Dyer Days

I have a TON of catching up to do on here...I haven't posted Halloween pictures, Logan's birthday pictures, our family pictures, Thanksgiving pictures, pictures of Logan and Elly's new fort, pictures from the LHS Christmas program, pictures from the surprise trip that Jarrod took me on to NYC...so, I will put some of these up soon, I know I will...tomorrow is the last day of school for us until January, so surely I'll be able to get some pictures downloaded and posted and some thoughts thrown in there too...for now, I want to focus on today...

Today was a big day. We had our "big" ultrasound today--although it doesn't seem as "big" when you have to turn away from the screen and you leave with no gender information. However, we were very excited to see this little bit and all it was busy doing...kicking around, playing with its feet and just "hanging out" in there. It is very healthy with a heart rate of 155 and no complications to note!

We also had Elly's 15 month doctor's visit and Logan's 5 year doctor visit. They both are doing well, although there seems to be some concern that Elly may have a lazy right eye (the same one that I have, actually) and that Logan's hernia is not closed...we're going to watch both and the doctor will check Elly's eyes again at 18 months and if there is still concern, she will send her to an optomologist at that point. If Logan's hernia hasn't completely closed by summer, we will have to go the surgery route and take care of it before he starts Kinder in the fall.

Logan weighed in at 39 pounds and 44 inches tall.
Elly weighed in at 21 pounds and 29.5 inches tall.

We had our church fall festival this past weekend and the kids had a blast as usual.

Elly and her "Honey"

Logan loves Ella, but wasn't so thrilled with the Arial hair

Lawson and Logan

Payton and Logan

Logan and Presley

Logan and Derian--he misses him at school so much!!

Logan and Baylor--future Aggie football players

Sweet Baby girls-Elly and Presley

Elly and Daddy

**No pictures, no kid stories...just me blogging...**

There have been way too many days lately where I've felt really crummy. Today was the first day in the recent past that I've felt GREAT! The kids were both feeling much better today also for the first time in a pretty long time too. So, we celebrated by having a pj day and doing some things that we haven't done in a while. We cooked together, played upstairs together, the kids and Jarrod played outside after work while I cooked dinner...and yes, Elly was still playing in her pjs in the misting rain--and loving every minute of it. All in all, it was a FUN, FUN day--not a day full of "out of the ordinary" memories, but a day to look at and go "this is what life's all about." A day that hopefully my kids will remember in a long line of days like today as the "normal, when we were kids" days.

One of my favorite blogs is Money Saving Mom's blog and I'm on there every day that I get on the computer. She not only posts great deals, she posts financial success stories of her family, she has guest posts, meal planning, her grocery store purchases for the week and my newfound favorite--recipes. The thing that I love is that I relate SO well to her (with the exception that I consider her wonder woman--I could never accomplish half of what she does and stay sane, but I digress)...I love to cook, we have nearly the same number and ages of kids, she is frugal, but not cheap. Everyone who knows me knows that I love a good deal, but part of that is that I would NEVER consider myself cheap. I do not want cheap things, I want good, quality things at GREAT prices--there is a HUGE difference. I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner that I got at a great price, I have an amazing washer and dryer that my husband negotiated for at a phenomenal price, I have a great car that again, my husband negotiated a great deal on. God has blessed us with a home that is above what we dreamed of, that again, he provided for us at an exceptional price. I don't pay full price for anything, really if I can help it. There are some exceptions, but if it is a "desire" item and not something that I see as a "need" chances are its not happening--especially if it is something for myself. I know that I'm in for it when my kids are teenagers and wanting the most popular, now items...but I will scour to find the best deal on those things, I'm sure...

If you've gotten this far, I'm sure you are wondering how in the world this relates to my great day with my kids. Well, last week, Money Saving Mom posted a "baking day" and posted throughout the day what she was making. So, while Elly took her morning nap, Logan and I decided to try a new recipe that MSM had posted--pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Let me assure you that these were/are the best muffins I've ever had. The recipe makes 30 muffins and you can freeze them after they've cooled down to have tasty treats for many days to come. The best part was that I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Well, after this was such a success, I decided to make another recipe that she posted about for dinner tomorrow. She had doubled her recipe and then divided it into thirds to freeze and have for dinners in the future, so I followed her lead and again, was not disappointed--this is a great, easy, inexpensive way to make chicken tetrazinni--and I didn't even miss some of the extra, more expensive ingredients. Plus it only took me 30 minutes to make and I now have 3 meals...fantastic!!! Next on my list to make with Logan (maybe next week) is Whole Wheat Waffles...we love waffles and I often feed the kids Eggos in a hurry, so I'm excited to try these and freeze some for a little healthier alternative on school days.

I LOVED my old camera; however, it died on the first day of school, leaving me pictureless (other than the sweet picture my friend Lisa took of Logan) and also camera-less...so I am now the proud new owner of this beauty:

We had such a blast taking Logan to College Station in September. It was a fast trip, going down after his first soccer game, going to the A&M game and then trekking back after the game, but it was so much fun and Logan was pretty priceless. I hope that he will always remember how much fun he had--I know that Jarrod and I will. We took him to eat at Layne's before the game, then got there in time to watch the band march in, go to the MSC bookstore, and then go get our seats for the game.

How many times have we made this haul up to our seats? I hope our kids will make it many times as well!! (thankfully, we were on first deck, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be!)

Pre-game

I love this picture because you rarely capture this genuine laughing smile with sweet Logan.

After the game-on the field

So, I've been on a picture posting hiatus...my camera went kaput and I did get a new one, but I just got it up and running this weekend....so I have LOTS of posts coming later this week. However, I needed to get this down for "the book" for Logan...

At lunch today, we were discussing that I'm going to have a horse one day (always a dream of mine and one Logan knows well--and talks about A LOT) and that Logan is going to want to ride it everyday. So, I told him, well, you'll have to live close if you want to ride it everyday. So, here's our conversation:

L: "I hope that I get an interview in Midlothian"
M: "Well, that would be good, but first you have to go to college like Mommy and Daddy did. Do you remember where we went to college?"
L: "College Station. Texas A&M"
M: "That's right and that's where you'll go one day too."
L: "and play football. I sure hope I'm big enough--cause do you remember those white Aggies, how they're kind of fattish?"

**note--the "white aggies" he's referring to are the Utah State Aggies that we played when we took him to Kyle field for the first time--not a reference to skin color. Too funny, that boy!

Today was "jersey" day at school today for the teachers. So, we of course wore our Aggie gear and others wore their less attractive gear. One teacher had on a Colt McCoy jersey so I commented that she had the right number (12) but the WRONG color. So, tonight when Logan was going to bed, here is our conversation:
L: "Mommy, why did Miss Stephanie have on the right number but the wrong color shirt today?"
M: "I'm not sure, but I think they like the Longhorns."
L: "I think maybe all of her other clothes were in the washer, so she didn't have anything else to wear."

Jarrod's sister and brother-in-law were in Granbury visiting this weekend, so we got to spend the day with them yesterday at Annie's house. Last night, during the Aggie game, Elly decided to debut her first few steps. I wish I'd had my camera with me, but I didn't even take it yesterday (yes, that makes me a bad mom...) She did it over and over again and showed everyone--all the while clapping for herself. Thankfully Lorre, Annie and our family got to see it. Today; however, she has decided that if she just leans over when you let go of her hands that someone will catch her before she hits the floor...stinker!

Funny how much I cared "when" and "what" with Logan and now it so doesn't matter to me...why do I care when she talks/pulls up/walks as long as she does (other than I'm tired of all of the dog hair that she's picked up since Maddie's been relieved of her 2 year yard banishment.)

A special, special thank you to everyone who came, who ate, who played, who helped celebrate one of the most precious little girls in the world. We praise God for your friendships, for your love and for the role that you play in helping to shape this amazing little girl whom God has blessed us richly with. We love you all dearly!

Elly, Mom & Dad


Nanny, Elly, Pops & Daddy

Gammie and Elly

Annie and Elly

Annie, Mommy, Elly, & Gammie

Elly and Logan

Nanny and Mimi

Pops and Elly

Okay, I took 227 pictures yesterday...so here I'm going to post some in several different posts.


Elly and her BFF Presley (These girls amazingly already love each other so much. They get sooo, sooo excited when they see each other. I love it!)


Sweet Elly with her special older friends Brylie and Payton

Brant, Ella, Evan, Bry and Lawson

Presley, Allyson, Ash and Lisa

Brant, Austin, Payton, Rachel, Brylie with Hannah & Drew in the background

Ella, Abbey, Lincoln and Evan

Sandy, Baby Hewson, Michael Felker

"Aunt Karen" and her Edmond

Logan, Brylie and Lawson