Grayson's Scrapbook

Tomorrow Tyler and I are going to Houston. My best friend, Dana is having her second baby, Grayson. She asked me to make a scrapbook for him like I did her first son. A first year scrapbook can be 30 or more layouts and is a lot of work. When I made Brady's, Tyler wasn't born yet, so I had more time. For Grayson's we decided I'd do a layout for each month of his first year. I chose to do a theme throughout-stars. I also made it so she could put picture in however she wanted. Once I started it went really well and was fun. (Sorry about Dec. & Jan.- It kept turning it when I'd upload the picture. I even took a second picture and loaded that one and it still turned it.)

I made a quick b-day page and Milestone or First's page for the back. I think the First's page turned out really cute.

What we've been up to

We have had wonderful weather lately. We spend so much time outside. We've gone to the park a lot. Tyler's been able to put new sand and water in his sand & water table. He really enjoys playing in it. We've been filling up the bird feeder again since the birds are back. Today, Tyler got out his golf clubs. Soon he'll be out with Daddy! Today, we also went to the library. Tyler likes getting books about trucks and tools.

Fun with Uncle Tom

My brother, Tom, has been here now almost 3 months and is finished with his internship. He heads back to IL next weekend. This past week, he went with me and Tyler to Sea World. Tyler had fun with him there. This is the first year Tyler has played on the ropes and in the kids area. I showed it to him last year, but he didn't really want to play. He had so much fun this time and he's tall enough to ride the Shamu Express. He loved it.

Last night we all went out to dinner. This is Tyler's first corn dog. I know, he's 2 1/2 and just now is having a corn dog-it's my fault. I don't eat them, so I've never bought them. After the first bite he took off the bread and just at the hot dog.

We'll miss having Tom around when he leaves!

Chili recipe

Since it once again got cold out, I was able to try a new Chili recipe. We thought it was delicious. It was so easy and fast.

Chunky Beef Chili

2 pounds ground round
2 large onions, chopped (I only used 1)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic clove, minced
1 (16 oz) can pinto beans
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 1/2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper

Cook beef and next 3 ingredients over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain; return meat mixture to pan/pot and add beans, ketchup, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 min.

I liked it just the way it was. Tyler ate a whole bowl full too. Scott had to add some Tony Chacahere's to give it a little kick. My brother had to add crushed red pepper to it. So it's easy to make spicy if you need to.

More puppies

Scott's coworker Rob and his wife just got a Golden Retriever puppy. His name is Percy and he's 8 weeks old. Last week, we met him at their house. He was very frisky and nipping at us the whole time. Yesterday, Rob brought him to our house to socialize him with our dogs and it was so much fun. He didn't nip at us at all, which meant Tyler could finally pet him. Percy tried to get our dogs to chase him, but they didn't want to. He played the most with Wrigley. Ivy pretty much ignored him after the initial sniffing.

Shamrock Cookies

Today Tyler and I made Shamrock cookies and frosted them. The frosting is Tyler's favorite part!

Fun Surprise

One of my best friends, Jennifer, from Houston called this morning to let me know she'd be in town. I was so excited to see her. I haven't seen her since November. Her and her boyfriend , Joshua were coming to pick up his kids to spend Spring break with them. She also brought her little, tiny Maltese, Luna. Tyler absolutely loved Luna. He called her Lunee and immediately picked her up and just carried her all around. It was so cute. He chased her all around and let her lay on his lap when she was tired. At the park, he carried her around and showed her the pool. He think he needs of one these dogs now because she's just his size. I must say-the whole time he played with her, he never once bothered Wrigley.

Me & Jen

Jen & Joshua

Jen, Joshua, Brianna, Brice, & Luna

Shamrocks

This morning we painted shamrocks. We used golf balls like we did for the Valentines hearts and then this time we used some glitter too.

A New Use

Tyler dug out his bumper from his closet the other day and has had so much fun it. For 3 days in a row, he's played with it. He likes to jump in and out-Mommy and Daddy have to too. He uses it as a big basketball hoop to throw his toys into. Who knew he'd have so much fun with it.Wrigley's wondering what is going onFor those of you that don't live in TX-yes, Tyler is in shorts already. The last two days have been 80 out and very sunny. As a matter of fact, our pool opens this weekend. How crazy is that! Don't know that we'll be going swimming just yet, but it's available if we want to.

We know there are doggies over there

We had a new neighbor move in behind us and they have 2 dogs. Our doggies and Tyler are very curious.

Weekly Outing

If you ask Tyler what he wants to do today, he will most likely say, "go see puppies." We go at least once a week to Petsmart. They have a doggie day care for little dogs and big dogs. Sometime there are up to 12 dogs in each. Tyler loves watching them. We also watch dogs being groomed, say hi to the kitty cats, see the birds, gerbils and hamsters. He will always tell me that he and daddy saw one running on the wheel, but not Ty and mommy. We see the fish and the crabs. Twice when we were there they were cleaning out the crab tank, so we had to watch the whole process. He will watch the lizard, turtle, and snake from a ways back. He always tells me,"Ty no get too close, lizards bite" and "Mommy no like snakes, snakes yucky." Petsmart is one of Tyler's favorite places to go.