Cuteness at Christmas

We had a wonderful day. Somehow, there are no pictures of the biggest hit--the Train Table. I'll get some soon. But there were plenty of others. Enjoy Grandma!

Brock's haul


Riley's goodies


It's a semi! Full of cars! Bliss.


Do you see the bow in his hand? He was way more interested in the bows and paper and bags than he was in the presents he got. The Guy had to throw out a big ole "I told you so." Punk.


Open it, Mama


This was right after he'd thrown whatever was in that box behind him.


Just because.


Brock in his new chair


Brock playing with Riley's toys because Riley spent 2 straight days playing with the train table.

Cookies!

Riley and I made cookies for Santa. He was a big helper. The Guy thought they came out too hard but I like a crispy cookie sometimes. And BeBe loved them...as did Santa I assume.







You know what would be really cool? If I had pictures of the actual cookies once they were baked. But I don't. And they're long gone. Sorry!

He's a trouble-maker

Brock can get into all kinds of trouble. He's really good at it. I'm pretty sure he's already crying over nothing just to get Riley in trouble, too. I fall for it every time.

The child has taken some incredible falls. He has permanent horns on his forehead from the bruisings it's taken.

And just in case anyone wants to call CPS on me--here's your proof:

This is a bit older so I have no idea what caused it. Possibly being pushed down by his brother.


He did this one himself. He just kinda slipped(while sitting!) and landed with his head on a little tractor. There was a nice hole for a while.



This is a new one and not nearly as bad as it was two days ago. He fell down the stairs and managed to bash his cheek on the way down. He barely cried! This kid is tough.



And my favorite didn't hurt his outside body. I'm not sure what it did to his insides other than to cause some super fun diapers for me! Here's the story: I knew Brock was somewhere in the kitchen/library area but it had gotten awfully quiet so I went to investigate. I found Brock and Denver(the fat dog) with a bag of the chocolate bark squares. I'm guessing Riley had snatched the bag off the island and took it to a corner chair in the library(that's his drop off spot to explore whatever he's swiped). And he left it there...to be found by Brock who promptly took one of those blocks and started gnawing on it. One block was covered in slobber and had gnaw marks all over it. There were 2 others that were soggy. I didn't think to take a moment and take a picture until most of the evidence was thrown away.

Here's the only evidence left that didn't get thrown away or licked up by Denver.


His face and hands were covered in chocolate. That's my boy!

BeBe and Brock

And the swarm around BeBe at Thanksgiving:

Takin' a ride

We had a gorgeous day a few weeks ago and managed to get both boys out for some fun in the backyard. The Guy took them for a fun ride in the Radio Flyer.







Cuteness!!!

Roast pork with sweet potatoes

Super yummy dinner.

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:

3-4 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/3C honey

1/4C orange juice

1/4C frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 tsps black pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar, packed

3 large sweet potatoes, quartered

Coat a large ovenproof Dutch oven with vegetable oil and place over medium-high heat. When very hot, add the pork roast.

Cook, turning, until all sides are browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the honey, orange juice, apple juice concentrate, pepper, and brown sugar. Spoon over the pork roast. Place the sweet potatoes around the pork.

Cover and bake for 2 hours. Pork should register about 150 ° on an instant read thermometer.

Let the pork stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

I usually just serve this with some rolls. Nothing else is really needed.

I'm a Mac

Ever since the pc crash of '09, I've needed a new computer. Every computer savvy person I spoke so said, "Get a Mac!" I was scared but I went with it and Josh gave it to me as an early Christmas present. I have been getting used to it for a few weeks now. There are some really cool things about it and some not so cool. But I'm back and I'm going to do better with the blogs. I know you've heard it before but my wireless is back up so I can work on blogs whenever and not just during nap time!

Here are some not so new pictures....

Making a mess together:

Brock and cookie monster. Have I ever told you he's a humper?
It's hilarious and disturbing all at the same time.

In bed with daddy.

The ZOO!!!!

We finally made the trek through scary ghetto ville to visit our local Zoo. I'm sure the area was just fine when they built the zoo, but it is not a place I like to drive through now. No wonder the zoo closes at 4.

We went with our favorite locals: Cindy and Thomas. Thomas has trains. I think Riley has managed to make it home with at no less than 6 trains from Thomas's house. Thank goodness Mama Cindy doesn't mind. If we drive anywhere near their house, all I hear is, "See Thomas Cindy?" Cute but a little annoying the 34th time.

We saw a giraffe.

There was a Mama giraffe and a Baby giraffe....so said Thomas.

Brock was just along for the ride and the snack cup.


They had this little playground area with huge eggs and a big tree you could stand in and a massive alligator you could pose on. Riley was elusive. I only got one picture.


Turtles!


This slide was an elephant trunk. Sooo neat.


We then took a train ride through the woods and around a lake. It was a huge hit with both boys.


It was really fun and Riley had a blast. We'll definitely be going back!

Letter from Grandma

It seems I've been remiss. The boys got an email today:

Dear Riley and Brock

Please play nicely and then eat a good lunch and then take a LONG NAP so that mommy can put your darling pictures and escapades on her blog

Needing a grandbaby fix

Hope you’re all healthy and happy

Love

grandma

So I figured I'd better get busy uploading pictures since both boys are down for a nap.

Our friend, Cindy, invited us to a trunk or treat at the local gymnastics gym. The boys had a blast!
Riley ran and jumped and frolicked all over. I can't wait to get him into a class!


And Brock just enjoyed walking around. He also really loved when I got on the trampoline and bounced with him in my arms. He's going to be my daredevil, for sure.


We went trick or treating around the neighborhood. My monkeys were so cute. Thank goodness it was cold, though. Riley balked at his costume every time I tried to get him in it. I managed to get the pants on him but he refused the jacket. But then he got cold and was willing to wear it. Hooray for fall being cool like it's supposed to be!




I leave Riley in the tub while I get Brock his bottle and I came back to a serious "choo choo" all over the bath.


I'll come back later with our trip to the zoo!

Good enough, Grandma?

Fall

It was a beautiful afternoon so we took the boys out to the backyard. Brock hung out on a blanket(he's walking, but not well enough for the backyard yet) while Riley played golf with Daddy.

Brock got a hold of one of Riley's golf clubs. They must be candy coated.






Check out Trouble, in repose, in the background.


I love this exchange I caught between Trouble and Denver.
Denver: OH OH OH Hey Trouble!
Trouble: Back off white hyper thing.


Denver: Wanna play a game? Are we playing a game? What is this game? It's so cool!
Trouble: Keep back. I'm watching you.


Denver: Can we do it again? That was fun! Let's do it again.
Trouble: I'm ready to move on now. I'd like to turn my back. Stay. STAY.


Denver: But....but.....
Trouble: Ahhh, such a pretty day.