Sunday afternoon snacks

It's always fun to watch the boys eat. They both love their snacks! Isaac got a Spiderman ice cream treat from the ice cream truck that comes through the neighborhood. Caleb got a chocolate chip bar that Mom made. Oh, Caleb also got to be the "big boy" at the big table.

Ready or not...

here I come!

sorry about the cameraman's work!

Happy Birthday, Danae!

Friday was Danae's birthday. We tried to make it a fun week by giving her a present a day all week. Giving the presents was easy, keeping secret what we got for Mom was not! Isaac told Danae what we got for her within the first 5 minutes after we got home. Although I didn't find it that humorous, she loved asking what else she was getting and Isaac loved telling her!

Happy Birthday, Danae! We love you lots!




Danae got the cake and flowers from her youth group! The shirt was from the boys!

Haircut Day!

Now that we have returned from vacation, it is time for the family haircut! Danae is the only one in the house who actually needs to go anywhere for her haircut. We three boys on the other hand have a much easier solution--Mom does it right in the comfort of our living room. For Isaac and I, the haircut isn't anything too special--we've had it done before. But for Caleb it is his very first cutting. Break out the scrapbook, here come the locks!

I know that everybody loved Caleb's long, mullet like hair style. We left it like that just for you all to see while we were home. But, that style went out a few years ago and we thought we'd catch him up to modern day.

I admit it was kind of a shock to see our little boy transformed into a bigger boy!

So, without further comment...here is our all new boy!

Before:

After:

Together Isaac and Caleb

Just so you all know, this video shows that no child was harmed in any way during this haircut! :)

Caleb is 1!

Better late than never!
Our "little" one turned 1 on May 29!
We had a great day and big brother Issac couldn't wait to open, or help open, Caleb's gifts! We are pretty sure Isaac has played with the toys more than Caleb has!




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Happy 3rd Birthday!

Kinda hard to believe that Isaac turned the big 3 today! WOW!

After a rough sleeping night (both of us thinking we saw every after-midnight hour on the clock) Isaac was ready to celebrate his birthday! He was kinda confused by the banner his Mom made, complete with balloons, taped to the front door. He said, "What's that, Mom?" Once he realized what it was, he was very excited.

Next he saw his presents sitting there waiting to be opened. "Can I open it now, Mom?" was heard all day long.

The baseball and football birthday cakes were a bit "hit"! He thought they should be eaten for breakfast.

He loved talking to those who called to wish him a happy birthday. He may not have seemed interested to those who attempted to talk to him, but he was smiling on our end! He also loved the birthday cards he got in the mail. He ripped the envelopes open piece by piece and read each card. He then proudly displayed them on the piano.

When he was finally able to open the presents, after Dad came home, he insisted upon using his toy saw to cut open the paper. (The night before we were talking about opening presents and he rummaged around to find the saw so it was ready for the next day.) He had a great time opening and playing with his gifts, that was until his little brother scooted in to steal them!

Next we set off for Red Robin to eat. Isaac received his free kids meal coupon and couldn't wait to go use it. He got himself a hamburger, baby carrots sticks with ranch, and pop! The pop was his favorite! To top it off, the Red Robin workers came and sang, "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a free ice cream sundae. It was quite the feast!

We came home and enjoyed some birthday cake with some of Isaac's adult friends. His friends are coming over Friday to party.

It was a good day. God has blessed us with a terrific 3 year old! We still see him as our little boy, but realize when he talks and reasons through things he not so little any more. He may only be three in our eyes, but to him he's going on 14. His new favorite phrase or answer is, "Huh?" Huh, wonder where he got that one...


Happy 3rd Birthday, Isaac! We love you!

SNOW!

Isaac got to see and play in snow for the first time in his life! He was not too sure about it when he was looking eye to eye at a snowbank when he got out of the truck, but he got used to it pretty quickly when he realized how much fun it was! (He did wipe out pretty badly on the ice at one point and screamed loudly, but he stayed outside to make snow angels, sled, and eat the snow.) The first couple days were cold, but things started melting by the final days so we were able to throw snowballs at each other and even make a snowman! As you can see from the picture below, he made a pretty good one-armed snow angel! :-)

Although we were home for Grandpa's funeral, we had a really nice weekend visiting with family and playing with everyone. Originally, I was going to only take Caleb with me but thought Isaac would love the time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins so I took him with me, also. Yep, I am sure we were quite the sight--a harried woman hauling around a baby and a toddler and all the gear that goes with them through the airports and onto the planes (I actually forgot to put one of my carry-on pieces on the conveyor belt going through security since it felt as if I had already put so much up there by the time I took off Isaac's and my shoes and put each piece up one at a time). Fortunately, we eventually had seats and boarding passes for all of us and actually made it home. I was very thankful to have survived the journey and decided it was worth it so Isaac could spend the weekend with us. (Our trip home was uneventful unless you count a cancelled flight and sitting in the airport for five hours waiting for the next flight something of an event. ;-)

Once we got home, we were so blessed to visit with family and spend quality time with each other though we really missed having Grandpa there with us. It definitely was a sad weekend but also a neat time "hearing" Grandpa's testimony through the scripture and songs he picked for his funeral. Psalm 27:1 was the verse he wanted read and reflected on for his funeral. Throughout the weekend I was reminded of how thankful I am for the families God has given us--what a blessing it is to have parents and grandparents who taught me (and Paul) about Jesus and modeled unwavering faith in him! Seeing everyone on my dad's side of the family and a lot of family on my mom's side (including both my grandparents) and Paul's brother was the highlight of the weekend and such a joy!

The video below is of Isaac once he realized he could eat the snow. He liked it for the most part until he picked up a pile of snow with a little dirt sprinkled on the top of it.

We also got in some serious sledding--both being pulled and going down the hill. The video below is the second ride down the hill for Isaac. He went fearlessly down the first time not knowing what to expect--in fact, he copied his cousin and actually jumped in the sled and went down on his stomach! You should have seen his eyes. Sorry, I was not ready with the video for the first one. He did not want to go down this second time, but we got him to do it so we could catch it on video for Dad to see.

I feel better now that my child has experienced the snow. (I had a great time in it as well, but I do have to admit that it was nice to go back to temperatures in the mid-70's at home.) Paul was bummed that he did not get to come with us and was especially sorry to have missed the snow time--the girls' b-ball team had their final game over the weekend we were gone.