We welcomed Zane Foster Tyler into this world on August 4th!
He is doing great and we are finally beginning to get used to life with a new baby. He is growing so fast!
Just yesterday my oldest turned 17! It seems like just a few short years since I was nursing her. When you are sleep deprived and don’t know the day from night yourself…the days can seem to drag along…but then it seems like you wake up the next day and they are grown! But we are praising God for such wonderful blessings!!!
Our now annual tradition of having ONE birthday party for all the kids on the same day is now over for 2008. All four kids ended the day with smiles–success! (My original inspiration for this idea came from the Jeub family.)
Here’s a recap of the party:
As partygoers first arrived they jumped into the photobooth for crazy pics-some even donned cowboy hats, tiaras, and other costume apparel. I think this was the hit of the party! I had scrapbooks there for each of the kids for people to paste in the photos and sign.
I had bandanas in different colors to designate 3 teams for some Ultimate and Kickball competition. The Blue Team came out Victorious!
My husband grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner between games of Ultimate. We ate and then had a little cake and ice cream before starting the Kickball games.
Last year the kids were so busy playing Ultimate and eating that they didn’t ask to open any gifts. So we just took them home and they opened them later–we liked it so much we did that again this year. It was much more enjoyable to just have our family there and nothing else competing for our attention. And just in case you were wondering about gifts, some bring a gift for just one child, some bring a small gift for all, some bring one family gift like a game.
It was a wonderful several hours spent at the park just down from our house. Thanks for all the families that came out and celebrated with us and helped us to honor our kids.
We realized that our 3 year old is really beginning to understand that it is not acceptable to tell mommy and daddy “no” yesterday and it just made us laugh!
While driving in the car my husband asked our 15 year old daughter a simple question which she answered, “no.” And emphatically the 3 year old turned to her and said, “Do not tell him that–he doesn’t like it.”
our Christmas letter:
It has been such a busy year! We asked the kids what some of their favorite things were from the year and here is what they said (in no particular order):
1. AWANA was on the top of Ashley and Jep’s list…from the weekly meetings, to the Games Competition in Kansas City, and especially camp this summer.
2. Our road trip to Goliad, TX with Mimi & Papa Foster Memorial Day weekend. We visited with Mimi & Papa Key and Grandma Hasdorff…five generations!
3. 4th of July at our house with swimming, fireworks, and watermelon with all the Tyler clan!
4. Scott and the boys, along with Papa Tyler, were able to go to the Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game in November while Ashley visited her friend Stephanie.
5. This year we celebrated our entire family’s birthdays all on one day…Birthday Bash 2007 was on May 5th. We celebrated Ashley’s 15th, Jep’s 12th, Caed’s 8th, and Erin’s 3rd Birthdays!!! A new tradition has begun!
As we come to the end and we reflect back on ALL that has happened…we count ourselves very blessed! The kids see it in the big things and events…but mom and dad see it in the small things…like the laughter that fills the house! We are so proud and yet so humbled!
We pray that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Scott, Stephanie, Ashley, Jep, Caed, and Erin
I made this post back in January and never followed up with an update. I convinced the rest of the family to go along with a family birthday and it was a lot of fun! We invited family and friends to join us at a local park for food, fun and frisbee… with an Ultimate tournament!
While we are planning for our son’s 13th birthday, we are also trying to figure out what to do this year for our family party. The boys just loved the Ultimate tournament and think we should just do it again this year. But I think I’d like to change it up every year…we’ll see??? I’ll be keeping my eye out for some new ideas! The good thing…they liked the Family birthday and we plan to keep it as a Tyler Tradition!
My husband and I decided that 13th birthdays at our house are to be a special. Here is a post I made a couple of years ago (on a blog prior to this one). Thought I’d repost….we are now trying to figure out what to plan for my son’s that is coming up in two months.
September 18, 2005
Labor Day week we took off from school to prepare for two special birthday parties. My youngest turned one year old and we celebrated with a dinner luau style. My oldest child turned 13 and we celebrated in a different way.
I have a book entitled “Spiritual Milestones” and it discusses ways to celebrate, well, spiritual milestones. It made me think about being intentional in passing on a spiritual heritage to my children. Well, a Rite of Passage ceremony is outlined in the book that got me started and thinking, but mine didn’t really look quite like theirs.
First my husband and I sent out a request to family and friends to write a letter to Ashley for her birthday and sharing any wisdom, encouragement, etc to her. I put these together in a scrapbook type book to give to her at a brunch I planned. I invited grandmas and aunts, and friends of mine that were all to be godly examples to Ashley to the brunch.
Here is how the brunch went:
1. First we ate a delicious spread complete with waffles, crepes, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, egg & cheese quiche, hashbrown casserole, and biscuits. (All prepared by a friend that happens to be a great cook!)
2. Then I thanked everyone for coming and let them know the reason I asked them to come. I knew that the world would surround Ashley with all sorts of examples, but I wanted to put godly examples in front of her. I reminded them that Titus 2 says the older women are to train the younger women and told them today was the day they could act on that!
3. I had an idea for them to share on the back of each of their placecards. For example: “Share any practical helps you’ve discovered for making Bible reading a regular, refreshing habit.” and “Share about your own family and what made the most impact on your spiritual growth.” (these I did get out of the spiritual milestone book, I just used them in a different way than they had laid out) This turned out to be a neat time of sharing.
4. I then shared with Ashley the book of letters for her to read later.
5. We then went around the table and prayed for her.
6. Last, she opened gifts. (I didn’t really intend for people to bring gifts, but they did anyway…and who doesn’t like a gift!)
It turned out to be a very special time, although I could have done without all the tears!
I guess a bit of an update is in order since it’s been so long since I posted. I started a part-time job that has thrown my schedule for a loop! School has been a mess and I look forward to after the holidays when I know things can get back to a normal schedule!
Also, we’ve had such allergy/sinus issues here that we finally decided to try an elimination diet. From what I can tell there are many ways to do this. I bought this book on Amazon a couple years back to do this but we never made it through. You can read a small summary at this website from the same author. We eliminated the major foods that cause allergies including wheat, dairy, corn, sugar, and citrus. We also tried to stay away from foods with lots of preservatives and colorings, but we didn’t totally make it on this. After 7 days we (me and 2 kiddos that are most bothered) felt much better. So we began to reintroduce items one day at a time to see if we had any type of reaction. We started with milk…affected 2 out of 3…sinus issues started returning and stomach cramps. Next day we just did wheat…slight reaction to 2 out of 3. The next day I figured our bodies needed a break so we didn’t eat any of the common allergy foods. The next day we tried corn…major reaction from 2 out of 3…sinus drainage, headache, swollen lymph nodes. Of course, the 2 out of 3 was a different mix of people each day. So….now what? That’s what we are wondering. As we read labels for every food over this 2 week period we realized that avoiding corn seems virtually impossible!!! Corn products must be super cheap because they use them in everything. I’ve basically decided that I have to start cooking more…from scratch…with better, safer ingredients. It’s been about 3 weeks since we finished the elimination diet. We’ve just gone back to eating whatever we want while I try to figure out what in the world we ARE going to start eating. It all seems overwhelming for the moment!
I did just get my Christmas gift…a KitchenAid Mixer! I figure with all this cooking I’m fixing to be doing…I need all the help I can get!
I read this tonight and wanted to pass it along. I only have four children…but I still think it is a great idea! Sounds like an annual event that would be remembered and carried on even for my grandkids! What a heritage building opportunity this could be…
can’t wait to catch them on TLC on January 29th to hear how it all works!