Portraits

I have been trying for two days now to figure out a way to add the other pictures that I wanted to share from the boys' portrait session but we are still having some serious computer problems. SOOOO here are the ones that I did get uploaded before we broke something else not allowing me to finish. Amy Vining did a great job with these boys. They made her work for the pictures that she got! Amy and I went to high school together and have recently reconnected via facebook. It was fun chatting with her, watching her son and my boys run around and play and I got some great pictures to boot!

Oliver's LIttle Party

We had just a few family members over on Sunday night for pizza, cake and ice cream. I asked Oliver what he wanted for a cake and his reply was something that would end up over on the Cake Wrecks blog, but hey, he's 4 so he got what he wanted...cupcakes with lots and lots of sprinkles! And he doesn't discriminate against ANY sprinkles, all colors, shapes and holiday inspired sprinkles were welcome! Oliver helped with the baking and he and Noah decorated.
You all saw the birthday outfit on the previous, you can see, he's added the black socks and a Ninja headband by now.
Happy to be opening his presents and getting new Playdoh.

Thank you GrandPop and Grandma Heidi!!
He loves his Jetfire Transformer!

Cars from the Pyryt Family and they came in the most adorable reusable bag!

It's yellow and it's Legos!
Thanks Grampa Jerry and Gramma Lavelle!

And this showed up in the mail yesterday...
"GATOR GOLF!!! Just what I wanted!"
Thanks Grandma Ricki, Auntie Su and Cousins Bre & Brandon!!!

He also got his annual contribution from Gammy for his college fund, a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble from Uncle Ben, and a few Hot Wheels gifts from us. Noah went to an incredible museum with Joel this weekend and got Oliver a really cool rock too. He is a lucky boy to have so many that love him. I will be bringing him and a couple of his friends from preschool to Kids Club Fun & Fitness on Friday to finish off, what has turned into, his birthday week!

He's Bigger Now!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY OLIVER!!

I spent all morning hearing things like, "is my toothbrush four now too? What about my clothes? Are they bigger and four? Is my booster seat four? My milk tastes bigger, it must be four too!" Everything that is his, is now four. Gammy, Grandpa Jerry and the Pyryt Family came over last night for pizza and cupcakes (will post those pictures later). Friday I will be taking Oliver and a few of his friends from school to Kids Club Fun and Fitness to play.

I'm proud to be Oliver's mom-mom, the kid can frustrate me and push all of my buttons but he can also make me laugh like no other kid. He is a fun-loving spirited kid that loves life and anyone willing to be a part of his. Happy Birthday Ollie Al, we love you very much!

My baby Ollie.

My little one year old outlaw.


Happy to be 2!

Giving a thumbs up to turning 3.
I told Oliver to go put some clean clothes on because company would be arriving soon for his 4th birthday pizza dinner. He came out wearing this, he later added a pair of black socks to complete the ensemble. Ear protection, sunglasses, swim goggles, swim trunks, hammer, power saw, kaleidoscope and another hammer...perfect! No, I did not make him change, it was his birthday, not mine.

Happy Birthday Oliver...you crack me up!

Gammy's Home

Gammy came home from another stint with FEMA last Sunday. The boys will be going to her house tonight to put in some quality time with Gammy and to give Mom & Dad a night alone. Oliver informed me yesterday morning that he needed to pack. He filled two backpacks and then alternately wore them around all day yesterday. I decided, while he was at school, to go through and see how he did packing. Not too bad for his first try EVER at packing. I have to go and pack it all again, no telling how much trouble I'd be in if he found out I unpacked his bags!! Don't worry, I added socks and underwear...he'll never know!

hammer toy, toothbrush bucket, Frisbee, boomerang, swim goggles, ear protection, truck, car, launching truck with two cars, fridge DJ, O for Oliver, notepad with multiple pens, Handy Manny Drill with accessories, tow truck, monkey flashlight, 1 sweatshirt, 7 shirts, 2 pairs of pajamas, 3 pairs of pants

Boys + Coffee = Disaster

SOOOOO after a long morning of fighting and getting in trouble and by long morning I mean by 930 a.m., it was time for me to go take a shower and get ready to go. I gave the boys VERY specific instructions about not fighting, leaving each other alone and to get dressed and ready to go...be ready with shoes on by the time I got out of the shower. Immediately, I knew something was up when I found Noah HELPING his little brother get ready. Around the corner, into the kitchen and the baby/dog gate was up. Why is the gate up? There on the floor was my coffee mug, shattered all over the floor, then I see it...my laptop, with coffee dripping through it, onto the desk and onto the floor. My laptop is no more or at least not what it used to be. Joel came home from class and removed the memory and hard drive and, fortunately, they didn't seem to have any moisture on them. He has tried to re-boot the computer and it's trying, it really is. We have to buy/borrow a USB keyboard (laptop keyboard is a total loss), plug the hard drive and memory back in and see if we can recover everything. Wish us luck, well wish Joel luck because that's his specialty.

Long story short, my blog posts may be a bit sparse until I get things moved, transferred, up and running, etc.

Update and School Pictures

So Oliver broke the Radius which is the shorter of the two arm bones on the inside. The doctor said it was a clean simple break and the bones hadn't appeared to move at all, still perfectly lined up. He got his splint and ace bandage off and a new yellow cast put on. Yellow is his favorite color.



Oliver's first school picture...


Noah's 3rd grade picture...the kid over thinks it all, including his smile when they tell him to...

Halloween 2009

I hope everyone had a safe, fun and candy filled Halloween! Our Halloween started Friday night with the annual Kanthak Karate Halloween Party. This party is always a ton of fun, the families do a great job of participating and making it a great night for the school. Oliver (see previous post) decided to fall off of the swing after the party and fracture his left arm, but it's not a horrible fracture and he should heal up fast and well. We carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon, well the boys did, I tend to hang back, watch and take pictures. My hands don't like pumpkin guts. After getting all dressed up the boys headed over to a neighbors house for a pre trick-or-treat party then headed out for the night. Noah took off with a group of older kids (parents too) and stayed out for a good 2+ hours. Oliver and dad hung back with another group of parents and younger kids and stayed out for about an hour or so. They scored a TON of candy and ate way too much before heading off to bed.

Mr. K and Mr. B with the boys at the party.

They always make time to pose with their students.

Noah deciding which pattern he wants to use this year.
I always head out the day after Halloween and pick up pattern books and other Halloween stuff at 50% off. It goes in the storage bin for next year.

Hard at work!

Got pumpkin guts?

Oliver's Pumpkin

Noah's Pumpkin

All dressed up and ready to go.

Oliver said, "Look! Halloween butt!"

Oliver's loot and Dad trying to steal a piece. I failed to get a picture of Noah's pile of goodies but I can tell you he got a lot. At least four times this much.

Tuckered out!
Thank goodness he has Route 66 Bear to keep him company and help elevate his arm.