Lucky boys.....

Kris' mom has been taking the boys on Thursday's. She loves having them and it gives me a much needed break. They made spaghetti for dinner with meatballs tonight. Here is Wy chomping on a bread stick. And even though Grampy can barely fit at the kids table, he still ate with them! What a good grampy!

Grammy always sets up a cool train track for Owen.....this is what it looked like today! I bet O loved it!

They also made finger jello for Halloween! Yummy! Hope they are bringing some home for momma!

Here is Owen helping out....it looks so good!

As much as I miss my boys on Thursday's I must say that I am usually pretty productive and keep busy. One of these days I vow just to lay in bed all day long and read! Wonder if that wish will every come true.........

Thanks Wyatt

Why does it take Wyatt pooping in the bathtub to get me to really, and I mean REALLY clean the tub??

It definitely was not on my list of things to do today.......and I could have gone without pouring a gallon of bleach in the tub and scrubbing..............and should I even mention the fumes??!

I will spare you by not posting any pictures or tell you a detailed description of what happened . Use your imagination if you wish.

I threw out EVERYTHING, even the tub seat!!

Yuck!!

Owen said after the fact that he was going to tell his teacher all about it tomorrow! Great!!

Me and my hubby!

A picture of Kris and I from this weekend......we had a great time! I love this picture!

The Big 31!

I turned 31 today.....it was a decent day once Kris got home. Prior to him coming home from work the house was filled with a bunch of crying, toys spread across the main floor and two very sleepy boys. Kris was adamant that we go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday even though I suggested we just keep it simple and order pizza so we didn't have to take the boys out. But we ended up going out to dinner and had a great family dinner.

Here is Wyatt dipping (yes dipping) his chips into the queso dip. He really enjoyed it too! Wyatt and Kris after Wyatt had his cupcake for desert. See how sleepy that boy is?

Me and Mr. O being goofy!


Owen took this picture of Kris and I. It turned out quite well despite our heads being cut off a bit.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes......

This past weekend we were in Frankenmuth with good friends and family. I was able to use my birthday money from Kris' family while away. I bought so much stuff!! A pair of boots, a purse, a beautiful necklace, and lots of clothes.....It was so much fun!!

A weekend away......

Kris and I headed to Frankenmuth for the weekend and Kris' parents offered to watch the boys for us. Kris' mom sent us these pictures of our boys.....sleeping soundly! Makes me miss them so much.

And Wyatt........he is in a toddler bed!!! Such a big boy!

Lastly here are Kris and I enjoying our alone time and FREEDOM sans kids!! We are having so much fun!

Thanks Grammy and Grampy for watching our boys, loving them and keeping them safe so we don't have to worry about them while we are away!!

Owen's pictures

So Wyatt found my camera this afternoon and Owen being a "helpful" big brother took it away from him. He then figured out how to turn it on and started snapping away. These are most of the pictures that he took. I think they are creative and pretty good!

Who knows maybe O will have a future in photography......

OWEN

This is how we found him last night......sound asleep!

Yep.....that's our boy!

Three Cedars Farm- September 2011

Kris had his state certification class for his motorcycle license this weekend. The class was ALL weekend long so I tried to fill in as much time as possible keeping the boys busy and having fun at the same time. So after Wyatt's nap we ventured to Three Cedars Farm. The boys played and enjoyed some yummy cider and donuts.

I'm glad we went. The boys had fun and it helped to pass some time. We came home and had tacos and quesdillas for dinner, a bath and then bed time. We had a nice weekend without daddy, but we all missed him lots!!

9-11-2001.....We remember

Brighton fire station held a memorial today in remembrance of all of the people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Close to 3,000 people perished that day.....and it was a day that will be a very clear memory in my mind forever. As many say, almost everyone can account for what they were doing when they learned of the terrorist attacks to our country. I was in a lecture hall at Madonna University.......schools were shut down shortly after the second plane crashed into the second tower. I came home, glued to the TV and waited for Kris to come over. We sat in front of the TV for hours and hours. It was terrifying and almost surreal.

A decade later we still remember. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was pray for all of those who lost loved ones 10 years ago today. I should pray more often for them.....

The memorial was very nice. Brighton fire station obtained a piece of steel from one of the twin towers in New York. They used their own financial resources and vacation time so that it did not affect the tax payers. Almost every fire station within our area had a fire truck lined on Grand River. There must have been at least 25 fire trucks. I tried to get Owen to stand by a fire truck but he wanted no part in it.....so we posed Wyatt for some meaningful pictures.

Here is Owen holding his American flag. This was pretty cool.....they closed off Grand River and this is what you saw as you were walking up to the memorial. Makes anyone proud to be an American when you see a sight like this.

You can't see it very well but here is the piece of steel displayed.

Thank you to all of the men and women who serve our country everyday and keep us safe!

Rollerskating.....worth a try

I took Owen rollerskating today....it turned out to be a horrible experience! He was literally screaming and crying until I took his skates off.....all in all he had them on his feet for all of 5 minutes. It didn't help that he didn't feel well and was fighting a fever and a headache. We will try again next year when he is five and a little more steady on the skates.

Owen's first day of preschool......

He did GREAT!!! Here he is outside of his school. So PROUD and HAPPY. What a big boy. Don't mind Wyatt's head in the picture, I tried my best to contain him but this is the best picture I could get.

Here he is before we left the house this morning. His face says it all.....he was SUPER EXCITED!

And lastly here he is on the porch this morning. I just can't get over all of his smiles! He was so excited about going to school.

He picked out a Cars theme back pack and lunch box this year.

All morning he kept rushing me saying, "come on Mom, I don't want to be the last one there." Hopefully this means he will be a punctual person later in life.

He made a few friends and we went out to lunch with two boys and their mommas for lunch at Red Robin.

Now he is home and playing and I am ready for a nap. So proud of my boy!!

Camp Barakel 2011

Another weekend at Barakel has come to an end. It is always such a bummer when Monday morning rolls around and there isn't any time left to sit in front of a burning fire for hours on end chatting with good friends you only see a handful of times each year, if that.

But as always we had a great time and even though with the two boys now it is hard for Kris and I to really have any down time like we did sans kids......it is a different experience withe Owen and Wyatt and we wouldn't trade it for anything.

This year was my 11th year at Barakel, 11 consecutive years. Owen has been there 5 years and this was Wyatt's second year. We aren't sure how long Kris has been going but at least years and years and years.......we can only continue to pray and hope that we will continue to be in good enough health to continue to go in the years to come and make it the same tradition in our little family as it was in Kris' family.

Here is Owen helping to go get some firewood.
And here is Wyatt just being cute.

And our beautiful fire that we had each and everyday and every night.

Wyatt and his Grammy!
Here are Kris and I with Wyatt. Maggie took some pictures of our whole family but I think that Owen was crying in every one........so I'm hoping she at least captured one good one.....we shall see. Owen for some reason doesn't like to "smile" for pictures anymore. Bummer!!

EE surprised us and came up on Sunday for a few hours. It was such a nice visit with here. She went down Thunder Express with Owen and he was so happy to have his EE there. Here is a really blurry picture of Kris, Owen and Wyatt coming out of the Thunder Express tunnel. I was hoping for a picture that was a little more clear, however I guess you can get a good sense of how fast they were going when they came out of the tunnel.

Owen and his orange sled....his favorite color!

EE and Wy man walking to Thunder Express.

As always Owen's truck was a huge hit.....lots of kids wanted rides this year. Thankfully Owen is very fair and took all the little kids on a ride. But he mostly rode around with his good friend G all weekend. The two of them are so cute together!

Owen deciding whose turn it was for the next ride.The boys making breakfast Saturday morning. Blueberry pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Can't forget the donuts for dessert....yummy!!!

We had such a great time this year with a perfect mix of all seasons for our weather.

Camp Barakel.....where surely God has blessed!

See you next year Barakel friends!