Family Christmas Photos 09

Some family photos from the day after Christmas. We had to wait for the right timing with Lucy - bronchitis did not exactly make her a happy camper - so timing was everything on these! Looking forward to adding Courtney to this picture next year!

Tigger & Pooh

Timmy wanted to be Tigger for Halloween and Lucy loves Pooh - so they were a cute coordinated little pair this year! Grandma surprised them and dressed up as Eeyore too. They had a blast Trick or Treating. Lucy was not at all shy about it - she just ran up to doors and yelled "Tick or Teat" and then would tell them "Happy Howoween" It was a blast watching both of them! It was a relatively chilly evening so we didn't last too long - but how long can you really last with a 2 year old anyway?

We also closed on our house in Missouri today. What a relief to have that financial closure. I will never get used to or like the goodbyes that come with situations like that. I'm so thankful to know that someday I will be together with all those incredible people that I've met when we all get to heaven. In the meantime, if any of them want to move to Illinois I wouldn't complain :).

Lucy - she's crazy :)

Just five of about 20 great leaf pile pix!

Timmy wanted to work on a leaf pile today - so we went out and raked. Scratch that - Ben and the kids went out and raked while I took pictures. Here's a few of the favorites from the afternoon.

World's Cutest Kids having Fall Fun

Timmy had Thursday and Friday off of school - so we've been doing some of our normal fall traditions. They loved the caramel apples - although Lu didn't eat much besides the sprinkles! Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch. Lu was a grump (pictures are deceiving) so it wasn't as much fun as it might look like. I remember taking Timmy to the pumpkin patch when he was 2 and it was a miserable time too. Ah toddlers :). Today we are off to see Toy Story in 3D. Here's to hoping Lucy lasts thru at least one movie!

Biking on the river

For a year I have been wanting to take Ben back to the river Timmy and I biked on. We finally made it! It was a gorgeous day in the 60s-perfect for a "as long as Timmy has energy for" bike ride. We are hoping to go back this Friday on Ben's day off-when we can ride for longer since Timmy will be in school. Lucy LOVES to ride behind daddy!

Timmy's first week

Timmy has gotten thru his first week of kindergarten! He loves it but "wishes it was shorter so he had more time to play at home." He also is quite exhausted from the full days. I've been enjoying getting up and making him breakfast (every day has been different-french toast, eggs, waffles, and oatmeal) and putting his lunch together. Every day for lunch he has his favorite a peanut butter & honey sandwich. I've also been freezing gogurts for him-that works great and he loves it! Please keep him in your prayers this week-for him not to be so tired and to keep adjusting to all the rules of Kindergarten!

Who will miss Timmy more?

Who's gonna miss Timmy more when he goes to Kindergarten? I think it will be an even tie between mommy and Lucy! He starts on Tuesday.

Camping

Ben & Timmy went on an overnight campout at a state park. They fished for about 6 hours (yes Timmy was that patient) but caught nothing. They made a campfire and roasted marshmallows, sang songs, and told stories. The song and stories were required because as Timmy says "that's the rules, that's what you do at a campfire." They hope to make this an annual trip before going back to school.

Ten on Tuesday

It's been awhile...keeping up with the kids, summer, etc has kept me away. So here's a little catchup!

1. It's sweet corn season and we have an entire shelf full in our refrigerator (most delivered in the last two days). We LOVE it!

2. My allergies are going nuts and giving me my awful sinus headaches-blech!

3. Timmy has learned to express disapproval of mom and dad usually with a "I'm very angry with you-hmmph"

4. Ben's garden has been producing lots of delicious vegetables. We've been enjoying tomatoes, jalapenos, yellow beans, snap peas, lettuce, tomatillos, and brocoli. We could be vegetarians right now! For a first timer he's got quite the green thumb!

5. I've been hosting monthly card workshops and love it! Not only is it a lot of fun with other ladies, but I also love having to think outside of my normal scrapbooking realm.

6. I've started a scrapbooking blog called Practical Scrappers-we crossed 7000 hits today-in just 4 weeks time. You can find it at http://www.practicalscrappers.blogspot.com

7. School starts in two weeks-I'm excited for Timmy-but a little sad he's that grown up already!

8. Summer has finally arrived here and it is hot and humid...good for the farmers...but not my favorite!

9. Ben and I tried out a restaurant that was featured on the Food Network. We had a hamburger with peanut butter on it. For as weird as that sounds-it was delicious!

10. I am getting back into making ice cream...I've made four batches this week, granted I gave them all away, still it has been fun.

Lucy saying Uncle Seth & Aunt Heather

Poor Aunt Heather has now been renamed "Aunt Butter."

40th Anniversary Party

John and Judy celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday and we (all the kids) threw them a party. We were able to visit with lots of relatives and old friends from all around the country. We had a great time but are definitely in recovery mode. Timmy is definitely tired of pictures!

Another Fair Favorite

Petting the sweet little chicks at the petting zoo-who wouldn't love that?

Lucy's favorite thing at the fair

One thing has remained constant for Lucy and that is her love of ducks. Who knew a little girl could love ducks so much? Is there anything cuter than her face in that picture-pure delight!

A New Tradition

I was so bummed to miss blueberry season last year. We are a family that loves blueberries! So this year I have been anxiously waiting and watching for the farms to open up. The kids and Idrove up there on Wednesday and spent about an hour picking blueberries. Timmy did great and I know he had fun because he talked nonstop. When he starts talking nonstop it means he's really happy! Lucy ended up mostly eating as we picked. We ended up with 6 pounds!

So far we have made: smoothies, blueberry pancakes (twice), blueberry pie (we took some to share with a few of the older widows from church), and blueberry cookies...now I'm working on freezing some.

4th of July 2009

It was wet and dreary but we made the best of it! We still grilled out with friends and did sparklers while it was misting...we did skip the fireworks. The kids were just happy to be able to hang out with their friends and get in some good playing time!

Little Girl Big Bed

She looks awfully little in her big bed and boy does she love it! I think part of the reason she loves it is the freedom it gives her. Today I was down in the basement and came up to find her playing after her nap. Who knows how long she'd been up!

Strawberry Picking

Yesterday we went to a local strawberry farm and picked berries. Both kids (and gram) really enjoyed it. Timmy was sad to leave and asked when we can go back. We ended up with 5 pounds of strawberries...so for dinner it was strawberry crepes and breakfast was strawberry waffles.

Lucy has started putting together multiple words when she talks. Her favorite phrase is "I Did It." I'm pretty sure she learned that from watching The Heffalump movie. She loves that movie as much as Timmy did! She also has been working on jumping. You can see in this picture she is getting ready to try to jump. Her spunky little personality is hilariously exhausting.

Timmy had his preschool graduation last night. I will try to post some video when I have a chance. He had a fantastic year!

Hair!

Lucy's hair is finally growing and getting long enough to do things with it. She actually loves it when I do her hair and does not at all seem to have a sensitive head. She's been pretty good about keeping her style in-unless she takes a nap-then everything has to come out. Ben tried to fix it today while I was at work. He said he couldn't do it (how do you teach a man to do little girls hair???) . So immediately when she woke up from her nap she told me I needed to make her hair pretty and pointed to where daddy left the rubber band. I can only hope she keeps on liking to have her hair done!

Babydolls

Lucy loves baby dolls. She got a swimming one for her birthday that always takes baths with her. Grandma Meyer got her a new doll for her birthday that is very lifelike. It's eyes and facial expressions are really cool. It cries, talks, laughs, sucks on a pacy, and goes to sleep. I picked it out-to ensure it was not annoying. Boy does she love that little doll. Even Timmy has been enjoying taking care of it. The picture is of her today, with her baby, at Timmy's soccer game.

Timmy Stories

Timmy has done several things over the last couple weeks that I thought would be fun to blog about.

First off he is constantly asking the question "Why did God..." followed by some, usually random, question. Some of the favorites have been "Why did God make bugs?" "Why did God make Spiderman?" "Why did God make Scooby Doo?" "Why did God make daddies big?" I love that kid and I love watching his little brain thinking through and learning about his awesome God.

He has been requesting to watch Jesus on tv. The other day he found our dvd copies of "The Gospel of John" and "The Passion of the Christ" We quickly vetoed "The Passion of the Christ" but sat down and watched some of the Gospel of John with him. He could sit and watch all three hours...he loves it. He intensely watched the Crucifixion. Then explained to me that the owies probably hurt Jesus but he was okay after Easter.

We adore his wonderful preschool teachers. They have been so good for him this year. Last weekend he kept telling us "Mrs. S says" followed by something she taught or told him. Most of them were from Jesus time, but the funniest was "Mrs. S says boys and girls shouldn't be kissing at preschool." We quickly followed that up to make sure that he wasn't the one trying to kiss a girl-phew he wasn't!

How did that happen?

How did my baby boy get to be five already? He certainly has grown up quickly! Yesterday we celebrated the big day. He woke up to a room filled with 25 balloons. The morning was pretty routine-except that Lucy was not annoying him as much as usual-a nice break for him and I! I took him to McD's for lunch and then it was off to preschool. He did not want to take cupcakes-so he decided he would take ice cream sandwiches. His teacher gave him a birthday crown to wear and let him pick out a new book to keep. He also got a cool 5 necklace to wear. He was beaming by the time we picked him up. Then as we were walking home he saw his surprise-Grandma Meyer had come to surprise him! For the next couple hours he dragged her around and talked her head off. The Decker's came over and we had a little birthday party/dinner. He wanted a space party so I made him a rocket cake and a moon shaped ice cream cake. He picked out a dinner of hot dogs, cheetos, corn on the cob, brocoli, and noodles. All he really wanted to eat though was corn on the cob. He wolfed down two whole cobs! He was delighted to open presents and got all kinds of fun things-all of which have been played with already. I gave him and the boys silly string to attack each other with and they totally loved that. It was a great day! I think his birthday might be my favorite day of the year after Christmas. There is nothing more fun than watching the pure delight a birthday brings a child his age!