Interviews

I saw on a friend's blog the idea to interview your kids.  I decided it would be fun to do so I can remember their likes/dislikes at the ages they are at!

Asher turned five in January and Avery is 3 1/2 (just ask her!).

What are your favorite colors?

Avery: Blue and Pink
Asher: Blue (it has been for years!)

What is your favorite food?

Avery: Ice Cream (Asher commented that it wasn't healthy, and Avery replied "I like not healthy things then!") 
Asher: An apple (he's on this HUGE healthy kick!  yeah!)

What is your favorite drink?

Avery: Chocolate Milk
Asher: Normal Milk and water...because they are healthy.

What is your favorite toy?

Avery: Baby dolls
Asher: My cars and trains

What is your favorite thing to do at school?

Avery: Painting (probably because mommy doesn't do messy things at home!)
Asher: I like to do my projects because they are really cool and messy.

What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Avery: To take pictures with my camera.
Asher: To play football.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Avery: a mommy that goes to be a doctor.  If I want to be a doctor, I have to wear the dr. outfit.  The playroom is going to be doctor office.  hahah!
Asher: I want to be a zookeeper that takes care of the monkeys.

Who is your favorite person to play with?

Avery: Aimee, my friend

Asher: Ms. Kristy's girls

What is the choir you are the best at?

Avery: Putting away the dishes
Asher: Feeding the dog

Avery's First Movie

We decided we would do something a little different for New Year's Eve and took the kiddos to see a movie.  I've been wanting to take them to see Tangled, but haven't had time (did I mention I finished my Christmas shopping Christmas Eve...for my children!).  Avery had never been to a movie, so she was super excited. Asher said it was a "girl" movie, but I think he secretively enjoyed it.  

A movie wouldn't be complete without a HUGE tub of popcorn!

Look at this face...I think he was excited! Maybe not...

Fun Weekend

 We had a jam-packed weekend...but it was a jam-packed with fun activities, so it was worth it!  Saturday was house cleaning, followed by worship team for mom & dad while the kids played with Uncle Marc, Uncle Matt, & Rowie.  Always a hit there!

Sunday was church, a 1st birthday party for Josh Denny (such a sweet baby boy that we LOVE!  I forgot to take pictures though!), and dinner with Uncle Ry and Auntie Janna.

We went to dinner at the Chancery up at Pleasant Prairie in the Ramada at the outlets.  I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.  Their nacho dip is amazing!  We always get it...so check it out after a long day of shopping.  It won't disappoint.

Janna wanted a new background picture for her phone with her favorite neice and nephew.  This was quite commical and took about 15 minutes to get one with both of them looking and not moving!  Here are two that I took on my camera.  Two because, although my sister always looks amazing, my children do not!  One is great of Ave and the other is decent of Ash.  Got to love taking pictures with children!

Thanks for dinner Jan and Ry!  We had a blast!

Hillsong Part II

I know this might seem obsessive (and I certainly do not have an obsessive personality. ha!)...another Hillsong post, but my husband just sent me this picture of it from his i-phone. (I left mine in the car, so no pictures here!).

Hillsong

Mike and I love worship music, and our favorite group by far is Hillsong. I was sceptical of the whole worship music scene a while back...I thought it was cheesy and I definitely did not listen to any of it. A few years ago, Mike challenged me to listen to a Hillsong CD. He was always playing it, so I decided to appease him and just listen. Once. Well, twice. An hour.

We love their music. It is always on playing at our house or we have the DVDs playing while we do housework. Ash and Ave can both sing almost every single song (including the guitar riffs and drum parts...scary, I know). I love hearing my kids praising the Lord in their carseats in the back. So cute! It blesses this mommy's heart.

So when we heard they were touring the USA in April, we jumped on the bandwagon to buy tickets. We ended up going to the soldout concert at Sears Center with some friends. We (my husband..) were the crazies who bought general admission tickets. Decoded that means "Standing room only...really close to the stage...so loud your ears bleed, your entire body feels the bass drum (including the credit cards in your pocket)...and you are in a mass of people praising the Lord (and not all singing on key)."

It was an awesome experience to be worshipping for 3 hours straight with thousands of strangers. We were so close to the stage, the is was just like being a church...with really cool lights, amazing sound, and thousands of people. Okay, so it wasn't like church, but it was so neat. If you don't have their CDs, check them out. Their newest is Faith+Hope+Love.

And before my husbands bashes me...yes, there is Hillsong and Hillsong United. Both equally fabulous. :)

Because I'm a little late on my cards...

This season is a crazy time of year for everyone...especially if you're a mommy, teacher, musician, wife, or director (worse, if you combine all of the above). Needless to say, December flew by in a whirl for me this year. We did order our Christmas cards on time (mid-December), but I have to finish stamping and labeling them. We're a little behind this year, like usual.

Here's a sneak peek at our card several days after Christmas. I hope to get a blog up about having this picture taken. It was done by a friend of mine, Erica, who is FABULOUS.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season with Christ at the center.

Quotables

Some cute quotes from Asher to start a week off right...

Asher: "Hey Mom. Did you know that dogs bark when tomatoes are coming? It's true."
Me: "Um, are you sure you don't mean tornadoes?"


Asher: "Why when people lose their jobs do they catch on fire?"
Mommy: "What? Why would they catch on fire?"
Asher: "Daddy says that when someone doesn't have a job they are fired. I hope they put their shoes on."


Don't you just love what they say when they are little?

It's arrived!

Fall has arrived in full force. I LOVE the season of fall. It is my absolute favorite. The beautiful colors, the cooler air, football season, pumpkins, and the clothes are just a few of my favorite things during fall...did I mention that I LOVE fall clothes?

Due to this love, Mike and I were on the hunt in the pouring rain last night to find the perfect fall coat for Ash and Ave. They both have grown so much since last spring that their coats were up to their forearms. We were wet and cold, but it was very much needed for two freezing toddlers.

I am so excited with our cute finds. I got Ave's coat and hat at Target again this year (love that store!). They make the cutest little girl fall coats. I also found an adorable hat/mitten set to go with it and her winter coat. I can't believe that she is two and still wears 18 months though. Craziness. She is so easy to dress because she looks so darn stinkin' cute in everything! Shopping with her was a whole other story. I need advice from all you moms when it comes to shopping for toddlers (especially girls...). I had to bribe Avery with new pacies just to get her to try on the coats. If she liked them, so would walk around and tell me "Oh, mommy, Abey cute." However, if she didn't approve she would make her little pouty face and say "No, not cute for Abey." It's already starting.

Mike doubted my abilities to find a suitable coat for Ash, so he joined me at Old Navy to find this adorable coat. Mike hated it on the rack and said it looked too much like mine, but Asher looked so cute in it, he couldn't refuse. I can't believe my little boy is already wearing a 5T! He's so big!
I am certain that when he showed up for picture day at preschool today he was the cutest kid there! Mission accomplished. :)

Asher's Coat...so cute, right?

Happy Anniversary!

Five years ago today I married an amazing guy! Happy Anniversary Mike!

We love you!

You are a wonderful husband and an amazing father. I love the passion that you have for serving the Lord and how excited you get when you get to do it! I would never have imagined we would be where we are today with two children and a fun-filled life, but I would never change any of it. Here's to many more years together!


I walked downstairs this morning to see a bouquet of my favorite flowers and a card with the sweetest things in side. He is always so very thoughtful.

Tonight we went to one of my favorite restaurants The Cheesecake Factory. We ordered amazing meals and very good cheesecake to celebrate!

I'm extremely excited for tomorrow. My sweet husband has reservations at a steakhouse he has wanted to try called Texas de Brazil followed by a night at the Avenue Hotel in Chicago. Super excited for a night on the town!

Current scores...

Potty training is finally starting to take off! Avery pretty much goes as long as you put her on the potty. She is highly motivated by M&M's (I wonder where she gets that from!)...Asher likes all the stickers that Jaime brought him with cars. She has a little system for him where he gets a car if he gets 3 stickers. We've almost made it to two cars...hopefully we'll have a garage full soon. Hopefully!

Any potty training wisdom you all have would be fabulous. I'm just looking forward to the extra money in the budget with the diapers column gone! :)

I know...I know.

So life has been crazy in the Tiojanco household these past five weeks since I blogged. My deepest apologies. I'm sure you have all checked it daily waiting to see what we have been doing in our neck of the woods...right.

Anyway. Like I said, life has been crazy. We have some major happenings around here! I started grad school full-time last week. This consists of me leaving the house everyday around 6 a.m. to commute downtown (yes, 50 miles) to school. I'm done around 3:30 everyday, but don't grace my doorstep until 5 or 6. Due to this, if you visit my house, you will find mass chaos, a dog needing to be walked, a laundry pile that is as tall as Avery, and much more. Shout out to my honey for picking up on my slack! I couldn't do life without that man. On the plus side, this is hopefully my last summer in school since I'll be graduating on July 25th. See you all there, I'm sure.

If you have a second, please pray that I finish my project. I'm up to 65 pages and counting and have been informed that "it never hurts" to add more. Never hurts who, I ask.

Next up...National Boards next year. I just got my box today and I'm actually excited. I think I have a sickness when it comes to degrees and certification.

Our other BIG news is that we are POTTY TRAINING! Maybe this is where we really need the prayer warriors. Asher is stubborn. I take full credit for that one. He gets playing and does not care a bit about the rest of the world. My 16 year old sister Jaime is staying with us for three weeks. She is babysitting them during the day...and she accepted the potty training challenge head on. In fact, I think she initiated it (perhaps the monetary incentive that goes along with it helped...you'll do anything for money at that age). She arrived Sunday armed with ideas, M&M's, and a great attitude.

The current PTS (Potty Training Score) is....

***Drum role please***

Asher: 1

Avery: 2

Yeah for the 22 month old that gets it...that child will do anything for food!

They just get better...

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays, if you can call it one. I love telling my friends and family that I love them and showing it. Obviously, it's not just something I do once a year, but I love the idea of it. My Granny (yes, Granny..we are southern) always sends me a Valentine's Day gift/card. She always remembers us all. On Thursday we all received our cards, Asher and Avery included. Growing up my dad always bought me and my sister a box of chocolate or something special. I loved making the little mailboxes for the school Valentine's...and making sure to not give the boys one that said something like "to my honey" or "Be Mine, Valentine."

My husband is a hopeless romantic and always remembers my favorite things for this day. I LOVE tulips, and Mike usually tries to get them for me. On Thursday, the secretary walked in my classroom with a vase of tulips for me from him. I am very impatient and love getting things early (I know, you would never guess)...this was my early gift. So thank you hubby for the romance. I was envied my many at school. :)

But the real blessing was the actual day this year. I was supposed to take a class all day, but we could not find a sitter. I wonder why! So my day started with my sweet toddlers waking us up. Asher and I then made some yummy chocolate chip banana bread for our gift to daddy (even though he still has not eaten any!). While we were waiting for some ingredients, Mike surprised me with my favorite breakfast...Burger King. (I know, I have such expensive taste.) Mike went to work for the afternoon and me and my sweet babies got to just hang out and play. Matt stopped by to play with the kiddos for a while too, which was a nice surprise for them. After going to church on Saturday night, we went out to dinner at Moe's for burritos. Yes, such the Valentine's Day delicacy. We ended our evening all watching Ash and Ave's new Backyardigans movie that got for the special day.


Yes, I've had romantic dates with my hubby for Valentine's Day and, yes, this was not something that I would consider romantic...but it was a perfect day with my beautiful children and amazing hubby. I am one happy, blessed, and lucky person. I think family day will be the new Valentine's theme. There's plenty of time throughout the year for romance, but never enough time with my family.

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Who doesn't love the pumpkin farm?

Last Monday my sister Janna and I decided to take advantage of the holiday (since we are both teachers) and take the kiddies to the pumpkin farm. We are trying to start family traditions while the kids are still young and like us...then in the future we can hold it over their head that it is tradition, and therefore they must go. Nothing like a little guilt trip.

We met up with Janna at The Apple Howler in Kenosha. It was a pretty good pumpkin farm, but wouldn't recommend picking apples there. Asher went on a "train" ride, led me through the corn maze, and made his own taffy apple. Avery had fun toddling around, and making faces whenever we put her in the hay. She is so prissy! We also enjoyed a hay ride and, of course, picking out some expensive pumpkins for our front porch. Now Mike has to carve them...I don't do messy things like that.

I'm not sure I'll be able to guilt them into doing this in the future:


Avery obviously didn't get the memo that the pumpkin is bigger than she is!


It wouldn't be fall without a tractor ride...


Or a kiddie corn maze.


We love Auntie! Thanks for going with us.

Fun in the Sun...More Picture Updates

We had a busy busy busy month of July. I love that month because everyone is in full summer fun. It also helps that it is my birthday month which means PRESENTS. Who doesn't love their birthday month?

We had a great 4th of July...which should have been posted long long ago. I know, slacker stay at home summer mom gets nothing done. Sorry people. My in-laws live right on the parade route so we always have perfect seats for the Vernon Hills parade every year. We started our festivities on the 3rd with me and Mike going to the Taste of Chicago and then watching fireworks on our friend's boat. We honestly thought we were going to get killed at the Taste. That is a blog for a later date I suppose when I finally have my will in place. Probably should get to work on that one. Let's just say while we were there, we did not move a one point for 20 minutes, saw a fight that involved a good 50 people, and almost were trampled my a mob of people running from what we found out later was a shooting right by US. I'm good on the Taste for a few years I suppose.

Anyway, here a few pictures from the fourth. By the end Asher looked incredibly patriotic with all his stickers. If only he could vote!


We then went to Target and got a Slip n' Slide and baby pool and all proceeded to have water fights...all of us over the age of 19 that is! We're all kids at heart.



I spent some quality time with my best friend (and PREGNANT, Yeah) Emily from Florida..


We chilled with Adrienne, the best haircutting horn playing summer babysitting friend that a girl could ask for!


And went to the Lake County Fair with Kristin, Aubrey, and Mr. Bartholomew. Asher is obsessed with our friend Kristin, which is good since she is going to help us out with babysitting next year. The Fair was fun. We saw our first tractor pull (which was loud, smokey, dirty, and kind of weird) and my first rodeo (which did NOT have bull riding. Come on people, I want crazy bulls not crazy HORSES).




I'll keep the pictures coming. I have several other events to post before SCHOOL STARTS! Boo. :)

Summer update in pictures

Happi over at The Berger Buzz gave a picture update of all their summer happenings. Since I am so random at blogging, I thought I too would do the same. Really, I just am not as creative as her and steal everyone's ideas...oh well.

We had a fantastic time at the Milwaukee Zoo with Auntie Janna. She even took Ash on their yearly camel ride...Here is one big backside (the camel's that is)



We attended my cousin's wedding in Georgia where I sang and Mike walked babies around.



We also danced the night away (and Avery fell asleep).


My Uncle T baptized me and my little sister Jessa in the pool at Howard Johnsons. I know, interesting place to have it. My Granny got very creative to make it happen! Something I should have done a long time ago. It was great to have someone close to me do it though. Don't worry, he's a pastor, so it is official. :)


Went to our first movie with my friend Jamie.



SOOO much more happened. I will post more pictures and bring us into July on the next post!

Sleeping children means I should be sleeping too!