Super Big Boy!

I can't believe how SUPER BIG Asher is getting! It is fun watching him try to keep up with his big brother. We were at Toby's gymnastics class this afternoon. When class had ended and I finally let Asher play on the mats he copied a lot of the same things he had seen his brother do, even sitting in the same spot where the kids sit to listen to the instructor! It was precious.

After the class, I let the boys run around the park with a few other children. Asher was working so hard to keep up with the group! He is getting more and more active and doing a lot of running, climbing, kicking and jumping.

Another day at the park I put Asher on the swings and I noticed him start to pump his legs back and forth, just as he sees big brother do when he is on the swings! It really made me smile!

Toby and Asher play together quite a bit now. I don't know what it is, but after dinner is their silly, hyper, run-around-the-house-being-loud time. It is amusing to watch them have such a great time together and do so much laughing, but I'm also on pins and needles hoping one of them isn't going to get hurt!

Something cute Asher did:

Toby was upstairs in his room counting the coins in his money bank. He yelled downstairs to where I was playing with Asher saying, "Mom, I think I have enough money to buy an ice-cream!" All Asher heard was "ice-cream". He threw his arms in the air and exclaimed, "Yeah!" and took off running to his high-chair expecting me to serve up his ice-cream on the spot! :)

Veggie Tales

(Tobiah at 8 months)












Toby is a complete non-vegetable eater. Getting him to at least TRY the itty-bitty serving of vegetable on his plate is a battle. We've praised him, rewarded him, taken away dessert, made his veggies in to cute designs, tried to made it a competition between he and Asher...and made zero progress. Vegetables make him gag.

Last week we had frozen pizza for dinner one night. Although I did embellish half of it with olives and peppers for the grown-ups, the kids just had peperoni. We had a very PLEASANT family dinner! The next night I wanted to make up for pizza night and made a delicious (at least I thought so!) stew full of fresh vegetables and nutritious delights (wild rice). The boys completely turned their noses up at it and we proceeded to have a very UNPLEASANT meal.

Since then Tim has been pleading with me to please keep dinners simple because he doesn't want any "drama". But I want to feed my family well, with pizza nights being occasional, not the norm. So, at Costco on Monday I picked up the book, "The Sneaky Chef". I shopped for my ingredients and today I made Orange Puree out of carrots and yams.

Toby's favorite meal right now, besides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, is chili. He likes it over rice, with cheese sprinkled on top and a dollop of sour cream. He BEGS me to make it for him. Tonight when he saw what was for dinner he said, "Yes!" and gave me a high five. The chili already has tomatoes and two types of beans in it, but tonight I stirred in a generous portion of Orange Puree and he still ate the whole bowl! Asher also gobbled it up. Success!

I can't wait to try adding the Green Puree (spinach, broccoli, peas) to meatloaf! :)

Easter 2008

Easter was very eventful for us! To see all the pictures you will have to go to our web album. The link is to the right.

On Saturday morning we decided to try out the Arboretum's annual egg hunt. It was crowded, but still very fun for the kids We met up with some friends there and afterwards the kids had a great time exploring and climbing trees.

On Sunday morning we left for church extra early. We had to park at a nearby mall and take a shuttle to the church! They had 4 services in total over the weekend at two different locations. There were special programs for the kids. Tobiah went on and on afterwards about how much fun he had! They had bubble making, cotton candy and popcorn, crafts, worship, a skit. Toby said it was the best time he has ever had at church!

The fun continued when we got home and I had special Easter buckets full of surprises for the boys.

In the afternoon we drove down to Orange County to meet up with the Stiles clan (Tim's great-uncle and cousins). We walked to the park and set up an egg hunt for the kids, which there were a lot of. ( Toby had a great time getting to know his "cousins"!) Asher loved picking up eggs and putting them in his bucket. When it was all over he wanted to take all his eggs out and start over! Toby raced around and even helped Asher add eggs to his bucket. After some play time at the park we returned to the Stiles for a wonderful meal.

On the way home we talked about all the fun we had and Toby brought up the park where he had been, saying, "I had never been to that park before. I guess I haven't been to ALL the parks in the world...YET!"

Tim's Birthday

On his birthday Tim requested tacos for dinner and brownies with mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream for dessert.








Asher was thrilled when we placed his dessert in front of him!






Debbie called Toby a party animal. He thought about that and decided he would be a party moose!

Cute Pics

When I ran to get the camera I was not too hopeful that they would be willing to be still long enough for me to take a picture, but they were waiting for me in this exact pose! I must of caught them in the mood to ham it up!

Yes!

These are our boys, Asher and Tobiah, caught in a sweet moment of brotherly love...and this is MY FIRST BLOG POST EVER!

Every time I talk to my dad on the phone he asks, "What cute things have the boys said/done lately?" and I have to rack my brain to remember the last funny antics that occurred in our home. Keeping a blog will give me a place to put those great moments in to writing and make them easier to share with (interested) family and friends. Writing about my kids will also help me to hold on to the precious times with them, since they are definitely growing up too fast.

Here is one of the latest stories: Toby saw a large US Postal Service truck with the eagle logo on the side and exclaimed, "Mom, did you know that that truck carries bald eagles? It is full of bald eagles inside! Isn't that cool?!" That cracked me up.

He also came to me for some sympathy one day saying, "Mom, at preschool the girls picked Scotty to play with instead of me!" I asked him if that made him feel sad on the inside and he replied, "No, we were outside!"

Currently, Tobiah is 4 years old and Asher is 19 months. Tim just turned 32 yesterday, so he is now caught up to me since I am 5 months his senior! We had a party for him Wednesday night with my sister Debbie over. When we got to opening presents, Tim said, "YES!" with excitement. Asher picked up on that right away, threw his hand in the air and also said, "YES!" He continued to do it several times because we were encouraging it. It was very cute!

Toby was recently invited to check out a friend's karate class, in which the kids are loudly taught to say, "Yes Sensei!" to every command they are given by their teachers. We tried to incorporate that in to our family life by encouraging Toby to say, "Yes, Mom!" and "Yes, Dad!" when we ask him to do something. He gets a lot of praise for using this response. It is really music to our ears instead of the other whiny responses we might get! But the great thing about it is that Asher has started to echo Toby with a "Yes, Mama!", "Yes, Dada!" - we eat it up!