Tyler's 3rd birthday

It is hard to believe that it has been three years since I was in the hospital with this guy. My, how the time has flown. He is truly the silliest little boy, and also the grouchiest, sweetest, most destructive, etc. He makes me laugh every day! (And I can't deny that he makes me frustrated probably every day too.)

I love to make birthdays feel like they are a special day. I asked Chad if he wanted to help me decorate once Tyler was asleep, but told him that I wanted to keep it a surprise. All day, he'd say to Tyler, "I'm not going to sleep with you." Then he'd remember the "surprise" part and look at Tyler and sweetly say, "I'm just kidding." He did stay awake and help me and I think Chad was probably more excited about the party than Tyler. This year for his birthday, Tyler was very adament that he wanted a "Mater and the Ghostlight" cake. So, here is how it turned out.

I thought it was acceptable. It was supposed to be covered in fondant, but for some reason, the recipe that I used before with no trouble was a disaster. So, we went with plan B and I think it worked. The sucker hanging from his hook is the "ghost light".

Just had to put in this last little picture of Tyler being Tyler. He loves to "cook" things with me and I find bowls, little cups and everything you can imagine full of water all over the house.

Christmas and New Year Celebrations

I know Christmas was a month ago; I feel like things are finally getting back to normal and I am playing catch-up. We had a great Christmas. Our boys are getting old enough to be excited and look forward to the celebrations. Here are a few pictures. So I don't know where I went wrong, but my boys are afraid of Santa. In past years, Chad has expressed that he didn't even want Santa to come into our house. He never wants to go and see him, so when he told me he wanted to see Santa this year, I was blown away. Once we were there, it took him several minutes to decide to get near him, and no way he would sit on his lap, but he did talk to him. That is a big step.

For New Years, we went bowling. It was a lot of fun! This was one of our traditions when I was a child. The bowling alley did a count down at 8pm, and handed out noise makers and hats. Our boys thought it was the most fun. Greyson fell asleep at 7 and slept on coats on the floor. I don't know how anyone does it with little ones. But we had a ton of fun.

Dave, me and Tyler all decked out for the count down.

These were the hats the boys got at the bowling alley. I'm sure this picture was taken at about 12:30 after we celebrated till the real new year at my sister in laws house. I can't believe they were still awake.

We sure had a fun holiday and look forward to a wonderful new year!