My boys...and a bug...

This is a story....about a boy, a daddy, and plastic BUG! *********************
It all started last August.
We went to my brother-in-laws house for an afternoon of play, and a BBQ.
For fun, they had all of these plastic bugs sitting in the fruit bowl, and chip bowls etc. The kids thought it was funny, which I assume was the point.
After spending the whole day there, when we went to leave, my brother-in-law, Christopher, slipped Tyler a plastic cockroach, and told him to hide it in daddy's bed.

So, he did. When Kevin found it, he returned the favor by hiding it in Tyler's bed. This has now gone on for 7 months.
Not every single night....but A LOT of them!

It is a game of challenge, and wits. A game that Tyler finds to be THE very best thing EVER! It started with pillows, and sheets, but has spread to current reading books, shoes, and even under the alarm clock. Tyler even waits until after we have said goodnight, and tucked him in and then goes in a hides it, so that it isn't expected or found until we actually go to bed.

So one day.... We found this note... and have LITERALLY not stopped laughing.
Every time we talk about it, we still both tear up.
He left it WITH the cockroach in our bed, under Kevin's pillow.
It was as though he didn't think we would know it was from him, being that it is written in the third person. :)

There is something about the magic of innocence that makes life so fun.
So rewarding!
So beautiful.

These two boys....
don't know...
AT ALL...
What I would do without them!!!

Daddy's Dinner...

Time for Daddy's Birthday dinner and presents...
The first week of any month is a long one for Kevin at work.
So since his birthday is the 2nd, it always winds up being month-end close at work. That means late nights....long days...and no seeing the kids.
So we saved his presents and dinner for when it was over.
We had some friends over and did a little celebrating.

Lasagna was the dinner of choice.
I made a WHITE chicken lasagna, and a RED beef lasagna.
Half of our family likes the chicken version and doesn't like the other...so I like to make both on the very rare event that I make it at all.
The white kind is SOOO good though, just so ya know.

Ahhhh....cupcake....how I have missed you!

So the cupcakes are German Chocolate, made from scratch, completely...
and PINK~for my breast cancer walk! :)

We sang a little song...
The kids are really good at that now. :)


And wished him a million more wishes!
We are pretty lucky to have him...
But I think he is kind of lucky too. :)

Creative...and a birthday

All by himself...
Tyler thought of this...
Planned it on paper...
AND
Implemented it.
His little sister got in on the action...and he let her.
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Daddy..."We love you as big as all of the football fields in the whole world".
Daddy... "I love you one hundred twenty thousand."
Kevin... you are the rock of this family.
You hold us together in a way that few are lucky enough to understand.
You make me happy in a way that few are lucky enough to experience.
You are so important to me.
Look at all we have together.
Look at all you have given me. You are my best friend, and the best father!
Happy Birthday!
We love you times one hundred twenty thousand football fields!

Family time...

Enjoying a couple of evening milkshakes....

And a rousing game of Connect 4.

A little family time for the crew before daddy leaves on another trip.

Kevin is taking off for another work-cruise.

This time to Mexico.

The kids get so clingy before he leaves...and obviously after he returns.

They don't like him being gone.

Kevin likes having the opportunity to travel for work...

but

he doesn't like to be away from them either.

So...Lots of Connect 4 and milkshakes it is! :)

GLOBETROTTERS

Kevin and Tyler got to go see the Harlem Globetrotters with Kevin's parents and sister and family.
Tyler had never heard of them.....
Like most kids anymore...
But he was so excited!
*****
He is really shy...so I don't think his enthusiam was seen by everyone...but he really had a great time. He has talked about it every day since they went!

He thought the tricks that they did were really cool.
Ever since being there, he runs around the living room pretending to be each of the players....
It goes something like this...
"Special K passes to Flight-time. He catches and runs...throws the ball high into the air and it is caught by Ant. He runs and spins the ball as fast as he can. Oh...Oh, he is going to lose it....then Airplane comes in and saves the day. He shoots....He SCORES!!!"

His cotton candy is BIGGER then he is! That is his cousin Elaine in the background.

Kevin has never been to a game to see them play either.
We just all know who they are.
We have seen them perform...and of course, we all remember the classic Scooby Doo's! :)

For a half hour after every game all of the players gather for autographs!
Daddy bought Tyler a ball for autographs...but do you think he would ruin his new beautiful ball with writing...NO...(he didn't quite understand the point.)
So he used the paper that we had brought just in case he was lucky enough to get some signatures!

Look how big they are.
Can't imagine why a little guy would be a bit intimidated!

He was so proud when he showed me all of his autographs!

They had a really good time.
It makes me all warm inside when they have these special times together.
I love that Tyler wants to do everything his daddy does...and loves to be with him.
There is nothing that I could hope more...then to have Tyler turn out just like Kevin.

This is what happens....

When the hubby goes on business trips...
--------------------------------------
Kevin left this morning, for Florida.
I guess,

I get a little bored....
And apparently hungry to try new recipes...

He wasn't even gone two hours, when I made this lowfat granola.

Oh it was so good!

Really easy, and really natural and yummy!

***************************************************

Then I decided to try my hand at granola bars.

Again VERY good...lowfat...and healthy!

I did forget to add the almonds...so they ended up being nut-free, which was a bummer...

But everyone loved them!

****************************************************

Finally....I was craving a lemon muffin.

So I found a recipe for a healthy lemon muffin (made with greek yogurt),

Added some GIANT, gorgeous blueberries,

And then turned out RIDICULOUSLY yummy!

I added a little drizzle of a lemon glaze that I made...and they were perfect!

The kids just loved them, and they were actually quite healthy.

I finished off my first night, after the kids went to bed and without my husband, like this.

Homemade latte and lemon muffin.

Lonely....but not hungry! :)

YUM!

Its a Bird...Its a plane...

On October 9th Kevin and Tyler took a little trip to Payette Idaho.
(The monkey Tyler is holding, has taken many trips all over the world. Kevin takes him on his trips, and takes pictures of him at varies places and sends them via email to the kids. THEY LOVE IT!)
***********************************
Kevins grandfather lives there, and was having an 80th birthday party.
So his family went over to celebrate.
Just Kevin went, with Tyler.
The girls all stayed home.

This is Ty's cousin Elaine. She is Kevin's sister's daughter.

Ty, had never been on a plane.
It was a first flight, and he was really excited.

He even got to go in the cockpit...

They were only gone for two days, but they had a really nice time.
I think it is nice for Kevin and Ty to be able to spend some time together alone like that.
Tyler talked about it for at least a week after.

It was nice for Kevin to go see his grandfather as well.

I just love him...

We celebrated Kevins birthday tonight.
Our friends came over and we had dinner and cake.

I just wanted to let everyone see what a good man I am married to.


Here is his cake.


This is his cake, because his baby girl is having a pink ladybug birthday party in a couple of weeks and I needed to test out the recipe and how long to cook the cake in a bowl (which I had never done) and do a trial run in frosting it.

I just love that he had no problem with it.



He is such a good daddy!

To another year...

Seriously...I often wonder how I got so lucky.
Kevin is an amazing man. I couldn't ask for a better father and husband.

He provides for our family without even a second thought...and thrives on doing so.

He is our happy place at the end of a chaos filled day. The "Hi Daddy's" that I hear every single evening when Kevin walks through the door and then the resounding footsteps that come pounding down the hall to jump into his arms...nothing makes me happier.

Then when the day is over, and we sit alone...talking, watching TV, discussing whatever may be on our minds...that is my calm...my peace. It makes me happy.

He makes me happy.
He makes us all happy.

Happy birthday Honey.
We love you!