Messy Eater

Evan has started eating his first set of "yellow" baby food. I have made the comment several times that Evan is so MESSY! He started eating squash which I am not so sure was his favorite, but he ate them. This week we started him on sweet potatoes and he LOVES them! :-)

When I was feeding him last night I thought I am going to take a picture of Evan to compare and to show everyone just how messy he is. In my mind Kyle was so much neater and a better eater.

When I went back to look for pictures of Kyle eating, I stand corrected!!!! Yes, I think Kyle was messier!! :-)

Snow Day!

To complete the Christmas weekend, we had a few snow flurries on Sunday. Even though it did not stick, I am glad the boys got to experience a little snow fall.

This was Evan's first snow and I wanted him to be out even if it was just for a minute. I have to admit I probably wrapped him up a little too much. He was in 2 big heavy blankets with his doggie hat and mittens.

This was Kyle's second snow and REALLY wanted to build a snow man. In the end he was okay running around the back yard yelling "SNOW."


My three favorite boys.....

Later on that evening it started snowing again and a little of it stuck on Mickey Mouse in the front yard. It didn't stay for long but it was nice while the snow lasted!

Scenes from Christmas morning....

Santa Claus brought Evan a new baby einstein jumper for Christmas.

I think he likes it!!

Kyle received the batman house and joker with the figurines.

Kyle and Ben immediately got in the floor and started playing!

Sweet smile from Kyle. He loved all of his Christmas also!


At the end of day, we had two very tired but very happy little boys! :-)

Evan's first bowl of cereal

Wow, time has been flying around our house lately! It seems like it was just yesterday that I had Evan yet it also seems like he has been with us forever.

Evan is growing, changing and doing something new everyday! He has 2 teeth - both on the bottom. Tonight, he tried rice cereal from a bowl for the first time.

The picture below is the very first bite....


He LOVED it!!! After a few bites he started opening his mouth for more! He even squealed at me when I stopped feeding him. It really was too cute!


He was one happy little boy after he got his tummy full of cereal!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a very healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. I know I am very behind in my blogging....I promise to work on updating everything over this long holiday weekend! :-)

New Blog title...

Well how do you like the new name???

Ben and I were talking tonight about the blog. I really do love keeping it up. I think it is a great way to let family and friends know what the boys are doing and how they are growing. For me it is also a way to record these little stories and adventures the boys are having.

However The Mini Adventures of Kyle was really just for Kyle. This blog has been mostly all about him and how he is growing and that was what our world was completely about. Since August, our lives have changed- in the most wonderful way. I tried to add Evan's name to The Mini Adventures... but to me it still didn't fit.

So we decided on a new name - House of Boys...well that is EXACTLY what I have. A crazy, wild, yet remarkably wonderful house full of boys.

So we will move forward....with a house of boys and loving every minute of it! :-)

Kyle's first field trip!

Last Friday, Kyle had his very first field trip or I guess I should say he had his very first school bus ride! To be honest I think he was more excited about riding the school bus than going anywhere on a field trip.

Parents could not ride the bus with the kids but of course I had to jump on just for a few seconds to take this picture of Kyle. He looks SO happy and excited!

I followed right behind the bus to the park and I ran up and snapped this picture of Kyle getting off the school bus.


Once the kids got off of the school bus they could go to this big playground. Kyle immediately ran to this climbing wall. It took him a few times to master getting up it but once he did there was no stopping him!

There were these round pipe things at the playground that made the echoing noises when they yelled into it. Well Kyle was being silly and he put his entire face in the pipe and yelled.

Climbing up again...

And then he enjoyed sliding down....

Kyle had a GREAT first field trip and I am so glad that I got to go with him! :-)

The beginning of the Fall Festivals...

I love the Fall.... for a lot of reasons. The cooler weather...spending more time outside...its getting close to Christmas... and all the Fall Festivals! Now that Kyle is another year older and a "big kid" as he calls himself we are trying to take in all of the Fall Festivals around our home. I think I have one picked out every weekend until we go to Disney World and then that will be a whole week of festivals! :-)

Last weekend, we kicked off our Festival visits by going to Ottawa Farms. They had LOTS of activities for the kids and the best part they had the activities so spread out that it did not seem crowded at all.



First off we went to the Duck Races. Kyle "helped" his duck win the race. :-)

Then he got to ride the cow train....


The highlight of his trip was most definitely the inflatable slides! They had two and Kyle crawled up these probably 100 times EACH.


Then we all went on the hay ride! Evan looks like he is having a great time, doesn't he? He slept the majority of the time but I want him to look back and know that even though he was a baby and little we took him every where. Now I know there are some things he just can't attend but right now and (Thank you Dana for the Baby Bjorn!) Evan can go anywhere we go. :-)


The hayride took us out to the corn maze where yes we got LOST!! It really started getting to me when I could not hear the voices of the other corn maze visitors. Thankfully we made it out.... 45 minutes later!

Kyle's Egg Custard

In Kyle's class, they are working on a certain letter, color and shape each week. He has had other classes that have focused on the letters of the week and you may remember the "E" dessert we made a few years ago - I posted on it here.

Now that Kyle is in preschool, we talk about what he is going to be doing in school the weekend before so he will be prepared and know what is happening. We talk about the letter of the week, what day is chapel, when is music class, etc... Each week then we have been either buying a snack or making a snack together.

This past weekend we started talking about the letter E and I thought about Egg Custard! Egg Custard was Mama Delle's favorite dessert so I thought this would be perfect and great to make with Kyle for his class.

Master Chef Kyle insisted on breaking the eggs....

Hmmmm.... Not so good! I think this is a job for Mommy. (Note to self - don't let 3 year old break eggs, even if he insists he can do it!) :-)


After dumping the first batch of eggs and egg shells and starting over, I measured out the sugar, milk and vanilla and he poured them in. I let him use the hand mixer. He LOVED this part!!

After he got done mixing, and we got the pie shell ready it was time to pour our mixture in... This was another "I do it myself" moment so I smiled, held my breath and let my darling 3 year old to pour the egg mixture into the pie shell. He really did good and was very careful.


The instructions said bake for 30 minutes however it took MUCH longer! I think we had to leave it in the over for close to 1 hour but it really turned out nice.

One little side note....when we arrived to school on Monday morning, I learned it was Fire Safety Week and they would not be learning a letter this week. GREAT. JUST. GREAT.

Oh well, Kyle and I had a good time making this Egg Custard together and his class had a special treat - just a week early. :-)

Back to it....

On Monday, I had to go back to work....yeah, I now BOOO! :-( I really enjoyed being home with Evan and we had gotten a routine down that was working well for us. I think I ruined my last few days at home because I was dreading Monday so much that all I could focus on was leaving Evan, leaving home, how I was going to get all of the household chores done, and how I was going to split my time equally between both boys at night. I am still questioning all of these things and I am still not sure how I can possibly get it all done.

I knew A LOT had to be planned for Evan's first day and my first day back at work. Evan needed diapers, wipes, diaper cream, bottles, papi's and the list goes on and on. I needed to take updated pictures for my desk, lunch and gym stuff, and a lot of other items I had accumulated over the 8 weeks I was out. Then of course Kyle had his book bag, jacket, and weekly "Letter of of the week" snack we buy/make together for his class. I think we ended up with 9 bags total and a cake plate....


Evan after getting ready for his big first day....

Kyle and Evan.... I know I am impartial but I think my boys are SO cute! :-)

My "first day back to work" picture with the boys.


After we had taken 100 pictures Kyle lined all of his super hero's up so they could have there picture taken too! He even took this picture himself! He told me it was there first day too. They rode with us but had to stay in the car to protect it while Kyle and Evan were at school and Mommy was at work. ;-)

When I picked up the boys, both received good reports and had a great day. I feel a lot better that the first day is over and they both are happy but still a little part of me wants to stay at home with them and cuddle all day long!

Brotherly Love...

I know it has only been two and a half weeks that Evan has been here but I can already tell that these two are going to be a pair!

Kyle is SO kind and sweet to Evan. He has to get the diaper out for us every time we change Evan's diaper. He will also try to calm Evan down if he gets fussy.

We have had a few signs of jealousy here and there but for the most part they were simple questions that were resolved with an answer or hug.

I don't know what is in our future. Whether these two boys will continue to be friends or if they will fight all the time.... however right now I am going to enjoy every minute of the peace and happiness! :-)

Evan has arrived!!

Our LONG wait is finally over!! Evan Roberson Claxton made his grand entrance into this world on Sunday, August 15 at 8:55 a.m. He weighed 7 lb and 2 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long!

Kyle is very excited and LOVES being a big brother! :-)

He watches over Evan when he is in is bed and they "talk". :-)

I will post more later but for now below is our first family photo. This is with a small birthday cake that the hospital gave us for Evan.

4th of July!

Sorry, so late in posting this but I figured better late than never! :-)

On the 4th we celebrated very quietly. Ben had to work that day so Kyle and I did our usual Sunday errands and made cupcakes (a post on that in a little bit!). Then when Ben got home, we got out in the back yard and let Kyle play in his whale pool (a post on that also coming in a little bit) and Ben grilled Hamburgers and hot dogs. Doesn't Kyle look so cute helping his Daddy with the burgers! Actually this is as close to the grill as he got but he felt important by holding the spatuala!! :-)


Then Ben and Kyle played baseball.... Kyle got pretty good at swinging and hitting the ball.

After supper and bathtime, we decided to light a few sparklers before it got dark. Yes I know it would have been better at night but Kyle doesn't really like the dark or the loud noises of other fireworks so this was a perfect time for us.


He loved playing with the sparklers!! He waved them around and we played with 3 boxes of them! I did keep a box or two inside so maybe we can play with them again outside one evening soon.

Kyle and Marti

On Wednesday of our "Stay cation", Aunt Monica and Marti came to visit! Kyle and I met them at the mall and first we had lunch at Chik - Fil - A. Kyle and Marti ate a table just there size!

Then after lunch we went down to the soft play area. It was SO cute, they held hands walking through the mall! :-)

Then it was PLAY TIME!!!

They played for a good while and I think they had a great time! By the time we left, Kyle was absolutely exhausted! I think he was asleep before we ever got out of the parking lot! :-)