This week while babysitting for a friend, my kids have discovered new toys and activities. Tyson (notice his power rangers wallet hanging very heavily from his pants, and not in the best position), has discovered this stuffed animal and has taken to it. He has been sleeping with and attempting to feed it. I hope this hasn't swayed him from his superhero obsession because...... what would we be without them? Then, he found a barbie car (blue- at least) and has wanted to sleep with that too. I haven't felt the need to tell him that it is for a barbie and not a power ranger. The girls all laugh, but he's thinking it's because he is funny. Jaisa has developed a taste for sand...........(of course because we have yet to find something that she will not eat) and bugs................(both fake and real-ughhhh) The trampoline is her favorite. She loved bouncing with daddy and would screech with laughter every time. She even tried throwing her weight around to get the momentum to bounce herself, but it didn't work too well:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jaisa is 1 today! She has been such an easy baby and has brought so much joy to our family. We can't imagine life without her and her sweet disposition. She will smile at and befriend anyone (especially those with food or treats), and cannot get enough of her big brother Tyson. They are becoming close friends and she surprisingly has made my life easier! She is truly the "perfect" baby that I was hoping for and we are so so lucky to have her:) STATS FOR THIS GIRL: 26 POUNDS - 31 INCHES LONG = OFF THE CHARTS FOR BOTH!

My mom, sister and I on our way to sipping back a couple diet cokes, yes I am addicted, and feasting at Cheesecake Factory for a girls night out...............without kids :)My brother and his wife took Todd and I out for Todd's "your done with school dinner". It was so fun to be downtown with good company and ...................... no kids! Saturday was Todd's dental school Gala. It was out at the Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas. We were once again in good company and the food wasn't bad. Not really a fan of lobster, but I ate it since the tickets were selling for $100.00 a piece. Luckily a good Samaritan offered up their extra ticket so I didn't have to pay to get in. Once again......... kid free for the night! A little side note: don't pay any attention to my bangs in the pictures. I have lots of fun new regrowth from when I was pregnant with Jaisa and it is coming back with a vengence.

Birthday weekend

My younger sister Carlie and her son Dane (who is 6 days younger than Jaisa) flew into town this weekend to spend time with the family. Since both the kids will turn 1 this upcoming week, we decided to celebrate a little early with a cake for them to share, and torture. And yes, 6 days does make all the difference in size- ie: head size, cheeks, legs, tummy, and in Jaisa's case- appetite:) Before the kids started smashing the cake, Tyson was sitting close and leaned for a closer look. Grandpa, being the sensitive man that he is, decided to push Tyson from behind and shove his face into the cake. Tyson laughed for about 20 seconds and then all He%# broke loose. He didn't like that everyone was laughing at him, especially Grandpa who was quite impressed with himself (as seen in the next picture down) and threw a fit. He had a minor break down, threw the cake that was on in face at my mom, and sister and had a few "choice" words for Grandpa. A day later, and his face was still tinted blue- thanks to the blue food coloring.On the plus side of that - he now says that he has blue skin like a blue power ranger. Oh yeah- why didn't I think of that? Jaisa went ahead and enjoyed several handfuls of cake. She didn't notice the commotion around her ( nothing was going to stop her). She met her calorie quota for the day, and was sent to bed without dinner - (not really)! A few lessons learned: DO NOT use food coloring. It stains everything, which I knew but thought this time would be different.

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY:

DO NOT let Grandpa be in the same room. But if he is, make him promise to behave :) The End!

While running some errands today, I stopped by the Salvation Army to drop some things off. While I was talking to the lady at the front, a woman walked in to drop off a stroller that she said was broken. It didn't look broken. In fact, it looked pretty good. I don't think that it had ever been used. The wheels looked brand new, and it was the exact size that I was looking for :) So, I walked over to it and asked the girl how much they would charge for it. I have never shopped at a Salvation Army and didn't know if you are supposed to barter a price like in Tijuana, or if you just make an offer or what. I also tried to make a joke that I would do a trade for my bread maker and v.c.r. that I was dropping off - not even a courtesy smile cracked on her face. Did I offend her? Anyways, she told me that I could have it for $4.00!! Did she know something that I didn't? "I'll take it", I said. Then, Tyson spotted the toy section and found some knee and elbow guards and a helmet for his skateboard- $3.00 for all if it. He is now into Tony Hawk since he has a skateboard shirt that says HAWK on it. Tyson asked Todd what it meant and Todd proceeded to tell him all about the GREAT TONY HAWK and all the tricks he could do on a skateboard, kind of like a superhero you know? Let the posing begin (he gets all the credit for picking the pose) Well, I went to put the stroller in the car, and found out why it was only $4.00. It doesn't collapse!! Luckily I had my moms car. I put it in the back wondering how I was going to explain this one to my family, who would so lovingly make fun of me for buying a broken stroller, just because it was cheap. After taking the handle apart, I realized that there was a small spring inside just floating around, thus the reason the stroller wouldn't fold into travel size. HA - I'm not as dumb as they all thought. A little tlc and some glue to hold the spring- it is perfect. I love it. Who's laughing now? Mom........ Dad.......... Todd............ lady who gave the stroller away.............. lady who sold it to me? Grandma and Grandpa offered to take the kids swimming. It's not like I have much going on, so I went with them. Jaisa LOVED it. She was screeching and kicking her legs the whole time. Tyson insisted on wearing his floaties and superhero glasses just for a minute, so that he could keep up with Jaisa and Gramps in the big pool. It will be so fun in 1 week when Todd is done with school forever, and can play with us and relax!! Jaisa and Grandpa Weston

We don't encourage Tyson to play with dolls, or play dress up..................so poor Jaisa is his "go-to" girl. I came downstairs and found this......his hat - her head. She is such a good sport. Then, awhile later, I hear Jaisa screaming. He had pinned her down, trying to put his old spiderman underwear on her. Poor girl! He said that she is his assistant (to what I don't know). Can't he read her body language........."she's just not that into you." She did get over it quickly and together they made "music" on a pretend drum. A soundproof room sounds sooooooooo good right now! After naps, we went to Target (dollar section of course) and found these seed/pot combos to take up some of our time today, as I am running out of options to keep these kids busy. Tyson has fallen for his little seeds. He calls them his "little fellows" and has ONE in a baggie that is his "pet", which he has appropriately named Seedy Grow. I have found him outside several times checking on the seeds to see if they have grown (they are about 2 hours old). He has watered them and fed them ( miniature marshmallows) and told them stories, and wonders why they have not grown yet. It is going to be a longggggg Summer. I NEED ideas!

HIGHLIGHT(S) OF THE WEEK

The stress has gone! Todd FINISHED his Western Regional Boards this past weekend (huge accomplishment) and is looking forward to sleeping through the night again, recommitting to his diet, and resume watching Big Brother :) 2 weeks left of school- woo hoo! I went to Joanne's today to find some supplies for some project I have yet to finish, when Tyson yelled "OH.....MY......GOSH" as loud as he could, booking it across the store. He spotted this fleece power ranger material the minute we walked in. Once I saw him do his "BLACK POWER RANGER- POWER UP" schpiel, I just couldn't say no. I hate when parents can't tell their kids no. He did actually tell me " I will be a really good boy, and not use naughty words, and eat my vitamins, when we get home." Now............ I know that this is not true. He probably will NOT be a really good boy unless I threaten to take his new blanket away, and he probably will NOT eat his vitamin ( I made the mistake of getting bears and not Spiderman like his cousin), I'm sure I will hear him say 'dumb-dumb' or 'poo-poo' (yes, these are bad words at our house), BUT he NEEDED this blanket. I NEEDED him to have this blanket. He actually carried the whole dang material holder thing around for 30 minutes as I continued to browse. Now that is dedication!!! He wrapped it around himself like a shawl in the car, until he began sweating and made the very important decision to take it off and just lay it next to him. The good thing about it, is that it doesn't need anything done to it. I might just sew around the edge to keep it from fraying(does fleece fray?) He was happy to go to bed tonight( I think he was actually giggling as he got tucked in) so that he could "have dreams of being a power ranger." What a small price to pay to see THIS happy face. And, I had the BEST diet coke ever at Sonic today..................mmm..........pellet ice. (yes, I did just write that.)

BATTLE OF THE SHOWER CURTAIN

My "little sister" Lara is 28 years old.( check out her blog in my address column) She has downs syndrome and is VERY affectionate. But Todd is quickly wearing out his welcome, and his daily hug intake has taken a plunge. When we first moved in with my parents about a month ago, she was used to having one whole wing of the upstairs to herself. Her own t.v. room, bedroom, bathroom etc... We took over the extra bedroom upstairs and she of course was and is not happy about it. We have known this. She doesn't like when my kids whine. She and Tyson fight like cats and dogs. She has been known to steal Todd's leftovers after date night, by waking up at 6 in the morning, just so she can eat it with no one around. She is very particular about her things. (aren't we all?) I would go as far as to say that she is a little OCD, from years of "living alone", exactly as she wishes in her little space. She has to have the t.v at the perfect angle and knows if someone has touched it. She will hide the remote just so that we can't find it. She doesn't like Todd to watch his "barbarian" shows (espn, sports etc) and wants it left on the channel she was last watching. (ALWAYS lifetime) We better not even think of using her brushes or hairspray or anything else unless we can put it back the EXACT way we found it. Even then SHE KNOWS!!! It is incredible. Anyways, the last couple of nights, Todd has noticed that Lara has been locking the bathroom door at night when she goes to bed. Just a little frustrating when you have to go potty in the middle of the night and have to search for something to unlock the doors. So, we had a talk with her to find out what the problem was. She said that when Todd gets done in the shower, he doesn't put the curtain on the correct side. She likes it to line up next to the toilet on the right, and Todd leaves it on the left. I didn't know that it mattered, but she made sure that we, I mean Todd knew what he did wrong and told him not to do it again. So, last night Todd called me upstairs once Lara had gone to bed. There was a note on the door (above) that said: Todd, Don't do this again. Like I told you again, STOP being selfish. Lara Weston So, we unlocked the bathroom door trying to figure out why she locked it and what Todd had done wrong this time. Right away, we noticed the shower curtain and just look at eachother laughing. So, he quickly moved the curtain to the other side, so he wouldn't have to deal with even more retaliation from Lara. He also included this note on the door. Lara- I'm sorry for being an insensitive jerk. Todd Lesson learned? Probably NOT!

We had a very eventful and fun day. Jaisa made face paint out of an oreo cookie (how do they know to do these things?) Several times throughout the day I catch the baby crawling towards the computer desk. I tell her "no no no" and for some reason she hears "yes, hurry and crawl to the computer and push as many buttons as you can, and bite all the cords in the process." Then , right before I come to swoop her away, she grabs all the papers and flings herself back laughing hysterically so that she doesn't get in trouble. I barely make it in time to catch her from hitting her head on the tile. Grandma Weston likes to teach all of her grandchildren how to "dance". She holds them close cheek to cheek, and holds their hands and then starts to sing and spin around in circles. My kids just eat it up and catch on so quickly. Now, all she has to say is "do you want to dance Jace?" Automatically, Jaisa will put her face next to my moms and grab around for her hand with a smile on her face the whole time. It is so cute, and reminds me when Tyson used to do the same thing. This short time living with Grandma and Grandpa has been a great bonding experience for the kids. We are hoping that Tyson will forget all the dancing skills that Grandma has taught him, and gravitate more towards sports and "guy" things :) Tyson learned all about April Fool's today at school, and so we came up with a couple of clever ideas to trick dad and Grandpa. Grandpa got home and was doing some stuff around the house and Tyson said "Grandpa, I scratched your car with my scooter." My dad turned towards us and said "what?" with a worried expression. So, Tyson repeated himself followed quickly by an "April Fool." It was actually funny to see to see it all go down. So, then when Todd got home Tyson said "dad, I broke your computer. I crunched it with a knife and it broke everywhere." I don't know where he came up with this story, I just gave him the idea to tell dad that his computer was broken. But it was scary to see how into he was. He was doing the motions of what it would look like to "beat up" someone's computer and went on with the story for a couple of minutes. It was actually quite entertaining, especially when Todd would look at me wondering why I didn't stop him from breaking it. After Tyson finished his story he said "April fool dad." He was so proud of his little "lie" and makes me worried that this will be an everyday thing now. I guess all the lies he made up wore him out, because he was dead asleep by 6:30 p.m. Or, maybe it was all the excitement about the hair on his legs (yes, again he noticed his tiny leg hairs, and insisted that they are getting longer everyday) GROSS, I HOPE NOT!!