A Great Day!!!!

Today Tallon learned to tie his shoes!!! He needed some new shoes and all we could find was lace ups. He said that he would learn how to tie them and he did!
It took all of two minutes before he was a pro and showing off his skills to the brothers. He was showing Orrin, so proud of himself, and he said "Orrin bother can tie his shoes!! This is a great day!!"

Everyone needs a Grandma...

because then you get great treats like this!!! Last night at the concert they were doing a bake auction, where you could buy tasty treats. Tallon wanted one so bad, but no one had a checkbook, so he was out of luck and broken hearted. Grandma just couldn't let it happen to her Tallon, so she went right home and made him his own cake!!!


The twins couldn't help themselves!! They just had to lick the frosting. Tallon said it was to check to see if it tasted good!!

Thanks Grandma for cheering up the kids, it was a wonderful surprise!!

Showing off some Mad Skills

Tonight Tallon had his 2nd wrestling practice. He did great!! He remembered a lot from last week and was able to practice with one of his friends from school. I can't even imagine trying to teach all of these kids how to wrestle!! The coaches do really good at helping all of the kids, and a lot of the dads get out on the mats and help which really takes some of the pressure off.

I thought that Tallon would struggle with getting thrown on the ground, but he really has a great time.

A little one on one time with the coach. I am really impressed with the time that each child gets with the coaches.

He really likes it when it is his turn to throw the other kid. He is such a ham for the camera.

I was surprised when he was able to lift the kid off the ground. He "practices" and "exercises" a lot at home. By this I mean that he throws the twins onto the couch and runs laps around the living room!!

After practice was over we ran straight for the auditorium to watch Tyler's band concert. The local high school band does a community band every year, and this is the first year that Tyler was able to join in the fun. It has only been 9 years since he has played, and it was the first time that I have seen Ty play his trombone and he did so good!!!! The twins were not really interested in anything but screaming and trying to run away, so we spent most of our time listening from doorways. Tallon got a great kick out of watching his dad and decided that he is going to be a band geek too!!

I really have to give a shout out to Alicia for helping me. She is the photographer since I was busy holding up the doorways!!

Here is Tyler after it was all said and done. It really made me step back a few years to the good old high school days. He really hasn't changed that much LOL!!! Well maybe he has changed a bit.

It was a really crazy evening, but a really fun one at the same time. Both boys came home so excited. They both had a ball at the events they were doing. It is fun to see Tyler enjoy something that he did sooo long ago!!! It is really great that the band director puts some thing like this together every year. We will be back again next February!!

Slush Skating??

Last night we went ice skating with the activity day girls, it rained all day, so it turned into slush skating!!! The kids still had a lot of fun. A little rain just added something extra, but nothing bad. The twins got pampered, the girls pulled them on sleds with umbrellas over them.

We brought hot coco for everyone, even though no one was really that cold, that didn't stop us from indulging.

Orrin plopped down in his sled for his treats. The boys love their sleds. He had is coco propped up by his leg and a brownie filling both hands.

Of course boys will be boys and there was a good size muddle puddle near by!! The twins did all but roll in it. They splashed and kicked and squealed, until mom had to ruin the fun. A boys job is to get dirty and a moms job is to make them stop!!

We had a great time. It is still raining this morning and maybe the snow will disappear a bit faster than we thought. I do hope that spring is on its way!!

Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls?!?!?!

Not at this house, we do the "Vacuuming in Cowboy boots and Spurs"!!! How dang cute is this. I mentioned to Tallon that I needed to catch up on house work (I know it's Sunday, but I got behind yesterday) he said that he would help me while I bathed the twins. The vacuum was out and so he went to work. I was amazed that he knew how to work the thing!! After I got over my amazement I started to laugh, there he was in his cowboy boots and spurs!!


To make it even better, after the floors were done, he whipped out the hose and did the baseboards!! What a great kid.

He has got some mad skills with a vacuum. Tyler told him that he was going to make someone a good wife one day, and he just smiled and said "Yep"!!

Toddler Days

This morning at the local CDC they offered "Toddler Days", you got to bring your wee ones and let them play and discover at all of the great activities they had set up. The boys had a blast!! They would run from one table to the next just jabbering and pointing, it was too cute. They played with play dough, went down slides, scribbled on paper, and found the animals. Once the animals were found they didn't show a lot of interest in anything else.


I love it when the kids find something they just love and have to bring it to show mom. Orrin had this cow and was mooing all over the building until he found and showed me, then he ran back to Vivin and went right on playing.

Vivin did break away for a minute to play with the puzzles. It is always fun to see my kids try something new, it brings out a whole new side of them.

They loved the ball toys that they had. They just giggled as the balls would go through all of the fun toys.

I was so impressed with how well they shared today. They played so cute with each other, a couple of times I was just amazed. Maybe fighting, hitting, and screaming over toys is a special talent they choose only to share at home.

It's still cold...

but at least it's warm enough to let the boys play outside! We got home from running some errands and the little ones grabbed their shovels and went to work. I think they knew that if they were working I wouldn't make them come in. They shoveled the entire sidewalk, I was so impressed. Of course some snow made it in the garage, window wells, or on the other boy, but at least the work was done and they were outside.



Tallon had his first wrestling practice and did great. He hooked up with some of his friends from school, and even found Brayden!! They wrestled their hearts out and it was a lot of fun to watch. He was really upset that I didn't get any pictures, I will have to do better next time.

He is way excited about his cool shirt and is counting down the days until the next practice.

A Happy Valentines

We had a great Valentines Day this year. Tyler and the boys gave me these beautiful roses. I am a sucker for roses. Some think that it is corny to give flowers, I personally could get flowers everyday of the year and love it.

I enjoy drying the roses I get and using them in some of my decorating.

We celebrated Tyler's Grandpa and Grandma Taylor's 50th wedding anniversary. 50 years!! It is amazing to think what they have been blessed with in those years. 3 children, 12 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren (with 2 more due this summer)! What a wonderful legacy.

Grandma rented the Fun Zone for the afternoon, and all the little ones had a ball. Alan and Anji's girls, Hailey and Paige, were great entertainment for Orrin, Vivin, and little Brooke.

Orrin loved that cupcakes!! Nothing more said he loved the cupcakes!!

Vivin enjoyed them as well. He also got some extra loves from grandma,which made them even more sweet.

Tyler enjoys any time that he gets with grandpa. He looks so much like him!! They both look gruff but are the biggest teddy bears.

We had a wonderful day!! We love that we are blessed to live by our families and enjoy any time that we are able to get together, especially if it is to celebrate wonderful events like this!!!

Wrestling 101

Tallon brought home a paper for the kids to sign up for little league wrestling, and since then our house has been nothing but. I am having a hard time believing that he is old enough to start sports, and that I am old enough to start chasing my kids in sports! Tal had a Valentines Party in school and stopped long enough to eat all the candy, then he was off "practicing" on a sugar high!! I will be surprised if the twins live through this!

Too add to Tallon's excitement for his new hobby, Grandpa Dana came last night and added to the chaos of our home. He started by giving the basic rules of the sport, which lead right into WWF in my living room.

We never could really tell who was winning. The twins were not about to stay out of the way and fared pretty well considering all the bodies that were flying about.

We did have to calm things down abit. Dad was either going to the hospital for a broken hip or one of the kids for stitches! Horse rides were the next best thing and everyone piled on.

The twins did finally get some one on one time with Papa and loved making the sounds while he provided the movement.

We love living close enough for the family to come and destroy our house! It is great that the boys will have such wonderful memories of their Grandpa. We laughed a lot and the boys slept in until 8:00. Maybe wrestling won't be so bad!?!?

A Proud Mommy

Last night Tyler and I went to Parent Teacher Conference, and were once again reminded that we have a wonderful Tallon!! His teacher just adores him, and he makes her cry a lot (tears of joy of course). He is on target with his learning and almost to the advanced level in his reading. He is on green book (a program on the computer) and is already half way through with it. Green book is actually 1st grade work! He is a great student, always willing to help, and excited to learn. It is nice to know that he loves school so much! I hope that he carries this love through the rest of his school years.

It is a wonderful piece of paper that simply says "You have the best kid EVER"!!

Who wouldn't want...

...to wake up to this? Tallon gave me a great Birthday present, he let me sleep in and he got the twins out of bed and fed them breakfast!! What a sweet little boy I have. Well after so many minutes of silence, Tyler and I got a little worried, and came up stairs to find this!! Tallon had feasted on a package of Oreo's.

For the twins he made a great choice of just giving them a box of cereal, and let them go at it.


I was really glad that he didn't give the boys Oreo's or we would have really had a mess. I may be a bit bias, but I think I could make a little money off these pictures. I think Kix is always looking for a new Kix Kid(or two) to do a little advertising?!?! And aren't they just the cutest things!

A Perfect Evening

We decided early this morning that we needed to get the old snowshoes out. At 6:00pm we finally made it out and the temperature was perfect, coming in at a cool 20 degrees. To our delight we were even blessed with a full moon. Tallon just couldn't pass up the chance to roll around in the snow, and made a perfect snow angel.

I told Ty that I was going to put this one in and he just laughed, so I took it as the okay that I need to show off the man I married.

Isn't it just beautiful!!

I swear that these two were twins in heaven!! They are so much alike and are inseparable.

It was truly the perfect evening (except for cold toes and tired legs). We have always wanted to go snowshoeing with the full moon and things never worked out until tonight. We all came home refreshed and ready for another day.

My Viv

Today I just needed a reminder of the sweetness of this child of mine.

He looks innocent enough, but oh, how looks can be deceiving!!