Happy Father's Day

It's unfortunate that Trent had to work all day on Father's Day.  We did however manage to have a little celebration anyway.  I made him his favorite dinner (chicken cordon bleu).  And we were lucky enough to have the amazing company of some wonderful friends.

This day makes me very thankful for a lot of fathers.  First and foremost is my own father.  I have the most wonderful dad.  I am proud to say that at 29 I am still as close and as much a daddy's girl as I was when I was little.  I think about all the times I went on the road with my dad to make farm calls, or the countless times he made me animal shaped pancakes, or the times we went fishing, golfing, camping, or on wonderful vacations.  I think one of the most memorable things was when he drove 8 hours to surprise me at a volleyball game.  Most of all I am so lucky that no matter what, he is always there to support and love me.  I know that I can count on him no matter what!!!  I love you so much Dad!!

It is probably not hard to believe that my dad is an amazing grandpa also.  In fact I am so thankful that my son has two wonderful Grandpas...well a wonderful Grandpa and an amazing Papa.  He is such a Grandpa and Papa's boy.  He love to play and watch golf with them both.  I know he will spend many years making wonderful memories with these two amazing men just as I did growing up.

I am most thankful for my wonderful boyfriend and Leyton's incredible father!!!  I have been blessed with an amazing man who loves me and is there to support me through even the toughest of times.  He is the most excellent father to our son!!  He spends time with him playing, at the park, or watching 4x4 shows...LOL.  I know that Leyton will grow up feeling the same security that comes from a dad he can count on.  I am so happy that I have this great little family.  I am so blessed and thankful today and always!! 

Last but not least I am so very thankful for the amazing men and fathers in my friends lives.  I am so thankful that the women in my life that I care so much for have men in their lives that care just as much for them as I do.  These men are there to support and love them and the wonderful little boys that I also love so much!!  We are all very wonderfully blessed with amazing men in our lives!!!

Daddy and Leyton at the Park

Bowling with Papa

Grandpa showing Leyton a bunny.

My favorite men.

Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers I know!!!

Chasing Chickens!!!

Chasing Chickens, this is a new phrase I have been coming to know well.  It has a few different meanings in my life right now as I am sure most mothers can relate to.  I didn't know that one little phrase could have more than one literal meaning but am finding that to me false.

This phrase entered my world with my sweet 2 year old saying " Mommy I chase the chickens" and he had been.  Trent and my cousin John had taken him out on the farm to see the animals. They had let him literally chase the chickens.  Now with the video that I saw later I felt so sorry for these poor chickens.  My sweet boy turned into a tornado chasing the chickens through the yard.  I couldn't stop laughing while watching the video.  I have to say chickens are pretty fast because no matter how fast he ran he never did catch one.

Now while driving home from vacation I started to realize that my life is somewhat similar to the chicken chase my son had been on.  I spend most of my days chasing around with one thing or another.  Whether it be errands to run, work to deal with, or my 2 year old to literally chase.  It seems that I have become that tornado.  And no matter how fast I go I can never seem to catch the chicken.  I sat there laughing at myself and again my 2 year old says "Why you laugh Mommy" and that made me laugh even more.

So for a bit of a chicken chase story I will tell you of our wonderful family vacation.  We drove to North and South Dakota from Washington...yes drove.  This is an 18 hour drive and I was really scared that Trent may have to stop about half way and admit me to a psychiatric hospital.  To my great surprise the trip out was amazing!!!  Leyton did so well I couldn't believe it, he is such a trooper.  Just watched DVD's and hung out.

Play Doh a favorite pass time.

We spent our first few days with Grandpa Howard and Grandma Ginger in North Dakota.  A lot of time spent at the local community center which has an amazing pool area.  We also got to see Auntie Becky and Auntie Sarah and Uncle Jesse.  It was so great to see everyone and just hang around and enjoy being together.  Leyton also did a lot of running in their back yard which he loved!!!

While we were there I received the news that my two best friends had had their babies.  Krissy had a beautiful little boy Brecken Paul early in the morning.  Then, Tiffany also had a handsome little boy Kessler Reed.  Now the odd part about this is that my two best friends had 2 baby boys on the same day and both boys were within 3oz. and 1/2 in. of being the same size.  The fact that Brecken decided to start his arrival into this world on his actual due date and that Kessler arrived 2 weeks early is what made it so much more crazy.  Congrats to the O'Hare and Bentcik families Auntie loves you both so much all ready!!!

Mr. John Deere

First 4 wheeler ride with Daddy...he didn't like it so much :(

Loving jumping with Auntie Jenny, Max and Emmy.

This was so sweet...I love these kids!!

Cousins.

Rock Hunting...need I say more.

Then we got back in the car for another 5 hour trip down to South Dakota to the farm.  We spent 2 days with Auntie Jenny, Uncle Tom, Emmy and Max.  Leyton got his first ride on a 4 wheeler and his first experience on a huge trampoline.  He had such a great time running and jumping around with his cousins.  We also spent an afternoon rock hunting which as anyone who has a little boy knows he loved!!!

Walking the plank with Grandpa Howard and Grandma Ginger at Storybook Island.

We also got to spend a morning at the Handcock farm.  This has been in the family for years and I spent a lot of time there while I grew up.  It is so great to have my son now experience all the things I loved so much at the farm. This is the place  of the infamous chicken chase. We also got to meet the newest addition to the Handcock family Portia.  She is 6 weeks old and a beautiful little girl. 

Bottle feeding the lambs.

These baby chicks were so cute!

Then back into the car to head to Rapid City (1 1/2 hour drive) to see Great Grandma & Grandpa Handcock.  We spent some time in the pool again.  Also a good amount of time playing at the play ground.  The highlights of Rapid City were going to Storybook Island which is a park with little play areas made from any kids book you can think of and Old MacDonalds Farm to see the animals.  My animal lover son really enjoyed that.  It's a giant petting zoo basically with any farm animal you can think of.  Oh and they also had pig races and the winning pig got cherry koolaid...LOL!!

After 9 days it was time to pack up and head back to Washington.  We made an unscheduled stop in Montana to see one Tiffany, her boyfriend Joey and baby boy Kessler.  He told me that he didn't want to miss seeing his Auntie that's why he came early...LOL.   He is such a sweet and cute baby.  You forget how tiny they are when they are first born.

Highlight of the horseback ride was when it pooped...LOL!!

After 11 hours on the road, 2 1/2 of which were spent at the top of Look Out Pass stuck behind an accident.  This was not the highlight of my trip as Leyton kept yelling at me "Mommy I have to go potty", he would not listen when I said to go in his diaper.  And the unthinkable also happened the DVD player died.  So after clearing the accident, stopping for a potty break, and buying a new DVD player we finally made it home.

It was a fun and amazing trip but in the end I still feel like I am chasing a chicken I can't catch...but at least if I am going to be chasing it's for a fun reason.

Pawsatively Perfect Puppy Party!!!

So as much as I wanted to deny that my baby boy was turning 2, I was very excited to celebrate his big day also.  I knew that he would have fun this year with cake and his friends.  I also knew that most of the work that I put into his party wouldn't be appreciated by him now but I hope that when I tell him of it in the future he thinks he has the best mommy ever. 

After doing some convincing with daddy and getting Leyton a new puppy (CJ) I decided that it was only fitting that we should have a puppy party for him.  So my plan was to take a picture of CJ & Leyton with matching birthday hats that I made for them.  This turned into a fiasco!!!  Leyton would not have any part of this process so it turned out to be just CJ with a birthday hat and big bow for our invitation. 

The invite in postcard form.

I was very lucky to find a lot of my treasures for the party at the dollar store and I also made a lot of things as well.  I found dog dishes that I used for all of the food and also in place of plates for the kiddos.  Brown paper with dog prints on it was our table cloths and of course we had to send everyone home with doggie bags (made from brown lunch sacks I put paw prints on with a stamp).  These were filled with all dog type treats (ie. frisbee, ball, whistle, and scooby snacks). 

This cake was so cute Dom is AMAZING!!!

I made a happy birthday banner for him and we got lots of balloons and streamers.  We went a little crazy with desserts.  I made a dog dish cake for Leyton to enjoy and cake pops for all the kids.  These turned out to be very easy to do and very tasty too.  Then thanks to the amazing talent of my friend Dominique we had a 3D dog house cake for everyone else to enjoy. 

We spent the day having goodies, doing a pull string pinata, playing pin the nose on CJ (a photo I had blown up not the real dog), and crawling in and out of card board dog houses I had made for the kiddos to play in.  All in all I think everyone had a ton of fun!! 

cardboard dog houses

Pin the nose on CJ.

Pull string pinata, much safer than traditional pinata with mostly under 6 year olds.

Make a Wish!!!

In the end I think the highlight of Leyton's day was not much to do with any of the work I put in but the sun that came out so that he could go play in the yard.  I love the fact that the simple things make kids so happy.  I will try to remember this as I starting thinking about planning his next birthday party.  But let be real who's kidding who here I love to plan parties even if it is to be upstaged by mother nature in the end.  Anyone have any good ideas for a 3rd birthday theme...LOL!!