Lunch at Mom and Dad's

After church we came back home, regrouped and made coffee, and then headed back out to Mom and Dad's. Tyson and Breanne came up this weekend, and since we hadn't all got together since December, it was high time!

Can you believe this is Treven? And that he's 8 days YOUNGER than Wyatt? He takes after his mom... he's crawling backwards, eating food... all things Wyatt is not doing. And look at that smile. He's darling!Mom went ALL OUT with dinner.... My favorites! Ribs, BBQ pork, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, greek salad, cauliflower, and more. It's 8:15pm now, and I'm STILL not hungry.
Weston went down for a nap, and Wayne talked Grandma into letting him watch a show in their room. He's minus a shirt because of a chocolate milk accident.
Tootie-ville was TIRED and almost passed out in Grandpa's arms. She also swiped Treven's hat, and wouldn't give it up.
After dinner, we all settled/beached ourselves in the family room to watch the US/Canada hockey game. What a game! More than the game itself, the fact that I don't think any of us had ever watched hockey before in our lives added to the entertainment. We were left guessing at the meaning of all the hockey terms the announcers used.

Isn't this a great shot?
This was Tyson and Wayne, right after Canada scored in sudden death over time. Drama.
Treven apparently does need a little binkie usage training session from the Silves boys!
What a day! I'm off to snuggle Tyler on the couch and watch "17 again."

Night!

Today was the day

I have known the message of the gospel for as long as I can remember. I was raised by Christian parents who not only taught me the ways of the Lord, but who practiced what they preached. They were an incredible example to me, and one that I hope I am to our own kids.

Romans 6:4-6 reads as follows:

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

What a passage! Baptism was something that I always wanted to do, but I wanted to do it as an adult. Making the decision for myself without the pressure of anyone or anything to do it. Being baptized does not have anything to do with my salvation. It has everything to do with me making a public statement that I am with Christ. He was sinless, I am not, and I choose his side. As I said, I wanted to make this decision as an adult, but as time rolled on, I didn't know when that was. When I graduated high school? College? Got married, had kids? Had three kids?

So when our church announced that they were having a believer baptism, I knew that it was time for me to follow Jesus' command and be obedient to his will. With a husband and three kids, there is no denying I am an adult! And I must admit, the idea of going up in front of so many people to get soaking wet did NOT appeal to me. I have to wonder.... why would Jesus command THIS? Of all things? And as I thought about that, here's my answer... What do I know of what Jesus commands? Do I trust him enough to just obey? For me, the answer is a resounding YES, and so today was the day I did. I obeyed.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And another really neat thing? Tyler was baptized too. And I was three feet from him when he went under. I am so grateful to be able to have been so close with him as he made this decision too.

Tyler, talking with Pastor Craig about who Jesus is to him, and why he wants to be baptized.

And down he goes!I love this shot, because it looks like Tyler is so nervous for me!

And this one because it looks as though he's wondering if I'm coming back up!
Stay tuned for part 2 of our Sunday!

l.a.z.y. Saturday

It's 2:22, and the house is quiet. Wyatt is taking a nap, and Tyler and the big boys are out in the garage doing boy things. This has become tradition lately, and I'm loving it! I'm inside, and just got done with Wayne's four year pictures. If you want to take a peak, click HERE. I have come down with a not so fun sinus infection, and am not really up for much more than caring for kids and sitting on the couch. The boys each have coughs too, so there's no shortage of snuggle buddies either. 30 minutes from now will be coffee time, woo-hoo! I'm feeling like a quad shot. :-)

Happy weekend everyone!

It's top ramen for dinner tonight

and Wayne just said he couldn't eat his unless he had chopsticks.



What?



Chopsticks?



How on EARTH does he know what those are?!?

Tuesday's Tidbit #7

The year 20-10 was the year we officially became adults. Real adults. Drive a big car full of kids and stuff kind of adults. I remember as kids the year we got a mini-van. I was in the fifth grade, and my sister was going in to seventh. She was THRILLED that we had a nice car for her to be taken to school in on the first day (we got it in August.) I was just happy I was sitting further away from her while we were driving! :-)

What will our kids remember? Will they remember the time spent driving in the Jeep, sitting carseat to carseat? Or will they only remember days of having a built in DVD player and their own heat controls? It's out of my hands.


I also remember the day my dad came home with a red mustang for my mom. Seriously, she went from a mini-van to a very sporty little mustang (which, she was really uncomfortable driving and it didn't last long!) So that makes me wonder... When we eventually move on from the Denali, what will I be driving? How many seats? Will all the boys be taller than me?

My head hurts from all that wondering, so for now, I'll just remember the ordinary... This is our family car on February 23, 2010.

*Sunday*

To me, Sunday feels like a great big sigh of relief. *Sigh* It's the one day each week where I won't allow myself to have a to do list, and I will allow myself to take a nap, as long as the other folks in the house agree! We have a nice lazy morning, taking our time getting up and at 'em. I snuggle the boys a lot, and then catch up on the online website that I like to follow.... Photography blogs, scrapbook blogs, Blogger, you get the idea! Then it's breakfast, church clothes, and playing, and then we're off!

(Okay... In real time, I typed the above, but got cut short on time, so we went to church. It's 11:28am and we're back home.)

What on earth was I thinking? The first paragraph above is the result of SERIOUS short term memory loss. I have it every 7 days. Church was WILD to say the least. We parked, and paraded across the parking lot. We enter in the side door of the church, as do most other people, and there is no designated "walking" parking space in front of the door, so we have to maneuver like Nascar driver's to get me, carrying a carseat and diaper bag, holding Weston's hand, who is holding Wayne's hand, up to the door of the church. I brought Wayne and Weston directly to class, at which point Weston began screaming like a wild hyena. I then flew over to the nursery to help out my co-coordinator and S-I-L because the gal who was supposed to be covering the nursery wasn't there. 6 kids proceed to come in, all the while I can hear Weston screaming. I found fill-in's to cover us in there, then went to find a place to sit, with Wyatt. Problem was, there was no place to sit. Church was FULL (a good thing, yes. But today... I could have used a seat!) I ended up in the balcony, which is fine, except that last week Weston got kicked out of class and they had to come find me. What if that happened this week? Oh well. Not much I could do!

After church, I rushed down to get Wyatt from the nursery, and then the big boys from class, only to hear Weston from about 100 ft from his class. He was SCREAMING bloody murder. I rushed in, and the poor kid was hysterical. He had been good most of the time, but once parents came in to get kids, he lost it. His teacher told me that he was doing better and better each week, sitting longer, listening, and starting to get into the swing of things. Things that he could work on are not coloring on the bulletin board, and being nicer to his brother. Apparently he tried to grab Wayne's paper and Wayne threw a fit. Weston had to say he was sorry and give Wayne a hug, and Wayne forgave him. She said that Wayne was doing really well, was kind to other kids, and wasn't distracted by Weston not obeying.

With that report, I left and gave Wayne to my mom, and Weston and I got Wyatt from the nursery. Tanya took Wyatt out, I had Weston, mom and Wayne, and we all caravan-ed back to our car, at which point they were all buckled in. Whew!!! My mind was fried, I was near tears, and was completely sweaty. But we survived another week solo. And each one is better than the last.

And since a post isn't a post without a picture... Here are two for you! Here are Wayne and Weston's coloring papers from class.


Weston - age 25 months
Wayne - almost 4 years oldAnd the rest of the day... we have a birthday party for cousin Paige to crash, and then it's home for a mellow afternoon and evening!

Weston got road rash.

With all of the nice weather we've been having, the boys have been outside every day. The laundry is piling up faster than usual, but it's well worth it for their big smiles and stories of adventure, and for how exhausted they are by 7pm - bed time! :-)

Poor Weston was playing on the driveway out front, and tripped, and couldn't even get his hands out to block his fall. The result? A serious case of road rash! He was upset at the time, but is now just VERY proud of his owies, and likes to show anyone who will ooh and aaah appropriately.

Living Vicariously

By now you should all be aware of my Olympic obsession. I took pictures of flags in Lynden, for goodness sake! So you might be asking why it is that I am not GOING to the Olympics? The answer: Lack of planning.

Okay, take a minute. Catch your breath.

Yes, I just said LACK OF PLANNING in relation to myself. Work and kids and hobbies got the best of me, and I never got my endorsement for my license, or a passport. I CAN'T go to Canada! So, I must live vicariously. And watch a lot of TV and news channels.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah.... I've been planning a scrapbook page for awhile now, to document my feelings and the facts of the Olympics that were in my backyard. My friend Amanda went with a few of her crazy family, at an unnaturally early hour, to go observe...... The Today Show! She has a very NATURAL obsession with Matt. And Ann. Anyhoo.... of course, we had to watch for her! And although I have a very stealth plan to go pirate pictures off of her blog as soon as she recovers from lack of sleep and posts them, in the mean time.... I took my own pictures for my scrapbook page.
Do you see her? She's DIRECTLY behind Matt. And she's ON MY TV on NATIONAL TELEVISION! How cool is that????
Living vicariously through my super cool and crazy and adventurous friend makes me super cool and crazy and adventurous, right?



Or does it just make me crazy?

It's 10 o'clock and I can't go to bed

because the Olympics are CAPTIVATING me! Yes, I could just DVR it, but it's not as much fun then, and then I'd have to wait until tomorrow. Short track, half pipe, down hill.... Those athletes are beyond belief CRAZY to do what they do. I even got teary eyed watching Lindsey Vonn hug her husband after winning gold. To put your whole life into competing at those levels.... Amazing. And that is why I can't go to bed. That, and mostly because I am dying to see what Shaun White does in the half pipe finals! And no, I don't cheat and look online, I am a purist! Except for the DVR part. I guess there is that.

USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA-USA

Tuesday's Tidbit #6

Hmmm.. Did you know it was Tuesday today? I'm sure I knew that in the back of my mind, but I didn't comprehend it until my friend reminded me that it was time for yet another.... TIDBIT!

So for this week you are getting....... A picture of our fridge! Now, I am sharing this with you completely AS IS. I opened the doors, and took the pictures. It's been 5 days since I last went grocery shopping, so we're almost to midpoint between Costco runs.


Of course, the flung open doors attracted boys like a moth to a flame. Take a peak inside our fridge and freezer!

Winter Olympics 2010 - In our backyard!

Ever since I was on bed rest for a month, four years ago just before I delivered Wayne, I have been seriously in love with the Winter Olympics. Four years ago, I didn't have the ability to work from home, and after 10 days of laying on the couch day in and day out, I was ready to lose my 9 months pregnant, hormone imbalanced, gonna be a mom for the first time, mind!

And then it was Friday. Opening ceremonies. I breathed a sigh of relief, and the final two weeks of bed rest were filled with competition and wonderful bio's and other human interest stories. I watched EVERYTHING.

Now, four years and three kiddos later, I still love to watch! I DVR everything, and then watch it when I can. It's so amazing that all of this action is happening just hours away. I am happy for Canada, what an honor to be chosen to be the host country.

And I love these flags.Aren't these flags neat?
They are lining the street by Lynden's cemetery. Apparently the City of Lynden could not afford them, so they went door to door to businesses and got enough donations to purchase these flags. How cool is that?




And finally.....

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO Ohnooooooooo!

14th year of celebrating the 14th of February

This was Tyler and my fourteenth Valentine's Day together. Can you believe that? I was feeling a little nostalgic, so I pulled out an old scrapbook album that had the very first card he ever gave me in it. He handmade it in Spanish class, so it was partly in Spanish. Now, I didn't scan the inside for you all, it was personal, and I'd be in BIG trouble if it made the blog! But I've got to say.... what a riot! I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. Oh the things that seemed so major and "big" back then. We've come a looong way in 14 years, baby!It was different having Valentine's Day on a Sunday this year, don't you think? We did our usual traditions, including heart shaped french toast with syrup and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. And bacon. Our boys llllloooooooove bacon!

We always get them a little something to celebrate how much we love each other, and this year they were surprised with new puzzles and chocolates and a movie.

Wayne is really into covering his eyes and being surprised. In fact this morning I told him we were going to pick up surprise company, and as we pulled out of the driveway heading towards Lynden, he offered to cover his eyes the whole way. I told him he could wait until we at least were within a few minutes of his surprise!
Weston doesn't really get the whole "cover your eyes" thing, but he tries.
I love this picture. Rather than each looking at their own puzzle, they are checking out each other's!!!! Sooo typical. The grass is always greener on your brother's side of the fence I guess!
We went to church, then I quick went to Bellingham to pickup the glasses that Tyler and I both had ordered the day before. When I got back we relaxed and had coffee together with the boys, and then Tyler went to pickup chinese in Canada from the Dragon Fort. We love that place, and our tradition has been that we get take-out and eat chinese food on our china. Mom, Dad, and Ryan, Tara and Madelyn all came over too, so it was a WILD good time for all.
Grandpa can't even turn down these two little cuties when they toddle over with a book to be read! Maddie was bumming a pair of PJ's off of Weston. 3T's, and they weren't that much too big. Hers be a growin' girl!
The happy couple... I love these two, they are so real and yet so in love to. And both are head over heals for Tootie!

A picture...

Since so many of you have asked for a picture... here's two quick ones I snapped while taking pictures of the Jeep for Craigslist.

The front view. The tires and rims were part of the package. They fit in quite nicely in Bellevue, but we're a little self concious of them in E-town!

Love the black too... Tyler is designated car washer!
And here's a side by side comparative "butt" shot. Now you know why I call the new car, "The Beast!"

Today we went for a l.o.n.g car ride, had a close call, and

came home with a new car!

We've known for awhile that we need to get something bigger, and that when we do, we want it to be the vehicle that we drive until the kids graduate high school. We found a good deal on a 2005 Yukon XL Denali. The BIG one. It seats 7, and has lots of trunk room. And it ride smoooooth. It's black, and has some serious "Bellevue" wheels and rims.

So we left with all three kids in the Jeep at 11am. to drive down to Bellevue, where the car was. The boys were extremely good, and the whole trip was pretty uneventful, EXCEPT when we were going through Everett on the way down. I was driving and following about 50ft, if that, behind an armored truck, when, as if in slow motion, I saw its back left tire start wobble, then come COMPLETELY off the truck. Not the tire tread, the entire tire, wheel, rim, everything!!! I could sort of see the tire roll and spine across three lanes of traffic, and end up next to the barrier. Meanwhile, the truck's rotor and axle were grinding the pavement and making a ton of sparks, all while I was gently breaking so as not to lose control. For as awful and horrible as it could have been, it was 30 seconds and then the truck was off the road and not a single person was injured. Miraculous! God is good. I am sooo thankful that he is faithful in His watch over us! It humbles me to think of all the ways I should pray for our boys, and all the ways that I forget to pray for them, but God is still faithful. Wayne saw the whole thing, and said we needed to be sure that the new car had good tires and was safe. You got that right little buddy!


We got home around 6:30pm and everyone was grateful to get out and stretch our legs, Wyatt included! We have such wonderful, well behaved, and full of life little boys. We were gone 7.5 hours, and they were in the car for all but 45 minutes or so. Actually, they were in the car from 9-11am as we ran errands in Lynden too, before we left. We just could not believe how good, good, good they were. And now they have room to stretch their precious little legs!

When I get big, I'll get even.

As much as Wayne and Weston have loved Wyatt since he was born, that love has now grown into an all out obsession.


The l.o.v.e. love him!


Poor baby, I don't let Wyatt out of my sight because you never know when Wayne or Weston are going to come and "love" him!


Wayne and Weston fight over who gets to hold him. And they try to help change his diaper.

And sometimes Weston tries to change it on his own!He thought he was pretty hot stuff figuring out the velcro tabs on his own.
Wyatt thought the whole thing was hilarious.


Mission accomplished!
In other news...

I am sooo glad that it's Thursday. I love these two Thursday's each month. I am done going into the office for the week (okay, except for an hour or two tomorrow) and Tyler is working all day. It's just the boys and I at home. The house is spotlessly clean (through no effort of my own... I have a cleaning lady for tax season!) and all I have to do all day is play with the boys, fold a few loads of laundry, and then tackle my "stuff to do on the computer" list. Things like balancing the checkbook, and stuff like that. It's dark and cold outside, and wet to boot. A perfect day for wearing sweats and sweatshirts and not leaving the four walls of our house! Madelyn is coming for the morning, so I think we'll make cookies. Madelyn likes cookies. So do the Silves boys!

Tuesday's Tidbit #5

These are Wayne's new shoes. They came in the mail yesterday, from Ebay. I think they were purchased "used" but I can't tell! Tyler does all of the boys' shoe buying, usually on Ebay. Wayne's shoes were too small, again, so we needed to bump him a size. These shoes are a size 12. We paid... Umm... I don't know what we paid! :-) Tyler does the bidding. I think shipped, they were less than $20. Someday I'm going to want to know that I paid less than $20 for a pair of Nike's for Wayne. Someday I bet I'll be paying a lot more!


So the thought occurred to me, as I was getting all sniffly over how big these shoes were, and how big they made Wayne look, and as I was trying to remember how exactly his feet didn't fit in the shoes he wore home from the hospital any longer. Heck, his toe doesn't fit in those! :-) And then, it hit me.


His feet. Are. Growing.

They are going to get bigger.

I looked at those shiny white shoes with much different eyes. Instead of cringing at the sight of them, I know soak up their size. Someday, his child's size 12's are going to be men's size 12's. Or worse. Men's size 14's!

And then I had another thought (see, I've spent too much time thinking lately.) That thought was this. Weston and Wyatt's feet are growing too!

And with that, I scurried around the house collecting shoes. As I walked into the living room with my arms full, and my camera shoved in to the pile somewhere, Tyler looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Hasn't he learned by now not to question me with a camera in my hands? Apparently... not.

Anyhoo... For today's tidbit, for now and all time, here are the shoes that everyone is wearing on Tuesday, February 9, 2010.

Tyler - size 12
Tanya - size 10 (FYI - my feet grew 1/2 size with each pregnancy. You do the math!)
Wayne - child size 12
Weston - child size 6
Wyatt - child size 1


Won't it be fun to read this post 20 years from now in the family journal?

Who dat?

Super Bowl Sunday was pretty low key around here, as we didn't watch the game until 7pm when Tyler got home from work. The boys were all excited to pose for a quick photo shoot.... WILDNESS! Weston wore the Colts, Reggie Wayne jersey that Wayne used to wear, and the rest as they say... is history!





My favorite shot!