Thursday, February 12, 2009

Even MORE Big News!

Haha, just kidding!

This post is not related to big news at all. It's actually just a post about cakes. When Tyler's 1st birthday rolled around, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at creating his cake. I decided to do an Ocean Life themed party and this is the cake I created as a result. The only downfall to the cake was the fact that it was a bit tippy and had to be propped up in back...not too shabby for my first attempt, if I do say so myself.

Then for his second birthday, I decided to keep the tradition going. Tyler wanted to have a Dinosaur party, so I thought a volcano cake would be a great addition to the theme. Here's the end result that year.


During Tyler's 3rd year, he discovered the movie Cars and became a big fan. So, needless to say, he wanted a Cars themed party that year. Since Allison was just 6-months-old at the time, I was feeling a bit more stressed than usual and didn't get as elaborate as I had the past 2 years. I was still pleased with the end result and Tyler absolutely loved it. As people arrived at his party that day, he would lead them to the cake and excitedly ask, "Do you want to see my party?!"

Another funny story about this cake: To make the cactuses, I cut shapes from a green sponge and just stuck them in the cake. When it was time to light the candles, Billy thought it would be a grand idea to use a blow torch to get the job done (go figure). Well, that poor little cactus on the left side of the cake caught on fire and had to quickly be extinguished! Tyler didn't let him live it down for quite some time after that. "Remember when Daddy caught my cake on fire?!" he would say.


Six months later, Allison's first birthday rolled around. After much deliberation, I came to the consensus that she would have a Garden Party theme. So why not create a garden cake complete with gumdrop flowers and a sugar wafer picket fence?!


So up until that point, I had only created cakes for my own children (other than assisting Vanessa in creating a castle cake last year for Lana's 3rd birthday). This year, Lana wanted to have another Princess party. I had seen these adorable doll cakes and decided I could create a princess one for Miss Lana. Plus there was an added bonus - her birthday gift was right in the cake! No wrapping necessary!


That brings me to my most recent creation. Tyler still has a great love of dinosaurs, and everyone knows his favorite is T-Rex. So this year, he requested to have a T-Rex themed birthday party and a green stand-up T-Rex cake. So yeah, the stand-up part didn't happen. I made an attempt at it, but really there was no way! So I explained to Tyler the difficulty in making a T-Rex cake that could stand and the liklyhood of it falling over and breaking. I told him if that happened that Mommy would be very sad and that I would cry. He replied, "Really? How bad?" "REALLY bad," I told him. I guess that was good enough, because he was very understanding and decided a lying-down T-Rex would be just fine. Just for the record, this cake took me FOREVER! But it was worth it for my Tylerman!

(Just in case you're wondering, the head, tail, arms, and legs are sugar cookie cut-outs.)

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Clearing Up Some Confusion

I am so sorry to everyone who got the impression that all three of the choices in the "More Big News" post were true. It was intended to be a multiple choice quiz to get everyone anxious and guessing what our big news could be. So to prevent any further confusion, I have deleted that post and am now setting the record straight!
The truth is that we will NOT be moving to Arizona. Billy would absolutely LOVE to live there, and will keep hoping that one day we will, but for now this Georgia Peach is firmly planted on southern soil!
As far as Family Fued goes, it has always been a dream of mine to go on that game show. Maybe one day I'll get around to actually trying to make it happen. I think it would be a blast! But currently, that is NOT true either.
So, through process of elimination, our ONLY big news is...

Lilypie Expecting a baby Ticker

Friday, February 6, 2009

P.S.

This is for anyone who reads our blog, but doesn't have a blogger I.D. (mostly family members).

I did not realize that I had my comment options set to where anonymous readers were not able to leave a comment. That has been CHANGED and you may now leave all the comments you wish! I know that you are all busting out of your skin to leave one RIGHT NOW, so just log in under "Anonymous." Don't forget to sign your name so we know who you are! Thanks!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Big News!

Our Tylerman turned 4 today!

We fell in love with this little man the moment he came into the world and joined our family. We adored every thing about him and were very eager for the joys we would experience with him in the years ahead.


The first year brought all the traditional milestones along with it - smiling, laughing, crawling, walking, talking and all the other little things he did to make us feel like the luckiest and proudest parents on earth!
And then he turned ONE...


The second year seemed to creep by a bit faster than the first. Tyler got to go on some fun trips during his 2nd year, including a Caribbean cruise! He managed to steal the spotlight with his charming personality and adorable tuxes while aboard the ship.
And then he turned TWO...


Our sweet baby was slowly transforming into a fun little boy! Each day brought something new with Tylerman. His intelligence amazed us on a daily basis, and he impressed us with the things he could bring out of that little memory bank of his. His wisdom far surpassed his years, and once again, we felt like the luckiest and proudest parents on earth!
And then he turned THREE...

In Tyler's third year, he became quite an adventurous little guy. His many experiences included climbing ladders and trees, meeting a police officer, going to the races, learning to swim, searching for wildlife (specifically turtles), getting to be a ring bearer, getting to ride a horse, driving a bulldozer, and going to Sunbeams. What a big boy he was becoming!
And then he turned FOUR...

I'm not sure where the time went, but what I DO know is that we have had a fun-filled four years with this little guy! He fills each of our days with happiness and brightens up each moment with his captivating smile. He is amazing in every way. Our lives wouldn't be the same without him! We are so eager to see what adventures this next year will bring!

We love you so much Tyler!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!!

Lists of 4 about Tylerman:

4 things Tyler loves
1. The color green
2. Lightning McQueen
3. T-Rex
4. His family

4 things Tyler loves to do
1. Ride his tricycle and Pooh Jeep
2. Play with his toys (especially his dinosaurs and cars)
3. Play games (from Hungry, Hungry Hippos, to HotWheels.com, to old school Duck Hunt on Nintendo, the kid LOVES games)
4. Be creative (crayons, markers, paint, scissors, Play Dough, you name it!)

4 of Tyler's favorite foods
1. Waffles
2. Meat Loaf
3. Chocolate
4. Chicken Nuggets and "Chicken Bone"

4 of Tyler's favorte things to watch
1. Little Einsteins
2. Cars
3. Monster's Inc.
4. Toy Story

4 of Tyler's favorite places
1. His Home
2. The Cabin
3. California
4. Wendy's (because they have Frosties)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Bowling

Back in December I had a coupon for 99 cent bowling games, so we decided that it would be a fun activity for us to do as a family. Here are some pictures to show what a blast the kids had (as did the rest of us!).

Like a pro! Tyler had actually been bowling once before at a bowling birthday party he was invited to. He was thrilled to be getting the chance to do it again!

Miss Independant wanted to do it all on her own and wanted EVERY turn to be hers. She can do ANYthing her big brother can you know!

Check out those bowling moves!

YAY! I knocked them down!

And the final score....

WAY TO GO ALLISON!!!

This video shows a bit of Allison's expertise that won her the game!

Tyler's favorite part of the night was cosmic bowling. A few days later he told me that he wanted to "go bowling in the dark again."

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Christmas Portraits

I was just recently emailed the proofs for the Christmas portriats we had made of Tyler and Allison, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites.

Allison would have NOTHING to do with Mommy wearing these Santa sleeves and gloves, so she got an adorable close-up instead!



Monday, January 19, 2009

Christmas Morning

Tyler and Allison were not allowed to see the surprises waiting for them under the tree until after eating breakfast. When the time finally came, we made them wait in the other room so we could get the video camera going to capture their initial reactions. We gave specific directions for them to wait by the stairs until we said "GO!" After a few short moments, Allison couldn't take the suspense any longer and came barreling in ahead of Tyler. Good thing we got the cameras ready fast!

Hey Allison, look behind you!

Little Tylerman awaited the signal, even when Allison bailed on him!

Once there, he immidately found the section of the toys left for him by Santa! The T. Rex Rampage race track set and a Walkin' and Talkin' Lightning McQueen.

This is a pretty neat Lightning if I do say so myself. He can do so many different combinations of moves, including dancing, talking, driving backwards and in circles!

You can tell Tyler is very pleased!

Allison got her very own "Binka Bell" 4-wheeler so she can ride outside with Tyler now too!


Allison also got a baby doll from Santa. Her name is "Baby Ally." She was in love from the first moment she saw her.

And made sure she was well fed before moving on to unwrapping other presents. It looks like Allison has a big job ahead of her to keep her safe from the vicious T. Rex!


Posing with all the Christmas treasures!


Now onto opening the wrapped presents...

Tyler was so excited to find one with his name on it!

He got books that feature him as the main character in the story - so fun!

This purse is one of the gifts purchased with the gift card that Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes gave Allison.

And she loved adoring herself in the mirror.

And last, but certainly not least, they got to see what goodies were left for them in their stockings!