We're so glad when Daddy Comes Home...

We tend to MISS Daddy a whole bunch when he has to go away on business... We love him for working SO hard for our family!

My New Fence

Halliejuia! Now I can send my kids outside with (relitively) NO worries. :)

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Look at these handsome boys working so hard for me...

Ryan absolutely ADORES his daddy and wants to be just like him some day.

Today is a good day...

I know that I still have so much catching up to do since December but I had to post this today:

Today is a good day...and it's only 9:45! Here are the reasons why:

1. I made some fantastic berry-oatmeal pancakes (so easy!)

2. Lizzy officially declared her Tomseth liniage by actually saying the words : "I have a better idea" out loud.

3. Trevor actually RAN to the potty all by himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been taking his diaper off for the past 2 days (since we are finally putting in concrete flooring in soon!) and he is finally "Getting It". I had also been denying him access to the bathroom since he could open door for two reasons: 1. He destroys it. 2. The initial reason that he started wanting to go to the bathroom was because he would do anything just to be able to get into the bathroom like his brother and sister get to do. Turns out, once I took the child door handle off a couple of days ago, he was glad to run in there. It gave him a sence of independance and was actually much easier to just run in there himself instead of trying to find someone that would open the door for him or waiting for someone to tell him it was time to potty. I guess he doesn't like being told what to do...he totally gets that from me! :)

Anyway...today was a good day.

Ryan turns 5...and joins the Circus!!

My little boy is 5! I know this sounds cliche but time really does FLY and get away from you. This little guy is so sweet. For his birthday, he wanted a "Mario" cake so this is what I came up with. Ryan loved it. We started the day by having our traditional birthday breakfast of blueberry, bannana birthday pancakes (in the shape of the first letter of their name and the age they are turning) then, we had our traditional birthday lunch at McDonalds where the kids all get to get a happy meal. He was pretty excited about this. We brought along Ryan's best friend, Jason. That kid is hillarious and so sweet.

It just so happened that the CIRCUS was in town that weekend!!! How increadible is that?! We even got free tickets for the kids! They had Elephants that could dance, The ball of death where 3 motercycles spun around in at the same time! (this was Ryan's favorite part), dancing poodles, pony rides, Some guy that did a handstand on like, 10 stacked chairs, Airialists (this was my favorite part), Lions, Tigers and Bears!!!! OH MY! It was an amazing show and they did not dissapoint.

After the circus, we went home and had pizza (Ryan's favorite) and invited Jason's family over for some cake.

Phew!...what a super fun day!

Dear Ryan,

You really do bring such a sweet light into our lives. You love to help. You love to be "awesome" and "cool". You LOVE video games...thanks to your father! You are so smart. You love to figure out how things work. You LOVE to learn. You can retain anything that you are taught. You are so excited to be enrolled into the Chinese Immerssion program at your school. You love to be outside and be active. You are so social. You love to play with your friends. You are a sweet, sweet boy who loves to give mommy hugs and kisses. You love it when I sing you your bedtime song. I will be so sad when the day comes that you will get to "big" for that. You love to be big and help your little brother. Trevor really does want to be like you and do everything that you do. I love to call you "Captain Awesome" but you get embarrased when I do. You talk so much now. It's so funny to listen to you chat away at the dinner table. You idolize you daddy...as you should. He is such a good man. Your favorite thing in the world is to wrestle with daddy. You love when he comes home from work.

You already have a deep love for Jesus Christ and love to do things that will please him. You love to read the scriptures and learn about the characters and warriors in the book of Mormon.

I love you with everything that I have my little Ry-Guy.

Love,

Mom

I can ride my bike with no Training Wheels...No Training Wheels...

We finally took the training wheels off of Lizzy's bike and she took to it in a matter of minutes! She's a pro. She's been asking us to take them off for a while but we've been hesitant to do so due to her...how do I put it delicately?...lack of coordination? We were so wrong. She did so good. Jacob was so good and patient as he taught her how to do it. I was at work all morning and this is what I came home to!

18 and Oreos

My youngest brother is an adult! He turned 18. He loves Oreos so this is what my mom requested for him. I loved doing it. It was so fun. My only complaint was that it looked like a quadruple-stuffed oreo! I should have trimmed it down quite a bit.
You can't tell by his face but he really was happy with the cake, he just wasn't happy with the 10 pictures that I took of him with his cake. :)

Lizzy's first Lost Tooth...or Teeth!!

So Lizzy had been complaining that her lower front teeth hurt. Being a paranoid former dental assistant, I immediately thought that she had cavities! I checked it out and they looked fine. A couple of days later, I see two adult teeth growing in behind them! How did I not even think of that?! They weren't even loose! I had to take her to the dentist to get them pulled because I was worried that they might grow in crooked like they were already doing. She was so brave. She didn't even flinch! The dentist hooked her up to nitrous, turned on the t.v. on the ceiling and popped them both out in two seconds. Look at all the loot she got just for loosing two teeth! A smoothie (eaten with a spoon of course), presents from the dollar store and a pack of Pez refills for her dispenser. And that is BEFORE the tooth fairy! What a cute girl.