House Party!

We have a group of seven couples, all with kids the same age as ours, that gets together once a month for supper or something. Last weekend we hosted lunch and a gingerbread house decorating party. It was snowy outside and the warm soup and smell of gingerbread made a wonderful day. I made the houses out of homemade gingerbread, and everybody else brought the candy!

I used to do this project with about 100 thirteen year olds when I taught middle school! but haven't done it since Tristan was born. It was fun to do it on a much smaller scale, and we all had a blast. I think it will become an annual tradition!

Tristan had as much fun eating the candy and frosting as she did decorating the house! Preston could care less about the house, so he didn't decorate one...maybe next year. He mostly played but did come to the table to check on us once with his candy and cheeto stained face!

I think they both had fun playing with all the other kids. Plus, all this week they have been eating the candy off the house!

Much to be Thankful for!

On Thanksgiving both of my children were appropriately dolled up. I took my camera out to my mom's house and didn't even take a single picture!!! I'm terrible! We had a great holiday, and I hope that all of yours was equally joyful!

On Friday, Tristan joined my sister and I for a little shopping. We bought a pink Christmas tree to put in her room. She already had a multicolored tinsel tree, but the pink one was perfect for her. We bought a little set of ornaments and she decorated them that night. She just looks so grown up to me!!

The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving it snowed. Not much, but we weren't expecting any, so we were glad for what we got! Tristan spent several hours outside with Daddy making a "snowman". He grew up in the part of Texas where it doesn't snow. I guess that explains why his snowman is more like a mounded blob instead of three balls. Tristan helping may have also had something to do with that! It's Sunday now and almost all the snow is gone, but it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully we'll have several more good snow storms this year to play in and make a real snowman!!

"A Dazning Place"

When Tristan sings "A Whole New World" she says dazning instead of dazzling. It's pretty sweet! We thoroughly enjoyed our week in Florida. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write about it! I don't have all my photo pass pictures back yet, so I'll post more of those later!

On the Thursday before we left Preston started to sound a little wheezy to me, but he acted fine, so I didn't worry much. I'm not the rush to the doctor kind of mother...I'm the wait and see if it works itself out kind! At 15mo Preston had never really been sick or taken any kind of medicine (other than for allergies). Friday he sounded a little worse, but still not bad. We left for the airport at 5:45 Saturday morning, and he had pretty much lost his voice. It was pretty sad, but it made for a much quieter trip. (Preston is a talker!!) He was still acting like he felt fine, and by Monday he was barely coughing at all.

Tristan however was not herself on Monday. I could just tell she didn't feel good. That night she was burning up with fever. It continued through the night and into the next morning. We decided we'd better take her to a care center and check her out. Keep in mind that she's over three and has only had one ear infection and taken antibiotics once!

Since we were going anyway we figured we might as well have the doctor listen to Preston's chest even though he was back to his usual self. After three hours in the care center, we learned that both of Preston's ears were terribly infected, one of Tristan's was and the other was on it's way!! They both started a round of antibiotics that day.

The illness definitely put a damper on our fun as Tristan just wasn't herself. Preston however had a glorious time. He rode rides with me that Tristan wouldn't and had a blast! Tristan wasn't 100% by the princess lunch, but I think she still enjoyed it. When we entered Cinderella's Castle, she sat up tall and whispered, "It's a dazning place." And it was.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!! What started out as an awfully cold and terribly windy day ended up in a pretty good trick or treat night. If I do say so myself, I had the cutest ghost and prettiest fairy princess in my car!

We visited with lots of people and got a couple bags full of candy. Tristan was well rehearsed wit the "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you", but Preston would say nothing. He was pretty sweet though when every time showed him candy he would "Oooo".

I think that Tristan's highlight was that after Halloween, we go to Florida. She has said this to me several times today! On Saturday morning, her dreams will come true. More postings for sure after we get back from Cinderella's castle!

Pumpkins

Last Saturday our church had the Halloween carnival and we had our picture taken together. If you can't tell...I was a Jack-O-Lantern, Preston was a ghost, Tristan was a fairy princess, and Matt came as himself! Tristan had lots of fun playing the games until she was buying tickets at the front with Grandma, and someone with a scary mask came in. That was the end of her fun, so the kids went home early. Thank goodness for Grandma! Matt, my sister, and I were all working boothes, so we couldn't leave.

Today the kids and I hollowed out the pumpkins to carve tomorrow. Tristan has really never liked to put her hands in the sticky part of the middle. Being a boy and all, I really thought Preston would be game. I thought wrong. I would ask him to help me take out the seeds, and he would just back up shaking his head. He was barely interested at all in what I was doing.

I worked by myself while the kids played outside, (it was a beautiful day!) After Tristan was a little bored and wanted to go in, I asked her if she would rather paint her pumpkin. She thought that was great, and so did Preston! As you can see, they had quite a time. By the way, crayola washable paints really do come off very easily!

Hot Dog!

Before anyone calls me to yell, Matthew and I are fully aware of the potential choking hazard.

Matthew was feeding the kids hotdogs and he had one cut up, but not the other one. Preston somehow got ahold of the whole one and ate the whole thing!!! It's not as dangerous the way he eats it...he goes at it first like corn on the cob, then he puts it in his mouth the other way. We'll do our best to not let this happen again, but he is still pretty cute!

Fair continued...

As we were getting ready to head home, we went by the fountains. Tristan had a blast splashing last year, and not much had changed except the addition of Preston splashing! Preston would have climbed in if Matt hadn't repeatedly stopped him. He kept splashing and then putting his wet hands on his face until he had water all over his face. His clothes stayed surprisingly dry!

We stayed for the evening parade and left before the major night crowd hit. It was a great time!

Texas State Fair

This year was Preston's first trip to the Texas State Fair! He had a blast! Auntie Amanda came with us, but the rest of Matt's family are not fair goers. Tristan and Preston loved to pet the animals and help feed them.

Of course, for me the fair is mostly about food! Preston was broke in early by eating chicken on a stick. The fair has a variety of unusual fried foods each year. This year's new ones were fried latte, fried cookie dough, and fried banana pudding. We passed on the latte. The cookie dough was disappointing, but the pudding was outstanding! Go ahead and laugh, but writing this now, kinda makes me wish I had some!

He walks!

I tried to upload video of Preston walking, but I couldn't get it to work. On October 11th he just took off! He had taken his first steps about a month earlier, and I kept wondering...when is he going to start walking more than crawling? Playing outside one night he just stood up in the grass and away he went! By now he is running almost everywhere he goes!

Phone Pictures

Here are a couple of follow up pics of Preston talking on the phone. Of course, as I was giving Preston all the attention, Tristan said, "Mommy take my picture talking on the phone!" This is especially funny since she never wants her picture taken!

Talking on the phone!

Preston refuses to let me take a picture or get any video of him pretending to talk on the phone. Whenever I try, he throws the phone down and goes for the camera. I'll keep trying, but I'm going to celebrate on here without the pic anyway!

Everyone keeps telling me to be patient...boys are just different from girls. I know this, but since he is doing things so much slower than Tristan did, I sometimes get a little impatient! He has loved to hold and play with phones for quite some time. But, this week he started to hold it up to his ear and "talk". It's hilarious to see him push the buttons, then talk, laugh, and push the buttons again. I must laugh a lot when I'm on the phone, as he thinks this is something that should be done!

Tristan has begun to love her brother again, which is great for all of us!! She loves to play chase with him, and they are pretty cute in the sandbox together!

Her favorite activity for the past few weeks is to climb up on one of us and say, "Tell me about Florida." It's hard to believe, but in just four weeks we will be traveling to the happiest place on earth again!! Tristan can hardly wait, and to tell you the truth...neither can I. More postings on that later!

Homecoming Parade

Last week Matt was on his fancy trip to Miami, FL, with his sister, Amanda, and her friend Desha, so I had the kids all to myself for three days! It really went great! Tristan decided to sleep all night in her own bed, and Preston decided to love me and get up at 8:00 instead of 6:00. Yea for me!! We had fun, but we were all happy when Daddy got home on Friday night!

Last week was also homecoming for Booker. The kids and I braved the festivities by ourselves. Now, for those of you who don't know, taking two kids by yourself to functions is a little tricky sometimes, but we made it! On Thursday Tristan and I walked to the high school to pick up bierox for everyone. It's a tradition on homecoming week for the junior class to have a bierox supper as a fundraiser. For those who don't know, bierox are a mixture of cabbage and seasoned meat wrapped in dough. It's a local german food, and they are delicious when made right! After dinner, Aunt Stephanie went with us to the burning of the letters pep rally. It was at the football field at dusk, and both kids really enjoyed the cheerleaders and band!

On Friday we went to the queen coronation. Tristan loved all the pretty dresses. As each candidate would come out she would say, "It's beautiful!! Just like at Disney World!" (I think she was referring to the princess lunch we attended.) After the coronation was the parade. It was much hotter than it should be for the end of September, but they both enjoying watching the floats go by. Tristan really liked catching candy!! The pictures are from the parade. Preston is sharing goldfish with Hagen Chisum, a friend of ours!

Football!

This past Friday was the first home game for Booker. The kids and I got spirited up and went to the pep rally in the afternoon. I had another Babci moment as I sat there in the gym with my little cheerleader and future football player. As they both clapped to the fight song (which I still remember the cheer motions to!) and we sang the alma mater, I just couldn't stop tearing up a little! Tristan was a little worried that the Kiowa mascot was going to bother her, but other than that it was wonderful!

That night we all went to the game with Aunt Stephanie. When the sun went down, it was a little chilly. We even had hot chocolate! We walked from our house to the game. It was a wonderful night!

Princess Birthday

Like every labor day weekend, we had a house full of family to celebrate Tristan's birthday. I can't believe that she is three!!! My how time flies! My sister and I decorated her castle and princess cakes. Tristan loved them!

We had a great weekend with lots of food, family, and fun! Tristan had a party with her friends at our house on Saturday morning. Then, that afternoon we went up to the city pool for a swim party with just the family.

Tristan pretended to be a mermaid and splashed with Noah. Preston splashed for a bit and then took turns eating ice with Grandad and letting Babci and Grandma feed him sandwiches. Life is good! It's so nice to have everyone together once a year. If anyone from the NE or NC wanted to come they would always be invited!

It's Finished!

I meant to get the pictures up several weeks ago, but I've been a little busy planning a party weekend! On the 24th I finally finished the playground! Since this picture we've added a couple of steering wheels, a telescope and some swings.

I did have some help from time to time, but this has mostly been my project. I was so proud as I watched all the kids at Tristan's party climbing and playing all over last weekend! Preston is my angel, so he posed for a picture, but Tristan wouldn't!

First Steps!!

Big news in the Bartosiewicz house...Preston took his first steps last night! I had walked him into the livingroom by holding his hands and walking behind him. We were walking Aunt Stephanie to the door.

I let go of his hands, and he stood there for quite a while. I said, "Look at him stand all by himself!" Aunt Stephanie turned to look and said, "Good job, Preston!" At that he took three steps toward her before he fell down!

It won't be long and he'll be running all over the house!

Luau

For Preston's first birthday party we had a luau at the pool! Preston had so much fun splashing in the water. All of the other kids did too!

At first he wouldn't touch his cake, but after I broke it into smaller pieces, he ate it up! To the great pleasure of his daddy, he made quite a mess of himself. So much so, that I had to take him to the locker room showers to get cleaned up before he could go back in the pool! It was a great day and a very special celebration!

Birthday Boy!

It's hard to believe that a year's gone by already! On Preston's birthday, the 9th, we went out for pizza and ice cream. He love it! (And so did Tristan!)

Sweet little banana boy

This morning Tristan was eating a banana. She holds the whole thing and eats it. I had already cut off part for Preston to eat in small bites (with my assistance). Tristan had made a mess on the chair with her poptart. (Yes, it is the breakfast of champions). (And for the grandma's out there, she had already eaten pancakes, had milk, and was now having a banana!)

As I went for the vacuum to clean up the mess, Tristan evidently sat down her banana. Preston found it and thought, "Why wait for mom to feed me when there is a perfectly good banana right here?" When I got back this is how I found him! Sweet little banana boy. He fed the whole thing to himself without choking at all while I was snapping away pictures! I can't believe that he's old enough to do this!

Clothing Optional!

I wrote earlier about our excitement when we bought the grass seed. Well, we planted it over Father's Day weekend (thanks for babysitting Auntie Amanda!). Six weeks later and Preston is finally sitting in his own yard full of grass! We have a ton of weeds coming up as well. We sprayed them last weekend, but we are also weeding the yard by hand. As you would expect, weeding a 15,000 square foot yard by hand is a very long and tedious process!

Tristan and Preston are getting a playground, so we have already weeded the area where it is going. This is the only weed free place in the yard, but really it's the only place that matters right now. I'm about 2/3 of the way done assembling the million pieces of wood, but Tristan is already loving it! As you can see, her playground is clothing optional!

I've become one of those mother's! I now understand why there are pictures of me at this age playing naked. For some reason kids love it! (Get ready Taryn and Jacob...little Emmy will be riding her bike naked on the trails!) Maybe other people don't, but I reach the point in the day that when she says, "Can I take off my dress and play naked, Mommy, Please?" I smile and say, "Thank you for asking nicely. Yes you may!"