Sunday, April 26, 2009

Working on the Garden

We spent this past weekend (Friday & Saturday) getting our garden area all set up. Because we have such a big slope in the back yard, we are building three retaining walls. We spent Friday, pulling weeds, tilling, picking rocks and a little digging. Then on Saturday we dug lots more, picked more rocks and started building walls and stairs. We ran out of cinder blocks and time on Saturday, but we are getting closer to being done. Needless to say, Keagan really enjoyed spending almost two whole days outside digging & playing.

Garden spot Before

Deker enjoying the great outdoorsKeagan wearing Mommy's gloves (Everytime I put them down, he would pick them up and put them on).


Keagan and Daddy workingYou can't forget snack time!The garden so far. We need to get more cinder blocks to finish the second wall and the remainder of the stairs along the side of the garden.

By the way...in spite of what the pictures show, I really did do work in our garden. But I also had to spend time feeding and keeping Deker happy.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Smithalicious

Me, my mom, my sisters and my sisters-in-law (my brother's wifes) all like to cook and/or bake. We have talked for a lot time about sharing recipes, but could never come up with a good way of sharing our recipes with each other. Well, last year we came up with the idea of doing a blog where we could share all our yummy recipes with each other. So, my talented sister-in-law Matti, started the blog and appropriately named it SMITHALICIOUS (since all of us have or have had the last name of Smith).


A year later, our blog has over 100 recipes and is continually growing. Matti has recently been trying to make our blog famous. We are now a part of sites like The Hive, Foodie Blog Roll and Phe.Mom.Enom. We would love to have your help in getting our blog out there for everyone to see. So, if you would like, check out our blog Smithalicous and become a follower. I would even be willing to bribe you with a yummy homemade treat if you need more incentive to become a follower of our blog (limited to those living in the Boise area).

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Weekend

We had a very fun Easter weekend. We kicked off on Saturday by going out to Kuna to their Easter Egg Hunt. Keagan had a great time picking up the eggs and suckers. Some eggs had candy in them and some has slips of paper with prizes. Keagan got lots of candy, two 2 stuffed animals, 2 "sippy" cups and two gift bags (since he got two of each, he gave one of each to Deker). Later that day, we colored eggs. Keagan had fun drawing on the eggs and them dropping them into the dye.

Keagan waiting for the Egg hunt to begin
After the Easter Egg Hunt (the pink bunny he is holding in the second picture below is the stuffed animal he got and loves!)
We got Keagan and Deker a matching church outfit along with some crayons and they each got a toy (Keagan got a Doodler and Deker got teething keys). We also gave them a wheelbarrow with a shovel, rake and watering can that they can use to help us work in the garden this year. I also surprised Andrew by getting him a tie that matched the boys' outfits.
Don't they all look so cute! (Again notice the pink bunny!)
After church, we went out to Andrew's aunt and uncles house (Diantha & Jerry). They had an Easter egg hunt for the little ones, then we played, talked and had a very yummy dinner.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

A Conversation with Keagan

I had a great conversation with Keagan earlier this week, but first I need to give a little background. I have had a really bad cold/flu this week. I woke up on Monday morning with just a scratchy voice which I didn't think much of, but by the time Andrew went to work at 12:30 that afternoon, I was feeling really sick. When Andrew was getting ready to leave I was sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket feeling really cold and with my body aching. Just after Andrew left Keagan came over and asked me if he could sit on my lap under the blanket I told him not right now because I didn't feel good, here is how the rest of the conversation went:

Keagan: What does that mean?
Me: It means that my body hurts.
Keagan: Where?
Me: All over, my whole body.
Keagan: Mommy need to go poo poo?
Me: No, I don't need to go poo poo.
Keagan: Mommy need go tinkle?
Me: No, I don't need to go tinkle?
Keagan: Mommy need tickles?
Me: No, I don't need tickles. Do you need tickles?
Keagan: No...(keagan thinks for a moment)...Mommy need candy?

It brought a huge smile to my face and I immediately wrote it down an a peice of paper so that I could remember it and put in on our blog when I had the chance.

I am feeling a little better today which is a huge blessing. Andrew has been working super long hours this week (Monday from 12:30 -10:30pm, Tuesday from 5 am to 9 pm, Wednesday from 5 am to 7 pm, then today, Thursday, he left at 5 am again) so its been challenge taking care of the boys while being really sick. It sure does make me appreciate my good health.

A Beautiful Day

We had some very nice weather last week and we really enjoyed being able to play outside a lot. Unfortunately, Friday was the last day of the nice weather and it has been cold, windy and sometimes rainy since then, but at least we were able to have a taste of what spring could be like.

On Thursday (last week) I went down to a kids consignment sale called Moppet Togs (it is held twice a year). I had heard that they only take stuff that is in really good condition, has no stains or holes, so I decided to head down there on the first day. I was really glad that I did, because I got a lot of really great clothes for the boys for the summer. I found out that on Saturday (the last day it was open) some of their stuff was half off, so Andrew went down with us again on Saturday and got a few more things. Between the two days, we were able to get lots of great clothes and some fun toys for really cheep.
On Friday I was getting the boys dressed and saw the great clothes that I got the day before and decided to dress them in their new clothes. After Keagan put his shirt on, he said that it was a "pretty shirt". All day long, he was only too happy to show people his "pretty shirt". They looked so handsome, I couldn't resist taking some pictures of them. This picture of Deker is the first time that I have been able to get Deker to really smile for the camera.
When the boys woke up from their naps on Friday afternoon, I decided that we would have a picnic snack in the back yard, so we grabbed an old sheet, our fruit and some toys for Deker and headed out to the back yard. We enjoyed sitting in the sun and letting our bodies soak up as much Vitamin D as possible. And that is where Andrew found us when he got home from work an hour later.
A lot of times when Keagan and Deker are sitting together, Keagan reaches over and holds Deker's hand. I think it is so cute. I was glad that I had the camera out there with me to take these pictures.
It has been way too long since I posted anything on our blog! Andrew has been working a ton, so usually it is just me and the boys and I haven't had a lot of time to post things on our blog. So, here are a few highlights of what's been going on in our house.

When we are eating our meals, Deker usually gets done eating first because he doesn't have any patience yet. After we feed him we will give him cherrios, graham crackers or a biscut to munch on while we finish eating. Here is a fun picture of Deker while he is eating a teething biscut.
One morning a few weeks ago, Keagan told me that he was tired so I asked him if he wanted to go to bed and take a nap, he said no (of course), so I then asked him if he wanted to lay on the blue chair and he thought that would be a "great idea". I helped him get situated with a pillow and a blanket. Here is the cute little boy, all snuggled in.
While Keagan was laying on the couch, Deker was laying on the ground playing with toys while I was getting some stuff done. A little later, I hear Keagan talking about Deker being under the coffee table. I look over in time to see Keagan crawl under the coffee table with Deker and start playing with him. I am really glad that I was able to get the camera out fast enough to get some pictures taken before they stopped.
It is stuff like this that make me so grateful that they like each other. Every time I see them do stuff like this, when I see Deker light up just because Keagan walked in the room or when Keagan makes sure that Deker has toys or anything else it makes me so happy and gives me hope that they will continue to be good friends.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentines Weekend

I'm going to start off with a little story and picture about Keagan that happened on Friday.....On Friday and Saturday, Andrew delivered flowers for a local flower shop that his sister works at. Andrew got home after Keagan was in bed Thursday night and then left the house before Keagan woke up on Friday morning. When I went up to get Keagan he immediatly asked where dad was and when I told him that he already went to work this morning, he was so upset that he couldn't see Daddy. He kept saying "I want to see my Daddy". I felt so bad for him, so we called Andrew on the cell phone and he got to talk to him. That made him a little happier. So, that evening when Andrew called to tell me he was heading home, I waited for a few minutes to tell Keagan and when I did, he insisted on sitting in the front window to wait for him and wanted to be wrapped up in his blanket. He looked so cute sitting there that I couldn't resist taking a picture.

On Saturday morning, I decorated the table with valentines tablecloth, plates, cups and napkins and put little valentines bags for each person in their spot. For breakfast, we had heart shaped cinnamon rolls (I found the idea from a website called Gourment Mom On the Go). Basically, when you roll up your cinnamon rolls, you roll from both sides instead of one, place them on the baking sheet and pinch the end to form a heart.

That afternoon, I sat down to feed Deker and Keagan was sitting beside me. I started reading my magazine and Keagan decided he needed to read the newspaper, so he took it off the coffee table, sat on the couch beside me and started reading. When I looked over a few minutes later, this is what I saw.

When I sit down to feed Deker I usually will use my blanket to keep me warm. If Keagan sees that I don't have it, he will insist on getting in for me. At one of Deker's feedings on Friday, Keagan was playing around by me and on my legs, which he likes to do a lot, (sometimes he likes to sit there, sometimes he likes to have a horsey ride), this time, though he slid down to the floor in between my legs and the blanket went down under him. He then decided that it was a very cool tunnel since the blanket was up on each side of him. So several times that night and ever since then, he will want to make his tunnel. He usually likes to take a pillow, his blanket and sometimes a book or toy in with him. On Saturday afternoon during one of his tunnel escapades, I put Deker down with him. They seemed to have fun in there. Here is what I saw when I looked down at them in their "tunnel"