Today, We Vote

I posted about 3 months ago about voting. It is ALWAYS important to vote, whether it is the primaries or the actual election. I strive to teach Haydn by my personal example. Children are influenced the most by their parents, and that is why I find it so important to be a good example in all possible ways (good citizen, good Christian, good parent/spouse/etc, good habits, etc). I am so glad that I have been able to take Haydn with me when I vote, so he can see that I take pride in my country and that I really do care about what direction it is going.
Today at our polling location, Kurt Bahr (running for State Representative) was there. It was kind of cool getting to see a candidate in person. Haydn loves stickers and was talking about his "I Voted" sticker all the way out the door. Kurt heard him and asked if he wanted another one. Haydn was excited about getting another sticker, and actually LET Kurt put the sticker on his shirt. Haydn doesn't even let the lady in Wal-mart or the cashier at Target put the sticker on him.

Train Tracks, Bridges, and Tunnels

You obviously know how much Haydn loves trains and train tracks. Recently my best friend and I have been going on walks on some trails through the park system around here. (We found that several parks hook up via paved trails, perfect for walking with children.) The trails go across rivers/creeks/water drainage areas, so the trails have bridges, or as Haydn calls them 'bridgeys'. It's pretty neat because we can get to so many different parks and avoid having to cross roads (in most cases). Anyhow, today we parked at one park and walked back to a park we've been to before and back. (Make sense? haha) There is huge tunnel that goes under the stairs at the park. Haydn loved it and I was able to snag this picture!

It's not very clear, but I think that adds to the 'artsy' part of it. He's very good at 'posing' and always looks like he is in the moment. Love it! I have such a cute little boy. (Unbiased comment there of course!)

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Haydn

We have had a few cooking catastrophes. One is from these little personal pizzas using Pillsbury biscuits (or the like) and flattening them to be the crust of the pizza. We then add all our favorite pizza toppings to them. They're quite fun and easy to make. It is one of Adam's favorite dinners to make. He went to open a can of biscuits and it popped really loud and scared us all. He went to open a second can and it exploded all over our kitchen and dining room. As you can see, there are no salvageable biscuits left. It was very annoying at the time, but funny now that we think back about it. Adam called Pillsbury and complained about it too. He said his hand hurt where the first can hit.  We thought we found all the biscuits and parts and kept finding pieces days later on the walls, behind doors and on the cabinets.

Haydn has been helping a lot in the kitchen lately. I mentioned this before, but his interest in the kitchen started when we first watched Cake Boss. He loves to help stir and pour the ingredients into the bowl or pan. I have enjoyed his help too. He likes to eat the final product and is excited to see how all the ingredients turn into so many different yummy things. I need to get him his own apron too. He always wants to wear mine. Obviously you can see that mine is too big for him. Maybe he'll be a chef someday! 

Today I was in the mood to bake and make things...while just about everyone I know is announcing their pregnancies, I'll just bake cakes and pies. This is the first pie (other than pumpkin) that I have made. I tried to do a lattice crust, but didn't turn out so well. I think I needed to do a little more planning for it. In the food world, odd numbers are magic numbers, as you can tell, I didn't quite use odd numbers. Yes, some of the crust is burnt so next time I will cover it with aluminum foil to protect the crust from 'browning' too fast. We are also making homemade bread today to go with our homemade chicken noodle soup. I love the fall because you don't look or sound so crazy baking and making soups. Happy First Day of Fall Everyone!

We're going to enjoy this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Cellphones Vs. Scriptures

I saw this on the internet today...just thought I'd share. Something to think about!

THE CELLPHONE VS THE SCRIPTURES

I wonder what would happen if we treated our scriptures like we treat our cell phones? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to other kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled? What if we used it in case of an emergency?
This is something to make you go...."Hmmm..Dude.. where is my scriptures?"

Unlike our cell phones:
One Plan does fit all.
Unlimited usage. No roaming charges.
You always have reception.
You can use it in the mountains and in a tunnel.
It's free with no hidden costs,
AND you don't ever have to worry your scriptures being disconnected because CHRIST has already paid the bill!

Future Photographer

I wish I had a picture of this, but I couldn't. Haydn had found my camera, put the strap behind his neck and came up to me and said "Mommy, take picture". He was holding the camera up, ready to take a picture. I asked him if he wanted to be a photographer and he said Yes. Just another example of how much Haydn mimics me and takes in all that we do.

Train Rides and Horses

Haydn outside the Train museum in Jefferson City. I LOVE this picture or him.

Jonathan and Haydn inside the same train museum.

Waiting for the train to come pick us up.

Having fun looking out the window and playing between seats.

Haydn's BIG step off the train. Glad to see Daddy here too!

The Roe family after our train ride. We wished Daddy could have joined us!

Last Friday my MIL came and picked up Haydn and me to go back down to her house. We stayed the night and the next morning we rode the train to Kirkwood. We had a lovely picnic close to the train station and then went on to the Magic House. The train ride was definitely worth it and I know Haydn had fun. This morning he came into my room and was playing around. We heard a train blow it's horn. Haydn looked at me quickly and asked "What that?" to which I replied, "I don't know, do you?" He yells "a TRAIN!" I then asked him about our train ride from Saturday and asked him if the train blew it's horn as it was coming up to a road and he said "no, passing road." A few moments later he says "Choo-choo" and I asked him what it was. He said "Nother train!" He loves his trains!

Adam had to run up to Hannibal for a 30 second visit to one of his sites for work. I thought it'd be fun for Haydn and I to tag along, since it is kind of a long drive and he was only going to be doing something for 30 seconds...literally, that short. So we went into Hannibal and walked around the Historic District. While we were there, a horse was pulling a trolley. The driver stopped and offered Haydn to feed the horse an apple and told him his name. Haydn LOVED feeding Barney, the horse, and pointed him out every time we saw him. We also walked down to the river. We saw a barge and a few boats. Walking to the river, we had to cross a couple train tracks too. Haydn thought it was cool to get to STAND on the train tracks.

Early Morning Running

I have fallen in love with running. I love the way I feel when I'm finished, love the way I can enjoy a dessert and not feel guilty, and love the compliments I get from people as I get in better shape. I try to go running four days a week. I go with a couple friends in the mornings before our families get up. The problem with this setup is 3 families and 3 different schedules. We try to plan our runs to work where all three of us can be there and accommodate one if a day doesn't work. Unfortunately Adam found out he could go work with his brother-in-law this weekend too late for us to make those accommodations for me. All is well, I just made Haydn get up early with me this morning and took him on the run with me. He was quite the trooper. It was a little bit chilly (really chilly compared to lately) this morning. I believe it was somewhere close to 20 degrees cooler than what it has been. He sat quietly in his stroller and ate some dry cereal. I can't tell you how happy I was that he was so well behaved. It's moments like this that make me feel like I am doing SOMETHING right as a mother. =)

The Many Sides of Haydn: Sleeping

Haydn has been falling asleep every where lately. I have been able to catch quite a few wonderful 'poses'. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Haydn falling asleep watching 'Letters' in my bed one night when Adam was out of town.

He couldn't stay awake through the afternoon and fell asleep like this watching G Force. Apparently that movie wasn't very interesting, as Haydn will stay awake to watch any new movie from start to finish.

All tuckered out after a day at the Splash Park. Yes, he really did fall asleep like that. I don't normally let him ride in the car without a shirt on, I think it's a little trashy. There was no way I could get a shirt on him after making him leave the splash park. He would have been happy to be there all day.

Lately Haydn has been waking up really early in the morning and climbing into bed with Adam and me. He usually falls back to sleep and will sleep for a couple more hours. This is how I found Haydn after I got back from a morning run. Notice how Haydn has the majority of the bed and MUST share a pillow with someone?

I Voted, Did you?

This morning Adam and I went and voted. Since Haydn has been born, we have always taken him with us. Eventually we will need to stop taking him, but it's a great way to show him our American duty of voting. I asked Haydn today while I was voting if he was going to vote when he got older. He answered with a firm "Yes." He has seen us vote and knows that it is something we should do. I hope we have set a good example for Haydn to vote when he is old enough. I remember once hearing that you only have the right to complain about government when you have voted. I have been a critic about several things that have happened and I'm sure I'm not about to stop. So, here is my passport to critic-ville. Go vote!

Firecracker Run

Most everyone knows that I ran in the annual O'Fallon Firecracker Run. This is my second year of running it (only my 2nd 5K to run ever). I had an awesome running buddy. When I wanted to quit, she kept me going; and if I did quit, she didn't put me down. We had our struggles through training since we started running at the end of March. The weather was always fun to plan around. We ran in the pouring rain, strong wind, and there was only one thing that would keep us from running...lightning. The longer timed segments of our run seemed so much harder since they were perfectly planned when the temperatures went up along with the humidity. We also learned that we are morning runners. Anything after 8am is too late (There was a day we tried to run in the afternoon and we both almost threw up)! Since time was an issue, we had to plan out every week and make sure we could run before school during the school year and before the children woke up. After school was out, we tried to run before the blistering heat. Perfect conditions would be somewhere in the 60s - 70s with low humidity if anyone cares. =)

The beginning of the race.

Near the end of the race.

Me finishing the race.

My running buddy, Laura, and me after the race.

Our first goal was to complete the race running (no walking allowed). The other goal was to finish under 32 minutes and we DID!!! We plan to keep running and hopefully improve times. It has been so fun to do something good for myself and to enjoy some adult/no child interrupted time.

Thanks to Laura for being such an awesome running partner! Thanks for keeping me motivated when I was ready to quit and making sure I got all my runs in. Hopefully we'll have many more races we can do together.

Cake Boss

We have enjoyed many shows via Netflix. One of those being Cake Boss. It's a silly reality show about a guy who makes and decorates beautiful cakes. I must admit, I would LOVE to try some cake and eat the modeling chocolate. =) Haydn enjoys watching this with us and it is clean enough for him. He has proven that he is picking up on all things we do, say, and see. Since watching the show, Haydn has shown interest in helping in the kitchen. He's always enjoyed helping load or empty the dishwasher. Like everyone else when working in the food industry, he started out a dishwasher. Now he likes to crack the eggs, shake seasonings into sauces and stir. It's a little frustrating sometimes, there are days when I just don't feel like cleaning up any extra messes. However, I try not to discourage his interest in cooking/baking and helping in the kitchen. (I think it's great when a guy knows how to cook!) Haydn has asked a number of times for me to make some cookies. I said I would make them and then every single day, something would come up to keep me from making them. Last night Haydn pulled out a cookie sheet and handed it to me. I asked him what he wanted me to put on the pan and he said "Oh NO! No cookies! Mommy, cookies please." How can you say no to that? Then he gets into a drawer and pulls out the cookie scoop. He proceeded to hand it to me and said "Here Mommy. Cookies!" So, I made cookies. Haydn did help stir the dough though!

So much Catching Up to Do

I have not been too busy lately, but I just don't seem to have the time to blog lately. It doesn't help that every time I try to get on the computer to do something, Haydn wants his turn on the computer. Since Haydn doesn't take naps anymore (every now and again he does) I can't use that time either. We have done quite a bit, accomplished goals, enjoyed fun days at parks and pools, and even just staying home. I have plenty to post about, if I can I will get as much done as possible. Stick with me, I'm still here and still filling you in on the happenings of the Roe family!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers today. Most importantly to me, Happy Father's Day: Adam, Dad, and Roy. I'm so thankful for these fathers for so many reasons.

We enjoyed a barbecue at some good friends' home tonight. It's always fun getting to spend time with friends. As seems to be the tradition with Haydn, he got injured in a not so serious but kind of serious way at their house. He was playing around with their kids and one of them bumped heads with Haydn. Haydn actually smashed his teeth into the other boy. He has knocked his front two top teeth loose. He knocked one of them loose before. It bled, but not too much. I wished it had gushed because now his gums are bruised. We'll continue to watch for swelling. I'll probably call the doctor tomorrow anyway. I really hope he doesn't lose a tooth over this. I don't know how well I will be able to handle him without a tooth for a couple years. If I can get pictures, I'll add them to this post. What is it people say... Oh yea, Boys will be Boys!

Dora the Explorer

Haydn has really enjoyed Dora the Explorer lately. I'm not sure why he likes her so much, but I know it is definitely influenced by his best friends, Ashley and Alyssa. One of the malls around here had Dora there and I thought it would be fun for Haydn to get to see a "Life sized" Dora (and I missed taking him to see Curious George at our library). That was a BIG mistake.
First of all, I do not enjoy long lines...I guess I like to be VIP and cannot stand to wait in a line.
Second, when a character is coming to VISIT the mall for just a few hours, do not show up late if you plan to go. At 11:15 (15 minutes after Dora was scheduled to show up), the line was already winding down one of the longest wings of the mall.
Third, if there is another activity planned with the character visiting, expect the location to be that much more crowded.
Forth, know what the character is going to look like. I was expecting someone dressed up in a Dora Costume...the big head and all. Not some girl in miss matched clothes, a purple back pack and a horrible wig.
Haydn and I walked by the Dora and he didn't even recognize her. So, we didn't wait in line to visit Dora. On a side note, I think Haydn would have really liked Dora's Side kick, Boots, if he were there.

T is for Tiger....ROAR!

Haydn has been playing a computer game lately with the letters and their sounds. I have been quite amazed at his hand eye coordination and ability to play the game by himself. He has his favorite letters (Q being his absolute favorite) and graphics that go along with them. Anyhow, the other day he pulled up T and there is a tiger on one of the pages. Haydn came running into the living room and said "Mommy! Mommy! T is Tiger! Tiger...ROAR!" I couldn't help but laugh and tell him he was correct.This is the only picture I had of a tiger that was somewhat close.

Graduation

Friday night we had the privilege of visiting my parents and getting to be part of my baby brother's, Jake, graduation. I am still in denial that he is old enough to be graduating from high school...Graduated from high school. Jake has grown up to be a fine young man. He is a gentleman and respects our parents. He always helps when asked and is quick to help out when not asked. He has a good head on his shoulders. He is very talented in multiple areas, and knows when he should go after something and when to let it go. I am very impressed with him and am thankful he is my brother.

Every year the school has a mural on the wall for the graduating class. (I know, you can't see him very well.)

All the Lasley's who were able to attend. We are missing quite a few!

Jake and his very awesome basketball coach, Coach T. (Jake and Coach T have a relationship I have never seen before. They both respect each other and I imagine will be good friends for a long time.)

The next day we went to Sectionals for Missouri Track. Jake does the high jump. His personal record was 6'2" and had only done it once before. At this track meet, he easily cleared 6'2" but missed the 6'4" mark. He is going to State and took 2nd in this meet. I am very amazed at his ability to do this, he just kind of sails over the bar and doesn't think anything about it. The track coaches don't know much about high jump, so he has kind of been on his own on how to do it all. Mind you, he is 5'11" and lost to a 6'6" guy. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures but I DEFINITELY will for State!

Congratulations Jake, I am so impressed and happy for you! Love you!

Friends and Family

About a week ago we had a horrible storm come through and it ripped a quarter of our tree off. There was a big mess in our front yard to clean up. Some of the branches were so thick, we would need a chainsaw to get through them quickly. Adam called a good friend of ours to see if he knew anyone who had a chainsaw. This friend had one and said we were more than welcome to it (anytime we need to use something, he has it and always offers it to us). Another really good friend offered to help Adam cut up the branches and dispose of them. I am so thankful for these friends and the service they always provide. I hope they feel like we give back too. haha

Anyhow, because of the storm I called my mom to see if we could borrow their chainsaw (before Adam called our friend). While I was talking to her, I heard a familiar laughter in the background but couldn't figure out who it could be. So, I asked and she told me that it was my Great Aunt Laura and Great Uncle Ray. The last time I saw my Great Uncle was when I was still in high school and he stopped by on his way up to Iowa to visit some family. The last time I saw my Great Aunt was when we had a family reunion when my family still lived in Washington (even longer since Uncle Ray). So I was very surprised to hear their voices. I was able to talk to my Great Aunt and loved it!

A couple nights ago my dad called to ask what my address was (who remembers addresses when you know where you're going). That's all he wanted and then my Great Uncle got on the phone and asked for a good time to stop by on their way home. I was so excited that they were coming to MY house. I told them that if I had known they were going to my parents' home, I would have been there in a heartbeat! Anyhow, they came by yesterday and we got to visit for about an hour. I loved every single minute of it and will always cherish that time. We were talking about our family (Uncle Ray is a Genealogist) and the fun stories that he had found about our ancestors. They also cooed over Haydn and loved his personality. He was shy to begin with because I had to wake him up. After he woke up, he was very outgoing and showed off a bit.

The only bad things about that visit...I forgot to take pictures and Adam wasn't here to meet some of my extended family!!!! ARG! Oh well, I remember it and will tell Haydn as he grows up. Uncle Ray and Aunt Laura said they will try to stop by again sometime and tell one of their daughters and her husband who travel through the area often to stop by. I love my family very much. We have our crazy moments, but without those crazy moments we wouldn't be THIS family.

A couple years ago on Adam's Mom's side of the family, a womens reunion was started. All the female descendants of Adam's Great Grandmother, biological or by-marriage, are invited. We had one a few weeks ago and it was so wonderful getting to see all the relatives. I took Haydn and showed him off a bit too. They aren't my biological family, but I still love them and love to hear their history. I was very close to Adam's grandmother who passed away a few months before we got married. I know she would be thrilled to know that we have these reunions and that we attempt at getting together. I also love getting to hear stories about Adam's grandmother specifically. She was quite a woman!

I love my family very much (biological and in-laws). I am so thankful that I have them and that we get to be together. I hope that everyone in my family knows how much I love them.

Early the Bed, Early to Rise

There is wisdom in the saying "Early to bed, early to rise." I used to love to stay up late at night. I was sure the party began when I went to bed. Often times I stayed up too late and made my life very difficult. When I was in college, everyone seemed to stay up until at least 1am. So of course I stayed up too...except I had to get up at 5am for rowing practice. Just a few months ago I found it difficult to get out of bed before 8am. Last summer I would go walking in the park with one of my really good friends and her kids. We would be AT the park by 7 to beat the heat. It didn't seem like that was going to happen this year.

Well, we decided to start running (which I'm so very excited about). My really good friend and I decided to run in the mornings instead of evenings. We both knew how hard it would be to get all our runs in during a week and how often we would be 'too tired' to go. So, we have to get up earlier enough so our husbands are home with our sleeping children.

Ever since we started running, I have been ready to go to sleep around 8:30. When you go to bed earlier, you get up earlier. So I'm still getting my 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Anyhow, my point is that when you get up earlier there are so many things you can enjoy. Since my family is still sleeping when I get up, I have time to enjoy the peace and quiet. I have time to enjoy the fresh new day I have been blessed with. I have time to meditate and ponder my personal needs. I also feel like I am better prepared to be a mother and wife each day. I know the sun being up and the length of the sun during the day also helps these good endorphins. But I truly do feel more spiritual and see Heavenly Father's hand in everything at this time of day.

I just hope I continue to feel great when I am "early to bed, early to rise."

Candy

Growing up, I remember my mother talking about how my oldest brother could smell sugar. She said she could buy candy when he wasn't home, hide it, and the moment he walked in the door he could find it. That skill must be hereditary because Haydn can do the same thing. The first time I went to work, Haydn found candy. My boss has since purchased candy so Haydn can have some when he's there. When we go to my parents' home, Haydn walks in and right to any candy they may have...and not just any candy, but all the candy.

Today at work, Haydn found some Lindt Chocolate Truffles (which I happen to enjoy myself) and wanted to eat them. I had to put them on top of the refrigerator to keep them out of Haydn's reach. I came back to the kitchen a little while later and Haydn had a kitchen chair pushed up to the refrigerator and was crying because he couldn't reach the candy.

This evening at home, Haydn grabbed one of his folding chairs (it goes to a kid's card table) and pulled it into the kitchen. He opened the pantry door and pushed his chair up to the shelves. He climbed onto his chair and got himself a dum dum.

I love that he can help himself, but there is very little that I can keep out of his reach. Ahh...the joys of candy and what it can teach children. By the way, every time Haydn eats candy he says to me "mmm, 's goooood mommy".

Surprise!

Haydn has been really slow to talk (compared to a number of kids we know his age). He has been quick to learn anything physical and masters it quickly too. The language department was not a top priority for him. In the last month or so, he has really started to talk. Not just chatter, but actual words. When he is saying something really important and looks us straight in the eye and says "jabi zha, beba" (you get the point...he just makes sounds that sound like words). He is quickly going from saying stuff like "uh-huh" to "yea" or "yesh." His favorite word right now is "LOOK" and you better acknowledge it or he'll keep telling you to look.

Last night we were hanging out in our basement (that's where the majority of Haydn's toys are and the house is much cooler) and Haydn kept saying "Gay". We were a little shocked that he kept saying that because it's not like we say it often...if ever. I mean, sure we say the word, but not enough for Haydn to say it. Adam looks at Haydn and sees that he's pointing at something. On the floor was the letter "K" and he was saying "K" instead of gay...thankfully. So Adam started picking up letters and Haydn would announce what letter it was. There are some he knows very well, and others he still needs some work. We were just surprised that he knew letters already. When he decides he wants to learn something, he works hard on it until he can master it!

Great News!

I called all the veterinarians in O'Fallon, Animal Control, and the shelter our animal control takes the animals today. I left messages for them all to let me know if anyone called or brought in a black and white husky. We went on numerous walks and drives between 8pm and now. We couldn't find him, nobody had turned him in. Finally this afternoon I thought to call St. Peter's Animal Control. They told me to come in anytime today or tomorrow when they're open. So we hopped into the car and headed over to St. Peter's Animal Control. I had grabbed some pictures and was scanning through them just in case we needed it. I found a cute one of Drake and Haydn when Haydn was about 5 months old. I said "There's Drake" and at the same moment a white truck drove by with Drake in it! Adam quickly made a (legal) U-turn and we rushed after the truck. We honked at him so that he would pull over. We pulled up next to him and he looked at us and said "I hope you're looking for a dog". Drake was excited to see us and we were so excited to see him. We immediately went back home and I called all the places that I left messages and informed them that Drake was found. The St. Peter's Animal Control informed me that we could micro-chip Drake for $10 (which is much less than what we remember it being a couple years ago). So, for $10 Drake is micro-chipped and we will be waiting for a call if (or when) he escapes.

Sad News

Somehow the gate to our back yard opened this evening and Drake escaped. We've been looking for him for about 2 hours and cannot find him. I'm sure someone called animal control and that's where he is. He grumbles a lot to strangers and people mistake it as growling. We were driving around for a little bit and Haydn kept calling for Drake. So sad. I don't know what I'm going to tell that boy in the morning. I just hope that he is safe and that we can find him. It's going to be a rough few days for Haydn to forget that he's gone. The hard part is that when we get in the car Haydn asks if Drake can come with us or when we are gone for a long time he wants to get home and see Drake. =(

Summertime Barbeque

I guess I enjoy bringing on the new seasons. I absolutely love the fall and spring. I love the drastic change in weather. The spring goes from bitterly cold to pleasantly warm and autumn goes from pleasantly warm to bitterly cold. For some reason though, the autumn's bitterly cold seems romantic to me so it doesn't seem bitter in any way or form. The summer and winter months are kind of boring to me. The meal ideas get worn out during those months too. Anyhow, I can always think of a meal that is perfect for autumn or spring. Obviously I wrote about my perfect autumn dinner a few months ago. A couple nights ago I made the perfect spring dinner. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. I served homemade (mom style) mashed potato potato salad, BBQ beans (a little different than baked beans), hard cooked eggs, corn, and fruit. It was fabulous! I think I would have added cucumbers and onions (mom style of course) too if I had the cucumbers. It was so good and now I am ready to BBQ more frequently. The perfect dessert to go with that would have been lemon bars, but I kind of ran out of time.

I will cherish each day I get to spend outdoors and have the windows open. Quoting Haydn "Fresh air, nice." I hope there are many more pleasantly warm days ahead.

Here's to a few months of BBQ and good eating! Looking forward to watermelon!

Housewife Gets a Job

I never thought that I would be a housewife. I always thought that I was going to work. Up until Haydn was 5 days old, I thought I was going to be a career mom. I remember going to sleep that night and crying that I had to go back to work and that I really wanted to stay home with this precious little boy. A few weeks later I found out that I was in fact going to get to be a stay at home mom, I just didn't know the date this was going to happen. I have really fallen into the stay at home mom gig and wouldn't trade it for the world. My heart goes out to those mothers out there who do work. You are much stronger women than I am. I could not leave Haydn every day to go to work.

I have a guilty pleasure watching "The Real Housewives of *name city or state*". After this last week I really felt like the above "House wife gets a job".

Ok, so not entirely true to what you would think of a job. I helped out Adam's old boss, Steve, for a little over a week while he was out of the country. I answered phones and booked jobs (it's a service type company). Steve called it a "glorified tv watching job", and that isn't far from the truth. I was able to take Haydn with me (which is the only reason I was willing to do it) and he was such a trooper. I think it was after the first day of taking calls, I decided that I really do enjoy getting to be a stay at home mom and housewife. I've gotten used to my routine this way. I also decided that the only benefit of working is the pay. I do enjoy getting paid, but not at the expense of quality time with my family. I also wasn't able to do the things I needed to at home and meals were harder to prepare when you have less than an hour to get something made by the normal time you have dinner. Anyhow, I kept Steve up to speed while he was gone and he said a few things that made me think that he was going to offer me a job. I was correct! This morning I went over there and went over the stuff while he was gone and he asked if I'd be willing to work. Initially, no...but it's just one day a week and I can handle that! So, one day a week this housewife will work and be on someone else's schedule. It'll be nice to have that extra income!

Birt-day

Haydn is obsessed with birthdays, or in his words...birt-day. He thinks that whenever there is a cake, there should always be candles on it and someone should blow them out. He doesn't even call it cake, he calls it 'birt-day'. Last night I made a chocolate chip, chocolate bunt cake like my grandma used to make. I was going to do it complete with the drizzled chocolate on top too. I never got to the drizzled chocolate because we were out of the house before I could. When we got home Adam and I decided to watch a show we missed this week in the computer room. We should have known better when the house was silent except for our show. Haydn came walking in with something in his hand and eating it. We walked into the dining room to see this....

The evidence

In action

More evidence.

Haydn really thought he was cute for what he did. I hope this isn't something he keeps doing.

Conversations with Haydn

Situation: Haydn shooting baskets in the basement and making them over and over from the same spot.
Haydn: "All day, All day"

Haydn: Basketball
Me: You want to play basketball
Haydn: Uh huh
Me: You like basketball
Haydn: Uh huh
Me: Why?
Haydn: You funny


Situation: A box of like 6 chicken tenders for lunch. Haydn looks into the box and says in a whisper "wow"


Situation: Adam, Jared, Haydn and me sitting at the table for dinner. Jared put a piece of garlic bread on Haydn's plate. Haydn tossed it back at Jared (he didn't want it). Jared put it back on Haydn's plate, Haydn tossed it back. Adam and I scold him for tossing his food. Haydn says "Ah man!"

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a wonderful birthday. My fabulous mother-in-law and step-father-in-law brought lunch and my favorite, Lemon Meringue Pie. It was wonderful to visit with the both of them and we got to enjoy them for most of the day.

I also received a few birthday cards in the mail and a few phone calls. Thanks to you all. I'm so thankful I have such a great family (immediate and extended) and friends.

A Lasley family tradition is to call the birthday person and sing "Happy Birthday" in the worst, off key tune you can imagine. I think this year's winner for my birthday goes to Liz and Susan...I think all the dogs in the neighborhood were crying. =)

Again, thank you everyone who made this day so great.

Adorable

Ok, I know I have been going on about how cute Haydn has been, but he really is! Adam has been gone since Sunday afternoon, and we've really been missing him. Today when Haydn woke up and came into my room, I said "Guess what! Daddy comes home tonight!" Haydn got so excited he started running to the door and said "See, Daddy! See, See, See!" So I explained to him that we needed to go walking, play, eat lunch, take a nap, play some more and then Daddy will be home. Haydn easily got ready to go walking, he played for a little while, willingly left the mall to go home and ate lunch. He ate a huge lunch and put himself down for a nap. He just woke up and is anxious for his daddy to come home. Hopefully he will be here within the hour. That would be fabulous! We have a special dinner planned just for Daddy coming home too! We miss you Adam!

Too Cute

Adam is gone over night with the Boy Scouts, camping in the freezing cold. I'm not sure what Haydn thinks of Adam being gone over night. It seems like every time Haydn cries for Adam. So tonight when I was getting Haydn ready for bed, he folded his arms, bowed his head and asked to "pray daddy". So we said a little prayer asking that Daddy is safe. I am so thankful that Adam does get to come home and that this isn't an awkward situation. My mother-in-law pointed out how difficult it would be to explain to a child that their parent is gone (for whatever reason it may be divorce, death, etc). I'm also thankful that Haydn does recognize when Adam is gone and wants him back home. Anyhow, I thought it was the cutest thing that he wanted to pray for Daddy.

Presents, presents and MORE Presents!

The month of December is a present month for Haydn. With three sets of grandparents, this would be expected because of Christmas. But Haydn is one of those lucky kids who has his birthday that month as well. Haydn opened presents just about every weekend in December and the first weekend in January. Sunday I prepared a game for my class at church (they are all 3 years old). I took a gift bag with different items in it for them to guess what they were. Haydn thought it was a present for him. Even after I emptied the bag and showed him it was empty, he still went and grabbed the empty bag and asked where his present was. That boy cracks me up!

Little Gentleman

Haydn has recently doing things like a little gentleman. He loves to open doors and hold them open for me. It's really cute. The other day he held the storm door from our house to our garage open for me and I stepped out the door pulling the other door around behind me. The garage door was down, so it was pretty dark in there. I bent over to pick Haydn up so he could "push button" to open the garage door. When I bent over to pick him up, the storm door met my forehead perfectly to hit me in the middle of the head. My head has been super sensitive since!

He's been doing other cute things too. He will take my glass and put it on the counter or we had scones last night and he took my plate to the kitchen! He's a great little helper, it just takes so much longer to do anything when he is helping. I guess I should keep encouraging him to help out so maybe he'll help when he's older. =)

Vroom

It's obvious for me to say that Haydn loves the movie Cars. It's probably just as obvious for me to point out that he is absorbing EVERYTHING he sees and hears. However, knowing the obvious two statements didn't change how amazed and funny Haydn really is.

Last night we were watching a movie and Haydn kept going "MMMmm" (instead of Vroom) but sounded somewhat like a cow. We kept asking him to be quiet as we are trying to hear the movie (and closed captioning was not available), but Haydn kept doing it. I noticed he had several cars he was playing with. He was playing with Doc and Lightning and was making some cars that all looked similar and had the same box-like shape go "MMMmm" and then as they were making that noise, Haydn would tip them on their backs. It took me a few minutes to realize what he was doing. I couldn't control my laughter when I figured out that he was recreating the scene from Cars where Lightning and Mater are out in the field "tractor tipping". He is so funny! I wished I had a chance to record it.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone! I hope this year is healthy and prosperous for all. We didn't do much for New Years. Adam spent the holiday working with his brother-in-law (thanks!) and Haydn and I stayed home. Haydn fell asleep while I was making dinner and then woke up a couple hours later to ring in the new year! He's a rock star, we brought it in like any 2 year old boy would want to... watching Thomas the Train movies (at least it wasn't Cars). =) We had fun.

On another note... New Years day is going off with a bang. We slept in pretty late (that's what happens when little boys stay up too late) and I noticed that Haydn has bumps...EVERYWHERE on his back. All morning I noticed he had a spot that looked like a pimple on his face. I kept thinking to myself "Man, I know kids grow up so fast, but... He's too young to be getting pimples!" As I was getting him dressed for the day, I noticed the same kind of bumps are on his back. =( Poor kid. It really looks like he has chicken pox. He had the vaccination when he was 12 months old and we really haven't been around any kids in the last two weeks. I don't know what else it could be, but he has all the 'side effects' of it minus the fever. He's been sleeping more than usual and eating next to nothing. This will be a fun week. Man, talking about it is making me itch!

Happy New Years everyone!