Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Holidays

I really like decorating for the different holidays. Gives me something to look forward to. (I know, dorky!) I always love to have flags/wreaths to go with each holiday. There is a certain flag store that I go to at the flea market just to get her new flags. I have a little flag holder and a big flag on the side of the house. I swore I wasn't going to drill into our new house to put up the big flag but I love it so much.

Added some hearts that hang from our light in the kitchen/dining room.

Valentines Placemates and Centerpiece


Some Valentine's towels in the kitchen.

One side of the living room. I changed my curtains to these. Kevin said they looked better because they were "countrier" (is that even a word) Normally he could care less about the inside of the house but since we have moved he has had more of an opinion. He loves the country type decorations so I try to lean towards that side. Our "Dick Family" sign we had made and we love it.

Karson is really into reading with the tag reader. He loves it! It was a Christmas gift from Kevin's aunt. It came with a Toy Story and Mickey Mouse book.

Speaking of Karson I can't believe that his 3rd birthday is coming up in March. I have asked him what he wants for a party and he says he wants it at the "jumpy place" and wants it to be tools. So I guess I am going to fulfill his wishes and get busy on that. We really don't have many kids to invite so I'm not sure how that will work since we won't have enough kids for a party package at the jump place.

Hope everyone is enjoying the winter. It really hasn't been too bad here in WV. Yesterday was 60 which was WONDERFUL!! Today is about 57. I'll take it :)

Monday, January 16, 2012

Our Weekend

Thankfully I had a 3 day weekend. It was so nice to be able to stay home with the boys and enjoy! Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Each night after Kevin went to work Karson was a little bummed  so I asked him if he would like to go to Nana's and Papaws house to take a swim in the hot tub. We turn down the temperature and it feels just like a bath. He was a little resistant at first but he LOVED it and did not want to get out.

He wanted to go back the next night after his daddy went to work. Kip would stay in for a little while but I was too busy with both of them to get any pictures of Kipton.

By the end of the second night in the hot tub, he was going UNDER!! This is the first time he had ever gone under the water and I was so excited for him. I want him to LOVE the water and be a good swimmer. As soon as he turns 3 we are signing him up for swim lessons at the Y. So excited!

Kipton before bed. He was working on his cheerios book.

Today, I also worked on getting my Valentine's decor out. The boys really seem to like the different table decorations that I have for the different holidays.
Here is a little centerpiece that I got from Pinterest. Except you are supposed to put heart candy in the vase instead of the beads. Hopefully this week I will pick up some candy, but I kinda like it this way.

More decor pictures to come!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Teaching

My life has taken a complete 360!! I am so used to staying home with the boys and doing my school work on the computer during naptime/bedtime. BUT...now I am teaching at a school and being gone for almost 9 hours per day. Let me tell you....I am MANY things but I will spare you. Nobody wants to read about a complainer. But it is a complete different life as a working mom. I know I have spent the last 5 years working towards my degree to get to this last semester but WOW it is a big change.

Mainly because I miss THESE guys!! :(

I especially miss the mornings in our pj's until noonish.
Doing "whatever" we want...just having fun together at home, or out and about.



After summer break comes and graduation is over we will then make the decision and weigh all the factors in to decide if I will be working full-time or not. We are still a little on the fence. More than anything we want to think of retirement. For that reason I think a job is a good decision for our family but there are MANY more pros. We shall see :)
So for the next 15 weeks I will be VERY busy and won't have much time for blogging.
Hope everyone stays busy this winter.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Kipton at 17 months

I am a horrible mom. I mean really. Besides writing this.......


Kipton Lee Dick

Born: July 20, 2010

I have nothing else written in his baby book. Totally pathetic. I know I need to get on it but typing is so much faster and easier than writing it all out. So here goes about Kipton at 17 months:

This month you are talking ALOT more. You are starting to put two words together. You can say Mickey Mouse! When you say it you get so excited. Every morning you get up about 7:30 and it's just mommy and Kip time. One of my favorite parts of the day. You have been such a cuddle bug here latley.


I normally get you from your crib, change you, then bring you back to bed with me and we watch Mickey. You just lay there and soak up this time without bubby being around. You LOVE your paci and your blankie.


You are a running machine. You love to have "races" with your brother in the living room. You have adjusted super well to our move to the new house. You have never missed a beat. You take a nap from 1:00 - 4:00 every day. You are like clock work. You get your bath about 7:30 and go to bed at 8:00. You sleep from 8:00pm-7:30am. You are a really good sleeper. You take your paci and blankie and your out. I decided this month to finally give you a pillow in your crib. I am always nervous about doing this but I felt it was time. You love it!!


Since around Christmas time you have really changed. You are such an easy baby now. You have always been more "high maintenced" than Karson was. You are really learning that fussing is not always going to get your way. I have spent the past 3 months trying to keep you happy and I think you have finally figured out what you can and cannot get away with.


We had a great Christmas with you. You were a joy! BUT you were not interested in opening any of your presents. Except for Mommy's flower pots. HAHA! We still love ya :)


You are such a climber. You are climbing onto the kitchen table and even the couch now. Shew!! You normally eat really good except for dinner. For some reason you never eat dinner very well. Breakfast and lunch you are eating your entire plate but not dinner time. Maybe you are not hungry at 5:30/6. I haven't figured out why you aren't eating so well at that time.

You LOVE your brother. You guys play ALL DAY LONG together. You are both really enjoying having a toy room where all of your toys are and spend alot of your time in there. You still do not watch much TV. You will watch Mickey in the morning for about 20 minutes and your done. You only watch the nursery rhyme songs and that is it. I guess that is my fault because in the summer we don't watch TV we are outside. You have never been one to watch an entire episode of anything much less a movie.


You are such a joy! You are cracking yourself up and laugh and laugh at the dinner table. You love your family. You love your bubby, daddy, Nana, Papaw and mommy. You follow me around all day long. We are so lucky to have you and so happy that you were our little "surprise" :)

I love you so much Kip!!

 


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Midweek Confessions

I came across a new blog and each Wednesday she does a confession post. Kinda fun!!


So here goes!

I am putting Karson in "time-out" at least 2 times per day. If not more! O the terrible twos are hitting hard.

I have a halfway painted hallway but I'm too lazy to drive all the way to Lowes to get more paint.

I live for the days that Kevin is off work.

I have ALOT of clothes that I don't wear and kinda don't like but I can't get rid of them.

I never match up my socks.

If we don't go anywhere I will let the boys go around in their pj's all day.

We didn't leave the house for 3 days this week. (JUSTABOUT LOSTIT :)

That's about all I can think of for this week. It's 8:45pm and I'm about donzo!

Kevin is watching the WVU/Clemson Game tonight so there goes my DVR. :)


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Year 2012

Welcome 2012!!

You have BIG shoes to fill. Last year was a GREAT year.

 Hope you are good to our family of four and our extended family and our "few" great friends.
New Year's Eve was just another evening at our house. The boys played Karson's new match game.


At 17 months, Kipton is in a stage where he cracks himself up. Seriously. He does something and then starts dying laughing. He also goes up to the door and bonks his head and then says "Ouch!" It's hilarious.
He is going to be my class clown.

"Got a match MOM!"

My parents came over and my mom made us all homemade pizzas. They were awesome!! I never have pictures of her because she doesn't like her picture taken. Totally opposite from me :)

This is what my dad and Kevin ended up doing. WORK! Our house is still lacking trim work and they are going to finish it. They can't sit still because they know they have a lot more to do. So they worked on the trim piece going from the hardwood to the kitchen until almost midnight. Such dedication!!

After my parents left Kevin and I watched the ball drop in our pj's eating in our room. The boys went to bed at their normal time. They could care less at this age. We had a fun night.

Hoping to have many blessings in 2012. Here are some goals of mine:

*Finish our house (trim, and paiting)

*Plant Grass

*Grow a big garden and reep the rewards

*Do Landscaping around the house

*Get the boys "playground" all finished up outside

*Give the chickens an outdoor area to run and get about 20 more chickens. Start selling the eggs

*Graduate with my Teaching Degree (may)

*Find a job over the summer (sniff sniff - still not sure about this :(

*MAYBE take the boys to the beach - I am not sure about this one with everything going on with the house but I would love to take the boys somewhere this summer.


Kevin and I love to check off lists so hoepfully this one will be done this year :)

Monday, January 2, 2012

Chickens and a Wild Rooster


When we first started building our house we knew we wanted farm animals. We knew that the boys would love growing up having some animals other than our small dogs that are inside. We decided to get chickens. Mainly because they give you a return. (eggs) We started with just two.

Karson named them "Jackie" and "Lou Lou"

After moving into our new house we realized that they weren't laying eggs and even though they are hens that don't require a rooster to lay we knew that if we had a rooster and some more hens that would up the competition and they would start laying.


So we sent Kevin off to get some more chickens and a rooster. We now have 5 hens and 1 rooster.
Karson has a HUGE LOVE for these chickens. He asks me almost every morning if we can go check on the the chickens. He has named them all.
Jackie
Lou Lou
Snowflake
Mickey Mouse
Big Daddy (rooster)


One of Karson's "chores" is to help daddy with the chickens.
He follows Kevin around and helps him give them food/water/new hay. He loves to get the eggs out of the nesting boxes. When people come over to our house he normally opens the fridge and shows them the brown chicken eggs.
He is such a worker boy. He loves to work outside and do anything that daddy does. He is for sure a country boy and we are so happy to have made our move to the country.


A funny story: A few days ago while Kevin and Karson were cleaning the coop three chickens got out including the rooster. Kevin caught the hens but couldn't catch "Big Daddy". He chased that rooster for 2 days. We were worried that something would get it in the middle of the night. But the rooster just perched on top of the chicken house. Finally Kevin called a friend over to help him and they cornered him on the back porch and threw an old sheet over him.

He was not a happy rooster! But he is back in his coop with his "ladies". I have the chicken chasing on camera. It is quite funny! Kevin was not happy when he saw me filming him and he's chasing the rooster all over the hillside. HAHA!!

Memories in 2011

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Goodbye 2011

Our Boys throughout 2011


2011 has been a GREAT year for our family. We have two special boys who make it all that much more great. Having the boys just 16 months apart has been super hard but I wouldn't change a thing. They are so close and LOVE having the companionship of each other.








Beginning the building a house project and watching it go through the entire process has been our biggest blessing in 2011. We are so blessed and happy to see it through to the end.

From a piece of land....

To our dream home.

It feels so good to finally be in a home and environment that we LOVE. So thankful that we had this wonderful opportunity for our family. We are so blessed and undeserving of this. I am so amazed each day at our home and that it's ours.

Hope that 2012 has many more special blessings for our family.


I came across a wonderful website that puts life in prospective.