a rock in our backyard that was apparently swarming with ants. Once he noticed he came over and starting wiping 'dirt' on my coat, then I noticed the 'dirt' was moving. I then realized they were ALL over his hands and his upper body. I immediately dusted his hands off as quickly as possible then stripped him down (he was wearing his one peice Spiderman costume). He received one bit on his neck, 2 on one finger, 1 at the base of his thumb and 1 on each wrist. So sad. He's being a trooper though, doesn't seem to bother him much at all, thank goodness. (you can see the bandaids on his write and neck...to keep him from touching the anti-itch cream after we put it on fresh)

How can I control my life when I can't control my hair? ~Author Unknown

Mar shared this fun Facebook application with me last night and I just had to share some of our fun over here! It's called 'Hairmixer'. You can upload a photo of you and switch your face with celebrities to try on their hairdos (that's one of the features at least). You can also upload your own 'hair photo' and try it on. It was so fun! It was hard finding the 'right' picture to use because some of the celebs are slightly facing right, or left, etc. But it's fun even if it's not perfect!

(I couldn't resist! I was trying on Sophia's hair in other pictures and when I saw this one I thought it would be fun to try! I can't believe how well it turned out actually! Ha ha ha!)

Do ALL kids have a 'sixth sense'?

I swear Riley has a psychic ability of some sort and I just have to find out if this is common in young children! Ha ha ha.

Examples? Out of the blue, after nap, he'll ask to watch a certain show, like Dragontales, Sagwa, Thomas, Jakers, etc. Shows that come on 'The Goodnight Show' on PBS Sprout. Well, if anyone has watched TGS you'll know that you never know what show is coming on when, so I'll turn it on and just tell him whatever is on is, that I can't control it, but that I'm sure whatever he wants to watch will come on soon. But EVERY TIME, and I'm NOT exaggerating here, the show he has specifically asked for is JUST coming on! It's really starting to freak me out!

And just today, he was upstairs for nap, wasn't asleep yet, but was on his way, and Danny, Stephanie and Xander stopped by to pick something up. They never even came into the house, as the 'thing' was in the garage. We chatted for a short while and then they left. When I came back into the house I heard Riley talking over the monitor and he was making 'blubba blubba' noises (you know, hitting your mouth with your hand?!?!) and saying, "Okay Xander, now you try!" over and over. It was so cute, but once again, WHY did he suddently starting thinking and talking about Xander?! I had to call Steph, too, because she was JUST asking me last week if Riley taught Xander how to do that...I guess he did!

Let's Give 'Em Something to BLOG About

Unfortunately, I don't have much, but I'll give what I can!

I recently listened to a voice memo I had saved on my phone of something I wanted to blog about, so I might as well share it now. Riley learned about 'Christmas Spirit' over the holidays, I can't exactly remember how, but I remember him asking what it was and where it was, etc. So I explained to him that Christmas Spirit was in our hearts, it was the feeling we had at remembering our Lord Jesus, his life and what he gave for our's, as well as remembering our friends and family, both alive and in Heaven, and I just explained that something about Christmas...coming together, singing songs, even the beautiful decorations...brought out this amazing spirit in everyone during this wonderful season. For weeks after that when we would look at Cmas lights or sing carols he would say, in the sweetest voice, "The spirit is in our hearts Mommy, we can feel it!". From the mouths of babes.

Xander came over Monday morning in BIG BOY jammies for the first time! I just thought it was too cute and had to snap some pictures!


He is growing up SO FAST...but don't they all? He's almost 10 months now, he's crawling like crazy, and he can even pull himself up to standing!

We went out a got a new fish Tuesday, the same day Groucho died. Riley was a little upset when I told him the news, but he got over it pretty quickly. I think he has a pretty safe feeling about Heaven. He wanted a PURPLE fish and ended up choosing a beautiful crowntail betta that is mainly blue, with hints of purple. He also named him all by himself...would take absolutely NONE of our ideas...and we found it quite a logical decision. So without further ado, I present to you, our new fish, Blue.

And last, but not least, here are some pictures of our 2 upstairs rooms that we FINALLY 'put together'. Most of you will not be able to appreciate the change, but just imagine not being able to see ANY carpet, and having stacks and piles of boxes upon boxes. Nothing on the walls or shelves, etc. We're VERY proud! And I think Randy and Jason were very comfortable during their stay last weekend.

This is our Office/Music Room

That BEAUTIFUL, LARGE, CUSTOM MADE bookshelf is new for us, it was at his grandparent's house holding all of his grandmothers art books. We LOVE IT! And are able to showcase many of our 'treasures' from their home as well.

This is our Guest/Exercise Room. YAY we can use the weight bench and treadmill now!

One of the three shelves broke, so Chris came up with the wonderful idea of making them a showcase on this wall. We've put pictures of some of our most favorite people on them, and also displayed more treasures from M and Bob's house!

Finally, this is one end of our game room. That is an antique ice box, also brought back from M and Bob's, and C's new wine cooler is over on top of the small white 'beer' fridge (he just got it with some Bday money). Our house is coming together and we are so excited!!!

I don't think I've mentioned this yet...but we are GOING TO UTAH!!! (if you haven't noticed the new ticker on the right) We are SO EXCITED! We want to thank everyone who helped make this possible (boy, I've seen too many Oscars!), we didn't know if we were going to be able to pull it together to visit Mel and family this go around, but WE ARE! We have SO many things on the list to do, but honestly, what I'm most excited about is just sitting in the backyard grilling, drinking a gallon of beer, chatting away with 2 of our best friends, and watching the kiddos play, play, play. What can be better than that?!?!

Below are a couple of funny videos I took today of Riley. The first is his new found 'talent' of burping. Yes, he's a BOY through and through! (I forgot to mention he wanted a frog or a turtle when we were at pet store on Tuesday...but he's not getting a pet that eats LIVE things until he can feed it himself...and even then I'm not sure!) The second is of his first JOKE! He's been trying to tell the banana/orange knock knock joke for some time and could just never get it right, but he's got this one down now! (if you can't understand him, it's "Why was the Number 10 scared? Cuz 7-8-9!")