The Cry Spot

More...

2009-10-10T19:51:00.002-04:00

So today we were outside clipping fingernails and Carter says something about the clouds. Then he says "God made them". I thought is was the sweetest thing!!!

A couple of days ago, Canyon told Nana "Mommy bought me some Cookie Crisp because it was on sale AND she had a coupon for it." So funny!!! He doesn't ask for things at the store, he just asks if I have a coupon or if it is on sale. He's learning young!!! So funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Personalities...

2009-08-14T04:47:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought the boys these little wooden boxes at Michaels and told them if they got 3 smiley faces they could paint them. Well, since Conner drew smiley faces all over the chart I decided since they had been pretty good that it was time. In a last ditch effort to get the boys to eat their peas, I told them if they ate ONE pea, they could paint their treasure box after dinner. My little eater, Conner, didn't mind and just gobbled all the peas. Carter was reluctant, but did eat his pea. Canyon was happy to eat his pea, but apparently his tastebuds didn't agree. He ran to the bathroom and threw up! UGH!!! Anyways, everyone got to paint their treasure boxes!!!

We used acrylic paint, and I knew I was going to have to hover to make sure they didn't paint anything or each other. Well, as I was watching them so intently, I learned a lot about them!

Canyon - I always knew he stuck his tongue out to concentrate, so this was nothing new. It is almost like he can't concentrate without sticking his tongue out though. He was very meticulous with his design and had to cover every single spot. He was very insistent on painting the inside as well.

Carter - Carter didn't need much time to paint his treasure box. Of course he used alot of pink, but he used the other colors as well. He didn't seem to notice that there were spots he didn't cover with paint, the spots his brothers worked so hard to avoid. Carter also does this funny wiggle thing with his tongue while he is working. He just puckers his lips a bit and wiggles his tongue side to side. Funny boy.

Conner - He is the one that really surprised me with his attention to detail. Conner sat there for at least 15 minutes longer than both brothers. And for a 3 year old, I was impressed. He worked very hard and put a lot of thought into his choices of color. Of course, I bought green just for him and he used a lot of green! While I watched his face, he seemed VERY focused and very serious. He did none of the other weird things with his tongue like his brothers.

That's NOT Chapstick!!!!

2009-06-12T19:48:00.002-04:00

Okay, so this is how I found Conner...

He totally was using the glue stick he found as chapstick. UGH!!! No telling how much glue he ingested!!! My boys.

(Please ignore the lasagna mess all over him!)

Airshow

2009-06-01T21:13:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures when we took the boys to the airshow back in April. They loved it so much, but Conner was asleep when the Thunderbirds took the sky!

And this is Conner during the LOUD Thunderbirds. I was cracking up!!!

I had to...

2009-05-19T21:54:00.003-04:00

Okay, this is something that I probably shouldn't be posting, but it is too funny not to post. I want to remember this for sure.

So Andy was giving the kids a bath tonight and he noticed Canyon playing with his "berries", and he proceeded to tell Andy that he feels something in there, what is in there??? So Andy tells him that they are his testicles. So Canyon's response is "you mean like it the same as Squidward's last name - testicles?" (For those of you who don't watch Spongebob as much as we do, Squidward's last name is Tentacles!!!)

Chick-fil-a

2009-05-19T21:25:00.005-04:00

So we have been going to Chick-fil-a family night on Tuesday night. They do face painting, which we did for the first time a couple of weeks ago. First night, they didn't really know what to expect, but Canyon got a PINK and red glittery butterfly on his arm. And the twins both got red spiderman. Here's those pictures...

So tonight, we went again. Canyon had said he wanted either a flower or another butterfly, but decided on a zebra when the time came. The zebra was on his arm. Conner went next, and he wanted GREEN spiderman. Whatever, the lady who does it is super nice and said no problem. Well, then Carter's turn. And she shows him the colors and he wants a pink spiderman. He was very insistent on pink. UGH!!! So we had a pink and green spiderman at chick-fil-a and at Publix. I'm sure people thought I was abusing my poor child.

Anyways, so the funny thing was that Canyon came home and said he didn't want to get his face painted because his friends at school "wouldn't know his name with his face painted". What?? It was too funny!!!!!!

Real Quick...

2009-05-17T20:27:00.002-04:00

Couple of things I sooooo didn't want to forget...

1.) Conner and Carter have been doing an amazing job with potty training. They go in the bathroom and do everything themselves, then Conner will just come and bring his undies and pants to have us put them back on him. Carter is so independent that he will get his pants back on himself, whether they are on correctly or not, even if we are there to help him. Oh, and they are sitters, so they take their pants all the way off every single time. UGH!!!!! Anywho... now to the funny part. They still haven't been going number two in the potty, only a couple of times actually. Well, we got some of the CARS race cars to reward them with hoping that would work, but it didn't. Both boys will tell you that they get a new race car when they do the deed, but they still wouldn't do it. So Conner did get one yesterday (YAY!), and daddy got a few more cars out of his prize stash and they were so excited. Conner wanted the Mario Andretti car so bad that he ran in a went number two in the potty right then!!! Andy and I about fell over. It was so funny and so exciting!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we will see how long it lasts, or how big the collection of race cars gets before this whole process is over. And Canyon felt extremely left out, so he is earning race cars by keeping his room and the toy room clean. If he can do it, I'll keep us well stocked in race cars, that's for sure. Mommy needs a little help in the cleaning department.

2.) I bought a couple of dresses at Marshall's the other day and I was trying them on for my mom while the boys were in the bathtub. I walked in wearing one of the dresses and Conner said that mommy looks like a princess like grandma! I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. I had to call Grandma right away!!! Too sweet!!!!!

Spring Soccer 2009

2009-05-05T21:37:00.007-04:00

So Canyon is playing soccer again this spring. Thank goodness, this is the first season he actually has PLAYED soccer. He is the big kid on the team now and he's really running around to get the ball and he's pretty good at kicking it down the field and into the goal. He misses the goal some too, but he's doing much better. Oh, and it also cracks me up because he doesn't really "get" the team part of it. He doesn't care who he is taking the ball from, but since we told him that he has to go and get the ball, that is exactly what he does. I feel bad for the other kids, but it is hilarious. He has been the kid picking flowers the past couple of seasons, so I guess it is his time.

The twins are also doing much better. I dreaded taking them to soccer games in the previous seasons, because they both would take off in opposite directions, and I never got to watch the game. But they are finally doing much better and just playing around where I am sitting and staying out of trouble, for the most part. In the fall, they will all 3 be on the same team since Canyon will still be 4 and the twins will be 3. Can't wait to see that!!!

Here's a few pictures...

Here's the pre-game huddle. They are pointing to the goal they will kick towards. This is only a minor problem. :-)

I wanted him to wear his sweatband headband thing, but he only wore if for like 30 seconds.

Snack time is everyone's favorite...

Crazy Daisy!!!

2009-04-12T22:19:00.004-04:00

Well, a few friends came over for dinner and to play a while back. Andrea brought the crazy daisy, which is basically a big flower that squrits water everywhere, and before we knew it, we had a backyard full of children running around in their underwear! It was a sight, so I thought I'd add the pictures for everyone to enjoy...

And the video of Ollie... (Ollie is funny, but the kids are way more funny)

Daddy's Birthday at Magic Kingdom

2009-04-11T08:19:00.004-04:00

Since Andy got in free for his birthday, we decided to go to Magic Kingdom for the day. Pretty soon we will start having to pay for all five of us, so might as well go while we can! The boys had a great time and loved the trains (including the monorail, tram, the people mover in tomorrowland, etc.). It was a really great time and Canyon thinks that his daddy had the best birthday ever!!!!! (Remember when we had daddy's birthday at Disney World?)

Oh, and I didn't charge the camera, so it died early in the day...UGH!!!!

Kids Say...

2009-03-08T23:05:00.002-04:00

While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to post a few of the funny things the boys have said lately.

Canyon

-I gave him some chocolate candy in the car and he had chocolate all over his hands. I made a comment about how I had no napkins or wipes to clean him up and he just said "Don't worry Mommy, I can just taste it off!" I thought it was the cutest thing!

-The other night, he was laying with me in bed. I was reading The Chocolate War, which has a character named Carter. I pointed to the name Carter and ask him what it said and he said Conner first, then Carter. I continued reading, and he pointed out a question mark. He said something about how he found a "mystery" and it has "a c with a line and a polka dot". I thought it was too funny. I asked him where he learned this and he quickly said Mickey Mouse (the mystery mouskatool is a question mark).

Conner

-The boys both have their "tee-tee". They both got attached to these "uncute" little bear blankie things that were once yellow. They have carried them around since they were little bity. So Carter has started chewing on his, which Conner hates when he picks up Carter's wet tee-tee, and Carter usually gets them both wet and nasty. So I've had to wash them as much as possible. Every time they come out of the dryer, it is a big deal, and Conner will smell it over and over and say "tastes good"!

More to come...

No Training Wheels!

2009-03-04T23:37:00.004-05:00

I had to get this on today so Nana and Granny could see how great Canyon did on his bike. We have been encouraging him to try to ride without his training wheels and he has been very against it. Well, today he wanted to take the training wheels off, so daddy did. A couple of neighbor boys were outside playing with him, and he was having so much fun I don't think he realized that he was doing it! But he just rode and rode and rode all afternoon and had the greatest time and had the biggest smile on his face! So sweet!!!!

Treasure Island

2009-01-27T22:44:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, we went to the beach with Johnna, Aubrie, Papaw, Granny, and Nana. It was pretty chilly, so we didn't bring our swim trunks, just the sand toys.

Didn't take long for everyone to get wet... (the water was FREEZING, but Johnna got in because she said it was warm-crazy Kentucky people!!)

Canyon's pants wouldn't stay up...

Aubrie digging in the sand...

We all dug holes in the sand and tried to build some sand castles. Carter and Conner mostly just wanted to step on the sand castles.

And afterwards, we tried to get everyone dressed, but Carter just wanted to run away!!! He didn't care who saw, either...

ICE! at Gaylord Palms

2008-12-30T19:42:00.006-05:00

Today we all went to ICE! at Gaylord Palms in Orlando. Our wonderful friends, Steve and Emily, gave us tickets to ICE! for Christmas and we decided to make a family day of it since my cousin Johnna and her daughter Aubrie were in town from Kentucky. So, my family of five, my mom, my papaw and granny, and Johnna and Aubrie all went to Central Florida to spend the day in a brisk 9 degree ice exhibit.

An ice cave...

Johnna went down the ice slide!

Conner and Carter went down the slide, too. They layed down flat on their backs. It was too funny! Too bad my SLOW camera didn't get it.

Not sure who this is??

This was a neat little ice tunnel.

Conner loved Santa, I thought he looked a bit scary...

So cute in his little parka!

Conner loved this -- NEMO!!!!

Conner was all about posing for pictures. Where is Carter you ask?? Probably somewhere screaming for Nana to hold him.

Johnna and Aubrie...

A family of snowmen...

Bundling everyone up...

There's Carter! With Nana, of course.

Conner and Carter would have preferred to watch the FREE train display...

Canyon and Aubrie. She's more than 2 years older than he is!!! Canyon loves playing with her!

The boys...

Hot Cocoa for everyone!!!

Also, my granny fell while we were walking through ICE! and hit her face on a rail. Please say a prayer for her that won't get any worse.

Good Night!!!

Carter in Trouble AGAIN!!!

2008-12-03T14:04:00.003-05:00

This is what he does to me!!! I can't leave him alone for five seconds!!!
And look at that face, like "Mom, I'm not finished with my masterpiece, give me the marker back!!!"

Trip to Georgia!!

2008-12-03T13:32:00.005-05:00

I am excited to get caught up on this thing. I pretty much finished my homework about an hour ago, so I feel like I can do anything!!

This trip was mid-October. The other half of the Andersons went to visit with their family and they invited us to join them. Of course, this sounds much easier than it is. The twins and cousin Sidney did a lot of crying and screaming. But they did have a great time playing outside. It was much colder on the mountain than we anticipated, so we didn't stay outside too too much. Poor Canyon doesn't even have a jacket heavier than a sweatshirt, so I know he was freezing. Anyways, here are some pictures from our long weekend!!!

Canyon wanted me to take lots of pictures of him and rocket...

The deck was a little scary...

They thought it was funny to slide down the hills...
And Georgia doesn't have regular dirt, they have RED CLAY--What a mess!!!

They loved to just run, run, run!!!

Yep, that's all of us on the top bunk of bunk beds...

We tried to get pictures of all the kids together, it didn't work...

More running...

More pictures with rocket...

The family by the fire (It was freezing, but the boys stayed out til we made them go in!)

Some weird thing that the kids weren't supposed to play near, but it was like a magnet...

Just a swingin...

Carter and Sidney...

Real Quick...

2008-11-13T21:01:00.002-05:00

I had a really bad night, but I won't go into everything. As you'd probably expect, the twins are to blame. But, moving on...

Tonight, before bed, Canyon and I sat on his bed and we were playing with his letter flashcards. We went through them (usually he doesn't want to) and he knew every single one except W, J and one other that I can't remember. I was so surprised, because I really don't work with him very much. The last time I tried, he only knew about 12 or 13, so I was so excited!!! Also, I thought it was so cute that when he got to "V" he said "CVS" a couple of times and then finally said "V". He knows CVS everytime we pass it. I was so proud of him. He really gave my heart a huge smile at just the right time.

Carter Kissing the Bird

2008-11-02T20:10:00.003-05:00

Daddy took the boys to Busch Gardens one day and they went to feed the birds in the Lory Landing area. This is Carter trying to give the bird a kiss. Carter is usually the scaredy cat when it comes to stuff like this!!! Daddy's lucky the bird didn't take a bite of Carter's lip!!! (I guess Carter is pretty lucky too!)

Canyon's 4th Birthday

2008-11-02T19:12:00.008-05:00

Okay, so I'm over a month behind. Basically, our laptop keeps shutting down whenever it feels like it which makes me never want to get on that computer and our desktop upstairs is slower than ANYTHING, so I haven't been on the computer much. Now Andy had rigged my laptop that I accidentally cracked the screen on and hooked it up to the desktop monitor, so it works fine. Three computers in this house and each with it's own problem!!! GRRRR!!!!!

So, Canyon's birthday was September 24th. We let him pick what he wanted to do, and for a long time he insisted on Chuck E. Cheese's. I finally sat with him and looked at pictures of different places on the computer and he really liked Pump It Up when he saw those pictures. And since Mommy and Daddy are exhausted, Pump It Up sounded easy enough to me. So we had a great time in all of the bounce houses. It was great for everyone and really kept all the kids busy. So without further delay...

Daddy got him a new golf club...

The girls got him a Rocket -- this is what he really wanted!!

On his actual birthday...

This is from school...

At Pump It Up...

Patrick and Liam...

Camden and Kyler being silly...

Dom and Vince apparently liked the cupcakes...

Nana made them with sprinkles, just like he wanted...

Andrew...

Madilynn...

Macie going down the slide...

Carter taking a rest...

Funny shot of Madison...

Nana with Carter and Canyon...

Uncle P!!!

Conner...

Morgan flying down the slide...

Um, Mike, what are you doing???!!!!

Mommy and Conner...

Carter making his usual mess...

Tons of cupcakes...

Five Little Ducks

2008-10-04T12:38:00.003-04:00

Canyon Tee Ball

2008-09-12T23:29:00.005-04:00

Canyon started Tee Ball a couple of weeks ago. He seems to really like it so far. I have class on Tuesday nights, so I haven't gotten to go yet. :-( I think I'll have to skip part of class one week to see him play. Anyways, here are some of the pictures from last Tuesday...

P.S. If you are wondering where Carter and Conner are, apparently Daddy plays a movie for them and leaves them nearby in the van. Actually this sounds horrible, but it is probably the safer alternative because Conner fell off of the slide at the New Tampa Rec Center last night and then tonight the van smashed Conner's thumb in the sliding door. So Andy must be smarted than I am, since someone keeps getting hurt with mommy. By the way, Conner is surprisingly fine. He does have a swollen thumb, but thankfully, he's a tough little cookie.

He's the second one from the front...

Such nice form, huh?? Hee Hee!!!! I love him!!!!!!

Doing good, dad...

The Twins Get Big Boy Beds!!!

2008-09-07T07:46:00.003-04:00

Okay, this has been a couple of weeks ago, I'm pretty far behind. But, Conner had started climbing out of his crib. So we went back and forth as to what to do with them. I wasn't sure if I should just get them twin beds, or maybe the twin beds that will turn into bunk beds when they are ready. Well, we decided to wait on all that and we went with the toddler beds. Canyon went straight to a twin bed at 18 months because the twins were coming and I wasn't going to have 3 cribs in the house, so I missed the whole toddler bed thing with him. And since the twins share a room, the toddler beds give them more space. (Wow, I can ramble on and on about nothing, huh??)

So one bed arrived on a Friday (I ordered them online at the same time) with no sign of the other bed. So I went ahead and assembled it and showed the boys one of their new beds. They were so excited!!! They just sat on it forever. I finally told them that it was time to go night night and they both went and got their blankies and laid down next to each other in the one toddler bed. I was sure that they would be playing and out of the bed in no time, but I told them good night and closed the door. I went in later to check on them and they were both asleep in this tiny toddler bed!!! It was too cute!

Since then, we did get the other bed, although both beds were damaged. So they have been sleeping in their new beds. About 50% of the time they get up and play in their room in the dark. It's funny. I'll hear them screaming (they apparently have NO idea how loud they are) and I'll walk in and they both sprint to their bed. Or I'll go in and they are both sitting together looking at books with the light from the nightlight. They are sneaky. I'm pretty sure Carter is the instigator. Anyways, they are doing pretty well, overall. We are going to do a few things in their room, then I'll add more pictures.

The Best 30th Birthday EVER!!!

2008-08-19T21:05:00.012-04:00

Well, it all started Friday morning, the day before my 30th birthday. Andy woke me up at about 4:30 am and told me to pack a suitcase. I was like "whatever" and kept rolling over. He finally started jumping on me and I could see how excited he was, so I got up. I asked him what I should pack and he kept giving me answers like "nice outfits, regular stuff" etc. Nothing specific. So I threw a bunch of stuff into the suitcase and took a 5 minute shower since he said we needed to hurry. By 5:30ish, Uncle Perry was sleeping on the couch to be there when the boys woke up and we were on our way. I kept asking where we were going and he wouldn't give me an answer. I figured since it was so early, we must be going to the airport. I knew something was going on for the weekend, but I was thinking something local or maybe a short cruise, something like that. So now that the airport is in my head, I started thinking Vegas or New York City. Andy's not usually very creative, so I figured he would go with old reliable or whatever.

Anyways, at the airport, he made me stand on the side at the ticket counter. So I didn't find out anything there either. It's pretty fun knowing you are going somewhere, but have no idea where it's going to be. So, he did finally let me see the boarding passes which said Buffalo. I was like "What the heck is in Buffalo???" My thoughts were that he got a cheaper deal outside of NYC and went that route, but I figured we were still going to NYC. (Keep in mind, I had NO idea where Buffalo was in New York.) So I think I said something about Niagara Falls once, but I had NO clue where Niagara Falls was in relation to anything. We were on the plane, and I was still clueless. Then I ordered my diet coke and the fight attendent gave me a napkin too. The napkin had a map of the US and all of their destination cities marked. Well, Buffalo had Niagara Falls underneath it in parentheses, so that's when I figured it out. Andy was pretty mad -- he wanted me to find out by seeing the Niagara Falls sign once we were there. I still can't believe he pulled it off. He didn't even let me look around the bookstore at the TPA airport because he was afraid I'd find a map and figure it out.

Aunt Nikki, Uncle Perry, Nana, Granny and Papaw all helped with watching the boys over the weekend. Knowing they were well taken care of was such a great birthday present from them. (Oh, and thanks P for watching Miller and Skipper -- sorry about the mess!)

So for the trip... It was absolutely amazing. Everyone should go at some point in their life. I want to take the boys back when they are 10ish. They would have so much fun!!! I always thought it was this little romantic place, but it wasn't like that at all. Downtown Niagara Falls -- the Canadian side -- is kind of a mix between the fair, ybor city during gasparilla, and Vegas. It's really weird. Tons of kids and people had their kids out at all hours of the night.

So here's pretty much the jist of it...

So excited to rent an economy car (that only had 700 miles on it and later it got a flat tire!!!)...

We saw these rapids and stopped just for fun... we had no idea this was the top of the American Falls...
We were so oblivious -- still didn't know this was the top of the falls...
This is about where we started realizing where we were...
The Horseshoe Falls...

The brink of the falls -- this was probably my favorite view...
My birthday fireworks...

On the big Niagara Skywheel...

The Maid of the Mist boat headed into the falls...This is while we were on The Maid of the Mist -- this must be similar to what it's like in a hurricane...
The Maid of the Mist was my favorite!!!
I was soaked through -- the poncho DID NOT keep me dry...

We saw lots of rainbows...
This is "The Journey Behind the Falls"...
At the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls...

This is above the Whirlpool that's down the Niagara River a ways...
The Whirlpool Jet that we rode on later that day...
Andy wanted to stop at a winery and check it out...

This is when we climbed down into the gorge to see the rapids we went on while riding the Whirlpool Jet (notice my flip flops -- not appropriate cause it was a steep and long hike!!)...

The bottom of the gorge...
The Whirlpool Jet going through the rapids...

The top of the gorge (I was about to collapse)...

I love you Anj!!!!!!!

Carter and Conner Gymnastics

2008-08-12T20:50:00.005-04:00

I can't remember if I told y'all about the New Tampa Rec Center that recently opened near us. I signed up all of the boys because it was so cheap and I figured it would give them something to do. So Canyon loves it and has a great time with it. The twins -- that's a different story. I'm allowed to drop Canyon off and he goes with his teacher, but for the twins, it is a parent and tot class. So while all the other parents are playing with their ONE child, I'm trying to keep up with my two. They did have fun, but I just couldn't sign them up for another 7 week session. So they had fun while it lasted, but I'll get them signed up again when they turn 3 -- actually, I can't wait for that!!!

Every Drain Leads to the Ocean...

2008-08-06T19:03:00.003-04:00

This story starts with the plush Nemos that the twins fell in love with today at the Disney Store. They LOVE Nemo and call every single fish Nemo and when I took Canyon into the Disney Store to start getting ideas about his birthday, I knew once they spotted Nemo, we wouldn't be able to leave without him (trust me, I'm not usually a pushover like that). So, they've pretty much been completely attached their Nemos all day. Anyways, tonight after dinner, they all went upstairs to play. Andy and I were downstairs cleaning up. We usually don't worry about them, because Canyon is always so quick to tattle on them. But tonight Canyon was playing in his room with cousin Macie and wasn't paying any attention to the twins. Now here's the funny part. Andy goes up to check on them and he yells at me to come up. We found both boys in a puddle of water in our bathroom and guess who was "swimming" in the toilet?? You guessed it, both Nemos. Andy said that when he walked in, that they both were just so happy playing with their Nemo in the water. So is this something that you laugh at or something that you get angry at??? I couldn't stop laughing because I knew that they thought Nemo should go in the toilet. I had to share, even though it makes me look like a horrible parent. I know this will be one of the stories we tell for a long time. UGH!!!

Here is them after Andy scared the crap out of them...

This is the mess in the floor (we are just waiting for the water spots to show up on the ceiling downstairs)... And here are the responsible parties...