Merry Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did as well. We had fun spending time with family, and also enjoyed some time just our family of 4. A few days before Christmas we took the boys to a local mall to build Rudolph (what they are holding in the picture). On our way to get snacks, they spotted Santa, and to our surprise, Greg really wanted to talk to him. Todd kept asking him if he was sure (because the line was a little long) but he assured us that he really wanted to. When Santa asked him what he wanted, he replied "remote controlled RC". Doug said he wanted a "skateboard, because I thought a bow and arrow (what he had been saying he really wanted up to that point) would be too dangerous". Both of those seem to present their own set of issues.

On Christmas Eve we got dressed up for our church service, and I wanted to take a family picture. The boys did not. So, we told them they could arrange us for the picture. This was the first pose Doug came up with. By the end they were having such fun arranging us that we had to tell them we had to stop or we would be late for church.
Christmas morning was so adorable. I had been wanting to have Christmas at home for several years now, and this year we did. First, they had to find all the nativity scene people that we had hidden, and put them back so they could sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. (At the same time, Todd got started on the coffee - although it really wasn't that early - probably like 7AM). Then we fed the cats because they want fed first thing in the morning, whether it's Christmas or not. Then T&I got our coffee and THEN we were ready to open presents.
And then we spent the rest of the morning removing gifts from their packaging - which all of you with kids know - is no small feat - and required scissors, screwdrivers and wire cutters.

Another post about nephews

I think both of these pictures are great. First, here are Doug, Greg and Henry "warming up" before a big game a football with Grandpa Delmar in the basement. Doug was, of course, leading the stretches. And I need to give a special shout out to Gpa Delmar for playing football in the basement. Believe me, they played tough, and he would come up tired. But Greg STILL talks about how much he loved it. So, thank you Delmar!

And I was given permission to post a picture of Perry. I love this one. He was looking at me and thinking either "hmm, you sort of look like my Mom...." OR "you are definitely my favorite aunt" (just kidding B!). :)

Nothing but Nephews

Todd gets the creative points for the title - he told me I should do a post with that title when we found out Perry was a boy. Anyway, I finally got to meet my newest nephew over the weekend. I went by myself to decrease the chaos for all involved. It ended up being a good plan because I got to cuddle Perry, cook for Sue and Brent, and go running in considerably warmer weather. And T and the boys went to a large lego display at the local science center. Anyway, I got on here to do this post, and then realized since his parents are crazy computer security people, it is possible that they do not want his pictures posted on this non secured blog. So, you'll just have to take my word for it on how cute he is. Instead, I will show you what I did in Brent's office. Because I really can't help myself when there is a white board with crazy, and I do mean CRAZY, looking math. The fact that I don't have the first clue what it says makes me want to write something on it:

Hilarious. I know. Since I'm sure no one except a few family members and friends read this anyway, I'll post a picture of the boys in their Christmas jammies. Hope you are enjoying getting ready for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Thought I'd hop on here and do a quick Thanksgiving post. I still have lots of pictures to go through, but this one is funny, and this week is so busy, I'm afraid if I don't post now, I won't get another chance.

We had a wonderful time with Todd's family and were thankful to all be together. This picture doesn't include little Hans, who is super cute and has done a great job growing since we last saw him this summer. The 3 older kids seemed to really enjoy playing together, especially dressing up in costumes and playing football in the basement with Grandpa Delmar.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We're thankful Daddy's Home

This post is going to be a bit of a dud since I don't have any pictures. (Some of our weekend activities were top secret and involve Christmas surprises). But since it's Thanksgiving week, I wanted to hop on here and say how extremely thankful we are that Todd made it home safe from his week in Switzerland, and how thankful we are to all be together again. And we are also very thankful to have family coming later this week to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dad's Night and Shoeboxes

This week is the collection drive for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Shoebox. The boys picked out the stuff for their boxes and then we delivered them today. This year we paid our shipping cost online so we can track where our boxes end up. It is a fun way to teach the boys about helping others.

And this was taken after Dad's Night at preschool:

They made a craft together (what Greg is holding), Greg gave his Dad a gift (the picture frame Todd is holding), had a snack and played in the gym. They both had a great time!

Clifford

I took the boys to the Clifford exhibit at the local science center the other day. We like reading Clifford books, so we had a fun time playing at Birdwell Island. Here is Greg sitting with Clifford:

Doug really liked sorting and delivering the mail. After we played a while, and had lunch, the boys wanted to visit the gift shop because they each had some spending money from Grandma Gloria. It is always so funny to see what they pick out (a stuffed snake and some astronaut figures).

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun few days of getting to dress up. Thursday and Friday the boys each had costume parties at school, and Saturday morning we all went to Boo at the Zoo. Then Sunday was Trick or Treat. Here are Buzz and Woody (and for some reason Doug is holding a mini Rex):

And here they are post Trick or Treat, with the annual sorting of the candy. We try and sneak in a little math lesson while we're at it. Doug really enjoys just sorting his candy. But you have to keep an eye on Greg. He prefers to eat it. :)

Marathon Weekend

Last weekend was the marathon, with a few other things thrown in for laughs. Friday I took the boys to the Expo so we could pick up my race packet. They made me these signs, which are one of my favorite things from the run, and we also picked up a vuvuzela (loud horn) which turned out to be hilarious, because not only did Doug and Greg enjoy using it, but so did Grandpa Delmar.

Gma and Gpa N arrived on Saturday and we went to Doug's last flag football game, which was fun. Then Doug and Todd went to a pizza party with the team, and later in the afternoon, I took Greg to a birthday party. Todd made dinner, which was a great pasta dish and breadsticks so I could carbo-load. We stopped down for a quick hello at our neighborhood tailgate party for the OSU vs Wisconsin game, but left after kick-off because we all needed to go to bed early. Because Sunday morning was race day! I'm in the pink top, towards the back of the picture, waving, and I have on a white glove:
It was a perfect day for a run. I can't thank Todd, the boys, Janet and Delmar and our friends the Shoes enough for coming out to cheer me on. It was so great to see familiar faces during the run! I ran slightly faster than my goal and ran a 4:20. And I loved it, so this week I was back on the treadmill, and next year I hope to run it faster. :)

Pumpkins

With my long runs and Doug's football games, we have had some busy Saturdays lately. We finally found time to go pumpkin picking and to play in the corn box, straw maze and random inflatable things at a local farm. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, even if the corn box area made me sneeze like crazy. Once we got home the boys each decorated their small pumpkin.

Happy Fall!

Jumping Greg

The boys wear me out....unless I can wear them out first. So I love to take them to places where they can run and play. Like the gymnastics place. Greg and I went one morning while Doug was in school. I love the expressions on his face. We definitely had fun!

Zoo Trip

We made a trip to the zoo last week with Grandma Beth, Barbara, Charlie and Mark. It was so fun to hang out together, and to let the cousins play. The boys liked the play area and just running around the zoo in general (well, not Mark, yet).

And we made a stop to see/pet the goats, which always brings up discussions of Matilda (the goat Todd's family had when he was little). This goat seemed to like Barbara best. It was also very hot that day. Barbara and Mark were in jeans. Mark was able to go pant-less and sported a onesie, but Barbara wasn't able to do that, so she toughed it out in jeans.

Tired and a Loose Tooth

It was a big week of school for Doug this past week, and it was starting to show. We had a tailgate party and high school football game to go to on Friday, and he was SO excited all week about it. We had some moments during the week of poor behavior, and I had told him that if he was going to act like that, we were leaving the party or game immediately. He gave it all he had, and was relatively well-behaved at the party and the game. We left at half-time though, and at that point he insisted on being carried to the car. Not sure how I ended up with him and Todd had Greg, because man, Doug is a load. Anyway, we headed out the next morning for Doug's flag football game. At first everything seemed fine. Greg got to warm up and then sat down and ate snacks.

But Doug had a rough game. We thought he was just really tired, or mad that they got his flag on his first run of the game. Probably some of both. But then there was another issue too - his (first) loose tooth was REALLY loose. And it was bothering him. I didn't think I could just yank it, it still seemed to be hanging on - but somewhere in the 4th quarter it fell out. He cried, but the crowd cheered for him and that certainly helped.

We told him the tooth fairy would honor a note saying "tooth" on it and placed under the pillow. And sure enough - in the morning he found $2.

Are you ready for some football?

We're all getting into football season this year. Doug is enjoying his first year of flag football, which overall is hilarious to watch.

I should say Todd and I think it's hilarious to watch. Greg isn't big into just sitting and watching. The coach is nice enough to let Greg warm up with the team. He loves that part. Especially the running drills.

First Days

Last week Doug started kindergarten. It was a big week for us, but he loved it. Greg was fine with Doug going to school. He is used to him going to preschool, so I think that helped. That, and the fact that instead of playing Doug on the wii, he got to play with me. And I'm a little easier to beat.

Greg was very excited about getting his turn to go to school. Today was his first day of preschool, and if you're wondering why Doug is dressed nice and Greg is wearing a Toy Story t-shirt, it is because Doug will wear what I pick out for him, and Greg likes to dress himself. He picked that shirt out himself and really wanted to wear it for his first day of preschool. I was fine with that and Greg did wonderful today! Walked right in as happy as could be. I was so proud of him! And he was so excited to show us his crafts when we got home.

Polar Bears

I avoid the zoo during the late spring due to all the school field trips. So even when the new Polar Bear exhibit opened, we decided to wait until summer to check it out. We finally made it to the zoo to see it last week. It is a great addition to the zoo. I love the zoo - it has so many great memories of time spent with great friends when our kiddos were all much smaller and we were pushing them in strollers while they snacked on those gerber puffs. But since I'm about to put Doug on a school bus in 2 days, I'm not going there. Instead, back to the polar bear.

It's hard to see the bear, but she's on that rock. The new exhibit also has a path you can take to go under the water and watch the bear swim. Once she jumped in, we headed down:
We also had a great weekend. My parents came down and Mom and I went shopping, along with Barbara and Mark who met up with us later. We were able to get some school clothes shopping for the boys done, and Mom and I also enjoyed a seriously yummy coffee/milkshake - actually, we weren't even sure what we ordered but it was great. So back to school pictures will be coming soon....

Water Fun

It has been a hot summer, which some of you may not have enjoyed, but I have to be honest - the boys and I have loved it. We love days when it is so hot that half-way through break we're ready to get back in the pool. (As a side note I went to a water park with my Jr MYF friends last week and it was in the mid 90s. It was so, so fun. I considered taking the boys this week (they didn't go but instead stayed with a wonderful lady from church) but it seems to have cooled off a bit, so we may find a non-water activity to do instead. We don't like to be wet and cold.) Anyway, on to the pictures. Fun at the fountains:

And the best place to find us on a hot afternoon. We love the pool. And we really love the towels from Robin at Red Thread Stitches!

I'm Slow

Really, if I can complete the marathon before the the SAG vehicles following the back of the race pick me up, it will be a miracle. Along those same lines, these pictures are over a week old, and I am just now posting them. But the train was such a popular attraction, I thought I should document it. Doug made a beeline for the front car:

Henry chose a green car. And it was great to see Tina and her boys again. (We missed Derek though):

And Greg enjoyed ringing his bell throughout the ride:

So, these pictures are from 2 weekends ago - this past weekend Todd and I went out to celebrate our Anniversary (yes, a month late) but we went to see Wicked, which was so unbelievably good I could hardly stand it. Then, thanks to a gift card, we found a great thai restaurant that was so good Todd could hardly stand it. It was definitely a fun way to celebrate 12 years! Thanks to Gma Beth and Gpa Ray for watching the boys for us!

Finishing Up

I can't believe it's August already, and school will be here before we know it. We finished up several big summer activities the past few weeks. First, both boys completed their summer reading program:

And second, we just finished up a big week at Bible School. We all had a great time. Here the boys pose with all their crafts and prizes from the week.

I like to take a picture of all the crafts before I throw some...okay, most...of them away. Hey, no doubt they are cute, but if we don't get some of them out of here, they will start to take over. Like this:

Fun Family Time

We had a great time with Todd's family. I think the older 3 cousins enjoyed just playing together about as well as anything, but I have created a top 10 list of some of our favorite memories.

10. Breakfast at a cute local place - the food was awesome, unfortunately Greg was losing it. He calmed down and ate Todd's eggs (instead of his own waffle) and the story of me running into the wall in the hotel room provided a few laughs.

9. Swimming at the hotel pool (for the boys, Todd & Delmar) and Janet & I nearly cooking in the hot tub.

8. Biking to playgrounds - which led Doug to comment "I love (this state)".

7. The bonus of the inflatable thing at the zoo.

6. Canoeing - although Greg completely freaked out as we were getting in the canoe. I think the life vest just scared him, because once we got going he was fine.

5. The Schwinn Twin Deluxe. It's a category all on its own. Guaranteed to make you laugh at yourself.

4. Silly bands from Grandma. And Janet & I shopping during nap time one day and finding another pack.

3. Ice cream and boats.

2. The farmers market - where the boys ran wind sprints up and down the hill, while we snacked on apple fritters and coffee.

1. Of course, being all together as an extended family of 10 was great. And we loved meeting and holding Hans. But I have to give the number one memory to: watching the trash truck. Am I right? :) Who took that picture? HAHA

A stop over in Chicago

We headed up to visit Tina, Derek, Henry and Hans and made a pit stop in Chicago to break up the driving. We took the boys to the aquarium, which was very fun - once we found the parking. Our GPS took us to the aquarium - we didn't realize parking was another spot entirely. Got a little lost on the magnificent mile, but we finally made it.

The boys wanted to see the dolphin show, which was fun. We arrived right as it was about to start, and for some reason, the usher took us down to the VIP seating, so we were in the front row. We're not sure how in the world that happened....but it was great!

At lunch we decided to go outside. It was such a pretty day with a great view. What you can't see is the very aggressive red winged black bird who attacked Todd right after this picture was taken. The boys were scared of it and tried to yell at the bird. The bird ignored them and attacked Todd again, and just as we were trying to herd the boys back inside without making a bigger scene than we had already made, it attacked Doug. Once we were inside we all laughed at what we must have looked like. And Doug was quite proud of the fact that the bird went after him and he survived.

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out animals and doing a little playing. The submarine was a favorite.

Then it was back on the road to our final destination.....

Happy 4th of July!

We had lots going on this 4th weekend, and I'm afraid this post is going to be extremely random because I don't have a lot of pictures to use to document everything. I blame my camera. The battery was getting low and it was acting up. Anyway, Saturday morning I did the Firecracker 5K by myself (you may recall last year Barbara, Andy and Brent ran too). I ran a full minute faster, good enough for a new PR and 2nd place in the 30 year old division. I was hoping Todd would take me to the Carnival and get me an elephant ear as a post-race snack, but he didn't.

Later that day, we took the boys to play with their second cousins - and they had a great time riding bikes in the driveway and playing (you guessed it) ball. Then that evening we got to go to the marriage of Matt and Katie - which was a beautiful wedding held on a picture perfect evening.

Sunday afternoon we threw Susan her baby shower, and it was great to catch up with her high school friends. If I get some good pictures, I'll post more about it later.

Then the moment the boys had been waiting patiently for. The Carnival. They wanted to go down the Fun Slide:

And Doug wanted to do it all by himself:

We watched fireworks Sunday night, and left on Monday. The boys would have given us a battle about leaving (they were having a lot of fun at Grandma's) except for the fact that we had a birthday party to attend of our very good friends Monday evening. They had a blast. Tired, yes. Blessed, very. Hope you all had a Happy 4th!

Grandma's New Friend

Grandma has been spending the week with us, and we have been having a very good time. We've done lots of playing, and watched lots of tennis and baseball. Last night Grandma got to experience a youth group event. She made a very special friend:

Ball and a Movie

We had a fun weekend, since it was Doug's last T-ball game of the season and Greg also had his T-ball class at the Y. Here is Greg getting ready to hit. There is obviously no ball on the tee. He apparently was ready before his coach was. Anyway, Greg is doing great at his class and even though ball is done for Doug, we are still playing lots of it in the backyard. And Daddy still has lots of games. So we're still slightly ball crazed.

Then after naps we took the boys to see their first (real) movie in the theater. In addition to ball, this is our other obsession. I'm not sure they loved it at the time (they were a little scared in parts) but they have talked about it a lot and seem to be happy to have seen it. Here Todd poses with the boys and the $7 popcorn.
Grandma Gloria is here hanging with us for the week, so I'll be sure to post some pictures of her visit soon.