Our beautiful azaleas

I love when our azaleas are in bloom. I think their colors are amazing. Even though our yard needs major work, ie, mulch or rocks down, these pictures show these beautiful shrubs. Too bad my sister won't get to see them. Sarah, I know you would have loved seeing these.



Peyton telling me that there are bees in the bushes. This is such a classic Peyton face. He always shows so many expressions when he talks.

Here he is running to get a smell even though they don't smell like anything. He always goes up to flowers even if they are fake and says, "Flowers, mmm, smell good."

Peyton is growing taller and taller!

Egg Hunt #3

My title says egg hunt #3, but really I don't have any pictures of the egg hunt. I was feeding Jackson during the actual hunt and Craig didn't take any pictures. Anyways, we were invited to a party at some friends house from church. They had a bounce house for the kids, and easter egg hunt and lots of food. Oh, and a John Deere Tractor and some dirt. Peyton saw this tractor and this is where he stayed most of the time we were here.

For whatever reason, when I tell him to smile lately, he won't look at the camera on purpose. So, I haven't gotten any great pictures lately, but here he is playing with a shovel.

This tractor was really neat. We would love to have one of these at home.

Peyton filled it with dirt, then would dump it out.

Like I said, hours of fun right here!

Spring has sprung!

Peyton and I have decided that the weather is absolutely perfect for playing outside. It has been in the 70s this week and just beautiful. I was surprised to see the blossoms on this pear tree we have out front. It seems to early to me, but I guess it is about that time.

I can't wait until both of our trees are in full bloom. It is my favorite time of the year.

Peyton found a stick to play with.

Peyton loves playing on the slide. Oh, notice his sweatshirt. It was actually really warm, but I think the transition to spring wear is difficult for him. He hates short sleeve shirts and tries to pull the sleeves down. When we were headed outside, he wanted to wear his winter coat and spider hat. I told him that it was warm outside and that he didn't need it. He didn't believe me, but would compromise on this sweatshirt instead.

This is one of Peyton's many faces. He is too funny!

Peyton would not look at the camera for the pictures, but did tell me "Momma, I play in dirt!" He is getting so big, so fast.

For whatever reason and from where he learned this I don't know, but Peyton pretends that everything is a gun. I really thought he would be too little for this concept, but he does it all the time with his chicken nuggets, pretzels, and anything else. I don't want him playing "guns", but I am not quite sure how to change this. I try not to bring to much attention to the behavior, hoping that if I don't make a big deal over it, he won't. Hmm...any ideas?

Blizzard 2009

So today, Craig had his first snow day! They closed down the bakery because of this huge snow storm that we had. Actually, there was quite a bit of rain yesterday that proceeded to freeze and then it snowed on top of it, so I guess it could have been bad to drive in, but it always cracks me up.

Craig and I were laughing because at his last job, the bakery never shut down. We lived in Colorado and had a huge snow storm where they actually said that the only cars allowed on the roads were emergency crews and if you were caught on the roads, they would ticket you. Well, Craig had to go to work along with all of his employees or they would be terminated, no exceptions. Then it turns out the the product they made all had to be thrown away because the trucks couldn't get in to pick it up to be distributed!

So, here are a few pictures of us enjoying the snow before it all melted away a few hours later.

Peyton loved sledding with Daddy and repeatedly said "Again Daddy, again!"

Getting ready to sled down with Craig. We have such an awesome sled hill in our backyard.

Get ready,

Get set, Go!

About half way down the hill they turned around backwards. It looks like in this picture they hit a tree and broke it, but they didn't...it was already like that.

I love taking pictures of Craig walking hand-in-hand with Peyton. So cute. I think they were both getting tired by now.

I even decided to get in on the action. Who says you can't go sledding 9 months pregnant! I did need a little assistance getting out of the sled!

After we went sledding, Peyton told us that he had a fun day. He is so cute and really enjoys all the little things.

Snow!!!!

It has finally snowed! First time this winter and really the first time that Peyton has been able to play in it. It snowed when he was 1 and we went sledding, but I don't think he really knew what we were playing in, so this was an exciting few minutes for us. As usual, the snow melted way to fast. (But really, we didn't have much to begin with).

Oh, a funny note, this huge snow storm cancelled school for the kids in town!

Peyton was so excited for the snow. We don't even have snowpants for him or boots, so lots of layers were what wored the best.

Peyton had to take his glove off to get the full effect of how cold the snow was.

He had fun picking up the snow and throwing it off the deck.

Craig showing him how to make a snowball.

Peyton didn't want to pose with me. I think he thought I was trying to get him so that we could go inside.

Outside!

It has been a little while since we have stepped outside to play. Peyton had a stomach bug for 5 days, and then it has been too cold, but finally today, it was warm enough that we headed outside. Peyton has been working on riding this bike with the pedals and actually can do pretty good, although I couldn't get a good picture of it. Pretty soon he will be riding it all over the place! This was a much needed time outside for both of us. Plus, I still had about 30 strands of Christmas lights in my bushes that needed put away. So, now at the end of January, Christmas is officially put away at our house! Whew!

Outside time!

Peyton loves to play outside. I have been so grateful for the beautiful weather that we have been having. It sure helps!

Mowing the lawn with Daddy

Peyton gets all excited when he hears a lawn mower outside. He always thinks that it is Daddy. Well, this time it was. Peyton loves to watch Craig mow the lawn and sometimes Craig even lets him help. I think it is really cute. They both had a nice time. Not too bad for a chore.





Peyton had fun grabbing the branches of our tree as they went under it!

I just love these boys!

The birds and the bees

I though it would be neat to get a humming bird feeder because I have seen a few stray humming birds around and I thought Peyton would like to watch them. I put it up under our porch in front of our living room window. Well, it wasn't long before the humming birds came. It was really neat. Peyton loves to sit outside and watch the birds fly up. I was amazed at how loud their little wings are. I am not sure I remember being so close to a humming bird. Well, as many of you probably know, that where there is nectar, there is also bees. The bees were attacking the poor birds for the nectar. Peyton is afraid of bees after being stung by a wasp recently. (We were blowing bubbles when a group of wasps came out. I guess they thought they were being attacked and really stung Peyton and I a lot.)

It was hard to get a good picture of the humming birds, but I think this one shows them. There are 2.

Peyton loves to draw with "colors" on our porch.

He also loves his slide.

I love having these things on my porch. We can go out and play even if it is raining.

Dogsitting

Our friends went out of town to a wedding over Labor day and they needed help with their dog while they were gone. They had a teenaged daughter that they left at home, but she was in school during the day, so they needed someone to let Maggie out during the day. Well, Peyton and I accepted the job. Peyton loved going over and playing with Maggie everyday. Maggie is such a gentle dog and really seems to like playing ball with Peyton. One day we even took a picnic of McDonalds over to eat while Maggie was exercising. Well, Peyton decided to give his fries to Maggie. (Her owners don't mind at all). Maggie was so gentle and didn't even come close to Peyton's fingers. Well, it didn't take Peyton long to figure out that if he gave Maggie a french fry then she would drop the ball she was carrying so that he could throw it. She likes to hold onto her favorite ball.

Here is Peyton being silly!

Peyton trying to get the ball from Maggie so he could throw it. She kept teasing Peyton by dropping it at his feet and then quickly grabbing it before he could.

Peyton and Maggie running around.

Peyton even took the time to water the plants. He loves to help.