Superbowl Party

On Sunday we had a Superbowl Party / Birthday Party for Sam. We had such a fun time - but we were seriously depressed that the Cardinals did not win! It was the most exciting game though, and there is no better place to watch a game than at Tash's house!!!

Cardinals Fans - Melissa, Jake, Maddie, Tash, Sam, Dillon & Ava

Tash got this huge Cardinals cookie from Paradise Bakery

This is what we were all doing all night,

but Tash might be the best Cardinal's fan ever....

This is Sam trying to blow out the trick candles on his birthday cake

Sam

It is my nephew Sam's birthday today - he is 15! Where do I even start to say how great I think Sam is????
Sam is so funny - he is always making us laugh with his great sense of humor. We love to just be with him - playing games, watching shows, playing darts - whatever!
He is unbelievably patient with my kids - they adore him! In fact, one of Dillon's very first words was Bo-Bo (for Sambo). He will play with them, jump on the tramp with them, cheer them up when they are grumpy & he can always make them laugh. When I tell my friends that my nephew is my babysitter, they are always surprised, but then I tell them how awesome he is!
Sam loves to try new things & he is the first to introduce us to new food, gum, drinks, songs, TV shows. His goal is to be a chef, so we all get to try his creations - he makes the best monkey bread, cinnamon rolls & paninis.
He loves to watch the whole series of a TV show & then he knows every episode & quote - it started with Friends, then Seinfeld, the Office, House, Lost & so many others.
Sam loves to long board & to play & watch sports. He will patiently explain to me all the things that I don't know about the game or the players. Last year, Sam & Maddie spent hours kindly teaching their wimpy Aunt to dive into the pool - he didn't even laugh when I was crying on the edge!!
Sam is the kind of guy that makes everything he does look so easy. He has a great sense of style & he has always had really good hair! (I try to make Dillon's hair look like his). He is just a really sweet person - he is super loyal & protective of his family & friends - I think that is such a great quality.
I will talk to Tash about our kids, & she will say that Dillon reminds her of Sam - I seriously can't think of a greater compliment or anyone I would rather Dilly be like!

Happy Birthday Sambo

We Love You!

Claire

Claire - My Sister up North!!! Happy (seriously belated) Birthday!

Claire just turned 18 and she is such a wonderful person! She is so sweet & unique. One of my best, and earliest memories of Claire is from the summer that I lived with her, my Dad & LuAnne in Fort McMurray, Alberta, many, many years ago. Claire probably doesn't even remember, but while I was there I worked at Syncrude Oil (where our Dad worked) and I would work really long days. Everyday after work, the bus would drop me off right by the house. Without fail, cute little tiny Claire would be at the front window watching for me, and then she would run out and greet me with the biggest hug! It was for sure the highlight of each day! Then we would hang out in my room & sing & dance on my bed - I can still hear her sweet little voice singing 'Moon Shadow' by Cat Stevens.
Claire is SO smart, has one of the best vocabularies I know, and is an avid reader. And she reads good books. She loves music and has a beautiful singing voice. She has always been a really good artist - I remember her little doodle books were not just doodles! They were the most detailed pictures!
A few years back, Claire made the choice to become a vegetarian - not the easiest thing to do when you are the only one in your house doing it. She has good reasons for doing it, and has really stuck with it. I admire her conviction very much.

We love you Claire!!!

Haircuts

Today Dillon & Ava got their hair cut at a really cute kids salon called Snip-Its.

Ava loves getting her hair cut...

Dillon is not so sure...

he actually did great until she used the clippers around his ears.

They both look so cute!

Dillon's Vocabulary

I am so proud that my little Dilly is finally starting to say a whole bunch of words!! He will imitate any word at least once, but this is a list of what he really says... (and yes, some of this may only be totally clear to me....)

• Mom
• Dad
• Ava
• Dog
• Bug
• Truck
• Book
• Drink
• Bobo (his cousin, Sambo)
• Choo-Choo
• Duck
• More
• Ouch
• Uh-Oh
• Bye-Bye
• Hi
• Papa
• Bird
• Bubble
• Ball
• Car
• Yum
• Uh-Uh (this means no, and he says it alot!)

He is also pretty good at the animal sounds...

• Meow (he makes the cutest, saddest little cat sound you have ever heard!!)
• Moo
• Grrrrr (for bears, lions, dinosaurs, etc.)
• Hoo, Hoo (for an owl - this is sooo cute - I make him say it over and over)
• SSSS (snake)
• Quack
• Ruff, Ruff
• Buzz (for a bee)

He is always making the sounds for cars, trucks and airplanes, anything with a motor. It is so fun to see him learn new things every single day. It is also really fun to see how excited Ava gets when she hears him say a new word - she is so proud of Dillon & he loves that!

Cookies

Tonight Ava decided that she wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, so we got out the cute little aprons that our good friend Rachel B. made for the kids, looked up a new recipe online and then got to work! This was the first time that Dillon has ever helped us make cookies and it was so fun with him. He was so interested in everything we were doing and wanted to scoop, pour, measure & mix. The best part was that every single time we turned the mixer off and lifted up the beater to scrape the bowl - he would get so excited that he would seriously scream! Ava & I were laughing so hard! Who knew that cookie making could be so exciting?

The Little Chefs (as Ava likes to say).

The chefs scraping the bowl.

A very willing taste-tester!

This is a little video clip of the cookie making. If you watch it, just pause the other music on my blog. Be warned - Dillon screams pretty loud when Ava lifts the beater up!

The final product! These cookies were actually really good! We would have shared them with friends if there hadn't been so many little fingers in the bowl! You can find the recipe we used here. (We just didn't make them as huge as they say to in the recipe & we also used milk chocolate instead of dark).

YUM!

Sunday

This is our day so far...

When I got Dillon out of his crib this morning, he crawled right onto Ava's bed to snuggle with her...

This was right after church. Church was great today - Ava started CTR-6, and Dillon started Nursery!!! When I took him into the nursery classroom, he was so excited to see all the toys. He ran over to a big truck, played for a second, ran back to me, hugged my leg really quick, and then went right back to playing!! I looked through the window to check on him a few times and he seemed to be having a good time - I just kept thinking how little he looked though! The teachers said he did great. Yay! Maybe now I can actually enjoy going to church again -instead of packing my whole house into a diaper bag to try (usually unsuccessfully) to keep Dillon entertained and happy for 3 hours!!

This is Ava showing off the haircut she got yesterday. She got some bangs and layers. Not too different, but I think it makes her look older.

After church I brought some clothes into the living room for both of the kids to change into. I told Ava to go change and when I came back into the living room she had put on Dillon's pants. She just thought that they were new capris for her since they totally fit! (You can see her haircut a little better in this picture).

While I was taking the picture of Ava in her new capris, Dillon managed to climb onto the kitchen table - his new favorite scary hangout - and pulled everything out of the diaper bag. He climbs onto every table, chair, shelf, cupboard or high place that he can!! He gives me a heart attack about 20 different times each day!