Fun Outside

The past couple days it warmed up here in Texas - into the low 70s! We've taken advantage of the nice weather and played outside. Of course last night it rained and today it is overcast, but hey, we'll take the sunshine when we can get it! :)

Everyday Happenings

Since I've been so behind in my blog, I thought I would give a little picture of some of the things we do around here, just day-to-day.

Lila loves to do crafts, color, paint, etc. She is always excited to try something new. I love Target's $1 section at the front of the store because they have fun, cheap things to do. I got this little acrylic paint set (6 colors) for $1. She had a blast.

Ring-Around-the-Rosie... aka... the one time I can pull my brother around and then make him fall down and I don't get in trouble.

We decided we weren't going to put Lila in preschool this year, but I wanted to give her some stimulation because she is so bright and always asking me "what can I do now, Mom?"... so we do "school" where we focus on a different letter each week and try to learn some short words that begin with that letter. I also try to come up with craft activities that relate to the letter somehow, and we pick out library books that use the short words we are learning. Last week was letter J (jet, jam, jump). This week we are doing letter K. Oh, and if it fits, I also try to do a bible story. Letter J had a lot of options! Jonah, Joseph, Jesus... she really enjoys anything we do but this just helps me come up with ideas. As I read back through, I realize it sounds like we do a lot - but we maybe spend 30 minutes on it each day. Usually before she has her room time and while Wyatt is napping.

Wyatt continues to grow and learn as well! He is adding new words to his vocabulary - this weekend he picked up "pizza" which sounds like "beeta". We've also started letting him feed himself some things with a spoon. He loves this and will ask for the "byune" (it's hard to spell what it sounds like). You can tell from the first picture that he is also working on getting in some teeth!

Snow Day

Since we missed the snow here on Christmas Eve, we were happy it snowed again one day after we got back home even if it didn't stick around for long.

Lila had a blast running around in the snow.

Ben even came home a little early to play in the snow. Here he is about to throw a snowball at Lila.

And here Lila is throwing one at him.

She came over to show me that her mittens were getting wet. I was inside the garage taking pictures, and Wyatt was inside the house taking a nap. Maybe we will get snow one more time so he can experience it - but I am happy to take the warmer weather too :)

Christmas 2009

Well, I'm finally trying to catch up with my blog. Since the beginning of the year, Wyatt was sick, then Lila, then Wyatt again. Hopefully we are done now for awhile! Anyway, for Christmas we drove to Alabama to spend the week at my parents' house. My sister went with us, so we had 3 adults, 2 kids and 3 dogs in the van. Fun times :) Before we left, we celebrated our own little family Christmas.

Traditional picture in front of the tree.

Wyatt wasn't that interested in opening gifts - something that I am SURE will change by next year!

Lila got a dollhouse for Christmas from us... can you tell she is excited?

When we got to my parents' house, Lila got to help decorate the tree (they waited because they knew that she had so much fun decorating our tree).

This lovely ornament I made when I was Lila's age (3 and 1/2).

My nephew, Heath, really enjoyed building with the blocks.

Lila and Heath

Everyone doing Ring-Around-the-Rosie. Wyatt (behind Lila) thought it was a lot of fun!

Another traditional picture in front of the tree: Heath, Lila, Wyatt and Jim.

The weather was pretty nice while we were there, so one day we walked over to a nearby neighbor to look at his goats. This was taken in the driveway before we left.

Wyatt had a bouncy ride, which he enjoyed.

Heath with his dad, my brother Duey.

Wyatt and Ben.

Wyatt and Lila playing the piano with Aunt Janina.

Lila and Wyatt with Grandma in their Christmas finery.

Grandma and Grandpa Brandt with Lila and Wyatt

Grandma and Grandpa Brandt with Jim and Heath

Grandpa reading Wyatt and Lila a book.

Our car ride from Texas to Alabama took about 12 hours with stops. The kids did really well. On the car ride home though is when Wyatt first got sick - vomiting in the car and then later he had a blowout at McDonalds. Both times Ben was the one to clean him up, so I just want to say what an incredible man I've got. Yes, he was the unlucky one who happened to be sitting in the backseat when it happened and didn't realize what he had when he volunteered to change Wyatt's diaper, but still - no complaining at all. And there were a couple men who came out of the restroom making faces so I know it wasn't pretty. It is certainly one trip we won't be forgetting anytime soon. :)

Anniversary Dinner

Today was our 9 year anniversary. We decided to go out to eat to celebrate and bring the kids along, rather than hire a sitter. They were both very good during dinner and provided some entertainment too. For instance...

Our waiter came to our table and asked us what we'd like to drink. He said, "I've got tea, lemonade,-".

Before he could finish, Lila said, "Oh, I'd like some lemonade, sir. My mommy taught me to call men "sir" and I call girls... I call them... I call them... I can't remember what I call them." (Probably why she's called me "sir" a few times!) We were all chuckling at her explanation though. Guess now we need to work a little harder on not interrupting :)

The past nine years have been wonderful - can't wait to see what comes next!

Thanksgiving 2009

So once again, I am a little behind in updating my blog. The last couple months have been busy! :) We were lucky enough to have Ben's parents and his brother's family come down here for Thanksgiving! It was a quick visit but we really enjoyed having them here! My sister was also able to come over for Thanksgiving Day. Everyone brought something for the meal. For dessert, I made a pumpkin pie and these really cute turkey cupcakes.

I also got out the good china. Lila helped me make place cards for the table.

The weather was pretty nice so we walked down to the park in the afternoon.

David enjoyed playing with the wood chips on the ground.

Wyatt thought getting swung around by Daddy was pretty fun!

And everyone liked climbing the big rock, even Uncle Brian!

Aunt Janina helped Wyatt go down the slide.

Wyatt and Aunt Janina (who he now calls "Nina"... he calls ME that sometimes too!)

On the walk home, Rachel and Lila caught a ride. This picture cracks me up because it shows the difference in the girls - Rachel with her arms up & no fear and Lila squeezing Ben's head as tight as she can!

The next day was nice too so we played some in the yard. The girls could really get the glider going high.

What can I say? If it's there, we must taste it.

This Year's Ornament

When Ben and I got married, I decided that each year I would make a Christmas ornament, something to symbolize a significant event that year. The first year was an ornament with our wedding date on it. We have a doggy ornament for the year we got Maggie and Kelsey. I made an ornament for each year the kids were born. A pair of sandals for the year we went to South Padre with college friends. Anyway, I really didn't know what to do for this year. Ben went to Guatemala but the rest of us didn't. I deliberated for awhile but then Ben came up with the idea to do an ornament that looked like a camera. This year we got a DSLR camera which I have loved using. We also had our family picture taken, so it seemed like a camera was a good idea. Now I just had to figure out how to make it! I went to Hobby Lobby and found this musical button for 40 cents (did I mention I made this AFTER Christmas!) That became the lens. When you push on it, it plays "White Christmas" (which is appropriate since this year Ben watched one of my favorite Christmas movies - White Christmas - for the first time). I used a paper-mache box for the body ($1, Hobby Lobby). Everything else (paint, buttons, ribbon) I had already.

For the back, I printed out a picture taken this year of Lila and Wyatt. Hey, it's a digital camera, right? :)

I love looking at these ornaments each year on the tree. It has become a fun Christmas tradition for us.

*Note: I did NOT take these pictures with my DSLR. I used the camera on my phone b/c it was faster :)