golf with Papa Marz

Nate loves golf.  And lucky for him – his dad & Papa Marz love it, too. 

But Wes was out of town today so Nate had a date on the golf course with his Papa.

My dad recently joined a Country Club in town and Nate asked if he could go golfing and play tennis with him so my dad took him today.  For the last few days we’ve been talking a lot about golf and tennis etiquette and Nate has been looking forward to a fun outing.  For Christmas, my parents gave Nate a set of real little-kid golf clubs so he can actually learn with something other than a piece of plastic.  Nate was stoked to take them to the real golf course today!  My dad called me on the way home and was ranting and raving about what a great golfer Nate is.  I may have to tag along on the next golf adventure to see it myself.  I guess he hit the ball about 75 yards with his driver and continuously hit the ball really well.   A few of my dad’s friends were there and they came over and were shocked at his swing.  Who knew?

They were supposed to play a little tennis, too but apparently they were on the driving range for quite a while and by the time they got off all of the courts were taken so they went inside and had lunch instead. 

And somehow Nate conned Papa in to an ice cream cone on the way home.

Nate hasn’t lost site of his score card and little pencil all day.

it was about time . . .

that I own an i.phone.

 

 

I haven’t had much time to play on it today – but I’m kind of loving it. 

Ryan’s 2nd birthday

Ryan turned TWO on Saturday.

We’ve been talking to him about his birthday for a few weeks now and while I know he doesn’t completely understand what that means – he now understands that it means extra treats, presents, lots of attention & perhaps even a party.

We had a little party for Ryan on Friday night with some family and friends.  He loves Mickey so we decided it was time to throw a Mickey party.  We kept it simple with pizza, salad & some finger foods . . . a few Mickey games for the kids . . . lots of chatting by the adults . . . Mickey cupcakes . . . present opening & some freeze dance at the end.

Ryan’s absolute favorite thing in this world are candy and treats.  He asks for it constantly.  So as a party favor at Ryan’s party we did a treat bar.

Ryan’s been taking decent naps lately but the day of his party was just too exciting and he only slept for 1 hour.  Needless to say Aunt Sam was able to keep him on the couch with some cuddles and the Lion King right before the party to prevent him from melting down yet again or from tearing the place apart!  Despite his exhaustion, he was great at his party.

It was a fun night to celebrate Ryan!

……………….

Saturday was his actual birthday.  He slept in till 8:30 [unheard of around here!] and I went in to his room and said, “Happy Birthday, Ryan!”  He got a big smile and said . . . “party?  me?”  He was excited.

Saturday morning was like Christmas morning at our house.  Ryan opened up our gift to him as well as some fabulous books from Grandma & Grandpa G. and then the boys played and played with Ryan’s new toys that he LOVES.

Ryan LOVES to cook at every little kitchen he can find.  I didn’t want to buy the whole kitchen so when I found this little grill . . . I knew it’d be perfect for him.  The boys are LOVING it and all of the accessories!

On Saturday morning we took the boys to Chuckee Cheese for some birthday fun.  They each got a cup of 20 tokens and as soon as they were gone, we were on our way to In.n.Out for a little birthday lunch.  Ryan always asks for their french fries but he was so exhausted that he didn’t eat one thing and only wanted to rest his head on my hand!

I think Ryan had a great birthday.  More on what he’s up to coming soon!

A lovely Marz weekend.

We had a really fun weekend with the Marz family!  My Aunt Tina, Uncle Gary, Aunt Leslie, cousin Ashlie and little Will came down from Salt Lake and we had a great time.  We have a few aunts/uncles that live here in Vegas that we don’t see nearly enough so it got us all together for the weekend.

On Friday night, they joined us at our house for Ryan’s 2nd birthday party.  We were glad they could come!  After the party I went over to my Aunt Kara’s house and we had 10 people around the table playing 5 Crowns.  I have to say this night was hilarious.  A handful of the older people around the table had some hilarious statements which made Sam, Ashlie, Leslie & I chuckle.  A lot.

On Saturday I was able to sneak away for a little bit to meet the girls at Town Square for a little shopping.  Saturday night we got a sitter and all of the adults went to dinner and a movie.

On Sunday night we had dinner at my parent’s house.  I forced everyone in to a picture!  [Sam was with us up until Sunday where she had to work which is why she isn’t pictured here]. 

I love it when our family comes to visit! 

We got to spend some time with Kyle on Sunday night.  We’ve missed him.  Nate’s still talking about cousin Kyle and how great it was to play with him.

be my valentine.

Valentines Day was pretty fun in our house.  We didn’t do anything monumental but a few crafts . . . lots of treats and candy . . . a Valentines lunch at Kileys . . . Valentines in the mail from cousins & grandparents far away . . . and our daily love mail made it pretty fun.

Aunt Sam came over on the 13th to give the boys their Valentines.  She’s always so thoughtful.  So on V.Day while she was at work, the boys and I had fun sneaking in to her house and leaving her a Valentine.  Nate really enjoyed handing out Valentines this year.  It was fun he got to go to school on Valentines Day . . . I think his favorite Valentines to give out that day were to Ms. Joy [preschool teacher] and Ms. Natalie [hip hop teacher].

Nate made this Valentines shirt at Claire’s house in Phoenix.  He was so excited about it that he wore it on the 13th.  Good thing I found Snoopy love shirts for the boys for V.Day.

Wes and I don’t usually exchange real Valentines gifts.  And we didn’t this year but Wes gave me the best gift of all when he got up early, fed the kids a healthy breakfast before he gave them their heart donut, cleaned up the entire kitchen and mopped the floor before he went to work!

This year I had a mailbox for all three of my boys and every morning for about a week there was a little something fun in the mailbox for them.  I had big plans with thought out notes cute things to put in there and then all of a sudden it was February 7th and I just had to run with it.  I didn’t even get their names put on . . . maybe next year!  They still liked waking up to some love mail!

We like holidays around here.

Nate and I went to Phoenix.

Nate & I got to go to Phoenix for a “big kid” trip last weekend.  My dear friend Mimi lives there with her cute little family [she has 2 little girls pretty much the same age as my boys] and it was time for another visit.  I thought it’d be fun for some one-on-one time with Nate & I thought Mimi would enjoy some time with just Claire so Nate and I jumped on a plane to Phoenix and it was fabulous.  Traveling with ONE four year old is a breeze!  [Before I jump in to the trip – I have to give a big thanks to Mimi for being our photographer!  My camera battery was dead and I couldn’t find the charger so she snapped away.]

Right when they picked us up from the airport, Mimi took us to a darling Ice cream Parlor and Candy Shop called Churn.  I’m pretty sure I had some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had there and I had to purchase some of their delicious candy, too!  It was a great way to start our trip.  We then headed to the “choo choo park” that I’ve heard so much about over the years.  What a fabulous park complete with a train, a carousel and some pretty neat playgrounds.  The kids played and played in the FABulous weather and it was wonderful.  Of course on the train car they picked to ride on was the cattle car in the back and their over 6’ mamas had to squeeze in that little cage which I’m sure was hilarious to watch.

We got to participate in their weekly “Pizza and a movie night” on Friday night where we watched Despicable Me.  Speaking of night time – let me just say that Nate’s sleeping was atrocious this trip!  He ended up sleeping in my bed and he is the craziest sleeper ever!

Mimi & Claire let Nate and I pick Saturday’s activity and we picked the Phoenix Zoo.  It was just the big kids today [Sammy & Ryan got some quality time with their dads!] and we had a blast.  I think we were at the zoo for almost 5 hours before Mimi and I were tired out!  A few favorites from the Zoo: RIDING the CAMEL!, Nate walking everywhere with the Zoo map, snow cones, monkey village, watching the bear eat his “snack” out of a paper bag, playing in the old stationary jeep and enjoying being out on a beautiful day with our big kids.  And I have to say that the Phoenix Zoo is a fabulous zoo!  One of my favorites.

Nate thought it was pretty funny to ride around in the wagon like this.

Nate brought all kinds of boy craziness in to the Skeehan household and Claire handled it superbly.  These two kiddos really had a good time together which was nice.  She was even genuinely excited to play the games they made up like “Fight Men” or “Pinch the Girl” – none of which I’ve ever heard of before! 

After church on Sunday we made Valentines T.shirts and the kids played a little more before we had to leave.  Nate loved all of the Skeehans but I think the dog, Tahoe may have won his heart.  He wants nothing more than a dog of his own.  As we were getting ready to leave for the airport Nate broke down in genuine tears so upset that he had to leave Tahoe – he already missed him.  I thought it was cute . . . when Mimi and Claire pulled away from the airport Claire got a tear in her eye and said “mom, do you already miss him?”  These two are buddies.

I loved spending a weekend with one of my favorite people – Mimi and her cute family.  And it was so fun to go on an adventure with just Nate.  I’m a big believer in some one-on-one time and my boys sure got it last weekend!  As we were flying home I asked Nate where our next “big kid” adventure should be and he said Disneyland.  Little does he know . . . it really is.

Mr. Ryan had a blast with his dad while we were gone.