Official party plans

It's official... Mason's b-day party is Oct 4th, our place with food to be served sometime between noon and 1p. We should be up partying all afternoon, so feel free to come whenever. Like always, no gift necessary we're just excited to have people over. Per Mason, this is a Halloween themed party and though not necessary, we will brand, tar and feather all who come without a costume. If you need help putting something together, Mason has a wide assortment in his dress up bin.

Hope to see you there!

Best ribs ever!

Mmmmm.... they were soooo yummy! Even the kids ate them. Of course they used a bit of ketchup with theirs, but I think that was good for them as it helped to qualm the little kick they had. My first attempt at baby back ribs... Success!! Thanks to Alton Brown.

Also, keep the date open... Sat Oct 4th at 1230ish will be Mason's 5th b-day party. He would like a Halloween taco party, so have your costumes ready!

Pigtails

Ahhh... my baby is growing up and looks like a kid. (tear, tear) I had to capture the pic before she pulled them out of her hair. Hair accessories are like games with her. I put it in, she takes it out and then comes to me to put it back in, repeat.

Kindergarten

Yesterday marked a very important day, the first day of kindergarten. All in all things went well. We had a few issues with the school bus and milk money. Mason claims he had a good time and was willing to go back today. I think that's a good sign.

Long Lake

We'll start the lengthy updates with the Long Lake trip....

The kids and I went up (and over) to the lake on Sunday as Saturday had been busy in A2 with Colby's 18m appt, the Dixboro fair and Hannah's birthday party. (Hmmm... maybe I should have started with those things. In-laws have the cute fair pics on their camera.) The trip took 3.5hrs and we made it into town right around lunch time with no stops! Yes, three and a half hours in the car with the kids, no stops. They overall did a good job with minimal screaming; the use of snacks is always helpful. The kids and I stayed in one room, my parents in another and Linds, Steve, Caleb and Shannon (Steve's girlfriend) all stayed in the attic space. Though small, it was a true cottage feel. The "best" part of our sleeping arrangements, we had the room right next to the bathroom.... the walls were a bit thin. =) The first week was spent at this smaller cottage. I had the whole week off, Kevin joined us on Tuesday and left again Friday night. My brother Steve worked most days, but was at the cottage as often as he could. (Something about a girlfriend.) I also have to say that I enjoyed hanging out with Steve's girlfriend and if he cares- I approve. During this first week we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes (more on that in another post and I have a ton of pics from that one) and Kevin and I spent a night, just the two of us, at Black Star Farms B&B. The B&B was a fab time alone with some drinking. If we had more money we would have loved to have done 2 nights. At the B&B there were a couple of women that apparently won a week stay there on a game show. How ideal! For us anyway, we heard that they weren't big wine fans. Such a waste!! Yes the food was incredibly yummy, but the wine!! Anyway, we found it somewhat amusing.

The second week was at a bigger "cottage". I use the term cottage VERY loosely as it was a big modern house. My other brother Jon joined us for this week and we lost Shannon. Sleeping arrangements for this week lent us to the master suite as it was the only room big enough for the four of us. We had a private bathroom and a walk out porch... ahhhh... if only the kids didn't go to be so early we could have enjoyed the features more. The house did leave us a lot more room to stretch out. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 5 porches... lots of room to hide if you wanted. Though the size was nice, I did miss the cottage feel. I also didn't find the beach area as nice for hanging with little ones. The house was on the other side of the peninsula from the first cottage so we had a longer time to swim in the sun in the afternoon. Kevin joined us on Monday eve and I had to leave Thurs eve for work. This week we went to the drive-in a couple of times and my dad, Jon, Linds, Caleb, Kevin and Mason all went to South Manitou island for a day.

Overall the trip was nice. I personally didn't find it very restful. Colby decided for the whole 2 weeks that she was going to be mommy's girl and only mommy could take her into the water, push a stroller, push a grocery cart, pick her up, etc. This alleviated a little when Kevin was around, but she still had a mommy preference. She was happy to play with other people as long as they didn't try to pick her up. Also, she usually is the one who sleeps in, but all during vacation she was up early yelling for us to play with her. In order to help keep things quiet enough to make sure that Mason got more sleep and everyone else as well, we were up early with her reading books, rocking, whatever we could to keep her somewhat quiet. I fear that everyone was up a little earlier than they planned. Mason and Caleb were inseparable. They played and hung out like best friends/brothers. The did just about everything together, swimming, boating, golfing... if it could be done together, they did it. Kevin finally got the opportunity to break in the sailboat. He sailed it many times, the longest being the second week when he forgot to put on sunscreen. He sailed from one end of the lake to the other and was gone around 4hrs. He still has a sunburn left. I think that we forgot to take a lot of cute pics of the kids swimming and such. Oddly enough we didn't do much tubing or skiing either.

And some pics....

Caleb reading to Mason


Colby in her bikini. This was not her favorite suit as she didn't understand the concept; she keep trying to pull the top down or the bottom up.


Kevin and his birthday sailboat


Caleb and Colby eating at the kitchen peninsula at the second cottage


Morning hair


Colby in Aunt Lindsey's sunglasses

3 weeks of craziness

We have survived! The first two weeks the family was doing our annual Long lake trip. Then the kids were off to one night with the Freeman's and then 2 night with my sister while Kevin and I worked. Then kids got to hang out at home for a day before a trip to KY for Kelly's wedding. Amazing... both kids happily walked down the aisle! As the kids were already messed up and well we didn't know when we get to see them again, we spent a night visiting the balcerski's in Cleveland. Then Sunday it was back home. The kids and us, seem to be adjusting to home life slowly, but well. Colby is hit and miss with good naps, but is back to sleeping in the AM. Mason is still a bit grumpy but has adjusted well back to his late to fall asleep and early to rise schedule from before.

Soon hopefully there will be actual lengthy updates. If I was thinking, I would have updated while on vaca. If only my mom didn't have a no technology rule!

Way late updates

In reading other's blogs, I realize that I am WAY behind in keeping people updated. I mean, even Laura's blog had updates!! So, while the children do quiet time, I'll try to see what I can remember from the past month.

We'll start with the 4th of July. We spent the day with my family in Grandville while Kevin worked out at the South Lyon station. The kids and I arrived in town just in time to see the parade. Thank goodness that people are soo good about letting kids sneak in front as the streets were lined with saved seating hours before the parade started. At the parade, the boys grabbed lots of candy while Colby and I hung out with Scott and Laura. From there we went back to the house for nap time, swimming time and a little shopping. Dinner was spent with my grandparents as we celebrated my mom's b-day. Finally, we found some cushy seats out in the driveway and watched the city's fireworks. Fab event and amazingly, Colby slept thru them all! I think she might have been tired, Mason almost feel asleep during them. This was the first year that he actually got to stay up to watch them. Sorry, no pics of this event as I forgot to grab the camera on my way out the door.

The next day we hung out with Jeff and Marie at their house. The house looks amazing! Also, I am continually impressed that you all fit in there. =) The kids seemed to have a great time playing together out in the yard. I believe the favorite toy was the riding lawn mower. (For those of you who are insanely worried, we took the keys away.)


The next day (yes, insanely busy weekend) was Sophia's baptism out at the compound. The baby was beautiful! And, my kids actually remained mostly quiet through the whole service. I think it helped that we sat in the balcony and that we brought lots of snacks. =) The party afterward was also great and it was a lot of fun to hang out with the family again especially the out-of-towners.

The guest of honor


Sophia, mom Anna, grandma Cathy

Just for fun, after the baptism gathering we all went over to the in-laws so Colby could try on a dress for Kelly's wedding (Patsy's daughter, Colby is going to be the flower girl). This was a funny experience as Colby really did not enjoy getting changed and attempted to take the dress off. I'm sure the no nap and busy day had nothing to do with it. =)


After that weekend, things did slow down a bit. I've had the last week or so off from UM so Kevin could work the art fair. The check will be nice, but it put him at working 11 days in a row. Not sure how his sanity is going to be. =) His b-day was spent at art fair where he made a brief appearance on Fox news. When he got home, his b-day present from us and all the parents was waiting for him in the garage... a sailboat! Hopefully we'll actually find some time that he can use it. The kids and I spent all day at the lake getting it ready to bring home. Of course, we had to play in the water a bit while out there. The water was so warm! It was great. The kids and I even went canoeing for a bit. Once again, slacker mom has no pics of the first canoeing experience.

General updates: Colby is climbing everything like mad. Her vocabulary is growing with the addition of some body parts. She is also becoming very good at using the word "no". It tends to comes out when she doesn't want her brother to do something. This is then often accompanied by a push, pinch or bite if the brother does not comply. Yesterday I learned that she does not like finger painting. She tends to be a little compulsive with being clean at times and I think that's why she's not into the finger paints. She's down to one nap a day and sleeps well at night. If everything goes well at bedtime, she'll go down with hardly a peep, however, mess up her routine or don't do something that she feels needs to be done, and there's a bit of crying/screaming. She is also getting into doing things for herself including buckling her seatbelt and getting dressed.

Mason is eating everything like mad this past week. I'm pretty sure that he has a growth spurt coming. The kid is still tall and solid and has outgrown a few items of clothing without even wearing them. He prefer to wears pants and long-sleeves and it's sometimes a small battle to try to convince him that it's 90 degrees outside and he's going to be warm. Of course, I don't think he cares. He's the kind of kid that likes to wrap up in blankets and such no matter the temp. Lately he's been very into making up songs for every and any occasion. He continues to learn new words and has learned how to sound words out in order to spell them. Also, for some reason he has little bruises on his arm and a bite mark on his back. =) Eventually they will have to learn how to respect each other's space, right?

Well, the kids are starting to rouse from quiet time. I will try to get some cute pics of the kids just being kids. I need to learn to bring the camera with me when I go places, or even just for hanging outside. However, here a couple...



(Reminds me a bit of Indiana Jones)