Words from my 2 year olds mouth...

(During dinner at the table where Andrew has been chatting the entire meal)
Me (in very excited voice): Andrew! Tell daddy what you had for lunch today!
Andrew: Stop talking, Mom! I'm eating.

Well, ok - now that I write it and read it in print it looks downright rude. However, in real life it was SO stinking funny that both Marc and I immediately burst into laughter. Apprently he was enjoying my gourmet meal of hambergers, butter noodles and carrot sticks. Little stinker.

Anyway, today was a nice one. We had Bible Study this morning, came home for lunch/naps, and just worked around the house and hung out the rest of the day. I did make a large (and I mean large) batch of split pea soup and will probably be eating it until my fingernails turn green. Then tonight, we made a large batch of cookie dough (that turned out just fine, mom - thanks!). Of course - we had to bake off a small pan tonight before the boys went to bed and good tv started. I love The Office (sorry, mom). However, I went up at 10pm after Marc putting Andrew down at 8pm and the stinker was still awake. He was just in his diaper (his new thing - taking his shirt off to sleep for naps and at night) and was pushing everything off his bed. He just started giggling as soon as he saw me - which made me start giggling and well, not much discipline took place. But Marc went up not too long ago and he was out. Maybe he'll sleep in tomorrow morning.

Still not sure if we will get our Christmas decor up for this weekend or not. I guess if we do, we do and if not - oh well. But we would pretty much have to get it all up tomorrow. I have a church ladies thing Saturday afternoon that I need to take cookies to (hence all the cookie dough tonight) and my folks are coming up Saturday evening. So it's tomorrow or next week. We'll see.

Ok, I need to head to bed. If I don't post tomorrow (hopefully I'll be too busy putting up my Christmas tree) have a great weekend!

By the way - the exciting lunch referenced above was a lunchmeat turkey sandwich cut into a gingerbread man shape. (Andrew kept telling me he was eating the man's shirt when eating the bread - he eats his sandwiches one layer at a time).

Laundry and dishes and sweeping, oh my!

I really debated posting because I feel I have nothing even remotely worth reading to post about. For the last three days we've just been recovering from our Thanksgiving trip. Sunday, we literally slept off and on all day. I didn't even make it out of my pj's and into the shower until 5pm. However, I did make it to the store that night after the kids were in bed. One milk free day was enough torture for Andrew.

Yesterday and today has been cleaning, laundry, etc... All the things that you work on all day, then turn around, look at the house, and wonder what you did all day as it looks the same as when you got up. But I am really hoping to finish straightening the house and moving things around so that later this week we can maybe get our Christmas tree and all the other fixin's up. I am really looking forward to that. Especially with Andrew one year older and that much more aware and excitable. (NOT that he needs anything to excite him - he lives in a constant state of excitement).

So I will leave you with some pictures of an excited boy. But not Andrew. No, this is AJ experiencing pumpkin pie for the first time thanks to Papa.

New Car Seat

Well, after FINALLY learning the hard way that are our oldest son gets car sick (this is after 2 bouts of nastiness on the way over to Iowa), we broke down and bought a new car seat for Andrew. We hate his current seat anyway as we think is defective as it is SO stinking hard to get tight and well, frankly, it's been puked in more times that I would like to count. Since, we will have another child that will have to use the seat after Andrew, we decided it was time (plus I had a 15% off coupon). So here's hoping that it's a good one and that we can keep it 'clean' all the way home to Michigan.

Say Cheese! Or Gobble Gobble Gobble.

Our annual Dykstra Thanksgiving family picture.

Each year we have to write down what we are thankful for. This year, Dad drew Tom Turkey for us to stick our 'thankful' feathers to.

Andrew's feather is the scribbled yellow one in the middle. He wanted me to write for him: dad and mom, Diago, running, bicycle and swimming (of course he was riding Grandpa's tricycle earlier and went swimming the day before). Then he colored it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's Say Thanks...

This website gives you an opportunity to send a free printed postcard to US military personnel stationed overseas showing your support and appreciation for their service to our country. Check it out.

Hey! What are these on the side of my head?!

I remembered this weekend that AJ was due a second flu shot and third rotovirus vaccine. I wanted to get these in before we left for Thanksgiving since traveling and being around a lot of people would make him more susceptable to bugs. I took him in yesterday for a routine in-and-out visit and decided on a hunch (thank you God) to have a doctor check his ears while there. Sure enough, my happy boy snuck in an ear infection when we weren't looking. I would have never taken him in if not for the vaccines since he really wasn't showing any signs of trouble. He did play with his ear a bit for a last couple days but I thought maybe he just 'discovered' he had two soft little flaps on the side of his head.

Anyway, the doc said it was minor, but we got meds anyway. If we were going to be home, I might be tempted to see if it cleared up on it's own before giving the antibiotic since he really seems to be feeling fine. But with us traveling in the car a total of 16 (or more) in the next 4 days, I am going to go ahead and push the meds. First real illness in 7 1/2 months and he's not really crabby? I guess I can't complain.

I Love it When...

....we are walking out of Chili's after paying for our dinner, and I realize that my gift card for Chili's is still in my back pocket.

Mission to my Readers should you choose to accept.

Well, it's the second week of shapes and we are learning about diamonds. So once again, we baked off some diamond cookies.



But I am afraid I have started something I can't finish, unless I get some great ideas from my readers. I went and looked ahead at the future shapes and got a little scared. Check out these shapes that I need to cut out of cookie dough.

Week 1 - Square - Already done by freehand
Week 3 - Diamond - Already done by freehand
Week 5 - Octagon - YIKES!
Week 7 - Star
Week 9 - Circle - Will find a can to use
Week 11 - Crescent
Week 13 - Rectangle - Will be able to do freehand
Week 15 - Oval
Week 17 - Heart - Actually have a heart cookie cutter
Week 19 - Triangle - Will be able to do freehand
Week 21 - Pentagon
Week 23 - Hexagon
Week 25 – Parallelogram

So I need brilliant idea on how I am going to manage these shapes. I know I can count on you!

AJ Squared Away

Daddy went to the store... alone.

And because of that, we are now the proud owners of one Spiderman play tent.

Shooting Poo

Don't cringe - it's not as bad as you think.

Someone recently showed Andrew that Crayola markers can be stuck together end to end to make a ‘marker tower’. He has absolutely no interest in coloring anymore now that he can build these weak structures. Today in fact, he was pretending to ‘shoot’ me without him understanding what shooting or even guns are (must be an innate boy thing). For his sound effect during the shootings he would say “poo poo”. Then in all seriousness he broke the tower in half, gave one half to me and said, “Poo with me, mom.” He repeatedly would ask to me to follow him around the house ‘pooing’. “Come poo in the kitchen, mom.” “Poo over baby AJ’s bouncer, mom”. It was hilarious!

Side note: As I write this, Andrew is talking back to Diego as if he were truly in the room.

Uh Wema Whop, Uh Wema Whop

Thank you for the prayers - AJ had a decent night last night. He was still up three times, but was only up and fed once during the night and then again at 6 this morning (then he fell back asleep until 8:30). There is still room for improvement, but it's a step in the right direction. Today has been busy. I was so out of it yesterday from the lack of sleep that not much more than absolutely necessary was accomplished. So I am making up for it now. I've been busy working on the house and Andrew's lessons. Below is Andrew art he made today. Our theme had been jungle, so he took green paper and glue and 'hid' the lion in the jungle.

We hit the library this morning also after AJ's first nap. Andrew got to play with the train set all by himself - which was exciting since usually there are other 'friends' with whom he has to share. We picked up a few books on kittens (next theme) and came home for lunch of leftovers tacos from dinner last night. Now both boys are in bed and the dishes are done. I need to tackle the rest of the this floor before my crew wakes up.

I'll leave you with a picture of Andrew is daddy's work gear (for when Marc makes calls to the Kelloggs plant). The white 'net' around Andrew's neck is supposed to be a beard guard, but would not stay up on my clean shaven boy. Hopefully it will leave you with a smile.

...is the "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" song in your head now?

You see the problem.

You need the coffee early in the morning, and yet you have to make the coffee early in the morning. People should not be required to make coffee until they have some coffee.
-Jon Carroll

All I want for Christmas is... Sleep!

Well, last night was another rough night. The current sleeping arrangment in our home is Andrew is either in our bed and one of us parents is downstairs on the futon (last two nights was my turn). Although we are thinking about setting up Andrew on the floor in our room so we can both sleep in our bed. Why? Because our stinker of son, AJ, does not sleep well and we are/will be working on it. That means we will not be catering to him as in the past (so that he wouldn't wake up Andrew). This will not make him happy, but hopefully it will be short term. I pray he learns quickly that he does not need to be picked up and fed every two or three hours. And hopefully soon, Andrew can move back into his own bed. (although he is l.o.v.i.n.g. sleeping in mom and dad's bed.

Well, today was a big day for Marc. He got his new car. A Nissan Maxima. We did a little family drive tonight to test it out. I will have to post a picture when it is daylight out. He is very excited and I must admit, it is a nice car. If only there weren't those payments that went along with it. (he gets a car allowance - that's the only way it would be feasible).

Today was the cutest thing. For the first time really...Andrew and AJ were somewhat playing with each other. Well, AJ was in the bouncer, but Andrew was racing his cars for him and Andrew was laughing hysterically (over what I have no idea) and AJ was loving every minute of it. It was so priceless I had to just stop and watch. It gave me a glimpse of what's to come.

Well, it's Monday night and that means that Marc is gone to watch Monday night football and I get the remote (and I get to pay bills). The boys are in bed - here's hoping for a good night.

Have a great week.

Happy Veteren's Day, Dad.

My father is on the left.

I'm so proud.

I'm 82... I mean 28.

Forewarning – again, very tired and thoughts may be random.

What a day. We had to take our car in to get fixed today. It had a $566 owie – to my bank account. But while it was being worked on, we went to our friends’ house to hang out. It was really nice to see them, but the car was only supposed to take 2 maybe three hours. Ideally, we were supposed to be home in time for a late lunch and nap. 5.5 hours and no naps later, we get home around 4:30. The kids finally crashed in the short car ride home and I am spent. Completely spent. We were supposed to run errands (much needed errands) after we got home… but that just wasn’t happening. So tonight, with our cranky boys we did a whole lot of nothing. We ordered pizza since I wasn’t home to pull anything together and it pouring and thundering out. But the storm is kind of nice to listen to. I will be heading to bed early squirrelly tonight (it was another rough night last night).

Man, do I sound old?! Going to bed early on a Friday night. And I am still in my 20’s! Barely – but I am!

Ok, have a great weekend.

Please can I vacuum? Please?

We’ve really struggles getting AJ to eat solid foods. He seems to take on the attitude of, “why are you subjecting me to this?” During dinner tonight, after Andrew got a timeout for not trying his mandarin oranges, he was back at the table (he did eventually take 2 bites). Marc was trying to encourage AJ to open up to feed him some sweet potatoes, when Andrew helpfully suggested that he thought AJ also needed a time out.

Marc did finally get AJ to eat some potatoes much better than he ever eats for me. Then Marc gave him just a bit of the juice out of his bowl of mandarin oranges. For the first time… AJ voluntarily opened his mouth. In fact, he could hardly wait between ‘bites’. I have never seen him excited in his high chair. I know orange juice probably isn’t the best option for him at this time, but we may start alternating bites with a little juice, just so we can get him to eat. It really was cute.

Ok, I feel like I haven’t really posted in quiet a while. And I am not sure that now is the proper time, since I am really tired and will probably be very scattered in my thought process – bear with me.

Today was beautiful outside and unfortunately we really didn’t get to enjoy it all that much. We had Bible Study this morning, which again was amazing. Truly amazing. But it means that by the time we home from it, I have two hungry, tired boys. So I am usually scrambling to pull a quick lunch together (usually one handed since I am holding a fussy infant) and get the boys down for their nap. Well, today – the beautiful warm day of all days – is when they both take incredibly long naps. Not that I am complaining… I am all for long naps. But by the time we got up and out to the playground – we only had about 30-45 minutes to play before it got dark (darn daylight savings time). By the way – we got AJ on a baby swing and he LOVED it. Squealed and laughed the whole time. I SO wish I had my camera! Anyway, it’s been a good day today and of course The Office was on tonight which is always fun.

Tomorrow we are getting our car worked on, so we will be heading over to a friends house for a couple hours while we are carless. I don’t think we have much planned the rest of the weekend – other than Marc gets his new car, which he is totally geeked about.

Other than that, this week was nice. It was a normal week filled with lessons and grocery shopping and naps (none for me), etc… Please pray for sleep at our home. AJ has been getting up s.e.v.e.r.a.l. times a night for that past week and due the boys sharing a room, sleep has been lacking all around. And it’s taking a toll on all our moods, interactions and temperament, etc…

To end on a good note: We have a really nice but very heavy vacuum. Now that we are home and eating more at home (and eventually having another child who will be self feeding), I need to vacuum several times a day. Rather than pull out the big guns each and every time, I got this nice little cheap vacuum that is perfect for quick after meal/snack clean up. And I found out today that I have a little helper who LOVES to use it and actually gets upset when I tell him cleanup time is over.

Never would I have thought...

...that I would have gotten so involved in local politics. (We even have a sign in our yard). But I can say, that I am actually truly bummed that the gubernatorial race didn't end the way I would have hoped.

Bummer

Well, apparently, not everyone (maybe no one) can see the video below even though it shows up just fine for me. So, for those of you who can not see the video, here is the link to see it. (By the way, you need sound to fully appreciate the clip).

Please do me a favor. Please post a comment on this post or the previous one and let me know if you could or could not see it. That way I know whether or not I should post video clips directly anymore. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this clip as much as I did.

If this doesn't make you at least smile, nothing will.

Other side of the coin...

Ok, I received a comment on a recent post calling me the best stay at home mom ever. And while I truly appreciate the compliment (thank you, it really made me smile), it just isn't true. I do have my shining moments. But then... there are moments like today. When our house is a sty since yesterday was craziness and both Marc and I weren't feeling well. So, both boys have been plopped in front of the tube this morning, while I try to dig out a bit. Nice.

This calls for cake.

Today is my 2nd Blogiversary. For two years now, I've kept up this online journal. Who'da thunk it. But it's been nice. Especially now that AJ is about as old as Andrew was when I started this blog. I've been catching myself going back and seeing what Andrew was doing at AJ's age, what he looked like, etc... Even last year when I had my first blogiversary, I never knew we'd make it to see year two. But here we are. It's also a big day for other reasons. Today, AJ turns 7 months old and my Compassion girl, Yesbel, turns 12. With a day like this, we just may need a cake today.

Marvelous!

How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song shall ever be
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Savior's love for me.

Breakfast this morning and a few more pictures

Is he spoiled or what?!

I mean - how many kids do you know that get Mickey Mouse pancakes?!

(notice I forgot to reverse AJ's name)

We made these cookies this week on the day we learned about squares. Can you tell which ones Andrew decorated?
(Thanks for the recipes, Grandma D.)

Andrew with his completed Learning Poster for his first week of lessons.

Double click on the picture above and you should be able to read it better.

I like my water hot.

The boys are down for their afternoon nap. It looks blizzardy outside. I have plenty I could be doing, but instead I am going to make some hot chocolate (I made a huge batch of mix earlier this week from an awesome recipe!) and post on my blog.

Andrew had a nice time trick or treating. We didn’t hit that many houses since it was SO cold out. But he got enough candy to keep him (and mom and dad) sugared up. Yesterday, we had a nice day of running errands and learning about the letter A with a corresponding Bible verse (Romans 3:23). That is until I walked downstairs to find water in our basement. Lovely. Looks like our water heater is shot. I am currently waiting for the tech to come out to either repair or (more likely) replace the heater. Until then, we have no hot water. So we are dirty family right now. And we have dishes piled in the kitchen. Hot water is definitely something we take for granted, especially when lack of it forces me to wear a ball cap to Bible Study this morning to conceal my greasy hair.

This morning was, as I mentioned, Bible Study. Again, it was incredible. There is so much more to the book of Daniel than meets the eye. Now we are just waiting for the tech and if he is finished before too late, I would like to hit the library quick, but that can wait until tomorrow, too. And today we are learning about the number 1.

Since I don’t have much to post. Here are few pictures I’ve been meaning to share.

This AJ in his new bouncer. He LOVES it! Loves it!!

He helped me licked the brownie batter.

Superman (check out these pictures - note the date) with his cousin, Mr. Incredible.