1.  We drive by the hospital often since it is only a mile from our house.  Grant usually comments on the scary vaccuum that was there when Ashton was born.  Recently they have been doing construction work so he has loved the big crane and excavators.  Today, we drove by and Grant commented that the work was done and that when he grew up, he would go to the hospital too.  Our conversation:

Me: Grant, when you grow up, you could have your babies at that hospital too.  Or, you could be a doctor in that hospital.  Do you think you would like to be a doctor when you grow up?

Grant: NO, I want to be part of our family forever.

Me:  You will always be part of our family honey no matter where you are and what you are when you grow up.

Grant:  We'll just let Ashton be the doctor.

This boy makes me smile so much!

2. It is Tulip Time once again in our town.  Sunday we headed downtown to the kids carnival.  Grant loved it!  Ashton only rode one little ride and he screamed the whole time.  I was shocked since he usually has a no fear attitude. I guess I can put that on the short list of things Ashton is scared of..... animals and fast rides!

3.  Ashton woke up last Thursday and started talking non stop.  Some of it is still hard to understand, but he definitely repeats everything you say now. 

4.  I love the nice weather, but I could really do without the allergies. 

5. Heard this in church the other day.  "One of the greatest feats of life is to live without answers."  H Norman Wright.  So true.

6.

What?  Doesn't everyone have a toothbrush stuck to their (ancient) tv???????   Don't worry, this is not their actual toothbrush!

7. Grants favorite word lately is humungous.  Examples, "Ashton has a humungous runny nose."  "That is a humungous tulip."  And my personal favorite,"Look at that humungous poop!"  :)

8.  Ashtons favorite words these days are anything that sounds like a curse word.  At any given moment in our house, he breaks out with fork, walk, sit or thank you.  All inocent words until they are said by a toddler that likes to starts words with an F and add a h to sit.  We were just cracking up the other day after he repeated thank you over and over again.... 

9.  My little soccer star.  Nothing is funnier than watching a bunch of 3 year olds play soccer!

10.  Blessing of the week:  watching Grant and Ashton get along.  Grant hasn't always been the nicest older brother.  Now that Ashton is to the age where he wants to do everything and be everything that his older brother is, I worried how it would all go.  Grant has done much better than I expected and it is so fun to see them interacting and playing and acting like brothers.

3 1/2

Grant Weston,

*this post was originally written for Grant's 3rd Birthday.  Our computer was in the shop at the time so I waited to post it until I had our pictures back.  The holidays came and life got busy and I totally forgot all about it.  So, this is has info from 6 months ago mixed in with current info.  I have designated 3 year info with a *for my memory book purposes.

3 years ago today they placed you in my arms for the first time.  I looked down at you and my heart melted and I knew that life would never be the same. I can't imagine life without your smile, your laughter and your handsome blue eyes.  Yes, there are days that you frustrate me so much, but then you smile and say something funny and my heart melts all over again.  This is what you have been up to lately...


*you are too smart for your age.  You looked at daddy the other day and said," daddy, do you know what makes you special?"  He looked at you and asked, "what?".  You said, "me."  Someday you will know just how true that statement is!

*You talk all the time and occasionally I think your vocabulary is bigger than mine.

*you are full of adventure.  You love to ride your quad at full speed.  You love to ride tractors with grandpa and great grandpa.  You love to ride on the boat and ask to go faster.  Your love for speed does scare me a bit!

*right now you are afraid of monsters.  Daddy had to go to the store for "monster spray" to keep them away because our prayers just didn't seem to be working.

-you are still scared of monsters at 3 1/2!  We pray for God to protect you from them every night and you like to sleep with your dolphin sword so you can get those monsters when they come.

*you love to be a part of everything.  You love to help me cook and you love to help daddy in the yard.

*you had a rough time adjusting to not being the only spoiled baby in our house.  You love your brother, but you still struggle to show him love all the time.  You like to push him over as he walks by you or shove him away when he tries to play with you.  I assume this is totally normal sibling activity.  I hope so at least!

*you are very expressive.  When you are happy, your face is beaming and you are squealing at the top of your lungs.  You jump up and down in delight.  Your enthusiasm for life is contagious!

*on the opposite side, your temper can get the best of you.  You are getting better, but sometimes that stubbornness scares me. 

*size wise you are starting to become more average- 25% at your 3 year check up.

*you love to watch Cailou, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Curious George.  You really would sit in front of the tv for hours if we let you.

-you currently love dinosaurs and ask to watch Land Before Time every 5 seconds.

*you also love to dance, play "constructions", play outside,  and read books.

-you like to play dinosaurs, do your preschool "workbook", ride your bike, sing songs, dance, watch Wipeout and laugh until your tummy hurts and just plain be silly.

 *you wear 3T shirts.  2T pants.  You have been fully potty trained since July.  You LOVE to wear your rain boots.

*you are our sensitive little guy.  Your heart breaks easily so we have to tread carefully.  You tend to be extremely dramatic when something happens like you get a scratch.  And, you have an extreme sensitivity to textures.  You hate to wear socks with writing on the bottom, you make us cut tags out of your clothes if they touch you and you freak out over shoes that don't fit just right.  Supposedly this runs in your dads side of the family!

*you have a wonderful heart and are full of compassion and love for other people and animals.  You worry about the moms that I help serve at the mission and the ants that I spray in our yard.  Your compassion sees no boundaries. 

*you have the most beautiful blue eyes that just melt my heart every time I look your way!

We love you so much Grant Weston!  ~mommy and daddy

Ten on....

1.  I sat outside with the boys last Friday while they played and I actually got a sunburn!  I have never been happier to feel sunshine on my skin.  It has been a LONG winter.

2.  The garage sale went well.  I got rid of 3 bins of clothes and my car seat which made me happy.  I still have a couple bins of infant clothes, maternity clothes and some larger baby items however.  Hoping to catch a mom2mom sale later in the season to get rid of the rest.  Garage sales are exhausting, but it sure is fun to count all your cash at the end of the day:)

3.  Ashton has a crush on our neighbor Brianna.  He stands by the window and says,"Anna c'over?"  aka can "Brianna come over?"  So cute!

4.  I picked up some skates for Grant at the garage sale.  He loves them and would hardly take them off to go to bed that night.

5.   I bent over the other day and Grant said, "nice butt mommy,"  I just about peed in my pants I laughed so hard.  Not sure where he picked that one up from!

6.  Apparently my tulips didn't get the memo that they were actually supposed to grow stems before they bloomed...

7.   We attended my mom's retirement party this weekend.  I still can hardly believe she is going to be done this week.  I think I got more emotional about it than she did at the party!  I grew up in her office so it was sad to think we won't be going there anymore.  Cheers to her starting this new exciting no work phase of her life!

8.  Ashton had his 18 month appointment last week.  I praise God that he is a healthy growing boy.  Although, he is still on the small side.... only 20 pounds 13 ounces at 18 months!  The doctor has no concern though- Grant was exactly the same weight at his 18 month appt too.

9.  Happy Mother's Day to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My new "baby"!

10.  Blessing of the week:  my dad was in a car accident this past week.  His car was totaled but he walked away without a scratch.  I praise God for protecting him and keeping him safe so we can many more years with Grandpa Pat!

I am too busy planning for our garage sale tomorrow to do my usual Ten on Tuesday.  Instead, I thought you might enjoy this picture from last week.  It is never good when you get out of the shower and your 3 year old says,"look mommy, it snowed!"  I walked into the playroom and found the entire contents of Ashton's bean bag all.over.the.floor!  These suckers are everywhere and they are staticky!  I think they will pop up in random places for the rest of our lives...

Ten on Tuesday/Wednesday

1.  Looks like this guy had a good nights sleep!  Love his crazy morning hair....

2.  Rain rain go away.... we have enough of you already.

3.  Speaking of rain, it is really nice to watch the rain come down and not go into a panic that our basement is going to flood.  I sure hope the people that bought our house remember that we mentioned it has flooded in the past or they might be in for a surprise when the 5 inches comes tonight!

4.  Last week I took the boys on a spur of the moment trip to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies.  They loved them and I loved the tropical weather in the indoor garden.

5.  My book came last Tuesday just as I had hoped.  So far I love it and I can't wait to try out some of the yummy recipes.

6.   Poor Ashton usually has crazy hair, but when he woke up this day, it was out of control crazy!

7.  How do you feel about storage lockers in your house?  I love the look and idea of them but I know that we are "drop things and not pick them up for 2 days" type of people.  Not sure if they would just become a mess or not.

8.  Poor Ashton has a nasty cold and is getting two teeth.  He is miserable.

9.  I am going to get on my soap box for a minute here:  If you are a mom that took your family out for a fun day, please put down your smart phone.  I know there are times when you need to check your email, but seriously is it really necessary to check your email and FB every five minutes?  I couldn't believe the amount of moms that were playing with their phones the whole time we were at the gardens.  They missed such wonderful moments with their kids just so they could know that they friends were baking banana bread.  It just breaks my heart for those kids that want to share those times with their moms.

10.  Blessing of the week: our church series is about doubt.  Talk about perfect timing after my post a couple weeks ago!  This week the topic was that doubt is a necessary part of faith.  I missed the service because I was home with a sick Ashton, but I watched it online and cried the whole time.  It made me feel normal for having my doubts and wondering why He allows such tragedy and wondering where is God when I need him. 

Ten on Tuesday

1.  The other day I was driving my new car and mentioned that I needed gas soon but wasn't sure how to open the gas tank.  Suddenly from the back seat, Grant announced that he knows how to open it and would show me when we get home.  By the time we got home, I had totally forgotten about it, but Grant didn't.  He promptly got out of the car, went over to the gas tank, asked if I was paying attention and then pushed on the gas tank and it opened.  He was so proud of himself and I just stood there wondering when the heck my 3 year old read the manual to the new car.  How did he possibly know that????

2.  Speaking of my new car..... I am still totally in love with her.  It is truly amazing how much you can love a new car after not having one for 10 years!

3.  The other morning, I watched Ashton go into the kitchen, take out my mini food processor, go into the living room, pop out the outlet protector, and plug in the processor and turn it on.  I could hardly believe what I was watching!

4.  I am checking my mail hourly for the arrival of this beauty.  I have only had it on pre-order since August!!!  Amazon says it shipped so I am crossing my fingers it will be here today.  I just love Shauna.  If you have never read her books Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet, I highly recommend that you go get them right now.

5. Now that J is working Saturdays again, the weekends tend to blur into the week so Saturday night I insisted we go out for a fun family outing just the four of us.  We headed downtown for pizza, frozen yogurt and then took a family trip to Menards. Nothing too exciting, but just fun for all of us to be together.  

6.  TROUBLE

7.  Grant starts soccer next week.  I am excited for him to start his first sport and I know that he is more than ready for a new outlet to release some energy.  I however am not so sure I am ready for sports!

8.  Ashton's vocabulary is growing so fast that we can't quite seem to keep up with him.  He keeps saying something and we can't quite figure out what he means, but we know what it sounds like......think 4 letter word that starts with F.  It definitely gets your attention when he yells it as you are taking him out of the car in the church parking lot.

9.  This morning I watched Ashton throw his bowl of bananas into the trash.  I looked at him and asked him if he threw it in the trash and he looked at me with a straight face and said, "um, I didn't."  I wasn't sure if I was more shocked that he lied or that he answered me with a 3 word sentence.  Where is my little baby that could hardly say mama????

10.  Blessing of the week:  warmer weather.  The boys could Finally get outside and test out their new dinosaur rain boots!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Thank you for your comments, notes and emails about my post last week.  I am feeling much better now that Easter week is over.

2.  We had an AMAZING church service on Sunday.  We actually chose to become members of our church because of the Easter service.  They turn it into such a celebration.  Of course, they played all the songs that bring tears to my eyes, so I cried the first 10 minutes, but it was still amazing!

3.  My two little bunnies that refuse to sit still and look at the camera...

4.  Why are my kids so obsessed with register vents?  I just caught Ashton pushing crayons down ours.  Grant threw his whole Little People family down our old one.  We had to actually duck tape it to the floor at one point!  This one is secured to the wall but has slots wide enough for crayons.  Now every time our heat turns on, it makes a funny noise.

5. Sometimes I wish I could pay someone to come over here and put laundry away for me every week.  I don't mind washing it or folding it, but putting it away is something I dread!  And, it seems like our laundry piles just get bigger and bigger every week....how is that possible?

6.  When your washer and dryer are in your kitchen- number 5 becomes a big problem!

7.  What do you feed your kids for snacks?  Mine seem to go through stages and then after a couple weeks refuse to eat those things ever again.  And, they must be growing because they constantly want a snack.  They refuse goldfish, graham crackers, nutri grain bars, cheese sticks, yogurt, pretty much any cracker... I refuse to do fruit snacks which is what they always want.  I just need some good healthy snack motivation- please help!

8. Is it really April?  Feels more like January to me.

9.  At Easter, J's grandma was talking about how she used to live on $100 a month.  Amazing to think about isn't it?  Our cable/internet bill is more than that! 

10.  Blessing of the week:  a "new" car.  Jason surprised me with a new to me car this past week.  My old car was 13 years old and although she was very good to me over the years, the air conditioning broke 2 years ago.  After the never below 98 degrees temps of last summer, I was really hoping to get a new car before summer came around (if it ever does!).  I feel so blessed to not only have a "new" car, but that J was able to let go of his budget to make this possible :)