January

January brought us right back into our normal routine. Our weeks are full of preschool, errands, therapies for Grant (PT, OT, and Speech on a weekly basis), primary stuff for my church calling, house cleaning, etc. I am usually ready to go nuts in January, but having Kyle graduated from his MBA has helped immensely this winter. I don't feel quite so trapped because Grant is old enough to go out as long as we avoid certain places and major crowd settings. Kyle is home at night to give me a break and our winter has really been fairly mild. Thank heavens. Here are some silly photos from our days at home (where we spend a LOT of our time in the winter).

Miles LOVES bare skin. He cracks me up. Kyle and I both love to shower with him because when he gets that skin to skin contact, he just snuggles up and doesn't move. It is the best and he has done it since he was tiny. This morning, I was helping Grant change out of his PJ's and Miles ran over, tackled him to the ground, and proceeded to lay on his bare chest. Grant loved it and just kept telling me to take their picture. It cracks me up that Miles can tackle Grant, but Grant is so cautious with so many physical things (one of the big reasons he is still in PT) and Miles uses that to his advantage. This little brother will probably be beating up on his big brother for years to come.

Licking the beaters is a rite of childhood, but we rarely let our kids do it because Grant cannot eat raw egg (not with the risk). One of our neighbors brought us an awesome Lion House Brownie mix for Christmas and it was made without eggs, so they both got to experience the joy of licking a beater. Kids and chocolate goatee's are the best.

Kyle had picked up a few of the Home Depot kids building projects a year or so ago and had never finished making them. Grant wanted to be involved in the project Kyle was doing (a shelf for my kitchen) and so one Saturday morning, they say down together and built this tool box. Grant and Miles both got to paint it while Kyle worked on painting my shelf. I am so grateful to have a handy husband who lets the kids be involved in his projects!

Santa brought us each our own tape measure for Christmas and now they don't have to fight over Kyle's anymore. They are some of the most loved toys/tools in our house. They will go around measuring everything for hours. It cracks me up.

Kyle hit the big 3-0 in January just before we left for our first family vacation (more to come). We made him an awesome cake and let him open one gift when he came home for lunch. 

Later that night, my dad watched our boys while Kyle took me out to dinner. We came back and had cake and ice cream with Kellie, Spencer, and my Dad (my mom was taking care of her parent's in Colorado). We had saved his big gift for later and I loved his surprise.

Check out that cake! Yum. Kyle requested the chocolate toffee crunch cake from Our Best Bites this year. It was so rich and delicious.

When it was time for him to open his big gift, he was a little surprised to find out that it was only part of the gift.

He had to go look in Mile's closet to find the rest of it. It was a big tool chest that I had been hiding at our neighbors for a few months. I love surprising him. The kids loved taking daddy on a hunt to find his gifts. Happy Birthday Kyle! I am looking forward to the next decade of ours lives together!