Elliot's Birthday. Day #1 & 2

Somehow Elliot's birthday lasted 3 days instead of just 1. 

Day #1: The day of his birthday he woke up to a room full of balloons and the kitchen decorated with streamers and such and of course a present or two.  Then when dad got home that night we couldn't resist and let him open the package from Oma & Opa. The paper jamz microphone was a HIT! He loved it. We spent the night jamming out and singing away. So fun!

Day #2: We celebrated with our family away from family! The Rushtons and the Hands came over for cake & ice cream, and of course...more presents. J.R. even performed a magic trick to change his non-functioning bike into a shiny new red one! Elliot didn't buy into it, but was still so excited for the new ride. He LOVES to ride his bike and has been on it every chance he gets. The lightsabers were probably the favorite though. He's been wanting one for a while and now he can be a real Jedi! We're so grateful for close friends that love our Elliot just like family! Thanks for the gifts and the company!!

Day #3: See the next post :)

 Elliot and Alexa....aka: Yoda and Darth Vador

(because the Hands are such fans of Star Wars, Elliot got to dress up in sweet costumes)

 Debbie, Karen, Alexa

 Mike & Anthony 

(sorry Mike, I didn't realize you blinked right when I took the picture)

Jacob, Josh, Jerry & Jared 

 He was so excited to make a wish. Look at that concentration :)

Cutest 5 year old EVER!

We had a great weekend in Columbus, OH! So fun to hang with old friends. We miss Columbus a lot.

Thanks Glen & Sarah for letting us invade your house. Thanks to the George family for entertaining us Sunday. We had such a fun time!

I feel so lame that the picture below is the ONLY picture I took the whole weekend. 

Look how big our boys have gotten since we've been friends. Time flies!!

May 2012

May 2008

Elliot's Riding a Bike

And he's off!

J.R. finally fixed the tires on his "real" bike and the next day Elliot jumped on and took off. I barely got out the door in time to see him take off. He has no fear! He got really good at balancing with the bike Oma gave him last year that didn't have pedals so moving to pedals was super easy. 

J.R. kinda felt bad that he didn't get a chance to "teach" him how to ride a bike. Like it's some sort of fatherhood milestone. But we're so proud and happy he's got it down and loves every bit of riding like a big kid!

Good Job Elliot!!

Our 1st Garden

We did it. We planted a garden. 

I have no idea what to do, but I've heard you just have to water them and they will grow. Let's hope it's that easy. Here's to a fun summer of fresh vegetables and painting our thumbs green ;)

Twins 16 months

We had a lot of fun taking these pictures. It didn't take long. The sun was gone before the kids got too tired so it was a great shoot. What cuties!! Seriously I have the cutest kids ever. You know that feeling when you're looking at your kids and your heart seems to jump inside cause you love everything about them so much?? This happens often to my heart and I love it! Can't get enough of these faces. They're growing up MUCH too fast! 

Grandma's: Tell me what pictures you want printed and I'll send them your way. 

Aunts and Uncles: I'll make wallets too if you want. Just tell me what picture.

1st Haircut

Some may say, "It's about time." Not me. Getting haircuts is a big step. It means their growing up and I don't like it. Not to mention the idea of cutting off their curls scares me to death. Luckily most of the curls remained. 

They both did great sitting in the chairs. No major tears or tantrums. But the moment we were headed to the car and trying to take a good "after" picture they hit a wall. They screamed and thrashed all the way to the car. Even with balloons tied to their wrists they were still throwing a fit.  Luckily we all made it home in one piece. I got a sample of both their baby hair and some fun pictures.

You can't even tell Miles got a trim. I think the lady could tell I was nervous about chopping the curls so she was very cautious. Unfortunately I paid like 12 bucks for almost no hair on the ground. Jaxon on the other hand had TONS of hair on the ground. I even got brave and told her a little shorter. He looks cute, although I'm thinking he looks more like a girl now then when it was longer. Now if the curls curl just right it looks like its "smartly bobbed." Nice. 

Another milestone crossed.

ps: notice the cut on Miles face? He was in the path of one of Elliot's projectile toys. Not on purpose, but still looks pretty intense. (I overheard one of the girls at the child watch at the YMCA call him "scar face." Ahh, poor baby.)

Here's a  Q & A from a friend of mine. It's fun exploring my ideas and it's always great journaling for my blog. Thanks Erin for thinking of me. 

This is what happens when we don't have kids with us and we're trying to entertain ourselves. 

Who knew the timer on our little camera could be so much fun!

A little peek into my brain.

1. What's the best advice you've received? "Don't look too far ahead. Enjoy the moment." I often feel like life won't really start till J.R. is done with school, but then I'd miss 5 years of Elliot's life and 2 1/2 years of the twins lives. SO... I'm trying to remember that we're living now. Evening though things will change drastically when school is done I would be missing out on a lot of memories on the way if I didn't remember to ENJOY THE MOMENT! So I will. :)
2. What's one of your favorite go-t0 recipes? Please post the recipe. Taco Salad. No recipe needed. Brown hamburger. Taco seasoning. Maybe black beans.  Chips. Then lots of vegetable toppings. It's super fast and I love it.
3. What do you do to find joy in parenting? Or, what do you do to find joy in this stage of life? I try to remember that every day kids grow up. Every day they get smarter, grow taller, and need me less. Although all that is good, it's sad to see time pass. I try to remind myself that one day I'll wish I had them little again. Parenting is about helping to shape them into the people they will become. The job is overwhelming at times.  Someone once told me that their kids are not theirs - they have to EARN them. I like to imagine it that way. My kids aren't mine by some political right or unseen parenting power, but I'm supposed to prove that I deserve them. I'm supposed to show that I'm worthy enough to call them mine and that they'd choose me if given the choice. 
4. What's the best book you've read lately? I just finished Still Alice. This book scared me to death. To watch her live with Alzheimers is tragic. Especially when she can see herself slipping away. Long term diseases are horribly vicious on the person, their families, and their entire community. It gives us a very clear perspective on life. How fragile life is and how small we are in the grand scheme. I believe God is very particular in the people who are asked to endure such trials. My dad is one of those people who grew to become his best person while he was living with ALS. 
5. What activities do you and your children enjoy doing together? Or, what activities do you enjoy doing in your free time? With kids: anything outside. Boys have a lot of energy so we try to release it with bikes, sports, water fun, running, climbing, exploring. Anything active. Myself: photography, digital scrapbooking, biking, organizing (I love cleaning out closets or drawers or my computer desktop. It gives me warm fuzzies.) Anything crafty really.
6. What's one of your pet peeves? Saying "Dinners ready, lets eat." then having to drag every person to the table. (J.R. included)  I hate eating after food gets cold. And no one in my family likes to eat. Dinner to me is a necessity. If we could go without it I would. 
7. What do you desire for your children? Or, what do you desire for your extended family? To be healthy, confident, active, fun kids. I want to give them the confidence to speak up for what's important and look out for others that could use a boost.
8. What does your weekly or daily routine look like? All the normal stuff times 2. :) Preschool & naps are the only things that happen consistantly. Everything else just falls in to place. 
9. What's a goal you want to accomplish this year? I just finished one goal - I made a quilt!! I'd like to get all our family video onto DVD's and try to catch up my scrapbook pages. I'm also on my way to loosing 30 lbs by September 20.  If I hit the goal I'm giving myself an iPad. :) Also expanding my photography business. Deciding on a favorite and cutting back to only shooting that type of client. (for example, only newborns, or seniors or families.) I'm still exploring what I enjoy and am best at, but hopefully I can have my business narrowed to a more specific genre. 
10. What is your biggest accomplishment? Surviving the first year of twins! Seriously, that was tough. 
11. What's one topic that gets you on your soap box? There aren't many things I'm super opinionated about. I really like hearing other peoples opinions though. I think that's why I like Book Club even though I rarely speak up. I'm bad at sticking to one opinion consistantly. My ideas are always changing. That's probably why I have such a hard time making decisions. Right now a hot topic for me is public schooling. I just wish I knew how to start a change. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Love, The Haynie Family

The rest of the story...

 Always some of this

 Please sir, may I have some more?

 Check out my loot

 Oh look, for this very moment we're happily enjoying the same toy.

 The hunt is on

 Is this fun?

 Yes, mom was there too

A much more accurate family photo

What we did today

We had a fun busy day today. It began with our first Easter Egg hunt of the year. Then we moved on to  completing a "PIN" I've wanted to do for a while. Then we moved the fun outside to the sun! 

I love days like today when the T.V. rarely gets turned on and the kids are sunkissed and tired. 

Good day!

Rainbow rice was so fun to make and they LOVED playing in it too. I prefer this over sand for sure. (Even though I still have a bin full of sand) I think they liked it better too. Jaxon & Miles both attempted to taste the rice, but quickly realized it was not a good idea.

A peek into our back yard. 

If the sun is out, so are all our toys. Welcome Summer!

 I filled another bin with water for the twins. They were getting sweaty and needed a way to cool off without running through the sprinkler. 

Jaxon did attempt a sprinkler run, but it ended in him soaked and crying. Lesson learned.

 Proof that he doesn't cry ALL day. He does smile sometimes. 

Elliot and Alexa have been best buds lately. She came with us to the zoo yesterday too. We love this girl! Such a good friend to Elliot and loves helping with the twins.