back to school

this year we all were starting back to school. andy started last thursday, with his second year in nursing school. he is scheduled to graduate in late april or early may with his rn degree! pam decided to go back to school full time also, being out of work at the time. jacob started seventh (yes seventh) grade yesterday. this is his second year in middle school. sam started preschool at daycare. he was very excited to see his friends and be with the "big kids" at school. ben went back into his same room at daycare with his buddies and had a great day.

everyone had great first days back to school. now let's just hope we all don't have too much homework! hope it's a great school year!

a few more pics here.

feeding ducks and park playing

this was one of those afternoons that Ben was not going to take a nap. and it was really nice outside, so we thought why not head to the park. we stopped and got a whole loaf of bread to feed the ducks with and headed to Rochester Park. the kids really like this park, lots of room to run and run and two play areas to play at! and of course lots of ducks to feed! Ben thought the ducks were cute at first, then there was just too many and he got a little scared of them. so we feed them standing on a park bench. after the park we stopped at one of Andy's favorite restaurants, Lapuma's for some hot dogs and fries. we took a nice walk around downtown Rochester and ended the evening with some ice cream from Dairy Queen. according to Sam, "this was the best day ever!" (he always says that when he has a really good day!)

more pictures here! and a video here!

big trucks and stuff

This evening at our local park they brought in a whole bunch of big trucks for the kids to check out and play on. There were fire engines, garbage trucks, tow trucks, UPS truck and even a huge army type truck. The kids loved jumping in and out of them and pretending to drive them and most importantly honking the LOUD horns! It was a great time and all three of the boys really enjoyed it.

More pictures here.

the beach!

Andy had seen a city Saugatuck on the west side of the state on the Today show one morning and has talked about it since then. We had thought about taking a drive out there, but it is a long drive, about 2.5 hours. But this morning we decided, why not, and drove. We got there at about noonish, so we walked around the quaint city and found a spot for lunch looking out at the water where the big boats dock. Next stop was the beach, which was our main reason for going. The kids of course had a great time playing at the beach. Being on Lake Michigan was almost like being at the ocean, minus the saltwater of course. There were big waves and tons and tons of sand to play in. We stayed for a few hours playing in the water and digging in the sand. After that we drove around for a little while and checked out the rest of the town. It was worth the drive and we all had a great day!

More pictures here!

a place to strech our legs.... WOW!

Since Traverse City wasn't too far from my parent's cottage and the Cherry Festival was going on, we thought we would take a day and go up there. We left later in the morning and got the Traverse City in a little over an hour. I had not been to the Cherry Festival in at least 20 years and didn't remember that there really isn't too much for a four year old and 20 month old to do there. We walked around a little bit, tasted some cherries, looked at some boats and went back to the car. I knew that the Sleeping Bear Dunes wasn't too far away and so we thought we would drive over that way. We drove and drove looking for the actual park and the dunes (we did see one dunes climb, but didn't think that Ben would make it up!). After awhile of going down the same road for what seemed like forever and after listening to two little ones complain in the backseat we turned around and looked desperately for some place we could get to the water. We saw a little road that had to go in the direction of the lake and thought why not. We even saw someone walking their dog and asked if we could get to the lake on this road, he gave us some directions (which made no sense two minutes later). We continued down this little road, which seemed to get smaller and smaller, then we saw signs that it was a seasonal road (probably for four wheelers). But we drove through the forest (as Sam said) and made it out. Found a dead end road and at the end of it was a set of steps. I got out and checked them out and there was the lake... finally.
















We couldn't believe how beautiful it was once we got down the steps... and the fact that we were the only ones there. We all kicked off our shoes and got our feet wet. Sam and Ben had a great time running up and down the beach and playing in the sand and getting into the water as much as they could without bathing suits. We spent an hour there... just running and walking and stretching our legs.

We got the boys cleaned up (thank goodness I had an extra change of clothes in the car) and had dinner at this tiny little town called Glen Arbor (it was just perfect). And ended with some ice cream for the kids.

I took over 100 pictures... it was just too perfect not too! You can see all of them out here.
Video below too.

fourth of july!

we had a pretty quiet fourth of july... having two little ones with early bedtimes sometimes does that! but we still had fun. we were up north for nine days surrounding the holiday and Sam and Ben were having a great time playing and just hanging out with Dad and Mom. The link to pictures below are of dinner, trying to get cute pictures of the boys, fire pops (this is what Sam calls fireworks) and some smores.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Lots of Pictures Here!

keepin' cool

the summer heat is finally here in Michigan. it has been rainy and unseasonably cool the last few weeks, but we were blasted with a warm up yesterday! today when the kids got home from school they got out the water guns and hose and just soaked each other and Daddy! nice way for them to cool off and they had a ton of fun.

couple more pics here

sale, soccer and birthday parties

it rained last night... a LOT. and this morning it still raining on and off. i thought for sure soccer would be cancelled. i called at 7:30... no update, again at 8:00... all baseballs fields are closed until 11:30 games. the rain started to let up and I called again, yep soccer is on as scheduled. and the crazy bargain shopper I am also had to swing by Old Navy before soccer for their $2.00 tank top sale. got to Old Navy, stood in line for 30 minutes and got my five tanks! meet Andy up at soccer, he stayed with Sam and Jacob and I took Ben home. as soon as Sam got home we were off to his friend Parker's birthday party. Sam had a great time playing the sprinklers and slip and slide and making bubbles with his friends. the spongebob cake he had was so cool too! we said good-bye and hopped back in the car to pick up Jacob and Ben and went to my friend Erin's daughter Maya's birthday party. it was nice seeing some of Erin's family that I have not seen in a long time and the boys had a great time running around and playing. they really had a ton of fun with the water balloons! and the weather shaped up to be a beautiful day!
oh crazy weekends, but lots of fun! and it will only get crazier once there are more sports and Ben gets older and has friend he wants to be with too!

pictures from soccer and Parker's party are on Sam's Blog.

pictures from Maya's party are here!

the zoo!

this is one of the weeks that Jacob is with us for the summer, so I took a couple days off and took Sam and Ben out of school, so that they could spend the time together. and I figured why not visit the zoo! we also meet up with Sam's best friend Domenic and his mom and little sister. Sam loved seeing all the animals and hanging out with Domenic. Ben was just amazed at the animals (all of which he called "dogs"). Jacob had a good time too and was huge help pushing strollers and the wagon and just hanging out with his brothers. the funniest thing was Sam was super excited about seeing the dinosaur exhibit that we there for the summer. but right after I purchased tickets for it and we were about the enter the dinosaur path he wanted no part of it. I hand to carry him through almost the entire exhibit and he even asked one the guides, "how do we get out of here?!" it did rain some, so thankfully we saved most of the indoor exhibits for the end. all in all it was a good time!

more pictures here!

kid's corner picnic

this is our first summer at kid's corner daycare and so our first annual picnic. it was at our local park with hot dogs and yummy treats. the kids had an awesome time playing on the playground with their friends and just running around. there was even a magician, which Sam just loved and laughed and laughed. it was nice to meet some of the mom's and dad's of Sam and Ben's friends and talk to them about the kids. it was a great picnic and a lot of fun (and I didn't have to make and clean up dinner!).

more pictures here!

check-ups

We took Sam and Ben to the doctor's today for check-ups (Sam 4 years, Ben 18 months). Sam was the complete opposite of last year. He did everything the nurse and doctor asked him to do and was an angel. He really has grown up so much within the last year. Ben hated the nurses touching him or even looking at him, the doctor he was fine with. Took 10 minutes just to get him weighed! Both boys got shots at the end and both boys screamed of course (glad we don't have to do that part again for awhile). And both of them are still in the high percentiles (to be expected when you have over 9lb kids though!).

Sam:
40lbs (80%)
41 3/4 inches (79%)

Ben:
30 lbs (90%)
34 1/4 inches (91%)

memorial day weekend

we didn't do much for memorial day weekend. it was Sam's birthday, so that was more the theme of the weekend. it was a great weekend overall with the weather and the kids had a lot of fun playing outside. Ben got his first real taste of playing outside and he loved it (last year he was just too little still and mostly got held when outside or in the excersaucer)! Rob and Patti and the girls came over Sunday and we went to my Grandparents on Monday and it was nice to see the family. it was a good weekend, not too busy, but fun!

pictures of the kids playing outside

pictures with Kelsey & Lucy

pictures at Pam's Grandparents

video... if you keep scrolling down

Sam's 4th birthday

WOW! I never realized how long a little kid could talk about an upcoming birthday! Sam started talking about his birthday after Christmas, "when is my birthday?" he would ask. After Valentines Day, after Jacob's birthday, after Easter. "How much longer after?" he would ask. Until FINALLY the day arrived. He actually got to celebrate two weeks early with his friends. So far this is the cutest year for his birthday, he was just so excited and so happy and even appreciative of everything. You can go to his blog to see more pictures. click here

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY SAM!

planting flowers

This spring Sam has had a real interest in flowers. Mostly picking ones of of trees or freshly planted ones and giving them me (which I just think it the CUTEST thing in the world!). Sam and Andy even picked out my favorite flower (daisy) as a gift for me for mother's day. This evening Sam ate his dinner as fast as he could so he could plant some new flowers with Papa. He even helped dig the holes and put the new rose bushes in. Then he helped water the flowers too. He was so happy planting those flowers... it was just so cute! Now, I just hope they make it through the summer and they don't get run over with Sam's crazy Jeep driving!

and of course I took a whole bunch of pictures... click here

















My Mother's Day Flower!

fixin'

Sam has loved to play with his tools for a long time now. This is one of the first toys that Ben always wanted to play with of Sam's as well. So sometimes the tool box comes out and everything needs to be fixed... and I have two handyman! They love to "fix" things, the beds, the doors, the windows, the walls and other toys! I just love them playing together for a little bit and not arguing with each other! (couple more pics here)

spring pictures 2009

It was that time of the year again... spring pictures. I decided to forgo a portait studio this year and instead went with someone who does them in her home (DragonFly Designs). It was much easier to do the pictures this way and we got some great pictures of all three boys. Didn't really get a wonderful picture of all three of them together, but we tried.

I didn't put all the pictures online, but here at the ones that turned out the best.

easter sunday

We had a very nice Easter this year. Sam was sooo excited about the Easter Bunny and left carrots and some milk out for him. I actually had to wake the both boys up (so we would have enough time to find baskets and play with them and get ready for church). The Easter Bunny left both boys a pail with a note and egg in it with a clue to find another egg. And so they (well Sam) would find another set of eggs with another clue and go looking for more eggs. It was cute. Ben was excited every time Sam found more eggs because there were jelly beans in the eggs and Ben LOVES jelly beans. He is just crazy about them! Sam had funny running around finding the next clue. Sam even helped Ben open his eggs and put them in his pail. After about six clues they found their baskets in the kitchen. I think they both really liked their baskets and soon they had the baskets unloaded and all over the kitchen floor. And soon both boys had so much candy in them they were bouncing all over! Ben also got his first taste of M&M's and did a happy dance! Sam got some new Bakugan and Transformers stuff. Ben got pails and buckets and sand toys. We got them ready for church matching outfits of course) and off we went. Later Sam, Ben and I went over to my Grandparent's for dinner. (Andy stayed home for some peace and quiet to study for tests the next day.) Ben was not sitting still at dinner and Sam just thought this was sooo funny (just like any normal dinner at home!). The boys got some more baskets from their grandparents and great grandparents and they loved them! It was a nice Easter and Sam and Ben had a really good day.

Jacob was super lucky and spent Easter break in Florida with his mom, step-dad and brothers (check out his pictures on his blog). I can't wait to hear all about his trip when he gets back and to see lots of pictures!

Video below too....

Easter Morning Pictures HERE!
Dinner at Grandparents Pictures HERE!

four wheelin'

Sam got a motorized Jeep for Christmas in 2007 and of course it's one of his favorite toys! Last year he was pretty good at driving it, but he got stuck a lot and needed help with the steering. Wow, what difference does a year make... he is a pro at driving it now! And now that the snow is gone and the weather is warming up some he wants to drive it all the time. Yesterday we got home a little early after taking Ben to the doctor's and before I could unload the car Sam and even Ben had climbed in the Jeep and were off! Sam loves going up and down the small hills and Ben just loves riding around! I caught some pictures of them and a short video... I have a feeling there might be a worn in circle around the house before the summer is over with!

pictures... click here

jacob's 12th birthday

click here for a link to pictures of Jacob's 12th birthday on his blog!

all updated...

i have finally gotten the kid's blogs updated from before Christmas up until now! hopefully i will keep on top of them now and not get so far behind. now i just have to work on those photo books!

oh... you can get to the kid's blog by clicking on their names at the top of the page

grandparent's birthdays

Today we went to Toni and Dan's to celebrate my grandparents and fr. Don's birthdays and their anniversary. It was really nice to see everyone, especially since we missed Thanksgiving and Christmas due the kids being sick. The food was great and everyone had a really nice time. Here are some pictures (thanks Don for sending them!).