Look what big brother taught me!

Rudolph Run

Tyler, Colby and I participated in Allen's Annual Rudolph Run! We had a good time. Allen has this yearly run to help make fitness a family affair and to continue supporting the fight against childhood obesity. There was a 5K run and a 1 mile fun run. We entered the fun run and Tyler walked/ran the entire thing alongside Colby and I! Hopefully it is something we can continue to do every year!

Christmas Tree

We decided to get out the Christmas Tree the weekend after Thanksgiving - mainly because we had a long holiday weekend and with it being cold and drizzly we did not have much going on. The boys had fun helping decorate the tree... although, Colby thinks the tree is something we hang 'toys' on so the bottom of the tree is quite bare.

Icontinued our tradition of baking cookies while we decorate (we did that growing up) - and turning on Christmas music... gets everyone in a more festive mood! Here Colby is getting upset because he can't reach the cookies - he tried really hard!

We have a 12 footer so we have to get the ladder out to decorate the middle part... Tyler thought it was super cool to put ornaments up high.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to go up to OK to visity with my family (we alternate every year between my family and Jasons). We drove up that morning and came back that evening. It was pretty chilly but the boys got kind of restless inside so we bundled them up and played in my parents backyard. The boys had a great time jumping, tossing and rolling in the leaves. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures. My dad took some with their digital camera so if my parents ever figure out how to upload pictures to their computer maybe then they can email me some! We had a nice time hanging out and watching football... Oh, and laughing about my sister accidentally eating dog cookies!! Not one, but two!! It was one of those you 'had to be there funny stories' so I won't go into it, but it was seriously the funniest thing I have heard in a long time.

We also celebrated at Tyler's school and I did manage to get a pic!

Camping... in the backyard?

The things we do to appease our kiddos. Last weekend, Jason and I went camping with friends - adults only. We had a great time! Tyler got a little upset that he was not going so when we got back, Jason had the idea to set up our small tent in the backyard. He thought it would be fun for Tyler to help set it up and to pretend camp. We had some leftover smore ingredients so we lit up our firepit and roasted marshmellows too!! Tyler loved it and can't wait to go camping ~ for real!

Pictures say a thousand words!

OK... so it mostly says 'Need to do laundry' and 'These pants/shoes were the closest thing to the diaper station!' How sad is this look? You know you have a lot going on when you let your kids out of the house looking like this! At least it was just in our driveway!!

Busted!

Caught in the act!!! Even the look on his face says "I'm guilty!" Good thing he tromped all over the monkey grass... I don't think anything can kill that stuff!!

Fun Pictures

Maybe Colby should have been Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. Tyler brought out his Buzz glasses the other day and Colby wanted to wear them so bad. After some coaxing, Tyler let Colby wear them and he loved it j- wore them all day long!

Since the Heard Nature Museum is so close to us, I went ahead and got a membership (figured it would be something fun, quick to do with the boys). It has been a great investment - we all love going! I recently took the boys to the Dinosaur Alive exhibit and Tyler finally got over his fear of dinosaurs (we went last year and he was very, very scared). Yay!!! We went again today and will probably go tomorrow too. Tyler is out all week for Thanksgiving so trying to find things to fill up the day. We love it out there!

Halloween After Party

For the past few years the Donato's have had a Halloween After Party so that we could get all the kids together and see them in their cute little costumes! Every year we try to get a picture of all the kiddos - it's never easy and I don't think we have ever had one with all kids looking at the camera but I at least got one!

Halloween

Halloween was on a Wednesday this year and Tyler had school the next day so I decided to give the boys a bath before trick-or-treating. I knew that we would be putting on costumes soon so instead of getting them all dressed I just let them go in their underwear for a couple of hours. Tyler was so, so excited for trick-or-treating this year. He kept saying how excited he was and that he couldn't wait, etc. Tyler could see that the evening was approaching, Duda got home and so he knew trick-or-treating was near. He was so excited that he started jumping around and dancing and making up little songs... "it's Halloween, Halloween, I get to trick-or-treat, Halloween, Halloween, ring the door bell" and on and on. So, Colby chimes in and starts running around in circles - screaming and dancing too. The boys were nuts!!! I am watching them from the kitchen and thinking to myself how cute they look dancing and singing in their underwear!!! They were totally nuts and out of control, but you gotta love it!

This year Tyler was a Transformer - Optimus Prime... and sweet little Colby was a dragonfly! I was going for Tyler being a frog and Colby a dragon fly, but it didn't work as I planned. I thought it would be funny since frogs eat bugs (dragon flys). But... since Tyler is getting older and has his own likes and dislikes, he was pretty anti on being a frog. I decided to let my boy be a big guy and choose his own costume. I had a newspaper insert that had all sorts of different costumes and told Tyler to choose - that is the story on how he came up with Optimus Prime. He has never even seen Transformers - all he knows is that he looked cool!!!

Pumpkin Time

I get so excited just before Halloween because it means I get to carve a pumpkin - I love it!! We wait until a night or two before Halloween to do it! THis year, Duda carved his own, I carved one and Tyler and I did one together. Tons-o-fun! Check out our pumpkins!

Tricycle Parade

Tyler's school had their annual Tricycle Parade just before Halloween. All of the kids dress up in their costumes and decorate their wheels of choice (bike, tricycle, scooter, etc). The school plays music and all the kids ride their bikes around the gym for a few minutes. Might sound a little dull but it is pretty cute to watch!!

Sunday Ritual

When the Dallas Cowboy season started, Jason and Tyler both had on their Cowboy jersey for the first season game - and the Cowboys won!!! When game #2 came around, Duda said things needed to be the same so Tyler and Duda had to wear their shirts again... and the Cowboy's won! So, on week #3, Duda of course didn't want the karma to change and decided they have to wear their Cowboy shirts for the rest of the season.

I thought to myself that Colby needed to be included in this ritual and approached Jason with the idea (he was so serious about not messing with the karma that I wasn't sure if poor little Colby was going to get to wear his shirt)... Jason was hesitant at first to let Colby wear his shirt but of course he decided to let him. The Cowboys won game #3 and went on to win all but one game so far this season. So, now every Sunday, the boys have to have their Cowboy shirts at game time - no joke! This past Sunday, against Philly, was a late Sunday night game so both boys slept in their cowboy shirts... this is serious stuff!!!

Happy Helper

I love it when the boys offer to help! One of Tyler's favorite things is to help me in the kitchen! Colby of course does not 'offer' to help with much but he loves to help put the toys up.

Tyler loves to help me bake (cake in a box is still baking, right??)! He goes and puts on his bakers get-up (all by himself) and then says he is 'ready' ... check out a cute pic!

Tyler is a great big brother!

Tyler has done some of the sweetest things lately for Colby so I just had to write about them. The other day, without me even asking him, he offered Colby some of his grapes. I know that may not sound big, but in our world, was huge! Tyler also saved 'in a special spot' Colby's favorite truck (Mack from Cars) when Colby was sleeping one day. Colby has Mack in his hand about 60% of the day and he usually sleeps with him... this one day we forgot Mack and left him downstairs... Tyler found him and put him up for safe keeping.

He also likes to give his baby brother lots of hugs and kisses. The hugs and kisses usually turn into some sort of wrestling match, but it starts out sweet!!

Tyler also does chores around the house! He gets allowance - $2 a week. (I read that half of their age is a good amount) We put 50% of his allowance in a 'Spend' jar, roughly 40% in a 'Save' jar, and the remaing amount in a 'Share' jar. Around Christmas time Tyler said he was going to buy a toy for a boy who does not have many toys. Of course he did not come up with that on his own, I gave him a few choices of what he could do with his charity money and buying a toy was what he chose. I thought it was sweet. A list of his chores:
- Let the dogs out
-Pick up his toys
-help with the laundry (he really likes to fold clothes and put the clothes in the dryer)
-we try to make his bed (I mainly have to do it - but he does try to help!!)
-line the shoes up by the door (his shoes and Colby's shoes)

I love my neighborhood!

Our neighborhood has several events each year that are so great. The 'hood' has an annual BBQ party (end of summer) with a band, bounce houses- the works!, an annual Tricycle Parade, Easter egg hunt for the kiddos, and several other smaller parties (kindergarten round-up, etc...). I think it is a great place to live and raise a family and I am thrilled that Tyler and Colby will be in the Exemplary rated Lovejoy ISD - Go Leopards!!! We had our annual Tricycle Parade last Tuesday night and here are a few pics...
Colby's stroller was a little decorated but of course, he pulled it all off!

Deep Thoughts .... by Tyler Tucker

Here are a few random things said by Tyler...

In a soccer 'huddle' (the coach was talking with all the boys on the team) Tyler blurts out "Guys, hey Guys... At night, I wear a diaper, and I pee-pee in it."

Another soccer huddle (Tyler must think the soccer huddle is his 'open-forum' to speak his mind) the coach asked all the boys to get in a circle. Tyler continuously kept saying "this is not a circle, this is an octagon... Duda, this is NOT a circle - it is an octagon" ... until finally Coach Duda recognized to Tyler that it was in fact, not a circle!

Outside playing: "Mommy, look at this worm, it's really long. I think I need to cut it in half."

Tyler was 'reading' a book and when he closed it, looked up and said "E-End." Now I listen more closely and he says 'E-End' instead of 'The End' everytime!! (too cute!)

Plano Balloon Fest

We did manage to make it out really late one night... and also managed to run into the Glasscock's! We didn't get out there 'til after 7:00 because Jason had been out of town, golfing. He was quite tired and worn out (also a little sick) so we left shortly after the balloon glow. I think Colby and I enjoyed the balloon glow the most while Tyler, Caden and Grace ran around and chased each other! My camera battery was dying so I had to take a picture really fast... it's not the best but I got one!!!

Just some cute pics of the boys

Maddie turned 9

I can't believe my little niece is growing up so fast! Can you believe she is 9 years old? Wow! My sister had a little swim party for her at their new condo complex. There was about 10 girls there and then cute little Tyler (he is going to be loving that scene in about 7 years)! I am so thankful I have Maddie in my life. It was so much fun to see a bunch of 9 year old girls acting like 'girlie-girls' ... they were splashing around, singing High School Musical, and talking about Justice (it's a cool clothing store for girls only)! I had tons of fun shopping for her and can't wait to spoil her again at Christmas!

New Soccer Team

Tyler is old enough now to play soccer for Allen Sports Association. He started a few weeks back with his new team - the Tornados ... When the coach was asking all the kids what number they wanted to be, Tyler shouted out '15' - so 15 it is! Here is my big man in his new, cool uniform. Tyler is still a little timid around the ball (sometimes called 'weed-pickers') but the more he plays the more he goes after the ball.

Coach Billy and Assistant Coach Duda also have matching uniforms! Look how cute they all are! Coach Duda says being an assistant coach is the way to go... you still get to help out and teach the kids but you don't have to deal with all the administrative stuff!!

School is in

Tyler's first day of school was Tuesday September 4. His new teachers are Ms. Brittany and Ms. Laura. Tyler was so excited that school finally started up... Although he did tell me that he wished he was 5 becasue he wanted to go to kindergarten ... 'becasue kindergarten is better'. Tyler had a great first day and seems to really like his new teacher!! I know he is going to do great.

Labor Day Weekend

We did not do much over the Holiday weekend... we were looking for things to do and ended up visiting a few museums. On Sunday, Tyler, Colby and I went and checked out the snake exhibit at the Heard Natural Science Museum. Tyler thought it was super cool getting to see all the snakes. We got to hear some of the snakes 'hiss' at us and saw several of the snakes 'bow up' (is that how you say it??) at us!!

To the right is a picture of Tyler and Colby standing inside of a snake. Very cool display!

On Monday, we decided to check out the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Neat stuff there and the Apollo exhibit was super cool to see!!

The museum was not very crowded so one of the workers let Tyler go inside one of the helicopters on display. Tyler had several questions for the worker like 'what does this button do?', 'what about this red button over here?' and on and on... the funny thing is that the worker answered Tyler like he actually knew something about helicopters. 'This button lets the hydraulic up on the back right rotor and minimizes air pressure so the fork can spin the right front blade in a counter-clockwise direction' ... I have no idea what I just said but those were the kind of answers Tyler was getting! It was quite amusing to see the look on Tyler's face after the worker finished talking.

Colby Fun Facts

We have not had anymore big things happen, such as falling out of cribs/opening doors, but he has added a few more words to his vocabulary. He pretty much calls all food 'nana' except the other day he added another food word - 'cracker' ... It sounds more like 'caca' but you definitely know he's talking about a cracker.

-For milk he uses the last syllable and calls it 'kul'

-When he wants something (toy, food, etc...) really bad he says 'nanananana' over and over - soo cute!!!

-We have been pointing out body parts to him lately and when you ask 'where is your nose?' he points to his nose! He will also point to his ears and eyes when asked (well, some of the time).

-He has started using a little bit of sign language (works like more, please)

-He shakes his head really big (like he is saying NO) when he is done eating or when he does not want something.

- My favorite of all... even if Colby is in another room, as soon as he hears the stair gate open he comes running in to the living room as fast as his little legs will take him to climb up the stairs. He gets this huge grin on his face and starts laughing and giggling. So cute to watch!

Last Month of Summer

This past month has been somewhat slow so we tried to find ways to amuse ourselves. We tried out some family bowling... well, I sat with Colby and we watched Tyler and Duda bowl. Tyler stayed pretty even with his Duda's score, too (for a while anyway).

We, of course, did plenty of swimming and had more friends over.

And even more friends over...

This is actually Tyler and Maddie doing 'handstands' underwater! Fun times!!

Also, one of Tyler's other favorite activites this summer, besides swimming, has been doing preschool workbooks. He loves doing the activites in the workbooks and especially enjoys having to find the hidden objects! Those were my favorite too. We 'work' in a workbook pretty much for a few minutes everyday (30 minutes or so) because he enjoys doing them so much.

Tyler also has a new favorite toy that he got this month for being so brave at the dentist. Fisher Price has a new toy line called 'Planet Heroes' and Tyler got to pick one out at Toys R Us. He was so excited about them that he drew a picture of all the planets. (One of the planets on his drawing was a mess up so that is why there are 10). :) Because of the toy line Tyler can now name all 9 planets! Look at my little Science Man!!

1st Birthday Party

Don't you just love 1st birthdays?? It's fun to see all the babies running, scooting around and playing together. We had a great time at Mr. Scott's 1st birthday party. His mommy had the great idea of doing a kite party and giving all the kids little parachute men. Tyler has not put his para-trooper down since the party! He loves it. Thanks Fishpaw Family!! We love you guys and know what a blessed and special day this was for ya'll! Most my pictures from the party are of kids heads, like Colby's here in this picture... but I did manage to get one with at least Scott looking at the camera!! :) Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Off to the Races

About 18 months ago (2 Christmas ago) we got Jason's dad a Nascar driving experience for Christmas at Texas Motor Speedway. I couldn't let Jason's dad go alone so I bought the same driving adventure for Jason so they could do it together. 18 months later and they are finally able to use them! Jason and his dad went to Texas Motor Speedway early, early Sunday morning to take the driving class and then drive an actual Nascar car. I thought it would be cool to take the boys to watch so Tyler, Colby and I drove down to TMS a little later and got there just in time to see Duda and Da drive their cars. Here is a pic of Jason in his car ... (You can't see him but he is inside there)!!!

The company throwing the class, Team Texas, also had a race car limo that the visitors could ride inn... $20 and you got to go in the race car limo around the track for 3 laps. Tyler, Granny, and I decided to do it! Tyler thought it was sooo cool!!!!