First thing

This was Noah this morning, eating breakfast just after Levi woke him up. This was also right before he put on a hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up, and ate his cereal. He said it was too cold in the house to eat without his sweatshirt. I really like this kid.

A New Beginning

Preschool. Noah started today and loved it. I went to this preschool and I loved it. It feels like a circle has been completed. He colored a picture and used only a black marker. He likes black, a lot. Black is the only color in his watercolor paints at home that is nearly gone. I think he likes the contrast of the black on white paper. I'm anxious for him to like a different color, but I'm kind of a color person - the more the better. Anyway, back to the events of today!

We got there and I walked him in. My aunt Pat is a teacher at the preschool and she greeted us at the door. She helped us find the spot for Noah's backpack to go and his name card and then he was off to join the others - like I wasn't even there.



The following pictures are from the Open House we went to on Tuesday. I have no clue why the computer is making this text bold and underlined and I cannot stop it, I think my computer has grown a brain of its own. Yikes!



His very own office. He typed for quite a while.


Gayle and Aunt Pat - Gayle was my preschool teacher - isn't that neat?




Thanks Megan for taking this photo for us since I forgot my camera (!) this morning. Silly Noah wouldn't take a good picture - still pretty darn cute.

Road Trip '09

Vacation, vacation, vacation! It was wonderful. A break from our normal routines, time with family, wonderful weather, sunny beach and cool water, yummy food, and time to be together. Don't get me wrong, life with two little ones is not without stressful/not-so-perfect moments, but the majority of our trip was fantastic!

Here's the scoop - we drove to Illinois early on Saturday morning and got there just in time for lunch and naps. Monday we drove up 3 more hours to a small town near Benton Harbor, MI on Lake Michigan. We stayed in a wonderful house with Ben's entire family. We only had a 5 minute walk to the beach and the blessed cool clear water of the lake. On Thursday, we drove back to Illinois, arriving just in time for lunch and naps. We left for home on Friday afternoon.

This picture is of the family arriving at the beach for the first time. The sun washed the lake out of the photo, but that expanse of white in the background is all water. Ben and Levi are a little bit behind the rest of the family who are already starting down the steps to the beach!

Ok, but first, back to our time in Illinois pre-beach.

Fishing is one of Tim's favorite hobbies. Noah is always excited to go along, but so far the reality is that Noah doesn't care about fishing. He loves to go along and play with whatever else he can find at the pond. Everyone still has a good time and one of these times Noah WILL care about fishing, I'm just sure of it.

Levi and this bobber proved to be a challenge for us. I think he threw it in the water 3 times. Just after I snapped this photo he dropped it in the water for the second time. I was supposed to keep him from dropping it but I got distracted by the chance to capture the moment. Oops.

Tim grows worms, that eat carrots, and it's pretty amazing. He has 4 big containers of worms in his garage. Tim and Sue feed them to the birds that call their yard home and he uses them as fish bait.

The pond we go to is owned by a friend of Tim's. He has fish food out by the pond that keeps Noah busy and distracts the fish from Tim's bait.

Ben caught a catfish with a net in very shallow water. It was surprising and amusing.

Ok, pretend we just drove three hours and now we're magically in Michigan! I had never been to Michigan before and really enjoyed seeing another part of our country. It was fascinating to see the different crops they grow in Michigan - cucumber fields, blueberry patches, apple orchards, etc. It was beautiful.

Here are Uncle Andy and Hannah with Noah in the backyard of the house we stayed at. Noah really, really enjoyed spending time with Andy and Hannah. Like, he asked about Hannah first thing in the morning and bugged her the entire time she was awake. Poor Hannah. She handled it well.

The Beach! We have been waiting all summer to go to the beach. We weren't sure if Noah would like such a big body of water or not, but he loved it. Levi did too.

Playing with grandma. She could make awesome sand castle thingys.

Josh, the grill master.

The joy of chairs made for little people.

The family playing Farkle.

Back to the beach.

Ben and I were given the opportunity to watch the sunset at the beach (without our kids). It was tremendous. The photos don't come close to capturing the true beauty of the moment.

He's becoming such a big boy. He's learning all sorts of new things and he's proud of it. I just love it.

And this one is getting more and more ornery.

Learning to play Memory with Uncle Andy.

Ok, pretend we just drove 3 hours back to Illinois.

Noah's ready for a fire to roast hotdogs at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The traditional stop at the Children's Museum did not disappoint. The boys were in heaven and did not want to leave. We had to bribe them with the promise of ice cream.

Good times.

Thanks for everything Tim and Sue - it was a wonderful trip!

Just our boys

We're on vacation, but these photos are from before we left. Noah and Levi are wonderful but oh so tiring. They make us laugh, they make us pull our hair out. Without them we would be lost. They bring a joy deeper then we have ever known.

Parade!

For two tractor loving boys, the Threshing Days parade in Goessel is like heaven on earth. The parade is traditionally mostly tractors, although there are floats and the usual firetrucks, police cars, band and without a doubt plenty of candy. It was unseasonable cool at the start of the parade, cloudy with a decent north wind but by the end of the parade the sun was shining.



Waiting for the parade to start...


wrapped in a blanket to keep warm...


just a little more waiting...


and finally it started!


The band from good old Goessel High School


Candy, candy, candy


and tractors, tractors, tractors!






Picking up candy


handfuls of it! We got to watch the parade with Grandma and Grandpa and my aunt Karen, too.


Good times!