Easter

We celebrated Easter a day early this year because on Easter morning we had to get up and drive to OK. Easter actually fell on my mother's 60th birthday so my dad (my sis and I helped) planned a surprise party for her. My Mom and Dad went to church as usual that morning and had planned to go out to eat afterwards. My dad managed to keep my mother busy at church after the service so that their friends could rush over to the restaurant and meet up with my sister, brother, and I. And, it all turned out perfect. My mother did not suspect a thing and everything went as planned. After lunch we went back to my parents and later that evening drove back home. Busy, busy day! Here is apic of the boys all dressed up in their Easter duds and a few pics of us coloring Easter eggs. (humm.. I can't seem to find the pics from my moms party and the good pics of the boys in their Easter outfits... will try and post later)

Oh, and here is my Martha Stewart moment... happens about once a year. I read about using silk ties to dye Easter eggs and I just have to say that it actually works. Too cool! Check out a few below:

Tyler's Pirate Party

ARRGGHHH!!!! For Tyler's 5 year old birthday party we didn't want to do anything too big so decided to have a pirate party at our house. We invited a few friends over and played some pirate games. Tyler was super excited about his Pirate theme and couldn't wait for the party to start!

When the kids arrived they had to swab the deck so they could earn their official Pirate Name (Tyler was 'Pirate Finn the Bucko')...we had kid size brooms for them to swab the floors with. After all the kids arrived and received their pirate name the kids went on a scavenger hunt around the house.

They had about 8 different boxes to find and inside each box was something pirate related for them to put on ... in the end, they all had pirate hats, eye patches, mustaches, pirate swords, beads, jewels, and gold coins. The kids really seemed to enjoy the scavenger hunt and it was pretty hilarious seeing all the kids in their pirate get up and talking 'pirate talk' ... I tried to get a good pic of all the kids but you know how that goes...

Tyler is 5

Here is apic of Tyler with his birthday breakfast... he chose (for me to cook) french toast!!! Yumm!

After celebrating at school with his classmates (I took brownies up for his friends) we had our own little family birthday party. He opened gifts from mom and dad and of course we had a little cake for him to blow out candles! Can you say sugar overload?! His big gift he got from us was a Wii!! He loves it and I am so glad we have it.

(baby bro waiting for cake!!)

Look at this sweet little face! The girls are gonna come a runnin'!! Tyler, you bring me joy every single day and I love and thank God for you so much.

Super Bowl

Every year on the day of the Super Bowl, our husbands play their annual flag football game. Jason's team ended up losing the Boy's Bowl and he actually broke a finger towards the end of the game (in 2 different places). Too old and too brittle!!! Here is a pic of 'The Boys' ...

I of course dressed my little ones in their Cowboy jerseys and just look how cute they are!

Here are the kids running through a banner to start the game off right!

Quick Updates

OK... we are back. Took a little break, but here goes some quick updates about the last 6 months. I have not posted since January-ish and it's now August so I am just going to cover the main events! Enjoy!!

Christmas Morning

Jason's family came over, Kate and Maddie were there and I loved it! The Holidays can be busy and a little stressful but it is all worth it when you get to spend so much time with family. Tyler woke up at his usual time (7:30ish) and came up to the stairs over the family room and just got a big smile on his face when he saw everything!

We went and got Colby out of bed and he didn't know what to think. He wanted to play and get into everything (Oh, is he two?!). The kiddos had a great morning and it is such a joy to watch them look/open everything.

Christmas Eve

Since my sister had to work on Christmas Eve, Maddie got to hang out with us all day. I tried to think of something entertaining for us to do and came up with the idea of making cookies - who doesn't love to do that?!! Colby could not participate much and really didn't want too, so worked out pretty good. Maddie loves art and loves to color things so she thought this was a great idea and Tyler really like to bake. Check out some of our cookies...

Kate got off a little early and came over Christmas Eve and we had some good food, wine and munchies to eat. Growing up, we always got to open up one present on Christmas Eve so of course, that is the way we do it, too. Tyler, Colby and Maddie opened up a little rinky dink toy then after that we had to go and put reindeer food out on the lawn. The rest of the night we let the kids play, eat too much sugar, set cookies out for Santa then off to bed!

Christmas in OK

We went up the Sunday before Christmas to have Christmas with my parents, sister and brother. I have not seen my brother in a while so it was good to see him, his wife and his little girl, Alyssa. We had a great time talking and hanging out. We just stayed up there for the day but had fun getting to see everyone. My parents got Tyler something he wanted really bad... the Planet Heroes Turbo Shuttle!

Ski Trip - Part 1

We decided to take our first family ski trip this year and it turned out pretty good! Tyler had a great time playing in the snow and he also really enjoyed skiing. Colby was a little unsure of all the 'cold white stuff' but he seemed to have a good time. Tyler really enjoyed going on the 'Big Jet' and luckily, somehow, Colby fell asleep during take off and stayed asleep for the majority of the flight.


We stayed in a 2 bedroom 3 bath condo. The condo was really nice - it had granite countertops, cool stone fireplace, a heated garage (great feature), really nice decor and furnishings throughout. We were only 1/2 mile away from the slopes (if that) so it made it really easy getting to and from. We decided to rent a car so that we could put the boys in the car seats and have the freedom to go when we wanted. Of course, Daddy Duda had to have the biggest car available so we wound up with a 4x4 Expedition - it was brand new, too, with only 160 miles on it.

Allen Community Outreach

THis year we wanted to give back in ways other than just donating money so I decided to sign up to sponsor a child for Christmas. Allen has a program through the ACO and you get to choose if you would like to sponser a child, teen, or senior adult... you also get to choose the sex so of course I chose a little boy!! We ended up getting an 18 month old so it was that much sweeter since Colby was his same age! He asked for some V-tech baby games and some socks. I may have gone a little overboard but since they asked for so little I felt that they were not trying to take advantage of anyone and it made me want to buy more. We got him several different little outfits, like 10 pairs of socks, an aquadoodle, some baby v-tech games and a couple other little cars, small toys. Colby went with me to drop off the bag of goodies and you should have seen the gymnasium floor. It was covered with the same black trash bags full of goodies and tons and tons of bikes. It was nice to see all the items people donated!

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!