Tow Mater.

Last weekend Andrew was at a mens conference for church so Luke and I made a quick 24 hour trip to Abilene to see my parents. I got to go out to eat and hang out with a friend and Luke got to go with his MiMi and Pa to a car show to see his favorite celebrity..... Mater. Luke watches Cars A LOT and obsesses over Lightnin' McQueen and Mater. I let him wear his Cars shirt to the show- he was the ultimate fan. And when he got to see him in person my mom said he flipped. He couldn't believe it. They said it was hard to get a picture of Luke with Mater because Luke was so excited he couldn't sit still. Love it.

Stock Show & Westen Day

Last week it seemed like we did all things western. Early in the week Luke and I got up and headed to the stock show to look at the animals. It was great because no one was there and we could just walk around with out the crowds. We even came upon a showing of some cows and watched that for a while. Luke was loving seeing the animals, but he really loved watching them go potty. Boys...

By the way Luke is 2 and he already knows how to win me over. He wore tennis shoes to the fair because his feet are too big for his boots from last year.  And everyone that he saw with boot on he would say 'he's a cowboy' and then say "I'm not a cowboy I don't have boots" it made me so sad so we had to go the the exhibits and buy him a pair of boot so that he could be a cowboy. When he put the boots on he kept saying over and over with so much excitement "Mom, I'm a cowboy!" So cute, but he sure knows how to get what he wants.

Anyways we walked around 'rode' the tractors, ate a corn dog, pet a bunch of animals. It was a wonderful and a fun morning, and we even made it home in time for a nap!

Later on in the week he had western day at school, and of course he needed a Texas sandwich for lunch that day. They had animals and pony rides- Luke was in heaven. We took pictures of him before we left for school and we let him put on his toy water guns but we replaced them with a toy dinosaur and deer to go into school. Such a stud cowboy.

Andrew and Luke finished off the week going to the rodeo with some family.

New Routines & Life with Luke

We are getting into a little routine around here. We're working out, riding our new bikes, and getting a little healthier. For Christmas I bought a juicer. I have been reading a lot lately about all the health benefits associated with juicing, so we took the plunge and started to juice. We decided that if we want Luke to grow up learning to love healthy food and have a healthy lifestyle, then we should set the example. So this is one of our new years resolutions. I know we aren't going to be perfect, and I don't expect us to. I know we will sit down with a box of girl scout cookies and eat them, or we will go pig out on chips and queso, but we just want, as a whole make healthier choices and to stress the importance of exercise and eating right. I heard something the other day that 'if you don't spend time and effort on being healthy, then you will later end up spending time and effort on being sick and injured', and that is so true. So being proactive is our goal. 

Anyways, there are all different levels of juicing. You can drink the juice randomly, you can do it in place of meals, or you can do an all out juice fast. Right now I am just juicing to replace breakfast and then sometimes as an afternoon snack to help ease any desire to want to afternoon snack. I have been pleasantly surprised with how full I feel and then energy it gives me. I guess my body WAS deprived of nutrients.

When you juice, you can pretty much throw anything that can be juiced into the juicer and the juicer does all the work. I have been doing spinach, carrot, apple, or kale, carrot, apple. They both have been very tasty. Andrew likes to add tomato and not add a green leaf.

 

Also with getting organized, I ordered some Maybooks. They have the cutest designs. One is my planner, and one is a food journal. I love that they aren't very big, so they fit into a bag easily. 

  

Last week Luke started swimming lessons. We are hoping he will be ready by the summer. He is very brave with the water (will jump in with out you seeing) and he thinks he can swim. So actually getting him to learn to swim is very important (for his safety, and my sanity). 

 

 He loves swimming so much that he insists on wearing his goggles, even when we are out of the pool. He especially wants to wear them in the car. The other day we drove through the car wash and he started freaking out because he didn't have his goggles on to protect him from the 'car shower'. Oh man love his little spirit. So cute.

I'll leave you with one more funny thing. Luke is starting to use things we say, in his regular conversation. Andrew and I say 'babe' to each other so Luke now uses the word 'babe' in his regular language. 'Babe I need some milk', 'Can I go ride my bike babe?'. 'Read the dinosaur book please babe'. Please someone invent a way to keep him this cute forever.

Christmas Time

Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to flash back to December and show you what we have been up to lately.

December was crazy. We were out of town almost every weekend having so much fun, but we are glad to be home for a while and into our routine.

For Christmas this year, Santa came to our house a few days early because we were going to be out in Aledo with Andrew's family for Christmas day. This actually the first year that being Santa has been fun, because Luke finally was understanding the concept. We decorated cookies for Santa, put reindeer food out, read books, etc. Luke kept looking out the window watching and waiting for Santa. It was so cute. After Luke went to sleep, Santa and Mrs. Claus spent a few hours assembling toys, but it was so fun- I live for these sweet moments. When he woke up he was so excited. We got him a tricycle and Andrew's parents sent him a train table that we set up here. He kept running back and forth between the tricycle and train table and was so excited he couldn't decide what to play with. Seeeing his joy and excitement just made my day! Santa also brought the family bikes to ride, so after we opened our gifts- we wanted to take a ride, and where else does one go for breakfast with a 2 year old? McDonalds. We rode our bikes to McDonalds and Luke loved it. Now almost everyday he asks if we can ride our bikes to McDonalds. So cute. I love to try and guess what gifts are so in a gift from Andrew to me he put popcorn so that it would throw me off. Now I know how sneaky he is, so guessing gifts is going to be a lot harder. :)

That night we then went and rode the Polar Express, and had Christmas with Andrew's cousins. After that we headed out to Aledo for a few days. The kids made pancakes with Bobba and played and played. Andrew's brother David Todd came up with an idea to make a cardboard town for the kids for Christmas. So for a few nights after the kids went to bed all the adults work on a cardboard city in the garage. On Christmas morning it was set up in the living room for the kids to play in. It was so fun, and the kids had a blast playing in it. The kids (and adults) were spoiled and fun toys.

On Christmas day it actually snowed, and we had a white Christmas!!!  Some of the guys braved it outside in the hot tub while it was snowing! I stayed inside and napped with my precious newborn neice Cora. After the kids went to sleep, us grownups finished the holiday off with karaoke. So funny. We loved our time with family!

We headed home the day after Christmas and met my family at my house. My sister had surgery over here, so we had our Christmas at my house, and we hung out and relaxed for a few days. Luke was spoiled again with toys galore. He has the best 2 sets of grandparents ever!

The holidays were great, but we are most thankful for our Savior, and we remembered that Jesus is the reason.

Trick or Treat!

Luke was a dragon this year, and you can see in one of the pictures of him 'roaring', according to him he was a 'dinosaur dragon'. He loved his costume! This year for Halloween we had planned on letting Luke trick or treat to the few houses on our cul-de-sac, take some pictures and then be done. We thought that with him being 2 he wouldn't get the concept of knocking on doors and all that stuff, so 3 houses would be enough. When we got started and he got the concept, he was a trick or treating pro. He would walk up, knock, say 'trick or treat', get his candy, say thank you, and then he was on to the next house. We then knew 3 houses wouldn't be enough for this pro so we headed over to Andrew's brother's house to trick or treat at their house, and we ended up walking their street too. Luke had a blast, and now every time we walk outside he asks to go trick or treat. 

Luke's 2nd Birthday

Can you believe that Luke is already 2?! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was bringing home a precious little baby home from the hospital, and here we are 2 years later with a toddler who is so loving, active, indpendent, and fun. He adds so much joy to my day and I am so thankful for him each and every day.

Right now Luke is very into being independent. He wants to do everything himself or to 'help mommy'. He has to put the soap in the washer, he has to bring in the trash can, he has to buckle his own car seat, etc, etc, etc. It is a battle, but a good battle each day. He loves any type of transportation, animals, Diego and Nemo. We are working on counting, one to one correspondence, letter recognition (mostly the letters in his first name), and his colors. Right now he counts like this '1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 14' and his favorite colors are blue and orange. He is a little sponge absorbing everything and learning new skills and words each day.

Anyways, we celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday this year with a construction theme. I tried to keep everything pretty small and simple. We had planned to have the party outside in our backyard and Andrew and my dad built Luke a sandbox, and we were just going to let the kids jump and play.  But on the weekend of his party it was very cold so at the last minute we had to move the party inside. We pushed back the furniture in the office and playroom and popped up a mini bounce house that Andrew's parents had and we just let the kids jump and play with the toys. They had a blast and it was very enjoyable morning.

Here are a few pictures of the party!

Here's to another year with a sweet little toddler!

Blanket for Baby Sophia

My cousin recently had a little baby girl, and I saw this tutorial on pinterest and decided to give it a try. I found this cute elephant fabric at Hobby Lobby, and gave it a try.

It was so simple to make. Luke decided to try it out, and was loving it. So my next project will probably be making him one in boy colors. 

I got this cute little outfit to go along with it.

I hope baby Sophia gets a lot of use out of her blanket! I enjoyed making it. 

 Every good and perfect gift is from above. James 1:17

Cowboy Game

A few weeks ago we got the opportunity to go to a Cowboy game. We brought along our friends the Jeffreys. They has the cutest little girl, June, who is Luke's age. We had so much fun. Luke and June were in awe of the big screen, and all that was happening! It was a great time!

 

Such a fun evening with fun friends! Go Cowboys!

Ke'Ohana Weekend.

For Labor Day, we went out to Andrew's aunt and uncle's lake house. It is amazing- there is so much to do. We spend most of the weekend eating, swimming, fishing, and sliding. It was such a fun time!

Luke and his cousin, Owen:

Night vision:

We spent hours a day sliding. This was by far the highlight for the kids!

Swimming with cousins!

Luke by far loved 'driving' all weekend. Luke loves any type of transportation, especially one that he can be right behind the wheel. 

Luke's first week of Mother Day Out.

Well, let me just say Luke LOVES school. He is doing so much better than I every thought (lesson I learned is never underestimate your child!).

Luke started school Tuesday, and he goes Tuesday and Thursday, I work at his school, but I'm down the hall so he doesn't see me. It is so comforting to me to be right there in case he needs me, but as I learned this week he is a 'bee boy' (big boy) and doesn't care if I am there or not. Let me just say that this is an answer to prayer that he loves it. I thought he would be crying or super attached but so far so good, I know its only the first week, and when reality kicks in that he has to keep going he might get upset. So far the only time he has gotten upset is when he has to leave. He throws himself to the floor and cries (that's another issue we are trying to break), because he doesn't was to leave his friends. He has the sweetest teachers and friends and I am so glad he is loving it! Yay Luke!

Last week for Meet-the-Teacher, Luke took these to his new teachers:

Ready for school:

Sorry this pick is blurry, but I snuck into chapel and took this pick of him singing songs! Love his little heart for dancing and singing for God. 

The other day Luke came up to me randomly and said in the sweetest voice "I love you, mama". My heart just melted. He is turning into the sweetest little boy, and I am so proud of him.

Olympics!

 

The Olympics are on! We watched every second of the Opening ceremonies, and have been watching lots of different events. My favorite is the swimming.  We will be glued to the TV for the next few weeks if you are looking for us.


In Olympic spirit I have seen several cute and fun Olympic things to try. Here is what I might try and attempt over the next few weeks.

Luke and I are going to try this: Looks fun (and messy)!








Maybe do one each morning for breakfast with a different fruit?








Making Metals would be fun!



Anyways, we are in full Olympic mode over here, and are loving every second. Go Team USA!!

Park City, Utah

This summer we went to the same place we ski in the winter. My parents are driving and visiting all over the western half of the US so we brought my brother and decided to meet up with them in Deer Valley for a few days. It is in Utah and is absolute beautiful. I have never been up there in the summer before, and I can't wait to go back! We enjoyed our vacation so much and it was a great break from this crazy Texas heat. The highs were in the 70s, so wonderful! Get ready for a photo dump... lots of pictures coming your way.

This mule deer was right outside the house and came at the same time every day!

We enjoyed the hot tub and played lots of "catch me".

The guys went fly fishing one morning and had a blast. The all caught several fish!

One morning Andrew, Luke, my brother and I went hiking and rode the lift to the top of the mountain. The views are amazing and really reminds you how creative and magnificent God is!

Luke loved riding in the backpack. We also saw some horses and Luke wanted to chase the horses so bad!

One evening we went to a resort down the road that was having a family friendly concert. There was a playground and sandbox in the concert area, so Luke was loving playing and dancing. He even found some friends to hula hoop with! 

There was also a crazy blonde lady that kept trying to dance with Luke. It was really awkward, and I didn't know how to rescue Luke. Ha!

Luke spent lots of time running up and down the drive way, and being thrown up in the air. He could of done that for hours.

We also ventured out to Olympic Park. It has a practice area for skiers to do tricks. It also has an Olympic museum for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic games. 

The last day my parents had to leave early, so the rest of us went to a fun pond and fished and played. No fish were caught, but we had fun trying! Luke wanted to hit the water constantly with the pole, so I am pretty sure he scared off the fish.

 Traveling pals! My brother and Luke are 2 peas in a pod. They were loving each other. I am pretty sure Nelson taught Luke several things he shouldn't do & say, but that's what Uncles are for...right?!

It was a great vacation with my family and we can't wait to go back!