Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pool days, Fun days!

We've had great weather the past few weeks. We have taken advantage of Nana & Pawpas pool. It's just a 4-wheeler ride away. We are really loving our new life in the country. So quiet and peaceful :)

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Power Rangers & Mimi

I wanted to write down a few things before I forget them!

Last week Karson got into this HUGE change in his personality. Normally he would want to watch Mickey Mouse or Oso and he played with tools when we were inside the house.

All of a sudden it is like Power Rangers have warped our house! Out of no where it's everything power rangers. TV, toys, swords, shields, jumping, and fighting the bad guys. I have NO CLUE where this came from. I am typically not a mom that really likes the fighting type cartoons, but it has BLOWN up here!! That is all he talks about, so I bought him 2 power rangers at Walmart.

They go in the bath, to bed, to the store, to the park, everywhere!!
I really have no clue where this all came from. It's so strange but I guess I will go with it!

Here is Kevin and Karson. Kevin is the "bad guy" and Karson is the "blue powerranger"
He always wants us to play fighting and for us to hold the pillow for the shield. It's pretty cute
Karson wins! Daddy is eliminated!
That is one thing Kevin and I have noticed watching the show is that they try not to use the words "kill" "fight" they normally say eliminated, which I like.

A big milestone has also hit our house this week. I felt like because the power rangers got so big here it would be a great time to try to get rid of the "MIMI". Karson has had this certain blanket since he was born and he started calling it his mimi. I really haven't felt like we needed to take it away but he started chewing on it and it worried me he would swallow a string on it or rip some of it off. So I took the situation and told Karson that once you start playing with power rangers, then you cant have your mimi. He took it like a champ!! I couldn't believe it! It has been 4 days and he has not even asked for it. This shocks me and surprises me so much! So therefore, even though I really don't care for watching "fighting the bad guys", I will take it!


Watching a final episode of Power Rangers before bed!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend


We had a very low-key Memorial Day weekend. Kevin was working all weekend from 7am-7pm so it was just me and the boys. Of course we made it fun even though we missed daddy.

We had lots of watermelon...

And taught Kipton how to crank the car up and push the button..

And went to church where I had to finish up my last week this month of teaching Karon's 3/4 year old Sunday School class...

Kipton still goes to the nursery, which is a good thing. I think Karson needs a little time with older kids his age without his brother tagging along.

I remember this stage with Karson as well. Kipton WILL NOT smile for pictures! He always looks so sad, but that is not how he is at home. He is Mr. Jokester and funny guy.

This particular Sunday we had 15 3 year olds in our class. I was pretty darn tired when naptime came around, especially because after church we had to go to the grocery store and you know how that is with two small kids.

We also spent a lot of time in my mom's pool. Karson is really enjoying the pool this year. He can put his vest on and swim by himself and he thinks that is just the coolest. Kipton is not much of a fan of the big pool. He likes to jump off from the ladder into the pool to someone. After about 15 minutes he is done. I can remember that Karson was the exact same way at this age.

22 months is a hard age! Almost to the terrible twos but not yet. Kipton wants to do EVERYTHING that his big brother is doing, which can really cause a problem most of the time.

Kipton and Papaw Brad



Big boy swimmer!


I'm sure Kipton is telling me something here but I can't remember what. These boys talk ALL...DAY..LONG.

There is more pictures to add to this post, but both boys are up from nap now. Time to get to work! :)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Kipton - 22 Months




You are such a joy Kipton, but you are defiantly my strong-willed child!

Wheww! This boy can throw the fits down. Karson did not prepare me for this at all. The boys are for sure very different in respects to personalities. Kipton is also a jokester! He tries to make people laugh and get their attention (which is cute)

We love you so much Kipton Lee!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

5 Tips to Cure Boredom at Home


As a mom have you ever felt like you were treading water?

I have, and currently am!

Kip has been sick for 3 days with a fever and no other symptoms. We have been to the doctor and they give me the: "It's just a virus that will run it's course" line. Soo, we have stayed home for almost 5 days and it can really become depressing. I do love being home with the boys, but I need to get OUT each day to feel "normal".

A lot of the time the boys are fighting/arguing over who has what toy when we are home. It can be frustrating to keep a cool tone while breaking up the 400th fight for the day.

Maybe I am the only one that gets discouraged that I have bad kids or that I am doing something wrong. I hope that the noisy, crying, not playing well, and frustrating life is other mom's normal for children that are so close in age and young children in general.
 *fingers crossed there are others out there* :) 

So I am going to make a list of things that I TRY to do if the boredom sets in and we are stuck at home:

1. GO OUTSIDE & WORK
For some reason my boys LOVE it when I give them "jobs" to do. I will ask them to sweep the garage, water the flowers, water the new grass, shovel some dirt, clean the porches, or take the trash down on the 4-wheeler. I think it makes kids feel important when they have a job to do.

2. BREAK OUT THE PLAY DOH
No matter how bad the day as been, playdoh ALWAYS seems to make things better! Sometimes we made animals, made food with utensils and bowls, make daddy something, or make letters. It seems like the boys enjoy it more if I give them a task to make with the playdoh.

3. COOK
I know with younger children this is harder to do, but as the boys have gotten older they like to help in the kitchen. I will normally put Kip in his high chair and let him watch with sometime to entertain, and let Karson help at the stove. *Being very careful I should add* The boys like to help me cook and also do the dishes.

4. WATCH A MOVIE/PLAY GAME
There are not many movies that the boys will agree on. They both like to watch music videos with nursery rhymes so I have a few of those DVD's. For Karson's 3rd birthday we spent the extra money and bought him a Leap Pad. It is imitating the IPad but for kids. You can download apps straight from the Leap Pad website and it debits it from your bank account. It is super neat! I knew that around age 3 is when children start to like these game systems but I really didn't think Karson would like it as much as he has. I don't get it out often but sometimes if I am in need of quiet time during the day I will pull this out. I have downloaded educational games, a few fun games, videos, and ebooks. It is super fun! This does help pass the time!

5. INDOOR CHORES
The boys love to "work" as I mentioned in #1. They really love doing laundry and helping dump the trash from the bathrooms. I read a lot of blogs where the moms say that they clean while the kids nap. I used to be like that and I felt like my entire nap time was gone because I was rushing to clean before they woke up. I rarely do that anymore. I try to involve the boys and do my cleaning in the mornings. We do whatever laundry is in the boys hamper and the hamper in our bathroom. I have them bring all the trash cans to the big trash can in the kitchen and dump them. They also like to use my swiffer vac's (I have bought 2 with coupons just to have 2 so each boy will have one) and we sweep the floor. The only chore that I normally wait to do is mopping our hardwood/tile because that would be a total disaster. We have a lot of fun cleaning together!

I hope these 5 tips help you to cure boredom while you're home. I'm sure you have tried most of them, but sometimes another person's perspective can help you out. It is hard to think of things other than doing crafts with materials that you don't have.

Here's to keeping little ones entertained and happy :)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Sick Days

On Saturday afternoon Kipton woke up with a nasty fever! No other symptoms just a fever. I was pretty sure it was from his 2 year old molars that have been trying to come in now for a month. But, we went into the walk-in clinic just to be sure. Sure enough..she said it was not ears or throat so she contributed it to his teeth. Poor Kip he just can't get these teeth in.

So we have had lots of Popsicles and frozen gogurts (which I just learned you could do)


We have stayed inside for nearly 2 days, and that is a long time for these outside boys. We have tried to keep busy inside to keep Kipton out of the heat.


The boys showing off their new lunch boxes from Nana.

Anything with tractors/bulldozers/dump trucks are a good things :)

As much as I really hate sickness I am trying to embrace the fact that Kipton will only be 22 months old once and he won't let me hold him when he gets bigger. He is becoming such a sweet little boy. Every time I give him his drink or a snack he says "Thank you Mommy" in the sweetest little voice.
Another funny thing he does: When I do something like cover him up with the blanket or turn the TV on he'll say "Good Job Mommy". This is pretty funny coming from a little one.

I love them so much!! Even on the sick days :)



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Karson is 3


Karson's birthday was on March 10th  but I have not had any pictures made of him for his 3rd birthday. I took him to a nearby field and creek and got some of the best pictures of him.


At this time Karson is "full of life". He is one of the most energetic kids that I have been around. He is ALWAYS on the go, and wants to be outside most of the day. Keeping up with him has been pretty busy but he keeps me laughing.

He is a lover of: fishing, campfires, the outdoors, looking at rowboats, his daddy/brother/papaw Brad, playing baseball, taking walks, looking for deer, and anything that has to do with water.


Karson can really carry on long and extensive conversations. He is always talking. ALWAYS. Some parts of the day, I ask him to just "be quiet" and he says "But Mommy I want to talk". HAHA! He's so funny!






I hope that Karson always loves the outdoors like he does! He is such a special boy with a HUGE heart full of love. He is so polite and sweet. We all love you so much!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Sprinkler Fun








To say they had fun....would be an understatement!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day

This year is my 4th year to celebrate Mother's Day. What a joy these two sweet boys are.

This was Mother's Day 2011
It makes me laugh because Karson was in control then..

And still in control now...

Kipton will go to the end of the world for his big brother. He will do anything and everything that Karson tells him to do. Karson is the apple in Kipton's eye!

I am so happy to be their momma!

We spent the day at the early church service, and then visiting Kevin's parents. It was soon nap time so we headed home and I even got lucky and had a nap!! That hasn't happened since I was pregnant with Karson. It was WONDERFUL! We went to dinner at my parents house and visited there a while.

What a great year to have TWO boys to love!


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Day in the Life - Day 5

Friday

Kevin was home with us on Friday so we worked ALL DAY LONG on the outside of our house. Even though we have been living in our new house for almost 6 months, the outside is still not finished. After bulldozing our yard and area out to build the house, you have DIRT, SAND, and more DIRT.

It gets EVERYWHERE!! So we are trying to grow grass and add our landscaping. It feels like it's taking forever. But it will come.......I hope :)


So we planted....

And ate good popsicles....


And had some gravel delivered for our driveway...


And had some more dozing work done...


And raked, shoveled, and spread grass seed and hay....


And of course looked cute by the flowers and the wonderful "hay" yard :)