A post for Daddy

John is out of town, so I thought I'd post a few photos for him to see what we've been up to while he's been gone.

Yesterday we did a little painting

(this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but for those of you who know Tyler, you know that this activity could be disastrous given his active little body and tornadic abilities. He actually did really well. You can even see the concentration in his face).

And today we headed to the zoo, just the two of us. I figured it was a good time to get one last visit before my season pass expires and before it gets too hot!

where is this boy running?...(I'll bet John knows)

To see the hippos, of course! Anyone who's ever been to the zoo with us knows that the hippos are Tyler's favorite animal, and they have been since he was about 18 months. None of us can figure it out. The hippos don't ever do anything cool. They just sit in the water, but that doesn't stop Tyler. He'll stay and watch for several minutes, waiting for them to stick their noses out of the water and blow bubbles. You can imagine how exciting it was when the hippos actually climbed out of the water one time last year.

I love watching Tyler's face while we ride the train...priceless!

We had a picnic lunch and held hands lots. It was a perfect day. I seriously loved every minute of it. I'm so grateful for this precious one on one time I have with my boy. He is such a sweetheart, and I adore his enthusiasm and curiosity.

We miss you, Daddy, and we can't wait to see you tomorrow!

More Easter Fun

Of course, Sunday morning we did the traditional egg hunt. After all, it wouldn't be a religious holiday unless a ficticious character brought treats and surprises in the middle of the night. Tyler was a good sport and entertained us all by wearing his rabbit ears and hopping around looking for candy.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of Tyler dressed in his "Easter best" for church. C'mon, I'm just glad we make it out the door with clothes on and shoes in hand- who has time for a photo shoot? Does that make me a bad mom?

Easter Weekend

Here are a few more highlights from our weekend with Chrissy and Mike.

We had a picnic at the park

Chrissy taught Tyler a few new tricks

The guys did some male bonding driving the RC boat out on the pond

And we dyed Easter eggs.

We really had a great time. Once again, I'm so grateful that I had a chance to spend some time with one of my siblings. Thanks a million for making the long drive down, Chrissy and Mike!

Gladiator Ready!

American Gladiators (http://www.americangladiators.com/) was a family home evening favorite this last season. Tyler really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the gladiators/contenders when at the beginning of each match the referee would yell, "Gladiators ready?," "Contenders ready?" The whole scene was reenacted yesterday when Mike and Chrissy visited from Kansas. They brought their nerf guns. Together we had 5 guns and more than enough ammo for what any gladiator fan knows as Assault. To paint the picture, the Gladiator stood at the top of the stairs protecting the target. Tyler was stationed there as artillery specialist.

The contender wove around various objects (couch, piano bench, etc) on the downstairs floor, hoping to get off a shot. Mike pulled a 2-0 win over John. Unfortunately, John was unable to make up the deficit when they moved to egg fights on Easter morning. John lost another 8 points to Mike. See them both in action here....

Peace

Dear Friends of the Crescent 17th Ward,
It has been such a blessing to reconnect with so many of you over the past several weeks. It's been so uplifting reading about your families and all the good you have been doing in your lives.
I wanted to take a moment to recognize Paul and Emily (Calton) Peterson. As many of you probably already know, their sweet daughter Ashley passed away last night. My heart aches for them, as I'm sure does yours.

Please continue to pray for the comforting peace that this sweet family so desperately needs at this time.

How grateful I am as we approach this Easter weekend, that we have a knowledge that our Savior lives, and that because He lives, Ashley will live again too. Her family will be blessed to be with her again someday.

If any of you did not have access to Ashley's Caring Bridge website and would like to check it out, contact me at carrie.carson@hotmail.com and I would be happy to give you the information to access the site. There is also a section there in which you can leave comments and condolences to the family.

Much love,
Carrie

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Adventures in Potty Training

So last Sunday, I got the idea that it was finally time to potty train Tyler. Monday morning I told Tyler that we were going to have a potty party for Family Home Evening. We headed off to Walmart and Tyler chose everything from the kind of soap to wash his hands, to the kind of cartoon characters on his underoos. He even got to choose a special toy that he could only play with while sitting on the toilet. He was so excited for his potty party. He walked up and down the isles of Walmart informing several other shoppers of our spectacular event- it was quite comical. You would have thought we were going to Disneyland by the way he talked about it (okay, I played it up pretty good too). During his nap I decorated the bathroom with balloons and streamers.

When John got home from work it was time for our grand celebration. Tyler got to say goodbye to his diapers, choose his favorite underpants for the day, and play with his new toy while having a little sit.

I'll fast forward and spare you all the details, but lets just say, he only had three accidents, and his sticker chart portrayed his many successes. His reward was a trip to the movie theater to see "Horton Hears a Who." I'm just really glad it opened on Friday. I was expecting this sticker chart to take MUCH longer to fill. I had no idea he'd be done in less than a week. Miraculous.

I'll leave you with this final picture and a few words, and then I'll let you fill in the gaps. We're still working out the kinks on our #2 business. Tyler tends to avoid having to go. After several adult doses of miralax and three days of waiting, we finally had a "HUGELY successful outcome," which, none the less, left us in a bit of a bind. Thanks Rescue Rooter!

Last week...

Wednesday

Tyler loved being a "good helper." He is very curious to know when he gets to eat his strawberries and tomatoes.

Thursday(the very next day)

I know what you're thinking, "I thought it was MARCH, and I'm pretty sure they live in TEXAS." It was definitely a welcomed surprise to see 3-4 inches of "partly cloudy with possibility of rain" dumped on our Lone star state. We typically see snow twice a year and it's usually just flurries, so this was quite a treat for us.

We managed to scrounge up a pair of thin mittens for Tyler and had to make do with his old tennis shoes. Hey, it's better than Crocs on his feet and socks on his hands (the typical Texas snow day attire).

This was when I realized that I needed to move our "crops" in to the garage.

I had to take this picture, otherwise I never would have believed that was the view out our front door. I'll need to look at this several times come July.

Friday

Friday morning Tyler woke up and looked out the window and shouted, "Good morning snow!" It was sunny and warming up so we had to play fast before it all melted. I made snowball after snowball for Tyler to throw...AT ME! Then Tyler took off for the park to assess the "damage" to his playground. He loved sliding down the slides with all the snow.

Saturday

Saturday, Tyler woke up to find that the snow was all gone and our snowmen were falling down, but he still had a good time tackling it and pushing it to the ground. He also really enjoyed eating the remains of the carrot noses.

And now I would like to salute all you moms who live in snow country. This was fun for us because it was short lived. If I had to bundle my kid up like that every day and then find places to put it all to dry after every snow outing- I would go crazy! And now I'll go back to my crocs and flip flops, thank you very much!

Happy Half-Way Day

It was one year ago today the my little brother left for the MTC (missionary training center) to prepare for an LDS mission to Mozambique, Africa. He's a great missionary and I'm so proud of all the good he is doing. He can't read this blog, but none the less, I'd like to give a shout out to him on his special day.

(I think my dad's last words of advice were "Never touch any of the monkeys...)

How would you like to receive this birthday message from your little boy half a world away?

I suppose this is what it's all about.

We miss him terribly, but we are so proud of all the good he is doing. And we can't wait to see him again in one more year!!!

Texas love

The other day, Arlene asked me if I REALLY like Texas.

Arlene, does this answer your question?

We do love it here, and I'm praying we don't move any time soon because that little Texas flag hanging on his wall took forever to stitch. Hope y'all come visit soon!

Yes, John made it back from London just fine. It was a fast trip, but he was there long enough to see the highlights of London- Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, and he even made it out to Stonehenge. But of all those things, what was his favorite? This:

I think secretly he would love to have joined them for one of their club rides. He brought home a copy of their riding schedule. Do you blame him? I'm sure riding through some of that country side would be absolutely breathtaking.

Since his return, we've had a very difficult and disappointing week, but amidst it all, there have been a few things making me laugh. Here are a few:

*Tyler recently picked up on Mater's line from the movie Cars, and can now be caught every now and then saying, "Holy Shoot."

*Whenever I see one of Oprah's commercials for her "Big Give" show I picture my dad with a sarcastic grin on his face saying, "I think there's a God, but I know there's an Oprah."

*John and Tyler took their weekly trip out to Home Depot on Saturday. They came home with purple flowers that Tyler chose to plant in the yard. Cute.

*Two days later, however, the flowers were killed by a wicked frost and a bit of snow and ice (I know, it's March...in TEXAS), but that made for a fun day at the park the next day when Tyler and I had a "snowball fight" with some of the remaining ice patches. Tyler loved it.

*The other night after John and I tucked Ty in bed and gave him his hugs and kisses, we heard him yell as we are walking down the stairs, "I lothe you guys!" Tyler still can't say the "v"or "f" sound, and yes, I did melt!